Time out for God

How many of us are not guilty of attempting to squeeze God into our daily schedule? I'm guilty. Not once, not twice, not thrice. Countless times actually. You know, just ruffle Him in there somewhere in that jungle of activity and routine. We sing in the shower, say a prayer while dressing, read a verse or two just before we go out, and morning devotion is done!

Despite our unfaithfulness, God remains eternally faithful. If God were to be faithful to me only as much as I've been to Him, then I don't think I would wake up tomorrow morning - to squeeze Him into my daily routine again.

God's faithfulness should not be taken for granted. It should actually drive us to a higher level of commitment. We must remember that God owns the day, all of it, and so He should always be number one. Not only do we commit all our ways into His hands, we should also take the time to build a more intimate relationship with Him. Remember '...take the time...' not hurriedly.

Choice

God does not force us to do anything. He causes us to do them. There's a difference between the two. In the first case we might imagine us being marrionet puppets - you know those wooden puppets with strings tied to their arms and legs. When, however, God causes us to do things, He gives us strong reasons for which to do those things. Ultimately, the choice is still up to us to make. God says if you obey you get life, if you disobey you get destruction. The choice is still up to us whether to obey or not. So, He causes us to obey, we can, however, still disobey Him - if we don't like His offer.

God is always thinking about us

I noticed one day how one infant's fingers wrapped around his mother's index fingers. Then, it occured to me; that's how we're wrapped around God's thoughts. Everything God thinks about is us. The only thing that occupies His mind is us. Everything He does, He does with us in His mind. This was what David observed when he asked "what is man that thou art mindful of him...?" (Psalm 8:4). Another translation says "what is man that You are always thinking about him?"
What's more? The universe isn't big enough to distract His thoughts away from us. There aren't enough stars in the galaxies to keep Him too busy to answer our prayers. So, if you have that knotty situation, take it to Him in prayer and remember He's been thinking about you all day long.

Jesus Loves Me too: A message from the Bible

Jesus Loves Me too: A message from the Bible

Honor your wife

Christians who beat their wives have never come across 1 Peter 3:7.

Husbands, likewise, dwell with them with understanding, giving honor to the wife, as to the weaker vessel, and as being heirs together of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered (NKJV)

 Meaning...?
Honor your wife if you want your prayer to be answered. No Christian should as much as raise his hand to beat his wife. Men who don't honor their wives don't get answers to prayers. Beating your wife is not honorable, abusing your wife verbally or any other way is not honorable, denying her of her emotional needs is not honorable, cheating on your wife is definitely not honorable. When you do these things, your prayers will remain unanswered.

Despair

What is it about despair that draws us so close to God - ever so close? What is it about a tempest that makes us crave for God... to cleave to God? Why do things have to get so bad before we beg God's presence? Do we have to sink to the ocean floor before we seek God? What is it about a bad situation that makes us to never want to leave God? Why do we see God most clearly in the dark? Why? God is always near why can't we remember this when things are nice cozy?

Plan

Plans. We make them. Regularly. Often. We're always advised to make them if we are to succeed.
Dreams. We have them. We are encouraged to have a dream if we are to make it in life.
Plans fail and dreams do shatter -they may never come true.
There's a common mistake that we make. We leave God out of our plans - that is until we run into a brick will wall that just won't budge. Our dreams nose-dive, then we remember God.

Proverbs 16:9 says "We should make plans counting on God to guide us" (TLB). Ouch! we don't like that 'counting on God...' part. But really, plans we make outside of God are failure-prone.
So, when next you're making that plan, go to God first and not at the end of the road