Call Your 2015 What You Want

Ingredients of a Godly Life

As this year wraps up, I realized I learned more, I experienced more. I learned more about God—that He will always answer my prayers but sometimes it would cause me a price that I would never imagine when He does. Reality is, in our lives, something is always dying while something else is coming alive. I admit 2015 was never all good. Actually, there is no point in time when everything is going to be all good in our lives. That’s when reading the Bible (meditating, studying, and applying) comes in. I learned more to hold on to His promises just like believing in my heart what Romans 8:28 says to bring forth His purpose of my life. Even when I have experienced pain, God is still fulfilling His promises. 

But what if, great strength is always born out of great sorrow? Perhaps, the greatest trials I have ever gone through are the very things that God used to fortify the greatest strength in me. My failures this year had brought sorrow that might had reduced my strength but my sorrow this 2015 can become my strength in 2016.

Life is not easy. It is simple but never complicated.

This 2015, I had some sad situations but I have a great GOD. I had a sorrow but am producing even more strength. In fact, I don’t get to choose everything that comes into my life but I do as a child of God get to choose what I call whatever comes into my life. So out of my sorrow, I chose to see strength. I’m not going to call it what it was anymore, I’m going to call it what God says it is and what it can be in His name because I’ve got naming rights. So when I can change the situation, I do it. But when I can’t and can’t call it back, I change the name. People might recommend certain names for me but only my Heavenly Father gets to sign off on it and prove it. Unless I make something, I don’t get to name it because only the maker has the naming rights.

Jacob called the place where God had talked with him Bethel (Genesis 35:15). The place is used to be called as Luz. I call my year when God made me stronger and sharper “Finished as a Warrior”. With every blessing that I have received, God made known to me that His Word is alive and active. So, I can’t be dead and passive.  As I look back His faithfulness this entire year, I look how good God is. He gave me what I prayed for. Indeed, everything is reciprocal even in blessings. With the blessings comes with some burdens that I might not account for. Healthy relationships are reciprocal too. It can’t be one-sided. Nothing turns out good if it is not shared, if give-and-take is not part of the process.

God is light. In Him, there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5

And now, less than two days left, 2016 gladly welcomes me, you, and us. It’s now the perfect time to move on 2016! Why? Because Genesis 35:16-20 inspires us to do so. Above all, God has exalted Jesus to the highest places and is given the Name above every name. Whatever your 2015’s name is, one thing I do know, there is a Name above that name—His Name is JESUS. Nobody has power and strength like Him. In the scriptures of Isaiah, He is referred as a man of sorrow acquainted with gift.

Love came down.

Thank You, Abba father for showing up this 2015 despite the times I ran away and turned my back on You. Thank You that I've always got Your back. Thank You that Your presence created heaven in my situations this year. Thank You that You waited for me to be a blessing again this year just like Benjamin. Thank You that You are GOD.

The 8 Things

         It has never been real to me until God used my situation to clearly see that ‘everything I do is a moment-by-moment choice’. It was one evening (the Supermarket was about to close) when I decided to buy some groceries because grace week is coming and stock food is undoubtedly necessary. Arriving at the counter to pay, I noticed that the lady seem tired already and it happened that there was no small denomination bills for change. So I had to wait and the lady started worrying because the line got longer as expected. My groceries were worth almost 600 pesos but the lady was giving me that same amount for a change, from my 1000 peso bill. Suddenly, it was another choice that I had to make. Am I going to keep it or return the excess change she mistakenly given me? I was amazed that I actually had an automatic response—that is, tell the truth without hesitation. While walking to apartment, I cannot help but thank God for the transformations He made and still making in me.  I was able to do it even when no one saw it. No, I did not do it; He did it for me. He did it for His purpose—to live a life that reflects Jesus.

            Truly, the voice I believe will determine the future I will experience. So for those who thirst like me to have a more intimate and personal relationship with God, Isaiah 55:1-3 invites us to come, all we who are thirsty. For the love of God, here are (8) essential things I want to share with you, my dear sibling in Christ.

Keep growing and glowing in love.

#1 Call/Response

• Hearing God’s voice above all others is the most important habit that I will ever develop.

• Genesis 1:1-3

#2 Enemy (in me)

• The battlefield is my mind. So, I need a defense by start transforming my mind in accordance with the Word and the will of God.

#3 Dialogue/Destiny

• Lies create limitation. When lies are not confronted, callings are not fulfilled.

