True Wisdom

 We seem to be adept at attempting to figure things out in our own way....ahhhh, we think we are, anyway.

When we have a problem, we can think of hundreds of ways to solve it, when actually none of them would be successful and many of them could actually make the problem WORSE!

True wisdom only come from God. The True Wisdom of God is given to us through His counsel. That is by His Word and His Spirit. Somehow, as we seek Him for Wisdom, the Holy Spirit enlightens His counsel, His Word, to us and we have peace and assurance that we have the advice we needed. It may not make sense, it may even seem ridiculous, but God is the All-Wise one. He sees what we cannot see and He knows the best way to go. He has His eyes on us.

We are taught in Proverbs 3:5-7

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.

Those words from God are the groundwork for moving forward successfully in this life. How often do we go about year after year trying our own ideas and being frustrated, never finding the success we desire, struggling to find peace? We chase after worldly counsel, self help ideas, this program and that program, yet never arrive at our desired goal. 

Finally we come to our end of striving and we say, "God, I don't know what to do! Please help me!" Now, after all of our efforts, we have finally come to our end and have arrived at God's prescribed starting line. We have laid down our own works and we have come to the place where we are willing to yield to God and trust Him. We now begin to seek after, to pursue to know God's advice. We are no longer pursuing after our own wisdom or the wisdom of this world. Now we have stepped onto the path of true wisdom.

Listen again to the path of God to attain His Wisdom...

#1 Trust the Lord with all of your heart.

      Trusting the Lord means to put your confidence in Him and Him alone. In my imagination I see my grandson standing, well rather crouching, on the edge of the swimming pool at his swimming lesson. His instructor is encouraging him, saying,  "Jump! It's okay! I will catch you. Jump! I promise it will be okay! I promise I WILL catch you! JUMP!" 

      Finally, after much fear and trepidation, bending his knees and straightening them out again, stepping back, then stepping forward again......finally he decides to jump and, of course, his instructor catches him. All is well and his fears subside. The next jump is not as scary, his confidence increases as he continues learning and growing.

      We are much like my grandson in everyday life concerning God. We are crouching at the edge of our problem and God says, "Trust me! I will catch you. I will guide you!"

      We must come to the place in the unknowns of our life to Trust Him and JUMP! Releasing our control is a scary thing to do, but when we are confident of whose arms we are jumping into, our fears subside. We choose to Trust Him and let go of our ineffective, unsuccessful control.

#2 Do not lean on your own understanding.

      In the process of releasing our control to dare to jump into the place of Trusting God we are simultaneously letting go of our own understanding. I have tried and tried and failed to deal with my issues by following my own ineffective ways of thinking and behaving, so now, as I Jump into Trusting, Faith, in God, I am letting go of what I have been leaning on, depending on, trusting in and release all of my understanding into His care for me. I have now chosen a willingness to let go of my ways and yield to His way of thinking and responding

#3. Seek His will in all I do.

     Now, instead of pursuing all of the ways that I previously pursued in attempt to solve my issues, I pursue to know and understand God's ways of thinking, understanding and consequently responding or behaving

     I have taken the first steps already. I have dared to Trust God and Jump into His care while I have  released my ways of looking at things and attempting to deal with it all on my own. I am now ready to be taught the wise ways of God. I am finally willing and desirous of seeking (putting forth my effort into finding out God's ways of wisdom).

     We have made the error of thinking that in amongst all of our self striving, unsuccessful methods of dealing with life, that God would, should and will just step in and overtake our own will and works and just simply fix things for us, in spite of us. 

     However, that is not God's mode of operation. He tells us the Just (those who have been made righteous in His eyes) will live by faith.  

Hebrews 10:37;Galatians 3:11; 2 Corinthians 5:7.

     So, until we release ourselves and our efforts  and come into the place that we are willing to  let go of our faith in all the other ways that haven't worked (Hmmmn, would they be our idols, our other god's????? Yikes!!!!!) and put our faith (trust) in Him, we are not yet ready to receive His help. When we yield to Trusting Him with all of our heart and let go of our efforts, we finally welcome Him to rescue us.

     I have heard that when someone is drowning, the rescuer needs to wait until the drowning person stops flailing and fighting before he can attempt the rescue. Otherwise, the struggling of the drowning person can bring both of them down. Perhaps we need to stop fighting against Him so He can be free to rescue us

    How do we SEEK His will, then?

