He is my God

"Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

let us kneel before the LORD, our Maker!

For he is our God,

and we are the people of his pasture,

and the sheep of his hand."

Psalm 95:6-7a

Through faith in Jesus, I belong to God; I am His and He is mine (John 1:12-13).  How can I worship Him in the way I live my life (Romans 12:1)?

Listen.  Sheep know their shepherd's voice.  There could be many people giving them commands, telling them what to do,  calling their names, but only the voice of their master can make them come running (see video demonstration).

Likewise, Jesus is my Good Shepherd and as such, He is my Master (John 10:14-16).  When I designate Him as my King, my Leader, my Lord, I will be able to pick His voice out from all the other commands I hear in life. "Run after this, go there to find meaning, do this and you will succeed."

Even if my enemy mimics the voice of my Shepherd, I will be able to distinguish the phony, counterfeit voice from the real thing.  The more I choose to follow my Jesus, the better I'll get at hearing His precious truths whispered to my heart.  Then I'll be able to tune out the static of this modern life that distracts, enticing me away from the life-giving voice of my Savior and Lord.

In order to worship God in the way I live my life I must pay attention to the voice of my Shepherd.

Open.  I tried to pour the fuel into the tank of the lawn mower, but nothing happened when I tipped the gas can over.  The newfangled spout on the fuel container required that I hold the valve open as I poured, otherwise the grass-cutting machine would not be able to receive the energy needed to do it's job.

In similar way, I must be open in order to receive the life-giving power from Jesus.  He is ready to teach me, transform me and bless me, but I must be willing to take what He has to give.  If He is the Potter and I am the clay, I must be pliable and soft.  Instead of resisting His attempts at molding me into the Son-resembling shape He meant for me to take, I will be mold-able in His hands.

In order to worship God in the way I live my life I must be open to receive His teachings, like putty in His hands.

Trust.  I know what God is capable of doing.  I read about examples of His might throughout Scripture and I've seen Him work wonders before my own eyes.  He's softened the hardest heart, provided needs when it seemed there was no hope, opened doorways that had seemed to be sealed shut;  yes, I've witnessed amazing feats of His power.

Why, then, do I panic when all seems to be falling apart?  Or why does my stomach twist into a knot when He leads me to a mountain as I travel on the path He has marked out for me? Or why do I freak out when I face what looks to be impossible?

Because I'm so much like the Israelites who only saw the problem and forgot the might of the God who led them (Exodus 17:1-7)!  They doubted His ability to save them, provide for me, and lead them.  And I often make the same mistake.  When instead I trust Him, I find a supernatural power to propel me forward until I realize He made the impossible possible.  I got through the difficulty, I crossed the mountain, I conquered the hopeless through faith in the God of the impossible!

In order to worship God in the way I live my life I must trust Him to do whatever is necessary to take care of me as I encounter potholes and obstacles during my journey.

I belong to God through faith in Jesus.  As His child, I have a Father who loves me and cares for me perfectly.  Yet I often live my life as if He doesn't exist let alone care for me so attentively.  How can I change the way I live so that my very day-to-day existence brings glory to Him?  I can listen to His voice, be open to receiving what He has to give and how He wants to change me, and to trust Him implicitly with all the details of my life.  In these ways, my life will send the message that "He is my God."

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can trust God with every detail.

How do I ignore the voice of Jesus as He attempts to lead me?

When do I panic in the face of danger, turning away from the all-powerful God who is ready to help me?

Chariots, or God?

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses,

but we trust in the name of the LORD our God."

Psalm 20:7

Common Sense, intelligence, street smarts.

Education, degrees, knowledge.

Lineage, pedigree, family heritage.

Income, savings, investments.

Know-how, positive attitude, self-faith.

There are many things in which I can place my faith.  There is much in which I can believe will pull me through the hard times.  When trouble hits, I can turn in many directions in order to find help.  What is my go-to source when the waters begin to rise, the embers smolder, the difficulties raise their ugly heads?  In what do I place my confidence, believing it will never let me down?  What helps me cope?

