daily IMPACT by selahV

Am I following God

If a man's steps are directed by the Lord, how can we make the mistakes we do?  By disregarding the directions and guidance of the Lord, we quickly fall prey to our own desires.  So many times we cannot understand why we face the things we do.  We struggle and strive to make things happen, to change the events of our lives.  We battle the inevitable, the storms that come in every person's life.  We do not understand when things do not work out as we've planned.  Could it be we've ignored the directions of the Lord?  

I've done it.  I've manipulated circumstances due to an event in my life.  I've had a financial crisis and jumped through hoops to fix a hardship and believed with all my heart it was a good thing for me to do.  Sometimes it even appeared to work, temporarily.  Then it falls apart.  I've depended upon my own ingenuity, my own abilities, and not on the Lord.

Of course I can't understand my own way.  Who am I that I could be mindful of the Lord's plan and purpose for my life in any given day.  Dependence.  God wants me to understand I need Him to walk, to talk, to simply breathe.  When I go plunging down a pathway, with my mind made up, and ignoring markers of warning, I ought to trip and fall flat on my face.  For God humbles the proud and exalts the humble.  When I lift up my eyes to the Father, I surrender my claims on myself.  I give Him the glory He deserves when I say, "It's only because of Your grace, O Lord."

WHAT ARE YOUR RIGHTS?

On any given news report, in any newspaper, people are demanding their rights. Divorce settlements, constitutional amendments, even when arrested and put in prison. Even if you sat in the middle of a crowded room and listened to folks talk, you’d hear it said: l have the right to know. You have no right to say that to me.  I do have rights you know.

What rights do you have? For Christians, rights are not ours to hold. We simply have none. What we cling to must be relinquished, if not physically, then emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

“Then Jesus said to His disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.” Matthew 16:24

“We are apt to imagine that the cross we have to carry means the ordinary troubles and trials of life, but we must have these whether we are Christians or not. Neither is our cross suffering for conscience sake. Our cross is something that comes only with the peculiar relationship of a disciple to Jesus Christ; it is the evidence that we have denied our right to ourselves.” Oswald Chambers

What is that evidence in your life?

Selah, pause and think on this. Seriously. Do you know anyone who shows evidence of having denied the right to himself? A person living in such a way that he or she lives for Christ only. They take no offense when wronged? They rejoice in the difficulties of life. They praise God anyway? They walk the second mile and turn the other cheek and stand at the end of the line? And they do so willingly, without complaint or defense?

“It is not only that we give up our right to ourselves to Jesus Christ, but that determinedly we relate ourselves to life so that we may be appealed to only by the things that appeal to Him, and do in the world only the things with which He is associated.” Oswald Chambers

Surrendering our way to God’s way is not easy because we want our way. We want to do things our way and then have God bless that way.

What right are you holding onto today? What do you think you have every right to feel? to think? to say? Will you give it up and turn it over to Jesus? Or will you say, I’ve been mistreated, wrongly condemned, accused, stepped on; and I have every right to defend myself, take a stand and seek retribution?

When we take up our cross we must also carry it to the site on which our Savior was crucified. We must lie down and be nailed to that cross and surrender our body, mind, soul and spirit in obedience. Just as He. Help us yield to Thee, O gracious Lord, our Sufficiency. selahV 

[copyrighted, 11/2008, SelahVToday, hariette petersen] 

WHOM DOES THE LORD REGARD?

 Is it the eloquent expositor?  Is it the knowledgeable scholar?  Is it the leader esteemed among men?  Is it you?

Sometimes we look at our accomplishments in life and all we do for others and we consider ourselves wise among men and women.  We hear the praise of man and feel validated.   Some folks agree with us and we think we have better answers to life’s questions.  We present our logical explanations for complex issues and think if only everyone understood things our way, all would be well with the world.  We have the education, the experience, the success to all the difference in the world.  Why wouldn’t God regard us and shine His face upon our efforts?

” For all these things My hand has made, and so all these things have come into being [by and for Me], says the Lord.  But this is the man to whom I will look and have regard:  he who is humble and of a broken or wounded spirit, and who trembles at My word and reveres My commands.”  Isaiah 66:2

Heaven is God’s throne.  The earth is His footstool.  All we are or ever will be is only by the grace of the Lord.  Some folks think they have all the answers.  If people who do not accept things their way, as they see it, then others are simply wrong.  Ignorant.  In need of correction.  But God says:

“Hear the word of the Lord, you who tremble at His word:  Your brethren who hate you, who cast you out for My name’s sake, have said, Let the Lord be glorified, that we may see your joy!  But it is they who shall be put to shame.” Isaiah 66:5.

O, to understand we cannot understand the mind of God.  O, to recognize that our greatest revelation is only received by His grace. O, to be broken and trembling before the Almighty–yielding and surrendering and confessing our pride.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

WHAT IS THE LOVE OF GOD?

Love and obedience are synonymous.  Had Adam and Eve truly loved their Creator, they would have obeyed Him and not eaten of that which was forbidden.   The world was created in obedience to God’s Word.  When He said, “Let there be light,” there was light.  God sent His only begotten Son so that He could fulfill the Law.  By His attoning sacrifice all men were made righteous who believed.   God so loved the world that He gave.  Jesus so loved the Father He was obedient unto death and gave.

