I Corinthians 1: 27-29

But God chose the foolish things of the world, that he might put to shame them that are wise; and God chose the weak things of the world, that he might put to shame the things that are strong.

When Samuel went to David’s father’s house to choose the next King of Israel, his father never even thought to bring his youngest son before Samuel. His other sons must have been of such stature that he thought they would be perfect for the job of king. It was only when all the sons had been brought before Samuel that David was finally brought in from the pasture where he was tending the sheep.

It seems that even his own father didn’t see “king” material in him because he was looking at the kingship from a human perspective, which meant being tall and strong to lead the country into battle.

The Jews would not accept Jesus as their Messiah because they expected Him to come as a mighty conqueror. They needed someone to be a strong warrior-king that would lead them into battle to conquer the surrounding lands so they could have peace again.

They were not interested in the “new” thing that Jesus was born to accomplish and couldn’t see at the time that it would have everlasting effects on all of mankind forever.

They were just not interested in doing things a different way. After all, they had been doing the same sacrifices for hundreds of years and up until now that had been sufficient. Certainly there couldn’t be anything that would come along that would be better – at least not in their eyes. They wouldn’t be open to anything else and missed Jesus.

How many times do WE miss out on God’s plan because we expect Him to do things a certain way? We must learn to be open to hear Him and get in on what He is doing instead of expecting Him to get in on our plans.

God purposely chooses people who absolutely cannot do the job unless they solely depend on Him. That way He can receive all the glory. From His perspective, He knows that He already has everything worked out in the best possible way, so there is no risk involved.

The risk is on our part because we must decide whether we will trust Him when we can’t always see how everything will work out. The more you get to know God’s character, the more you will know that you can trust Him with even the smallest of details in your life.

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The God who created the whole universe wants to have a relationship with YOU.

You are so important to Him that He knows every thought, hurt, pain, or whatever it is you are going through; then He wants to be there to help you get through it victoriously.

You might be a very important person in your job or where you live, but compared to all the people in the world and the vastness of the universe, you are but a tiny speck.

God already knows everything about you, but it is His desire to have a very personal relationship with you. You might have a best friend or significant other that you can’t seem to get through the day without texting, speaking to on the phone, or emailing them. You might even talk over your problems with them or get their advice on important decisions you must make.

God is also concerned about every problem or circumstance that will come your way, and He cares much more than any other person ever could. He also has all the answers when others don’t know how to help you.

Matthew 10: 30

But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

You are a unique and awesome person to God, and He desires to work in your life to mold you into the person He desires you to become.

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God is:

Omniscient -  having complete or unlimited knowledge, awareness, or understanding; perceiving all things

Omnipresent -  present everywhere at the same time

Omnipotent -  almighty or infinite in power; having very great or unlimited authority or power

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He truly has all the answers and knows the outcome of every problem or circumstance. Let Him guide you through the storms of life and help you grow into a stronger and more mature Christian with every trial you might face.

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If you faint in the day of adversity your strength is small.

The Message version

If you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn’t much to you in the first place.

This verse is very powerful to me, because I can think back on many instances where a person has gone through a huge crisis of some sort. Some have handled it with dignity while others have completely fallen apart and never fully recovered.

Adversity comes in many forms, and sometimes what we think might be a terrible thing might turn out to be something we can look back on and see how God wanted us to run to Him and let Him handle it in His chosen way.

God has dealt with me about walking in His Strength each day instead of trying to do everything in my own strength. I have found that trying to fit everything into one day that I feel God wants me to do is totally impossible without His supernatural help and guidance; but when I tell Him first thing each morning that I will never be able to get everything accomplished without His help, He somehow supernaturally gives me the strength I need to do it.

When you are walking in His will for your life, you will find that He tells you to do things that you will never be able to accomplish in your own strength. God purposely places things in your life in order to help you to grow stronger and tougher as a Christian.

He even told some of the great men and women of the Bible to do some things that were downright hard. If they hadn’t trusted in a mighty way they would have probably been devoured by Satan.

God wants you to find out about His Character. Once you know even a few truths about Him, you will realize that He always has your best interest at heart and wants the absolute best for your life. He can see exactly how everything will work out, and wants you to rely on His sight and strength to work through you to accomplish what He desires.

If He tells you to do something hard, it is because He sees great potential in you and wants to develop it and use you in a mighty way for His Kingdom.

God sometimes puts you in a tough situation to teach you to lean on Him with everything in you. The next time things look impossible, claim Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

You will be amazed at how much more you can accomplish with God’s supernatural help. Try it and be amazed!

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-H. Blankenship-

If you have asked Jesus into your heart, you have the most awesome gift you could ever receive – salvation. There is not a single person who has ever been born but Jesus that is perfect and has never made a mistake.

Even the best of people were born into a life of sin and could never achieve being any better without the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

Jesus died especially for YOUR sin so that you could spend eternal life in heaven. He has an awesome plan for your life and always wants the very best for you, but you must get in on His way of doing things.

That means loving God with all your “heart, soul, and mind” and making the decision to live your life that way. No, God will hardly ever do things in the way that you might imagine, but most of the time they turn out better than expected when you are able to look back after a few months or years.