Whatever it is, if it's not God, it will fail.

Supremacy.  God has resources I know nothing about.  I recently was reminded of this truth when I cried out to Him in desperation.  The numbers in our family budget were not adding up, Christmas was coming and I didn't know what we would do.  I left it in my Father's hands and went about my day-to-day business.  Then the phone rang.  "Honey," my husband says on the other end of the line, "Would you check the account?  I just received a notice of a deposit for $500.  Do you know what that is for?"

I didn't, but I smiled, remembering God's promise to meet our needs.  It turns out, we were being reimbursed for our deductible after a car accident earlier in the year.  We didn't expect this payment.  It wasn't even on our radar.  Yes, God has resources we know nothing about.

The power of my God cannot be matched, comprehended or contained.  He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, has the hairs on my head counted, and intimately knows my thoughts (Psalm 50:10, Matthew 10:30,Psalm 139:2).  Such power is beyond my ability to understand.  With such a Father as this, is there anything He cannot do?  Is there any problem He cannot solve?  Any need He is not able to meet?  No.  He is more than able.  He is God!

If I trust in God like David did, I will not be disappointed.

Sovereignty.  Could I imagine God wringing His hands, worried about events that are taking place in His creation, wondering how it will all work out?  Of course not, He's God.  It's all in His hands, under His control, written in His book (Psalm 95:3-5, 1 Corinthians 15:27,Psalm 139:16).

If I believe He has complete control, why do I wring my hands, worry about things that are happening in my life, wondering how it will all shake out in the end?  God knows.  He has my best interest at heart.  He is ordering my footsteps.  Therefore, it will be okay.  Everything will turn out as He planned as long as I work with Him, let Him have His way, cooperating with His beneficial plan.  Otherwise, I'll throw things off, walk on my own path that leads to destruction, miss out on all the good He has planned.

Not to worry even then, though.  Even when I do stray, He gets me back on track, just like a GPS system that recalculates when I make a wrong turn.  It doesn't tell me the trip is off and there's no hope so turn around and go home.  No!  It takes the data gathered from my present location and comes up with a new route that will get me to my original destination.  Similarly, with God there is always hope and it's never too late to turn back to His plan for my life.

If I trust in God like David did, I will not be disappointed.

Sanctuary.  I remember how I felt after my purse was stolen out of my car.  I no longer felt safe in my hometown.  I used to feel secure, as if I were somehow in a protected little bubble in the place where I grew up.  I never felt a need to lock a door, secure a window or look behind me.  After that incident, however, things changed.  The security I used to feel was gone.

While I may never know a place in this world that is free from crime, there is a safe place where I am perfectly protected.  God is this safe place.  Under the shadow of His wings I never need to fear for my life, nor worry that He will somehow take advantage of me if I make myself vulnerable to Him, nor wonder if He really cares enough to give me His best.  I can trust Him as my sanctuary.

He is so safe, in fact, that I can even entrust my mess-ups, sinfulness, and failures to Him.  His redemptive power is such that He can take all that I think I ruined in my life and turn it into a gorgeous tapestry (Romans 8:28).   He can take that which was done to me for evil and transform it into something good that He planned long ago (Genesis 50:20, Ephesians 2:10).  He has a way of using the ugly to create beauty (Isaiah 61:3).

If I trust in God like David did, I will not be disappointed.

There is so much in this world that I can trust to help me when times get hard.  When my back is up against the wall, I have my go-to resources that I believe will never fail.  If those means are not God, however, they will fail.  Only He is faithful because He is supreme, sovereign and a sanctuary I can trust.  If I place my faith in Him, I will never be sorry.

As I begin this day it is my prayer that I can place all my eggs in God's basket.

When do I hold back, not putting my full weight on God?

How am I trusting in other resources besides God?