Psalms 112:7 He shall not be afraid of bad news; his heart is fixed, trusting in Jehovah.
What happens to a person’s trust in God when we hear bad news? Maybe something that happens personally to us, or someone we care about? I have always believed that their is fantastic power in prayer. Prayer is our connection to God, a time we let our requests made known and it’s a time of praise. We must also remember that prayer is a time to quiet our hearts. It can give us strength and a renewed sense of peace during the most difficult times if we allow God’s spirit to move. When I go through difficult times, one word pops into my head……..trust.
There have been many times I have wanted to be in control over things that I could do nothing about, and in my mind I had to keep telling myself, ” Stop it! Trust God, he is in control.”
One of the hardest lessons to learn is to put all our trust in someone because we are not always sure of their intentions. Does that person really love me? Will that person hurt me later or use what I reveal about myself use it against me? Opening your heart and putting your complete trust and faith in someone is hard in this world. We want to place our trust in God but really letting go can be hard. If you were going to place your trust in someone in this world and have been hurt before, a natural reaction would be to question that persons true motives. So, when we struggle letting go and letting God, ask yourself the same questions.
Does GOD truly love me, does he have my best interests at heart?
Yes, he loves you. When he sent his son to die, so that you and I can have eternal life with him, what more proof could you ask for? God loves us, not because we drive a nice car, not because your handsome or pretty, not because of the job or material things, not because of the fame or authority you may have, not because of anything we did or could possibly do on this earth. We could never earn that love, God loves us because he chose to favor us. With that kind of love, there could be no ill will or intentions. He only wants for us to love him and each other as he loves us.
If I put my trust in him will he just disappoint me later?
No, God does not promise we will not go through hard times, but he always promises us that he will be there for us. We can lean on him, and allow him to give us peace because we know that he is in control.
God already knows more about you than you could possibly tell him. He knows your faults, your shortcomings and every tear you ever shed he was fully aware of. You can’t pretend with God, he knows your thoughts and your intentions before every move or thought you make. And you know what? He still loves you.
We know that bad news may come, it’s just life. But when we are worried or try to control things, it really doesn’t get us anywhere. God gives us opportunities to help each other and help ourselves, so we take care of what we can, and trust God to handle what is beyond our abilities.
We have to practice sometimes daily to tell ourselves to “Stop it, and just trust him.”‘
Some further study;
2 Samuel 22:3, Psalms 5:11, Psalms 9:10, Proverbs 3:5,
When we receive salvation through Jesus we are told through scriptures that we get a clean slate at that moment. No matter how sinful we lived we get to start anew. We do not have to feel guilty or burdened down with all the old skeletons, no matter how unworthy you may feel. Jesus died because he chose to lay down his life to be the last sacrifice in order that we may be saved. We are made perfect because we are forgiven, but that does not mean we never sin, or need to keep working on being a better Christian.
(John 3:17) For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but so that the world might be saved through Him.
When we walk daily with God, we are told that we are to be Christ-like. We are to be a glowing light for God in all we do and say. We were made in the image of God our Father, so do we daily reflect his image? (Gen 1:27)
Just as a parent with more than one child understands, each child acts and reacts differently to discipline, kindness, or their environment. It’s true for each Christian. We each are traveling spiritually at different levels. One Christian may grow closer to God because of hard times, while another pulls away. We as Christians have to stop comparing ourselves to each other spiritually or who’s sins seem worse. We are to build each other up so that we can all grow in God, but if we cannot examine and learn how to grow past some of our own sins, how can we help each other? (Matt 7:1-5)
One way to examine our own sins is to look openly and honestly at what sins or sin we seem to commit the most. Sure we could go through the multitude of even the smallest thought, but looking at our main struggles gives us something to start working on. For what I may be tempted by, to another person it may not bother them at all. What they may be tempted by, I wouldn’t necessarily be bothered. How we were raised, our environment, or what we were taught will reflect who we are as individuals. It also sets the stage as to how we view certain sins, some seem worse than others. To God regardless of our beliefs or any preconceived views of certain sins, it’s all still sin. We all struggle with sins, especially in a world that seems so far from God, daily through omission or commission those sins keep creeping in.
