Make God Your First and Not Your Last Resort

3rd In Standing on The Promises Series

by David W Cowan

God calls us all away from our "I got this. I will call on you if I need you." attitude that the flesh teaches us through our years. He knows that little by little this self confidence turns into pride and our Creator cannot abide a prideful heart.

In Proverbs 29:23 it says, "A man's pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will bring him honor."

Our Lord's intent is to save us disappointment and heartache in every thing we do, in every decision we make and it is so important to Him and our relationship with the Father that He gave us a promise to stand on that saves us from our regret.

Also in Proverb, chapter 3, verses 5 and six spell out this promise and it's conditions.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight,"

How many times have you made a decision and found yourself caught in the middle of the consequences? Personally, I can't count the times on the fingers of both hands! Usually, then, we get on our knees and pray about it and God either shows us a way out or lets us know we just have to come out on the other side.

I try to say this verse at the start of most days, acknowledge to God, who already knows. that I trust in Him with all my heart and ask Him to direct me through my decisions of the day. I also do my best not to get caught up in the day and talk with Him about my decisions before I pull the trigger. I try to compare what I feel I should do with His nature and if the two don't match, I rethink my decisions.

In dealing this way the decisions of the day, I am standing behind my trust in Him, I'm putting my understanding under the direction of my creator and acknowledging Him in all my ways....all the things I must do to stand on His promise for direction. Now, if I could just do that perfectly!

Think about the words "In all your ways acknowledge Him". Then think of all the decisions we make in a day and ask yourself "Did I acknowledge God and what He would want when I made all those decisions?" The truth is, probably not. I think that we think that some decisions are just to small to bother Him with, but that's just not true.

In the twelfth chapter of Luke, verse 7, Jesus tells us "Indeed the very hairs of your head are numbered." I think that if He keeps track of each hair on our head, the decisions we make in our life, which became His when we came into relationship with Christ, are far more important and life changing for our journey home.

I challenge you to try it and see how much better your day is, how much more peaceful your mind and heart feel. Start by asking Him what you should have for breakfast and, then, thank Him for your daily bread. 

A Peaceful Promise

 The next in the Standing On The Promises Series

by David Cowan

In the 26th Chapter of Isaiah, verse 3, we are given a promise of peace. "You will keep him in perfect peace, who's mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."

What steals your peace? What keeps you from calm and rest during your getting up and laying down?

For me, it is worry, worry about things I cannot change. There is a difference between worry and planning your day. I always plan out what I will do for the next day and what my guys will work on for the day, but gradually that planning seems to turn to worry and my peace is gone.

What if it rains? What if my parts don't come in? What if someone is sick tomorrow? What if what I measured to fit, doesn't fit correctly? All these things I have no real control over, but they steal my peace.

So, let's look at God's promise again. "You will keep him in perfect peace, who's mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." 

When we remember that God is in control of all things and especially those things we have no control over, we can breath a sigh of relief.  Jesus talked about this very thing in the 6th Chapter of Matthew. Starting in verse 25, He sums it up starting in verse 31. "Therefore do not worry, saying, What shall we eat? or What shall we drink? or What shall we wear? For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added to you. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble."

There will be disruptions and troubles in our life, but God, when we trust in Him, will handle the eventual outcome to our benefit. Our job is to rely on Him, reflecting to the outside world our trust in Him, and deal with the present days complications as He has taught us and shows us how. That, personally, gives me a peace in the midst of chaos that only comes when I know in my heart God has my back.

It's a promise. 

Standing on the Promises...

By David W Cowan

If you find yourself here reading this post, you have started a series. How many times you return is up to you. How many teachings will be in this series is up to God. 

I think that we can all agree that within God's Word there are many promises for His people and if God made a promise, He is not going to take it away or fail to live up to the promise. Unlike us, His children, He is always faithful and can never fail.

To stand on one of these promises, we must fully understand the promise and how it fits in with the nature of God who made the promise. There are many I have read and counted on over the last 50 years of my life and some, when I did, discouraged me because standing on them did not provide the results I had hoped. In every case, it was because I didn't understand the promise or failed to align myself with God's nature.

I first want to address Gods promise in Deuteronomy 31:6. Israel is getting ready to cross over the Jordan River, after refusing the first time and wandering through the desert, again, for all those years. Moses tells the people the word he received from God, "Be strong and of  good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you."

Now, some will say that was an Old Testament promise and doesn't apply to us of the New Covenant, but the Apostle Paul makes it plain in Hebrews 13:5 that we stand on that promise, too. He says to the church, "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'"

Most believers have, at some point, stood on a promise because of some situation in their life, but not felt that things were getting any better, like God was moving away from them instead of closer; ignoring them instead of remedying the problem or situation.  Here is where understanding God's nature and the promise you are standing on becomes vital.

I  want to share an example of what I mean from my personal life. A little over twenty years ago,  I went through a divorce. Totally unhappy for years, I decided that  was the solution to my unhappiness and along with the divorce, I began a path of  bad life choices which did not align with the rededication of my life to God. I had made new commitments to that relationship and Satan came at my life with renewed vigor.

The debts  I took with me after the divorce and a strained credit climate ended up taking me into bankruptcy and I felt God had deserted me. The downward spiral began to make me feel  like God had indeed "left me and forsook me". The bankruptcy plan I chose was one to pay back my creditors over a five year period. In this case, the court decides how much of your paycheck you can keep each pay period and it isn't much.

Oddly, the thing I noticed, after a short time, was that the lack of money sometimes meant little to eat towards the end of the week, not much activity outside of work, things like that, but those things bothered me less than not being able to tithe. I  had gotten involved again in my church and tithing to me was a heart felt gift and worship for me. I didn't look at it as paying for anything God had done for me, but it made me feel, I don't know, ...appreciative! There just wasn't anything left over at the end of the week. I spoke to my Pastor about it and he assured me that it was okay, that God knew my heart and suggested that I might substitute some physical service to the church body. I began helping in  Bible Study, etc.

It still bothered me, though. On one of my morning runs, my prayer and meditation time, I happened to notice a dollar bill sticking out of the corner of a fast food bag someone had thrown out the window. I stopped and picked it up, along with some change and kept running. As the run progressed and my meditation continued, I prayed to God and said, Lord from this day forward until I get back on my feet, any money I find is Yours. For the next few years, I would find anywhere from five dollars, up to forty one week and I was able to tithe through the bankruptcy period.

Along with God answering my prayer, I begin to realize that He had not deserted me, I had deserted Him, in part. He was right there  where I left Him, ready and willing to take me back and comfort me in my distress. The fact is, God cannot be in the presence of sin. I had to confess and repent and return to Him and things began to look up even down that difficult road I had chosen. The consequences of my decisions did not go away, but I was comforted by God's presence in my life.  Now, I am much more conscious of how my current nature and God's unchangeable righteousness can fit together and, that, only because of the work of Jesus on the cross.

2 Chronicles 7:14 spells it out. "If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek  My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land."

I see these two verses as bookends of the same promise. God knows He will never leave us, but that we will move off the path He has set for us. He has, however, included a way back for us.