          A. Realize this: Isaiah 55:8-9 

         For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts

         We must believe that God's thoughts and His Ways are Higher than our thoughts and our ways. His Ways are the Right Ways. His Ways are the Wise Ways. His Ways are the Tested Ways. His Ways are the Proven Ways. His Ways are the HIGH WAYS!!!!

Some read that and have a passive/defeatist response and say, "See, God's ways are so much higher than my ways, so you know I'll never be able to understand them." Wrong Response!!!!!

God says,

Matthew 11:28-30

Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.

He wants to Teach us His Ways!!!! He wants us to Know the High Ways!

Hosea 14:9

Let those who are wise understand these things. Let those with discernment listen carefully. The paths of the LORD are true and right, and righteous people live by walking in them. 

How can we, the righteous people of God, walk in the true and right paths of God if we do not first know what those true and right ways are????

Jeremiah 29:13

If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me.

That is a promise of God!!!!

Proverbs 8:17

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.

Do you truly Love God? If so, here is your counsel and another promise!!!

Proverbs 2:1-11

My child, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands.

Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding.

Cry out for insight, and ask for understanding.

Search for them as you would for silver; seek them like hidden treasures.

Then you will understand what it means to fear the LORD, and you will gain knowledge of God.

For the LORD grants wisdom! From his mouth come knowledge and understanding.

He grants a treasure of common sense to the honest. He is a shield to those who walk with integrity.

He guards the paths of the just and protects those who are faithful to him.

Then you will understand what is right, just, and fair, and you will find the right way to go.

For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.

Wise choices will watch over you. Understanding will keep you safe.

That is the wisdom of God. What a treasury!

If you want God's Wisdom. He wants you to have it. Pursue Him, pursue His Word, Cry out to Him for help, for His understanding as you pursue Him/His Word. The Spirit of God will enlighten your understanding and you will know what God has to say to you. Search as for a treasure. God's Word is truly a treasure to us. 

Colossians 1:10-11

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

#4. Have confidence......

When you seek His will regarding every aspect of your life that He Will show you which path to take. So, JUMP!!!! He will catch you. 

#5. Again - Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom.R

Reallyit is Just Not Worth It to live by your own ways and your own thoughts and understanding. His Ways truly are the High Ways. We will be much better off to pursue to know His Thoughts and His Ways and walk in them!!!

An Authentic Disciple

New Living Translation - Colossians 1:6

This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God’s wonderful grace .

Helps Word Study:

Bearing fruit - fertile, metaphorically, to bear, bring forth, deeds: thus of men who show their knowledge of religion by their conduct. Bring forth a crop.

Growing/increasing/changing Lives-
auksánō – properly, grow (increase); become greater in size (maturity, etc.). 837 /auksánō ("to grow") is key to authentic discipleship. Indeed, the Lord requires non-stop progress (development) in the life of faith.

Truth - Divine truth revealed to man; reality as opposed to illusion; what is true in any matter under consideration. Thy Word is Truth.

Grace - (preeminently used of the Lord's favor – freely extended to give Himself away to people (because He is "always leaning toward them").

New American Study Bible - Colossians 1 vs 6
(The gospel) which has come to you, just as in all the world also it is constantly bearing fruit and increasing, even as it has been doing in you also since the day you heard of it and understood the grace of God in truth;

So, after reading and pondering this verse and the Greek meanings of God's Word, this is the statement I came away with....

An authentic disciple will, upon hearing and understanding the Good News, the Word of God, which is The Truth, will be fertile and have results of non stop growth, progress and maturity in his life of faith toward God, knowing that God is Himself, always leaning toward us to help us.

That suggests, to me, that if I am not bearing fruit and growing in maturity in my life of trust and confidence toward God that I am not likely hearing or understanding the truth, which is God"s Word.

Likely, this is why Paul prays in Colossians 1:9-10

So we have not stopped praying for you since we first heard about you. We ask God to give you complete knowledge of his will and to give you spiritual wisdom and understanding. Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.

Additionally, John explains true discipleship in 

John 8:31-32....

So, Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.” 

Notice the word of qualification (IF) and the progression of these statements ...... if, continue, then....if you are truly a disciple of Jesus there are qualifications and a progression. Following that pattern will make you free. You will be fertile and you will be growing in your life of faith with God's aid. He is always leaning toward us favorably to assist us, but we must do our part.

Please ponder these scriptures and truly be an authentic disciple of Christ. Then your life will be changing, you will be growing toward maturity, Freedom And Productivity!!!!

