“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge him and he will direct your path”.Proverbs 3:5
There is a reason why Proverbs 3:5 says, “all your heart.” Trusting in the Lord with all your heart means that He alone is the One you are trusting to direct you to the right path. You simply ask Him and wait on the answer. I like to write out my questions and then record the answer in my journal.
When you ask the Lord for direction and He gives you the answer, you trust Him even though you don’t fully understand it. You can’t wait until you understand everything. If you wait until you understand then you are trusting in yourself. There are some things we will never understand and that is why we need faith to trust God.
Holding on to the past can be a major block when you are trying to trust the Lord. If you are rehearsing all of your past mistakes, then you can’t hear what He is telling you to do. You will be hindered from moving forward until you let go of the past and release all the people who let you down. Forgive yourself and others and then trust God to direct your steps from this day forward.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, I need Your help. Please help me to stop looking backwards at the mistakes of the past. Lord, help me to overcome all fear and put my full trust in You as I move forward. In Jesus’ Name,
“He heals the brokenhearted and bindeth up their wounds.” Psalms 147:3
God has made full provision for healing the pain of the past so you can trust again. Have you ever trusted someone to love you that did not know how to love or how to receive your love? In both cases you will experience rejection. This type of rejection is very painful, especially when it comes from someone whom you really trusted. The pain from being hurt by someone you trust is much greater than being hurt by a casual friend. It takes years to build trust, but it only takes a moment of rejection to tear trust down. This is because when you trust someone, you open your heart up to him or her. When they reject you, the natural tendency is to close your heart to them in order to avoid being hurt again. The pain that comes from rejection creates a big wound that must be healed in order to be able to trust that person again.
Jesus made a complete provision for our physical and emotional healing. But many people are stuck, “locked in time”, desperately needing to be set free from the pain of the past. One way many people try to get rid of pain is to just forget what happened and forget about the person who hurt them. You can tear that person out of your address book and you may even be able to forget what happened, but if healing did not occur, the pain is still there though tucked away inside. The pain that lingers from the past keeps you tied to the past. Isaiah, the prophet, said in Isaiah 1:4-6 that those people who have not been healed will go backwards. Like taking one step forward and then two steps backward; you aren’t getting anywhere.
Another way many people deal with pain is to run from it or pretend it really isn’t there. Pain is like a shadow, you look around and it is still there no matter how fast you run. That is why so many people are walking around with the shadow of the past still on them. Pain must be faced and dealt with in order for it to be put away for good. Pain must be faced and dealt with in order for it to be put away. Instead of running from pain, stop, turn around, and face it. Pain must be faced to be healed.
You may be one who has received some healing, but the pain still remains. Jeremiah 6:14 also says that when a person has only been healed slightly, they say peace, peace, but there is no peace. The amount of peace you are having can be a good indicator of how much healing you have received. Once you are healed and the pain is gone, you will be able to hold your heart open again and trust. Healing produces trust in you. Then wait on the Lord to give you peace. However, if the person that hurt you proves over and over not to be trustworthy, he or she also needs to receive healing.
I will praise Thee for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are thy works and that my soul knoweth right will.
Psalm 139:14
We all have our insecurities. Some may want to change their personality, appearance, height, or weight. We live in a world that is hard to please, so the pressure to change in order to be more acceptable is very great. But, in the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, He declared it was good. When He created man and woman He said it was very good.
Can you see it now? Imagine the God of the universe taking a step back while viewing His work and gently nodding His head and saying, “Yes, this is good.” You were included in His beautiful work. He formed and fashioned you just right. He knew what He was doing; you were no mistake. Don’t listen to the lies of the enemy telling you that you need to change to be more satisfying to this world. The Lord sculpted you and held you up and said, “My child you are good enough!” Relax and let Him do His work in you.
“But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.” 2 Corinthians 3:18
“To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the beloved.” Ephesians 1:6
Declare your praise to the Lord because you are fearfully and wonderfully made! Confess that you are good enough and acceptable to Him. Speak only uplifting and wholesome words about yourself from now on.
Father God, I need Your help. Help me to see myself the way You see me. I confess I have been trying to measure up to the world’s standards. I have believed the lies _________________. I choose today to renounce each lie and to embrace the truth that I am accepted in the beloved and I am one of your marvelous works. Thank You that when You look at me you say “very good”. Help me to only think and speak uplifting words about myself.
“And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” Galatians 4: 6-7
God has a place and a purpose for each of us in His kingdom. In order for you to know where your place is, you must discover your identity. Your spiritual identity is not based on worldly criteria, social status, or education. You may be very successful in a profession, but still feel something is missing if you have not discovered your spiritual identity.
Healing is essential in discovering our identity. Pain and scars from the past keep us connected to the past and distort the way we perceive ourselves and who we are to God. God speaks to our hearts, telling us who we are, but we can’t clearly hear Him until we are healed. Pain blocks and distorts our spiritual hearing. Through the healing process we experience restoration, being restored into favor and fellowship with God. Sin separates us; healing restores us!
