Wait Expectantly

“In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly.”                                 Psalm 5:3
David is often referred to as a man after God’s own heart. This is despite all of his flaws. I believe he is called that because he sincerely sought after God, even though he did mess up over and over. He continually relied on God, and always repented and returned to God when he did mess up or fall away. I believe Psalm 5:3 is an excellent example of that.
The first half simply reminds God that David is praying first thing in the morning. He’s confident enough to go to God and say “you hear me in the morning.” I don’t think he could say that if he wasn’t doing it every single day. Then the last two words are what really strike me about this verse. David has confidence in God. He has complete trust that God will follow through and answer his requests.
These are two things I wish I could say I always mirror in my own life, but that wouldn’t be true. I sometimes pray in the morning, as soon as I wake up, but there are other days I might not even speak to God at all. There are some requests I fully trust God to answer (whether it’s how I would like it answered or not I never know), and could say I “wait expectantly” for them. Most of the time, I tend to get more frustrated because God is taking too long or not answering things how I want Him to.
I think the greatest compliment I could ever receive would be for someone to say I’m a man after God’s own heart. I believe speaking to God first thing in the morning when I wake up is one way to do it. Trusting in His timing and His answers to my requests (since God does know much better than I do) would be another. Perhaps if you would like to hear that same compliment, these are two things you can do to take steps in the right direction.

Testing Truth

“…they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true.”                                    Acts 17:11b

It’s very easy to be encouraged in my faith by speakers, songs, writers, or a variety of other methods. People who are strong in their faith and gifted in certain ways can always pass on knowledge and encouragement. I usually don’t test them the way that the people in Berea did to Paul. I take them at their word because if it encourages me, I just like that aspect of it.

I think there are two main reasons you should be testing the things that others are teaching. The first is the obvious: to make sure it is actually true. Now I don’t believe that anyone involved in ministry would purposely mislead anyone, but the Bible can be interpreted differently by different people. In James, it says that “to he who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him that is sin.” I read that as meaning what’s sin to me might not be sin to you with certain things. That is simply how I interpret it though. You might interpret it differently, but you should be studying the Bible to find your truth from there. Finding truth purely from other people will eventually let you down. God will teach you through the Bible, and He will show you the truth that you need in your own life. You can’t find that if you aren’t testing the truth others are teaching by examining God’s Word.

The second reason to test others is similar to the first: it’s just so you can get into the Bible and study it. When people teach, they teach well when they know the material. The Bible can be a daunting book. If you never open it, you will never know where to start when needing to find truth. If you study the Bible regularly, you will at least have a general idea on the truth God speaks in it. You will know better where to search when testing what others say.

People can always make things sound good, true, and accurate. It can sound encouraging and honest. The best place to learn truth from though, is God. He wrote a very long love letter to you for that purpose. So that you could see the truth in how much He loves you. The Bible is there for you to find truth, whether it’s to test others or to simply find out for yourself. God is ready to answer any question you have, and He is ready to spend time with you today.

His Love Endures Forever

Psalm 136 is a very interesting chapter in the Bible. I recommend you go read it. It’s unique because there isn’t another chapter in the Bible that repeats a phrase as often as this one. The reminder that “His love endures forever” appears in all 26 verses of this chapter. Do you think that God might be trying to tell you something when He says it 26 times in a row?

It’s interesting to me as I read this chapter because I don’t usually read “His love endures forever” every single verse. I just read through the first line of each verse and note that phrase is in each one. It’s amazing how similar that is to my own life. I know that God’s love is there for me, every single day in every single situation, yet I don’t pay attention or focus on that. I focus on all of the other things that might be going on. This chapter encourages me because the entire thing is just a reminder of God’s love, and what He has done in history up to that point for His people.

It’s so easy to forget all that God has done in my own life. Unless I sit down and think about it, it doesn’t really ever cross my mind just how much He has impacted my life. Just how many struggles, hurts, pains, and addictions He has helped me to overcome. Writing a chapter like this for yourself is a great reminder you could read every day so you never forget just how much God loves you. Think back and go through all the victories God has given you, all the miracles He has worked in your life. You’ll be amazed when you stop and think about just how much He has done.

More importantly, never forget how much God loves you. Even if I mess up, God’s loves endures forever. Even when I give into sin, God’s love endures forever. Even when I make poor decisions, God’s love endures forever. Even when I turn away from Him, God’s love endures forever. Even when I’m selfish, prideful, envious, lustful, greedy, or angry, God’s love endures forever. And that fact is true for you as well. No matter what, God’s love for you endures forever.

