Trusting God's Promises

His team had been working on the project for over a year. They had filed patents for an innovative solution that would greatly improve the efficiency of the new plant. The detailed design for the new plant had just been completed. The project team was eagerly anticipating starting construction of the new plant. 

Then the president called him into his office and announced that the project was being cancelled due to lack of funds. He was informed that he had to lay-off his team that day, and then he had one week to wrap up the project before he would be laid-off. 

Slowly he returned to his office. Turning toward the window and he took a deep breath, and reflected on his leadership of the project. As he reflected over the past year he knew that his hands, his heart and his lips were clean before God, before his team and before the leadership of the company. 

Following his normal practice of seeking God’s wisdom before making any decisions, he cried out to God for wisdom. Knowing his natural inclination to bad mouth his employer, he prayed that God would keep his hands, his heart and his lips clean in the coming week. With a heavy heart for how this news would impact his team members, he prayed for each team member by name as well as the president and leadership of the company. 

In the coming months he experienced the soul-ravaging misunderstanding of friends who blamed his leadership for causing the project to be cancelled. Then came the joy-crushing disappointment as a former co-worker claimed a prestigious award for building a plant based on his teams design. Through it all the Lord remained with him! The Power of the Most High continued to overshadow his life! He remained God’s child. 

As he was packing his family to move to a job in another town, his pastor asked him how he was doing. He replied with joy, “Whether I am leading a project team, laying off people, or unemployed – God is with me. I am the Lord’s servant and God’s word to me will be fulfilled.” 

Mary’s Story

Mary was anticipating celebrating her upcoming marriage with her family and friends and starting her family quietly in Nazareth. Her hands, her heart and her lips were pure before God. But then one day her wedding plans went out the window. Her life was totally turned upside down. Her whole life was rearranged. 

An angel appeared to her, and told her that she would become pregnant before the wedding. Instead of a child who would carry on the family name, she would bear a son who would be the King of the house of David, a son who would be crucified but live forever, the Son of God who would save people from their sins. 

Mary chose to believe the angel’s promise that “no word from God will ever fail.” In faith she replied “I am the Lord’s servant, May your word to me be fulfilled.” Because Mary chose to respond with grace, God, through Mary brought hope into our world. Because Mary chose to cling to the promises of God, God through Mary brought the promise of God, Jesus, into the world. 

Over the next few years Mary would encounter the soul-ravaging misunderstanding of friends and the joy-crushing evil of Herod causing her to flee in the dark of night to Egypt. Yet she remained highly favored by God! The Lord remained with her! The Power of the Most High continued to overshadow her! She remained the child of God. 

Conclusion 

When something happens in your life which is not what you anticipate and your hands, heart and lips are pure before God, and you have heeded Godly advice and used the skills and talents that God has blessed you with to the best of your ability – than standing righteous before God’s throne you can with confidence proclaim “I am the Lord’s servant, May your word to me be fulfilled.” 

Your circumstances do not alter God’s promises, or the fact that you are God’s child. 

As you move forward trusting on God’s grace, God brings his grace and life giving water into the lives of those around you. 

If you are celebrating today, or are walking on air as you walk from success to success, Jesus says to you today that your successes will not have the last word. Celebrate, and let others celebrate with you. But as you celebrate, remember that it is God’s love which defines you. 

If your heart is broken, or you are wading through the deep waters of disappointment, Jesus says to you today that your tears will not have the last word. Weep and let others cry with you. But as you cry remember that it is God’s love which defines you. 

Miracles

Would you rather experience a miracle or live with the status quo? What if the miracle came with the cost of ridicule or rejection?

His day began as every other day. His parents led him to the temple gates where he sat down to beg. It was a beautiful day. He could feel the sun shining on his face. He could hear the voices of people talking as they walked past him. Having never been able to see, he would sit there listening to voices and try to picture what people might look like. When people stopped to talk to him, he would ask lots of questions and he learned how to identify the accent of people who walked past him. One day he heard some voices that he hadn’t heard before. They sounded like Galileans. As he listened, he realized they were talking about him. He didn’t have to listen, he knew they were wondering what sins he or his parents had done to cause his blindness. He had heard this conversation many times before.

But then he noticed that they were quiet. He could sense they were still standing next to him. After talking about him like a theological object lesson, were they now actually going to give him some money? Then he heard one of them spit on the ground, and stir up the dirt. Were they going to throw rocks at him? Then someone was touching him, someone was touching his eyes and rubbing dirt or something on them. His eyes stung from the dirt. Then he heard this person say to him, “Go, and wash in the Pool of Siloam”. As he struggled to his feet, he turned toward the person who had rubbed clay on his eyes, asked his name. The person replied “Jesus”.