In the past several years, I noticed a block in hearing the Lord, especially through dreams. At the time, I could not understand why I wasn’t hearing Him or why I felt somewhat separated from Him. But as I continue down the path of my healing, I am able to hear God speaking to my heart, speaking to me through dreams, and I feel a stronger connection to Him now than I ever have before. It was because of my sin and pain that I was disconnected from God. Communing with the Father is opening my eyes to how He sees me and showing me who I really am.
In Jeremiah 1:5, we read that God knew Jeremiah before he was in his mother’s womb. God knows you and He is waiting on you to know yourself. He wants you to know yourself as He knows you. The prodigal son is an example of a spiritual son who finally discovered who he was. He didn’t fully embrace his position and inheritance until he went astray and was restored to his family. He had to go through the death of who he thought he was so he could experience life; and the same is true for us today. The prodigal had a ring on his finger and a robe on his back as he sat at the banquet table that was prepared for him. He heard his father say, “For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.” Luke 15:2
“Thy Kingdom come they will be done on earth as it is in Heaven.” Matthew 6:10
“May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble!” Psalm 21:1
There are times that we need supernatural support and strength to make it through the challenges of the day. When we call on the Lord He will dispatch help from His throne.
Psalm 20:2 says, “He sends help from the sanctuary.” He will send help, sometimes even angelic assistance. Scripture tells us that the angels of the Lord excel in strength at His command. They are like an emergency backup support system that is on call twenty four-seven waiting for the next assignment.
When we call out to the Lord for help, He sends them forth in strength. When Joshua was preparing for the battle of Jericho the angel of the Lord appeared to him in Joshua 5:13-15 and told him he was the Captain of the Lord’s host. Joshua had the Lord’s host on his side as he fought and won the battle of Jericho. Scripture tells us the angels of the Lord are always encamped round about us. Could it be they are just waiting for the next assignment?
A house cannot stand without a strong support system. In a house you cannot see the support beams but you know they are there. It would seem foolish to sit in your living room fearful that the house was going to cave in. when you put your trust in the Lord, you can be assured the house will stand, the support system is in place and you shall not be moved. The Lord establishes the support system so you can stand even when the strong winds of adversity come. We cannot see them with our natural eyes but we know the support system of the angelic army is in place.
The Right Path: Ask God to send help from the Sanctuary if you need extra support and strength.
“May the name of the God of Jacob set you up on high and defend you. Send you help from the sanctuary and support, refresh and strengthen you from Zion.” Psalm 20:1-2 (amp)
“In Him we also were made [God’s] heritage (portion) and we obtained an inheritance; for we had been foreordained (chosen and appointed beforehand) in accordance with His purpose, who works out everything in agreement with the counsel and design of His [own] will.”
Ephesians 1:11
The secrets of God can be discovered but they are hidden in the secret place. We can go to the secret place and discover His secrets, His will, His plan, and purpose for our life. I believe we must spend time, maybe even hours daily in this secret place, to discover His will for our life. Psalms 91 says that we can actually dwell in the secret place and abide there forever. It is in this secret place where all the distractions of the world are blocked out and all you hear is His voice.
You were chosen ahead of time for a certain purpose. You were actually appointed by God to do it. You can’t wait on man to say it or depend on man, it is God that appoints you. God may use a man or woman as a mouth piece to confirm what He has already appointed for you to do. Eph 1:11 says that God works everything out after the counsel of His will. God will work all things together to accomplish whatever His will is.
Go to the secret place daily and listen for the secret for that day to be revealed to you.
“Search me Lord and know my heart, try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting”. Psalm 139:23-24
We can determine the condition of our heart by observing the fruit of our life. To measure fruitfulness, you can look over the past season or over the past year and see what has been produced. In the fall a farmer looks over the previous growing season to determine the condition of the field. We can also look at the past year of our life and determine the condition of our heart by looking at the harvest.
Jesus taught His disciples that their life should produce fruit – from 60 to 100 per cent. A fruitful Christian is one that receives God’s Word and the Word that is planted in their heart produces a harvest even up to a 100 fold return. You may have a Word from God, but if it is not given to another in love, it will not produce a harvest. This is why the condition our heart is so important; it determines the fruit we produce. By observing the fruit our life has produced, we can tell what condition our heart is in. Many people, even those in full time ministry, who have unresolved issues in their life, lose their love, joy, and peace and as a result their heart begins to harden.
In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus describes the various conditions of the heart and explains why each condition hinders a person from bearing fruit. Unhealed hurts and wounds of the past cause a stony heart to be formed. A stony heart blocks and hinders you from forming and maintaining relationships, in the present. It is through forgiving those who have hurt us that we are healed and the stones in the heart are removed. Forgiveness frees you from the offense, the pain, and all fear that come from a painful hurt or rejection. As a result your life will be more fruitful as you walk out your true identity in Christ.
Prayer:
Dear Lord, I want my life to produce good fruit. Show me if I do indeed have a stony heart. I have been hurt in the past by___________. I ask You to cleanse my heart of all pain, resentments, and offenses I may have taken. Today, I choose to forgive_________ for ___________. I ask You to remove the stones and give me a new heart that can receive Your Word and become fruitful.
God declares it is a time for the new things. Fresh beginnings are upon us.
