Why do I doubt God when..........(Exodus 14:21-31)

Why do I doubt God when I read of the amazing things he has done, after all he is the same God today as he was when he created the world, parted the sea for the Israelites and on and on his feats go. So why do I find it so hard to trust this same God with my life, with my future, with things of less significance than parting a sea?

Exodus 14:21-31 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)

²¹ Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and all that night the Lord drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, ²² and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.
²³ The Egyptians pursued them, and all Pharaoh’s horses and chariots and horsemen followed them into the sea. ²⁴ During the last watch of the night the Lord looked down from the pillar of fire and cloud at the Egyptian army and threw it into confusion. ²⁵ He jammed^[a] the wheels of their chariots so that they had difficulty driving. And the Egyptians said, “Let’s get away from the Israelites! The Lord is fighting for them against Egypt.”
²⁶ Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” ²⁷ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward^[b] it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. ²⁸ The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived.
²⁹ But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. ³⁰ That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. ³¹ And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant

As I read biblical time happenings like this I am reminded again of the importance of filling myself with God's word to remind me of his power, goodness, grace, etc. I am far from alone on this journey, he very much wants to be part of it, if I would only consistently choose to let him be.

Click on the below links to 2 beautiful songs;

Michael W Smith - Awesome God
How great thou art

But Lord I am so inadequate (Exodus 4:10-17)

But Lord I am so inadequate.....do ya know the feeling? Have you ever felt called to something you felt so inadequate for? Or perhaps you are in the midst of a journey and you wonder how on earth you can honour God's name in the midst of your journey, your struggle.

Well we are not alone, the great Moses also felt inadequate and actually refused to trust God to speak for and through him to give the "Let the Israelites go speeches" requiring his brother Aaron to do the talking. Check out the passage.

Exodus 4:10-17 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁰ Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”
¹¹ The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute? Who gives them sight or makes them blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ¹² Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”
¹³ But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”
¹⁴ Then the Lord’s anger burned against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet you, and he will be glad to see you. ¹⁵ You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth; I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. ¹⁶ He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth and as if you were God to him. ¹⁷ But take this staff in your hand so you can perform the signs with it.”

I can relate to this as my wife and I have felt so inadequate to honor God and fulfil his purpose in the health journey's he has allowed us to be on. We have found him to be faithful though if we choose to seek him.

Are we reluctant like Moses? Do we feel inadequate like Moses did? How are we responding to what God is asking of us? 

We can draw encouragement from the fact that great bible characters like Moses had the same struggles we do.

I Surrender

Walk With Me

forgotten promises (Exodus 1:6-11)

Have you experienced a change in supervisors or boss's in your life? Perhaps if you have, you have felt like Joseph's family in the below text. Perhaps with your new supervisor or boss you have found that the promises and plans of your previous one have not been carried on.

This is how Joseph's family found things, once a prominent family of high standing, they were now being treated poorly under a new regime.

Exodus 1:6-11 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)

⁶ Now Joseph and all his brothers and all that generation died, ⁷ but the Israelites were exceedingly fruitful; they multiplied greatly, increased in numbers and became so numerous that the land was filled with them.
⁸ Then a new king, to whom Joseph meant nothing, came to power in Egypt. ⁹ “Look,” he said to his people, “the Israelites have become far too numerous for us. ¹⁰ Come, we must deal shrewdly with them or they will become even more numerous and, if war breaks out, will join our enemies, fight against us and leave the country.”
¹¹ So they put slave masters over them to oppress them with forced labor, and they built Pithom and Rameses as store cities for Pharaoh.

Your story may not be as brutal, but you may well have experienced this in some form. It's very hard to remain faithful to God and be happy in the midst of disappointment at the hand of others.

 

manipulation (Genesis 50:15-21)

How often do we try to manipulate our circumstance to try and turn what we fear to be a bad turn of events into a good turn of events?

