Lord, Lead me to the Cross...

“While I don’t deserve a special place, did nothing for him to invite me in,

He gave me an open door and all I need to do is step in.”

“Now therefore hearken unto me, O ye children:

for blessed are they that keep my ways.

Hear instruction and be wise, and refuse it not.

Blessed is the man that heareth me,

watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors.

For whoso findeth me, findeth life, and shall obtain favor of the Lord.

But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul:

all that hate me love death” (Proverbs 8:32-36).

I can see how the hand of God is weaving each intricate strand of our lives together to make us truly united and strong. Sometimes, I forget, and instead of knowing that God is always faithful, I cry out, “Where are you, God? My cries shout to the world that I’m up against a mountain and right now, it seems an impossibility to pull myself up to climb. Over and over again, we’ve heard that God is faithful, but in my darkest night, I wrestle with confusion: will He be faithful to me? Who am I? Then, I feel his peace, and I feel his presence in my cry. I beg for him to send his angels to help me out of the trouble, and then forget that he has a different timepiece than I do: his time brings perfect will. If I want to be rescued, He tells me to wait. Once again, I need to be reminded that even when events are contrary to my expectations, God is faithful.

When God sends his angels to take us to the top of our mountain, before we even have time to complain or stop, he has set us on the right path, and the way is made clear. And, what did we learn? To trust? To pray for wisdom? To have faith? We don’t understand how he could have allowed it to happen, but when we look at Calvary and realize that his sacrifice purchased our salvation: we know that it was his love that held him on the cross.

 If we could only see the greater picture: God’s unfailing hand at work in our lives and circumstances. When we get to a place when God is all we have, we’ll find that God is all we need. God will make a way out of no way. Today, I pray that the Lord will remind me that he is faithful, again. I know that if I’ll learn to keep my eyes on him, I can not fall. It takes a very special anointing to handle the major ups and downs in life. I want to thank the Lord for trusting me enough to allow me to have my share of them, and even though you have confidence in me to follow the path you have laid out before me, help me to learn how to be still and know that you are God. When the world is in a turmoil around me, let me taste of the nectar of life, your goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. May there always be a praise on my lips and a song in my heart, because I know where you brought me from; my life was broken, but you fashioned me into your image, and called me your precious treasure.

 Lead me, Lord, to the cross, that I’ll remember the love that kept you there for me. Thank you for taking the time to be with us this morning. It’s a glorious day to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. WELCOME!  gm

 

“For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks. For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. For by thee I have run through an troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.  As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those what trust in him” (Psalm 18:28-30). 

Spiritual Closets & Time in His Presence

“I have been in a constant state of organizing and purging the things in my home that I don’t need. I am amazed at the stuff that I have held on to for years, without even knowing why I have it! Was it the memory attached to it? I don’t know, but one thing is certain: every day that I let go of the past, I am more hopeful of the future. Things have a tendency to weigh us down, so much that we begin to turn in circles and not know where to begin to get free. We can apply this to our spiritual lives as well.
We have a tendency to harbor old grudges and fail to give them to God and ask for forgiveness; but unlike the dust laden stuff in our closets, grudges eat away at our spirits like a cancer. We may be able to accomplish seemingly impossible tasks on our own because we have been gifted by the Lord to do so, but unless we are willing to allow the Lord to clear our spiritual closets, it will be nearly impossible to visualize the greatness and significance of what we can accomplish. He took special care to shape man into his image and he breathed the breath of life into that body. He has a purpose and a plan for our lives that won’t be realized if we refuse to give him our all.
Somewhere along the way, we have missed it, with our ultra busy lifestyles (all for the glory of God, of course) and we have failed to refresh ourselves with the power that only comes through being in his presence. We say our two minute or thirty second prayers before meals or while heading out the door, with little time to reflect on God, his goodness, or what He desires of us for that day. We are all guilty of overscheduling.
When a relationship is only one-sided, it can go sour fairly quickly. We wouldn’t think of totally ignoring our spouse, our children, or our job. The consequences of doing so could be grave. But we don’t think twice about ignoring to read our Bible, fellowshipping with the Lord through prayer and supplication, or going days without end without so much as speaking the name of Jesus. No wonder we lose our victory and anointing at the first obstacle that stands in our path.
It is good to work for the Lord like Martha; it is better to develop a Mary spirit and worship at his feet. There are no pretenses, no agendas, no deadlines, and great power and strength to gain from just acknowledging that we can do nothing without Jesus. He has the ultimate control in our lives. If we spend our time holding on to past hurts and disappointments, we may not reach out to the Lord who is ready to fill our lives to the fullest with joy and peace that passes all understanding. Are you willing to lose out for the sake of holding on to the past?
What great things we can accomplish when we learn to spend time in his presence! The mountains in our lives that would try to separate us from him, will be removed. The Lord has given us light to bring us out of darkness. It will guide us into all truth, if we’ll learn how to take the time to just BE in his presence. It is a great gift: the power of being. -gm