Watch Your Step

Stress - Frustration - No one to help - No one really listens, and even if they do...it is just another conversation with no real solutions. WATCH YOUR STEP! In my analysis of most human stress filled situations; going to God for help is definitely not a reflex; and many times it is way down on the list of options especially when we are under the gun. Even when positioning ourselves as a receptor of the burdens of another ... just watch the reaction to - "Have you prayed about it?". What is that look you get? and what does "Yeah but" mean? YEAH BUT --- WATCH YOUR STEP!

YEAH BUT - There are a multitude of excuses/reasons that we don't go to God immediately with our "issues". AND if we were to take the time to analyze the excuses/reasons ... they would all funnel into the realm of "fear of the Unknown that is involved in trusting the Unseen." My heart aches for this generation because of the speed and ease accessibility to information and resources. Easy button answers and plastic card solutions many times cause us to sacrifice our future on the altar of the immediate. Their ease of access have taken the place of waiting, working, and saving... "I want it NOW and deserve it NOW" seems to be the perspective of this entitlement generation. Patience and trust is an archaic notion, so with the abandonment of these Godly attributes, God is no longer an option because we may have to wait and have faith... and that is not fair!

Someone lied to me and told me "It is an unhealthy obsession to always talk about God". "People who have a fixation on the Voice of God all the time, may be on the verge of a mental illness." Although I don't believe this, it has made me self-conscious of my God Talk and it has dampened the courage that I should have. We are not odd-balls because we believe - it actually talks more denial of reality to not believe.

Psalm 29 has been shouting through my soul all this week (I am enjoying my "illness") ... I have sent it on to more than a few people because of its focus -- The Voice of God, and mans need for Real Strength and effectual Peace that can only come from the Voice of the LORD.

Psalm 29:1,2 - "Give unto the LORD, O ye mighty, give unto the LORD glory and strength. Give unto the LORD the glory due His Name; worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness." In what ever area of life that you have conquered and feel self-sufficient ... this is the area that you must watch your step -- ascribe all the glory and honor of any of your earthly success to Him.

Vs. 3 - The Voice of the Lord is the Stabilizer over the uncontrollable depth of the oceans...it thunders above in the uncontrollable depths of the vast sky above. He is upon the many waters. Trust Him with the uncontrollable depths of your life.

Vs. 4 - "The Voice of the Lord is powerful" - strength and power in your life., it is the royal adornment that is "full of majesty" and splendor...The voice of the Lord is the desired adornment.

Vs. 5 - "The Voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon." His Voice is the only thing that can break through Pride - we need Him to break the pride of our personal purity that conflicts with trusting His purity.

Vs. 6 - "He maketh them to skip like a calf; Lebanon (Whiteness) and Sirion (Breastplate) like a young unicorn." This is amazing when you get the picture of destructive pride, dancing away like the young playful animals of the field.

Vs. 7 - "The Voice of the LORD divideth the flames of fire." Get this hidden gold: Like the skilled builder of noble palaces, His Voice will dig, cleave, hew, cut out, dig out, cut down, quarry, line up, and engrave His Name on the turmoil, the burning, and the testing in our lives to present us as a beautiful habitation for His Presence. God empowers those who hear His Voice in the flames of life.

Vs. 8 - "The Voice of the LORD shaketh the wilderness; the LORD shaketh the wilderness of Kadesh (Holy)" - Some times our personal holiness puts us in a wilderness of uselessness, His Voice will drive you out of that wilderness -- but it may be painful, hypocrite (oops - any time our trying to be holy eclipses God's Holiness, we have created an embarrasing blindside in our lives!)

Vs. 9 - "The Voice of the LORD maketh the hinds to calve, and discovers the forests: and in His Temple every one speak of His Glory." New Birth, New Truths, and glorious conversations among those in His temple ... are all brought to you "by the Voice of the LORD".

Vs. 10 - "The LORD sitteth on the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King forever." Challenge Him and face the flood; or be challenged to be changed by Him and bow before the King of Glory.

Vs. 11 - "The LORD will give strength unto His people; the LORD will bless His people with peace." Constantly given Strength and continually being blessed with Peace ... O we need these especially when at the end of our resources.

Understand and trust this: God's intense endeavor to give us these is intentional, continual, powerful, and personal ...

WATCH YOUR STEP,

and HEAR HIS VOICE.

and Live!
 
HLFA,

Jeff