UNDERSTANDING THE THOUGHTS OF GOD

“The counsel of the Lord standeth for ever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations.”

Psalm 33:11

Can we really know the thoughts of the Almighty? Only a fool denies that man and God think differently. Isaiah wrote: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:8-9).

If we try to understand the thoughts of God, there are several things we will discover. First, His view of life is very different from ours. His perspective is different. He takes the long view. We look at life in terms of the immediate. If we want to understand the thoughts of God, then look at life from the long-term perspective.

Second, God looks beyond the surface, whereas we look at life from the outside. Long ago, God said, “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at.  Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:6)

We are impressed by beauty, money, accomplishments. God wants to know if there is integrity within. Is a person as good as his word? If you want to understand the thinking of God, then learn to look beneath the surface.

Third, your value system needs a drastic change. Paul wrote, “God choose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things – and the things that are not – to nullify the things that are so that no one may boast before Him.” (1 Corinthians 1:27-29).

To understand the thoughts of God, we must realize that God is from everlasting to everlasting. Only then can we begin to understand the thoughts of the Almighty.

UNDERSTANDING THE HEART OF GOD

“I will give them a heart to know Me, that I Am the Lord, they will be My people, and I will be their God.”

Jeremiah 24:7

Can a human get ever so close to the Almighty that he can, even in a small measure, understand the heart of God?

There are barriers which stand between us and a knowledge of God’s heart? The first is that we don’t know God. We were made in His image. We cannot understand the heart of God until we first understand that man’s heart has been darkened by his rebellious against Him. In the days of Noah, “The Lord saw how great man’s wickedness on the earth had become, and that every inclination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the time. The Lord was grieved that He had made man on the earth, and His heart was filled with pain,” (Genesis 6:5-6)

A second barrier is to overcome our self pre-occupation. God said, “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13). We must focus upon Him, strive to see life from His perspective, and understand how different His view is of our lives and problems.

The third barrier is our ignorance of the nature and character of God. The Prophet Hosea wrote, “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge” (Hosea 4:6). His lament is far more descriptive of our generation than any one in recent years.

There is another barrier which must be crossed. It is our lack of knowledge of His written Word, and the Incarnate Word, Jesus Christ. A relationship with Jesus Christ requires an understanding of God’s Word, the Bible.

Can we really know the heart of God? Indeed we can. Knowing the heart of God brings all of life into focus, and the path of discovery is the way of life itself.

WHEN YOUR THINKING GOES AWRY

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins.”

1 John 1:9

Have you ever experienced waking up one morning and asking yourself, “How have I gotten myself into this mess?” The realization that you are in the wrong place hits you like a ton of bricks. Now you ask, “Is there a way out at all?”

Jesus told a young man who wanted his inheritance early (Luke 15:11). He set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. Eventually, tough times faced him, and one day he woke up realizing that he had made a mess of his life.

These guidelines can help straighten out your thinking and your life.

One: Evaluate where you are. The young man did just that. “He came to his senses” is how Jesus put it.

Two: Bury your pride. It takes humility to do this, but it’s necessary. The young man asked himself, “How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death!”

Three: Formulates a plan. A trusted friend can tell you the truth without flattery of the intent to hurt you. The young man said, “I will set out and go back to my father.”

Four: Admit your failure. This requires humility. “Father”, confessed the young man, “I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.”

Five: Follow through. This requires action. “So he got up and went to his father,” is the way Jesus described this important step.

Six: Make restitution as necessary. If people refuse to forgive you, that is their problem. Not yours. You have done the right thing in admitting failure and doing something about it. The result is restoration and peace in your life.

CRITICISM

“Let all things be done unto edifying.”

1 Corinthians 14:26

What can we do when we are criticized? First, we can deeply resent the criticism. We do not deserve the criticism, and the person is entirely wrong. And we may be right, but letting our hatred turn to poison in our heart brings only suffering.

Second, we can lash out at the one who criticizes us. If we believe we are right, and our actions need no defense, let them speak for themselves. Lives of great men show that they seldom stopped to the level of their critics. They knew what they were doing, and kept at their task and did not lose time by answering criticisms.

The next choice is to analyze the criticism. Look at it carefully, and try to sit out the personal bias. Try to determine what is bias and what is truth.

