Week Thirty-Three, 2017
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. – Genesis 1:1
God, who created the universe, is with us and for us. What more could we need? When we feel some lack, it is because we are not connecting with Him at a deeper level. He offers abundant life and our part is to trust Him, refusing to worry about anything.
It is not the adverse events that make us anxious as it is thoughts about those events, many of which will never occur and many over which we have no control. So why worry?
Our minds engage in efforts to take control of a situation. That is human nature. We want to bring about the results we desire. Our thoughts close in on the problem, either real or imaginary, like ravenous wolves. We are so determined to get the results that we forget that He is in charge.
The only remedy is to change focus from being inwardly focused on our selves to being upwardly focused on God. In other words shift your thoughts from your problem to His presence. We should stop all of our striving and watch what He will do. After all, He is the Lord. If God is for us, then who can be against us?
Before we can learn to trust that God is in control of all of life’s circumstances, we have to answer four questions: Is God really in control? How much control does He have? If He is not in complete control, then who/what is? How can I learn to trust that He is in control and rest in that?
The only one who can completely control anything is God. Whenever I try to do things my own way, God usually shows me that I have to turn to Him with my problems. Just like Jacob wrestled with God and realized God is always in control, it took some pain and fear for me to remember that God’s in charge of everything.
Turn your eyes on Jesus. Look fully in His wonderful faith, and the things of the world will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.
Sometimes True Stories
My wife, Beverley, went into the pet store to buy dog food. When she asked for a senior discount she got carded and was asked for proof that she was in fact over fifty-five. It made her day! ( YEP! This is true…BG)
Nietzche
A poster read: “God is dead” – Nietzche.
The graffiti underneath read: “Nietzche is dead” – God.
The Ham Sandwich
A Jewish rabbi and a Catholic priest were good friends. At a picnic one day, the priest was eating a ham sandwich. “You know,” he said to his friend, “this ham sandwich is delicious. I know you’re not supposed to eat ham, but I don’t understand why such a good thing would be forbidden. When will you break down and try it?”
To which the rabbi replied, “At your wedding.”
Quotes You Can Use
Aim at heaven and you will get earth thrown in: aim at earth and you will get neither. C. S. Lewis
Christians are meant to hope for the eternal world, but they are not to leave the present world as it is. C. S. Lewis
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©2017 John Grant | Florida State Senator (Ret.) | 10025 Orange Grove Drive | Tampa, FL 33618