Fear is a wrong view of uncertainty. Anytime, we are faced with a situation or a person that we feel is larger or has more power, fear can set in. The Israelites felt as grasshoppers before the giants in the land (Numbers 13:33). The reality is, as frail human beings we are prone to this condition. We live in a big world, with all kinds of people and circumstances.  Our natural response to things that could harm us can be fear.

As believers, our response to fear needs to be different. We have a covenant relationship with the God of the universe. He’s the one who called us to Himself; not because we deserved it but because He loved us. There is nothing we can do to earn salvation, or have a relationship with our holy father. This should give us security because it wasn’t my performance that caused God to love me or approve me, so my mistakes are not going to cause Him to take His hands off of my life either. There is peace and safety in recognizing this great truth! It doesn’t mean we won’t go through hard times, but we should look expectantly at how God is going to use those hard times for our good because we trust in Him!!

It is not surprising when you look at the scripture the number of times God visits His people and tells them not to be afraid. The only way we can live a life free from fear is to look to the Bible for the answers that He has given when He told His people not to be afraid.

After these things the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” Genesis 15:1

The Lord is our shield and our great reward. God told Abraham that He was Abraham’s shield. The reality of life is that we really can’t protect ourselves from most things. Unless God and His angelic protection is around us, we can’t do much to guard ourselves from harm. God also told Abraham that He is his great reward. Abraham had refused the wealth that Melchizedek had offered him earlier. He was probably wondering if he missed out on a once in a life time opportunity for wealth, so the Lord came to encourage him. God told him that He Himself will be His reward.  What a grand promise!! Out of all the things that the Lord could reward someone, God is saying I am going to reward you with Me!!

Beloved, the promise that God made to Abraham is also available to all of us if we truly recognize the work of the cross and what Jesus bought us. We have the Holy Spirit in us which means God is with us all the time. He is our reward. He is our shield. He is the one who comforts us and counsels us. We get to have him to ourselves 24/7 and don’t need to get on his schedule to be seen by Him. He is always available to talk to us and fellowship with us.

 Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 10:29-31

We are deeply valued by the Lord. Jesus is telling His people not to fear because they are more valuable than the sparrows. Many times fear comes to our hearts because we don’t see ourselves as valuable to God or to others. We fear getting forgotten. We fear if we don’t perform to a certain level or are seen by people, we are not going to be considered valuable. The beauty of Jesus’ statement is that He uses a sparrow as a point of value comparison. Sparrows are fragile, small,  birds. As far as I know they don’t accomplish much except  eating seeds, insects, chirping and reproducing themselves. However, Jesus points out that if he cares for little sparrows, how much more does He value us!!

In our performance oriented culture, many of us have been raised in performance oriented families, and there is a restorative work that God has to do in our souls in two ways. The first one is to really know we are valuable without performing. This doesn’t give us the license to be irresponsible, or not do our job to excellence. We need to recognize what we do is our act of worship before a holy God who gives us the abilities we have. It is for Him we do what we do.  However, we don’t use it as a place of finding value or identity!!

The second issue is that we are guilty of looking at people’s performance and giftings, and treating them with more honor and dignity. That’s completely wrong. That’s not God’s heart for people. Obviously in each organization or family structure, performance is part of life, but it should never be used as a motivating factor to compare one person or one child to another. God has set intrinsic value in each of us because we are created in His image, and we need to ensure that our heart is aligned with that truth!! We can’t deviate from it, otherwise we contribute to the performance oriented mentality in our culture and people around us. It also causes rejection or conformity. We want to raise people and generations who are real, genuine people, and sincerely love God and others!

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Matthew 10:28

Fear God more than anyone or anything else in life. In life we will always be faced with fearing people and individuals that we highly love or respect, but the above scripture gives us an eye-opening perspective that we must heed!! No one man on this earth should have such a power over us that it causes us to let go of our allegiance to God, or fear man over God! Even if that man is God’s representative!! We have to continually keep the Lord before us so we can keep our souls in the right condition before God.

