Whatever may be your task, work at it heartily (from the soul), as [something done] for the Lord and not for men, Knowing [with all certainty] that it is from the Lord [and not from men] that you will receive the inheritance which is your [real] reward. [The One Whom] you are actually serving [is] the Lord Christ (the Messiah).
— Colossians 3:23-24

For instance, look at verse 16 and 17:
“He reached down from on high and took hold of me;
he drew me out of deep waters.
He rescued me from my powerful enemy,
from my foes, who were too strong for me.”

There has been several times in my life where I feel like this is exactly what God did for me. But when I read “He drew me out of deep waters”, it makes me think of Peter and his episode in Matthew 14. Jesus and the disciples had just finished a busy day: they were out in the countryside with a very large crowd at their hands. Jesus had just fed them spiritually, with His words but then He turns and asks the disciples to do something unheard of: feed them! The bible states that there were about 5000 men present, only men, so the crowd estimate could have easily been above 10,000 when the women and children are added. How would you feel if Jesus told you to feed 10,000 people out in the middle of nowhere? But Jesus used that event to teach the disciples that through Him, all things are possible. And in that teaching, the disciples faith was (or should have been) increased. It was an amazing, miraculous miracle that happened not only right in front of them but through them. (Verse 19 says that Jesus initially took and blessed the bread and then gave it to the disciples to feed the people.) So the multiplication happened right in their very own hands!

Right after this incredible feat, Jesus tells the disciples to get in the boat by themselves–He’ll meet them on the other side later. Jesus went off to pray but since the lake is surrounded by tall hills, he could easily keep an eye on them. As you continue to read the rest of the story, you’ll see how the apostles find themselves in a terrible storm and are very afraid. (These are seasoned sailors so it must have been pretty bad…) Jesus comes to them in the middle of the night but Peter mistakenly thinks Jesus is a ghost. So here is where we pick up the rest of the story:

“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”

Several things go on at once here:
1. Peter impetuously challenges Jesus to help him walk on water toward Jesus. Perhaps he had just enough faith to make such a bold statement. But…

2. When Peter starts out, he starts looking around and he became afraid. So we see that his fear, whether real or unreal, killed his faith. His doubts overwhelmed any measure of faith that he had put out there.

3. Jesus, in love and compassion, reaches out to save Peter. We don’t know if that was an arms-reach away or 50 feet away. But distance really doesn’t matter–Jesus could have been 300 feet away and still He would be able to intervene and save Peter. Isaiah 59:1 says, “Surely the arm of the Lord is not too short to save, nor his ear too dull to hear.” Nothing is too difficult for God! That in and of itself should make our faith skyrocket.

4. Jesus didn’t rebuke Peter for not having any faith. Romans 12:3 says that God has given every man a measure of faith. So, it’s there–we all have faith! He rebukes Peter for not remembering how Jesus and the gang had only hours before did the miraculous by feeding 5,000+ people. Peter had not allowed that event to build up his faith. So now Jesus was rebuking Peter for his diminished faith–it had been diminished because of fear and doubt.

Which leads me back to Psalm 18:17 which says: “He rescued me from my powerful enemy, from my foes, who were too strong for me.” Sometimes our biggest foe is our own doubts and fears. They can kill our faith, if we allow them to. But even through that, as it says in this verse, God can rescue us from that. At one point in Luke 17, disciples realized that they needed help with their faith and said, “Lord! Increase our faith!” And supernaturally, He can and will.

But God wants us to be an active participant in that process, too. He uses events in our lives to show us that God will take care of us. Through those events, He wants us to learn and remember that God takes care of us, if we allow Him to. And that’s, in effect, what He was saying to Peter-”Remember what we’ve done! Don’t forget what I’ve previously done in your life! Even if it was only yesterday (in Peter’s case)!” God wants us to not just cast aside those periods in our life where God miraculously provided or came through–we need to constantly remember what He has done for us so that we can be continuously thankful AND we can increase our faith in Him.

And through God and us working together, our faith increases. That’s really important if we are called to do the impossible. But aren’t we all called to do the impossible? In Mark 16:15, Jesus gives ALL OF US the command to go into all the world and preach the good news and…”…these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.” On my own, I certainly can’t cast out demons and heal the sick. Sounds pretty impossible to me! But with God I can, but I’ve got to believe and have faith in both God and in Him working through me.

