While it is great to have goals and dreams of the future, going through life attempting to seek love, wealth, and other satisfactions are  not allowing God to work fully in your life. Jeremiah 2:13 states,

“My people have committed two sins:
They have forsaken me,
the spring of living water,
and have dug their own cisterns,
broken cisterns that cannot hold water.

The Prophet Jeremiah refers to looking for satisfaction in all the wrong places as digging empty wells that have no water in them.

God has a wonderful plan for our lives and it unfolds progressively. We don’t have to wait until we have the end results to enjoy where we are and be satisfied. We can find our satisfaction in Him while we are on our way to the FULFILLMENT of our hopes and dreams.

It’s that word….FEAR…that causes many of us to be unhappy and discontented. We are afraid that we will not get what we desire. We MUST learn that we don’t have to submit to those fearful feelings. You must learn that you can do the things God want you to do, and you can WAIT on His perfect timing to bring to you those things that He know are best for you….

When you are completly happy and content with your current situation and only seek God and His will, you will be surprised at the blessings that will flow into your life…..don’t seek satisfaction….seek the Lord. 

HDI

It is funny how clearly God can speak to us, if we would just stop and listen. We spend so much time praying and asking God for things, we tend to not listen. We expect God to listen to our prayers and concerns, but we fail to listen to Him. I am guilty of this, and that is why I try to take time each day to just listen to the messages God has for me. I do this by reading scriptures and it is scary how clearly God uses His word to speak to us. 

It seems like every time I am going through something, God comforts me through His word. It can be something as simple as me flipping randomly in the bible and picking a passage to read, or reading the Daily Word message for day. I do not think that it is ironic that my questions, concerns, and troubles seem to be addresses when I just take the time to listen to Him and focus on the word.

The reason I said all of this is because I read a message that spoke directly to me and and issue I have been dealing with. For anyone who knows me, I am the type of person that plans out every aspect of my life and I get upset when things do not go the way I planned. I am really hard on myself anytime there is a detour in my plans. I have battled with this for as long as I remember. No matter how much I tell myself that I want God’s plan for me, I still find myself getting upset when things do not go the way I expect them to go. I have to realize that God is just REDIRECTING me to His will.

Redirected (A message from the Daily Word, January 20, 2010)

The Lord was with Joseph. —Genesis 39:2

At the age of 16, pianist Leon Fleisher made his formal debut at Carnegie Hall with the New York Philharmonic. He went on to win prestigious international competitions and played in the world’s finest concert halls. But at the age of 37, Fleisher was struck with dystonia, a neurological condition that crippled his right hand. After a period of despondency and withdrawal, he turned to teaching and conducting, because, as he said, he loved music more than he loved the piano.

When our dreams are shattered, how do we react? After Joseph, the favored son of Jacob, was sold as a slave by his brothers (Gen. 37:12-36), he could have given in to self-pity and self-indulgence. Instead, Joseph remained true to the Lord. Four times in Genesis 39, we read that “the Lord was with” Joseph (vv.2-3,21,23), and his actions revealed his own faithfulness to God. By his exemplary life, those he served in Egypt recognized God’s presence with him.

Do we love God more than our own dreams? Although Joseph must have grieved the loss of his past and what his life could have been, the Lord led him to a calling he had never imagined. Today, the Lord longs to lead us. Are we willing to be redirected by Him? —David McCasland

My cherished plans may go astray,
My hopes may fade away;
But still I’ll trust my Lord to lead,
For He doth know the way. —Overton

A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. —Proverbs 16:9

No matter what is going on with the world around us, the obstacles placed in our way, or the people that are keeping us from our destiny, we must continue to keep God first. With the many distractions we have each day, it might be hard to keep the Lord at the forefront of your mind, but you must continue to do so to stay on the rightous path. Keeping God first does not mean that everything will go they way YOU planned, but it will ensure that things go the way GOD plans. When things go wrong, as long as you keep God first, you will be able to overcome anything. When things go well, you will be able to give all the honor to God. Having God first allows you to not only follow God’s will, but will make sure that you  are protected from negative situations and people.

I ran across an article that uses FIRST as a acrostic to help Christian keep God first.

How do we put God F.I.R.S.T.?

