Put GOD first and He will do the rest - Feb 26, 2014

Scripture: Psalm 137-139
4 But how can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a pagan land?
5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget how to play the harp. - Psalm 137
6 Though the Lord is great, he cares for the humble, but he keeps his distance from the proud.
8 The Lord will work out his plans for my life—for your faithful love, O Lord, endures forever. Don’t abandon me, for you made me. - Psalm 138
1 1 O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.
16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.
17 How precious are your thoughts about me,O God. They cannot be numbered!
18 I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up,
you are still with me!
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life. - Psalm 139

Message:
God knows the beginning to the end. He has set the course of all things. Make GOD your priority, put Him first and He will take care of everything.

Observation/Promise:
Psalm 137:4-6
The Lord has spoken to me about this promise years ago when I had to sing for a wedding and in other places that my heart was not inclined to singing because of my eagerness to be in Israel. My desire to be in Israel has overpowered my desires to sing in a land that is not where my heart is.
Psalm 138
I know that if I continue to humble myself before GOD, He will be merciful to me and enable to me do what He has put in my heart to do. He is the creator of my heart and so these desires that I have are from GOD. No matter how hopeless I seem to be, I can be hopeful in GOD because it is HE and not me or my ability, that will accomplish His plan for my life. His plans that He has written down in my heart.
Psalm 139
He has already set everything to happen according to His plans. Even I was planned by GOD to come into the world at such a time as this. He made me, He has already planned every moment in my life writing it on His book before they even happen. GOD's thoughts about me are too many, too precious. Whether I'm asleep or awake His thoughts are constantly upon me. How loving is that?! But may I please Him as He thinks of me, as each day passes by may I bring a smile to His face, as I continue to rely on His righteousness to keep me pure and holy in His eyes. May He like what He finds in me and if there is anything that displeases Him, may I be sensitive and quick to change my ways so that I am always walking in the path of life making the Lord happy with who I am.

Command/Application:
Be one with GOD's heart. Know His wil, His thoughts and desires for your life and walk in it. Work with GOD for He delights in you, He created you for a specific purpose, know what this is and work with GOD. Keep Him close to your heart, let Him be the Anchor of your soul. Let there be no other person or thing that can move your heart than GOD. When your goal is to always please Him, He will make sure that everything in your life will work out and every plan that He has for you will be fulfilled. Please GOD.

Secrets of the Godly

2 Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom...5 The godly are directed by honesty...20 The Lord detests people with crooked hearts, but he delights in those with integrity...25 The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed...27 If you search for good, you will find favor... 

- Proverbs 11
5 The plans of the godly are just...6 the words of the godly save lives...12 the godly are well rooted and bear their own fruit...21 No harm comes to the godly..the diligent make use of everything they find. 28 The way of the godly leads to life that path does not lead to death. 

- Proverbs 12

What is the secret to being godly? The LORD shuns the proud but He gives grace to the humble, therefore the first thing to being godly is to be humble. We have to remember in coming to GOD, to ask Him to take away the pride in our hearts because we cannot connect to GOD when the walls of pride are blocking the way. We are humble when we are truly honest within ourselves before GOD, we are sinful nothings in this world. When we understand the wickedness of our hearts GOD takes delight in transforming us into people of integrity, making us generous people that wants to bless others, finding good because then our attitudes are rebuilt by GOD to be positive in the our mindset.

When GOD takes control of a wretched human heart, there are many great miracles that takes place in a man's life, transforming them into godly people that do only what is right, say only good things that could save lives. The ordinary sinful man is transformed to be a godly man because they are rooted deeply in the fellowship of GOD in their hearts, their actions and words would bear them much fruit. Those whose hearts are humble and wiling to be transformed by Him are protected by GOD. HE is protecting their fields and crops in due season for harvest. Through the power of His word the godly could never be lazy, a godly man is a diligent man, following the ways of GOD that always leads to life.

Humble Heart

30 Then I will praise God’s name with singing,
and I will honor him with thanksgiving.
31 For this will please the Lord more than sacrificing cattle,
more than presenting a bull with its horns and hooves.
32 The humble will see their God at work and be glad.
Let all who seek God’s help be encouraged.
33 For the Lord hears the cries of the needy;
he does not despise his imprisoned people.

