Monday, March 10, 2014

YOUR GOD


‘I WILL BE YOUR GOD’ :

HEBREWS 8:10 - …and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

When God says, “I will be your God,” that is a declaration that He will work miracles in your life. So if it is a miracle you need, it is a miracle you will get!

If there is a huge sea blocking the way to your blessing and God says, “I will be your God,” it means that He will open the sea for you so that you can receive your blessing.

If you are poor and God says, “I will be your God,” it means that you will be well-provided for. Since God fed nearly three million Israelites in the wilderness every single day for 40 years, you can be sure that God will provide for you too.

If you are sick and God says, “I will be your God,” it means that He is going to be “the Lord who heals you” (Exodus 15:26), and you will be healthy.

If you have incurred a huge debt and God says, “I will be your God,” it means that He will bring about a supernatural cancellation of your debt.

But not only did God say, “I will be their God,” He also said, “they shall be My people”.

To be God’s people means to be the protected ones. Not all on earth are God’s people—only we who are redeemed by the blood of Christ. During times of uncertainties, God says to you, “You shall be My people.” This means that you are protected from all pestilences, plagues, attacks and destruction.

Even when you hear people say that the economic crisis is coming, God says to you, “You shall be My people.” This means that you don’t have to worry or be anxious. The crisis will not affect you. Regardless of the situation in the world, you are protected and you will walk in the blessings of God.

God’s power comes into every challenge you face when He says to you, “I will be your God and you shall be My people.” You will experience the supernatural life. Your part is to believe what He declares and act like it is so!

TAKING THOUGHTS - OR NOT :

Matthew 6:31, "Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?"

The Greek word used here for "thought" is "merimnao" and denotes "to be anxious or careful". In this passage, as well as the parallel passage in Luke 12:22-32, Jesus is commanding us not to worry or be anxious about our material needs being met. It would be impossible to have no thought whatsoever about our physical needs. Even Jesus thought about His need for money to pay taxes (Mt. 17:24-27). We are simply not to be preoccupied with thinking about riches or spending our time worrying about necessities. These things will be added unto us as we seek first the Kingdom of God.

The way we take or receive an anxious thought is by speaking it. Doubtful thoughts will come, but we do not sin until we entertain them. According to this verse, speaking forth these thoughts is one way of entertaining them; therefore, don't speak forth these negative thoughts.

It is imperative that we watch the words we say. Begin to speak words in faith that line up with God's Word, then positive results will follow. If we speak words of doubt, we will eventually believe them and have the negative things that these words produce. There are no such things as "idle" words which will not work for or against us. Death or life is in the power of every word we speak (Prov. 18:21). Our words can be our most powerful weapon against the devil, or they can become a snare of the devil (Prov. 6:2).

Today watch your words. Speak only things that will express your faith, trust, and confidence in the Lord and not your fear about the situations you face.

WATCH YOUR LANGUAGE:

In a multitude of words transgression is not lacking, but he who restrains his lips is prudent. – Proverbs 10:19

We believers need to start watching our language! We need to quit throwing words around like they weren't important and start using them like our lives depended on it--because, according to the Word of God, they do! (Prov. 18:21).

Too many of us have what Proverbs 19:1 calls a perverted mouth. Having a perverted mouth means more than lying and using profanity. It means having a disobedient mouth. It means saying things that are out of line with the Word of God.

All of us have done that at one time or another. We'll say, for instance, that we're believing God for our healing and then we'll turn right around to someone and make a statement like, "This pain is about to kill me!"

That's perverted! It's backwards from what God's Word says.

"Oh well, I know I said that, but it's not really what I meant."

Listen, the world of the spirit doesn't operate on what you mean. It operates on what you say. Mark 11:23 tells us that "whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith."

Take note. That verse didn't say you shall have whatsoever you mean. It says you'll have what you say. It's what you say that counts.

Now, I'm not suggesting you should be tied up in knots all the time worrying about what your next phrase might be. Just use the wisdom God has given you. Train your mouth to be obedient to His Word. Then, when you need it most, you'll find that Word dwelling richly in you.

MAKE IT PERSONAL

Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. —Galatians 5:16

During my days as a teacher and coach at a Christian high school, I thoroughly enjoyed interacting with teenagers, trying to guide them to a purposeful, Christlike life—characterized by love for God and love for others. My goal was to prepare them to live for God throughout life. That would happen only as they made their faith a vital part of life through the help of the Holy Spirit. Those who didn’t follow Christ floundered after they left the influence of Christian teachers and parents.

This is demonstrated in the story of King Joash of Judah and his uncle Jehoiada. Jehoiada, a wise counselor, influenced Joash to live a God-honoring life (2 Chron. 24:11,14).

The problem was that Joash did not embrace an honorable life as his own. After Jehoiada died, King Joash “left the house of the LORD” (v.18) and began to worship in a pagan way. He turned and became so evil that he had Jehoiada’s son murdered (vv.20–22).

Having someone in our lives to guide us toward faith and Christlikeness can be good and helpful. Even better is getting to know the Lord ourselves and learning to rely on the Holy Spirit to be our guide (Gal. 5:16). That is making our faith personal.

Lord, thank You for the people in my life who
influence me toward following You. Help
me not to depend on them primarily—but to
depend on Your Holy Spirit to guide me.

The faith of others encourages; a faith of our own transforms.

 

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