Father, increase our faith! Help us to constantly remember and be thankful for all those times that you have stepped in and delivered us! Help us to completely trust you for all things including the impossible things. Let us see with your eyes. Open the eyes of my heart more and more to You and your ways. Let me walk in your Spirit today and hide me in you. Thank you Lord!

10Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

I think verse 10 is interesting because it was written after David had sinned. He had failed God–he had failed to follow His ways. You can read how (in other parts of the OT) how he was repentant toward God but this verse is interesting because it shows that only God can create a pure heart in a person. Granted the person has to cooperate and partner with God in doing it but only God has the power to forgive and cleanse a person.

In the past, I’ve had times where I try to think of all the times that I’ve sinned and prayed for God’s forgiveness. But the truth is-when will it ever be enough? What if I missed that one thing that I did back there in 1997? My efforts will never be enough. I believe it’s a real supernatural–beyond the physical, natural world that we live in–miracle that God can cleanse us and purify us from our past. Only God can see all the things that hinder us or hold us back from truly walking in what God has for us. So instead of sweating about our deficiencies, God has made a beautiful system where we don’t have to worry about it: by giving our whole heart to Him, trusting Him with everything, He can show us whatever needs to be dealt with, we give it to him  and HE cleans us up. I don’t have to sweat about it. God is amazing because He always makes a way for us and He helps us every step of the way. He never just throws the book at us and says “you’ll figure it out!”. From the simple little things to the hard, heartwrenching things, He helps us and wants to hold our hands every step of the way.

And it gets better. He not only cleans us up and purifies us, He helps us grow and helps us go to the next level with Him. Verse 12 asks, “Grant me a willing spirit…” David is asking for God to give him a spirit which is totally open and obedient to God: willing to do whatever it takes to follow after Him. David needs help and he knows that God has everything, absolutely everything that is needed not only for life but what is needed to pursue God completely. All David has to do is to believe, trust, love God and ask Him for his help. Isn’t that amazing that God can even help us with our heart motives.

The asking is extremely important. James 4:2 says that we do not have because we haven’t asked. The simple act of asking God for help is admitting that we can’t or don’t want to, do this on our own. We desire God’s help. And that’s exactly the heart motive and action that He loves to see from us. By asking, we are taking God’s hand and walking with Him in this journey. From little things to major things, He loves to walk with us, show us where to go, and provide what we need. Once again, He never leaves us as orphans.

I think it’s also important to notice verse 15, “O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.” It’s vitally important for us to open our lips and praise God. Praise is critical in our relationship with God. It takes us into the throneroom of God–right to where he lives. For most of us, praise is easier to do with music, but however we choose to do it, it’s critical for our well being (spiritually, mentally, and physically) to open our mouths and to praise Him–to be thankful for all (and there’s SO much) that He has done for us. It brings us into God’s presence and praise has incredible power in the spiritual realm. It not only lifts our spirits (and emotions) but changes this world that we live in. It causes God to open doors for us and to take us to the next level with Him.

But dealing with praise is a whole other blog to write about.

I’m just so thankful that God makes a way and helps us in every little aspect of our walk with Him. He has never left us or forsaken us. With God all things are possible.

Thank you Holy Spirit!

Like many of you, I come from a background that strongly believes in the work ethic: if I just work harder and smarter, things will get better, whether that’s my relationship with God or ministry activities. And it’s true that God wants us to give him our best but that can be deceptive. If we live our life based on that premise, several problems arise from that. We end up doing this Christian walk in our own strength. It becomes totally our own effort. And the more I understand about God, the more I realize that is totally wrong. God never meant for this to be under our own effort. When we do it ourselves, we get tired, weary, in danger of bitterness from not seeing the results that we think should happen and possibly burnout. The irony of it all is that if we do it all with our own effort, it quite possibly is small and puny compared to what God can do. I’m just a little person without God–anything that I do on my own will be of limited knowledge compared to what God can do with His unlimited knowledge and wisdom. Furthermore, if I do it all under my own efforts, it demeans my relationship with God to a “work performance” level: if I work hard enough, do good enough–then He’ll love me even more. Again, that’s totally NOT what God had in mind. God doesn’t work that way. The truth is that God loves me wholly, completely and unconditionally. His perfect love casts out all fear-casts out all fear of Him rejecting me at some arbitrary moment. He loves me no matter what I do or not do.

