Tag Archives: Bible study

Dust Kiddies Pt. 4

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles
Little Lamb! Little Lamb! Who hath made thee?

Little Lamb! Little Lamb! Who hath made thee?

 

Today’s post is 4th in a series on the frailty of man and the strength of God. If you missed any of the previous posts you can find them at:

https://josephelonlillie.com/2014/09/09/dust-kiddies-pt-1/

https://josephelonlillie.com/2014/09/10/dust-kiddies-pt-2/

https://josephelonlillie.com/2014/09/11/dust-kiddies-pt-3/

 

Yesterday we discussed how the Lord wants to help us overcome our weakness and proclivity towards sin. That is good news! But there is more besides. Not only does God want to help us overcome our weakness, He wants to fill us with power that is not ours to accomplish great things. We  were meant from something great but before we can do that great thing we must realize we cannot do it in our own strength.

Speaking through the apostle Paul God tells us,

6 For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

7 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.[a] This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves. 2 Cor. 4:6, 

When I first became a Christian the church was singing this song,

 

 

 

 

 

 

We dust kiddies were meant to be the temples of the Holy Ghost ; And because we are the temples of the Holy Spirit we are “Filled with praise, with power and with glory.”

You are the temple of the Holy Ghost Dust Kiddie and you were meant to do something great.

You may say “I can’t do anything great.” 

But that is not true. Madeleine L’Engle writes,

“In a very real sense not one of us is qualified, but it seems that God continually chooses the most unqualified to do his work, to bear his glory. If we are qualified, we tend to think that we have done the job ourselves. If we are forced to accept our evident lack of qualification, then there’s no danger that we will confuse God’s work with our own, or God’s glory with our own.”

― Madeleine L’Engle, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art

And that great missionary James Hudson Taylor said,

“All God’s giants have been weak men who did great things for God because they reckoned on God being with them.”

― James Hudson Taylor

 

Listen! Our lives with God and our service to God should challenge us. Our Christianity should make us realize we are living out the impossible.

When was the last time your service to God drove you to your knees?

When was the last time you allowed  God to give you a task that was outside of your comfort zone?

Our work for God should drive us to our knees on a regular basis not because we are so righteous and godly we always pray but out of desperation because it is beyond us.Our work for God needs to be bigger than our own power to accomplish it. It needs to challenge us to a place beyond our own ability. It needs to drive us to prayer.

If you have gotten to a place where you have allowed ministry to become comfortable, if you have lost the challenge of ministry today or maybe you have never allowed the Lord to challenge you in ministry will you allow Him today to offer that challenge? Will you begin to ask Him to fill your earthen vessel with a light that will bring you into the challenge of changing the world?

 

 

Dust Kiddies Pt. 3

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles
Little Lamb! Little Lamb! Who hath made thee?

Little Lamb! Little Lamb! Who hath made thee?

This is part three of our sermon series Dust Kiddies. If you missed parts 1 and 2 they can be found at the links below.

https://josephelonlillie.com/2014/09/09/dust-kiddies-pt-1/

https://josephelonlillie.com/2014/09/10/dust-kiddies-pt-2/

Now let’s get on with today’s portion of the study:

We have established in the two previous posts that spiritually we are totally unable to help or save ourselves but that God wants to help us if we will just admit our need of Him.

God wants to help us in two ways. Today let’s discuss the first.

God  wants to help us overcome our weakness and our proclivity towards sin.

Dillon Burroughs writes, “The solution to our human frailty is not to try harder, but to turn Godward.”

― Dillon Burroughs, Hunger No More: A 1-Year Devotional Journey Through the Psalms

The truth is, that while your weakness may have defined who you are up to this present time it does not have to define you anymore.  The GOOD NEWS of Christianity is that we can be born again! We used to sing a song when I first became a Christian that went something like,

” There’s been a great great change since I’ve been born. There’s been a great great change since I’ve been born. There’s been a great great change since I’ve been born again.”

Jesus himself  said that the process of becoming a Christian is literally being “BORN AGAIN”

Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again,[a] you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”

4 “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus. “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”

5 Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.[b] 6 Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.[c] 7 So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You[d] must be born again.’ John 3:3-7 NLT

In the end of the matter, we are set free from our lives of weakness not by trying harder but being born again and we are born again when the Spirit of God comes into our hearts by our prayerful invitation.

Let’s pray together now:

Father God I realize I cannot help myself or work my way out of a life of sin. Only you can help me. I admit that. So Lord come into my life right now. Cause me to be born again. Forgive all my sin and give me a new start a new life birthed by the Spirit of God. I believe it is possible through Jesus Christ, his death on the cross and his resurrection from the dead. Amen.

