Moments With God

Proverbs 3

Trust in the Lord and walking in the Lord's ways leads to joy and peace. Walking in God's ways contributes to our spiritual well-being and growth. It also contributes to our physical and emotional well-being. When we do things God's way and when we make Him number one in our lives we find the way to true success and well-being. This success and well-being may not match the world definition of success and well-being, but it will match God's definition of these things. If we want to experience the joy of being in the center of God's will, we need to allow "love and faithfulness" for God to always be a part of our lives. (Proverbs 3:3) We also need to follow the command of Proverbs 3:5-6 which says, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight." Our trust must not be in ourselves or in our own devices or understanding. Our trust must not be in another human being. Our trust must not be in anything or anyone but in the Lord. We need to trust the Lord with our whole heart. We need to lean or depend entirely on the Lord for our protection, wisdom, and guidance through this life. We need to acknowledge the Lord in all we do. This means we need to commit every detail of our lives to Him in trust and in obedience. We need to commit all our decisions, ambitions, and even our relationships to the Lord. The Lord needs to be number one in our lives. We need to love Him more than anything or anyone else in our lives. The lord must consume our passions to such a degree that if all else in life were stripped away He would be sufficient. We need to be passionate about our relationship with the Lord, and we must seek to follow His guidance in all things. If we make the Lord first in our lives and seek to follow His will, He promises to always guide and direct us throughout our lives. Reliance on ourselves or anything or anyone besides the Lord will bring disaster. Reliance on the Lord alone will bring rich blessings!

We need to willingly submit to the Lord in difficult times in our lives, "because the Lord disciplines those He loves, as a father the son he delights in." (Proverbs 3:12) The word discipline does not always mean punishment. It can also mean training, teaching, molding, or perfecting. Through times of testing in our lives God is teaching us to trust in Him alone. He is molding us to become more like Jesus in our thoughts, actions, and character. So even Godly discipline is for our good. Even when God makes us walk through difficult times He is guiding and protecting us for our good!

God's wisdom and perfect will is more valuable than silver or gold. God's wisdom and perfect will leads to peace, joy, and life. God's wisdom in our lives is like a beautiful necklace around our neck. If we walk in God's wisdom and perfect will; we experience God's safety, protection, and peace. Therefore, Proverbs 3:25-26 tells us, "Have no fear of sudden disaster or of the ruin that overtakes the wicked, for the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being snared." When there seems to be no solution to our problems we must place our firm confidence in the Lord. We don't have to fear sudden disaster, because the Lord is our strength and confidence! We know He always watches over us, and He hears and answers our every prayer. As His children we can be completely assured of His protection and guidance step by step in our lives! If we are seeking to do His will in all things He will abundantly bless us. The Lord "blesses the home of the righteous." (Proverbs 3:33b)

I Peter 5:6-11

God's children must submit to God's authority over their lives. There are many joys and blessings that we receive each day from the Lord. There are also many difficult times in our lives. The Lord is in control of all the events in our lives, even the events which we consider to be less than pleasant. We must understand that all events are under the Lord's sovereign control, and we must submit to His will in all things. "Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time." (I Peter 5:6) God is in control even when situations become so difficult that we think we can't take it any longer. We have limited understanding of why God allows things to happen the way they do, but God has infinite understanding of these things. Often difficult times come in our lives to make us more dependent on the Lord. When we feel the most hopeless in the situations in our lives we lean the most heavily on the Lord. Trials in our lives come to help mold us into the image of Christ. Difficult times in our lives also make us more sympathetic and caring for other people in their trials. Trials in our lives make us more holy and spiritually fruitful. Difficult times in our lives help us to become more Christ-like in our attitudes, thoughts, and actions. They are also for our ultimate good. Think of Job and Joseph in the Old Testament. God used some very difficult circumstances for ultimate good in their lives. More importantly, God used the difficult circumstances in their lives to bring glory to the Lord and to advance His kingdom! Ecclesiastes 3:11a says this about our Lord, "He has made everything beautiful in it's time." God's help and provision for us in our problems will always come at just the right time!

We must therefore commit all of our life's burdens to the Lord. I Peter 5:7 tells us, "Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you." This is not an option. It is a command. We must cast or throw all our worries and anxieties on the Lord. We must cast our anxieties on the Lord, and then we must leave them there. We must not cast our burdens on the Lord in prayer, and then take them back again with us. We must leave our anxieties and worries with the Lord in trust. We must keep our eyes on the Lord and not on our circumstances. The Lord knows our needs better than we do. Furthermore, He is able to work out the difficult situations in our lives in His perfect timing and power. Most importantly, however, "He cares for you." His eyes are on you and me. His ears are attentive to our every prayer. The Lord is also our sufficient help in any situation. He will give us the grace and strength we need to face any difficult circumstance.

Satan would like to discourage us in times of difficulty. Satan, however, can never touch our souls. Our souls belong to the Lord. No ultimate spiritual harm will ever come to a child of God. We must omit all doubts from our lives in spite of what is going on in our lives. We must "be self-controlled and alert," because Satan is "looking for someone to devour. (I Peter 5:8) Satan would love to plunge God's people into discouragement and depression in times of great difficulty in their lives. We must resist the devil's attempts to discourage us, however. We must be found "standing firm in the faith." (I Peter 5:9) We must trust the Lord and lean on the Lord in total dependence in difficult times. If we do this, we will experience the Lord's joy and peace even in the midst of difficult trials. We can be confident that the Lord will bring His help in His perfect timing. All the events of our lives will work out for the Lord's glory and our ultimate good. Often we see this already in this life, but ultimately we will see and understand this all more fully in eternity!