Somebody took him by the arm and led him to the Pool of Siloam. There, kneeling beside the water he washed the gritty clay out of his eyes and off his face. As he wiped the water off his face, he knew that he had received a miracle! Not only could he see shapes, and light, but he could recognize objects that he had previously only known by their shape and texture. He had depth perception; he could walk and not stumble or trip over things.

He hurried home. It took some convincing to prove to his neighbors that he really was the same person who they had led as a blind man to the temple gates that morning. When they finally grasped what had happened, they brought him to the Pharisees. He couldn’t comprehend the Pharisee’s stubbornness. They were totally unwilling to believe that a man born blind could see. Their rejection and insults, because he experienced a miracle, hurt almost as much as the words some people said to him when he sat at the temple gate begging.

Earlier that day when he came home, you should have seen the delight and happiness on his parents face to know that their son could see. But now standing in front of the Pharisees, he could see the agony on their face. They were respectable people in the community, and he watched them stifle their joy and gratitude to stoically maintain their standing in town.

That day, he received another miracle. Just after the Pharisees cast him out of the temple, Jesus found him! As he looked into Jesus’ face, the face of the one who had restored his sight, he learned that Jesus was the Son of God. He discovered that the one who created clay, the one who formed him out of clay, had taken clay to restore his sight. Then Jesus opened his eyes to see the Kingdom of God. From that moment on he walked in the glorious experience of God’s gracious light, mercy and forgiveness. From that day on he worshipped the Lord.

Once again Jesus had done the work of His Father who sent him. A person with an eternal soul just like you entered into God’s Kingdom that day.

God still works miracles!

Jesus still works miracles! Jesus still opens blind eyes! Jesus still brings substantial emotional and physical healing into people’s lives! Bring him your trials, your tears, your pain, your sickness. Come to Jesus in all your need!

Bring to Jesus your friends or coworkers trials, tears, pain or sickness. God is ready to miraculously meet anyone’s need with his abundant riches, wonderful grace, and unlimited power!
God isn’t surprised by what is happening in anybody’s life. Trust God to work miraculously in your life and in your friends and coworkers lives.

I repeat it: Don’t let worry enter your life. Live above the anxious cares about your personal needs. People everywhere seem to worry about making a living, but your heavenly Father knows your every need and will take care of you. Each and every day he will supply your needs as you seek his kingdom passionately, above all else. So don’t ever be afraid, dearest friends! Your loving Father joyously gives you his kingdom realm with all its promises! (Luke 12:29-32 Passion Translation)

Read John 9 on BibleGateway #bgbg2

God Dwells With You

God dwells with you full of grace and truth. 

God’s Kingdom is as close to you as the very air you breathe. 

God invites you to experience today the divine life that he uniquely created you for. 

God is continuously in action, alive and dynamic penetrating all existence, surprising us under microscopes or browsing the internet, in the exploration of space or in the quiet, honest conversation with friends. 

God continues to reveal his grace with compassion, forgiveness and unfailing love. God continues to reveal his truth through his words and teaching intertwined with his acts of mercy. 

God offers you a secure existence with peace, joy, power and love flowing from his eternal heart. 

God loves you and longs to have intimate fellowship with you. You are not alone as you go about your daily routine. No matter where you go, or what you do, God is with you. The Creator who spoke the universe into existence and then filled it with light, shines the light of his truth and grace wherever you are. God never leaves you alone in the dark! 

As you go about your work today, you don’t go alone; the Holy Spirit is with you. It is the Holy Spirit who gives you the ability to be wholeheartedly devoted to God and who keeps your desires and thoughts focused on God in every task. 

As you enter your workplace today remember that you have been blessed in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. Everything owes its existence to God. Without God nothing was made that was made. Everything you produce or accomplish at work only exists because of God. 

You can come to God, the creator of the universe, the creator of the systems, processes and raw materials you work with, and seek his wisdom and guidance in all things, big or small. You can come to God and ask for wisdom for each and every problem you are trying to solve. You don’t have to carry the tremendous burden on your shoulders of trying to figure things out for yourself. With each new skill you acquire, with each new discovery you make, you are discovering more about God’s glorious and magnificent character and creation. 

With God, there is no ordinary. With God, every encounter, every task, every situation brims with divine possibility. 

God is personally and intimately present with you! 

God is exactly what you need today!