I will look to the Lord

But as for me, I will look to the Lord and confident in Him I will keep watch; I will wait with hope and expectancy for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Micah 7:7 AMP

This is one of the scriptures that I hold very close to my heart. So often in my life things have gone on that I have had no control over. Not just minor things, but life-changing circumstances that no-one would every ask for. Situations in which I have had no choice but to seek God and wait on God. I have had to learn how to humble myself and look only to Him. 

Yet for us there is [only] one God, the Father, Who is the Source of all things and for Whom we [have life], and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through and by Whom are all things and through and by Whom we [ourselves exist]. 1 Corinthians 8:6 AMP

I clearly remember one morning before a critical meeting, having no idea what to say or do, being in the shower, tears streaming down my face, crying out to God, 'Why don't they see what I see? What do I say to make them see the truth?' The outcome of this meeting would determine the well-being of our family. Of course the situation I faced was nothing compared to what Moses faced, but the message I got from God was the same, 

Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth and will teach you what you shall say. Exodus 4:12 AMP

And that is exactly what God in His grace did for me. In that shower, through the tears, he gave me a sentence to say, the exact words to speak, at the meeting that morning. At the meeting, when I was asked the question, I said the words God had given me. Immediately the direction of the meeting turned to the direct opposite way to which it was heading. God had prevailed! It was not me, not my strength, not my wisdom, not my power. It was God's Spirit that had given me the words to bring truth. 

So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty. Zechariah 4:6 AMP

Yes there are still circumstances in my life that I am waiting with hope and expectancy for God to prevail in. But I am choosing to look to the Lord and be confident in Him.

Question for today, are you feeling weary from waiting for a circumstance in your life to change? Why not, stand tall, and daily declare, 'But as for me, I will look to the Lord and confident in Him I will keep watch; I will wait with hope and expectancy for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me.'  Ask God to help you to learn to trust Him more, to trust that He is listening and He will answer in His time and in accordance with His plan and purposes.

Do not rely on your own insight

Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. Proverbs 3:5 AMP

It can be easy make decisions based on our own insight and understanding, and forget that there is a bigger picture, God's picture. Our own insight is minuscule compared to God's insight. He knows it all. We really don't even know ourselves! That is why he tells us that in all our ways, we need to know, recognize and acknowledge Him.

In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths. Proverbs 3:6 AMP

So often when things don't go as we planned or thought they should have gone, we can find ourselves questioning God. Where is He? What is He doing? The Bible tells us the answers to these questions:

Q: Where is He?
A: God is in the midst.  God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved; God will help her right early [at the dawn of the morning]. Psalm 46:5 AMP 

Q: What is He doing?
A. He is perfecting us. His intention was the perfecting and the full equipping of the saints (His consecrated people), [that they should do] the work of ministering toward building up Christ's body (the church), [That it might develop] until we all attain oneness in faith and in the comprehension of the [full and accurate] knowledge of the Son of God, that [we might arrive] at really mature manhood (the completeness of personality which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's own perfection), the measure of the stature of the fullness of the Christ and the completeness found in Him. Ephesians 4:12-13 AMP

Question for today, is there some aspect of your life that you are not happy about, or are feeling fearful about? Meditate on the scriptures I have shared today. Ask God to help you to trust that He has a bigger picture and it will be worked out in His timing. Ask God to help you allow Him to do the perfecting in your life that He is wanting to do. 

Be not wise in your own eyes; reverently fear and worship the Lord and turn [entirely] away from evil. Proverbs 3:7 AMP

Not to us

NOT TO us, O Lord, not to us but to Your name give glory, for Your mercy and loving-kindness and for the sake of Your truth and faithfulness! Psalm 115:1 AMP

Who are you giving glory to today? What is glory? In this context glory can be defined as 'adoring praise and thanksgiving' (The Australian Concise Oxford Dictionary).

Have you taken time today to praise and thank God for His mercy and loving-kindness? I find I don't have to look far to find an example of His mercy and loving-kindness in my life. The fact that I am now in right-standing with my Heavenly Father is an indescribable act of mercy. Me, who, when I was 20 declared at the family dinner table, 'I don't believe in God anymore.' I had decided to completely turn my back on all I was bought up to believe. I was going down my own path of giving myself the glory. I traveled my own path for about six years, until through God's grace and some very faithful Christians, He bought me to a place of revelation and repentance. God had mercy on me.

