May Jesus, the Christ, the Savior of all mankind be Praised in the Highest!

I am simply blown away by the love of our LORD Jesus Christ!  I am having a hard time catching my breath and organizing my thoughts.

Let me start by saying that when you set your heart to serve GOD, satan will come like a roaring lion.  In the last week I have started to write at least 2 different posts but opposition from satan kept accusing me and confusing me.  But GOD has sent me scriptures and devotionals from Charles Spurgeon and David Wilkerson both for 3 days running that not only countered the thoughts I was having but gave me the ammunition I needed in my fight against satan.

That means GOD had the answer to my questions on the way before I ever prayed!!!!!  Here is the link to the final David Wilkerson's devotional that GOD used to deliver me.  Please read this devotion online:
http://sermons.worldchallenge.org/en/node/23304?src=devo-email

If you want to play religion and go to church on Sunday, visit with everybody, and live your own life Monday through Saturday, you have missed the mark of the high calling of Jesus Christ.  The LORD wants us ALL to live victorious lives with the Holy Spirit in as our Comforter, Teacher, Strength, Armor, and EVERYTHING ELSE WE NEED!

Take that step of faith outside of your comfort zone!  Become fully submitted to Jesus!  He will be with you!  Stay in the Word, don't conform to the world, quit worrying about what your friends will say.  This world is only temporary.  Jesus is forever!

Come, Let Us Worship and Bow Down

Psalm 95  (ESV)

1)  Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
2)  Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!
3)  For the LORD is a great GOD, and a great King above all gods.
4)  In His hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are His also.
5)  The sea is His, for He made it, and His hands formed the dry land.
6)  Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!
7)  For He is our GOD, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.  Today, if you hear His voice,
8)  do not harden your hearts, as at Meribah, as on the day at Massah in the wilderness,
9)  when your fathers put Me to the test and put Me to the proof, though they had seen My work.
10)  For forty years I loathed that generation and said, "They are a people who go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways."
11)  Therefore I swore in My wrath, "They shall not enter My rest."

English Standard Version (ESV)The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers

Be Jesus To Someone

I have said several times that GOD loves us.  The LORD is not so much concerned about the posture of your body as He is the posture of your heart.  He doesn't care about the quality of your clothes as long as you are clothed with His love, His generosity, His humility, and His servanthood.  He doesn't care if you are Republican, Democrat, American, Arab, white, black, or purple.  He loves us all and wishes that no one would perish because of unbelief.  We are the laborers in His field and every life is precious to Him.  His Spirit is actively moving in our time.  Muslims are having visions of Christ and coming to a saving relationship with Jesus. 

The world looks at Christianity as a bunch of hypocrites.  We are legalistic, condescending, and snobish.  We are no better than anyone else in this world.  GOD is love and the only way we are going to spread the Gospel is if we love, too.  Be a servant.  Be the shoulder to cry on.  Be Jesus to someone today.

John 13:34-35  (ESV)

34)  A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 
35)  By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

1 John 4:7-21  (ESV)

God Is Love

7)  Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from GOD, and whoever loves has been born of GOD and knows GOD. 
8)  Anyone who does not love does not know GOD, because GOD is love. 
9)  In this the love of GOD was made manifest among us, that GOD sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. 
10)  In this is love, not that we have loved GOD but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 
11)  Beloved, if GOD so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 
12)  No one has ever seen GOD; if we love one another, GOD abides in us and His love is perfected in us.
13)  By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 
14) And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world. 
15)  Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, GOD abides in him, and he in GOD. 
16)  So we have come to know and to believe the love that GOD has for us. GOD is love, and whoever abides in love abides in GOD, and GOD abides in him. 
17)  By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as He is so also are we in this world.
18)  There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 
19)  We love because He first loved us. 
20)  If anyone says, "I love GOD," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love GOD whom he has not seen.
21)  And this commandment we have from Him: whoever loves GOD must also love his brother.

If we do not love someone it is because we have judged them unfit to love.  And in that way we have declared ourselves better than them.  Here us what GOD has to say about that:

Romans 2:1  (ESV)

Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 


English Standard Version (ESV)The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers

My Refuge and My Fortress

This Psalm has been one of those that I have stood on ever since I was first converted as an adult.  

There was this funny story I heard about this older woman walking home at night with her bag of groceries.  A rather large man in a mask jumps out of the darkness and demands her purse.  She screams of course and yells, "I'm covered in feathers!  I'm covered in feathers!"  He immediately fled.  We can only imagine what he thought!  