Overwhelmed

 Are you ever bombarded by seemingly everything coming at you all at once from every direction. You have been praying, "God, Help me!" However, the attacks keep coming....getting worse, and then more and more and more..... until you feel as though you have come to the end of what you can handle and the fight in you is almost depleted.

That was me only a few days ago. After many weeks of battle and then more battle from every side, it seemed, I had nearly come to my end of what I thought I could stand against. Then, at the beginning of this week,  I Read Psalm 18. Below are verses 1-19. As you read what David wrote, imagine what he was imagining. Realize that David knew God intimately. He knew God's character, His nature, His power and His Love for him......and....... God knew David!!!!

Please read:

For the choir director: A psalm of David, the servant of the LORD. He sang this song to the LORD on the day the LORD rescued him from all his enemies and from Saul. He sang:

I love you, LORD; you are my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. I called on the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and he saved me from my enemies.

The ropes of death entangled me; floods of destruction swept over me. The grave wrapped its ropes around me; death laid a trap in my path. But in my distress I cried out to the LORD; yes, I prayed to my God for help. He heard me from his sanctuary; my cry to him reached his ears. 

Then the earth quaked and trembled. The foundations of the mountains shook; they quaked because of his anger. Smoke poured from his nostrils; fierce flames leaped from his mouth. Glowing coals blazed forth from him. He opened the heavens and came down; dark storm clouds were beneath his feet. Mounted on a mighty angelic being, he flew, soaring on the wings of the wind. He shrouded himself in darkness, veiling his approach with dark rain clouds. Thick clouds shielded the brightness around him  and rained down hail and burning coals. 

The LORD thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded amid the hail and burning coals. He shot his arrows and scattered his enemies; great bolts of lightning flashed, and they were confused. 

Then at your command, O LORD, at the blast of your breath, the bottom of the sea could be seen, and the foundations of the earth were laid bare.

He reached down from heaven and rescued me; he drew me out of deep waters. He rescued me from my powerful enemies, from those who hated me and were too strong for me. They attacked me at a moment when I was in distress, but the LORD supported me. He led me to a place of safety; he rescued me because he delights in me.

My first realization after reading David's words was, "God would bust up heaven and earth to get to David and rescue him, if He needed to...He Loved him that much!!!!" It was an awesome revelation to me.

As I pondered those words, I realized that my God never changes. He was that Powerful, that Determined, that Loving, that Faithful...... He had that much Authority.... He made the enemies flee then. The God that David served then is the very same God I serve today. If God would bust up heaven and earth to rescue David, He would bust up Heaven and Earth to rescue me, too!!!!!

Then I had another, even greater realization.....He already has!

He has Already conquered the devil. Jesus paid the price. He won the victory...Satan is already defeated. I am in Christ. He lives in me. Satan has been put under my feet because God has seated me with Christ in heavenly places!  Jesus won the victory. He says "

 “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20

Luke 9:1-2

One day Jesus called together his twelve disciples and gave them power and authority to cast out all demons and to heal all diseases. Then he sent them out to tell everyone about the Kingdom of God and to heal the sick.

Then listen to this:

And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:17-18

Read John 14:12

“I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.

It is very clear that we have been given authority, in the name of Jesus, to do the same works Jesus did and even greater works. Well, what were the works that Jesus did? The gospels are repititiously full of "He healed all that were sick", "He cast out demons"....He healed blind eyes, made the lame to walk, restored lepers, set the captives free and proclaimed the truth..  preaching and teaching everywhere he went. 

So, I figured I would start with myself, since He put me in charge of exercising that authority over all the works of the enemy in Jesus name. Not because of anything I have done. But by the authority vested in me, by the authority and command of Jesus Christ Himself. So, I took that authority and responsibility Jesus gave me and put it to work in the Name of Jesus. I did as Jesus did and spoke the my body to be healed and to the efforts of the devil to steal, kill and destrit us andand I am back up on top. My God is my Healer, My Provider, My Deliverer, My Restorer. He he has already won the Victory. He has given me that victory. I declare my freedom, in Jesus name for whom the Son set free is free indeed!!! I am free from every effort of the devil. I speak the truth. The devil will flee from me as in terror. Yes! The Righteous Are Bold as a Lion!