There needs to be a resolve that we are not willing to compromise our relationship with the Lord in order to please man, be rewarded by man, or even be spared from death by man. That’s a high call, but I am afraid many succumb to this fear because they desire to be part of the in-crowd, part of the powerful group, or just don’t want to be judged by others!!

 If we are going to be men and women of God who are His representative, we need to be willing to withstand adversity.  We must be willing to stand alone sometimes and do what is right. We don’t need to hide behind anyone to be our shield because God says He will be our shield. That’s the place where our faith is tested. When the Lord comes through and He shields us, we have a new revelation of His character. We don’t just talk about Him being our shield, we know it because He has revealed it to us in our walk with Him.

Allow God to examine your heart to see if there is an ungodly fear in your heart towards someone or some situation. Meditate on the above scriptures and allow Him to speak to your fear. Cast it out in the name of Jesus and start walking in the truth you know!! As you become free, you can help set others free!!

I just feel like I need to say for those of you who did not have a father figure in your life or you lost him at an early age, please cry out to the Lord for healing of your heart!! That’s a huge hole in your heart that could cause great fear and anxiety when faced with uncertain situations. The Lord is your heavenly father, and He wants to heal your heart and fill all those empty places with His love, his power, and His strength. Lord heal our hearts in Jesus’ name!!

In the last devotional, I discussed how Peter was sifted as wheat in order for him to be the shepherd that God desired him to be. There is much to learn from Peter. Today we will take a look at Peter’s life and learn from what he did right!!  Below I highlighted a few of those areas:

1. Peter was confident in his relationship with Jesus. When Peter saw Jesus walking on water, he was the only one who wanted to be on water with Jesus!! Although he began to sink when he noticed the water, for a short period of time he walked on water!!  (Matthew 14:26-31) What I love about Peter is that he really loved Jesus and because of that relationship, he found great liberty to do things that others would have never thought of.  While we don’t want to be presumptuous people, we must understand the depth of our relationship with Jesus because that gives us great power and freedom to walk like Jesus walked. We don’t have to be a theologian or have several prophesies spoken over us to believe what Jesus has spoken clearly about who we are and what He is calling us do in His word.

2. Peter knew continual forgiveness is a necessity in life. Peter asked Jesus how many times one should forgive his brother. (Matthew 18:21-22) It wouldn’t be surprising with his level of energy and action that Peter easily offended people and got offended as well!! I wonder if he knew that in his relationship to Jesus, he had to be forgiven over and over again for his inappropriate statements and actions. Jesus’ statements about forgiving someone seventy times seven could have been comforting to Peter when he denied Jesus three times!!

3. Peter was Bold to declare the truth. Peter was the first one who declared Jesus as the “Christ, the Son of the living God” (Matthew 16:16). He, James and John had the privilege of seeing Jesus being transfigured on a mountain. (Mark 9:2) Peter’s boldness coupled with his first hand witnessing of Jesus’ glory made him a perfect person to spread the gospel for the first time. If he would have been an analytical and an intellectual person, he would have wanted to spend some time getting his message right. He would have done his homework and research making sure what he observed was accurate in order to avoid looking foolish. An analytical person would have also preferred not to make grand, risky, statements. They would have preferred somebody else do it and see what happens to them first before taking a stand. The beauty of Peter was that he was not afraid of looking like a fool. Many times in the past, he had done it in the flesh. Now, it was worth looking foolish for the one he loved and his own personal experience with the I AM.

4. Peter learned Jesus’ heart. Peter was with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus shared with him and the sons of Zebedee that his soul was sorrowful to the point of death!! (Matthew 26:37-38) Peter saw Jesus’ burden for humanity and his difficult decision and the resolve He came to before going to the cross. If we are going to be effective in ministering to people, not only do we need to know the scripture well, but we also need to capture Jesus’ heart for people. The truth is powerful and weighty and unless it is clothed with great love and compassion towards people, it can cause harm more than restore healing.

Jesus saw the raw material of Peter the fisherman by the Sea of Galilee.  He knew that someday through much pain, headaches, and heart aches, the Lord would transform him into a shepherd for His flock. Peter’s boldness allowed him to be the first one to declare who Jesus was and what He came to do on the earth.  Being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, he launched the propagation of the church that Jesus began.

