"I said to the Lord, 'You are my Lord; apart from you I have no good thing."
Psalm 16:2
How often do you tell God that He is yours? Do you place God above all else? Do you truly value your relationship with Him? As Christians, we have to look and see what it is that we truly value. We have to value God above all things. When we step back and truly look, we will see that there is nothing that can replace God. Even though we will try to put other things above God, He will not allow it. He waits for us to realize that nothing can compare to Him. If asked what it is that we value, most of us would give the church answer and say that it is God that we value, but once we look deep inside and are truly honest with ourselves, you will find that what we value is sometimes the same thing as what the world values.
In this psalm, the psalmist tells us that there is no good thing that can compare to the Lord. The psalmist gives praise to God, acknowledging Him as Lord, and then he shows humility admitting that without God, he would have nothing. Nothing can even compare to God. Without Him, we have nothing, but with Him, we have everything!
There is no reason to allow earthly things to take precedent over God when we realize that everything is worthless compared to Him and His goodness. I challenge you to do these things to help you to put God above all else.
Wake up in the morning and start it with a prayer. Ask God to help you to place Him first and foremost in your life and help you to think about Him in everything that you do.
When someone asks you what your decision is, I challenge you to have the strength to say that you are praying about it and allowing God to lead you through it rather than trying to take control of the situation away from God.
Always remember that without Him, we have nothing, but with Him, we have everything.
Questions to ponder: Is there anything in your life that you are valuing over your relationship with God that you need to bring before Him?
?"My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power."
1 Corinthians 2:4
Do you realize on a day to day basis that the Holy Spirit is alive in you? The Holy Spirit was given to us to empower us, to give us strength. Just think, the Holy Spirit is given to us from God. Part of the Trinity lives inside of us! The Holy Spirit has power that comes from God; power that is immeasurable. We know that the Holy Spirit gives us power. Can you remember an event in your life where you thought you could never make it through, but everything turned out just fine? Have you ever experienced a time when you did not know what to say and the words that came out of your mouth you knew were not your own? When we do not have the strength, the Holy Spirit gives it to us. I recall one time when I knew that the Spirit's power was running through me. When my father died, I decided to write a eulogy to read during the funeral. The message that came to me I could not have come up with on my own. During one of the hardest times of my life so far, the Spirit gave me a message and gave me the strength to present it during my father's funeral. The peace and strength I experienced could have only come from the Spirit. I will never fully understand the Spirit's power.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul informed them of exactly how the Holy Spirit worked in him. Paul did not come to them using intellectual words trying to persuade them. He allowed the Spirit to speak through him. Because Paul's message came from the Spirit, there was no questioning the messages truthfulness. Paul realized the power of the message coming from the Spirit and knew that his words could not compare. Paul knew that the message he brought to the Corinthians came from the Spirit. There was no doubt in his mind that the Spirit had empowered him to present God's message to the people of Corinth.
When the Holy Spirit uses you, there is no need to fight it. The Spirit has more power than we can ever imagine. How can you experience the power of the Holy Spirit? I challenge you to allow the Spirit to work in you. Talk to the Holy Spirit and ask it to help you through situations. A time will come when something will happen and you will know that there was no possible way for you to do a certain task on your own and that it could have only been the Spirit working in you. Then you can give thanks to the Spirit for working in you.
Questions to ponder: Are you aware of the Spirit's presence in you? Have you allowed the Spirit to work in you?
"We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ."
1 Thessalonians 1:3
Work, work, work! That encompasses our lives. Whether students in school or workers out in the world, we are constantly at work. So many times during our work, we are so enthralled and caught up in it that we neglect everything else. The great thing about God is that He is with us all the time. That means that we can do work and still be focusing on God at the same time. Walking with God during your work will affect the outcome of your work.
In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul praised them for their work and the way that they performed it. They worked because they had faith in God. They knew that it was for God's glory. How they did their work (labor) was inspired by their love for God and His love for them. Love came out of their labor. They had endurance in their lives because they had hope in the promise of Jesus; that they would one day be joined with him.
