4GIVEN

God has already gone before you to make crooked places straight. Solomon encouraged us in Ecclesiastes 7:13-14 to, “Consider the work of God for who can straighten what He has bent? In the times of prosperity rejoice but in the times of adversity consider that He made the one as well as the other, so that we can’t discover anything after Him!” Additionally, Romans 8:31 tells us, “As long as we know God is for us, it doesn’t matter who is against” because we serve a ‘Nobody is Greater Than Our God’!! If you’re not shouting right now that’s because you may be experiencing prosperity in your life, but if you are like most of us….going through some ‘STUFF’ right now, this ‘WORD’ should be raising your level of praise: hallelujah!! Greater is He who lives in us than he that roams around seeking to kill, steal, and destroy us! Isaiah 14:27 declares, “The Lord of Hosts Himself has planned it; therefore, who can stand in its way?” The truth is that God the Father has a plan, set in stone, for each us. God’s plan for our life were established before the foundations of the world and that plan will absolutely and definitely come to pass. God’s plans are designed for a specific time and season and nothing can derail them and nothing happens before its time. God’s timing is perfect. He is never too early or too late and when you understand and believe this fact, nothing should trouble your mind ever again.

People with very negative worldview will often be competitive about their misery, trying to outdo other people’s sadness. Cynics are, by definition, pessimistic about life and you need to watch out for those who constantly, even gleefully, talk about their failures and sadness. Anyone who criticizes the failures of others, or seems overly cynical, might have a toxic personality worth avoiding because people who are motivated purely by self-interest can’t be fully trusted. Cynical people tend to be sarcastic. Their humor is biting and often caustic. Sarcasm rarely, if ever, serves God’s purposes. “If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other” (Galatians 5:15). Cynicism is a product our fallen nature, not the fruit of the Spirit. We are sinners, and, when we’re walking in the flesh, it’s easy for us to adopt a cynical attitude in response to suffering or disappointment. But God has better plans for us, though. He wants to heal us and rid our lives of cynicism.

Ultimately, the key to dealing with cynicism in our lives is Christ Himself. We need Christ in our hearts to remove the anger, dissolve the bitterness, and make us a new creation.

God isn’t asking you to figure things out. However, He’s asking you to trust that He already has! Ps 118:8 reminds us that, “It’s better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.” Therefore, despite your challenges, obstacles, and valleys remember that God is preparing you for a greater level of understanding and revelation. He is calling you to walk in His might and power; yet it requires a greater level of trust than you have known in times past. This level of trust requires that you take what you have and put in God’s hands and recognize there will be periods in life that require waiting for the manifestation of God’s promised answer. So as I mentioned, don’t try and figure out how He is going to do it, just know that He will.

There are over approximately 5,000 unilateral and bilateral promises in the Bible. Hands down, in either scenario God is faithful in keeping each of His promises. David said in Ps 145:13, “For your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. You rule throughout all generations. The LORD always keeps His promises; He is gracious in all He does.” In contrast, the enemy offers promises he has no intentions to keep nor power to provide. John 8:44 declares that Satan native tongue is ‘liar’ and he is the father of lies! Satan has told more lies to more people (and even angels) than any other being ever created. His success depends on people believing his lies. He has used everything from “little white lies” to huge, pants-on-fire whoppers to deceive folks. Adolph Hitler, a man who learned how to lie effectively, once said, “If you tell a big enough lie and tell it frequently enough, it will be believed.” Don’t fall for Satan’s empty promises rather designate your trust in the One whose promises are always ‘yes’ and ‘amen’ to the glory of God through us!

The cure for Fair-Weather Syndrome (“FWS”) is found in the beatitude expressed in Proverbs 17:17; “Friends love through all kinds of weather, and families stick together in all kinds of trouble.” Adversity and trouble come-to-pass, but love was designed to last forever! Think about it 🧐!

