Thank you Lord for today!!
I am excited because it's a brand new day. Never been used, never explored.
It offers a whole new set of ...go on list them...brand new morning, afternoon...go on.... BRAND new Grace, mercies, opportunities, brand new everything really......a song says "...Each day that passes by offers something new...another reason why I'm so in love with you!!"
The Bible says that "The steadfast love of the Lord never cease, His mercies NEVER runs to an end. They are NEW every Morning!"
I checked the dictionary meaning of the word Steadfast: it means Fixed in direction, Firm in purpose, Unwavering, as a resolution, faith, firmly established. It makes me excited...and I like this meanings best: Unwavering, as a resolution.
So His steadfast love means unwavering love, a resolute love. This love has not even considered any other party in the equation...it is simply a love that cannot be shaken irrespective of me or what I do.
Oh yes, there are days I feel I have depleted the quota of love for me, but His love is Steadfast, it can never finish, cos it has no end.
Similarly, His mercies never run to an end. In fact they are new every morning....meaning you have daily top-up to your mercy account!!. So God has been merciful for too long, and it appears you have finished off his mercy last night...really? Well here it is...new every morning, as in - never been used...isn't that what new means?
I'm quick not to confuse his Love for the liberty to do what I want.
Take a baby for instance, you know drinking perfume for instance (ok, I don't know why perfume??...) is certainly wrong for a baby or anyone. But because it smells right and the baby feels it also look like water...hmm, I can drink that. Does it make it right for the baby? No. But more importantly, the fact that you love the baby with all your heart...and he/she is crying to drink the perfume, will u let him? certainly no. In fact, if it means beating the baby, and causing him temporary pain, just to get the message into his head that perfume ingestion is NOT, and WILL never be right, you will do it. Same for God, He loves you too much to let you go on and Sin!
Phew...analogy over. God loves you....in fact too much, that He sent His BELOVED son (big brother) to die for you while you were still a sinner (still drinking perfume..ha!), just to redeem you. Now if God will send His BELOVED son to get you off Sin addiction, it shows two things.
1. How much He loves you!
2. How GRAVE SIN is...How bad, How deadly! take another look at the Cross. SIN is GRAVE, it is DEATH. When Jesus, He who knew no sin became sin...He died...., and He rose again...to Give you Victory over Sin through His PRECIOUS blood.
Now having said that...We can enjoy the liberty in God. Yes, His blood cleanses us from Sin. Not a license to go on sinning and washing in the blood. But assurance that if we do sin, and confess genuinely, He will forgive.
So back to my excitement...
It's a new day...new mercies, steadfast love...yep! Though I may not have trusted, acted right, done all I should yesterday...well it all in the past now, and I can't do anything about that (maybe beat myself up..)...but I can TODAY accept the mercies of God...feel the warmth of His love, the strength for today...and enlist His help to take just one step at a time...not worrying about what I didn't do yesterday, or what I may be doing tomorrow. But concentrating on what I ought to do today, trusting for strength, for wisdom and direction. Worry about yesterday,or tomorrow robs me of the opportunity to enjoy the present. (Someone said today is a gift, that is why it is called the Present!). Go on UNWRAP the present...you don't know what you may find!! Isn't that the thrill of a present, a gif?
Of course, today might actually be the day someone is dreading, etc...but the bible says, this is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it. Stand still and look up, the Lord made today, He knew the day will come, and he is right there beside you. How did i know? He said I will NEVER leave you NOR forsake you. So you are obviously not alone...look around, I'm sure there are people walking all around you, or talking or doing whatever.....they are not even as as close to you as God is. No matter how close someone is to you, God is closer. He sticks closer to you than a brother.
He is merciful...He is Kind. He is love. He cannot deny Himself, that is who He is. He feels your pain, He sees your heart... tell Him as it is...no fancy words - he doesn't need those, no nothing. lay it down, the burdens of your heart. Don't mince words too! He actually said cast all your cares upon me. Blank cheque! unburden all and let Him do the worrying for u (no such thing as worry in God's dictionary)...Find rest, be lifted...feel light again.
So when you are anxious....remember, He said be anxious for NOTHING...as in let nothing, make you anxious. Instead through prayer (telling Him about it), Through thanksgiving (I'm sure He has done stuff for you, or someone you know...remember that an thank Him for it) and supplication....table your requests before Him. Then His peace will guard your heart....a guard, protects, defends...that means , once you've committed all these stuff to Him...TRULY(not that you drop your load at His feet, and carry it back!) he will keep you, guard your with His peace. I take that option any day.
Do Not worry about tomorrow....in fact that sounds like a command to me. So the moment I start to worry..I think I'm breaking one of God's laws. He look at the flowers, how beautiful...yet they do nothing to make them selves look that good. How much more you! He knows what you need (most times our needs and wants are Sooooooooooo far apart!). All I that I need His hands have already provided!... (that is what the song says...Great is your faithfulness...)