Peter ministers to all of us. Those who are impulsive, brash, or action oriented can see themselves in Peter. If Jesus didn’t give up on Peter, then He won’t give up on you regardless of how many times you have messed things up in the past. The process may not be easy, but God will ensure that our rough edges are smoothed out over time if we relinquish control of our lives. For those who are calm, collected, analytical, and reserved, Peter is very convicting. If it wasn’t for Peter who declared for the first time who Jesus really was as he did in Acts 2, was there anyone else in that room that was willing to do it? He was the one who painted a picture of Jesus’ plan of salvation, explaining the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophesies in the person of Jesus. That’s amazing!! Peter is an inspiration!! We all have much to learn from him.

Offenses are very real. They hurt us, they isolate us, and they can break us. The enemy uses it effectively to move us into the sense of right and wrong and feeling very justified. While we live on this earth as imperfect people, there will always be opportunities to get offended.

When an offense comes, it baits us in an unexpected moment. It pulls us down and wrestles with our emotions, and for a long while we can lose our equilibrium, or sense of direction. We can be completely confused and in a fog, and lose focus of which way is up. In this state, one can unleash their passions, frustrations, pain, and anger. This can make relationships to be broken or people can get deeply hurt. Added offense of hurtful words will linger in people’s memory for a long time. Now you have a relational breakdown that came from a momentary offense, but left a huge devastation behind that could take months or years to heal and restore.

But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded too many. Romans 5:15

As the above scripture tell us, the greatest offense committed by Adam & Eve led to the good news of the Gospel. God had an amazing solution for humanity’s offense. That is the gift of grace. The gift that doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t add up. You can’t make an equation out of it, or try to create a three point sermon on how to get more of it. It is the grace of God. His unmerited favor that He bestows on us weak, helpless, & needy people.

At times, we think, if I can analyze an offense long enough, or explain my position, or get others to see it my way, I can get over my offense. However, an offense is a trap that no humanly tool can undo. Only God’s supernatural work on the cross opens the door to forgiveness and healing. Sin cannot be justified by human means; it cannot be ignored, denied or pushed under the carpet. The precious blood of the lamb atoned for our sins. The blood of the lamb cleansed, purified, and covered our sin with love.

Scripture instructs us that we should go to the person who has offended us and follow Matthew 18:15 to help restore the relationship. This is an important part of us living as people of God in peace, harmony, and unity with one another. However, there is no scriptural basis for sharing an offense with others. Sharing an offense with others causes offense in other people’s hearts. It also affects the person that we are offended by negatively. The Bible does not give us permission to perpetuate an offense!!

that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ. Phil 1:10

It is God’s desire for us to be without offense, so we can remain sincere and pure. Praise God for His grace and His forgiveness. That’s His solution to living a life with excellence and sincerity. Where would we be without it? While in our inner being we cry out for justice, we find over and over again, that true justice is found in forgiveness not in revenge. Freedom can only come when we let go of an offense. In the work of the cross, we see the sacrifice of Jesus being more powerful, potent, and pure than any work of the flesh to fix the pain.

Have you been carrying an offense that you need to be freed from? Are you ready to trust your savior with what happened and not to try to take the matters in your own hands? As you trust Him, He can make something good even out of a bad and hurtful situation.  Give it to Him. You won’t regret it, but if you don’t, you will regret it for all the lost time and opportunity that you could have been freed from the pain of the offense.

Friendships are an important part of life and a blessing from the Lord. It’s beautiful to have friends and enjoy people who love you and you love them. If we are honest with ourselves, we would say that we have different levels of intimacy in our friendships.

The Bible uses different words for “friend” in Hebrew describing different kinds of relationships. Here are some definitions for “friend” in the Old Testament:

H 4828 companion, friend, confidential friend; H 7453 friend, companion, fellow, another person

H 157 to love, lover; H 3045 to know, to perceive; H441 friend, intimate, friend of youth

There are some friendships that are more at the acquaintance level. This could be coworker, neighbor, or a fellow church member. Then there are those who are close friends. They are your confidants. You know what you share stays there, and you are willing to be transparent with them.