• Every time I believe a lie, something inside me dies. Every time I believe the truth, my soul comes alive.

• Genesis 3

#4 Deception/Distortion

• To detect the deception.

#5 Premise/Promise

• Matthew 4:1 says it is not a sin to be tempted. But the enemy will always attack me at area of my vulnerability.

Keeping me covered in remembrance of God

.




• The enemy’s question does not even need an answer. So, I am letting God’s promise be my premise.

#6 Consume

• To be consumed by an awareness of His goodness.

#7 Detection/Defense

• Find and replace. Find all the craps that I believe and replace it with what God says about me.

#8 Whatever

• The promises of God gives me the perspective that whatever thought comes, whatever chatter wants to go up inside of me, I am controlled by a different sound.

If I ever want to hear what God is saying, I’ve got to block out whatever the enemy suggests. Knowing that I am plugged in to the promise of God, so WHATEVER.

Reflection 1.0: Unbend I, Mislay C

A personal application from Roy Hession's The Calvary Road tackling about "Brokenness", taken from the Author's journal. Written in ink on November 6th of 2015.
                   Just last week of October, I was in a state where I desperately wanted to run away from God. That week, I knew that I have disobeyed Him. I have compromised a lot of things, replaced the things of God for the things of this world just so I could accomplish stuffs in the most convenient way—that is, academic requirements. I need not to elaborate them because for sure you have your own version too; we all have. I also knew at this point that I am not right with God even though I am active in Church being part of volunteer ministries and attending services. I could not acknowledge it because, I felt just fine. Those days, He has been whispering to me—this still small voice I have been hearing but I could not listen to. I chose to deny His voice. I could not change the fact that the feeling was heavy, but somehow it was tolerable. Tolerable—that was the signal, a painful signal I realized afterwards. Because it only meant one thing—that the big “I” is still present in me and a bent “I” has not yet fully been bend. The hardest part is the reality that I was able to tolerate what God wants because I have chosen my will over His.

            I was not able to manage and balance my time so well—for my academics, volunteer ministries and most especially for God, that I started to lose focus on Jesus and lose the very purpose why I do what I do. So far, for the very first time in my college life, I experienced sickness and it was not just physically but emotionally, intellectually and spiritually above all.

Things began to shake and crumble to the point of not knowing how to properly respond to this current situation. That was the time when I realized and was real to me that BEING A CHRISTIAN IS COSTLY. Costly because I have to constantly die to myself. I was in so much pain that I wrestled with God. I was bombarded with a lot of thoughts so I had to ask God, “What do I do to make it right with You?” I was so ashamed to myself for being able to do all those things to Him in spite of my undeserved identity of being called His daughter, His own and His disciple. I even said to God that I wanted to fix myself first before going back to Him, as if I could do it on my own. How prideful I am.

            Why is it so costly to follow You? Why is it so hard to obey Your Word? How do I start all over again? Then, He answered with a resounding "NONE, my dear. You need not do anything to be right with Me, My child. JUST BE STILL." This was one of the many times that I find God difficult to understand; this STILLNESS He has been telling me of is a lot harder to do than to do something. But, WHY? I guess, it is because I have the tendency of repaying something through deeds.

           

This is my journal I started writing on
just this November, 2015. An old notebook
I reused and creatively covered,
labeled it with a verse that reminds me
what God says of who I am in Him.

            The portion of that ME ME ME was the problem to really start with. The "I" that makes CHRIST die enslaved me from seeing the perspective of God. I have positioned myself again in the center—to the very seat and throne of God. It was all about me again. The never-ending and never-consuming of making myself so valuable as if the world revolves around me that I have considered CHRIST unable and unwilling for me to grow more in Him.

The back cover. I chose these words to
continually be aligned with
God's will for me, no matter what.

            The unyielding Lorie Mae who had thought that “I” has died already was brought back to the reality that BEING BROKEN IS BOTH GOD’S WORK AND MINE. I have to constantly experience pain in order for His revival to take place. Unless this struggle has no revelation of daily death to self, God could not fill me completely with His holy presence. Living out the victorious life God has marked me means admitting that on my own I cannot fix myself, on my own I cannot have a peace of mind and assurance in heart. Only God can mend the brokenhearted, the un-assured. Only He could give me joy that nothing could ever steal away. Only He offers a life that is full.

The Power of Pressure

              “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us (2 Corinthians 1:8-11).”