36 

- Psalm 69

Praising GOD with worship and singing is something that GOD takes pleasure in from His loved ones. He is honored when we remember His goodness and faithfulness and thank Him for what He has done. These simple acts of please GOD more than sacrificing things in our lives to offer to Him. It's more than what we can give Him because worship and thankfulness come from our hearts. We can give GOD out of our abundance, but true worship and thanksgiving can only come from a heart that truly sees GOD's love in their lives. Praising GOD truly can come only from a humble heart.

The humble sees GOD's hand at work, they depend on His power to do what GOD has promised for them. The humble are the ones who depend on GOD alone, who trusts in GOD's hand to fulfill His promises and His heart to love them no matter what. Humility is a rare treasure found in a person. You are humble when you don't complain in spite of the the hardships you have to go through. Humility does not focus on the negative but hopes in the LORD and trust that whatever GOD is allowing in our lives is for our best. Pride says "I deserve to be happy." But humility says "may GOD look to me in mercy and lift me up once again. Pride sees all the bad and continue to speak about it. But the humble will be encouraged by the LORD because they cry out to Him and they are comforted by His love and presence.

What Should I Do?

8 Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God. Don’t just say to each other, ‘We’re safe, for we are descendants of Abraham.’ That means nothing, for I tell you, God can create children of Abraham from these very stones. 9 Even now the ax of God’s judgment is poised, ready to sever the roots of the trees. Yes, every tree that does not produce good fruit will be chopped down and thrown into the fire.”

10 The crowds asked, “What should we do?”11 John replied, “If you have two shirts, give one to the poor. If you have food, share it with those who are hungry.” 12 Even corrupt tax collectors came to be baptized and asked, “Teacher, what should we do?” 13 He replied, “Collect no more taxes than the government requires.” 14 “What should we do?” asked some soldiers. John replied, “Don’t extort money or make false accusations. And be content with your pay.”
- Luke 3:8



The words that John the Baptist spoke during this time was very straight forward, direct and harsh. There was no hypocrisy or sugar coated words to lighten the gravity of what he wanted to do. Rebuking everyone especially those that are being dependent on their national standing - being jewish does not get you to Heaven. Going to church will not get you to Heaven, being good is not enough to bring you salvation. There are only two kinds of people that may react to the hurtful rebuke of John. The first ones are those with humble hearts. Those who are humble are the ones who asked John "What should we do?" People who think are righteous, who think they are doing good enough to deserve the goodness of GOD are the ones who are not likely to take the words of John lightly. 

The second group of people would react violently to this, being offended and plotting to kill John the moment He said these words. Why? The proud don't like to be corrected. They feel they are right, they are good enough when in fact they are self-righteous meaning, righteous only in their own thinking, actually proud in themselves because they would not accept correction in fact they will think they are so right they will kill the ones that think they are otherwise. Asking the question "what should I do?" is the right response to such rebuke. If you are truly humble, you will not be offended by any kind of rebuke but will be grateful to be corrected. Proverbs 12:15 says "Fools think they need no advice, but the wise listen to others." Are you unteachable? Then you are a fool. It is better to ask the question "What should I do?" for you are wise and humble.

Willing To Go?

1 In the course of time, David inquired of the Lord. “Shall I go up to one of the towns of Judah?” he asked.
The Lord said, “Go up.”
David asked, “Where shall I go?” “To Hebron,” the Lord answered.
2 So David went up there with his two wives, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail, the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 3 David also took the men who were with him, each with his family, and they settled in Hebron and its towns. 4 Then the men of Judah came to Hebron,and there they anointed David king over the tribe of Judah.

- 2 Samuel 1:1-4

Inquiring of the LORD about every single detail of our lives should be as natural as eating, sleeping, drinking and breathing. Just like David the great conqueror during this time. Even though GOD has already prophesied to him that he was going to be Israel's King, he has remained humble throughout the years. Never demanding from GOD or Israel what GOD had promised him - the throne of the whole Nation. David is a humble man, never thinking that he is wise on his own.

