It's always best when God is in control

The story of King David comes to mind... He started out as a humble follower of God and His ways and stood up against evil and oppression against the people of God. God used David in a big way to restore God's hope and freedom to His people.

Later in life though, when King David was rich and powerful he decided that he was in control and didn't need God's wisdom, God's protection, or God's ways and chose to take the wife of another man - a faithful soldier in David's army - sleep with her, get her pregnant then plan and execute the murder of her husband to cover his tracks.

The end result was that the child born from that night of lust was cursed to die by David's own doing and very poor choices. This scarred and weakened David for the rest of his life and effected all of his decisions going forward. David was truly repentant and was completely forgiven by God but the damage was done and could not be reversed.

The example here is that when we decide we don't need God and "take control" of our lives it inevitablely ends in disaster.

Let God be God, because we don't fit the role well at all.

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:5 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/jhn.15.5.ESV

Living to please the opinions of others is trap...

The fear of man lays a snare, but whoever trusts in the Lord is safe.

Proverbs 29:25 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/pro.29.25.ESV

It's one or the other. You either live by the opinions and seeking the approval of mankind - or by the ways of God and seeking to please Him.

The two are opposed to each other so you cannot live both ways - you must choose.

It's either live in the ways of this world and in seeking to please it's unseen rulers that supply it's power, pleasure and riches - or you bow the knee to the One True King of all whose name is Jesus and be part of the eternal kingdom that He is building.

On one hand is death, and the other is life. The choice is yours alone...

Disciple: Radical (Official Audio)

Till the day I die... I'll be a radical for Jesus!

Why?

Because God The Father loves me in a radical earth changing way - so much that He sent His only Son Jesus to die in my place and for my sins.

Because Jesus saved me with His sacrificial death on the cross for in an absolutely amazingly radical way.

Because The Holy Spirit now lives inside of me and constantly changes me radically to be more and more like Jesus every single day.

We reap what we sow...

Whether you believe it or not makes no difference at all. There are spiritual laws  put in place by God himself much like the laws of gravity and thermodynamics  in our galaxy which cannot be bent or broken.

One of those laws is "you get what you give" or "you reap what you sow".

If we build a life of selfishness, greed, deceit, violence and sin - we will only end up with a result of corruption, death  and eternal separation from God in hell.

If we choose to build a life on Jesus - The Rock of God - and His ways we are promised peace, hope, relationship with God and a guaranteed final destination in Heaven with Him.

The choice is up to us alone. Choose life or death. There is no halfway.

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.

Galatians 6:7 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/gal.6.7.ESV

When weakness is strength...

A truly powerful lesson to learn while also an equally difficult one at the same time. To learn that our weakness enables the power of Jesus Christ the anointed of God to be enabled in our lives is both an incredible paradox and an amazing opportunity for us to be used for God's kingdom and glory. In all honesty, none of us enjoy or seek for weakness, pain, suffering, abuse and persecution but it is in these painful times that God can really shine His power through us for His purposes.

In these undesirably testing times of pain we can either dig our heels in with pride - or we can quietly humble ourselves before our maker accepting our weaknesses for what they are and offer them up as opportunities for His purposes.

God has the absolutely uncanny and unfathomably amazing power to use our most painful weaknesses to highlight and showcase His immeasurable grace, mercy, power, peace and hope.

Trust in Him. He knows what He is doing and is the best place to put your pain.

But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:9‭-‬10 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/2co.12.9-10.ESV

Justice, Mercy, Humilty

God is looking for humble, merciful followers who stand up for what is right and stand against what is wrong.

He doesn't need our ambition, it just gets in the way of what He needs to make in and from us. Our ambition is nothing but rocks in the clay that the master must remove before He can shape us into something useful and valuable.

He wants us to have hearts that care for others and not only for ourselves - to extend mercy to others who wrong us because we are all corrupted beings prone to sin by default.

He also wants us to be people that call out right and wrong - not people who are compromised by this worlds ideals or the peer pressure of the crowd. Jesus wants us to be people that remove ourselves from evil not join in or enable it.

Jesus said "that if salt has lost its savour then it is as useful as dirt". Jesus wants us to be salt and light in this dark world - not dirt and fog.

Justice, Mercy, Humilty.

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

Micah 6:8 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/mic.6.8.ESV

True Strength

In the battles that are waged of unseen worlds between good and evil, our physical strength has no bearing on the outcome. Our reputation held amongst other lowly humans, our lofty stature, our wealth, our health or any other physical quality won't aid the battle at all.

The only factor that turns the tide of battle in the spiritual war between good and evil is our faith and loyalty to the True King, Jesus the Saviour of the World.

It is in simple obedience to what He says in His Word and to us through the Holy Spirit combined with the quiet submission to the reality that He is all powerful, all knowing and that His character will not and cannot ever be changed - that these battles are won.

We do not win the battles. The battle always belongs to the Lord. It is only when we submit to and rely on his impenetrable fortress of strength that we share in the victory as humble soldiers of His Kingdom.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

Ephesians 6:10 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/eph.6.10.ESV

True Wisdom begins with simple obedience to God's ways

To gain and walk in true wisdom, first we must admit that we are nothing more than humble, mortal, corrupted and frail creations of God - desperately in need of His guidance, His provision, and His protection every single day. It is that realisation that we are nothing without God and His amazing mercy and grace.

We must accept that He is God and we are not. This is the true meaning of "fearing the Lord". The word "Lord" simply means "ruler" or the "one who holds power and control". If we are lord of our life then God is not. If we call the shots, then He doesn't. It's as simple and as blunt as that.

There is no halfway. Either God is the Lord of your life - or you are. You can't have two rulers of your life.

If you wish to gain true wisdom, then the very first step is to relinquish your lordship and your own selfish control of your life and completely surrender your identity, destiny and plans to God. It is then and only then that true Wisdom from God is born in your heart.

God promises to guide your life and all that is in it and will never ever fail you.

Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord , and turn away from evil.

Proverbs 3:7 ESV

https://bible.com/bible/59/pro.3.7.ESV

Crushing Snakes (If God is for us, who can be against us?)

An absolutely awesome song about the True King - Jesus, His power that reigns above all, and how His children can stand against anything because our King stands with us.

What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?

Romans 8:31

The righteous are bold as a lion...

Proverbs 28:1 (ESV)

The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

The righteous are bold as a lion - not because THEY are strong, rich, powerful, attractive or accepted by many - the righteous are bold as a Lion because they believe in and rely in the Truth of who Jesus is - The True King of all. The Lion of the tribe of Judah against who none can oppose.

They are bold because their righteousness is not their own but comes from their faith in Jesus and His complete work of redemption on the cross and the empty tomb.

They are bold because what and who they rely and build their life on is not from this world of shifting sands but is the rock that is Jesus Christ - which can never be moved, changed or assaulted.