Sometimes, we are afraid to trust God. Like he will "cramp" our style. What Style? so God isn't funky...you think? or God won't give me the things I want most...really?...Listen, He said, MY
THOUGHTS (My Plan, My intention etc) towards you are thoughts of GOOD, and not of evil, to give you a HOPE and a future. ok...what can you say to that?
What plans do you have that you are hiding from God? who gave you the plan in the first place...or the ambition? check again. So why are you trying to do it your self, your way...when He already has the map (ok, or is it the Sat Nav?) of how to get you there. Relax in Him!!
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and Lean not on your OWN understanding (aha!) in all your WAYS (your planning) acknowledge Him, and He will direct your path (Map out how you need to get there, He will calculate your route).
Let me leave you with this:
It's a brand new day...and that is why you can rejoice...cos you have another new opportunity to enlist heavens help, to finally dump the heavy burden on Jesus...He asked for it. Go on then....it's a new opportunity to start acting out the word TRUST.
Friday, 18 April 2008
Sunday, 14 January 2007
The future happens to us all
Happy New Year!! – by the way, the Future happens to us all.
The first month of the new year is almost gone, so it’s getting a wee bit late for me to shout Happy “New” year, how ever the fact remains that 2006 is the immediate past year, and that 2007 – the current year is the Present… and today is the Now. Enjoy the Now and may your tomorrow be beautiful. Welcome to Soulfood, this a blog for sharing my thoughts, inspirations, encouragement and words impressed on my heart. If you have been encouraged, or found inspirations in some way from this blog, please feel free to share with others. Your comments and contributions are equally welcome. Thank You and God bless.
Talking about old year and new year – the reality of transition from one year to another, most times brings about need to take stock (for me at least) of goals set, goals met or unachieved, some started but not completed or even discarded, of high moments, very low moments and so on. Towards the end of last year, I felt anxious about the year coming ahead. What is it going to be like, what is coming?... and all of a sudden, it felt like the old year should not come to an end, not because it had been the best of years, but more out of the anxiety of what is to come….the age old fear of the unknown…another rollercoaster, another bright start?? And what next really??
Through it all, I’ve come to realise that no matter what I do, the future is someday going to become the now, as a matter of fact the future no matter how distant we think it is, happens to every living being every three hundred and sixty seconds (ok, I’ve phrased that in my own words, but I got that from a book by C.S Lewis – The Screwtape Letters). I realise that my finite mind cannot exactly determine what comes next – please hear me out. I do have a privilege of remembering what was, and the Grace to experience what is….I do not have the capacity to determine what will be. Yes, I have the power to imagine, to plan, to make the right choices, to give my best, to analyse, to dream or to even worry about what might be.
With the power to imagine, dream, plan etc….also comes the drive to actualise the dreams, or the fear of failing, the anxiety of “what-ifs”, the “reality” of new policies (that may or may not appear favourable), legislations, budgets, bills, and all endless lists of “legitimate” concerns (“legitimate” concerns -credits to one of my friends). All of these pull and tug at different times…..and so there are days of immense courage and days of absolute anxiety…days of fear, days of hope. And sometimes, it feels like life is being lived on the edge. The truth however is that for as long as life is,there will always be goals to meet, plans to make, dreams to dream, mountains to climb, challenges to take on, bills to pay – there will be changes in times, seasons, policies and all. There is absolutely NOTHING new under the sun. I realise that I can choose to focus on the "what-ifs" and all concerns, ponder over them, make them big or make them small in my mind, wish them away, think positively, bury my head in the sand etc and most of all I realise that I can choose to reset my focus to where it was meant to be and set my mind on God - He sees and knows what the future holds.
When I choose to focus on Him who lives in eternity, who sees the past, who is in my now and already in my future, then all plans, visions and dreams reside in Him, and every fear or anxiety becomes shadows in His light!!, and I know that shadows don’t bite, don’t talk, don’t harm - That IS the reality. When God becomes The Focus, everything else falls into position. When God is magnified in my life through my thoughts, my actions, my speech and in all I do, everything else is seen in their true perspective.
Concerns , issues etc will try to occupy and fillout the mind and make themselves bigger than they are, but I know only God is should be magnified- the one by whom all things consist. Why should God be magnified? because, no matter how big I think He is, He is actually bigger...He is bigger than I can ever imagine Him to be, and the truth is, He cannot be magnified enough. The scripture mentions that God sits above the circle of the earth, and the people below seem like grasshoppers to Him!, He created the stars and calls each one by their names –Isaiah 40:22, 26. What a mighty God He is.
The reality is that beyond the sun, is He who lives in eternity, who is not limited by time, distance, policies, conditions or anything whatsoever, He who is the help from ages past, a present help in the time of need and the bright hope for tomorrow. He who rules and reigns in the affairs of men. I realise that His word is accurate and complete, -“Be anxious for NOTHING, but in everything by prayer, and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” – Phil 4:6 -7
Be thankful for the Present, the Gift of Now…..