Each day when you get up in the morning, you have no plans to commit any sins and try to be what God wants you to be, yet by evening you may feel as though you had a bad day. Most Christians are riddled with guilt when they sin and say they will try harder tomorrow and it’s a revolving cycle. You try to please God, you sin, you feel guilt, you repent, and do the same thing day after day. The pattern keeps repeating and you never get past it, because you have to learn and grow past it spiritually.
We do have the ability to change our behaviors, so then we also have the ability to get rid of some of those repetitive sins. God knows we are not perfect, that we are sinful in the flesh and struggle in this world. God loves us and wants us to experience the joy of being a Christian. God does not want you to keep laying guilt trips on yourself, which doesn’t do any good. He wants you to grow spiritually and learn, so you can live with joy.
So how do we deal with the sins, and please God? First sit down and write a list of some things you know you need to work on. What are some of the things right now you may be struggling with? You may be able to start naming a few things as you’re reading this. Take time to pray and ask God to reveal those things that are not pleasing to him.
One thing I realized was when I name a sin of say pride, I find that there are many little sins that trail behind. Pride seems to have a lot of company or connections to other sins.
Here’s an example;
As a Christian we should be peacemakers, but sometimes arguments between a husband and wife just happen.
So, say you start arguing about something which is probably much of nothing in the first place. You both are frustrated or tired or having a hard day so you start taking it out on each other. For about a good 10 minute argument people sometimes feel the need to state their position no matter what and the old man creeps in. So you argue and get loud and make all kinds of mean faces at each other. You try to talk over each other thinking you will win the argument by getting louder. Maybe slamming things down on the table, waving your arms wildly like that will make some sort of a difference.
Now, how many times do you believe you may have sinned in just that 10 minutes alone? Some would say, “Well, I suppose I would be guilty of showing the sin of pride, that started it, or kept it going.”
Is that including what you were thinking while shouting to get your point across?
There is no doubt the sin of pride would probably be on the top of that list, but believe me, in 10 minutes alone there was more than one sin committed.
I personally would say, “Well, I showed pride….arrogance, rivalry, unrighteous anger, sarcasm, uncaring, unloving, vain, doubt, evil suspicions, little envy, sloth (spiritual laziness) etc… and throw in a slab of contempt.” In 10 minutes I accomplished all that! There were probably more in there but we’ll just stop with the short list.
Now, even though you stopped arguing, what feelings and thoughts are running through your mind the rest of the evening? “Well, he still doesn’t know what he’s talking about!” “He never listens to me!” And your thoughts are still leading you down the wrong road. Now, how many people ignore all those other sins, maybe because they don’t recognize them or choose not to believe they matter? They lay down their head on their pillow at night and ask God to forgive…what? Their pride. Forget about all the rest, God knows I’m a mess, so I’ll just stick with the main one right?
If pride is what keeps leading you into arguments, then pride is something that is a struggle for you and you may choose to focus on just that one.
Make a list of what you know is a struggle for you. Don’t get yourself overwhelmed with trying to work on everything, just start with one or two things. Ask someone you trust to give you their honest opinion of what they may see you need to work on.
It may be pride, envy, lust, judging others, gluttony (addictions), anger, resentment towards someone, whatever it may be. If for example it is pride, then find as many passages in scriptures about pride as you can.
What does God say about it?
What are some examples of pride in the Old or New Testaments? Learn from some of the tribulations and temptations that caused others to fall into pride.
Why is it so important for you to hang on to that pride? Is this something you always struggled with?
How would your life be different if you had control over that sin?
Sometimes it helps to write down occurences or temptations that causes you to sin. You can go back and read over each day or week, and try to objectively look at it if you were reading another Christians writings. What would you say to them? What ideas could you give them to help them to avoid repeating that same pattern?
Jesus understands what it means to be tempted. He understands that for us to be a light and live in this world we will have to learn to resist evil and temptations. Gods Word is a wonderful teacher, so trying to learn and grow past our weaknesses makes us stronger in our relationship to him.
(Romans 12:2) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, in order to prove by you what is that good and pleasing and perfect will of God.
Thinking and studying on the word Envy from the New Testament I thought I would write a little about it. Many people would not want to believe they are guilty of this sin, but in this day and age it is probably one of the hardest to keep from entering our lives or thoughts.
