Thursday, February 28, 2013

Wanna Be Close?

Deuteronomy 7:2-6 NLT "When the Lord your God hands these nations over to you and you conquer them, you must completely destroy them. Make no treaties with them and show them no mercy. You must not intermarry with them. Do not let your daughters and sons marry their sons and daughters, for they will lead your children away from me to worship other gods. Then the anger of the Lord will burn against you, and he will quickly destroy you. This is what you must do. You must break down their pagan altars and shatter their sacred pillars. Cut down their Asherah poles and burn their idols. For you are a holy people, who belong to the Lord your God. Of all the people on earth, the Lord your God has chosen you to be his own special treasure."

Many times in life, we don't want to completely destroy or get rid of certain things or people when the Lord God has already instructed us to do so in His word. We may feel like getting rid of people is being to harsh or un-Christian like.  We may also feel like we can "help" the people that we think we should keep in our lives who cause us harm.  When it comes to things that we need to get rid of, we oftentimes feel like it's okay to keep them close but just not too close. 

The truth is that God has instructed us to get rid of certain things and/or people for a purpose...that is, He knows that they will pull us away from Him--and this is against His Will. God desires that we live for Him and close to Him.

Be encouraged and know that the thing in your life that cause you harm and pull you away from God are not meant to be in your life. Don't give anything or anyone permission to interfere with your closeness with God.

Many blessings to you!
 

Monday, February 18, 2013

Never Tell Yourself "No"

Numbers 13:33 NLT "We even saw giants there, the descendants of Anak. Next to them we felt like grasshoppers, and that’s what they thought, too!”

If you read the entire chapter, you will see that Moses sent 12 men to scout the land that was promised to them (promised land--land flowing with milk and honey).  They were there for 40 days!  They returned with their minds focused on the negative--talking themselves and their community out of what was already theirs.

As I read today's meditational scripture, I thought about how quickly we sometimes forget God's promises, the dreams He places within us or just the direction we know that God is leading us.  Even after knowing these thing, we allow our current circumstances (what we see) to cause us to lose faith or tell ourselves "no" when God has already confirmed "yes" in the spirit.

I thought of two things when I read Numbers 13:33.
1- My mentor often tells me to apply for whatever position that I desire within my organization.  He always says to let them tell me no and to never tell myself no.  He said that I could be blocking my own blessing by not even taking the steps to apply for the position.
2-The way we view ourselves is the way we think others see us.  We project our own feelings of confidence or defeat about ourselves onto others--believing that they see us the same way.  For example, if you think you're "small" or inadequate, you will believe others see you that way.  You will also unknowingly behave in this way.  By doing this, you have now talked and walked yourself out of a potential blessing.  Remember that as a man thinks, so is he. (Proverbs 23:7)

Believe in God's plan and in yourself no matter the circumstances.  God knew what would be ahead before you entered into it.  Remain faithful; there is already a plan in place to get you to where you need to be.  Remember to always consult The One from whom the plan originated!