The Lord is near unto all them that call upon Him in truth. Don’t think that He is unable to help or deliver, don’t even consider it – “How can you say the Lord does not see your troubles, how can you say God ignores your right? Have you not heard? Do you not understand? The Lord is the everlasting God (He has no end!!), the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary; no one can measure the depth of His understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion, but those who trust in the Lord will find new strength, they will soar high on wings like eagles, they will run an not grow weary, they will walk and not faint”. – Isaiah 40: 27-31 (NLT).
May your strength be renewed!!
Just sharing …..
The first month of the new year is almost gone, so it’s getting a wee bit late for me to shout Happy “New” year, how ever the fact remains that 2006 is the immediate past year, and that 2007 – the current year is the Present… and today is the Now. Enjoy the Now and may your tomorrow be beautiful. Welcome to Soulfood, this a blog for sharing my thoughts, inspirations, encouragement and words impressed on my heart. If you have been encouraged, or found inspirations in some way from this blog, please feel free to share with others. Your comments and contributions are equally welcome. Thank You and God bless.
Talking about old year and new year – the reality of transition from one year to another, most times brings about need to take stock (for me at least) of goals set, goals met or unachieved, some started but not completed or even discarded, of high moments, very low moments and so on. Towards the end of last year, I felt anxious about the year coming ahead. What is it going to be like, what is coming?... and all of a sudden, it felt like the old year should not come to an end, not because it had been the best of years, but more out of the anxiety of what is to come….the age old fear of the unknown…another rollercoaster, another bright start?? And what next really??
Through it all, I’ve come to realise that no matter what I do, the future is someday going to become the now, as a matter of fact the future no matter how distant we think it is, happens to every living being every three hundred and sixty seconds (ok, I’ve phrased that in my own words, but I got that from a book by C.S Lewis – The Screwtape Letters). I realise that my finite mind cannot exactly determine what comes next – please hear me out. I do have a privilege of remembering what was, and the Grace to experience what is….I do not have the capacity to determine what will be. Yes, I have the power to imagine, to plan, to make the right choices, to give my best, to analyse, to dream or to even worry about what might be.
With the power to imagine, dream, plan etc….also comes the drive to actualise the dreams, or the fear of failing, the anxiety of “what-ifs”, the “reality” of new policies (that may or may not appear favourable), legislations, budgets, bills, and all endless lists of “legitimate” concerns (“legitimate” concerns -credits to one of my friends). All of these pull and tug at different times…..and so there are days of immense courage and days of absolute anxiety…days of fear, days of hope. And sometimes, it feels like life is being lived on the edge. The truth however is that for as long as life is,there will always be goals to meet, plans to make, dreams to dream, mountains to climb, challenges to take on, bills to pay – there will be changes in times, seasons, policies and all. There is absolutely NOTHING new under the sun. I realise that I can choose to focus on the "what-ifs" and all concerns, ponder over them, make them big or make them small in my mind, wish them away, think positively, bury my head in the sand etc and most of all I realise that I can choose to reset my focus to where it was meant to be and set my mind on God - He sees and knows what the future holds.
When I choose to focus on Him who lives in eternity, who sees the past, who is in my now and already in my future, then all plans, visions and dreams reside in Him, and every fear or anxiety becomes shadows in His light!!, and I know that shadows don’t bite, don’t talk, don’t harm - That IS the reality. When God becomes The Focus, everything else falls into position. When God is magnified in my life through my thoughts, my actions, my speech and in all I do, everything else is seen in their true perspective.
Concerns , issues etc will try to occupy and fillout the mind and make themselves bigger than they are, but I know only God is should be magnified- the one by whom all things consist. Why should God be magnified? because, no matter how big I think He is, He is actually bigger...He is bigger than I can ever imagine Him to be, and the truth is, He cannot be magnified enough. The scripture mentions that God sits above the circle of the earth, and the people below seem like grasshoppers to Him!, He created the stars and calls each one by their names –Isaiah 40:22, 26. What a mighty God He is.
The reality is that beyond the sun, is He who lives in eternity, who is not limited by time, distance, policies, conditions or anything whatsoever, He who is the help from ages past, a present help in the time of need and the bright hope for tomorrow. He who rules and reigns in the affairs of men. I realise that His word is accurate and complete, -“Be anxious for NOTHING, but in everything by prayer, and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” – Phil 4:6 -7
Be thankful for the Present, the Gift of Now…..
The Lord is near unto all them that call upon Him in truth. Don’t think that He is unable to help or deliver, don’t even consider it – “How can you say the Lord does not see your troubles, how can you say God ignores your right? Have you not heard? Do you not understand? The Lord is the everlasting God (He has no end!!), the Creator of all the earth. He never grows weak or weary; no one can measure the depth of His understanding. He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless. Even youths will become weak and tired, and young men will fall in exhaustion, but those who trust in the Lord will find new strength, they will soar high on wings like eagles, they will run an not grow weary, they will walk and not faint”. – Isaiah 40: 27-31 (NLT).
May your strength be renewed!!
Just sharing …..
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