                As I know more of God, I am able to see things more through His lens. As I seek more of Him, I am able to understand more of this life--this life that has never been about me; that in this life, pressure must not be an option. And overwhelmingly, as I draw closer to Him, I am able to witness His power manifesting in me. I’ve just been in a season where God tested my faith like never before. His love made me realize that growing in a Christ-like is not something that others could do for me, but what I can do for myself; especially at moments where no one can see it. So I learned that every day, I have to preach His Word to myself--to preach it under pressure because I am better with it, not because I am strong but He wants me to be strong for Him. The only bad thing is, I spend an entirely too much time trying to figure out where my pressure is coming from and not enough time learning what to do when it comes. This led me to know what God says about pressure and how does He define it.

                Pressure is a total unavailability of an exit. It is that moment when you are about to take an exam and you start trembling because you do not seem to know how to release that fear of not being able to properly answer. Thankfully, our God makes a way out of no way.

                2 Corinthians 1:10 reminded me that “I’ve been here before”. I recognized in this verse that Paul did not talk about what caused the pressure but what the pressure caused inside of Him that I could relate to. I know, God will do it too, in my academics. He will do it again, and again. And together, we can make it through. You and I may be in different situations, but it does not matter because (as long as) we have the same God.

                Secondly, it reminded me that “I am not that important.” God allowed life to put enough pressure on me so that I will give Him back what belongs to Him to begin with. I learned to carry the load that I have been assign (e.g. to be excellent in my studies), but not try to take the weight of the responsibility that is not mine (God has the full control over my academics and every other area of my life). "Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches (2 Corinthians 11:28)". Paul is telling that our concern should be the pressure that is happening in us. But he did not say that to be aware of this pressure means we are necessary. To God, we are not that necessary. Yes, we are valuable to Him but if we do not do what we have been doing, somebody else could and would; because the world does not revolve around you. It does not revolve around me either. Reality is, the world goes on, without you and me. This mindset redirected me to the thought “I am supposed to but I do not have to, then I can.” It is actually the feeling of “I have to” that disabled and paralyzed me with pressure.

                God is God without me. He is God all by Himself. He does not need my help. And because I do not have to do it, then now I can! In fact, much of the pressure we felt is not based on the situations that we are in but our perception of the situations and our interpretation of them. When I realize that His purpose is not dependent on me, I started fulfilling His purpose.

                Romans 5:3 reveals “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance.” This passage speaks about pressure creating power. I remember Pastor Jon Dolor used to preach that we have to be careful when we pray to God. He is right! When I prayed for patience, God indeed sent me pressure. Because there are some things that can only be produced by pressure. The people of God should be better under pressure. Unless we taste test with pressure, we cannot grow stronger than yesterday, than we are now.

                It’s not about what is happening to me but what God puts in me that am about ready to release. More pressure means more power. God wants to put them under pressure and watch them grow, excel and expand. Some pressure comes from above—from God. Some pressure comes from people around us. It does not matter nearly as much where the pressure comes from as it does with what you do with it. With what you do with it will determine what the pressure will produce in your life.

                Only GOD can show us how to convert the pressure into something glorious. What is happening around you is really about what God is doing in you. Hence, remind your situation. Remind yourself: there are things that are not mine to bear.

Losing to Win

                Today is Tuesday, the 15^th day of September, year 2015. I have decided to write and share to you the amazing things that God taught and revealed to me that you may be encouraged with His Word as well. I truly believe that God speaks to us through His people in a lot of His ways, in any circumstance that we are in. For that, I am grateful that we serve a God of specificity especially in terms of progressively transforming and shaping us to become more like Him as we follow Christ every day of our stay here on earth. I couldn’t be more excited to be in heaven with our Heavenly Father, but I don’t want to lose the opportunity of having a meaningful relationship with God and being able to reach out those who have no idea yet that even if we are living in a cruel world, we can live a life of purpose with a knowledge that there is Someone who loves us so much and willingly died for us; who is more than able to give anything to us now because He gave everything already by the shedding of His blood, on the Cross 2,000 years ago.

