We need God. Some call Him a "higher power". Others call their god by all kinds of other names. But you need to hear today that there is only one God, and that God loves you. His plan is perfect.
He's not some "cosmic killjoy" just waiting for you to mess up so He can punish you. No God is the one who left heaven and split time through His Son's life. Think about it.
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.
This God is full of hope and strength. He is ready to fill our lives with stuff that will change us. God is in to life change. He wants to change us and empower us to do more, see more and be more than any of us have ever thought possible.
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
'For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
That's reality that we can believe. We need that. Something bigger than us that will take us further than we can go on our own. Think about it.
What does God require of us? Be careful how you answer. For too long we have believed too many lies about the way God looks at us and what He expects of us:
Micah 6:6-8 NASB
6 With what shall I come to the Lord And bow myself before the God on high? Shall I come to Him with burnt offerings, With yearling calves? 7 Does the Lord take delight in thousands of rams, In ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I present my firstborn for my rebellious acts, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
The wrong thoughts of what God expects from us is that "God only accepts the best" or "God only accepts the biggest" or "God only accepts the most expensive" offerings. The problem is that we too often we live by feeling rather than faith. It is time to change that.
Hebrews 11:6 NASB
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
Ephesians 2:8 NASB
For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
The right thought of what God expects from us is what those verses from Micah stated … "do justice and love kindness and walk humbly with God".
It is our place to know God and to walk with Him. The way we live and act point others to see and know God or point somewhere else. Where is your life pointing yourself and others?
Fact is … we are blessed. Spend a few minutes today thinking about living by faith and not by feelings. I close with these verses that share some of those blessings.
Ephesians 1:3-8 NASB
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love 5 He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. 7 In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us.
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