There are others who know you very well because they have seen you over the years. They may be long time friends. They have seen your ups and downs, and they are intimately familiar with who you are.

Let’s look at scripture and find out what the Lord asks us to do as a friend and what we should expect in friendships:

1. Choose your friends carefully

The righteous should choose his friends carefully, for the way of the wicked leads them astray. Proverbs 12:26

As a believer, we can’t be casual about whom we choose to be our friend, or who we call a friend. Some people may be a lot of fun to be around but they can have a major character issue such as gossip. While you may enjoy spending time with them, you can find yourself being defiled by their opinion or information they share about someone else. As the scripture tells us, “Evil company corrupts good habits.” 1Corinthians 15:33

2. Don’t look for flattery

He who speaks flattery to his friends,  Even the eyes of his children will fail. Job 17:5

Flattery is a serious issue. The Lord doesn’t desire for us to flatter our friends nor does He want us to be flattered by friends. Flattery is a form of deception where one is seen better or more important than they really are. It causes an exaggerated view of self which is a false image. We need to restrain ourselves from participating in flattery. Also, we should not desire to be flattered by friends. Flattery may come in the form of agreeing with you on something that should be challenged. For example, you start talking badly about your husband and how he mistreated you. Instead of your friends asking you tough questions they quickly agree and sympathize with you which may be giving you a wrong perception of the situation. This doesn’t mean that they’re aren’t situations in a marriage which require profession biblical help, but venting to your friend and them agreeing with you is not the help you may need. Friends encourage us in the areas that we are doing well and challenge us in areas we need improvement.

3. Don’t make ungodly commitments

A man devoid of understanding shakes hands in a pledge, and becomes surety for his friend. Proverbs  17:18

Surety in this day and age would look more like cosigning for someone. The scripture basically is telling us that just because someone is our friend, we do not violate God’s principles to meet our friends’ needs. Surety, or cosigning, makes us responsible for someone else’s debt which is an ungodly agreement. If they are in a situation that they can’t afford to pay their debt, then it becomes our responsibility to pay for that debt. Basically we have made ourselves responsible for something that we have very little control over and it keeps us in a vulnerable financial position. We may love our friend very much, but we still need to operate in a good understanding of biblical principles and not do something ungodly for friendship sake.

4. Be willing to do the hard work

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.  Proverbs 27:6

As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Proverbs 27:17

While having intimate friendships is very enjoyable, there are times that we need to do the hard work of telling each other the truth or be willing to receive truth in some area of our lives. This could hurt for a season. It may feel like we are cut by our dear friend, but we must remind ourselves that our friend loves us and wants the best for us. I would rather have the truth that hurts from a friend than a word of flattery that can keep me in false image of myself. Friends have a great vantage point in our lives to share what they see.  Others may feel,” It’s not my business” or” I don’t know them enough to tell them what I see”, but friends have the relationship and the access to speak the truth. Sometimes it takes a risk to do this because it may affect your friendship, but it’s worth taking the risk. The reality is that if the friendship can’t handle speaking truth in love then it is not a solid relationship after all.

5. Give friendships time to be tested

No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. John 15:15

Jesus walked with His disciples for 3 ½ years before He called them friends. There were many things that He couldn’t share with them at first. There were times that when He shared with them, they misunderstood Him. Peter one time really got it wrong and told Jesus that He wasn’t going to go the cross!! But finally after having spent a good deal of time with the disciples, and having them watch His life and His ministry, Jesus calls them friends. He tells them that He has made known to them everything He hears from the Father.

We need to allow time for our friendships to be tested. Given enough time, we will go through the times of misunderstandings, disagreement, discussion, or debates. That gives us the opportunity to see how we and our friends respond to each situation. This allows us not to be brokenhearted or deeply disappointed if that relationship doesn’t work out.  Recognizing that while we really enjoy and love our friend, unless our friendship has been tested, we don’t know where our friendship will stand on the other side of a test!!