                I could say I had a rough day that turned out to be good and productive. It happened that my carelessness labored again! Hooray! I took my first ever AutoCAD exam on my graphics subject early this morning. By the way, I am a civil engineering student currently living out every season that God is giving me, cherishing every moment no matter how well or bad my days may get. I was so confident upon computing the data that I will input that I actually got them all wrong. You know that instances where you just know by instinct and say to yourself, ‘this should not look like it’ or ‘this is not supposed to be like it’—that occurred to me. Therefore, I just did what I could do at the moment which is the other exam parts. Then, at the last 15 minutes, I suddenly figured out what was wrong to begin with. The assurance that I had while mentally computing the data was not good for me, at all. I confused multiplication with addition. One small mistake, and it changed everything—my performance and grade.

                 While walking on my way home, I wrestled with God. I asked Him what He is telling me through the exam. I remember a lot of times God would bring me back to the truth that even when I think I am good enough with what I do, I am still limited because I am just a human. And that there will always be someone who is better than me. That I still get tired, and in need of a sleep just so I can function better again, just like everybody else. But this time, I believe God reminded me of Him being in full control in my life at the end of each day. God walked with me and tapped me, saying ‘Hey, I am not looking at you by your performance. It’s okay, my child, your worth is not dependent with what you did or did not do but merely on what my Son did there. You are still at peace right now at the expense of knowing you may fail at that exam because your hope is not on the things that you see but on a Person who is unseen.’

                  I find it mind-blowing that God has His own style to communicate to us, how maybe busy we are. I testify to this because for the last few days I admit I wasn’t able to have my quiet time with God. Yes, I have time to listen to His Word but to no avail, without really having a personal interaction through prayer. I thank God that He knows what He is doing, knows how exactly to discipline me and is lovingly patient to me also. I just finished one of Elevation Church’s series entitled “Your Verse”. This series taught me how one verse could change our life and encouraged me to have my own life verse too.

              The preaching of Pastor Chris Allen from Matthew Campus really spoke to my heart tonight. He talked about Philippians 3:8 that tell “What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ.” He still finds it a struggle to really understand this verse but for him, it is so real and alive.

              For many of us, we encounter ‘wins and loses’all the time. We do what we do for the sake of winning. But Chris Allen enlightened me that there are many things in life that I can lose, and still win. In general, the reality is, we just don’t want to lose so that nobody sees us as a loser but that they would see us as a winner. Because we don’t actually care whether we lose or win. Yet, we live life as if it’s all about winning and losing for the reason that the world teaches so. Similarly, the things that we live for, things that we attempt to win to give us value; for someone to say you are good enough, most of the time they are worthless. We come to a point where we realize that they are meaningless (Ecclesiastes 1:14, 12:13). 

             So we wonder, how can we bring meaning to the meaningless in our life? Ecclesiastes 12:13 encourages us to fear God and keep His commandments; because this is man’s all. Fearing God is not being afraid to Him but knowing Him, revering and worshiping Him. When we get a meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ, we come alive as we get to live our wonderful borrowed life. Yes, it may be a battle for some of us but I believe that it is a daily process of putting our relationship with Christ above other things. It is progressive.

             Chris Allen also mentioned it’s not as if all the wins in our life our bad, but they only become bad when we put them ahead of Christ. And that’s the time we consider them garbage. Since he challenged me with the some questions, I challenge you with me to take time pondering and answering each question before God with an honest heart.

Here are they:

1. What are you chewing on? (Chewing means meditating)

• Have a bible reading plan!

2. Who are you listening to?

• Pray and ask that God will show you specific things; that you will sense and be more aware with His callings to you.
• Hear what He is saying

3. Who are you close to?

• Ask people who can help you spiritually to remind you that you are living for the wins!
• Identify people who would help you discern what God is saying to you.

4. What is it that you need to throw in a garbage can to get your priorities straight?

• Confront yourself. It might hurt but I assure you it's worth it!

              I pray that we will all learn to see the more significant things God wants us to run after, in God’s perspective. As we seek Him more, I also pray that we will not forget His presence even in the days that we don’t sense it. It all comes from realizing that our hope in Christ and our faith is not entirely based on our present feelings but I hope that we will carry out the works of God in and through us even with our ‘lose-to-win’ situations.

"In Christ, you will be much more willing to lose if you know the value of the return--of the win."

It’s In Your Hands

           The common saying that applies to Physics, “Every action has an equal and opposite reaction” taught me a lot lately. In life, its version is, “Every choice you make has a consequence”. Consequences that as we make the decisions, do not deeply get through inside us not until we experience the consequence that comes along with it. Some of these consequences are good because they sharpen our being and they strengthen our faith. But often they come in bad shape, in times we don’t expect them the most and in seasons where you are not so ready to receive them.