It is because of the Lord's mercy and loving-kindness that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions fail not. They are new every morning; great and abundant is Your stability and faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 AMP

Today, with all that has happened in my life in the past 20 years I am so thankful for His mercy. I am thankful for all he has changed in me over the years, for all the sharp and ugly edges He has chipped away. I know there are more to be removed, and that is good. I don't want to stay still in God, I want to keep maturing and living life God's way. I can say in all honesty,

The Lord is my portion or share, says my living being (my inner self); therefore I will hope in Him and wait expectantly for Him. The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him [inquire of and for Him and require Him by right of necessity and on the authority of God's word]. Lamentations 3:24-25 AMP

Question for today, who or what are you giving glory to? Let's take time today to consider the mercy and loving-kindness God has given us, and give Him our adoring praise and thanks.

It is a good and delightful thing to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises [with musical accompaniment] to Your name, O Most High, to show forth Your loving-kindness in the morning and Your faithfulness by night, with an instrument of ten strings and with the lute, with a solemn sound upon the lyre. For You, O Lord, have made me glad by Your works; at the deeds of Your hands I joyfully sing. How great are Your doings, O Lord! Your thoughts are very deep. Psalm 92:1-5 AMP

Completely set free

And also that He might deliver and completely set free all those who through the [haunting] fear of death were held in bondage throughout the whole course of their lives. For, as we all know, He [Christ] did not take hold of angels [the fallen angels, to give them a helping and delivering hand], but He did take hold of [the fallen] descendants of Abraham [to reach out to them a helping and delivering hand]. Hebrews 2:15-16 AMP

Jesus is here for you and me. His obedience to God, resulting in His sacrifice to overcome death, enables us to be completely set free. 

Just as the Son of Man came not to be waited on but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many [the price paid to set them free]. Matthew 20:28 AMP

Jesus' act of setting us free from sin allows us to come into right-standing with our Heavenly Father. Jesus provides a way for us to becomes slaves of God, rather than slaves of sin.

But now since you have been set free from sin and have become the slaves of God, you have your present reward in holiness and its end is eternal life. For the wages which sin pays in death, but the [bountiful] free gift of God is eternal life through (in union with) Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:22-23 AMP

The Message Bible says it this way,

But now that you've found you don't have to listen to sin tell you what to do, and have discovered the delight of listening to God telling you, what a surprise! A whole, healed, put-together life right now, with more and more of life on the way! Work hard for sin your whole life and your pension is death. But God's gift is real life, eternal life, delivered by Jesus, our Master. Romans 6:22-23 The Message

Question for today, have you accepted Jesus came to set you free in every area of your life? Jesus is offering you a helping and delivering hand for your entire life, not just the parts you want to give Him. Jesus wants you to have a whole, healed and put-together life right now! Why not take time now to surrender your whole life to Him and accept God's gift of real life, eternal life.

Blessed (praised and extolled and thanked) be the Lord, the God of Israel, because He has come and brought deliverance and redemption to His people! Luke 1:68 AMP

Who then is this?

And He arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Hush now! Be still (muzzled)! And the wind ceased (sank to rest as if exhausted by its beating) and there was [immediately] a great calm (a perfect peacefulness). He said to them, Why are you so timid and fearful? How is it that you have no faith (no firmly relying trust)? And they were filled with great awe and feared exceedingly and said to one another, Who then is this, that even wind and sea obey Him? Mark 4:39-41 AMP

Let's keep it simple this morning, who is Jesus? The Bible tells us He is the Son of God.

He said to them, But who do you [yourselves] say that I am. Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Matthew 16:15-16 AMP

What authority does Jesus have? Matthew 28:18 tells us,

Jesus approached and, breaking the silence, said to them, All authority (all power of rule) in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. Matthew 28:18 AMP

Jesus has all authority, so it was no wonder that He could calm the storm. He has the authority given to Him by God the Father, our Heavenly Father too.

Whereupon Jesus called out as He taught in the temple [porches], Do you know Me, and do you know where I am from? I have not come on My own authority and of My own accord and as self-appointed, but the One Who sent me, is true (real, genuine, steadfast)l and Him you do not know! John 7:28 AMP

Who are we when we have faith in Jesus? Paul, in the book of Romans, tells us,

[All] are justified and made upright and in right standing with God, freely and gratuitously by His grace (His unmerited favour and mercy), through the redemption which is [provided] in Christ Jesus. Romans 3:24 AMP

When we are in Christ Jesus, we are in right-standing with God. Right-standing with God, gives us eternal life.