But the real issue is this: we can NEVER be perfect. NEVER. There was only one perfect person on this earth and that was Jesus. Again, God wants us to give Him our best but we’re human–we make mistakes all the time! Because we are people we have limited wisdom, limited knowledge of what’s really going on around us. Like I said yesterday, I can only see such a limited view of this world and the situation around me. It’s like looking at life through a pinhole in a paper–really limited and narrow.

That being said and established, although we cannot work to win the love and approval of God, there are ways, things that we can do, to know God better, get closer to Him, understand how his Ways are. It’s like entering into a huge, vast room-it’s a given that we are at the entrance. We’ve arrived! But there are things that we can do to enter deeper into the room–to know where to go and how to get to the next step.

In order to go deeper, God has not called us to do this on our own. He has not left us as orphans–here on this earth to figure it out on our own. He has called us to walk in the Spirit. Why? Because the Holy Spirit has unlimited wisdom, unlimited knowledge of everything that affects our lives, unlimited knowledge of how the Kingdom of God works and how that working affects us and our lives. And the thing that excites me the most is that the Holy Spirit is here to help us in our relationship with Christ. He is here to help us do whatever it takes to throw off everything that hinders us in order to keep our eyes fixed and focused on Him. We are NOT in this alone. God loves us so much that He has created a system where every little thing He has called us to do in our lives, He gives us a helper-the Holy Spirit. That’s a real comfort to me when I start thinking, “man, sometimes, this just seems hard–hard to change my thinking patterns, hard to be strong, hard to be good all the time! What should I do next?”

Galatians 5: 16-26 says to walk in the Spirit meaning to walk everyday, throughout the day, in the Spirit. That means to have our focus throughout the day on the Holy Spirit-opening our spirit to His Spirit throughout the day. In order to do that, it may mean reading your bible during the day, stopping what your are doing to pray for a few moments, singing a few praise songs, meditating on your favorite scripture or focusing on a new verse. Whatever that looks like for you-whatever it takes to get your focus on God, how great He really is and to praise him.

What happens when we do that? By focusing on Him, instead of our problem, He lifts us up above the problem or the boredom or the distraction. HE does it. All because we open our spirit to Him and allow Him to do it instead of ourselves and our little efforts. That’s a really powerful thing that God has provided for us!

And it gives us strength so we won’t get tired. It says in Isaiah 40:31, “but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” It’s His strength is us. And what happens when we are filled with His strength? “I can do everything (all things) through Him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13).

But the greatest thing here is that HE is doing it in and through us, if we allow him to. That takes the burden off us! What a beautiful thing it is that God helps us in EVERYTHING that we do. He even helps us worship Him and follow Him!

You’ve heard it said a million times that God has a plan and purpose for each of us. Even more deeper than that, God has a plan, a unique plan (not a cookie-cutter stamp) for each of us and for each of our situations. That means with every little thing in our lives,  He has a plan. So if you don’t know what to do with that stressful family situation, or car problems, or how to witness to someone, or if you should spend your money on this gadget or WHATEVER, He has a plan for it. We just need to ask Him and seek Him out for it!

I’m so thankful that God loves us so much that He helps us at every little turn, every step in our walk with him. He even helps us with our relationship with Him!

Thank you Lord! We love you!

As far fetched as it may seem, I see some of that scenario going on in John 8. It’s a long chapter with a lot of activity going on in it. In the first section, there’s a “Spy Games” type situation going on: the religious leaders of the day intentionally set a trap for Jesus, trying to catch him in his words and use that to remove him from public view. But, it didn’t work–Jesus was far smarter than they AND He showed them/us that compassion and forgiveness should always have priority when upholding the law.

And the rest of John 8 is like that: the Pharisees obnoxiously, without any respect, come point blank to Jesus and fire off what they really think about Him. They certainly didn’t mince any words. But Jesus, even when He is stern in his answers, is still full of compassion toward them and wants them to understand the True Way.

That’s amazing to me to see because quite frankly, if I were Jesus, I would have become fed up with them and their haughty ways and probably either mouthed off to them and/or brought some kind of Sodom and Gomorrah type judgement on them. The fireworks involved would have made for a great show and it would have made for a great statement of who I really was. Be done with them once and for all! But all this is reason number one why I’m not God and not in charge. (That’s a good thing for all the rest of us!)

