I'm not sure where to even begin. I often find myself in this place. Overwhelmed with the love, faithfulness, and provision of Jesus. My journals are filled with writings that are an overflow of my heart. At times, I feel led to share. Other times, I feel led to keep it between the two of us. But today, the Lord put it on my heart to encourage. I've been up for a couple of hours this morning...this wonderful Saturday morning. All is quiet, and it is just me and Him. I've been all over the place in His Word, looking back at old and recent journals...seeing time and time again His record of faithfulness. Thank You Lord. As I concluded my study this morning, I realized there was a common theme in what He was revealing to me. "Morgan, without faith...it's impossible to please Me." In Hebrews, we are reminded that anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6). I believe this with all my heart, but I know the Lord wants me to believe it MORE. Have you ever felt like the Lord was trying to take you deeper in His truth and who He is? I hope so. Going deeper with Jesus is a life long process. We never arrive, but hopefully we are learning and growing as we go. Solid food and more of Him is the goal (Hebrews 5:12). HE is always the goal. Often, we can become distracted and think that an earthly reward is the goal or prize. It's not. It never will be. HE alone is the prize (Jeremiah 29:13). He is the Rewarder of those who earnestly seek Him, and He rewards us with Himself (Psalm 16:11). If you are believing God for something or someone in your life, don't give up. Don't throw away your confidence. Whether you receive exactly what you think you want or not, You can always walk away with more of HIM! He is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us (Ephesians 3:20). As believers, we are instructed to seek first His Kingdom and His righteousness and all these things will be added unto us as well (Matthew 6:33). What are all these things? Let's take a look at the passage as a whole. Earlier in Matthew 6, it speaks of our Father who sees. He sees us! Isn't that exciting? It says that there is no need for us to sound the trumpet on the good things that we are doing. Why? Because our righteousness comes from Him and because He sees us. Our Father knows what we need even before we ask Him! I love this truth. Even before we ask, He knows! Then, why ask? FAITH. Remember, without faith...it's impossible to please Him. We are then instructed to pray, and we are even given a model (Matthew 6:8-13). Your kingdom come. Your will be done. The Lord longs to give us the desires of our heart. I have seen it time and time again not only in my own life, but in the lives of so many around me. However, as we seek Him and put Him first...He will align our desires to match His (Psalm 37:4-5). We must commit our way to Him and trust that He will do it. "To a man belongs the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the proper answer of the tongue. All a person's ways seem pure to them, but motives are weighed by the Lord. Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and He will establish your plans" (Proverbs 16:1-3). Do you see the consistency in the Word of God? Okay, so back to Matthew 6. After we are given the model of how to pray, we are reminded about our treasures. Where our treasure is, there our hearts will be also. What or who are we delighting in? What or who brings us the most joy and fulfillment in life? To delight is to take great joy in...Jesus longs for us to give Him that place in our lives. He longs to be our LIFE. When He is, we don't have to worry. "Therefore, I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet Your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you- you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, 'What shall we ear?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and ALL these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own" (Matthew 6:25-34). The Word of God is so rich. Our original question in talking about Matthew 6 was ..."What are all these things that will be added unto us if we seek first His Kingdom and righteousness?" It's everything we need and want. It's all the things we would worry about if we didn't belong to Jesus. It's the things that the pagans run after. The Word of God clearly states that He knows what we need and longs to give it to us (Matthew 7:7-11). Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of Heavenly lights,who DOES NOT CHANGE like shifting shadows (James 1:17). I could go on and on... Below are some more Scriptures and quotes the Lord has given me to remind me to have faith in Him. My prayer is that you will be encouraged to trust Him and long to please Him by exercising FAITH. Lord, Help us! Apart from You...WE CAN DO NOTHING (John 15).
"You will guard him and keep him in perfect peace and constant peace whose mind (both its inclination and its character) is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You." Isaiah 26:3
"But as for me, I will look to and be confident in the Lord. I will wait with hope and expectancy for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me." Micah 7:7
"Let us then fearlessly and confidently and boldly draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in good time for every need." Hebrews 4:16
"Do not, therefore, fling away your fearless confidence, for it carries a great and glorious compensation of reward." Hebrews 10:35
"For by You I can run through a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall." Psalm 18:29
"Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed." Psalm 37:3
"My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is steadfast and confident! I will sing and make melody." Psalm 57:7
"My flesh and my heart may fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever." Psalm 73:26
"Looking to Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself, lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls." Hebrews 12:2-3
"Just as memory is a vital part of the learning process, it is also a vital part of the FAITH-building process." -Beth Moore
"A man who has friends must himself be friendly, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." Proverbs 18:24
"God's precious gift of friendship
Brings two lives, two souls together...