Read, study and meditate on the following scriptures:

Psalm 18:1-18; Romans 5:5: 1 John 4:16: 1 Thessalonians 1:4; John 3:16; James 1:17; Numbers 23:19; Psalm 24:8; Psalm 93:4; Hebrews 6:17;  Deuteronomy 7:9; 1 Corinthians 10:13;  Luke 10:17-19; Matthew 28:18-19; 1 Corinthians 7:23; Colossians 1:14; Galatians 3-13-14; Daniel 7:1-28 (If you ponder these verses you will realize that this vision has to do with what Jesus conquered and the here and now, not the future); Colossians 2:15; Acts 8:7; 1 John 4:4; Acts 17:28; Galatians 2:20; Like 8:1-2; Matthew 10:1; Colossians 1:27; 2 Corinthians 13:15; Matthew 10:6-8; Proverbs 28:1.

This is Wonderful!

 I have decided it is Wonderful that God is my Shepherd and I am grateful to be a sheep of His flock.

Listen to these scriptures:

John 10:14"

I am the Good Shepherd. And I know my sheep and my sheep know me,

Psalm 100:3

Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

John 10:4

After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.

Luke 15:4

“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?

Psalm 23

The LORD is my shepherd; I have all that I need. He lets me rest in green meadows; He leads me beside peaceful streams. He renews my strength. He guides me along right paths, bringing honor to his name. Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me. You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honor me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings. Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever.

Psalm 95:7

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.

So put that all together... 

He is my shepherd.

I am his sheep. 

He knows me,  yet He still Love me

He leads me....He walks in front of me to lead me, not pushing me from behind. If I feel pushed or pressured, I know it is not God "Leading' me.

I follow Him. 

I know His voice.

If I get lost He will find me and bring me back under His Protection.

 He is God - not me!

He made me.

He provides all I need.

He leads me to green, healthy peaceful places of rest and refreshing. If it is dry and chaotic it is not God.

He restores me.

He renews my strength.

He guides me in the right path.

Regardless of the situation, I have confidence that I will come through because God is with me.

I have no fear, because God is with me.

God prepares a feast for me while my enemies look on.

God satisfies me by anointing my head with oil which means that my whole life is full to the overflowing with blessedness.

God's goodness and love never fail me - it pursues me all the days of my life. PURSUES me!

After that I will live in God's house with Him forever.

So, I will worship and bow down and kneel before God. 

He is my Lord.

He is my Maker.

He is my God. 

He is my Shepherd.

I am the sheep of His hand.

This is good, very, very Good.

I am glad that He is my Shepherd and I am His sheep. I rejoice and give thanks to Him because this is the way He wants it to be and so do I!

Yes, this is Wonderful!

What is going on?

 I have realized, over the past few days, that my thoughts have been plaguing me. I hadn't realized what I was really thinking until yesterday.

The thoughts all had to do with myself.

"What do I need to do to heal myself?"

"Why don't I know what to do?"

"What am I doing wrong?"

"Why is this happening?"

"Why do I feel insufficient?

"Why can't I figure this all out? What is going on?"

"I feel like a failure, I feel like I am naughty, but I do not know why."

"Why am I inadequate?"

Somehow, in my mind I was thinking, "I need to get my act together. I can't expect God to help me as long as I am so ... Defective and incapable of helping myself. What is wrong with me already? I have to prove that I am able to handle my life before I bring myself to God. I must first approve of my own success so I have something to bring to God for Him to be pleased with me about.

Ok, ok, ok....don't shake your head at me saying "no! No!! NO!!! so quickly!

I would like to say that I am a breed like no other. Some would say, "Yep, you sure are!". Unfortunately, I know I am not. I have heard "Christians" say similar things. Working our lives out according to our own smarts seems fine until our own smarts do not work so well and our lives are going to pot. Then we start wondering, "What is going in here?"

I was so confused and feeling like such a failure.

I went for a  walk with this scripture on my mind:

1 Corinthians 14:33
For God is not the author of confusion but of peace,

Confusion definition:

disturbance, upheaval, can not stand (remain steady); unsettled, unstable (in tumult); (figuratively) instability bringing on disorder (disturbance), ("commotion") generates confusion (things being "out of control"), i.e. when "up for grabs." This uncertainty and tumult inevitably generates more instability.

I have had all the internal disturbance I am willing to take.

I must have the peace of God.

Where does this confusion come from. Not from God, of that I am certain.

There are only two Kingdoms. The Kingdom of God (Heaven) where God reigns and the Kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of this world where satan rules.

So, the answer to where does confusion come from is, Satan, of course! He is so sly, making me think it is all my fault, that these are all my own thoughts. He was successfully getting me to live in a state of disruption, upheaval within my soul, and disturbances so strong it was keeping me awake all night in turmoil. You know that lack of sleep causes even more trouble!

