Walking with the Lord

​​So often in life, we try to connect our present circumstances, problems, difficulties, and situations with God, as if He isn’t doing anything. In doing so, we feel hurt, neglected, frustrated, and even angry at God. This week’s blog is intended to be a part 3 of being bothered by things. Today, I hope to encourage you enough to transform perspectives.
                In Deuteronomy 31:6, Moses tells Joshua, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”
                In Matthew 28:20, Jesus tells His disciples, “…surely I am with you always…”
God’s presence is everything, whether we know Him or not, whether we are talking about us or Him. So let’s look at His perspective today. For Him, we are always to connect our life’s situations, circumstances, problems, and difficulties to His true nature because then you will see that scriptures like these two are absolutely true. We need to understand who God wants to be for us, to understand what God is really like- how unchanging He really is- because that is what we lean on in those difficult times. In difficult times, every person pulls strength from what they believe in. We better know who we believe in so that we pull strength from the true source, and not from a misconception. I hope to clear this up today.
                First, how do you call on the Lord? Scripture tells us there is only one way to call on God: Thanksgiving and Praise- with Joy. It’s the joyful heart of thanksgiving and praise that receives the peace of God, not the irritated, troubled, annoyed, angry, or sad heart. Why? Because these other hearts are being controlled by emotions. Emotions exist in your soul, and God is worshipped in spirit- John 4:24. Don’t get caught up in how you feel, allowing your emotions to get between you and God. You don’t need to get yourself right before you talk to God. Simply say, “It doesn’t matter how I feel, I will give thanks to God, and I will rejoice. Father, even though I feel sad (or mad, frustrated, etc.) I know you are good. I know you are my God. Thank you for giving me the ability to praise you despite how I feel. Thank you for always loving me, even when I do bad things. Thank you for your grace. You never leave me, you are always with me, I rejoice in your presence because you are here with me, even right now in my mess…” This is a great place to start a conversation. This is an act of alignment- where we get aligned with God- which is an act of righteousness.
                I briefly mentioned in the last paragraph of last week’s blog that we need to learn to see things from God’s point of view. So often we try to get God to see our point of view, we try to justify ourselves with thoughts like, “If I can only explain to you what really happened then you will be sympathetic to it.” But Colossians 3:2 says we are to set our minds on things above (where God is***), not on earthly things. We can’t justify our actions, but we can learn His perspective, change the way we think and see things, and in the process get free from our circumstances and feelings. I once heard someone say, “Jesus died to set me free from me. If I am free from me, then I am certainly free from you.” No matter what happens in our life, we have the choice to live free and independent of it or to be a slave to what happens.
                God sees beyond your present circumstances, into your future. He turns all things for good. He is for you, He is with you. He doesn’t see you in the middle of misery and pain, He sees you on the other side of it, free. We are walking, daily, with the almighty God who loves us.

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