Keep things simple, Keep being thankful, Keep looking only to God.
God day to you and God bless you with His love grace and peace through Jesus Christ our wonderful Lord and Living saviour, soon returning King of kings and Lord of lords.
To think that the creator of the heavens and earths loves You so very much, do you know you are continually before Him and never out of His sight and always within His reach, He knows every hair upon your head and every thought that goes through your mind, He Knows your beginning and He knows your end. It is so easy to lose sight of these truths when we are going through tough and challenging times.
God knows you better than you know yourself and He wants you to go to Him with all your cares with all your worries, with all your doubts, He wants you to cast all your burdens on Him. He wants you to throw your worries to Him and forget about them as He will take care of things for you if you only just give them to Him and leave them with Him.
Let us remind ourselves of what God says to us through the scriptures, remember there are thousands for benefits to us today as we do what God is showing us to do.
In the scriptures there are many wonderful promises to us and there are things we as believers need to do on our part. The biggest thing we can do is keep things simple, Keep thankful for what we have rather than complain about what we do not have, as we keep things simple we will cultivate a heart thankfulness and an attitude of gratitude.
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. V6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
Here we are encouraged to Trust in the Lord to Trust here means to be boldly confident and sure in Jehovah with all our hearts with everything that is within us we are to Trust God. and not rely on our understanding or our own wisdom.
in contrast to relying on our own wisdom God wants us to acknowledge or observe with care Him and then he will direct our paths this word Direct means God will make our paths prosperous and pleasant as we follow His wisdom.
So God is speaking strongly here in these verses by saying it like this
(my rendering)
Be boldly confident and sure with all that is in you, in God wisdom rather than your own wisdom observe with care God wisdom and He will prosper and make pleasant your path he wants you to take.
So remember God is with you and will direct your path as you stay trusting Him and acknowledging Him
Philippians 4:6 Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.
God says to you here do not worry about anything, but rather in everything go to Him in prayer, tell Him what is on your mind and in your heart, give Him the cares and worries give Him your requests this is what the word supplication means Request, Request His Guidance, Request His provision, Request, deliverance and healing, whatever the need is give it all to Him and ask God for what you need, as you do this verse 7 tells you what will happen
Philippians 4:7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
The peace of God will come to your heart and mind because you have gone to God requesting and trusting Him, this peace brings quietness and rest to you and this peace means Guard and protect the peace of God will Guard and protect your mind from worries and fears.
God wants you to go to Him with everything, God who is our Father is concerned about the things you’re concerned about, He cares about every single detail of your life, our Father God is the Father of lights there is not darkness in Him, He is good always and He is for you and with you even if you have blown it and made the biggest mistakes in your life as a believer, He has paid a very high price for your life with the life of His son our wonderful Lord Jesus Christ, Jesus laid His life down so you can take your life up and live abundantly in the presence of our loving Father, who is God the creator of the Heavens and earth and all the universe and galaxy’s God thinks about you He is crazy about you. wow lets think about that for a moment, even the Psalmist asked God about this
The Psalmist asked God this question
Psalm 8:3-4 3 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; 4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?
thinking about the vastness that surrounded him the psalmist, he could have felt insignificant, God can seem so far away from us but that is far from the truth and the reality of who we are in Christ, for it is God who is in Christ, who is in you, God is closer than breath itself , where ever you are, He is there you are continually before Him.
Isaiah 49:16 Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.
God has tattooed you upon the palms of His hands you are protected and before the face of God continually.
With this understanding we can certainly trust our wonderful Father God, He has our backs and fronts and sides He is guarding you, and His words guard our heart as we trust and do what He shows us to do. You are very important to God, He has a plan and purpose for your life, you are healed you are delivered , you have been made free from anything that tries to hold you down and keeps you from moving on. Jesus Christ accomplished this great freedom for us and as we learn about our wonderful Father, and about His heart towards us, we can have great confidants and overcome anything, the psalmist had this great confidence and expectation on God when face with a Giant. the army of Israel became afraid at the words of the opposition, but what did Psalmist David says against the word of the opposing army?
1 Samuel 17:45-51
45 Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
46 This day will the Lord deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel.
47 And all this assembly shall know that the Lord saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give you into our hands.
48 And it came to pass, when the Philistine arose, and came, and drew nigh to meet David, that David hastened, and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine.
49 And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth.
50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him; but there was no sword in the hand of David.
51 Therefore David ran, and stood upon the Philistine, and took his sword, and drew it out of the sheath thereof, and slew him, and cut off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw their champion was dead, they fled.
David was very confident in His God and was able to move forward to victory because he was not afraid because He knew His God would give Him the victory He used what he had and won because David knew that God would do the work all He had to do was act in the situation as God led Him.
When we begin to know our God and trust His every word, we too will see great victories and great triumphs, David did not look at the size of his problem but at the size of His God. and when our mind is set is like this, we too will slay any giants in our lives.
so my friends be confident in God who is your Father, He is with you, trust Him rely on Him go to Him, cast all you cares to Him, you are continually before God, and He is with you and for you and as you trust Him he will deliver you in any situation.
Let God lead you, teach and direct you, let Him be your strength, no doing it on your own, turn to the living and true God today.
I will finish off with this wonder record in Psalms. if you are in a dark place let God become your light trust Him and let Him go to work for you, to let God do the work for you is called grace which is His unmerited divine favour, and today it is God Grace that gives us the victory in Christ when we do not rely on our wisdom but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God, and It Is Written.
Psalm 18:28 -50
28 For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.
29 For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.
30 As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the Lord is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
31 For who is God save the Lord? or who is a rock save our God?
32 It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
33 He maketh my feet like hinds’ feet, and setteth me upon my high places.
34 He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
35 Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.
36 Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.
37 I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
38 I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.
39 For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
40 Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.
41 They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the Lord, but he answered them not.
42 Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.
43 Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.
44 As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.
45 The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.
46 The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
47 It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.
48 He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
49 Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.
50 Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
Have a victorious week Looking to God who is your Father.
Laurence x
About Author
God morning to you, Laurence and Kim! Thank you so much for this teaching. It is Wednesday morning, December 30, at 11:15 as I write this and I just finished reading your teaching Keep Things Simple on a break from work. What a blessing! Excellent encouragement that I needed to hear this morning! Thank you! I am keeping you both and your family and fellowship and ministry in prayer — you are God’s Best!
God bless You Sheila and we are keeping you in our prayers too thank you for your encouragement God bless you greatly xx