Fearing the worst, that is exactly what Joseph's brothers did in the below text;

Genesis 50:15-21 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)

Joseph Reassures His Brothers

¹⁵ When Joseph’s brothers saw that their father was dead, they said, “What if Joseph holds a grudge against us and pays us back for all the wrongs we did to him?” ¹⁶ So they sent word to Joseph, saying, “Your father left these instructions before he died: ¹⁷ ‘This is what you are to say to Joseph: I ask you to forgive your brothers the sins and the wrongs they committed in treating you so badly.’ Now please forgive the sins of the servants of the God of your father.” When their message came to him, Joseph wept.
¹⁸ His brothers then came and threw themselves down before him. “We are your slaves,” they said.
¹⁹ But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? ²⁰ You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. ²¹ So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.

Maybe our circumstances are different, but how often do we try to manage and manipulate our circumstances instead of trusting the one who has our whole journey in plain sight?

We can learn so much from these bible stories because they are about real people who dealt with life in the same way we do. They are for our instruction and encouragement, both to learn from the mistakes of some and the triumphs of others.

What's God promising you and I (Genesis 46:1-5)

A great nation!!, are you kidding me, Abraham must have exclaimed and Isaac and Jacob must have thought the same. They must have wondered about God's promise to them. After all this great nation was not happening very fast, basically one son at a time, that is until Jacob's family when he had a whole bunch of kids. Do we really think they didn't question God; when Abraham was asked to sacrifice Isaac, when Esau and Jacob feuded, when Jacob's sons plotted......they all must of wondered how God could make a great nation through them with all of their shortcomings.

Genesis 46:1-4 (http://www.biblegateway.com)
New International Version (NIV)
Jacob Goes to Egypt

46 So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac.

² And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!”
“Here I am,” he replied.
³ “I am God, the God of your father,” he said. “Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. ⁴ I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”

God works through our shortcomings and he keeps his promises.

What's God promising you today, perhaps its not a great nation......are we sensitive enough to his leading and trusting in him enough to experience his promises in our lives?

God is always a step a head of us. (Genesis 45:4-11)

Are we willing to see through our challenging times and have faith that God has a plan and a purpose for us?

I am sure Joseph wondered many times about what God had planned for him. First off he likely wished he never would have shared his dreams with his brothers. God works through our poor decisions as he did through Josephs to mold him in to the great leader that he became. Trusting God and his end purpose is difficult when in the midst of misery. I suspect that trusting God was not easy for Joseph when his own brothers threw him in to a pit, when Potiphars's wife plotted against him or when he was stuck in jail.

In the following passage Joseph's dreams come full circle when he in actual fact rules over Egypt and his brothers. Imagine the dropped jaws of his brothers when he reveals his identity to them in their time of need. They must have been shaking in their boots. Obviously Joseph was very forgiving and saw the bigger picture, God's purpose, that he worked through their shortcomings to put Joseph in a place of leadership to provide for his family.

Genesis 45:4-11 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)

⁴ Then Joseph said to his brothers, “Come close to me.” When they had done so, he said, “I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! ⁵ And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you. ⁶ For two years now there has been famine in the land, and for the next five years there will be no plowing and reaping. ⁷ But God sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance.^[a]
8 “So then, it was not you who sent me here, but God. He made me father to Pharaoh, lord of his entire household and ruler of all Egypt. ⁹ Now hurry back to my father and say to him, ‘This is what your son Joseph says: God has made me lord of all Egypt. Come down to me; don’t delay. ¹⁰ You shall live in the region of Goshen and be near me—you, your children and grandchildren, your flocks and herds, and all you have. ¹¹ I will provide for you there, because five years of famine are still to come. Otherwise you and your household and all who belong to you will become destitute.’


God is always a step a head of us.

How do you think he is working in your life for his purpose?

Our time isnt always his time (Genesis 40)

How many times in our life do we think we have a better plan than God does? How many times do we think our timing is better?

Way back in Joseph's time he seemed to have ideals about getting out of prison, who wouldn't if they were not guilty?

He was serving time for a crime he didn't commit and thought he had caught  a break.