F stands for Focus. Spend serious time reading Bible verses that talk about who He is and you will be filled with a sense of wonder and trust.

“I” stands for Identify. Identify what purpose God has for you. What spiritual gift(s) has God given you that you are to use to serve in His spiritual kingdom right here and now. Whatever your occupation or career is God’s purpose for you will give you the most satisfaction.

“R” stands for respect. We should respect God’s timetable. He is ultimately in control and He has a plan. As we pray and as we live we are to be mindful that our plans will always be superseded by His plans.

“S”stands for serve others. Serving other people is some capacity is an excellent way of taking our attention off ourselves and placing it on others. Jesus came to the earth to serve and not to be served. In serving others we are living the life he would live.

“T” stands for telling others. When we tell others about what happens when we put God first it encourages others to do the same. As we talk our own belief is affirmed in what God is doing in our lives.

Are you putting God FIRST?

HDI

So the last couple of days have been hard on me mentally and emotionally. It seems as if people are attacking me from every possible angle. It seems like the harder I work or try to live my life right, the harder people fight to get me off my path. The more I do right, the bigger the devil’s target is on me. Satan is busy. Whether it is my job or other aspects of my life, people are trying to hold me back from my victory.  As a child of God, I know that vengence is mine. I just have to continue to stay on my path despite how I am being treated. Overcoming these obsticles will only make me stronger.

The more I vere from the path of the Lord, the easier it is for people to get in and disasembale what I have worked so hard to build. I just have to make sure that my faith is strong and that I completely give God control. If He has total control then there is no way others can break the castle He has built. I have to put my faith in God and realize that God is the ONLY being I can completely put my trust in.

When I vented to a close friend about some of the issues I have been faced with over the last few days, he told me that because I am covered with the blood of Jesus that victory is mine. He went on to suggest that I read Pslams 1. Thanks Dorian

Pslams 1 states:

 ¹Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
 ²But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
 ³And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.
 ⁴The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.
 ⁵Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
 ⁶For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

This message just drives home the fact that as long as I live by the will of God and trust Him completly that nothing can stop me. I need to make sure that no matter what goes on around me or to me, that I continue to follow God’s path and I can overcome anything. I feel sorry for those going against God’s will.

So those of you trying to bring me down, just understand that haters can’t stop my faith….your only making it stronger! So, thanks ….and God Bless you.

I just want to thank the Lord for allowing me to lean on Him. Allowing me to have a Father I know will never leave me. Allowing me to continue to grow with Him. Allowing me to live by Your will and not get caught up in the negativity around me. Thank you Father.

HDI

I know that it had been a long time since I have written a post on here. Unfortanly, I have been so busy with work and putting other things in front of God, that I have not been focusing on strengthen my faith through prayer, written testimony, or even speaking to others about the greatest of God. I know that I, like many others, have an extremely busy schedule, but that is no excuse to put your spiritual life on the back burner. Once God is out first in your life, everything else–work, family, social life– will fall into its correct place. I have to continue on my spritual path and not let other “obligations’ get into the way of the REAL reason that I am on this earth…and that is to uplift His name and live by His will.

As my faith gets stronger and when I talk to others about their faith, I hear many people talk about how they do not feel right asking for things when they pray. I have also heard that some think that prayer is only done when you want something. I do think that prayer should be more than just asking a higher being for our desires– like giving praise, giving thanks, and just showing gratitude for His goodness– but I do not think that it is wrong to pray for the desires of your heart. God is a loving and giving God and wants to reward His followers with their wants. Briefly review the above Bible verses and extract all the principles on prayer that you can find..

 (Psalms 37:4-8 NKJV) Delight yourself also in the LORD, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. {5} Commit your way to the LORD, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. {6} He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. {7} Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass. {8} Cease from anger, and forsake wrath; Do not fret; it only causes harm.

(Mark 11:24 NRSV) So I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.

(James 4:1-4 NRSV) Those conflicts and disputes among you, where do they come from? Do they not come from your cravings that are at war within you? {2} You want something and do not have it; so you commit murder. And you covet something and cannot obtain it; so you engage in disputes and conflicts. You do not have, because you do not ask. {3} You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, in order to spend what you get on your pleasures. {4} Adulterers! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God.

(Philippians 4:5-7 NKJV) Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. {6} Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; {7} and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

(1 John 5:14-15 NKJV) Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. {15} And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.