6. Keep loving them.

A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17

The safest thing we can do for our friendships is to continue to love our friends in spite of differences or disagreements. Love keeps the door open for communication, change, or even reconciliation. That’s our supernatural response in a knee-jerk reaction of our culture!!

We all desire to have close and loving friendships, but unfortunately we live in a relationally disposable culture.  We need to stay alert and vigilant. We don’t want our friendships to derail, defile, or dilute us in God’s purpose.

Let’s examine our friendships in the light of above scriptures.  Some adjustments or change may be necessary.  Let’s pray that we are the kind of friend the Lord desires for us to be, and we want to have the wisdom to choose  our friends carefully. Then we can invest time in developing healthy, safe, strong ,and rewarding friendships.

Have you ever wondered why the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was such a bad tree? Didn’t the tree give you the knowledge of good? Can’t you take what is good and throw away the evil? As the saying goes, “Why throw the baby out with the bathwater?” 

Genesis 2: 8-9   “The Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden, and there He put the man whom he had formed. And out of the ground the Lord God made every tree grow that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.”    

Verses 15-17 “Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is a great analogy to many situations of life that we will face as people.  We will need to discern the right action in those situations by examining God’s word & His heart.  The scripture is very clear that when sin enters the life of a believer, or in the life of a congregation it must be dealt with radically. Jesus declared that one lusting with eyes is committing adultery.

He said, “If your right eye causes you to sin, pluck it out  and cast it from you; And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and cast it from you; for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body be cast into hell.” Matthew 5:29

It is better to remove the eye than the person go to hell. There are times when falseness is so much part of the fabric and structure of something that the entire thing needs to be avoided. False doctrine and false teachers were some of the examples in the New Testament.  Jesus said to His disciples,

“Take heed and Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees & Sadducees”. (Matthew 16:6)

The leaven does not stay contained, but it will eventually contaminate every part of the good teaching and good people. Evil is very similar to cancer cells. Cancer doesn’t need or require much action help to grow rapidly, to take over an organ, and destroy the body. That’s why it must be dealt with swiftly and radically.  In the case of Adam and Eve, the knowledge of good and evil were part of every fabric of this tree, and could not be separated. The good has been contaminated by evil, and it does not exist separately. That’s the reason the Lord didn’t want them to eat any fruit from that tree. The good was spoiled by evil!!

When we are born again, at times we may think now that I have salvation, I can just go back to my old way of life and live happily ever after. That is not true. If you have been walking with God for a period of time, but your old ways, patterns of thinking, feeling, or actions have not changed, it is time to examine them before the Lord.

In Matthew 9:16-17 “No one puts a piece of unshrunk  cloth on an old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined.” The old has to be put away or there will be a mixture of the old life and the new life. God is not pleased with mixture, and certainly growth will not be possible with mixture because the old life cannot handle the growth of the new life. The old must be done away with and allow the new life to take root and get established.

Is there a part of old life  you been resistant in giving up?  Meditate on the above scriptures and allow the Lord to put His finger on those areas that are a mixture of good and evil in your life.

Determine in your heart that you do not desire a mixture in your life. Ask Him to forgive you, and pray that His grace would give you the courage and the faith to follow through with your decision today.

Humans are wired to walk as we to go through life. We don’t crawl. We don’t have wings to fly; we don’t run like animals, we are made to walk.

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.  Ephesians 2:10  

We see the pattern set by God himself when He walked in the garden and talked with Adam. The simplicity of walking, one foot in front of the other, small, sure, and consistent steps make up walking. One foot has contact with the ground while the other one is lifted off the ground and is moving in the same direction.

In order for us to have a balanced spiritual life, we must step into the unknown with the eyes of faith. We  must also be grounded with the reality of life’s expectations and the commitments we have made to God and those around us ( As the saying goes, “We can’t be so heavenly minded that we are not earthly good.”). This is our spiritual walk, one foot stepping on faith while the other foot holding steady to the ground of truth!!

The scripture many times describes Jesus walking and and as He walked, He came upon various situations; calling His disciples to follow Him, ministering to the woman at the well, healing a woman with the issue of blood, and so on.