Genesis 40:9-15 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)

⁹ So the chief cupbearer told Joseph his dream. He said to him, “In my dream I saw a vine in front of me, ¹⁰ and on the vine were three branches. As soon as it budded, it blossomed, and its clusters ripened into grapes. ¹¹ Pharaoh’s cup was in my hand, and I took the grapes, squeezed them into Pharaoh’s cup and put the cup in his hand.”
¹² “This is what it means,” Joseph said to him. “The three branches are three days. ¹³ Within three days Pharaoh will lift up your head and restore you to your position, and you will put Pharaoh’s cup in his hand, just as you used to do when you were his cupbearer. ¹⁴ But when all goes well with you, remember me and show me kindness; mention me to Pharaoh and get me out of this prison. ¹⁵ I was forcibly carried off from the land of the Hebrews, and even here I have done nothing to deserve being put in a dungeon.”

The cup bearer was released and still Joseph remained in prison, for what reason, what was God's plan?

Genesis 40:20-23 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)

²⁰ Now the third day was Pharaoh’s birthday, and he gave a feast for all his officials. He lifted up the heads of the chief cupbearer and the chief baker in the presence of his officials: ²¹ He restored the chief cupbearer to his position, so that he once again put the cup into Pharaoh’s hand— ²² but he impaled the chief baker, just as Joseph had said to them in his interpretation.
²³ The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him.

Have you been in a major dry spell like Joseph with no prosperity in sight, no idea of God's purpose. Joseph waited years and years before he was ready to fulfil the purpose God revealed to him in dreams.

Waiting sucks and its hard not to cave into what we may see as an easier way, but only when we wait on God will we experience his perfect plan in his perfect time as Joseph did.

 

 

Wow, what deception (Genesis 27)

Oh my, the deception in Genisis 27. It's crazy.

This chapter is a story of a family with 2 sons, twins actually. The father had his favorite, the masculine hunter of a son and the mother had hers, which was the other son. That was just the start of their issues. Obviously the children were quick learners as the one son deceitfully bribed the birthright from his older brother for a pot of stew. Apparently one will give up a lot when hungry.The mother than put her conniving ways to use to ensure that her favourite received the blessing, which in those days was a big deal.

Check the story out by clicking on the link

Genesis 27

Do you see yourself in this story anywhere? Have you bribed someone, have you manipulated to get your way, do you treat a child of yours as a favourite?

There are many lessons in this story and I can certainly see my sinful nature in it.

Have you ever laughed at what God is telling you or asking of you? (Genesis 17:17)

Have you ever laughed at what God is telling you or asking of you?

Abraham and Sarah did just that. God promised them that they would have a son in their old age and through him a great nation would be born.

Genesis 17:17 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)

¹⁷ Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself, “Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old? Will Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?”

Perhaps our stories are different than Abraham and Sarah's. Perhaps what we are being asked to believe in faith or do in faith is different, but we are all at some point in our lives asked to believe or do something in faith.

My wife and I were not 100 and 90 respectfully when we had children and neither were we told a great nation would be born to us. We were however older and did get told that we would likely not have children. We understand the emotions and feelings that go along with feeling like you may not have a child. We even miscarried after being so happy we had conceived. It was a roller coaster experience for us, but one that led us to cry out to God looking for his direction for our lives. Should we adopt? Should we remain childless? He saw fit to provide us with 2 beautiful children of our own. I get the unbelief that Abraham and Sarah must have felt.

What's your story? What's God asking you to do? Is he asking you to believe in his provision, trust him through a health crisis, a way ward child experience, etc.? Are we prepared to follow him in faith or are we unbelieving and laughing at him as Abraham did?

He has a pretty good track record of fulfilling his promises.......a perfect score actually!!

How many of us have tried to build a tower to heaven (Genesis 11:1-9)

How many of us have tried to build a tower to heaven? Ya it may sound corny, but really when you stop and think of it, how many of us have tried to build a tower to heaven to earn merit with God rather than welcome our saviour into our hearts and homes by faith. I know in my own life I have been guilty of trying to build a tower, one good deed brick at a time, but God doesn't want that, he wants to be invited in to work change in us. He wants to come down and be present in our lives? There is nothing we can do aside from opening our hearts to him to enhance the communication signal, to be closer to him. He just wants us surrendered to him.