I Peter 1:13-25

Do we stop as often as we should to think about and delight in the wonder of our salvation? Jesus lived a perfect life for us that we could not live, and then He suffered the horrors of hell itself on the cross to purchase our salvation! What grace! What love!

In Christ we have a holy standing before God. Our sins are as if they were never there. They are washed away in Jesus blood! Because of this we are a new creation in Christ, and we need to begin to show this in our lives. We already, as believers, have a holy position in Christ and through Christ. We also need to show practical holiness in our lives. We were not saved just to free us from the penalty of our sins but also to live holy lives that bring glory to the Lord's name. Ephesians 1:4 tells us, "For He chose us in Him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in His sight." God is holy; and we, as children of God, must reflect His holiness more and more in our lives. We will not do this perfectly, because sin is still present in our lives. It should be the passion of our hearts, however, to reflect Christ's holiness in a practical way in our lives. God is holy and hates sin, so we too must hate the sin in our lives.

I Peter 1:13 tells us that we must prepare our minds for living for the Lord. We can best do this by saturating our minds with the Word of God. It is very important that we read His Holy Word every day. It is the only way to grow in our walk with the Lord. It is the only way to grow in practical holiness in our lives. We must be self-controlled and place our confidence in the Lord and in His promises. Our world and life view must be radically different from those who do not know the Lord. "As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.'" (I Peter 1:14-16) Practical holiness involves being set apart for the Lord. Practical holiness is seeking with all one's heart to be set apart from sin and what is displeasing to the Lord. Practical holiness is seeking to conform our minds, hearts, wills, and even our deep down attitudes and thoughts to God's holiness. Practical holiness in seeking to live our lives to reflect the Lord and His holiness.

I Peter 1:17 tells us that we need to live our lives here on earth "as strangers" and "in reverent fear." This world is not our permanent home. We are just passing through this world to our eternal home. We need to hang loosely to the things of this world. We need to stand in awe of the Lord's great salvation for us, and in gratitude we must seek to live our lives in holiness for Him. We do not want to offend our awesome and holy God. For it was not with "perishable things" that we were redeemed from our sins.(I Peter 1:18) It took the "the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect," to save us from our sins! (I Peter 1:19) In response to such precious love everyone who professes to be a child of God must seek to live in practical holiness in his or her life. We must seek to reflect the Lord's holiness. There must be evidence of practical holiness and of striving for practical holiness in our lives. Finally, there must be grieving over the lack of holiness in our lives. There must be an earnest seeking of the Lord’s help to become more holy. Holiness is a life long process, but it is something which must be pursued diligently in the Lord's strength. This is our purpose as a child of God!

I am going to detour from my usual Bible study blogs today and give you an update on my breast cancer situation.  I ask for your continued prayers.

Recently I was looking at a lovely daffodil flower sitting in a vase on my window sill. This was given to me one day by a nurse at the cancer clinic after I completed one of my radiation treatments. This flower reminded me of the kindness and care given to me by my doctors and nurses these past months. My eyes also landed on a beautiful azalea plant sitting on my coffee table. This plant was given to me by a special person in our church. This azalea plant was symbolic to me of the tremendous love and concern which has been shown to Wayne, my husband, and me in these past many months by our church family. Today I look at a beautiful bouquet of spring flowers sitting on my kitchen table given to me by my son's family.  These flowers remind me of the love of my earhtly family.

As of this morning my radiation treatments for breast cancer are complete!!!  It has been a long journey-this cancer journey beginning in July of 2007.  It has involved chemo, a mastectomy, and the last few weeks radiation.  Wayne, my husband, was diagnosed with a serious neurological disease about a year earlier in 2006. It has been a challenging couple of years to say the least, but there also have been many blessings along the way. It has been a time to draw closer to the Lord in more dependence on Him. It has been a time to hear the Lord speaking through His promises in His Holy Word in a new and wonderful way. Even when the doubts or discouragement comes it is good to know we have such a faithful God. It has also been a time to experience the love of God's people and our earthly family in such a rich and abundant way. They have in many ways made our trial "a place of springs" in the midst of "Valley of Baca" (Psalm 84:6)

I will not have any more cancer treatments now that the radiation treatments are complete except for seeing my dr. and having blood tests once every three months.  I will have some discomfort and/or redness yet for up to a month from the radiation.   Also the "odds" are relatively high that the cancer could reoccur within the next five years, but we know our lives are not about "odds" but the certainties of God's Word. Pray that there will not be a reoccurrence of cancer. Continue to pray also for my husband, Wayne, that his condition will not continue to deteriorate. Most importantly, pray that my husband and I will live every day in the joy of the Lord and for His glory.

I leave you today with a poem or song that was put on a blog by a "blog friend" of mine.  She is currently fighting cancer.  Her name is Gloria.  I trust she will not mind, if I reprint that song on my blog also.  I would like to leave this poem/song as my testimony also.  If you want to hear it sung and you do not mind it if the music is a little upbeat, it is on the web address at the bottom of the page.