So that, [just] as sin has reigned in death, [so] grace (His unearned and undeserved favour) might reign also through righteousness (right standing with God) which issues in eternal life through Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) our Lord. Romans 5:21 AMP

What authority do we have in Jesus? Jesus gave His disciples authority and power.

Behold! I have given you authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions, and [physical and mental strength and ability] over all the power that the enemy [possesses]; and nothing shall in any way harm you. Nevertheless, do not rejoice at this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are enrolled in heaven. Luke 10:19-20 AMP

In summary, we know Jesus is the Son of God, and He has all authority in heaven and on earth. We know that when we have faith in Jesus, we have right-standing with God and eternal life, and we have the authority and power of Jesus Name. 

So, the question for today, why do we still lack faith in some areas of our lives? Is it because we know of, but don't fully understand who Jesus is, just like the disciples in the boat? Today, let's ask Jesus for a greater revelation of who He is so we can live more fully for him.

But grow in grace (undeserved favour, spiritual strength) and recognition and knowledge and understanding of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ (the Messiah). To Him [be] glory (honour, majesty, and splendor) both now and to the day of eternity. Amen (so be it)! 2 Peter 3:18 AMP

One body in Christ

For as in one physical body we have many parts (organs, members) and all of these parts do not have the same function or use, so we, numerous as we are, are one body in Christ (the Messiah) and individually we are parts one of another [mutually dependent on one another]. Having gifts (faculties, talents, qualities) that differ according to the grace given us, let us use them:  Romans 12:4-6a AMP

Praise God we don't have to be all things to all people! Each of us, in Christ has a purpose, a function that He has designed us for. A function that we are unable to do effectively apart from Christ. The Message bible puts it this way,

In this way we are like the various parts of the human body. Each part gets its meaning from the body as a whole, not the other way around. The body we're talking about is Christ's body of chosen people. Each of us finds our meaning and function as part of his body. Romans 12:4-5a The Message

Christ must always be our focus, the place we go to check our heart attitudes, our thoughts and our plans. He is the Cornerstone.

You are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus Himself the chief Cornerstone. In Him the whole structure is joined (bound, welded) together harmoniously, and it continues to rise (grow, increase) into a holy temple in the Lord [a sanctuary dedicated, consecrated, and sacred to the presence of the Lord]. In Him [and in fellowship with one another] you yourselves also are being built up [into this structure] with the rest, to form a fixed abode (dwelling place) of God in (by, through) the Spirit. Ephesians 2:20-22 AMP

Today, let's celebrate being part of the body of Christ. Let's take time today to do something to show how 'In Him, the whole structure is joined together harmoniously'. Let's use the gifts Christ has given us to be a blessing to one another. 

Is there anything too hard for Me?

Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is there anything too hard for Me? Jeremiah 32:27 AMP

Now there is a big question, Is anything too hard for the Lord?

Is there something in your life that you want to see changed, but it hasn't changed yet? Do you find yourself asking, Can the Lord really change that person/circumstance? Be honest with your answer. Do you trust that God can? 

Perhaps your answer to that big question is 'Yes, of course God can do anything.'  And we know that is the truth according to the scriptures.

For with God nothing is ever impossible and no word from God shall be without power or impossible fulfillment. Luke 1:37 AMP

So, knowing that God is able, perhaps it is another big question that we need to ask, do we trust that He will?

For me, this is a huge question.  I have come begging on my knees to Jesus, asking for healing, just as the leper did.

And a leper came to Him, begging Him on his knees and saying to Him, If You are willing, You are able to make me clean. Mark 1:40 AMP

We know what happened next, Jesus, 

'reached out His hand and touched him, saying, I am willing; be cleansed by being cured. And instantly his leprosy was cured and cleansed.'
Matthew 8:3 AMP

So where does that leave me, and anyone else who knows and trusts that God can, and yet have not seen a physical manifestation of the change? 

For me, I am left in a continual state of 'I am choosing to trust you Jesus.' Daily I am having to leave my petition at the feet of Jesus. In the 'waiting' Jesus is teaching me how to live in His peace. 

To all of you that are in Christ Jesus (the Messiah), may there be peace (every kind of peace and blessing, especially peace with God, and freedom from fears, agitating passions, and moral conflicts). Amen (so be it). 1 Peter 5:14b AMP

Questions for today, do you believe that the Lord can do anything? Do you believe that Jesus is willing? Is there something that you are waiting to happen in your life? How are you going with the 'waiting'? If you are struggling, ask God to show you what you need to do to stay trusting Him completely, and waiting in His peace.