Hey if you prayed that prayer with me for the first time would you drop me a comment to let me know?

Dust Kiddies Pt. 2

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles
Little Lamb! Little Lamb! Who hath made thee?

Little Lamb! Little Lamb! Who hath made thee?

“Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.

 Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made…The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.” Ge. 2:7,8,15

 

“The Lord is like a father to his children,
    tender and compassionate to those who fear him.

 For he knows how weak we are;
    he remembers we are only dust.” Psalm 103:13,14

 

“For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure. This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” 2 Cor. 4:6,7

For all the posturing we have heard in the world about the greatness of the human race and the glorious future of mankind, the truths of Scripture listed above are echoed again and again throughout our history.

 Shakespeare said:

“We all are men, in our own natures frail, and capable of our flesh; few are angels.”
― William Shakespeare, Henry VIII

And Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe said

Some of our weakness is born in us, some of it comes through education; it is a big question as to which gives us the most trouble.
Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

 

The point is that the weakness of man is simply a truth. The sinfulness of man is simply a truth. Our culture may deny it and tell us we are good people who only sometimes do evil. Our culture may tell us that mankind is getting better and better under its own power but that is a lie the truth is spelled out by Paul quoting the prophet Isaiah to the Romans,

10 As the Scriptures say,

“No one is righteous—
    not even one.
11 No one is truly wise;
    no one is seeking God.
12 All have turned away;
    all have become useless.
No one does good,
    not a single one.” 

Romans 3:10-12

I am not strong I am weak. You are not strong you are weak. We are all of us dust kiddies and God knows it; The world around us knows it; The only ones who ever deny it are ourselves. We can easily admit that the person next to us is weak but to admit it to ourselves is another matter. 

Today it is time for us to pull back the veil on our vanity and simply admit we are weak. We were formed of dust. Our strength is dust and we shall return to dust in a very few short years. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot help ourselves. We cannot fix ourselves because there is nothing of strength in us. 

That is the beginning of the Gospel, the Good news. Now, if that is where the Good news ended I don’t think any of us would think it was very good news. The truth is though we cannot start out on the road to good news without at first acknowledging the bad news. The good news is, though we cannot help ourselves there is a God who wants to help us! And the better news is the only thing standing in the way of His helping us is our own foolish notion that we can help ourselves. Once we line ourselves up with the truth of Scripture that, we are in and of ourselves completely helpless, then God is able to come and give us the help we need! AND HE WANTS TO HELP US!

 

If you missed part one of this sermon go to:

https://josephelonlillie.com/2014/09/09/dust-kiddies-pt-1/

Dust Kiddies Pt. 1

Posted on by under Pastor Wrinkles
Little Lamb, Little Lamb Who hath made thee?

Little Lamb, Little Lamb Who hath made thee?

I was recently at a meeting in which someone had the gall to ask “who do you think you are? Why should I listen to you?”

My initial reaction was “Well let me tell you who I am. I am Pastor J. Lillie I’ve been….”

Then God asked me “Who do you think you are?”

And as He asked it these verses came to mind.

“Then the Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground. He breathed the breath of life into the man’s nostrils, and the man became a living person.

 Then the Lord God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made…The Lord God placed the man in the Garden of Eden to tend and watch over it.” Ge. 2:7,8,15

 

“The Lord is like a father to his children,
    tender and compassionate to those who fear him.

 For he knows how weak we are;
    he remembers we are only dust.” Psalm 103:13,14

 

“For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.

 We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.[b] This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.” 2 Cor. 4:6,7

I am a created being made from the dust of the earth. From dust I come and to dust I will return. My life span in this body is 70 years and a few. I am a sinner saved by grace totally irredeemable apart from the miracle of the cross of Christ and the miracle of His resurrection. All my righteousness or good works is nothing more than filthy rags . I have no real glory apart from what He gives me.

Who am I?

I am nothing more than a dust kiddie, a child of dust roaming the earth looking for a place to land, an empty vessel with nothing inside but generations of dust and death to my credit. Under my own power I can never become anything more than dust and death and my friend neither can you. 

Do you ever feel like me, a dust kiddie? What do you do with those feelings?

Check in for the next portion of our study tomorrow!

Heaven Pt. 152: Inciting God

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Therefore the LORD heard this, and was wroth: so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel;

Because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation:

Though he had commanded the clouds from above, and opened the doors of heaven, Psm. 78:21-23 KJV

sodom

If faith is the currency of Heaven, then unbelief is the coinage of Hell.

If faith stirs pleasure within God’s bosom, then unbelief fills His heart with great sorrow.