It seems that today God is pictured as being a God of hatred, bitterness, and one who delights in inflicting harm upon people.

The Israelites did eventually get judged and taken away from their land, but it was only after years of neglect and falling away from God – then when they were judged it was not even close to being as harsh as they deserved. They had chosen to go in the opposite direction by putting their own desires first. They only suffered the consequences after several warnings from different prophets and preachers who told them over and over again that they should repent or suffer the consequences of their actions.

God had an awesome life waiting for them, but they chose to settle for much less than the very best; in fact, they settled for mediocre, and had to live many years in bondage because of their decisions.

I think many people feel that if they fully surrender their life to God He will force them to do something they might hate and the rest of their life they will be in a miserable state trying to carry out what God has told them to do. They don’t take into account the fact that God will change their heart and make them so that they don’t want to do anything else but be in the center of his will.

God had an extraordinary life of blessing planned for the Israelites, but they settled for a life of bondage and misery for many years.

Yes, God does want you to surrender everything in your life to Him, but in exchange He wants to give you His very best, whatever that is for you personally.

It may not seem like the best in your eyes at the time, but He loves you far more than any other person ever could. A good father would never want to give bad gifts to his children, but would always want the best for them in every way.

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-H. Blankenship-

I came across this quote and I have to admit that it made me think about this Bible verse in a whole new way.

The actual verses are written in Matthew 22: 37-40

You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect.) This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment. And a second  is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. These two commandments sum up and upon them depend all the Law and the Prophets.   AMP

Jesus summed up in two verses what had been the whole Ten Commandments that had been given to the Israelites in the wilderness.

The word “shall” gives a command to do it – not just if you feel like it or agree with it.

Also we don’t get to choose one of the three ways to love God. He said with ALL our heart AND all our soul AND all our mind.

God wants every part of you to be able to produce the kind of fruit that can do some great damage to the kingdom of Satan here on earth.

I know it seems to be the popular thing to live life in a way that pleases you, but there is no greater feeling than knowing that God is in control. What an awesome thing that the Most High and Holy God would choose any human to do work on His behalf. He has not chosen just any human – he has chosen YOU.

Give your heart, soul, and mind to Him and let Him accomplish what He desires through your life.

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“Change” is a scary word because most of us have created a “comfort zone cocoon” around us and that is where we like to stay if at all possible.  We think of the picture above as being very beautiful as long as we are not the white petal that stands out so vividly from the rest of the flower. Many times we would rather blend in as much as possible or even fade into the background.

Most of the time God has to make us so miserable that we can’t stand it any longer before we will be open to change, because as long as we are comfortable we usually won’t consider it. Our circumstances might be bad, but somehow we have grown used to them and would rather stay where we are than step out into the unknown and attempt something better.

The unknown can be scary even with God as your guide. You can’t see Him, but that doesn’t mean He can’t lead you exactly where you need to go. He is looking for the person He can make into the white flower that stands out from the rest. You have a unique personality and unique talents that He wants to develop and use for His Glory and to promote His Kingdom here on earth.

As God reveals Himself to you, He will ask you to do some things in a way you probably won’t understand. I’m sure that Joshua didn’t understand it when God told him that the Israelites should march around Jericho silently once a day for six days, and then 7 times on the 7th day, and after that the walls would fall down.

Don’t be afraid to step out into the unknown as long as you know God is with you. Don’t settle any longer for living life in the “comfort zone cocoon” you have created around you. God has great plans for your life, so please open your heart to Him and let Him show you what they are.

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In Ephesians 5: 2, Paul describes the crucifixion of Christ as an offering and sacrifice that was a “sweet smelling savour” to God.

If anyone comes into a room wearing perfume, it is immediately picked up by the nostrils. From that point, the nose decides if it is a wonderful, delicious smell or one that is loud, irritating to the eyes, and obnoxious. Either way, the smell of the perfume quickly permeates the room and for a few seconds your thoughts are completely absorbed with it.

God gave to Moses rules the Israelites must follow when they brought the sacrifice for their sin before God. If they did not follow these rules, the sacrifice would not be pleasing to Him and things would not bode well for that person who presented it. God meant business when it came to the Israelites walking in obedience to Him because He had miraculously brought them out of Egypt and fed and cared for them each day for many years.

I Samuel 15: 22

Samuel said, “Has the LORD as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams.

Even the smartest person has a very small mind when compared to the All-Powerful God who created the universe and everything in it. No human has the potential to see the “whole scope of things” and how everything will fit together to bring about the plans of God.

He has an awesome and unique plan for your life that will make it a “sweet smelling savour” to God’s nostrils.

God wants your complete obedience  - NOT a religious act, doing the same old same old humdrum stuff, doing things in the same way and knowing it doesn’t work but doing it anyway because you don’t know anything else to do.

He wants you to walk with Him each day and be prepared to do what He says. Believe me, just doing this will make your life ENORMOUSLY more productive in doing things that really count for the Kingdom of God.

He will continually amaze you at the things He is able to accomplish through you if you let Him. After you get a taste of doing things His Way, your old way of doing things won’t seem so appealing any more.