The above scripture gives us 5 important points:

1. “We are His workmanship”– Everyone is created by Him and we are created in His image.  There is no partiality only unique purpose for each of us.  There is no defectiveness only the process of wholeness for all of us.

2. “created in Christ Jesus”– We are hidden in Him.  We have an advocate who takes care of us even when we are not aware of it. He defends us even when we are not aware of false accusations. We no longer need to try to hide our shame, guilt, or defectiveness in fear of being exposed or not loved. Jesus covers us. He tells us, “You are complete in me”. When someone rejects us, they are rejecting Jesus. We belong to Him. We are under His authority, governance, protection, and provision. We don’t have to be in survival mode and trying to protect ourselves.

3. “for good works”– The works that Jesus desires is good and it is His idea. James 1:17 tells us, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. “ The gift of works also comes from above. It is not man’s idea or it would not be good, but it is divinely ordained.

4. “which He in advance prepared for us”- The Lord is in the business of preparation. He prepares the work, the worker, and the soil which we will work on. The rest is the unfolding of His prepared work for us. There is no scarcity of good works because God has allotted to us good works. We don’t need to get possessive or jealous to do God’s good works. We just need to do the good works according to His design and purpose for us.

5. “that we should walk in them.” – We get to walk in God’s work that He has prepared for us to do. We won’t fall upon it, we don’t have to fight for it, and we don’t have to strive for it. As we walk the path of life, we will come across God’s work. We may stop to embrace someone, or share a smile with someone. We may talk to someone who will give us a word of wisdom, or we encourage a hopeless person.  In that process God is glorified because His workmanship is manifested through the good works that we walk into. It blesses the father, and it blesses us because we find purpose to our lives.

Is my purpose good works or is my purpose to recognize that I am His workmanship? I believe it’s both, but it starts by knowing who we are. If that is not settled, we will use works to define who we are rather than carry out God’s assignment. It’s a dangerous place because it makes us slaves to works not to the righteousness of Jesus!!

While God can do a miraculous work in our lives and change a situation in a moment of time, many of His works are done through a deliberate effort and partnership with us his children over a long period time. He shows us enough to take the next step. He gives us hope for the remainder of the journey, but always leaving room for faith to be exercised in our lives. This gives us the opportunity to grow our faith as we get to know our God and become more confident in our relationship with Him. Our walk then becomes more steady and sure as we walk through the journey of life!! Thank you Lord for walking with us as you did with Adam!!

⁵ Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Verse 5 begins by telling us that we need to trust in the Lord with all our heart and not lean on our own understanding.

The word “trust” is Hebrew word H982, which means to have confidence, to be bold, and to be secure.

The word “lean” is a Hebrew word H8172 which means to trust in, to support, support oneself.

Trusting is not a onetime event, but it is a continual process in which we have the opportunity to hear God’s heart in a given situation and obey Him versus being tempted to lean on our own understanding. This process allows us to develop confidence in our God. Just as in any human relationship, it takes time to build trust and confidence in someone.  Because we are fallible many times we see God the same way, so it will take time for us to truly develop a deep trust and security in Him!!

 Basically the scripture is telling us that we need to develop confidence in the Lord and be secure in our relationship with Him. If we fail to do that, we will lean on our own understanding. God has given us understanding, so we can use it and be discerning. However, when we lean or trust in our own understanding, we choose to put our trust in someone or something else besides complete trust in the Lord. That could be us, our spouse, pastor, friends, or our skill set, etc. Anything we choose as a point of confidence is leaning on our own understanding.  It can be deadly spiritually, because it takes away time from cultivating trust in God, and makes us invest in false security.

Some of the Biblical examples of people who trusted God and didn’t lean on their own understanding were, Joshua and the walls of Jericho, Joseph being thrown in the pit and prison, David working under Saul, Elijah and the widow with some flour and oil, Stephen being stoned, and a whole host of believers throughout centuries. They accomplished great things for God because they didn’t lean on false security.

