Author: marquitabp

Don't 'Do You'

 

"You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you, all whose thoughts are fixed on you!"  Isaiah 26:3 NLT

 

 My whole life seems to go off kilter when I'm out of sync with God.  When I don't spend time praying or reading or even singing, I feel terribly off balance.  I can even tell on days when I have not prayed yet that I seem to be extremely snippy at people or just inclined to be mean (I know, I'm not mean :D).

 

For example, today started off GREAT!!! But lets go back to my Saturday…ugh.  I was Misses Grinch.  I don't recall what time I initially woke up, but I only got up to eat and went right back to bed.  I did not even say "Thank You Lord" for waking me up, didn't pray didn't do anything.  And of course I was in a particularly rotten mood all day.  Every time I would wake up, I would simply think about all the things bothering me and I would focus on those things.  I don't know when it was…but I finally had enough of moping around.  Somehow I mustered enough energy to get out of the bed and eat a little.  But I think and I know that I did not give God His due reverence because I dwelt on everything but His word.  I know I have had crappy days that I did not even pray that morning but I caught myself and prayed that the day restart with God in mind. 

 

When we place the due focus on God, we realign our plans and wills to His plan and will for us.  We take ourselves out of the driver's seat and get over out of God's way.  The greatest blessing though is having God's peace reign over our decisions and actions.  Having our steps ordered by Him is the best feeling ever.  When I went to get my new car this year, I had been praying and putting the issue before God.  He allowed every single thing to fall into place pertaining the car.  I did not feel pressured or a single amount of stress in making the purchase.  He blew my mind every step of the way.  And only God can do that when we focus on His will.  Stop doing you and do God!

 

"Then you will experience God's peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."  Philippians 4:7 NLT

God's Trying to Tell You Something

 

"'Thus says the Lord GOD, "On the day that I cleanse you from all your iniquities, I will cause the cities to be inhabited, and the waste places will be rebuilt."  Ezekiel 36:33

 

One of my all-time favorite movies is "The Color Purple".  As an adult I have grown to appreciate it much more, as the title is filled with so much imagery.  The color purple has long be a symbol of royalty and power.  Rich purple hues range from infantile lilac and lavender to deep, passionate indigo and symbolize one's growth, from infantry to adulthood.  But of all the things I love about the movie, from reciting many of the lines and singing along, is the repentant, remorse-filled song "God's Trying to Tell You Something" sung by Shug Avery.  Every time as I watch the part when she returns from her wayward lifestyle to the church that her father pastors, I begin to cry.  Not so much that I can relate, but God's Spirit touches my heart with the words of that song.  "Speak Lord, speak to me" she croons and it makes me want to beg God's forgiveness of all my life's wrongs and clear away anything that is obstructing His dialogue with me.

 

My pastor this past Sunday said something along these lines in his sermon.  God is really trying to tell each and every one of us something.  Whether He's trying to encourage you to keep pushing and fighting through your pain to the healing you desire for your broken heart or broken physical body, or He is trying to reign you back from a place that separates you from Him, He is most definitely trying to tell you something.  Christ did not die to simply be a martyr, but to save our souls!  His death was the stitch that closed the wound inflicted with the first sin.  During this Valentine's holiday, I was suffering in every way imaginable, and I really felt I had cause to be sad.  Pain in my physical body and uneasiness about the ultrasound I had to get done of my thyroid gland, pain in my heart over my mother's heartbreak at missing my dad on their 25th anniversary and my own pain over what I will not have with my dad, pain over how my family is one year later…but in the same breath God saw fit to bless me in so many ways.  Even though I still endure health challenges, God allowed my brother to call me and tell me how glad he was to give me a kidney and save my life.  To hear my brother, my unofficial twin, lol, tell me how much he loves me was the greatest gift I could have gotten.  Even though I had been hurt by some close to me, I was blessed and still happy to spend the day with my mom.  Seeing her smile and hug me took every ounce of willpower I had to not cry.  Furthermore, I got the encouraging push I needed to go forward even in the midst of defeat. 

 

God is willing to speak volumes to us if we are willing to listen.  God loves us so much, and sometimes life strives to tell us otherwise.  But how else can the enemy discourage and discount the work God performed through Christ if we don't have difficulties? The Christian life is not easy, and especially not so if you are trying to be obedient.  I read a book on how the enemy's minions work overtime to keep us from God…and even more when you are already down.  But God!  He tries so hard to talk to us and if we get distracted by the hustle and bustle of life we can never hear Him.  We then feel alone and discouraged in this place and it just makes life more difficult.  God will speak…it is the fact that we must be willing to hear, and thus, clear away the noise to hear His still, quiet voice.

 

"This is what the LORD of Heaven's Armies says: You can be sure that I will rescue my people from the east and from the west. I will bring them home again to live safely in Jerusalem. They will be my people, and I will be faithful and just toward them as their God."  Zechariah 8:7-8 NLT

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"No weapon formed against you shall prosper; and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of God and their righteousness is of me," says the Lord.  Isaiah 54:17
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