In the Time of the Lattereign

Have you ever felt that you were running on a treadmill at full speed with the key to turning it off in your hand; but you were trying to juggle all of the pins that were flying at you from all sides, and couldn’t let go long enough to turn the key?

I have.

It sounds like something out of a cartoon, but isn’t that what we do just about every day of our lives? The treadmill represents life, and realize there are twenty-four hours in every day, of every month, of every year, that we are on this planet. It doesn’t speed up or slow down; it is always steadily ticking one second at a time, and no matter how busy we become; we can make wise choices to pace our lives in time with God’s purpose for us. This may require waiting for the Lord to prepare the path before us, so that he can protect us from losing our way.

Naturally, this sounds like an awesome plan to me. So, please tell me why in the world would I want to run any faster ahead of where God has already cleared the way? I’m the one who keeps frantically pushing the speed control button to get to the promise, faster.

There’s usually a problem when I become impatient. God hasn’t completely cleared the path; so,while I am stressing out and running to full capacity, people are throwing pins through the air for me to catch and juggle.

You know, all of those gigantic problems that obviously nobody can solve but us. So we take one and deal with it; then, another one gets added; and the first one still isn’t resolved; so instead of tossing it into God’s hands, in prayer, we add a third one and hope that by the time it gets back in our hands we will be able to deal with it; then, you guessed it, we are more than likely still trying to get off of the treadmill, as we keep catching more and more pins.

It may sound hopeless at this point, but I have found the key to the treadmill: drop the pins and push the button. Just raise your hands and give it to God. Sure, the pins will fall to the floor; something might not get accomplished; put it in God’s hands.

It’s time to back up to where we started adding speed to our pace on the treadmill of life, and turn it off. No matter how fast you go through your day, you will still have twenty-four hours; so it’s not worth getting ahead of God’s purpose for your life. He can juggle the pins for a while, and you can rest at his feet, as you wait on him to make the way. Let his will unfold in your life, today.

“Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:7).

He Promises us Strength if we Wait

I must recognize that without God, I can do nothing; with God I can do exploits.

“⁵ I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. ⁶ If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned. ⁷ If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you. ⁸ Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples” (John 15:5-8).

Who are we to have such great plans in place for our future, yet leave God completely out of the picture?

The word clearly says that we won’t be fruitful without God, so tell me, why is it that so many people today, forget to follow Christ? To tell you the truth, I want my efforts to be successful. I don’t want to pour my heart and soul into something that I think is worthy, only to find that it will utterly fail, because I didn’t include God in my plans.

I tried following my own path, and would probably be on the same miserable path of loneliness and despair, if it were not for the grace and mercy of God.

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).

You can’t see spirit; it is like the wind. You can feel the wind, see the leaves move if the wind is blowing, and maybe even hear the sound of it as it moves through the atmosphere, but you can not see it. In a dust storm, all you are seeing is the dust, but not the wind that is moving it.

After sin entered the world, it created a separation between man and God that needed to be bridged. So God manifest himself in flesh to make a way for us to be redeemed.

¹¹ For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, ¹² Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; ¹³ Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; ¹⁴ Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works” (Titus 2:11-14).

Jesus gave himself for us to redeem us; for that I am thankful.

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed , and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; Though the waters thereof roar and be troubled, though the mountains shake with the swelling thereof. Selah. (Psalm 46:1-3).

Do Nothing, or Do Exploits? The Choice is Yours.

It took great sacrifice for us to have salvation. What are you going to do with this gift? Doing nothing is never the answer. My daddy had a saying, “Can’t never could do nothing.” There’s a whole lot of truth in that statement. You’ll never know unless you step out in faith what you are capable of doing, but it is guaranteed that without God you can’t do anything.

³² And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.

I choose to know God. There are still some mountains to climb, and I want to have the Lord on my side to help me as I keep moving forward in faith.

2015-1-25 His Word is Settled in Heaven

Commit thy works unto the LORD, and thy thoughts shall be established. –Proverbs 16:3.

Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Matthew 22:37

But without faith [it is] impossible to please [him]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and [that] he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. Hebrews 11:6

Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Be not wise in thine own eyes: fear the Lord, and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel, and marrow to thy bones. Proverbs 3:5-8

Too often people hold on too tightly to material possessions. Those things that may even be expensive, but what value do things really hold if having them causes us to lose our relationship with the Lord? Ask yourself, has the things of this world been allowed to cloud your vision to the heartbeat of God?

I must check myself at times so that I don’t get too caught up in entertainment and the cares of this life, that I forget my ultimate purpose which is to do the will of God.

It’s easy to keep my calendar filled: I can stay busy doing the work that is all important in my eyes, and neglect to build on the rock of my salvation through prayer, and worship. Instead of sitting at his feet and in his presence like Mary did, I can easily develop a Martha spirit of busyness if I don’t “Watch and pray.”

It never fails to amaze me that sometimes fervent prayers go forth for saints who are in desperate need of secure jobs, for example, and then God answers their prayer, only for them to later use the jobs the Lord provided as an excuse to miss church.

Enough about what I have observed about others. What about myself? How do you see me, Lord?

If I want to have my best year in 2015, am I willing to Commit myself and all that I have to you? I don’t take that question lightly. I know what it is like to not be committed to something. I know how lost I felt when my efforts were meaningless and unfruitful because I didn’t saturate my dreams with prayer and fasting. There’s so much that I desire to accomplish in this new year. The past is past, but thankfully you have wiped the slate clean, and my past doesn’t have to determine my future, if I will focus on your will and your way. I know that you have provided for me a lighted path, and it’s only when I look to the left or right that maybe I miss a step. Thank you Lord, for continually guiding me in the direction that you have chosen for me.

I want my thoughts established this year. I want to have confidence in the Lord. There is enough confusion in the world, and all we need to do is read the news to become anxious; but God has promised us that he will establish our thoughts if we commit our works to him. We can have peace even when it seems that everybody is causing chaos around us, because we have our minds set on the Lord.

We must build upon a firm foundation.

“Violence shall no more be heard in thy land, wasting nor destruction within thy borders; but thou shalt call thy walls Salvation, and thy gates Praise” (Isaiah 60:18).

Walls of Salvation; Gates of Praise

1. Commit yourself and all that you have to God.

2. Stand for truth even if it isn’t popular among your friends.

3. Recognize that without God, we can do nothing; with God we can do exploits.

4. Listen to his voice and shut out all the voices of doubt, unbelief, and self-condemnation.

5. Walk by faith and not by sight. The world looks bleak at times but we rise above it.

6. Have faith in God who is the author and the finisher of our faith. He knows the plans that he has for us.

7. Learn to be still in the midst of the storm. Find a peace that passes all understanding by obeying the Lord’s command to, “Be still and know that I am God.” Psalm 46:10.

If the Lord chooses not to remove the trial, he will be there and give you wisdom to endure the trial as you go through it. We are tried by fire, but be of good cheer, because when we come out of the fire, we will be purest gold and even more fit for the Master’s use. Let’s give God our best efforts this year, and he will give us his best because of our commitment to trust him.

2015-1-4 Today I will build on the Rock

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,000 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it would take about 17 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.