There were also those who leaned on their own understanding and reaped the results of not trusting God. Some of those were Jacob’s scheming his way through God’s promises, Saul’s disobeying God’s commands, the Israelites making the golden calf and, Judas’ betraying Jesus for money.

⁶ In all your ways acknowledge Him;
And He shall direct your paths.

The word “Acknowledge”  is Hebrew word H848: to know, learn to know b) to perceive c) to perceive and see, find out and discern d) to discriminate, distinguish

Acknowledging God means we recognize and perceive his presence and guidance in our lives. We have learned to continually include Him in every aspect of our lives. We become acquainted and familiar with our father, and in the process the Lord directs and smoothes out the path. We continue to let Him direct our lives. He is the one who will take the rocks out of the way, and makes it smooth for us to walk. The Scripture in Psalm 18:30 tell us. ” As for God, His way is perfect; The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” , and Psalm 18:32 says, “It is God who arms me with strength, And makes my way perfect.” His ways are perfect, and when we trust Him, He makes our ways perfect!! Praise God!!

Today, we have the opportunity to trust Him in whatever situation that we are in. We have the choice to lean on God or to lean on our own understanding. Let’s pray for faith and courage to trust Him in all things and respond accordingly.

Let not mercy and truth forsake you;
Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,
⁴ and so find favor and high esteem
In the sight of God and man. Proverbs 3:3-4

I love these verses because they are so foundational to everyday living. Who doesn’t want to live with mercy and truth? Why would the scripture tell us not to allow mercy and truth to forsake us!?

Verse 3a: Let not mercy and truth forsake you.

Many believers would consider themselves, to some level, merciful and probably very honest!! The question is if you are under pressure, or feel threatened by someone, can you still show mercy and be truthful? Or do you forsake mercy and compassion and take matters into your own hands?

We need to hold on to truth no matter what. This truth is not just biblical truth, but it is our testimony as if you are testifying about a situation in court. Many believers would consider themselves truthful, but it takes us a lot to be purely truthful.  Sometimes, one can share only the part of “truth” that puts them in a good light! At other times, a person’s own thoughts or perceptions taint how they share the information. At times, there could be pure exaggeration of the facts to make one’s point. In all these cases, some truth was shared, but it was partial truth, and it can lead others to a wrong conclusion based on how the information was shared. This is a very serious problem!!

One of God’s Ten Commandments is:”You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16

Anytime that we share information about someone in a way that is not purely factual and complete, we are in danger of bearing false witness against our neighbor. This is an area that I believe Christians who are in a prophetic and deliverance ministry should be very careful. People can quickly make a determination of someone’s character or motives in the name of being prophetic, or seeing a demonic spirit in someone, but all along not recognizing that they just stepped into accusing their neighbor falsely!! If anyone has discernment of seeing those things, he/she can pray for opportunity to minister to the individual at some point, but love does not advertise people’s issues to others or make quick judgments!!

Verse 3b: Bind them around your neck,
Write them on the tablet of your heart,

The scripture tells us to bind mercy and truth around our neck.  The word “bind” from Strong’s Concordance is a Hebrew word (H7194) which means: to tie, or to conspire.

Carnal or wicked people can conspire against an innocent person (Proverbs 1:10-15), but God has His own way He wants you to conspire!! He wants us to have mercy and truth tied to our neck, and written on the tablet of our heart.  This is our winning strategy!! This is what will protect us from wickedness and from harm. When it’s around our neck, it will keep us from becoming proud and stiff-necked in the hard places of life. By writing it on our heart, even when our heart is hot with pain, the fire will light the words “mercy & truth” that are engraved on our hearts to be seen by those around us!

Verse 4: and so find favor and high esteem In the sight of God and man.

When we respond with mercy and truth, God is pleased because we have represented Him well on the earth. That kind of response can even change those who didn’t have the right intentions originally! What a powerful testimony that would be before men that the Lord has truly made us supernatural people!!! Jesus was a great example of this. The scripture in John 1 tell us that He came full of grace & truth. Many who tried to trip him up walked away convicted because of His response to difficult situations.