Think about this one seriously, we have all been guilty of it. We might be able to even come up with at least one person we know that has something we wouldn’t mind having. You may say, sure they drive a car I wouldn’t mind having but so what, that’s no big deal is it? Wanting to succeed in a job, or provide for your family there is nothing wrong with that. But if people place more value laying up their treasure with God more than what we try to accumulate, the world would be a happier place.
Matthew 6:19-21
(19) Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
(20) But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
(21) For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
A treasure is what we store up, or hold important and dear to us. If the things we are envious of is not of God, then as Jesus said, that is where your heart is.
The Greek meaning of envy is simple. Envy is jealousy, a self destructive measure in which ill will, spite or rivalry are a part of. Covet, Envy, Strife, Rivalry, Ill Will, Jealousy, seem to all be a part of each other and God calls every one a sin. But with each one of those you could add more and more sins on top of it, it would probably be a long list.
Covet- Is used differently many times and regarded as sin except in a few verses. In the New Testament for example in Corinthians, covet was a good thing. 1 Corinthians 12:31 – But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.
In this Greek meaning it is to desire, or be zealous. Here we are told to “earnestly desire”, which shows he is strongly suggesting we are to ask God for the best gifts, which will be a benefit to the Gospel. God wants us to keep our spiritual target about the things of God.
Envy is found many times in the Bible and has been used for everything from coveting a relationship, material wealth, even preaching the gospel. Philippians 1:15 - Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife; and some also from good will.
Paul does not say why, but mentions those who are preaching from envy are wanting to keep him in bondage. We could assume that they may have seen the work that was being done with the gospel or the growth of the early church, maybe even the status Paul was gaining and wished that for themselves. A few verses down the page, Paul said regardless if they were preaching it for ill will towards him or those preaching for good, as long as the gospel was being preached he was happy.
We know that we are told to love our neighbor, but you cannot truly love someone, if in your heart you may be jealous or have feelings of ill will. Some would never admit to being jealous openly, but you can just look around and see how many people are trying to ‘keep up with the Jone’s.’ Everyday you can pretty much witness envy or jealousy in one form or another, television, family or friends, workplaces…. it is so common some are not even ashamed to hide it.
Jealousy can come because they think someone has a better job, car, house, marriage, or jealous of a relationship. But when we are jealous or envious, if it isn’t the good things or desire for God, then we are doing more harm to ourselves in so many ways and we are sinning against God. Instead of trusting God we are jealous for things that may not be good for us or in God’s will.
Jealousy can cause a person to be angry and even hurtful to the person they are targeting, or even their own family who got caught up in the crossfire. You see what someone else has and get angry at your spouse for not making more money to buy those things. You may not say to your spouse you are upset that you can’t buy more things, but through your actions or words, trust me, they feel the heat. Now, because of the envy you have an attitude with your family…and now your relationships are effected. It causes stress and discord in your own heart and reflects on everyone around you.
If someone is jealous of you, you can talk to them about some of the great things about their life. Pray for them and in love give them scripture to help focus their attention on being content with what God has provided for each one of us right now.
God knows what we need, but our desires should be for a better relationship to him. Our desires should be for spiritual growth, for helping others and being glad for our Christian friends who do well. God blesses us everyday and gives to each of us as he wills and in due time. As a Christian each one of us has different needs and that includes spiritually. God does not give us all the same things. Remember we are Christians for God’s will, not our own. We are servants, we were bought with a price.
1 Timothy 6:6-11
(6) But godliness with contentment is great gain.
(7) For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out.
(8) And having food and raiment let us be therewith content.
(9) But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition.
(10) For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.
(11) But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness.
Be content with what you have trusting and have faith in God, allow God to lead.