Whatever You See Fit

Judges 17:6 says: “In those days Israel had no king; everyone did as they saw fit.” I found myself asking whether or not this is how I lived. What I mean by that, is whether or not I live with God as truly king in my life, or whether I just say He is and then just go on doing what I think is best. So often I don’t go to God and ask whether a decision I’m making is the right one. I just think it is a good idea and do it if I want.

That’s not how I should be living though. The Israelites continually turned away from God, doing whatever they felt like doing, and it always led to their persecution and eventual destruction as a nation. God cares about each and every choice we make. He wants to be involved in the decision making process, even if it’s something trivial. Something that seems small and insignificant could lead to something big later on down the road.

Right now is a great time to take a survey of all the areas of your life and see if you’re asking God for help in making decisions in each one. Are you seeking His guidance in financial decisions? Relational ones? Ones affecting school or work? Are you asking Him where He wants you to serve, or are you just serving where you most want to? The Israelites never thought they were making bad decisions. The NLT version says they did what was right in their own eyes. The problem with that, is that our own eyes are blinded by selfish desires and sin. God can see through all of that and tell us whether the choice we are making is actually good or not. Turn to God in every single situation, in every single decision. Make sure the King of your life approves what you’re doing, not just yourself.

Good Friday

Today is a wonderful day. It is even called “good” by nature. Today marks when Jesus died for me, for you, for everyone. It’s the day He took all of the judgment for our sins. It’s the day He took our rightful place, and saved us. He redeemed us so that we could spend an eternity in heaven with Him. It’s a day we call good Friday because it signifies the best gift anyone could ever receive.

Yet, what I always think of on Good Friday, is that on the original one, the day Jesus died, it wasn’t that good to everyone who was close to Him. To the disciples and His followers, it was a day they saw someone they believed in crucified. His family and friends saw Him die. This man that so many had put their hope in, was dead. People still didn’t realize what was happening until He came back from the dead three days later. All they saw that day was that He was crucified.

I see this so often in my own life. That I focus only on today, right now. I don’t look forward to how God might be using it for good. Despite the fact that He has used countless moments in my life that seem bad for something greater. When I’m actually in the midst of some kind of hurt, or pain, or struggle, I don’t see how there is anything good about it.

I want to encourage you today to focus on what God has done in your life already, especially those of you who might be dealing with some rough times. In the moment, it might never seem good. It might seem miserable, it might seem like God betrayed His promises to you, it might seem like the hurt will never go away, it might seem like nothing good could ever come from something so bad that is happening right now. If you’re in that spot, I want to challenge you to remember why good Friday is so good. It’s because God took something that, to all of the people on that day, seemed awful. In reality, it was God saving every single one of their lives by sacrificing His Son for us.

Maybe you’re in a moment that seems like there could never be anything good that could come from it, but God promises that He works all things together for good (Romans 8:28). God sees the whole picture, He saw the resurrection, and He sees your future and how the bad things can lead to amazing things. I know that I’ve seen that in my own life. So spend some time this weekend reflecting on what the Easter story means to you, personally. And most importantly, spend some time with God, thanking Him for the sacrifice He offered two thousand years ago.

Give What You Have

In the third chapter of Acts, the beginning of the chapter shows Peter healing a beggar who was lame from birth. In verse six, it says: “Then Peter said, ‘Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.’” There are two things that struck me as I read that verse today. The first made me consider what the beggar’s emotions might have been like. In verse five it says that the beggar is expecting Peter and John to give him something, then Peter immediately says I don’t have money for you. The man had his hopes up to receive money which he begged for every day, and they were immediately dashed when Peter says that’s not what he was going to get. Obviously the man received a much greater gift right after, but I imagine he was upset when Peter told him he wasn’t offering anything financial.

I can see this issue in my own life. Someone can offer to help me, or God can, but when it’s not the specific kind of help that I want, I get upset. There are times that I’ve asked God for a specific kind of help, but He ends up sending me another, greater blessing. I’m sad to say that I have scoffed at those blessings before because they were not exactly what I wanted. I might get upset because I need help with something, and God decides to bless me with prayer from a friend rather than the help I was wanting. How easy it is for me to get bothered because I “only” got some prayer.

That ties into the second thing I noted from verse six. Peter says “What I have, I give you.” We may not always be able to give people what they want or even need. You might not be financially, physically, mentally, timely, or in whatever other manner able to help someone. That doesn’t mean you can’t offer them the best gift of all: God. Whether it be in encouraging words, Scripture you know, or prayer, you can always help someone. I’ve found myself in the past saying “I wish I could do more than pray,” yet that is the absolute best thing we can do for people. Do not underestimate the power of prayer. It’s not the “only” thing you can do, it is the absolute best thing.