                We all experience consequences either way. We all face pain and brokenness. Brokenness that I for one really shaped who I am—partly good and partly bad I might say. Our instant reaction when we undergo family problems such as when our parents choose to separate entirely and the children for some reasons are left hanging and become “possessions” is angry and confusion while your parents on the other hand, try their very best fighting for their own rights to live with you and your siblings. Many cases last in courts technically always ending up on their mother’s care. For that, I couldn’t be more thankful to my mom who lasts longer than I thought—fought really hard to be with us. So we and I especially, grew up very dependent to her. She does not only fill up her responsibilities to each of us but became a mother whose love for us is very much evident and a best friend to me as well who’s been always there no matter how distant we are to each other.

                Through time, I adjusted just fine without a father. The consequence of my parents separating made me mature earlier than a child’s progress should be. And it was good. I learned to see things differently. I need to choose the ‘right thing’ that I consider right at the moment even though there were times I chose badly, it was worth it. Every fleeting second, I need to expand my view of everything because I am the eldest among us leading me accountable (somehow) for my siblings.

                But we could never eliminate the fact that things could change; things could happen we never have imagined. Yet, they happen.Awful things can happen. And the changes cause massively in one’s life. Its effect smashes your inmost self. Hence you pray you shouldn’t have done it in the first place but there’s no way you could revert the outcome, there’s no way you could turn back time. Thus, I decided to move forward. To find the path where I could look back and find no regret, certainty and boldness.

                As I look back, I remember meeting Someone for the very first time. I was in an awful status at the time—full of shame, timidity and unforgiveness. Suddenly I realized, this Person accepted me wholly in spite of the errors He found in me. He demonstrates His affection for an entirely unworthy individual like me every day by not spoiling me—giving everything that I desire and demand from Him. It fell into place so perfectly that He has to allow awful things to break my heart sometime so His heart can come in, time and time again, otherwise my heart would be harden and the love being given to me would grow cold. At the end of the day, the essence of the gospel is acceptance. Everybody has a part to play in crisis times. Though every so often He is silent we wished He was not, our silence too is deafening. I believe there are no easy answers. Sometimes in puzzling moments, we need a whole lot more than an explanation or, a platitude is examination—finding the root; examining our own hearts.

                Moreover, Matthew 7:9-12 says, one of the good gifts our fathers passed on to us is perspective (what they model how to think). It always starts with the heart. When people exclaims, ‘that is how she/he is’, know that they are relatively true. What does not heal gets handed down. That is why God intervenes in our lives and He intercepts what we are being handed by others and He transforms them. In God, “it is not just a momentary transformation with relief but a systemic transformation with relation that makes the difference in people’s lives”. When a heart is being transformed, you eventually leave the hate how may be your loved one distrust you now because it is a venomous poison (a toxic religion) if you can love God and hate those who caused your heartache. Steven Furtick, a senior pastor at Elevation Church even stated: You have no use for religion and neither does God, neither does the world around you could claim to love God that you cannot even see then hate your brothers and sisters every day that you can see.What is hateful to you, do not do unto others. Live in obedience, love and righteousness. Until you are proactive about doing for others what you wish someone would do for you, until you do it, you don’t have it—not real love. What we need is a theological heart prepared to be change.

                Take heart. When you are hanging a symbol of hate, you sure have a problem with what’s in your heart. You will never understand it until you open up your heart to it. Our heart can cause tremendous devastation or, can bring a great healing. You better choose wisely since what happens in one heart and mind matters, the conversation that we participate in matters (explicitly or implicitly). Here is why: When you give God your doubtful heart, even your darkness, there is an exchange that happens at the foot of the Cross. God has a way to fill a heart of love that was filled with hate. Having a knowledge of these, talk to God and ask Him such as, “God, what is in me that I am handing on that needs to stop and needs an exchange?” After all, the GOSPEL was and is the exchange.

                We give God our sins, He gives us His righteousness. We hand Him our shame, He hands us back with righteousness. With God, regrets can turn to hope and a future; transgressions lead to the Cross.

You may still find condemned for what happened to you that you badly want to fix what was broken and put back together the pieces to turn it back into one piece. Whereas, you have faith that God is able and can heal a broken heart but be aware that before He does it, He has to have all the pieces first. So expose your heart, are you geared up to give every fragment to Him?