Is it possible that the criticism was meant to be constructive – and we can profit a great deal from it. This leads to another choice. To learn from the criticism. Regardless of how it was given, is there something that we can learn from it? Look at the criticism carefully. If you were wrong, it takes a big man to acknowledge it, but we must do it.

The last choice is to simply to forget the criticism. Sometimes this is the best course of action. If we know we are right, forget it. Do not let criticism make us vindictive. There will be times when others may not understand us.

Let God’s Word, the Bible, provide the guideline for our life. Then, regardless which way the winds of criticism may blow, let us stay with our convictions. Just analyze and profit from criticism, then forget it.

INFERIORITY

“We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works.”

-Ephesians 2:10

When men first suggested that the world was not flat, they were laughed at. When Nicolaus Copernicus first broached his theory of a sun-centered universe, he was so persecuted that he was forced to withdraw his hypothesis. When Henry Ford put his first car on the road, he was thought of as a fool who wasted his time on foolish inventions.

Most inventions and ideas have been scoffed at when these were first introduced, but when psychiatrists came out with the theory of “inferiority complex,” it was immediately embraced and accepted. Strange isn’t it?

Feelings of inferiority usually stem from three sources: worry, guilt, and anger. A person who worries can be paralyzed by his own fears and his performance suffers. Second, by feeling guilty for actions or attitudes, we begin to wonder if something is wrong with us. Third, burst of anger make us feel inadequate and inferior to our contemporaries.

In the Bible, God shows us how to find His power. God certainly did not say you were inferior! As an individual, you are as important to God as anyone else. What  God has done for others He will do for you. When you are plagued by inferiority, commit yourself to the Lord. Ask Him for feelings of strength, and then roll up your sleeves and go to work.

If you have trusted Jesus Christ as you Lord and Savior, life does not happen by chance. Our situations are those into which God Himself as directed us, in order that with Him we may accomplish His work. Who said you were inferior? Forget it, and do the job God has for you to do so today.

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CONTENTMENT

“Godliness with contentment is great gain.”

-1 Timothy 6:6

Psychologist Joseph Kreisler said, “If you wish to be miserable, think about yourself and what you want, what you like, what attention other people ought to pay you, and then you will find nothing will satisfy you. You will spoil everything you touch, and finally, you will make pain and misery out of everything God sent you.”

“Godliness with Contentment,” wrote the Apostle Paul, “is great gain” (1 Timothy 6:6). Such advice was given by a battle-hardened veteran to a young man called Timothy who was starting the spiritual battle that had engaged Paul for most of his life.

You can be content and happy or miserable and frustrated, as you please. You are the one who decides.

Paul is not alone when it comes to advising that contentment is great gain. Christ told soldiers that they were to be faithful to their government and to be content with their wages (Luke 3:14). Early Christians were instructed to “be content with such things as you have” (Hebrews 13:5). But Paul had the most to say about contentment. “We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment (or clothing) let us there with be content (1 Timothy 6:7). “I have learned in whatsoever state I am therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11).

Paul had been shipwrecked three times. He had been given the forty-stripes-save-one treatment and suffered five times a brutal beating. He had walked across most of Asia Minor, travelling hundreds of miles to tell how Jesus Christ could transform lives. Paul had no income or pension, yet didn’t worry about security or position. He knew that God would take care of him. Contentment can be your portion, too, as you learn that God is big enough to take care of your life.

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TO ALL THE MEN I LOVE BEFORE

This is me accepting that this may be the end of our story; with no plot twists, no climax, no sequel. But this also me not giving up on happy endings, not giving up on love, not giving up on hope, not giving up on fairytales, but I’m accepting that they may just never be with you. This is me accepting that this new chapter I’m writings will not have your name or your story or any reference of you. This is me accepting that you may not be my favorite chapter after all. This is me realizing that I may write about you one more time, but I may never write about us again. This is me accepting that there may never be another chance with you.

God Bless Your Heart.

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There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

-2 Timothy 3:1-4

People who lack courage and determination to follow their own dreams will often find ways to discourage yours. When you change for the better, they will be inspired to change also – but only after doing their best to make you stop. Live your truth, move forward.

Success consists of going  from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.