If The Mountain Was Smooth You Couldn't Climb It

Dear God, please untie the knots that are in my mind, my heart and my life. Remove the have nots, the can nots and the do nots that I have in my mind. Erase the will nots, may nots, might nots that may find a home in my heart. Release me from the could nots, would nots and should nots that obstruct my life. And most of all dear God, I ask that you remove from my mind, my heart and my life all the 'am nots', that I have allowed to hold me back, especially the thought that I am not good enough. Amen

This prose is titled simply "The Knots Prayer" and was signed "Author known to God". I received it in my email one day and decided to save it for a possible entry in my blog... so here we are today and I am sharing my thoughts with you.

Have you ever found yourself in a place where you felt you couldn’t get out, or move forward or just defeated and didn’t know which way to turn? Your life, your thoughts, your desires were all tied up in knots. I know I have! It is those times were I find myself crying out to the Lord, “things are a mess and I don’t know where to begin.” That is when the Lord speaks to me and lets me know I have come to the right place – at the foot of the cross.

Sometimes the Lord tells us to simply “wait”, wait for the answer, wait for the healing, wait for the solution, but be still and wait. The title of my blog today is “If the Mountain Was Smooth You Couldn’t Climb it…” It was posted on my friends web chat page as her thought for the day and she in turn got it from someone else and so on. I found those seemingly simple words to be so profoundly true. It is through those crevices in the rocks that allow us to grab hold and eventually climb the mountain. That is how I am going to begin to look at my “knots” in life, just as crevices to let me catch hold and wait on the Lord for my next step. I am going to eventually climb that mountain of life with God’s help each step of the way.

I would like to share a passage from the Bible as written in “The Message” (a contemporary rendering of the Bible), but please feel free to look in up in any of your translations. Beginning with about the 24th verse of Romans 8,

“We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy. Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us…”

Lord Jesus, thank you that the mountain is not smooth. Thank you for teaching me to wait. Thank you for helping me to be the person you designed me to be. Thank you for making me who I am today!

Don't Think Too Much -- Have Faith and Believe

Today, I was reflecting on the many times where God has never failed me – NEVER! God has always provided what I needed just when I needed it. The essential that God supplied never came too early where I had to store it away for another time. The restoration never came in overabundance where I would waste it or throw it away. My story, my life, can easily be translated into the story from the bible where God provides manna to the Israelites for their daily food and nourishment. (You can refresh your memory of that story in Exodus chapter 16.)

I can testify with all degree of certainty that God gives me the strength each day to face or endure as I need it, as I call on Him in faith. Except for my increased faith, there is no overabundance to save up for the future, yet there is enough for the day. In that way, my faith continues to grow! I need to call on Him – to depend on Him daily. Just as the Israelites learned to trust in God every morning for their daily nourishment, I too trust in God daily to supply my needs. Lord Jesus, I hunger for you. Your love – there is nothing that fills and restores me more.

God also brings people into my life to help encourage me when I need them the most. One of these occasions happened recently, when He sent Jan to me with an exercise to help me rest on the Lord. She told me to review what I knew to be true about God, to list His attributes and how they specifically applied to me. I loved the questions that she listed because in answering them, in direct correlation to how God has worked in my life, it was so revealing. It was better than any “aha” moment that the world could ever conjure up.

As I began to list God’s attributes (saving, worthy of praise, hearing, rescuing, rewarding, seeing, merciful, revealing, powerful, perfect, pure, giving, gentle, refuge, light, truth, all-knowing) – I could go on and on, but you get the picture – He revealed to me what I already knew to be true. God never fails! Reading through Psalms is a good way to develop your own list of God’s attributes. Remembering that God does not change, you have to ask yourself:

--When have I experienced God’s…? (list an attribute)
--Will I trust in that aspect of God (who He is) in my present and in my future?

I found this simple exercise fun and rewarding. I learned a lot about myself, how God was always there with me, is always there beside me, and will never leave or forsake me in the days to come. Thank you, Jan, for this exercise to help me put things into perspective. Thank you for helping me shift the focus off myself and onto my Lord -- He gave me the rest I needed; He gave me the peace I longed for; He gave me His unconditional love and understanding; He helped me with my priorities; He fully restored me for another day.

I am reminded that things in this life are not in my control. I can only control how I react to them. God, give me your control today – restore my peace I find in You alone. Friends, don’t let doubt and unbelief rob you of your joy and hope! Amen?

Romans 15:13, “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”
Chris Tomlin - Overflow

God's Love -- Our Homing Device

Did you know that the homing pigeon has been selectively bred to be able to find its way home over extremely long distances? They are not satisfied until they find their way home to roost time and time again.

I believe that God has made us with a homing device in our hearts that can only be satisfied by the LORD Himself. No matter how much money you make, how many homes you own, how great your success in life is, or how many lovers you take -- your inner most desires will never be filled. You will continue to search for that “something”. You will begin to wonder “is that all there is?” Just take a look around at the world today and all the people in the news. There is scandal everywhere you look. It seems that the more affluent one is, the more that corruption envelopes them as they try to find what they are searching for.
-- How much stuff is enough?
-- When will I have finally made it?
-- If I have it all, what happens when I am gone?

Jesus shared a story with His disciples in Luke 12:28-34 where He said “What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, not be so preoccupied with getting so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep yourself in God-reality, God-initiative, and God-provisions. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Don’t be afraid of missing out. You’re my dearest friends! The Father wants to give you the very kingdom itself.” Now if that doesn’t say relax and focus on the things of God, I don’t know what does. I quoted this scripture from The Message; go ahead and read it from your own bible and remind yourself of the wonderful story that Jesus told. Verse 34, “For where our treasure is, there will your heart be also.” – KJV – I love that reminder!

There is nothing that will satisfy our heart except for the Lord Jesus Himself. God will continue to speak to your heart; he will call out your name; he will continually send out a signal to help you find your way home. I don’t believe that He will call indefinitely, but He is long-suffering and doesn’t want to lose one child. “This is what the Lord God says: I, myself, will search for my sheep and take care of them.” Ezekiel 34:11

It is comforting to know that there is no greater love than what God has for me, for all of us – his children. There is nothing I can do, nothing I can buy, nothing I can desire that will fulfill that longing inside of me except for the love of Jesus Christ. Don’t wait until you can no longer hear His calling; don’t wait until your homing beacon dies out. Turn to the one who satisfies today. Fulfill that extra something that is missing in your life; fulfill it with the one who knows you. Wherever we go, wherever we are God knows and sees. God fulfills the longing in our hearts where no person, place or thing can. Psalm 139 reassures us of these facts. Include God’s plan for your life when you dream your dreams; then and only then will you be truly satisfied.