He was successfully stealing, killing and destroying me. I was struggling to find peace! I must have the peace of God back!!!

Then, I evaluated my thoughts further. I began to think....

"Why should I strive in attempt to heal myself? My God is my Healer! He sent His Word and Healed me and delivered me from all my troubles.

Why do I have to struggle with the question "Why don't know what to do?" When my God says in

James 1:5
If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

Why should I stew about "What am I doing wrong?" When I honestly have no idea what I am doing wrong. If I am messed up God will correct me and show me the way to go. Otherwise, this is simply condemnation from the enemy.

"Why is this happening?" That became obvious, at this point. This is an enemy attack constructed to draw me away from God, His Word and from trusting God. A satanic attempt to defeat me.

"What do I feel insufficient?" That is a lie! I am in Christ. He is in me. He makes me strong when I am weak. He makes me more than a conquerors. I am not alone. I am not without help. Therefore, I am not insufficient because my life is hidden with Him. He is my All-Sufficient One. I am not evaluating myself against myself. I reckon myself dead and alive to God. I will depend on His sufficiency in me and for me.

"Why can't I figure this all out? What is going on?". I actually do not need to know all the details. I lean not on my own understanding. I will trust in my God. He has a good plan for me that He, Himself, has prepared for me to walk in. He is working everything out for my good. He is not going to leave me without help!

"I feel like a failure, I feel like I am naughty, but I do not know why." I am not moved by what I feel. I am moved by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God.

"Why am I inadequate?" I am not inadequate. In Him I live and move and have my being. He is more than enough. So, He makes me adequate by His power that works within me.

I realized that all of my negative "Me" thoughts were all designed to get me to be defeated, confused and prideful.

Proverbs 3:7
Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD, and turn away from evil.

Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.

For me to think I should be able to handle it all myself, heal myself, know how to proceed in my own smarts and be wise enough to figure everything out in my own strength and THEN present myself to God all in order is Prideful, arrogant, the works of the flesh and quite frankly Impossible!!!!

God wants to be my Shepherd. It is ok, even desirable, to be His sheep, hear His voice and follow Him. He will take me to those green pastures. He will cause me to lie down in peace. He wants me to call upon Him. He wants to show Himself mighty on my behalf. He wants to strengthen me with His mighty power. He wants to restore me to vigorous life and health. He want to fulfill all of His promises to me. He wants me to call upon Him. He wants me to cast all my cares upon Him. He wants to show me that He is Faithful.

The enemy is very skilled at trying to deceive us and derail us from God's purpose for our lives. He would not be so worried and work so hard to steal from us if we had nothing worthy of stealing. If we were no threat to him there would be no reason to try to kill or destroy us. He can see the headway we are making. He is fully aware of the fruit we are bearing. He knows we are a threat to his purposes. He knows God is who works in you to will and to act on behalf of His good purpose.

It is necessary to evaluate our situation. Are we confused? Then we know the devil is exercising his tactics on us. We must scope out our thoughts. Do they agree with God? If not, refuse those thoughts and purposely replace them with what God's Word says. Be on alert. Resist the enemy and he will flee. Do not be lifted up in pride thinking either "look what I have achieved" in good times or "look what I should be doing but am failing at" in hard times. Consider yourself dead to all that self effort and completely run to Jesus in humility, totally yielded and dependant on Him and walk in the peace that He provides for us.

God is Guiding Me

Have you ever been lost? Or at least you didn't know where you were or which way to go? These situations can cause anxiety, fear and stress.

When Duane and I were in Israel, we (our entire group) were given a few hours to shop. Shopping in Israel is nothing like shopping here. It was worse than crowded racks squished full of clothes so tight that you can't pull out the item you'd like to see. Shopping in Israel was like the people were the clothes on the crowded racks in the hallways. It was Worse than Menards at the opening of doors on Black Friday (I hate Black Friday shopping!!!) Inside the shops are all extremely packed in. There is barely enough isle space for one person. The items to purchase are crowded. It is chaos in and out of the shops. It was Crazy!

We were given instructions of when and where to meet up with our group. Our instructions were to go to the end and turn right at the barber shop. End? We could find no end. End to us meant out of the shops, like to the END! Outside! We could find no end or outside. We could not find a barber shop! We were lost. We absolutely did not know which way to turn. We were in an unfamiliar place. I began to feel the anxiety rise up within me. I was uptight. Fear was creeping in. It was crowded and chaotic. I held tightly to Duane thinking how much worse it would be if I got separated from him in this sea of heads bobbing and bodies cramming together. There was absolutely NO social distancing going on there!!!