Psalm 78 indicates His wrath is particularly stirred against nations who have seen God in action or who have a history with God’s miracles and yet refuse faith in their generation for one reason or another.

God has given us great revelation of Himself in our generation. The proliferation of the gospel today is greater than it has ever been in world history. Miracles and testimonies of  miracles abound. Yet still the mindset that was in the ancient  Israelites  tempts us.

Paul the apostle wrote this to the Corinthian Church:

I don’t want you to forget, dear brothers and sisters, about our ancestors in the wilderness long ago. All of them were guided by a cloud that moved ahead of them, and all of them walked through the sea on dry ground. 2 In the cloud and in the sea, all of them were baptized as followers of Moses. 3 All of them ate the same spiritual food,4 and all of them drank the same spiritual water. For they drank from the spiritual rock that traveled with them, and that rock was Christ. 5 Yet God was not pleased with most of them, and their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.

6 These things happened as a warning to us, so that we would not crave evil things as they did, 7 or worship idols as some of them did. As the Scriptures say, “The people celebrated with feasting and drinking, and they indulged in pagan revelry.” 8 And we must not engage in sexual immorality as some of them did, causing 23,000 of them to die in one day.

9 Nor should we put Christ to the test, as some of them did and then died from snakebites. 10 And don’t grumble as some of them did, and then were destroyed by the angel of death. 11 These things happened to them as examples for us. They were written down to warn us who live at the end of the age.

12 If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.  1 Cor. 10:1-12

We stand at a precipice of choice. We know what God has  said. We have heard what God has done and is doing. Our choice is to approach His word and the testimony we have heard with an attitude of faith or an attitude of unbelief. On the one hand we have an example of what happened to those who approached the choice in unbelief. On the other we have the example of the 120 who followed Jesus after His ascension.

On the day of Pentecost all the believers were meeting together in one place.2 Suddenly, there was a sound from heaven like the roaring of a mighty windstorm, and it filled the house where they were sitting. 3 Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. 4 And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit and began speaking in other languages, as the Holy Spirit gave them this ability…. All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.

43 A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. 44 And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything they had. 45 They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with those in need. 46 They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity—47 all the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved. Act 2:1-4, 43-47

I choose the latter and reject the former. How about you?

What Was I Thinking?

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I can remember running down the soccer field with the ball in front of me.

“Left foot”…”right foot”…. “Control it! Don’t lose it Lillie,” I remember thinking to myself.

I noted the girl to my left, a team mate. I saw my friend, Jody, up ahead on the field.  I recognized the quarterback of the football team barreling down on me with the look of a wolf hunting its prey. Nothing in me registered alarm. No force of logic made me compare myself to him…quarterback vs flute player…avid sportsman vs reads comics for exercise. None of that crossed my mind until I ran into his massive bulk and found myself flying through the air like a rag doll. Up, up over his head I went and then proving Newton’s law of gravity I came down again.

When I came too, the gym teacher and my friends were standing over me. As I was helped to the side lines I remember Jody asking “What were you thinking?”

“WHAT WAS I THINKING?”

I wish I could say that was the only time in my life which I can look back on using those words;  Sadly there are too many “what was I thinking’s” in my life.I suppose that is true of most of us, though. Life hands us many opportunities to make decisions, In our fallen state, we humans often make choices which in hindsight are just plain dumb. These decisions break our bodies, hearts and spirits. Sometimes  even after the dust settles and we are helped to the sidelines by caring friends the result of the tumble-toss is not easily forgotten or recovered from.

The good news is that while we may not be able to help ourselves there is someone who can:

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psm 34:18

“He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.” Psm 147: 3

Jesus said of himself…“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,” Luke 4:18

Today whatever you are walking through, whether the mess is of your own making or somebody else’s, Jesus can heal and restore that which has become broken. Just go to Him in prayer and ask for the help you need. You will find Him ready and able to help.

Heaven Pt 151: Unseen Footprints

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I will consider all your works
    and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

13 Your ways, God, are holy.
    What god is as great as our God?
14 You are the God who performs miracles;
    you display your power among the peoples.
15 With your mighty arm you redeemed your people,
    the descendants of Jacob and Joseph.

16 The waters saw you, God,
    the waters saw you and writhed;
    the very depths were convulsed.
17 The clouds poured down water,
    the heavens resounded with thunder;
    your arrows flashed back and forth.
18 Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
    your lightning lit up the world;
    the earth trembled and quaked.
19 Your path led through the sea,
    your way through the mighty waters,
    though your footprints were not seen.