Let's their spirits touch and meet,
Teaches them to grow and reach,
Helping them both to be the very best that they can be..."
-Unknown
"Two are better than one. If one falls down, his friend can help him up." Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
"Faith is the ability to not panic." -Unknown
"Laugh everyday; it's like inner jogging." -Unknown
"He leads the humble in what is right, and the humble He teaches His way." Psalm 25:9
"When swelling and pride come, then emptiness and shame come also, but with the humble (those who are lowly, who have been pruned or chiseled by trial, and renounce self) are skillful and godly wisdom and soundness." Proverbs 11:2
"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you but to do justly, and to love kindness and mercy and to humble yourself and walk humbly with your God." Micah 6:8
"Prayer can encourage the one you are praying for, but it also encourages and changes you." -H. Norman Wright
"For God desires to transform our troubles into trust, our problems into promises, our fears into faith." -Unknown
"Loving God is our sweetest romance;
Seeking Him is our wildest adventure;
Finding Him is our best achievement;
Staying with Him is our greatest advantage."
-Unknown
"When I know myself to be at the end of my strength, I know my Lord to be at the front of the battle." -Unknown
"...with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles." 2 Chronicles 32:8
"The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." Exodus 14:14
"The Lord, He is the One who goes before you. He will be with you, He will not leave you nor forsake you; do not fear nor be dismayed." Deuteronomy 31:8
"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you." Isaiah 43:2
"You are a hiding place for me; You, Lord, preserve me from trouble, You surround me with songs and shouts of deliverance. Psalm 32:7
"He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation."
Psalm 91:15-16
"...I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances." Philippians 4:11
"Contentment is not complacency, nor is it a false peace based on ignorance. Contentment is not escape from the battle, but rather an abiding peace and confidence in the midst of the battle." -W. Wiersbe
"He never doubted that God would keep His promise, and he never stopped believing. He grew stronger in his faith and gave praise to God." Romans 4:20
"If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask in prayer." Matthew 21:22
"Whether we like it or not, asking is the rule of the Kingdom. If you may have everything by asking in His name, and nothing without asking, I beg you to see how absolutely vital prayer is." -Charles Spurgeon
"Faith is an act of the will, a choice based on the unbreakable Word of God." -Elisabeth Elliot
"Fear looks. Faith jumps. Faith never fails to obtain its object. If I leave you as I found you, I am not God's channel. I am not here to entertain you, but to get you to the place where you can laugh at the impossible." -Smith Wigglesworth
"For with God, nothing will be impossible." Luke 1:37
"Success would mean people loving Him more than any of us, clamoring for His touch more than our own." -Louie Giglio
"To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God." -William Temple
"I was not born to be free. I was born to adore and obey." C.S. Lewis
"An infinite God can give all of Himself to each one of His children. He does not distribute Himself that each may have a part, but to each one He gives all of Himself as fully as if there were no others." -A.W. Tozer
"The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it." -Williams James
"...Because I know how it's going to turn out. Through your faithful prayers and the generous response of the Spirit of Jesus Christ, everything He wants to do in and through you will be done..." Philippians 1:19
"Beware in your prayers, above everything else, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, above all that you ask or think. Each time, before you intercede, be quiet first, and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, and how He delights to hear the prayers of His redeemed people. Think of your place and privilege in Christ, and expect great things!" -Andrew Murray
"The principle part of faith is patience." -George MacDonald
"For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of the light and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. Be very careful, then, how you live - not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. Be filled with the Spirit." Ephesians 5:8-18
"Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you saying, 'This is the way; walk in it." Isaiah 30:21
"Those who look to Him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame." Psalm 34:5
"The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." Psalm 51:17
"But I trust You, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God,' my times are in Your hands." Psalm 31:14-15
"It is not for you to know the times or the dates the Father has set by His own authority." Acts 1:7
"For the Lord gives wisdom, and from His mouth come knowledge and understanding."
Proverbs 2:6
"My son, do not forget my teaching, but keep my commands in your heart, for they will prolong your life many years and bring you prosperity." Proverbs 3:1-2
THE WILL OF GOD...
The will of God will never take you...
Where the grace of God cannot keep you;
Where the arms of God cannot support you;
Where the riches of God cannot supply your needs;
Where the power of God cannot endow you;
Where the Spirit of God cannot work through you;
Where the wisdom of God cannot teach you;
Where the army of God cannot protect you;
Where the hands of God cannot mold you;
Where the love of God cannot enfold you;
Where the mercies of God cannot sustain you;
Where the peace of God cannot calm your fears;
Where the authority of God cannot over rule for you;
Where the comfort of God cannot dry your tears;
Where the Word of God cannot feed you;
Where the miracles of God cannot be done for you;
Where the omnipresence of God cannot find you.
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