Many yeast ago, I knew the Lord had actually impressed upon me the need to “PREPARE” and lead my family into what I heard as a “Preparation Call”. This calling came during a time when things were fine in our Country and our economy was actually pretty strong. I was perplexed as to why I was being led to prepare.
“I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, I will hold thine hand, and I will keep thee. Behold the former things are come to pass and the new things do I declare before they spring forth I tell you of them.” Isaiah 42:69
I struggled for a long time with what God had laid on my heart. It just didn’t seem to make sense and I continually asked God for answers. I didn’t fully understand, but I think part of this Preparation Call was to be willing to learn how to accept God’s instructions in FAITH – rather than by intellectual understanding.
So, I pressed on trying to just come to grips with what God was asking. I wrestled with it alone not daring to share this crazy notion with my family or anyone else. I feared that they would assume that I had gone off the deep end and had lost my sense of reality.
But… one day I finally surrendered my flesh as I realized that my job was to follow in Faith, and be obedient to what God had laid on my heart. I didn’t know the future, but I knew that my steps were ordered by the Lord – and I knew that He would guide my path.
Shortly after that, I told my family that we were going to begin Preparing. They didn’t know what to think, but figured we were on a new journey. And for certain, we were.
That day, over 20 years ago, we surrendered to the Preparation Call. I didn’t know what exactly to expect and certainly didn’t have an exact blueprint of what we would be doing.
There is much more to the story, but we will share more later. The wonderful fact is… God has done some amazing things in our lives along the journey. The Preparation call was nothing at all like I imagined but we are definitely understanding more of why God called us to Prepare – and His hand of mercy was on us ever step of the way.
“I the Lord have called thee in righteousness, I will hold thine hand, and I will keep thee. Behold the former things are come to pass and the new things do I declare before they spring forth I tell you of them.” Isaiah 42:69
We found the Preparation Call to be a time for fresh beginnings. A brand-new lifestyle, the abundant life of God’s love is feasible for every follower. When we are obedient to His call and open our hearts to God’s unfailing love, He will bless our steps – even when things just do not seem to make sense initially.
“Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it”. Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)
Many people today are trying to find their destiny. They want to know why they are here, and for what purpose. Unfortunately, in their quest for answers people often look in the wrong places or seek counsel from the wrong people.
Did you know that your destiny was actually determined even before your birth? There are many examples in Scripture where God revealed to the parents the destiny of their children. Mary was told that her son Jesus would be the Savior of the world. Hannah knew that her son Samuel was called to be a prophet, and she took him to live in the temple with Eli. God told David that his son, Solomon would be the one who would build the temple.
Today, parents have the same awesome responsibility to call their children into their destiny. David affirmed his son publicly. Jesus was also affirmed by God publicly. At his baptism God said, “This is my son in whom I am well pleased.”
God is our Destiny developer. What He has called you to do, He will equip you to do. Over time, as you experience His hand of mercy and grace, He will deposit into you the strength of character to carry out what He has called you to do. What He has begun in you, He will complete.
Whether we like it or not, part of the journey is dealing with destiny distractions. There are many, and we must seek God in dealing with these distractions. These distractions are the things in life that get us off track. These are the things that we do that lead us in another direction. Here are some examples of distractions many people face:
Some people get easily turned away from their calling by pursuing their own grievances and enemies. This will ultimately turn the direction of their life completely around from pursuing God’s high calling to their own cause. This distraction can keep us pulled into a whirlwind for many years which will hinder or delay us from finding our destiny.
Another distraction is believing the lies of the enemy. Satan is the father of lies, and he plants lies in you so you doubt that you even have a destiny.
Fear is another distraction. You will fear that you cannot do what God has called you to do, and then give up.
James 4:7-8 “Submit yourselves therefore to God; Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and He will draw nigh to”
Be bold and search for your destiny! Ask God to reveal your destiny.
Jeremiah 29:13 “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer. Psalm 6: 9
It seems that everywhere you go now people are discouraged, hurting, and afraid. The news media gives us a steady flow of painful reports that often overwhelm us with concern, and attempt to steal our hope.
Unfortunately, in our cluttered and hyper-paced lifestyles we often rush through our challenges and attempt to control the outcomes ourselves. We sometimes get drawn-in to the painful reports and feel overwhelmed with the difficulties.
It is important to recognize that in our times of difficulty, we have a resource we can turn to for comfort and guidance. As the times become more difficult, we must discipline ourselves to spend more time He Who is our refuge in times of trouble. In Him we will find peace during the storms.
Consider what David shared in Psalm 6.
1 Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.
2 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony.
3 My soul is in deep anguish. How long, Lord, how long?
4 Turn, Lord, and deliver me; save me because of your unfailing love.
5 Among the dead no one proclaims your name. Who praises you from the grave?
6 I am worn out from my groaning.
All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears.
7 My eyes grow weak with sorrow; they fail because of all my foes.
8 Away from me, all you who do evil, for the Lord has heard my weeping.
9 The Lord has heard my cry for mercy; the Lord accepts my prayer.
10 All my enemies will be overwhelmed with shame and anguish; they will turn back and suddenly be put to shame.