Genesis 11:1-9 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)

The Tower of Babel

11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. ² As people moved eastward,^[a] they found a plain in Shinar^[b] and settled there.

³ They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. ⁴ Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
⁵ But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. ⁶ The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. ⁷ Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
⁸ So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. ⁹ That is why it was called Babel^[c]—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

man Noah had faith (Genisis 6:9-22)

If God asked you or I to build an ark, what would we do? Oh I have a good Idea what I would do, since I have trouble enough following him in faith and trusting him with much smaller things, I expect I would not have followed through as Noah did.

Genesis 6:9-22) (http://www.biblegateway.com)
New International Version (NIV)

Noah and the Flood

⁹ This is the account of Noah and his family.

Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. ¹⁰ Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth.

¹¹ Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight and was full of violence. ¹² God saw how corrupt the earth had become, for all the people on earth had corrupted their ways. ¹³ So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. ¹⁴ So make yourself an ark of cypress^[a] wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. ¹⁵ This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high.^{[b] 16} Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit^[c] high all around.^[d] Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. ¹⁷ I am going to bring floodwaters on the earth to destroy all life under the heavens, every creature that has the breath of life in it. Everything on earth will perish. ¹⁸ But I will establish my covenant with you, and you will enter the ark—you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you. ¹⁹ You are to bring into the ark two of all living creatures, male and female, to keep them alive with you. ²⁰ Two of every kind of bird, of every kind of animal and of every kind of creature that moves along the ground will come to you to be kept alive. ²¹ You are to take every kind of food that is to be eaten and store it away as food for you and for them.”
²² Noah did everything just as God commanded him.

So what will we do the next time God asks us to follow him in faith, maybe it won't be to build an ark, but perhaps it will be to trust him with an issue at work, reconciling a friendship, the outcome of a health issue, etc. How will we choose, will we muddle along on our own or will we trust him and follow him in faith?

you raise me up to be more than I can be

You raise me up to be more than I can be.....I am strong when I am on your shoulders.

The below link is to a beautiful song that describes very well what we have in God when we put our trust in him.

Josh Groban - You Raise Me Up

From my experience this can be a daily struggle, to trust God and realise on his provision when its too easy to want to do things my own way. It has robbed me many times of experiencing the joy God provides, the peace one feels when carried by God.

God was not happy, I wonder what he thinks now (Genesis 6:5-8)

God was not happy, I wonder what he thinks now. Back in the days of Noah, way back in Genesis, God was less than impressed with what he crated. Check out what he was thinking;

Genesis 6:5-8 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)

⁵ The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. ⁶ The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. ⁷ So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” ⁸ But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord.

I wonder what he is thinking these days, when it seems that the human race generally does not have time for him, crimes of every nature are getting out of hand, people look to sex, drugs and alcohol instead of to him for happiness and on and on the list goes. I really wonder what he thinks.

If we all make an effort one person at a time to do what is pleasing in God's site, imagine what kinda of peaceful God fearing earth we would live on. Is that the goal we are chasing, to concern our own person with being pleasing to God, or does it even make our top 10 for goals?

We are Cain and Abel (Genesis 4)

We are Cain and Abel. Checkout the below passage.

Genesis 4:1-12 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)

Cain and Abel

4 Adam^[a] made love to his wife Eve, and she became pregnant and gave birth to Cain.^[b] She said, “With the help of the Lord I have brought forth^[c] a man.” ² Later she gave birth to his brother Abel.

Now Abel kept flocks, and Cain worked the soil. ³ In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the Lord. ⁴ And Abel also brought an offering—fat portions from some of the firstborn of his flock. The Lord looked with favor on Abel and his offering, ⁵ but on Cain and his offering he did not look with favor. So Cain was very angry, and his face was downcast.
⁶ Then the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry? Why is your face downcast? ⁷ If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door; it desires to have you, but you must rule over it.”
⁸ Now Cain said to his brother Abel, “Let’s go out to the field.”^[d] While they were in the field, Cain attacked his brother Abel and killed him.