Gratitude is an important Biblical principle. We see this when Jesus was approached by 10 lepers. After they cried out for mercy, He commanded them to “go and show themselves to the priests.” Before they departed, nothing had happened. But “as they were going, they were cleansed. Luke 17:17-18, “Jesus answered and said, ‘Were there not ten cleansed? But the nine—where are they? Was no one found who returned to give glory to God, except this foreigner?’” Out of 10 stood 1 and that 1 Samaritan leper returned to Jesus, He glorified God “with a loud voice.” Then “he fell on his face” at Jesus’ feet, “giving thanks to Him.” Look-a-here, God doesn’t have to give me, heal me, nor bless me for me to show Him gratitude. I wanna glorify and magnify Him simply because of who He is!! When was the last time you just truly thanked God for being the Lord of your life??

Pray with me:

Father, forgive us all for taking you for granted and for not being grateful for things you have done, things that are still undone, and the things that are yet to come! In Jesus name, amen!

In order to live God’s best, we must be comfortable with God’s discipline. God’s discipline curtails destruction, requires both word and action, expresses His love for us, teaches us obedience, Short-term pain and long-term gain. The Message Bible paraphrase of Hebrews 12:4-11 helps to discern these five distinct characteristics of God’s discipline through transparent lens. The Author wrote, “In this all-out match against sin, others have suffered far worse than you, to say nothing of what Jesus went through—all that bloodshed! So, don’t feel sorry for yourselves. Or have you forgotten how good parents treat children, and that God regards you as his children? My dear child, don’t shrug off God’s discipline, but don’t be crushed by it either. It’s the child he loves that he disciplines; the child he embraces, he also corrects. God is educating you; that’s why you must never drop out. He’s treating you as dear children. This trouble you’re in isn’t punishment; it’s training, the normal experience of children. Only irresponsible parents leave children to fend for themselves. Would you prefer an irresponsible God? We respect our own parents for training and not spoiling us, so why not embrace God’s training so we can truly live? While we were children, our parents did what seemed best to them. But God is doing what is best for us, training us to live God’s holy best. At the time, discipline isn’t much fun. It always feels like it’s going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it’s the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.” Perspective is everything and God’s discipline is an expression of God’s love and through it we are empowered and equipped to live God’s best.

Jesus is not a way, He is the only way to make things right with God. Therefore, if you haven’t already done so; surrender your life over to the One that gave up His life to save you and me from eternal separation (Hell) from God!! Romans 8:30 reminds us that we were all personally chosen (handpicked) by God. He knew us before conception. So what are you waiting for? This is your clarion call,answer it today and don’t send it to voicemail! Time is precious and non-prejudicial….it waits on no man!

We all fall short of God’s glory (Rom 3:23) and incessantly sin tries to keep us bound to it’s gripping satanic claws. However, we rise tall and boldly in God’s presence not because of who we are but because of what Christ did on the cross 2,000+ years ago (Rom 5:8)!! God will never deny Himself and all of His promises are ‘yes’ and ‘amen’ (2 Cor 1:20)!! Obviously, we are undeserving recipients of the grace that God unconditionally, impartially, and relentlessly pours out into our lives and I don’t know about you but this is ‘reason’ enough for me to give Him the honor, respect, praise, worship, and glory that He rightfully and unequivocally deserves! Rejoice with me today because we are God’s beloved children and remember what Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “[We] have been crucified with Christ and [we] no longer live, but Christ lives in [us]. The life [we]now live in the body, [we] live by faith in the Son of God, who loved [us] and gave himself for [us]!”

QOTD: To what end are we to “be still,” “let go,” “surrender,” and even to “die to ourselves”? We must surrender our will and our mouths in order to know that God is in control as ‘Ribbono Shel Olam’ – the Master of the Universe. We “let go” in order to objectively know the saving power of God in our lives. We give up trusting in ourselves and our own designs in order to experience the glory of God’s all-sufficiency. Did you notice I included surrendering our mouths. We may surrender our mind, will, and emotion but way too often when calamity and unexpectedness interrupts our lives we have the tendency to excessively talk to ourselves and with others about the circumstances wreaking havoc in our world. Now don’t get me wrong,self-deliberation and talking to others can be therapeutic however, praying and then listening to God is far more rewarding. The Message paraphrase of Exodus 14:14 put it this way, “GOD will fight the battle for you. And you? You keep your mouths shut!” Now, let’s be honest and true to ourselves; this is some sound advice to embrace!