The great challenge of prayer for the ordinary person is to be granted the desires of their heart. Prayer, for most of us who are not specially called to intercession, is getting God to grant us the righteous and good desires of our heart. How frustrating it is when they are not! When a sin does not budge, when a friend is not converted, when we struggle in loneliness or illness or poverty. The promises seem so powerful and reality so distant from them. The promise of prayer and the practice of prayer seem so different.

Point one is that God grants “the desires of our heart”. Prayer needs to be telling God about our whole-hearted desires. I have learned that whole-heartedness is essential to miraculous answers to prayer, when Peter took those first few triumphant steps on the water it was because he was whole-hearted in following Jesus. He let his whole heart lead. Daniel 9 is a whole-hearted prayer for the return of the Jews that may well have moved heaven and Cyrus!

James tells us that prayer is to be “without doubting” and that double-minded (lit. double-souled, di-psuchos) person “receives nothing”. I find that most Christians have to struggle to get in touch with the desires of their heart where Jesus lives. Its like there are a number of layers of confusion, for me there is the layer of mental confusion, anxiety and intellectual doubt – the area of the plausible and the implausible, the possible and the impossible, “I don’t think that can happen ..etc”. That is the outer layer. Then there is the layer of confused emotions “I understand x but I feel y”. This is the area where we “can’t believe that God would be like that”. Where we come up with the “God loves missionaries but not me” and the “God can’t possibly be paying attention to me..” feelings. Underneath all those waves there is the still place where the Spirit lives and prayer begins. That is the place of the desires of my heart. I just tell God what I desire. Its up to Him to make it possible. Don’t pray your doubts, don’t try and tell God the mechanism or you will end up full of doubts and confusion, don’t tell God how to move the mountain just tell him that you want it moved.

When you pray the fundamental questions are:1. Do I want it 2. Can God allow it.(if its immoral or significantly violates someone else’s’s free will then God cannot allow it). Assuming that it is neutral or a good request then ask yourself “Do I want this with my whole heart”. If you do then pray it and expect to receive it. Forget about what your mind says is possible or your emotions say is going to happen, just let God know your whole-hearted desire no matter what is.

This leads us to the “how to”. How do we get our prayers answered and results for the Kingdom, our daily needs met and our hearts desires answered. Here are the steps….

1. Ascertain whether the request is within the broad bounds of His moral will. When John uses the term “according to His will” here he means according to the broad moral will of God. It is only in modern parlance that we have coined the phrase “God’s will” to refer to specific things such as which person to marry. In Scripture the term always refers to things such as the Ten Commandments. When it comes to who to marry the terms Scripture uses are “the counsel of the Lord” or “the word of the Lord” (on a specific matter). It may seem like semantics but it is important in this case. Far too many people get blocked at this step and get in a lather about whether their perfectly OK request is “God’s will” or not. Its a mix up that is not needed.

2. If we are believers and the request is within the bounds of Scripture then we can be confident that God has heard our prayer.

3. Once we know He has heard us we can be confident that we will receive what we have asked of Him.

4. In which case we should believe that we have received it. We should hold on to that fact. We should believe God as Abraham did when praying for Isaac despite being 100 years old. (Romans 4:20-22 NKJV) He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, {21} and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. {22} And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”

5. After believing we have received it we wait in expectant hope – and we DO RECEIVE. This works. Scripture says it will work. I have seen it work. I would not teach it to you if it did not work.

6. There are two main obstacles that you will have to remove if you are not to waver in unbelief. The first is your belief about what is possible with God and what is not possible with God. This includes thinking that God has to use “normal means”. God has means we don’t know about or understand. Abraham believed God for a son despite him being 100 and Sarah 90. He put aside human reasoning and calculation and believed the promise of God.

Secondly we have to put aside our feelings about the situation. There are often deep emotional blocks to faith. These include “I am unworthy”, “God doesn’t care for me”, “these things don’t happen for people like me..” and many others. Sarah displayed this emotional blockage when she laughed at the idea of conceiving a son. She saw it as God playing a huge joke on her. There is a certain degree of spiritual discipline required in order to keep these interfering things out and stay on track especially if the request is a long-term one

Global Christains

HDI