20 You led your people like a flock
    by the hand of Moses and Aaron. Psalm 77:12-20 NIV

Sometimes I just don’t understand what God is trying to accomplish through His works in my life. Who am I kidding? Most times I don’t understand what God is trying to accomplish through His works in my life! It seems like our whole relationship is one long series of God working and my misunderstanding what He is doing, my complaining to Him about his unfairness and His patience in bringing me around to an Aha moment and an apology for my blindness.

In that I am in good company with the Psalmist here, the Psalm starts out as a lament, a complaint.

 He writes…    “Has his promise failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?
    Has he in anger withheld his compassion?”Psalm 77:8b-9

But then he writes a few verses later… “I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.”

I use to think that the Psalmist was trying to make the point that in stormy times it is good for people of faith to meditate positively on the power of God and encourage themselves with a walk down memory lane to think about the good old days.

For a while I interpreted Psalm 77:12-20 as “Remember! God showed up then, He will show up now. Don’t worry.”

It is that, but the Psalmist is also trying to say something more. He does talk about dwelling on the miracles of the past, but he talks a lot more about the context those miracles came packaged in…The clouds poured down water,
    the heavens resounded with thunder;
    your arrows flashed back and forth.
18 Your thunder was heard in the whirlwind,
    your lightning lit up the world;
    the earth trembled and quaked.
19 Your path led through the sea,
    your way through the mighty waters,
    though your footprints were not seen.

What the Psalmist is trying to say to us here is “Look folks every time God started a miracle it was in a time of confusion and turmoil. It was during a time when God’s people were absolutely sure they had lost Him…a time when they couldn’t find His footprints to follow. Every time God chose to show up the Heavens were brass, lightning flashed, and rain poured down on the people of God.”

The word of encouragement here is about the context. If your world is falling apart. If you feel like you are under God’s judgment. If you feel like God has forgotten you, take heart because you are ripe for an appearance of God. Just don’t stop looking for Him to show up!  He will show you His unseen footprints and lead you out!

Heaven Pt. 150: The Earth Will Cease Its Trembling

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From heaven you pronounced judgment, and the land feared and was quiet—Psm 76:8

It has been a while since I have been able to write a devotional article here at Lillie-Put. My world has been anything but quiet. And during busy seasons (which seems my lot in life just now) it is a lot easier to post a quick pic than it is  to set aside a slab of time to read and consider a response to a verse of Scripture. But a slab has thankfully presented itself and so here I am!

 Our verse about Heaven today includes within it the subject of judgment. My personal meditation on Psalm 76:8 almost immediately took me to Romans 8:18-23.

18 Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later.19 For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are. 20 Against its will, all creation was subjected to God’s curse. But with eager hope, 21 the creation looks forward to the day when it will join God’s children in glorious freedom from death and decay. 22 For we know that all creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children,[a]including the new bodies he has promised us.

I seldom think of the world as a quiet place. A broken place, a groaning place, a hectic place,a busy place sure all these things fit… but a quiet place? Not hardly, unless of course I was to rise at 2 A.M. every morning and frankly who has the energy for that?

Now not all hustle and bustle is a bad thing. God has called us to be productive and to work at what our hands find to do to further his kingdom; But the world has forgotten the Reason for its hustle and the Purpose for its bustle and has bypassed God in the name of self-progress. And so it is that world groans just waiting…just waiting for God to reveal Himself and His children. When God does reveal Himself all those who have forgotten Him will remember and will mourn. His revelation will come in the form of judgment and then the hustle and the bustle will stop and all the land will be quiet with a holy fear.

The Scripture says of that time,

Then everyone—the kings of the earth, the rulers, the generals, the wealthy, the powerful, and every slave and free person—all hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains. 16 And they cried to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. 17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to survive?”Rev. 6:15-17

It’s an interesting question. The answer of course is that the Lamb (Jesus) , whose wrath is to come, is the One who can save us from it.
Psalm 85 explains it this way,

You forgave the guilt of your people—     yes, you covered all their sins. Interlude 3 You held back your fury.     You kept back your blazing anger.

4 Now restore us again, O God of our salvation.     Put aside your anger against us once more. 5 Will you be angry with us always?     Will you prolong your wrath to all generations? 6 Won’t you revive us again,     so your people can rejoice in you? 7 Show us your unfailing love, O Lord,     and grant us your salvation.

8 I listen carefully to what God the Lord is saying,     for he speaks peace to his faithful people.     But let them not return to their foolish ways. 9 Surely his salvation is near to those who fear him,     so our land will be filled with his glory.