Jesus and God the Father are way better than that and I think about that for my own little life. I’ve messed up plenty of times and at certain points, have blamed Him for not being what I thought He should be. Isn’t that what the Pharisees and religious folks of the day were doing to Jesus? For hundreds of years in their Jewish culture and religion, they’ve been taught to be on the lookout for “the Messiah”–one day He’ll come to rescue us and deliver us! It will be a great day for Israel and each one of our personal lives! And finally that day came when Jesus appeared on the earth. But it didn’t look like what they thought it should look like. It didn’t fit their preconceived ideas about what a Messiah would look like. So instead of changing their thinking patterns and mindsets, they decided to cast the blame on Jesus and get rid of Him. He did not fit their mold so it would be easier for them to dismiss Him and at the same time, try to get rid of the convicting power of His words. The power of the Holy Spirit was stirring up their hearts so in order to deal with all those feelings and thoughts, they decided to get rid of the most obvious problem: Jesus. They TOTALLY missed it!

How many times in the past have we tried to do that? How many times have we tried to ignore God’s words and instead blame God and tried to get rid of Him in our lives? All because He didn’t do it like we thought He should.

But here’s the beauty of it all: Jesus has love and compassion for us and still wants us to accept and know the truth. So He doesn’t give up on us: just like in all of John 8, He keeps putting the Truth out there-in hopes that someone “gets it” and at least goes home to think about it and hopefully change their heart. But that’s certainly not what they deserved! And when I’ve done that, God’s compassion and patience is certainly not what I deserve either! So whether the Truth is basic stuff like salvation or more complicated stuff like the deeper truths of how God’s Kingdom works, He still is so merciful and patient with us. He keeps on putting it out there until we get it. We have a LOT to be grateful for!

All this reminds me not only of how grateful and thankful I should be but also that I should be patient and compassionate toward those who don’t act Christ-like and don’t meet my expectations. Jesus was so good to me and I need to be just as patient and compassionate toward others as He was toward me. Sometimes that’s hard to do especially if the people are rude and in your face, like the Pharisees were to Jesus. But if I can’t do it, all I have to do is admit it to God and ask Him to help me. Ask Him for His grace and His unconditional love to fill my heart so that I can give it out–not to hoard it. It’s really an amazing system when you think about it. God can do so much for us, if we just trust Him and allow him. It’s too bad the Pharisees didn’t figure that out!

Yesterday I touched on the subject of the role of the Holy Spirit–that He is the Comforter and Guide for us. As I think about that even more, I read Romans 8:5 and 6 which read: “5Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. 6The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace…” What a GIFT the Holy Spirit is! I’m so thankful that Father God has given us such a valuable gift as life and peace to our minds! Gone are the days of tormenting thoughts! Gone are the days of inner turmoil! Gone are the days of lack of peace! Without the Holy Spirit in our lives, that 6″ space between our ears can create all sorts of havoc in our personal lives. Without us choosing to give our minds to Christ and the Holy Spirit, our minds can be in bondage to so much unhappiness.

My thoughts about all this were confirmed today as I read Joyce Meyer’s devotional which reads, “ For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace. — 1 Corinthians 14:33 (KJV) When you trust God, you can relax and enjoy life. You don’t have to go through life worrying and trying to figure out how to solve all your problems. Think about all the things you have worried about in your life and how they have all worked out [because of God's intervention]. That ought to help you realize that worry and reasoning are a waste of time and energy. Stop worrying. Stop complicating your life by trying to figure out everything. Just admit that you don’t know, that you are not able, that you need God. Then go on living, and enjoy life while God is giving you the answers. ~ Joyce Meyer”

Even rereading Romans 8:6 in the Ampilified version confirms what she has pointed out: “⁶Now the mind of the flesh [which is sense and reason without the Holy Spirit] is death [death that comprises all the miseries arising from sin, both here and hereafter]. But the mind of the [Holy] Spirit is life and [soul] peace [both now and forever].” I heard a minister once tell me–God did not call us to reason things out (in our minds). To reason things out is to try with all our best efforts, to figure things out, to make sense of them and come to a logical conclusion about the situation. But nowhere in the Bible did call call us to do that! And here in the Amplified Bible, reasoning without the Holy Spirit is called the “mind of the flesh” which leads to death. What a contrast! Death vs Life and it all happens in our mind!

