Do you desire to do God's will??

Psalm 40:8-17

I desire to do your will, O my God;
your law is within my heart."

I proclaim righteousness in the great assembly;
I do not seal my lips,
as you know, O LORD.

I do not hide your righteousness in my heart;
I speak of your faithfulness and salvation.
I do not conceal your love and your truth
from the great assembly.

Do not withhold your mercy from me, O LORD;
may your love and your truth always protect me.

For troubles without number surround me;
my sins have overtaken me, and I cannot see.
They are more than the hairs of my head,
and my heart fails within me.

Be pleased, O LORD, to save me;
O LORD, come quickly to help me.

May all who seek to take my life
be put to shame and confusion;
may all who desire my ruin
be turned back in disgrace.

May those who say to me, "Aha! Aha!"
be appalled at their own shame.

But may all who seek you
rejoice and be glad in you;
may those who love your salvation always say,
"The LORD be exalted!"

Yet I am poor and needy;
may the Lord think of me.
You are my help and my deliverer;
O my God, do not delay.

I read this a couple of days ago during my trek through the Bible in 90 days, and I thought "hm, 'my desire is to do your will, O my God,' Do I desire to do His will? Do I proclaim His righteousness in front of assemblies (or at least not hide the fact that I'm a Christian around certain people)? Am I a light?"

I have a lot to work on...Do you?

-K

Inquire of the Lord

I've been reading in 1st and 2nd Kings, and I keep seeing the phrase "Inquire of the Lord". We read that and think "Ha, look at how stupid they were. They worshipped Baal and did whatever they wanted to, they didn't ask the Lord for help at times when it was so clear that things would have been easier if they would have."
That is so easy to read and see what they could have done when it's "them" we're talking about. We think that we are so much better than they were, but when we really look at ourselves, many things in our own lives would have turned out better if we had just asked God to help us make the decisions.

-K

MANDISA - "He Is With You"

He IS the Rock

He is the rock, His words are perfect and all His ways are just. A faithful God who does not wrong, upright and just is He.

Deuteronomy 32:4

His words are perfect. Think about that. Only God (and Jesus and the Holy Spirit) cna say that their words are perfect.

God cannot tempt, He only tests

Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.
When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone; but each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed.Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
-James 1:2-3,13-15

In Sunday School today, I heard something that I'd never heard before. In these verses, it says "When tempted, no one should say, "God is tempting me." For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does he tempt anyone;". God can test us, but he cannot tempt us. In order for him to tempt us, he would have to be evil, which he is not. It is the devil that tempts us through our own evil desires. Our evil desires then cause us to sin and then eventually we die (spiritually/eternally)
BUT, the cool thing is, we are to consider it JOY when we face trials because it develops perseverance (steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.)

SO, to sum it up, God can't tempt us, only Satan can and we are to be joyful when we are tested because it helps us develop persistence in our only Purpose in spite of all of the obstacles and persecution.

Thanks, God for testing us and never tempting us. You're pretty awesome.

-K

Verse of the Day

“And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.”
Hebrews 11:6