How often are we like Cain, thinking that what we are doing should be pleasing to God rather than doing what God has asked us to do? Cain did what came easy to him, thinking it would be pleasing to God. Perhaps we have been gifted in a certain area or we aspire to use a certain gift when God is asking us to go in a different direction as he clearly was asking Cain to do. God asked a stuttering Moses to lead his people when I am sure Moses had talents that he may have thought would be of better use to God. God may not be asking us to use our most prominent gift for his glory, he may be stretching us and asking us in faith to rely on his provision to lead as Moses, Gideon and many other bible characters did.

Are we choosing to be obedient, to surrender our will to do what God has in mind for us?

You are Adam, you are Eve (Genesis 3)

You are Adam, you are Eve, ya its true, I am no different than Adam, I am prone to the same choices. In the following passage we see really the first choice mankind makes. From what I can understand God has granted us the privilege to choose in life and in the following passage Adam and Eve acted on the privilege to choose. Yes they chose poorly, but now I ask myself and you, when we read this passage do we see ourselves making similar choices in our lives when we know better?

Genesis 3:1-13 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)

The Fall

3 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”
⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
⁸ Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. ⁹ But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”
¹⁰ He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
¹¹ And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
¹² The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
¹³ Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?”
The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.”

How often our we convinced by the crafty devil to choose poorly? How often do we then convince a friend, neighbour, etc., to make the same choice, maybe its to gossip, maybe its to steal or partake in something we should not, but we regularly are enticed and sometimes fall into the trap, don't we?

We are Adam and Eve

Thankfully we have a saviour

Is it well with your soul?

Is it well with my/your soul? Are we all giddy inside or does our soul feel in turmoil like a stomach on the verge of a bad flu? Are we experiencing a calm and a peace that only God can provide or are we riding the waves that we experience in this life on our own merits..... trying vigorously to keep from sinking?

Can I say it is well with my soul? Can you?

Perhaps it's to revealing to honestly answer that question. It may mean change, a change that only God can work and possibly at the price of superficial happiness.

Hmm, what choice should one make, to have a happy soul and for eternity or the momentary happiness of today?

We all face the same choice.


It is well with my soul by Kutless with Lyrics
It Is Well With My Soul by Hillsong Live
4Him - It Is Well With My Soul

well done my good and faithful servant

Over the course of my working career I have received promotions and wage increases, but without being affirmed they mean little. It means so much to hear those words "well done my good and faithful servant". Its very motivating.

One day we will have the opportunity to hear those words from our saviour. In the meantime we are given clear direction on how to live. I am not suggesting that those words should be our only motivator but rather an added bonus, a bi product. I am suggesting that our motivation to live for Christ should be the fact that he spared his life for us so that we can have eternity with him.

As per the below parable, will our master (Jesus) one day say to us "well done my good and faithful servant".

Matthew 25:21 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)

²¹ “His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’

Will you hear from Him, “Well done my good and faithful servant?”

buckling under the pressure to be like Christ, failing miserably

How do we be like Christ? Sometimes I have felt like I am buckling under the pressure to be like Christ, I am failing!!!

BUT the following passage asks us to, it sets a clear goal for us.......I awoke thinking of this, my favourite passage this morning.

Philippians 2 (http://www.biblegateway.com)

New International Version (NIV)

Imitating Christ’s Humility

2 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

⁶ Who, being in very nature^[a] God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature^[b] of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

 

Thankfully we have a patient and a forgiving God, one that gives us the provisions to continue the life long trek towards a more complete and full relationship with him. We serve a great God.

 

Am I willing to accept his provisions, the help of his Holy Spirit and strength to be what he is asking me to be? Are you? Are we willing to keep seeking him, to grow, to mature as Christians, to get up when we stumble and fall and to keep chasing the goal.

 

Carrie Underwood with Vince Gill How Great thou Art

Josh Groban - You Raise Me Up