God has blessed us with a complicated brain. But because of life circumstances, each of us has developed a thought system based on our life experiences. So for many of us, it’s hard to not constantly reason things out. But as we allow God to transform our minds and our thinking patterns and stop trying to “figure it all out”, look at the results: life and peace-both now and forever! PEACE!

Jesus said that He came to give us life and life abundantly. There are SO many people in this world, all over the globe, regardless of the country/culture that they live in, who do NOT experience peace in their lives. They are plagued by terrible, tormenting thoughts which constantly bring confusion and agony to their lives. They are in bondage. Jesus said He came to set the prisoner FREE! What a gift we have! Peace, joy and lack of confusion! All because of what Jesus did on the cross and the gift of the Holy Spirit! I am so thankful for that!

We have this beautiful gift in our lives and now we need to share that gift. So many people are hurting in this world and we have this gift that we need to share and show others. They need that gift, they hunger for that gift, they are dying for that gift. People are absolutely deperate for that peace in their circumstances. Let’s “go out into all the world” and be gift givers not just this Christmas, but throughout our lives!

Father, break our hearts for the lost and the hurting today! Help us to see them as you see them. Help us to remember where we have come from, how you have changed us, and that others need to know that peace and joy in their lives. Thank you Lord!

As Americans, we have been raised to live the American Dream: a big house, 2 cars, and 1.5 kids. Personal comfort is goal #1. He with the most toys, wins. If anything, “sacrifice” is a bad word. Not many Christians like to focus on that word because it might bring discomfort into our little world.

But Jesus said that when we accept Him into our lives, we become citizens of another world. (We didn’t know that when we signed up, did we?) And as physical flesh and blood people, sometimes that is hard for us to envision. But it’s true. There is another dimension, another universe that we are now part of because of our decision to follow Him. It’s true that there is a whole other spiritual world that not only do we have access to but that God calls us to make the decision to be part of, everyday.

Romans 12:1, 2 says, “1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. 2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Recently, I’ve talked about transforming our minds so that we think pure and holy thoughts. We’ve had discussions that ask, “what are you thinking about?” so that we can pinpoint when we think those negative, ungodly thoughts and cast them down and replace them with God’s truth. And all that is absolutely vital and necessary and is something I believe we should do everyday. But let’s go one step further with Romans 12.

The author talks about offering our bodies as living sacrifices and then the next sentence continues on about our minds being transformed. That’s no accident. Since we, as Christ followers, are part of a whole other kingdom, the Kingdom of God, I believe it will take some sacrificial thinking on our parts to understand, bit by bit, the fullness, vastness, and richness of the Kingdom of God. The more I understand about God’s Kingdom and the spiritual realm, the more I realize that I often need to sacrifice my thinking patterns regarding anything about this physical world that we live in versus the spiritual kingdom that God calls us to walk in everyday. In other words, I live here on this physical earth and I can see and touch the things that run this world: the policeman on the corner, the stop lights and traffic rules, my workplace and the authority structure there, the paycheck that I receive every payday. Those are all tangible things for me. But sometimes it’s a challenge for me to place my faith in something that I can’t see: God’s Kingdom and His authority structure. The enemy would love for me to not believe in any of God’s ways simply because I can’t see them with my physical eyes. And sometimes my own thinking patterns work against me understanding how God and His vast kingdom work. And so I have to sacrifice my own thinking pattern in order for me to get past those things that stop me from understanding how God and his authority and Kingdom really work. And as I begin to understand the deeper things of God, I realize how vast and huge He and his Kingdom really is. It says in the bible that God places kings and rulers in their positions–in other words, nothing that happens on this physical world escapes God’s view and, even more than that, He is in control of everything. So if that is true, that means that God’s Kingdom supercedes or is above this earthly realm that we live in. As such, I think we should try our best to understand that kingdom and how it works, especially since God has called us to be active kings and priests in that dimension. Our job description is to bring heaven onto earth every day. And if I have thoughts and thinking patterns that interfere with that understanding and executing my job here on earth, then I need to sacrifice it. I then become a living sacrifice for God. It says in 2 Corinthians 10:5, “We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.”

We need to do this sacrificial act very carefully, though. That’s one of the reasons that Jesus left the Comforter, the Holy Spirit with us. It is the job of the Holy Spirit to guide us and lead us. He’ll make it clear what parts of our lives and/or thinking patterns need to be changed. Comforter is a good name for Him since it comforts me to know that I’m not in this game alone. He is there to show me what to do, how to do it, and when to do it. He’s the One doing the directing and calling the shots. I just need to sit back and obey when my number is called up. That takes a lot of pressure off me! So under His leading, we can be living sacrifices with transformed minds to understand and be part of God’s kingdom–transformed lives and minds that are freely able and willing to bring heaven on earth.

