Know God

We are not a people who relish stillness. We have got to keep moving to keep up with the world and to prove our worth. But we are missing many valuable and important things by avoiding stillness. When we are still, we can enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. When we are still, we learn to trust God and not our busy lifestyle. When we are still, we find a peace in knowing God and basking in His glory.

Psalm 46:10-11 says, “‘Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!’ The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah.” Be still like the calm of lake waters where there is no wind or disturbance. Let peace fill your soul knowing that God is with you. He is in control and will be glorified.

Walking in Pride

I walk about 10 miles a day and have been doing so for several years. It is easy to take pride in my ability to walk so much. God has a way of humbling me, however. Whenever, I get full of myself, He lets me fall by my own mistakes. Today, I was walking in a seemingly safe and unencumbered place, the local shopping mall. Suddenly, I tripped myself, falling to the tile floor and spilling my drink all over the place. It seemed like everyone in the mall saw my fall and I was duly embarrassed.

I Corinthians 10:12 says, “Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.” Pride makes us believe that we succeed solely based on our own abilities. It is during these times that we become susceptible to the evil that surrounds us, believing what the world tells us. We must reject pride by knowing, understanding and walking in accordance with God’s truth.

Moment by Moment

This morning, I walked over 8 miles. It didn’t happen in the moment when I walked outside. Instead, I had to walk step by step over two hours to go the full distance. There aren’t a lot of things that we have to pay attention to moment by moment in order to succeed. We watch TV, but our mind wanders. Even when reading, we can easily be interrupted or lose focus. On the job, we must pay close attention to what we are doing, but breaks are built into our days.

Paul’s prayer for the people of the Colossian church says, “asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:9-10) Notice that Paul uses words like filled, walk, pleasing, bearing, and increasing, which confirm that our faith is not just a one time decision, but also a moment by moment choice to know and to follow God.

Second Chances

We all want to be given a second chance when we do something wrong, but we are not necessarily generous in giving second chances to those who may fail us. It has become popular to “cancel” people who offend us or cross a boundary that we have set up. We easily give up on people and cut them off from our lives.

Jonah 3:1-2 says, “Then the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and call out against it the message that I tell you.” Jonah had refused to do what God called him to do and wound up swallowed by a great fish. After he repented and the fish vomited him up, God chose to use Jonah to preach to Nineveh and all the people repented. Our past failures do not define what God wants to do with us today and in the future. God does not “cancel” us, but rather shows us great compassion and mercy.

Something That Changes Everything

Some people or circumstances come into our lives and we may say, “Everything changed!” We may have gained a new insight into a problem or received something so wonderful that our perspective and attitudes change.

Psalm2 40:1-4 says, “I waited patiently for the LORD; he inclined to me and heard my cry. He drew me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry bog, and set my feet upon a rock, making my steps secure. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear, and put their trust in the LORD.” When we make our requests to God in prayer, He moves toward us as we draw near to Him. The answer to our prayers may not come as quickly as we would like, but the answers do far more than we expect. God’s answer will pull us out of the things that hold us down and that lead to our destruction. His answer will provide the secure path for us to move forward and will give us a new perspective with which to find solutions to our problems. Other people will then look at what God has done and trust God.