What can be said about the work that you do? Do you work because of faith, love, and hope? Does your relationship with God mean so much to you that you are practicing His presence even during work? It should. If God is with us always, why should we not always be thinking about Him? Many of us work 8 hours a day, five days a week, and some much more than that. For most of us, that is eight hours of our day that we do not even acknowledge God. If you have faith in God, your work will show it. Love will flow through you during it and others will see the hope that you have in Jesus Christ. Think about the work that you do. Whether studying, exercising, gardening, or working your job, do it for God; not for yourself. He is the one that is giving you the opportunity to do it!
Thoughts to ponder: How often during my work or even during the day do I think of God? Make a conscience effort to think about Him as often as you can. Prayer, Scripture memory, and songs may help spark your awareness of Him.
"Our God is in heaven; He does whatever pleases Him."
Psalm 115:3
Are you willing to say "Whatever" to God; not in a sarcastic way, but in a way that shows submission to God and His will? It is a very tough thing to do. We are so used to taking control of situations that we find it hard to give up our will to follow God's. As much as we may debate it, God knows best and is going to do whatever He thinks is best for us. He is going to do what pleases Him. He is the one who created us; He should be allowed to lead us as He sees fit. He does lead us, but the barrier lies within us. Are we willing to follow? In order to follow, we have to be willing to submit our will to Him and let Him know that whatever He wills we want to follow. We cannot try to gain control back over the situation. We have to trust Him to lead us as He sees fit.
Look at how the psalmist starts the third verse. The words "Our God" show us that God is personal. He is "ours," and we belong to Him. He allows us to know Him personal where we can call Him "Our God." God watches out for us, but "He does whatever pleases Him." Note that it says "pleases Him," not us.
We are not always going to like what God's will for us is. It will not always be easy. However, we know that He has our best interest in mind in the end. It may be a rough road, but if you follow Him, you will be able to look back and see how God brought you to that point and looked out for you all throughout the way. I challenge you to journey down the path He brings you to. Remember that God will not abandon you or give you more than you can bear. It may not be the easiest thing to say "Whatever you want for me God, I will follow," but in the long run, it is the best thing and the right way because you are following God and you are with Him.
Thoughts to ponder: Are you willing to allow God to do whatever He pleases? If not, what obstacle(s) may be holding you back?
"Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him."
Psalm 37:7
When I think of stillness, I think of the outdoors. I use to go out into the woods to go deer hunting. It really did not matter whether I saw anything or not; I just enjoyed the calmness and quietness of nature. It was just me and God. When I first started to go deer hunting as a child, my father taught me two very important rules. The first was that I had to be very still and quiet. The second was that I had to wait patiently for the deer to come. That is not that hard to do in a deer stand; there is not much else to do. But think about the busy world that we live in today.
We do not have enough time to slow down, let alone be still. The answer is that we are going to have to make time. We want everything on our time (now), but we need to allow God to work on His time. The psalmist saw the importance of being still and waiting for God. Slow down, be still, and reflect on who the Lord is. Rejoice in just being with Him. It is okay to be with Him. He wants us to be with Him.
To be still requires us to acknowledge Him. Not only are we supposed to be still, but we are to wait patiently. Just because we stop to meet with Him does not mean that God is going to show up. There are times that we will have to wait for Him, and we are instructed to be patient. Being patient humbles us. By having to wait, God is showing us that He acts on His time, not ours. It does us good to have to wait. It grows our trust in Him because we know that He will act in His time. When He shows up, we greet Him with open arms because we are longing to meet with Him. Having to wait makes us want it even more. If I saw a deer every time I went out hunting, I would get tired of hunting. When we have to wait, it makes us look forward to the arrival, and we are filled with joy when it happens.
Thoughts to ponder: Have you been still lately and met with God? Do you make time to be still and meet with Him? Try being still and spending time with God. You should find that you long for it and make more time to be still and be with Him.