All kidding aside, I firmly believe that I was supernaturaly protected many times.  I used to ride motorcycles with the Christian Motorcyclists Assoc.  At the time I rode an '82 Honda automatic.  One year we were in Sturgis and I was coming back from a neighboring town where I took a test drive on a Boss Hoss trike. Wow!  (That's another story.)  As I'm riding along, a group of riders with the Hell's Angels came up from behind (they were traveling faster than me, obviously) and surrounded me.  But unstead of pushing me off the road as they were known to do, they smiled and waved, matched my speed, and rode with me to town.  They gave me respect in the way they rode and went their way.  I never felt afraid, as a matter of fact, I felt very calm and normal.  In retrospect, I believe they didn't see me at all but my guardian angel.  GOD is good, all the time!

Psalm 91  (ESV)

1)  He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.
2)  I will say to the LORD, "My refuge and my fortress, my GOD, in whom I trust."
3)  For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence.
4)  He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and buckler.
5)  You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day,
6)  nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.
7)  A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you.
8)  You will only look with your eyes and see the recompense of the wicked.
9)  Because you have made the LORD your dwelling place—'the Most High, who is my refuge'—
10)  no evil shall be allowed to befall you, no plague come near your tent.
11)  For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.
12)  On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.
13)  You will tread on the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent you will trample underfoot.
14)  "Because he holds fast to Me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows My name.
15)  When he calls to Me, I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him.
16)  With long life I will satisfy him and show him My salvation."

English Standard Version (ESV)The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers

Do You Ever Feel Worn Out?

If you have ever had a bout with depression, you are familiar with the feeling that you are never going to make it.  You are not good enough, never will be, and why do you even try?  Dear friend, GOD loves you and that is reason enough!  Because it is your enemy, satan, that is whispering those thougths in your mind.  He wants to keep you down and unvictorious.  GOD wants you to hear the truth that He created this whole universe just for you and if you were the only one ever born, He still would have died on the cross, just for you!

Some people say, "Well, I can't pray like that.  That's not very faith filled."  GOD wants honest prayers.  You see, you have to be honest with yourself before you can be honest with GOD.  And GOD is the one who supplies the faith you need.  GOD answers every honest prayer prayed from an honest heart filled with the belief that GOD will answer that prayer.  That's faith.

I just heard this song on the Message on Sirius/XM the other day and just absolutely fell in love with it!  It's called "Worn" by Tenth Avenue North.  We've all been there.  Keep an eye on the tree in the background.  I don't know how they did this, but it is awesome.  I've also included all the lyrics.
Enjoy!




Tenth Avenue North - "Worn" Lyrics
Artist: Tenth Avenue North
Album: The Struggle

I’m Tired I’m worn
My heart is heavy
From the work it takes to keep on breathing
I’ve made mistakes
I’ve let my hope fail
My soul feels crushed by the weight of this world
And I know that you can give me rest
So I cry out with all that I have left
Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart that’s frail and torn
I wanna know a song can rise from the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
Cause I’m worn
I know I need to lift my eyes up
But im too weak
Life just won’t let up
And I know that you can give me rest
So I cry out with all that I have left
Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart that’s frail and torn
I wanna know a song can rise from the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
Cause I’m worn
My prayers are wearing thin
And I’m worn
Even before the day begins
I’m worn
I’ve lost my will to fight
I’m worn
Heaven come and flood my eyes
Let me see redemption win
Let me know the struggle ends
That you can mend a heart that’s frail and torn
I wanna know a song can rise from the ashes of a broken life
And all that’s dead inside can be reborn
Cause all that’s dead inside will be reborn
Though I’m worn
Yeah I’m worn

"I Will Listen" by Twila Paris

I was listening to my iPod the other day, and heard this old favorite by Twila Paris.  It's called "I Will Listen".  How many times could I have avoided bad decisions if I just wouldn't get ahead of GOD or tried to fix it myself because I couldn't see GOD doing anything!  I would make up my mind to do something and then ask GOD to bless it.  Wrong way to do it.  Have a listen and enjoy!

Great Is Your Steadfast Love

Psalm 86:1-13  (ESV)

1)  Incline Your ear, O LORD, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.
2)  Preserve my life, for I am godly; save Your servant, who trusts in You—You are my GOD.
3)  Be gracious to me, O LORD, for to You do I cry all the day.
4)  Gladden the soul of Your servant, for to You, O LORD, do I lift up my soul.
5)  For You, O LORD, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon You.
6)  Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace.
7)  In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.
8)  There is none like You among the gods, O LORD, nor are there any works like Yours.
9)  All the nations You have made shall come and worship before You, O LORD, and shall glorify Your name.
10)  For You are great and do wondrous things; You alone are GOD.
11)  Teach me Your way, O LORD, that I may walk in Your truth; unite my heart to fear Your name.
12)  I give thanks to You, O LORD my GOD, with my whole heart, and I will glorify Your name forever.
13)  For great is Your steadfast love toward me; You have delivered my soul from the depths of Sheol.