I suddenly remembered, (how could I have forgotten?) I've got a God! The Most High God is MY God! He says He would guide me in the best way to go with His eyes on me! He knows where I am and He knows where I need to go!!! I began to calm down in the midst of the same problem by just remembering that. We were not lost in His view. Before long, what seemed as an accident, but I know it was because God intervened, we found our people! We were no longer lost!!!! Whew!!!!

In my life, there have been times that I am not knowing which way to go. I feel the anxiety rising up. Fear begins to creep in. Thoughts of confusion and uncertainty plague my mind....thoughts whirl in my head...Which way do I go? What if I made a mistake and I should have never been here in the first place? What if I make the wrong turn now? What is the right turn? Where is the end! Where is the Barber Shop? Help!!!!! I am lost? Maybe I should stay where I am, but this is a desert. I am shriveling up here. This can't be where I should stay. Many counselors tell me I must leave this place. But, perhaps if I stay, it will improve. But God????? Where do I go? What do I do? Help me!!!!!

What do the Scriptures say?

     I. Psalm119:105
Your word is a lamp to guide my feet and a light for my path.

So, I begin to inquire of God in His Word.

This is what I found that settled my soul.

     II. Psalm 100:3
Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

#1. The Lord is God! What does that mean to me????

#2. I am His people.

#3. I am a sheep of His pasture

     III. John 10:3-4
The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice.

#4. I, as His sheep, recognize His voice

#5. I come to Him

#6. He calls me by my name. What does that mean to me?

#7. He leads me out. He walks ahead of me.

#8. I am His sheep. I follow Him because I know His voice. What does it mean to me? I know His voice? Myself screams, but what if I really don't know His voice. What if I go the wrong way?

First of all, God says His sheep know His voice. So, that means I really DO know His voice. I do???? Yes, His voice is gentle and peaceful. His voice is not one of condemnation, accusation chaos or confusion. His voice is a still small voice, steady and strong. It speaks in ways that make me stronger and fills me with hope.

     IV. Luke 15:4
“If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them gets lost, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others in the wilderness and go to search for the one that is lost until he finds it?

9. Worst case scenario....if I get lost He will leave the flock and He will come searching for me until He finds me. Whew!!!!

     V. Psalm 31:3
For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;

10. It is part of who He is: my God who leads and guides me.

Here is a great comment from the Pulpit Commentary:

"Faith establishes a claim to have its anticipations made good."


     VI. Isaiah 49:10
"They will not hunger or thirst, Nor will the scorching heat or sun strike them down; For He who has compassion on them will lead them And will guide them to springs of water.

#11. He has compassion on me. No more hunger or thirst or troubles that wear me down....

12. He will lead me and guide me to springs of water. What does that mean to me? Remember: I have a guarantee because God says so!!!! He WILL lead me. He is not leaving me without help. He is not giving me random instructions that tell me to go to the end and turn right at the barber shop! No!!!!He walks before me and I follow His lead!!!

13. He is guiding me to springs of water. What does that mean to me? He is not taking me to another place where I will hunger and thirst. He is taking me where there is plenty. A continuous supply of life-giving water (Water can represent the Word of God). Springs: cool water, refreshing, fountain, bubbling up, whose waters never fail.

     VII. Isaiah 43:19
Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert.

14. God is up to something good!!! He is making a way where there seems to be no way. Rivers in this dry place!!!!

     VIII  Jeremiah 31:12
They will come and shout for joy on the heights of Zion; they will be radiant over the bounty of the LORD—the grain, new wine, and oil, and the young of the flocks and herds. Their life will be like a well-watered garden, and never again will they languish.

15. I will be joyful

16. There will be bounty from the Lord.

17. My life and me will be like a well-watered garden.

18. I will no longer be faint, sorrowful or langushing.

     IX. Psalm 23:1-3
The LORD is my shepherd;
I have all that I need.
He lets me rest in green meadows;
he leads me beside peaceful streams.
He renews my strength.
He guides me along right paths,
bringing honor to his name.

19. What promises they are! My God cannot lie! It has to be the way He says!!!

     X. Psalm 5:3
In the morning, O LORD, You hear my voice; at daybreak I lay my plea before You and wait in expectation.

20. I will wait expectantly!

21. God will fulfill his Word to me!