Trust

Over the past few months, God has been teaching me more than I ever thought possible in such a short period of time.

One key aspect of all He has been teaching me is to trust Him, to depend completely on Him alone, and to relinquish my hold on everything else. He is all I need.

"My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me." ~ Psalm 63:8

Another important aspect is to spend time with Him. Prayer, Bible study, and fasting are all good, but only if the focus is really on God. I used to think that to grow closer to God I had to read my Bible and pray everyday, and that is a part of it. But, now, I know more fully that to know God more intimately we have to spend time with Him, to dwell in His presence, and to be with Him.

"Be still and know that I am God..." ~ Psalm 46:10a

There are many ways to spend time with God, including Bible study, prayer, music, and anything where our focus is on God, rather than us or anything else in this world.

The final aspect I will highlight here is that fear is in direct opposition to all God wishes to accomplish and is an opposite to trust. To overcome fear, we simply need to trust God, which is much easier said than done but still possible!

"When I am afraid, I will trust in God." ~ Psalm 56:3

Apart from Him, we can do nothing, but all things are possible through Christ who strengthens us. (Taken from John 15:5 and Phil. 4:13)

When the founding fathers of America wrote "In God We Trust" on our money, they encapsulated one of the core truths of the purpose of life: To trust in God.

One Step At A Time

Since graduating from college, God has been teaching me how to rely on Him fully, trust Him completely, and love Him wholeheartedly.

"Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." ~ Psalm 27:14

One step at a time, God has opened doors and closed doors, and He will continue to do so for the rest of my life. My sole goal is to depend on Him completely.

As I do so, He leads me wherever He wishes in His time. Just the other day, I realized more clearly that my very breath comes only through God's grace and strength, let alone my work and my life.

"We walk by faith, not by sight." 2 Cor. 5:7

Main Point: Lean on God! Trust Him completely! He will never let you down or leave you. :)

Thank you, Lord Jesus! I love you!

Focus dude

Crush: Dude? Dude? Focus dude... Dude?
[Marlin wakes up]

From Finding Nemo, according to:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266543/quotes

This is one of my favorite movies, and I think Crush is a favorite for anyone who has seen the movie. Nevertheless, this cute quote has a profound message.

 Many problems in the world today are caused by a lack of focus. Take driving for instance, most accidents are caused by distracted drivers. When I googled "most common cause of car accidents," distracted drivers or distraction came up first on the first three websites listed.

Distractions can be dangerous not only for drivers but also for followers of Christ.

I have learned from experience that becoming distracted results in depression, self-pity, a warped perspective, anger, hurt, believing lies, and much, much more.

Maybe that is why God emphasizes focus in the Bible.

Hebrews 12:2 says, "Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."

Hebrews 3:1 says, "Therefore, holy brothers, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, the apostle and high priest whom we confess."

Proverbs 4:25 says, "Let your eyes look straight ahead, fix your gaze directly before you."

Now, we have to be careful what we focus on as well. These verses, especially the first two, tell us to focus on Jesus! Focusing on anything else is just as destructive as distractions.

Key Point: Focus on Jesus!

Secrets of Prayer

After many years of growth, these are just a few lessons I have learned about prayer.

First, prayer involves praising and thanking God for who He is and what He has done.

Second, prayer involves confessing what we have done wrong and turning away from sin.

Third, prayer involves lifting others before the throne of God.

Fourth, prayer involves accepting God's blessings and gifts.

An effective method for prayer involves praying Scripture, such as asking for and accepting the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22), putting on the armor of God (Eph. 6), and using the apostle Paul's prayers for the churches in order to pray for the people in your life.

These ideas are simply some of the areas where God has been teaching me.

How can I know God intimately and personally?

First of all, God has made it possible to know Him intimately and personally.

Second, He has revealed to us in His Word about how to do exactly that.

Third, there is no set formula since God has created each of us differently.

There are many places in the Bible, in fact, the whole Bible is geared toward drawing us into His presence, but I will focus on one particularly verse that continually challenges me.

"You will seek me and find me when you see me with all your heart." ~ Jeremiah 29:13

God will not ever force you to know Him or force Himself upon anyone. He waits for you to respond to His Holy Spirit's urging. When you, through the Holy Spirit, line up your desires with His, He will fulfill your desires to overflowing time and time again.

There will always be ups and downs. Look at the Israelites. Nevertheless, as Toby Mac says in "Get Back Up":

We lose our way, we get back up again
It's never too late to get back up again
And one day you gonna' shine again
You may be knocked down, but not out forever

You may ask, "But how do I seek God with all my heart?"

There are many ways to seek God. Prayer, Bible study, and music name just a few, but the list is endless. The important thing is to be in the presence of God, whether that is by praise, thanksgiving, singing, writing, creating, painting, driving, hiking, traveling, performing, listening, teaching, or by some other way.

The key is to focus on God.

I will conclude with a statement by A. W. Tozer in the The Pursuit of God, "The impulse to pursue God originates with God, but the outworking of that impulse is our following hard after Him" (p. 12).

The Beginning and the End

Writing articles and historical books (probably other writing as well) requires beginning and ending a story where there is no beginning and no end. The very beginning of every story based on earth is at creation, and we are waiting to see the very end of everything on earth; nevertheless, God sets the standard.

"I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End." ~ Revelation 22:13

Therefore, the writer has the work and privilege of determining where to begin a story, not too far from the climax and not too close to it either, and where to end a story, not too soon with questions still unanswered and not too far with the story dragging on and on.

Where to begin and end names only one of many aspects which contribute to a good article, book, and other writing.

Why has the U.S. Constitution been so successful?

A significant reason for the success of the U.S. Constitution comes from its inclusion of biblical principles, either intentional or unintentional. Whether James Madison included the three branches of government because of Isaiah 33:22 or not, the biblical principles found in that verse are evident in the Constitution (http://www.davidbarton.org/2010/04/30/americas-godly-heritage-by-david-barton-7/).
"For the Lord is our judge,
the Lord is our lawgiver,
the Lord is our king;
it is he who will save us."
~ Isaiah 33:22

What is the meaning of life?

Happiness?

"I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my work, and this was the reward for all my labor. Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun."
~ Ecc. 2:10-11

Success?

"For a man may do his work with wisdom, knowledge and skill, and then he must leave all he owns to someone who has not worked for it. This too is meaningless and a great misfortune."
~ Ecc. 2:21

Wealth?

"Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income. This too is meaningless."
~ Ecc. 5:10

If all this is meaningless, what is the meaning of life?

Solomon concludes in Ecc. 12:13 -
"Now all has been heard;
     here is the conclusion of the
            matter:

 Fear God and keep his

            commandments,
     for this is the whole duty of
             man."

First, we must fear God, not other people, the future, disappointment, hurt, failures (past, present, or future), or anything else.

Second, we must obey his commands to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength and to love our neighbor as ourselves.

The meaning of life lies within an intimate relationship with the Maker of heaven and earth.

What is Truth?

Pilot asked that question of Jesus before the crucifixion of Jesus in John 18:38; however, he did not wait for the answer. If you are asking the same question, I would encourage you to check out the Truth Project at http://www.thetruthproject.org/.

Where did we come from?

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth....So God created man in his own image, in the image  of God he created him; male and female he created them." ~ Genesis 1:1, 27

Published!

Devokids.com recently published my devotional at http://www.devokids.com/devotions.html! :)