Study;
Proverbs 23:17, Mark 15:10, Acts 7:9, Luke 22:24, Romans 13:13, 1 Corinthians 3:3, James 3:14-16
Out on a hot summer day in the park, I sat down in the shade under a tree, waiting for husband to return from the car after forgetting his camera. I could feel a slight breeze, except with the latest heat wave we have been having it felt more like putting your face in front of the heater, than any actual relief. I watched the little kids play in the fountain, laughing and giggling cooling off with the water spraying down in mists. As much as I would have loved to go over there and giggle and look crazy jumping through the fountain, I decided to casually walk by to catch a little of that mist. It’s a little toasty when it’s 95 degrees and you are use to a mild 76. I simply walked by drinking my bottled water and …..oh boy that mist laying over my shoulders felt good…enough to get a smile out of me. So after another quick walk by, I went to return back to my shaded spot and realized it was now taken. Okay, I got a little mist which felt great, but now I am sitting out in the hot sun, in which all this great mist I just got will quickly dry up and I will be then be in a worse position looking for more shade.
I have been praying to God over this situation I have found myself in.
I have been praying to God about someone who is a friend, and relation, not by blood, but being about the same age we have grown up over the years and kept in touch by phone. We have always been states away, but kept in contact weekly.
Before I was a Christian I didn’t realize how empty my life was. I would go out dancing at the clubs, drink a few on Saturday night and generally figured I would get around to God, sometime… My friend was the same way, not real sure which one of us was worse in our behaviors, but that was a long time ago. Now, years later and being a Christian, I find myself trying daily to grow in God’s Word and deepen my relationship to him. I believe that it’s not only a way to spiritually grow, it’s a good life to have when God is in it. My dear friend says she loves God, and has been to church off and on and maybe an occasional reading of the scriptures. Although she doesn’t live quite the way she used either, she continues to hold onto some of the old habits and has no intention of letting them go. She tries to justify those things, and feels she can live as worldly as she deems and have God. Even gets angry at God if things are not right for her and expects to be blessed, even when her actions or words goes against God.
Now, you know I could write a book on those last two sentences alone.
I don’t want to sound judgmental, she can live however she sees fit. But if she is sinning purposely on Saturday and witnessing on Sunday and talking to me about God, I feel almost offended, because I love God so much and respect him.
No one is perfect and we all sin, but to love God is to strive to be in his grace. Daily, we should want to please God and ‘put off the old man.’ We don’t need to live like we use to because we found a more joyful and fulfilling way to live in Christ. If we continually sin on purpose, or do the things we know are against God, then how can we expect God to be pleased? As a Christian I can only show with love, what the scriptures say and pray for her and try not to sound judgmental. But I have found sometimes it to be a struggle even for me to not fall into my old suit. Sometimes to not offend her I have laughed at some of the jokes that may not be appropriate as a Christian. She chooses to stay right where she is in her relationship and has said so. I wish to grow, and I really don’t want to offend, or lose a friend, but it’s hindering my growth as a Christian.
Going to the park and waiting on my husband gave me time to understand what I should do. Just like watching the children laughing and playing in the fountain, it was like the old me, doing things I use to do as a child before I knew God. The heat is like when the pressure is on, you just take what seems to be the easy way out. Instead of standing tall in your faith and God’s words, you allow yourself to get a little wet. So you bend a little and find yourself acting a little like the old man, and then go to return, and find yourself worse off than before you decided to bend. All that work of finding that shade tree in the first place…and now you have to do it all again. All that growing you have been doing and learning, you were progressing and taking steps forward, you fell back a few steps. You realize that even though a little dip in the water seemed harmless, it caused you to lose the shade. Now God understands we are not perfect. But if God was testing me to see if the salt was still strong in flavor, I fail every single time I am willing to bend. Who is first in my life, and who I am willing to offend? The world, or God? I realize more and more that being a Christian, even though you may think it’s okay to bend now and then you really are defeating who you are as a Christian. You cannot grow tall if you keep bending over. We are to stand firm, stand tall, even if unpopular, even if it’s a friend. We are to be a light, and if we are strong in our faith and our love for Jesus Christ, then we may be able to ‘light’ the way for others. If we are truly God’s child, then we should always try to reflect our Father.
Matthew 5:13-16 - “You are the salt of the earth, but if the salt loses its savor, with what shall it be salted? It is no longer good for anything, but to be thrown out and to be trodden underfoot by men. (14) You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. (15) Nor do men light a lamp and put it under the grain-measure, but on a lampstand. And it gives light to all who are in the house. (16) Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.”