The Lord is looking for us to walk this out consistently . We need to have both mercy and truth!! We can’t just operate in the one that fits our personality better and forsake the other one.  This will make us off balanced Christians, and it causes us not to represent Jesus well!! We are in need of His supernatural work in us to go above and beyond our preferences. When we walk in both mercy and truth regardless of circumstances, God is glorified!! In addition, the scripture tells us that we get to have the Lord’s favor and as well man’s favor!!

Lord, thank you for your grace that gives us the ability and the courage to walk this out daily!! Amen.

Unhealthy authority can produce a lot of damage and tear down lives, organizations, and even nations. It’s important to recognize unhealthy authority to ensure it doesn’t derail us from the purpose of God and what He intends to do in our lives.

Here are some of the characteristics of unhealthy authority:

1. Inconsistent: The one in charge can change arbitrarily because it works for them and meets their needs. Saul was a good example of that. One moment he would love David, making him his armor bearer. In another moment he would throw a spear at David trying to kill him, and that continued to go on in their relationship. (1Samuel 17-19). The great thing about David was that he humbly submitted to God and honored His delegated authority. He also didn’t allow it to take His focus off of the Lord, but it actually brought David closer to the Lord. Many of the Psalms are written in times when David is anguish of being chased by Saul.

2. Insecurity causes partiality: An insecure authority demands others to be in agreement with them. Their security is in being right all the time, so they will reward agreement and subtly punish disagreement. They could even label others as anti-establishment or anti-authority.  King Nebuchadnezzar was upset with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, and unfortunately King Darius was influenced by those closest to him as well, throwing Daniel into the lion’s den for not following his orders. If one is to walk with God, we must understand there will be times of unjust treatment. Ultimately the Lord is our protector and the defender as was beautifully displayed, with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the fiery furnace, and Daniel in the lion’s den. (Daniel 3 & Daniel 6)

3. Rigidity causes oppression: God sent Moses to Pharaoh and Pharaoh stayed stiff-necked and very rigid with not allowing God’s people to leave Egypt. Prior to Moses coming to Pharaoh, the people were oppressed by strict rules and hard work undermining their value as people. When rules are rigid and the letter of the law is followed, but it’s missing the spirit of the law, it causes oppression and exasperation by those subject to authority.

The scripture tell us “And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.” Ephesians 6:4.  Historically, many revolutions have begun for this very reason. The oppressed people try to overthrow an oppressive regime because they were provoked to wrath. People belong to the Lord and when leaders become rigid and harsh, they are misrepresenting God. God doesn’t exasperate us because His ways are not for selfish ends. They are always for our good even when they are difficult. His desire is not for us to be crushed under the situation for His grace is sufficient for us to handle it!!

4. Pride causes aggressive behavior: Haman was a man who despised Mordecai because he would not pay homage to him. After he was promoted, he was so proud that he could not stand to see anyone not accepting or receiving him. He was so arrogant and sure of himself that he decided to kill Mordecai, and his people, the Jews. Praise God that He used Esther!! She risked her life by being a voice for Mordecai and the Jews.

Unfortunately, some of the atrocities that have occurred throughout history were instigated by unhealthy authority. Germany under Hitler, racism in our nation, is a couple of examples of unhealthy authority. For these kinds of atrocities, people of God must fight. They are not fighting for themselves but for the poor, and the voiceless.

In Conclusion

Romans 13:1b tells us, “The authorities that exist have been established by God.” Whether the authority is healthy or not, we cannot lose focus of the fact that it has been established by God. We must never forget that whether there is healthy or unhealthy people in power, we are called to pray for them, continually forgive them, & stay submitted to the Lord and them. God used harsh authority to train David, Daniel, Paul, and many others. On the other hand, we need to be guarded enough not to be defined by unhealthy authority.

Today, let’s examine ourselves to see if our authority is healthy.  Are we treating people under our influence with value, dignity, and respect? If any of the above areas are issues of struggle, please pray that God would take that out of your heart no matter what it takes. People may not have the voice to tell us about our unhealthy ways, but God watches over everything. It grieves Him when people are not shepherded well. Let’s pray for His heart and mind, so our leadership and authority represents Him well!!