English Standard Version (ESV)The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers

The Blood of Christ purifies our conscience from dead works

Hebrews 9:12-14  (ESV)

12)  He (Jesus) entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
13)  For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, 
14)  how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to GOD, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living GOD.

English Standard Version (ESV)The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers

My Soul Longs for the Courts of the Lord

Psalm 84  (ESV)

1)  How lovely is Your dwelling place, O LORD of Hosts!
2)  My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD; my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living GOD.
3)  Even the sparrow finds a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at Your altars, O LORD of hosts, my King and my GOD.
4)  Blessed are those who dwell in Your house, ever singing Your praise!
5)  Blessed are those whose strength is in You, in whose heart are the highways to Zion.
6)  As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs; the early rain also covers it with pools.
7)  They go from strength to strength; each one appears before GOD in Zion.
8)  O LORD GOD of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, O GOD of Jacob!
9)  Behold our shield, O GOD; look on the face of Your anointed!
10)  For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my GOD than dwell in the tents of wickedness.
11)  For the LORD GOD is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor. No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.
12)  O LORD of Hosts, blessed is the one who trusts in You!

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version
Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.

In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord

     I know when I'm not spending enough time with the LORD.  I get busy with the affairs of the day: get out of bed, shower, brush my teeth, fix my hair, get dressed, turn the news on, fix my lunch, fix the glider's treats for the day, set the table, prepare our breakfasts, eat, wash the dishes, tidy up the glider cage, get the gliders captured and in their pouch.  And all this before we go to work.  Drive to work.  Now we're at work: put the gliders in the sleeping cage, dust and clean the outside of the simulator, straighten up the inside, refill the water jug for the day from Dillard's water fountain . . .  Whew, now I can rest for a few minutes (if we don't get any customers) and start reading my online bible and pray a little. It is now 3 hours since my alarm clock went off.  If we don't have a busy day, I get more reading done or more prayer time.  I'm not complaining, I'm making a point.  Sometimes I feel like GOD is getting leftovers.  But if you have a job, you have to balance GOD, work, family, and whatever else comes along. 

I know people that can get up at 5am or earlier and have their devotional.  Yea! for them.  I get up at 7:30am and get to bed about midnight every day.  I'm tired.  I'm not so young anymore.  When I was younger I could juggle things better than I can now.  I also believe GOD should get my undivided attention.  Not concerned about anything or everything I have do get done or too tired at night to concentrate or think straight.

But I also know this, if I skip talking to the LORD, if I don't talk with Him and stay in His presence, if I don't read His Word, if I get in the habit of not communicating with Him, satan will start making me more tired, question myself, put more things on my plate, I'll get moody, more solitary, more withdrawn, more concerned with my own problems, and on and on into that downward spiral into self and then into that black hole of depression.  It makes you question yourself and just how much GOD loves you.  I may quote a lot of scripture on this website, but it is the Word of GOD.  It is Water for our souls.  It is the Bread of life.  It is the Breath that He beathes into us.  Do you need a pick-me-up?  Read some Psalms.  GOD did not speak His Word to be empty promises!  His Word will never fail.  You can depend on every one of them!  There is absolutely nothing that He doesn't care about.  His mercy never fails and His love is steadfast as the cornerstone and endures forever!

GOD understands all this and He knows my heart.  He meets me here when I am ready and He strengthens me.  He refreshes my soul.  Sometimes He just holds me.  He knows what we need and He meets us just where we are, nothing fancy.  Call on Him right now.

Psalm 77  (ESV)

In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord

1)  I cry aloud to GOD, aloud to GOD, and He will hear me.
2)  In the day of my trouble I seek the LORD; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.
3)  When I remember GOD, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints.
4)  You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
5)  I consider the days of old, the years long ago.
6)  I said, "Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart." Then my spirit made a diligent search:
7)  "Will the LORD spurn forever, and never again be favorable?
8)  Has His steadfast love forever ceased? 
     Are His promises at an end for all time?
9)  Has GOD forgotten to be gracious?   
     Has He in anger shut up his compassion?"
10)  Then I said, "I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High."
11)  I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember Your wonders of old.
12)  I will ponder all Your work, and meditate on Your mighty deeds.
13)  Your way, O GOD, is holy.  What god is great like our GOD?
14)  You are the GOD who works wonders; You have made known Your might among the peoples.
15)  You with Your arm redeemed Your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph.
16)  When the waters saw You, O GOD, when the waters saw You, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled.
17)  The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; Your arrows flashed on every side.
18)  The crash of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; Your lightnings lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook.
19)  Your way was through the sea, Your path through the great waters; yet Your footprints were unseen.
20)  You led your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.