“For the [true] love of God is this:  that we do His commands [keep His ordinances and are mindful of His precepts and teaching].  And these orders of His are not irksome (burdensome, oppressive, or grievous).” 1 John 5:3

It is our joy to obey our Father.  It is our joy to follow His commands and submit to His will.  It is our peace to yield our wills to His will.  It is our pleasure to call Him Lord and relinquish all rights to ourselves.  Paul died daily to self.  John said He must increase and I must decrease.  We are to present ourselves to Him as a “living sacrifice”.  We do not do this by holding on to our desires, toying with sin and self-satisfaction.  We do this by putting to death the things which come between us and obedience to Him.  We are sanctified by giving up, not clinging to the world.

“Do not love or cherish the world or the things that are in the world.  If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him.  For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh [craving for sensual gratification] and lust of the eyes [greedy longings of the mind] and the pride of life [assurance in one’s own resources or in the stability of earthly things]—these do not come from the Father but are from the world [itself].” 1 John 2:15, 16

God has given us such help to live a life which shines in the darkness.  He gives us Himself.  His Spirit.  His instruction book.  What do we give Him to show our love for Him?  Obedience to His voice and His Word.  Broken and spilled out, all that we treasure–this is the picture of our love for God.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

ADONAI~~ WHEN I CONSIDER

When I was a little girl, I felt totally and complete assured that my daddy was the authority that superceded all authority in the land.  In my first year of elementary school (in the days when girls only wore skirts an dresses to school), my dad made me wear corduroy pants one day.  The school principal balked the day I came in wearing them and I was so embarrassed.  I went home and told my dad that Mrs. Craft said I couldn’t wear pants to school anymore; it was against the rules.  Girls wore dresses and boys wore pants.  The next day Daddy took me to school early and he told Mrs. Craft that I would, indeed, be wearing pants to school because it was too cold for me to stand outside in the snow waiting for the bus in a skirt.

Authority.  My principal’s authority paled in significance to my dad’s.  I always respected daddy’s authority over me.  It was unquestionable (until I became a teenager, that is).  We have several authorities we must obey in life.  But none so great, majestic or commanding as Adonai.  In Adonai rests all authority–total.  Adonai was pronounced YHWH in biblical times.  It is considered too sacred to utter.  Adonai means The Lord, My Great Lord.  In God’s greatness is His reigning authority over all mankind—all creation.

“When I view and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon the stars, which You have ordained and established, What is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him?” Psalm 8:3,4.

With His fingers—His fingers–He created the heavens.  God set the entire universe under His direction and authority.  He made it.  He kept it.  He designed it; and it obeyed His voice.  Authority.  We can try to change things in life; we can toy with the kingdom on earth—but it does not change the Authority from Whom it was created.

So what did it teach me that my father overrode the principal’s authority in my life?  It taught me that there are times that one authority is not as commanding as another.  It taught me that there are times when authority can be challenged.  But it also taught me that authority was still authority.  Because after that day, I wore pants to school.  But I wore them under the dresses my principal’s rules demanded.  selahV

“Oh Lord, our Lord, how excellent (majestic and glorious) is Your name in all the earth!” Psalm 8:9

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

WHAT WILL YOU DO?

 When you are faced with an injustice in your life, what will you do?  Will you insist on your rights?  What if it isn’t injustice, but simply God’s plan for your life–do you seek your own way or follow His path?  “My way” is rebellion, plain and simple.  Rebellion is sin.  I don’t like to be convicted of sin.  It doesn’t feel good.

“Whenever God touches sin it is independence that is touched and that awakens resentment in the human heart.  Independence must be blasted clean out, there must be no such thing left, only freedom, which is very different.  Freedom is the ability not to insist on my rights, but to see that God gets His.” Oswald Chambers

When Jesus faced the cross, He relinquished His rights to Himself. In obedience to the Father, He gave all power to call down legions of angels to protect His right to Himself.  Just before He was led away in the night, “…He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw and knelt down and prayed,  Saying, Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not my will but Yours be done.” Luke 22:42.

How often have we prayed like that?  How many times have we battled against God’s will?  Have we ever felt the stronger for it?  Have we come away the victor?

“Independence is not strength but unrealised weakness, and is the very essence of sin.  There was no independence in our Lord, the great characteristic of His life was submission to His Father.” Oswald Chambers

Lord we are willing but our flesh is weak.  Increase our faith to follow You without wavering.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2008]

NEEDLESS WEIGHTS WE BEAR

 

“A glad heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of heart the spirit is broken.” Proverbs 15:13

When a spirit is broken, brokenness shows itself in expressions, actions and attitudes.  Fear floods the mind with questions.   Is life bad?  Am I?

“Anxiety in a man’s heart weighs it down, but an encouraging word makes it glad.” Proverbs 12:25

When anxiety invades the heart with worry, fear or frustration, there is little room for lighthearted playfulness, patient understanding, gentle approaches or lips of praise.

Oh, but what an encouraging word can do!

Received or given. Encouragement fills a heart with gladness which floods the face with cheer.  And that cheer is contagious.  What a wonderful reward for encouraging another, wouldn’t you say?   

O, El Elyon, our Most High God.  Fill our hearts with joy and shield them from the desire to be weighted with the cares of this world.  Keep our minds stayed on Thee.  selahV

[copyrighted, SelahV Today, 2007]