It reads:

1God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
2Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.       Selah

4There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells.
5God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
6Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.       Selah

8Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
9He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields with fire. 10“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth.” 11The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.       Selah

Just think about it: this psalm was written several thousands of years ago by a “temple assistant” which in today’s terms means a church staff member-for the minister of music. So this is a worship song! I love it that God loves worship music and songs so much that although this was written by a “no name”, an unknown person of no noteriety (unlike King David–who wrote most of the psalms), God managed to have this particular song kept alive and available for the bible writers (hundreds of years later) to include for us to read now in the 21st century. How great is that! What a fantastic God we serve!

This song, although written so very long ago, still shows us the parallel world that we are part of. Most obviously, we live in this physical world that we see everyday with our eyes–there’s so much evil and destruction that the songwriter describes it as the earth giving way and falling apart with mountains being destroyed and nations in complete uproar. That is a picture of complete chaos. And often people describe their lives as being chaos and full of uncertainty and destruction. They feel helpless. They don’t know what to do about it all.

But the other part of the parallel world that we as Christians live in is described in verses 1, 4, 6, and 7. That parallel universe is God and His Kingdom–which is the complete opposite of chaos. He is accurately described as being our everpresent help in times of trouble and our fortress. But my most favorite verse to describe him is verse 7: The Lord Almighty is with us. I love that because everything about God is wrapped up in those few words. He is with us–just His presence alone has enough power to bring peace to any chaotic situation. And it’s not that God enters into the situation, like an ordinary person would, and tries His very best to make sense of it. No, when we allow Him to be in this situation, His simple being, His presence IS peace–the total opposite of chaos. Just like when Jesus calmed the storm on the lake with the disciples–He IS peace, not chaos.

So how do we bring that about into our lives? I know many of us have heard this small verse many times but read it again, “Be still, and know that I am God…” So what is the real definition of being still before God? Is it just not saying anything in your prayer time with God? Is it just half-heartedly saying, “Yup! God’s in charge here!” but not really being sure about any part of it? Is it just throwing your hands up in the air, giving up and hoping for the best?

The initial Hebrew meaning behind the words “be still” is to cease. Cease-stop-quit it! Cease in your striving, cease in your trying to figure it all out. Cease in your vain efforts, the wheel-spinning and not going anywhere thought process involved in your situation. In other words, stop doing whatever your fleshly efforts are concerning your chaotic situation and give it to God. Hand it over to Him. Release it! Take your hands off of it! Let Him take care of the situation! Give up control! Hmm–give up control?  That’s so hard for us to do sometimes! But why shouldn’t we give up control? Think about it: our perspective and knowledge of the universe and it’s workings are like looking at the world through a pinhole in a piece of paper. There’s NO WAY we can see everything going on! That’s just our human limitations! That’s the reality of it all! But when we give it over to God, we give it over to One who sees the WHOLE universe and controls the workings of it, without any limitations! He’s SO much bigger than we are!

And what happens when we truly give up control, cease the striving and hand it over to God to take care of?  (This is the best part!) Well, a further study of the Hebrew roots of “be still” show us that when we cease the striving and place our trust and faith in Him as God to take care of it all, “rapha” happens–we are cured, we are healed (the same word that is used when a doctor treats a patient), we are refreshed and it is taken care of. That one word, rapha, holds that kind of power! A miracle takes place! (And remember, the definition of miracle is when God does something supernatural–beyond the natural, beyond our control in this broken down physical world that we live in.) We are healed and cured! It’s on the same lines as a blind person being able to see again! So when we are weak, He is strong! It doesn’t make sense according to this world’s values but we are not of this world! We are the adopted children of God, kings and priests, part of His unseen, heavenly kingdom! How amazing is that! So when we completely give up control (be still), and realize that we are giving it to the one and only God of the Universe (and know that I am God), trust completely in Him, then He does a miracle for us–he heals the situation and heals us!

Father, put your words as anchors in our soul! Holy Spirit, stir them up so that we remember them everyday and recall them and put our trust in them!

We love you Lord!