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Romans 6: 14 – For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

For – gar – a primary particle; properly assigning a reason (used in argument, explanation or intensification; often with other particles)

sin – hamartia – offence, sin

shall not – ou – a primary word; the absolutely negative

have dominion over you – kurieuo – to rule, have dominion over, lord, be lord of, exercise lordship over; of things and forces to exercise influence upon, to have power over

indicates the contemplated or certain occurrence of an event which has not yet occurred (future tense.)

Indicative Mood – a simple statement of fact. An action that is occurring now, has already, or will in the future

This verse makes a huge statement. If you have asked Jesus to come into your heart I’m sure you will still be tempted just as He was when living on the earth, but God has given you the power to have victory over Satan and the temptation that he is trying to destroy you with. You don’t have to give in even if Satan is putting immense amounts of pressure on you.

God has given you His power to have the victory but you must walk in that power and know and understand the promises of the Bible. Satan knows them very well and plans his attacks carefully and methodically to achieve maximum results in your life. He will sometimes wait years for just the right moment to bring you down in a huge way.

Child of God, stand on and claim this verse with everything in you because sin absolutely cannot have power over you unless you give it approval. You will be tempted but you can boldly ask God to come to your aid because you are standing on His Word and claiming it with your whole heart.

Stand on the promises of God and let Him help you defeat the enemy Satan!

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Isn’t it amazing that we as humans can fall into a rut so quickly, even if we don’t like our situation? The most important thing seems to be that we get into a routine and feel comfortable about our lives. Most of us detest even the slightest change as we feel it throws us completely off balance.

Even though deep down we know we can’t control outward things that might happen, we convince ourselves that as long as our life stays in the same unchanging rut, we have complete control over our little corner of the world.

The problem with that way of thinking is that many Christians have put God in a box and expect Him to conform to their way of thinking and bless whatever they decide to do.

God will never be able to work in our lives the way He desires as long as we have this way of thinking.

Even though it is a scary thing to step out into the unknown and trust God to lead you down a road where you can’t always see what the end result will be, that is the way He desires you to live if you are His Child. After all, He is God and always has everything under control down to the smallest detail. He already knows everything you will face in the future, where He desires to lead you, and He can see the road clearly when the fog threatens to completely envelop you and you can’t see to even take a baby step.

If you can learn to trust God in that way, you won’t be paralyzed with fear to step out into the unknown. He knows your strengths, weaknesses, and limitations much better than you ever could, and from His perspective all you can do is be victorious if you will trust Him.

When He tells you to do something, He doesn’t expect you to do it in your own power or with your own abilities. He wants you to lean on and trust Him to work through you, so you should never be afraid to trust Him with every area of your life. He loves you more than any other person ever could and only wants the best for you in every way.

Don’t stay in that “comfort zone” any longer. It WILL be scary at first, but God will meet you exactly where you are now and make you into the person He can use for His Glory.

Don’t spend another minute being ORDINARY when God wants to do something EXTRAORDINARY in your life. All you have to do is take the first step and walk in His Power instead of your own.

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living – practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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As the hart panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God.

My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?

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David wrote this Psalm when he was in exile from Jerusalem. He longed to go back there and worship daily in the Temple because that was where God resided. It would be many years before Jesus would come to earth as a man, die on the cross, rise from the grave, and ascend to Heaven so the Holy Spirit could come back to earth to live in the heart of every person who accepts Him as Savior.

David had to physically go to the Temple worship services, and be a part of the chorus of praise that rose up to his Heavenly Father during one of the sacrifice times before he felt he had truly worshiped God.

A hart is an animal (like our deer today) that is fond of feeding near the water. When hunted he will go into the water and stay submerged as long as possible, then get in the middle of the river and swim downstream, not touching any tree branches on either side so dogs won’t be able to follow his scent. In a chase he becomes faint, and longs for  water intensely.

The word “panteth” as David uses it here means not just a quiet longing and inward desire, but audible panting produced by an agony of thirst – the intense desire and overwhelming sense of want.

This exact word occurs only twice in the Bible,  here and in Joel 1:20.  It  properly means to rise, and then, to look up toward anything; to long for. It refers here to the intense desire of the hind (female deer), in the heat of day, for water; or, in Joel, to the desire of the cattle for water in a time of drought.

There was an intense thirst that needed to be quenched, and nothing would help until water was found.

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How much do you thirst to truly know God? Does that thirst consume your very being?  Are you satisfied just being the way you are right now, whatever that is?

God has a plan for every Christian life, but many times He doesn’t reveal that plan until He sees how thirsty you will become to find out what it is.

In these last days, He wants to use His People to do an awesome work. Will you be willing to get rid of all the unnecessary baggage that has been holding you back and completely surrender your life to Him? It probably won’t be easy, but in the long run it will be well worth it. There is nothing greater than living a life of peace and harmony with God.

Now that is truly living!!!

Check out my other sites:

Handbook for Victorious Christian Living - practical ways to learn to live a victorious Christian life

Blueprint for Victorious Christian Living

Power of the Living Word

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