During this time David must have felt that he should go up to Hebron but regardless of his strong feelings to do what seemed right, he inquired of the LORD, should he go up? And where specifically did GOD want him to go? Everything in our lives has already been planned by our great GOD. HE knows the end from the beginning and His plans for us are always good and nothing that would cause us harm. He wants us to live the life that He has planned for us, but we will not be able to live it if we follow our own instincts and directions. We need GOD's guidance, GOD's wisdom and His hand to lead us carefully into the great plans He has for us, but it is not an easy road. It will require a lot of faith and trust in the ONE who loves you more than anyone else ever could. Are you willing to go and follow GOD?

Make Whole

To You, O Lord , I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. Show me Your ways, O Lord ; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day.
Psalm 25:1-5

It is a fight to be in this world, a fight to stay standing when all around us are waiting for our downfall. There is no real love among bretheren when envy is the winning force that energes from within and among us. There are enemies that surround us whether they are physical or invisible, external or internal. Whom can we depend to always be in our side no matter how right or wrong we are?

One person stands by us and remain faithful to us regardless of what our state is. The Lord God Almighty whose love is eternal and unchanging is always for us and He is faithful even when we have strayed and hurt Him. As long as we are humble before Him returning to Him because we know we are never anything on our own. He will defend us from our enemies and will never cause us to be ashamed from those who are against us. Let us wait on the Lord for salvation because He promised to come through for us. He will heal, He will sustain, He will redeem and make whole whatever has been broken in our lives.

Like A Child

2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
5 “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. 6 But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.

10 “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.

Matthew 18:2-5, 10

Why does Yeshua make a child an example to the adults that He was teaching to? What are the characteristics of a child that adults don't have? Children are fun loving, yes and they are energetic and can be annoying when their energies are out of control. But a child loves to laugh, and wants to enjoy every moment they are in. That's why they are playful, they want to enjoy. Besides loving fun and enjoying life, children unlike most adults believe everything they are told.They rarely doubt when they are told something, they believe right away whatever people tell them and so this attitude of belief makes them humble. This is the characteristic of a child that GOD wants us to follow.

Through dissappointments and sorrows, a child grows up to be an adult believing only a few things, they develop a sense of doubt to filter what he/she used to beleive in, in order to protect themselves from being hurt or discouraged. We should be careful to treat a child as to not cause dissappoinment in their lives that will cause their belief system to fail. We should be careful to preserve a child's faith in things that are good most especially their belief in GOD. For we are accountable to every child's life. We ought to learn from a child's purity of heart, and be humble enough to be like a child, believing everything GOD has promised to us, without any doubt or questions of how, but only with expectant faith. 

Huble thinking

1 But the men of Efrayim complained to Gid‘on, “Why didn’t you call on us when you went to fight Midyan? Why did you treat us this way?” They were sharp in their criticism. 2 He answered by saying to them, “How can what I have done be compared with what you have done? Aren’t the grapes Efrayim leaves on the vines better than the ones Avi‘ezer harvests? 3 God handed over to you Midyan’s chiefs, ‘Orev and Ze’ev. What could I do that matches what you did?” By saying that, he appeased their anger at him.
- Judges 8:1-3


Pride and Honor don't come together. The men of Efrayim were proud, they wanted to be part of the battle so that they will be honored along with them. But Gideon knew that this was in their hearts and he was wise enough to respond to what they needed instead of fighting against them, after all they were his brothers. Even though they criticized Gideon sharply even after Gideon fought for Israel and risked his life for this battle, the hearts of the men of Efrayim were full of pride. Pride truly will get in the way of being grateful. Pride will make you say things unreasonably, even when it makes no sense, pride will make you become senseless.

But Gideon, was humble and wise and knew exactly what the men of Efrayim wanted to have. They wanted to have honor along with him who fought so greatly for the people of Israel. Gideon humbled himself to lift the men of Efrayim up saying I'm nothing compared to you! Now this leader has truly become a humble servant. His achievement in winning the battle did not cause him to get puffed up but it enabled him to keep the peace of Israel and his brothers. If Gideon was also proud, he would have fought his brothers for criticizing him right then and there because he didn't deserve those critisicm. But his humble attitude and wise thinking made him an even better leader.