Yes God is coming to judge the world. Yes He is going to bring to silence all the world’s futile activity but His  real desire is to save people out of judgment by forgiveness. What we must do is turn from our forgetting about God and turn to a remembrance of Him. If you wish to do that please pray with me using the prayer written below!

Prayer: Lord Jesus today I remember that You are God and I am not. Forgive me for all the ways I forget about You daily. rescue me from my rushing and help me to find rest in Your presence today. Help me to follow You and you alone throughout this day. In Jesus name…Amen!

Correct Or Right

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6 The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

7 All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and sea creatures are being tamed and have been tamed by mankind, 8 but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.

9 With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. 11 Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? 12 My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. James 3:6-12 NIV

15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:15 NIV

I consider myself a student of life. Lately God has been asking me about the roots of my desire to learn and know things. Honestly there is a part of me that studies things because I like to be right about things…rather, I should say, I like to be correct about things. As God has shown me  it is possible to be correct and not be right.

In God’s eyes, at least, right and correct are not necessarily mutually inclusive. For instance I may see clearly and correctly a person’s character as deficient but if I treat that person with scorn or impatience because of it I am not right. I may correctly discern my child needs a rebuke but if I rebuke my child without love, out of a spirit of irritation, I am not right. I may receive a revelation from God’s Word  for my church that is doctrinally accurate and therefore  correct but if I deliver it without considering who it will effect and how, if I just prepare it as a neat bit of knowledge without a desire to exhort the people to greater grace, well then I am  not right no matter how accurate or correct I might be.

We Christians have to accept that we live in a kingdom where how we say things (our attitude) is just as important as what we say. This isn’t about being all nicey-nice but it is about being cognizant of the emotions behind what we say. It is about making sure that those emotions are as in line with our God as our knowledge is. Being correct just isn’t enough anymore. I want to be right before God!

Heaven Pt. 149: It Doesn’t Matter

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Truly God is good to Israel,
    to those whose hearts are pure.
2 But as for me, I almost lost my footing.
    My feet were slipping, and I was almost gone.
3 For I envied the proud
    when I saw them prosper despite their wickedness.
4 They seem to live such painless lives;
    their bodies are so healthy and strong.
5 They don’t have troubles like other people;
    they’re not plagued with problems like everyone else….

Did I keep my heart pure for nothing?
    Did I keep myself innocent for no reason?
14 I get nothing but trouble all day long;
    every morning brings me pain….

I realized that my heart was bitter,
    and I was all torn up inside.
22 I was so foolish and ignorant—
    I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.
23 Yet I still belong to you;
    you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
    leading me to a glorious destiny.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
    I desire you more than anything on earth.
26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak,
    but God remains the strength of my heart;
    he is mine forever. Psam 73:1-5, 13,14,21-26

I remember a time in my life when things were not going according to plan (at least not mine). Ministry had dried up. I was looking at being out of work. I was spiritually tired and it seemed everything I had worked so hard for was surely nothing more than a pipe dream. Every step I took seemed to be met with another closed-door.

I remember shaking my fist at Heaven one day and crying out, “You call this a plan? I can do better than this.”

For a number of weeks I tried. I stopped praying. I went my own way. I laid my own plans and doors seemed to open at least a little; But as I considered each I recognized that while these doors might be open they led nowhere. I came to the conclusion David came to thousands of years before me:

 “I was so foolish and ignorant—
    I must have seemed like a senseless animal to you.
23 Yet I still belong to you;
    you hold my right hand.
24 You guide me with your counsel,
    leading me to a glorious destiny.
25 Whom have I in heaven but you?
    I desire you more than anything on earth.”

I discovered  without God nothing else matters, because  without Him everything is  empty and void. Not all the treasure in the world can satisfy or fill that emptiness. BUT…

With God nothing else matters, because my heart is filled and as long as I have Him I can be content.

It comes to this,  in life nothing else matters but God. My circumstances are going to change good to bad..bad to good. That is true whether I have God in My life or not. It doesn’t matter. But it doesn’t matter for different reasons. Without God all the good in the world doesn’t matter because it cannot make or keep me truly happy. With God all the bad in the world doesn’t matter because as long as I am focused on Him I am made and kept truly happy.

Isaiah 26:3 says, You will keep in perfect peace
    all who trust in you,
    all whose thoughts are fixed on you!

What matters is our focus. If we focus on what’s going on around us rather than God our feet are going to slip. If we focus in on God we will stand firm as though we were wearing the best set of cleats the world or Heaven have to offer. Our health may fail. Our fortunes may wither away. Our friends may become enemies but if we can somehow keep our eyes on the Great I Am He will be our strength. We will stand firm!