English Standard Version (ESV)The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers

My flesh and my heart may fail, but GOD is the Rock and firm Strength of my heart and my Portion forever.

This has always been one  of my favorite Psalms.  I have printed it out and made posters of it and laminated some and used them for bookmarks.  And most asuredly included it in my Scripture Snacks.  Because of the way I liked yesterday's scripture, I decided to look it up in the Message as well.  Here is The Message version and the Amplified version after it.  

Psalm 73-The Message (MSG)

   No doubt about it!  GOD is good—good to good people, good to the good-hearted.  But I nearly missed it, missed seeing His goodness.  I was looking the other way, looking up to the people at the top, envying the wicked who have it made, who have nothing to worry about, not a care in the whole wide world.
   Pretentious with arrogance, they wear the latest fashions in violence,pampered and overfed, decked out in silk bows of silliness.  They jeer, using words to kill; they bully their way with words.  They're full of hot air, loudmouths disturbing the peace.  People actually listen to them—can you believe it?  Like thirsty puppies, they lap up their words.
   What's going on here? Is GOD out to lunch?  Nobody's tending the store.The wicked get by with everything; they have it made, piling up riches.  I've been stupid to play by the rules; what has it gotten me?  A long run of bad luck, that's what—a slap in the face every time I walk out the door.
   If I'd have given in and talked like this, I would have betrayed Your dear children.Still, when I tried to figure it out, all I got was a splitting headache . . .  Until I entered the sanctuary of God.  Then I saw the whole picture: the slippery road you've put them on, with a final crash in a ditch of delusions.  In the blink of an eye, disaster!  A blind curve in the dark, and—nightmare!  We wake up and rub our eyes. . . . Nothing.  There's nothing to them. And there never was.
   When I was beleaguered and bitter, totally consumed by envy, I was totally ignorant, a dumb ox in Your very presence.  I'm still in Your presence, but You've taken my hand.  You wisely and tenderly lead me, and then you bless me.
   You're all I want in heaven!  You're all I want on earth!  When my skin sags and my bones get brittle, GOD is rock-firm and faithful.  Look!  Those who left you are falling apart!  Deserters, they'll never be heard from again.  But I'm in the very presence of GOD—oh, how refreshing it is!  I've made LORD GOD my home.  GOD, I'm telling the world what You do!

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson

Here is the same Psalm in the Amplified:

Psalm 73  (AMP)

1)  Truly GOD is [only] good to Israel, even to those who are upright and pure in heart.
2)  But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well-nigh slipped.
3)  For I was envious of the foolish and arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.
4)  For they suffer no violent pangs in their death, but their strength is firm.
5) They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they smitten and plagued like other men.
6)  Therefore pride is about their necks like a chain; violence covers them like a garment [like a long, luxurious robe].
7)  Their eyes stand out with fatness, they have more than heart could wish; and the imaginations of their minds overflow [with follies].
8)  They scoff, and wickedly utter oppression; they speak loftily [from on high, maliciously and blasphemously].
9)  They set their mouths against and speak down from heaven, and their tongues swagger through the earth [invading even heaven with blasphemy and smearing earth with slanders].
10)  Therefore His people return here, and waters of a full cup [offered by the wicked] are [blindly] drained by them.
11)  And they say, How does GOD know?  Is there knowledge in the Most High?
12)  Behold, these are the ungodly, who always prosper and are at ease in the world; they increase in riches.
13)  Surely then in vain have I cleansed my heart and washed my hands in innocency.
14)  For all the day long have I been smitten and plagued, and chastened every morning.
15)  Had I spoken thus [and given expression to my feelings], I would have been untrue and have dealt treacherously against the generation of Your children.
16)  But when I considered how to understand this, it was too great an effort for me and too painful.
17)  Until I went into the sanctuary of GOD; then I understood [for I considered] their end.
18)  [After all] You do set the [wicked] in slippery places; You cast them down to ruin and destruction.
19)  How they become a desolation in a moment! They are utterly consumed with terrors!
20)  As a dream [which seems real] until one awakens, so, O LORD, when You arouse Yourself [to take note of the wicked], You will despise their outward show.
21)  For my heart was grieved, embittered, and in a state of ferment, and I was pricked in my heart [as with the sharp fang of an adder].
22)  So foolish, stupid, and brutish was I, and ignorant; I was like a beast before You.
23)  Nevertheless I am continually with You; You do hold my right hand.
24)  You will guide me with Your counsel, and afterward receive me to honor and glory.
25)  Whom have I in heaven but You? And I have no delight or desire on earth besides You.
26)  My flesh and my heart may fail, but GOD is the Rock and firm Strength of my heart and my Portion forever.
27)  For behold, those who are far from You shall perish; You will destroy all who are false to You and like [spiritual] harlots depart from You.
28)  But it is good for me to draw near to GOD; I have put my trust in the LORD GOD and made Him my refuge, that I may tell of all Your works.