Even more, isn’t it as much as important to question yourself also..

Which way are you turning to and whose hands are you holding on?

*All attached photos are credits from google.

He asks, I answer

           Are you a decisive person? I bet many of us are, because I am and so Elijah. I find Elijah’s journey being a follower of Christ as one of the most fascinating stories in the Bible. For one, we have the same personality when it comes to decisions. Most of the actions I make come from a well thought steps, before I do it. However, I must say, I began to analyze myself as one of those who easily get controlled but with the idea of eliminating my own judgment as a human being towards others. As I walk the new life God has given to me, God has been teaching me how to respect the behaviors of others as well as their ideas without judging them by always putting their position in mine because that’s exactly what Jesus did for me on the Cross. Through Him, I've been cleansed and fixed. In Him, I found purpose, contentment and life.

Pre-note: Read 1 Kings 18.

There was Ahab, a wicked king who was easily controlled as much as I am. God, on the other hand, used Elijah to perform a great miracle on Mount Carmel (this happened because Elijah has rhythmic relationship with God and because Elijah responded to God’s command). Many of us can’t really relate to Elijah’s response for the reason that we actually do not know if we’re in the same ‘rhythm’ with God. But I believe, many can relate to Obadiah. Obadiah has a devout character. He has been faithfully serving God having a harder job than Elijah’s; even risked his own life. Through Obadiah, I learned not to overlook ordinary obedience. Just maybe, you may be called by God like Obadiah.

But along the way, I have acquired knowledge that in order for transformation to take place, trouble has to be made; transformation and trouble go hand in hand. This is the benefit of reading the Word of God because the Bible genuinely points us to learn who God is and what God is like. By means of Elijah, I learned that if we are not willing to be misunderstood by others, we cannot really be used by God. One of the well said statement by Pastor Steven Furtick from the podcast where I get to write things such as this one was Isn’t it crazy how in this world tend to give all the credit to ourselves as human beings for all the advancements and creativity but give God all of the blame for adversity and trouble?. I even admired his preaching of Elijah’s speaking as “Don’t you go blame in God for the hard times because you surely didn’t glorify Him on the good times”. God surely does a great and amazing job in putting gifts to His chosen ones, right? 

What about you? Who is your source and your help comes from? Is it the same God Elijah talked about? Or a god who only you would know exists? Because God isn’t scared, He isn’t nervous! He isn’t intimidated at all. We may confuse God’s work in our lives at times, times that He wants to do it in unreasonable way; in ways where there is no way human beings could do it, then He will do it. God is good under pressure, but He is good at everything.

I believe now is the perfect timing to start the right thing to do—applying Elijah’s decisiveness in actuality, from the first activity you do as you wake up in the morning until the time you go sleep at night. The Bible clearly says that our indecision—wavering between two opinions is an insult to God and He isn’t going to have it. Every time we come to God and say to Him, “I want to love You and serve You but I want to keep my options open.” know that God’s answer will always be “I am not an option. I am the lord, and beside me, there is no other.” By this, He is not requiring you to be perfect but He wants you to be wholehearted. Know that whenever God speaks to you, it is not an opinion but a command. That means when he speaks, it is certain and irrevocable. It frustrates the heart of God when we become so fickle. When we call into question His ability to provide, He is hurt. Besides, the only thing He asks, How long will you limp between two branches? Will you rather choose the strong, sturdy, stable branch that will sustain you and will give you true life over the twig that isn’t design to bear the weight of your life? If not, the only question that indeed matter is, Is He God or is He not? Mull over and answer God with an exposed heart. It is now to stop hopping between those opinions. It might be a hard time to answer however identifies that every day God receives a reply from you whether He is God or not from the way you respond to everything. Yes, it is a daily decision, Is Christ enough or is He not? So remember what you will do first thing as soon as you wake up, and ask yourself again, am I serving God only? Or Am I serving God and *insert whatever*? Dear friend, do what you need to do. Start from the smallest and simplest things. Act now! 

We believe that God can get us to heaven. The question is, “Do we believe and trust that our God can be trusted with our life on this earth?”

God is not a little twig; He is not a cosmic kill joy; He is not an item on a menu; He is not a backup plan: He is not stiff. Our God is GREAT. And if the Lord that Elijah and Obadiah worshipped is your God, get up on your feet and thank Him. Don’t just talk about the goodness of God; demonstrate the glory of God. He always has His way and your identity is established by the decisions you make.