Amplified Bible (AMP)
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation

O Lord, Do Not Delay

My best friend needs a touch from the LORD and this is for her:

Psalm 70  (ESV)

1)  Make haste, O GOD, to deliver me!  O LORD, make haste to help me!
2)   Let them be put to shame and confusion who seek my life!  Let them be turned back and brought to dishonor who delight in my hurt!
3) Let them turn back because of their shame who say, "Aha, Aha!"
4) May all who seek You rejoice and be glad in You!  May those who love Your salvation say evermore, "GOD is great!"
5)  But I am poor and needy; hasten to me, O GOD!  You are my help and my deliverer; O LORD, do not delay!

Remember, our enemies are spiritual.  The forces that seek to make us sick are spiritual.  satan uses everything he can to make us sick, rob our finances, destroy our families, to kill, steal and destroy. 

But Jesus has conquered our enemies:

John 10:10 

(ESV)

¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

 

English Standard Version (ESV)The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers

Make Your Face Shine upon Us

Psalm 67  (ESV)

1)  May GOD be gracious to us and bless us and make His face to shine upon us.
2)  that Your way may be known on earth, Your saving power among all nations.
3)  Let the peoples praise You, O GOD; let all the peoples praise you!
4)  Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for You judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
5)  Let the peoples praise You, O GOD; let all the peoples praise you!
6)  The earth has yielded its increase; GOD, our GOD, shall bless us.
7)  GOD shall bless us; let all the ends of the earth fear Him!

English Standard Version (ESV)The Holy Bible, English Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers

Getting Serious With GOD

I was reading this chapter in James and it was really speaking to me.  Just out of curiosity I changed over to The Message and it really came alive. 

Get Serious

James 4: The Message (MSG)

 Where do you think all these appalling wars and quarrels come from?  Do you think they just happen? Think again.  They come about because you want your own way, and fight for it deep inside yourselves.  You lust for what you don't have and are willing to kill to get it.  You want what isn't yours and will risk violence to get your hands on it. 

  You wouldn't think of just asking GOD for it, would you?  And why not?  Because you know you'd be asking for what you have no right to.  You're spoiled children, each wanting your own way.

  You're cheating on GOD.  If all you want is your own way, flirting with the world every chance you get, you end up enemies of GOD and His way.  And do you suppose GOD doesn't care?  The proverb has it that "He's a fiercely jealous lover."  And what He gives in love is far better than anything else you'll find.  It's common knowledge that "GOD goes against the willful proud; GOD gives grace to the willing humble."  

  So let GOD work His will in you. Yell a loud no to the devil and watch him scamper.  Say a quiet yes to GOD and He'll be there in no time.  Quit dabbling in sin.  Purify your inner life.  Quit playing the field.  Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out.  The fun and games are over.  Get serious, really serious.  Get down on your knees before the Master; it's the only way you'll get on your feet.

  Don't bad-mouth each other, friends.  It's GOD's Word, His Message, His Royal Rule, that takes a beating in that kind of talk.  You're supposed to be honoring the Message, not writing graffiti all over it.  GOD is in charge of deciding human destiny.  Who do you think you are to meddle in the destiny of others?

  And now I have a word for you who brashly announce, "Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we're off to such and such a city for the year.  We're going to start a business and make a lot of money."  You don't know the first thing about tomorrow.  You're nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing.  Instead, make it a habit to say, "If the Master wills it and we're still alive, we'll do this or that."

  As it is, you are full of your grandiose selves.  All such vaunting self-importance is evil.  In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don't do it, that, for you, is evil.

The Message (MSG)
Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson