LOVE ALWAYS BELIEVES The BEST

Dear Blessed Saints of the Most High

         In various versions of the title in 1 Cor 13:7, it mentions 'Believes all things' in the KJV.  Other versions of the Bible will add "believes the best for every person".  In any case, whatever version of the Bible we read, when God says believing, we do know that He means only believing for the best outcome regardless because we need to see Him who is the One who can take any situation from our lives and is willing and able to make our lives far better and more highly valuable to be a blessing to others and serve His glorious purposes then we could ever expect.  The major obstacle from allowing this to take place is when we doubt, speak negatively by grumbling or complaining that leads to unbelief.  Jesus was not able to do the work He came to do in His hometown because of unbelief (Matt 13:58).

          When I reflect on this specific passage about love (believing the best), I believe there are a number of things we can learn from this simple passage.  First, when God tells us to believe the best for others, we need to first come in agreement with God for Him to do that work in our lives and others lives, because it is first His Goodness working in our lives that does bring out the best.  This is what allows Gods best to be real from our lives when we come in agreement with Him to believe His best for our lives and the lives of others.   We receive the best from God when we believe the best from Him for us.  I often think that many people don't see the best about ourselves and of others because they don't believe that anything good can come out of our lives.  We fail to see the potential God can do in our lives and the lives of others simply because we doubt and harbour unbelief for God to do His wonderful work in our lives and the lives of others.  That is why complaining and murmuring before God is an abomination because we actually criticize God Himself when we should know that He is sovereign over all.  He demonstrates His displeasure when the Israelites grumbled against God and Moses and God caused the land to swallow up a good majority of the Israelites (Num 16:30) because Korah and His clans provoked the Lord by grumbling and complaining.  

          God wants us to connect our hearts with Him and come into full agreement for His Goodness to be revealed by believing by faith because we NEED to believe He is Good.  When we don't believe the best, it comes down to not believing that He truly is Good, otherwise we would believe.  We need to BELIEVE His absolute Goodness and stop perceiving who God is just because of what is taking place in our lives and in the lives of many.  James 5:17 tells us: "The prayer of the Righteous availeth much".  The question is, how are we righteous in order for our prayers to be powerful?  We become righteous when we have fully surrendered to God and we believe He is who He says He is.  Abraham was declared Righteous (Rom 4:3) simply because He believed the best from God in the first place.  Maybe if we were to see the best of ourselves and see the best from others, I believe we need to connect to the heart of God much more and believe the best by starting out believing His best for each of us simply because we choose to believe He is absolutely GOOD and EXCELLENT in all His Glory.  

          When He tells us to believe the best, we need to first believe to see His best work on our behalf and behalf of the others.  We need to put a STOP by simply forsaking what is happening in our lives and the lives of others because of what we see and connect with God to believe the best and believe by faith.  That is why we need to live by faith and not by what we see (2 Cor 5:7).  God can do anything at anytime, but He doesn't work that way.  He wants us to do our part by connecting our heart to His and believe by faith.  Faith in His Goodness is what moves Him in the first place because He is a relational God and by having that relationship with us, is enriched when we believe the best from His Goodness.  I realize in a much more powerful way more and more that bad circumstances occur to many lives because they expect that outcome for themselves in the first place.  For as a man thinketh in his heart, so is he (Prov 23:7), and what he believes does come to pass.  Don't kid yourself, when it comes down to it, if we think we could ever be critical of God, there is always going to be something God is going to point out in our lives when we fail to live the best of our lives and fail to receive the abundant life from ourselves and others because of any part of our lives we have failed to do or believe.  We will never be able to question God and think that He can never justify His actions or our outcome when it may be unfavorable.  To ever think that we could question God and get away with that is utterly foolish.  God tells us time again that He is pleased when we believe Him, believe who He says He is, believe what He says and believe that He can do all He tells us He can do and has done.  No wonder He is not pleased when we don't have faith (Heb 11:6a).  When we consider our loved ones and those we fellowship closely with, how would you like it if they did not believe you or someone you love doubts who you are or what you say, even though you have done so much for them?  It's the same way with God.  How can we not believe His best when He has done incredibly more for us than we could imagine.  Our lives are sustained by every breath we breathe because of His Goodness towards us.  We couldn't live any longer if He did not sustain our lives in any given moment in time.  If/when we do have great faith in Him, it fulfills the greatest commandment of love by believing the best from Him for our lives, the best from Him for the lives of others.  We have to also put a STOP of seeing ourselves of who we are by what we do, or what we have failed at and believe the best by what God can make of us.  He knows how to make the best of us, but we often hinder His power to work mightily because we doubt the measure of His love for us which is that horrible deterrent that literally hinders His Spirit from doing that much needed work in our lives that we need so desperately.  

 

          Finally, when we understand that we need to believe the best from God, for Him to work His best for ourselves and for others, we need to "want and desire" for this to happen.  For this desire to become more real, we need to see that everything He suffered, gave up His Throne Room above Heaven to come down to earth and suffer to the extent of willing being punished on our behalf to Redeem each of us who would simply be willing, He did this for each of us personally.  When we fail to see the best of others, we need to understand that this is not the will of God, but is a devastating choice of their own to turn away from God and see their desperation by being blind to their choice to live apart from the will of God.  When we see how blind the sinners are, we should always "want" to see the best for them and not see who they may be at this point in time, but who they were meant to be by being a blessed Child of God.  When we do, we will be able to believe the best for others, even though we often don't see it for ourselves.  Let's connect our heart to God and fulfill part of this wonderful "Law of Love" by believing the Best from God for our lives, believing Gods best for the lives of others and always having that hopeful expectation of this to come to pass.  I believe we will see greater results of fulfilling this greatest commandment to become a greater reality in our lives when we truly believe His very best for our lives and the lives of others because we believe He is GOOD!

In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayerhttp://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  
http://www.answers2prayer.org/

Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances and it endures everything (1 Cor 13:7) Amplified Version

LET's LEAVE A LASTING LEGACY

Dear Blessed Saints,         

          When I think of the life I live here, we are going to have to face the fact that we will not be here forever to do the things we cherish to do and accomplish in this life.  When I die, I don't ever want the work I did for the Lord just to be a thing of the past and just go to Heaven, but I want so much to leave a legacy so that many peoples lives can continue to be positively influenced that pleases the Lord from the life I lived on earth.  We should love to do the work God has called us to do out of our love for Him.  Therefore, wouldn't it make sense that the work we should be doing now would not only have an impact during this present time, but for all remaining generations to come even when we are not here?  I want to leave that kind of positive legacy.  When we think about many of the men and women of God who lived their lives as God fearing and God honoring, they continue to make a powerful and positive impact on many generations throughout the centuries.  Authors and other prominent people who have lived their lives to honor our Lord, continue to make a positive impact on our lives centuries after they passed away.  It would be amazing if we would all leave that legacy and have that continual positive impact on generations to come.  Just because we are no longer present doesn't mean that God cannot use the lives we lived to leave a legacy to bring continual eternal benefits to others.  The work we do now can have a lasting positive impression if we would simply ask God for His help and believe He wants to do this through us as His faithful Representatives.  

          I don't know about you, but I would love to leave a legacy like that!  To know that our God can touch and influence many lives from the example of our lives to permeate the lives in order to continue to give them hope, strength, perseverance that develops the character that will alter their destiny for the better.  On the other hand, it is a dreadful thought that many self centered and self seeking individuals, leaders who have become dictators or cult leaders who have long died are also having a severe negative impact on many individuals today.  Sadly, I believe there are far too many Christians could have left a greater impact on more lives all because they lost their desire to persevere in the things of what pleases the Lord.  I believe our lives have a far greater impact on many other people whether we realize it or not.  Before I became a Christian, in one particular instance, I said some unkind words and people were shocked.  It made me realize even at that time, that we are being watched.  People who live an ungodly lifestyle negatively affects many peoples lives, even after they have died long ago.  Sadly, many people do not see the significance of the negative impact and influence they may leave that may have a negative effect on thousands, or maybe even millions.  Notice in Exod 20:5 that an earthly father who is wicked negatively affects his descendants to the third and fourth generation, even though this father may have passed away long ago.  However, the father who loves the Lord will pass this blessing on to the thousand generations, even though we know definitely that he has long passed away, his godly influence will be lasting for many generations (Exod 20:6).

          We all have that ability to leave a wonderful legacy that can powerfully influence the lives of many others presently and for generations to come when we allow God to help us by asking Him.  We simply need to confess this to our Father and ask Him to help us be the people of honor and integrity that will leave a positive impact that will last for generations to come.  True humility is a vital key to leave a lasting positive legacy.  Because God tells us that Humility comes before honor (Prov 15:33; 22:4).  When we choose to complain, then we need to realize we have a serious problem with pride.  God tells us that without Him, we can do nothing (John 15:5).  So, that being the case, we need to humbly confess this and ask His Spirit to help us live the that will leave a lasting positive legacy, otherwise, we will not be able to do that.  Those of you who go through many trials, you have an awesome opportunity to leave a powerful positive legacy that teaches many people to never give up, to continue to be hopeful and persevere that will develop character, which eventually directs our destiny.  When we refuse to give up, people are not going to remember us just from the trials we faced, but they are going to see us as a People who refused to give up and still live to give God the glory that will have a major impact on their lives.  That's the positive impact we are going to have on peoples lives when we refuse to give up our hope in Him and persevere because we believe and honor His Word.  We need to come to that place and ask God to help us and believe He will help us to be His excellent representatives to leave a lasting positive legacy. 

          Don't ever think that you are not able to leave a positive destiny because that is only listening to the lies of the enemy whose task is to rob many Christians from having a positive influence on many peoples lives simply because we failed to ask God and believe He can use us.  I don't want you to look at your past, but be like Paul when he says forget what lies behind and to "Press On" (Phil 3:13).  I use these quotations to put emphasis on it.  Look at King David and the fact that he not only committed adultery, but also murder.  Yet, God established His Kingdom under Davids throne.  And yet, David is known to be a man of God who continues  this day to leave a lasting legacy.  Therefore, what makes you so special to believe God can't use you when He could restore and use David like He did after the initial crime he committed?  Let's ask God and believe Him so we can leave a wonderful lasting legacy from the lives we live now that will positively influence all future generations.  Lets start now and share this message so we can leave a legacy to benefit many souls in need.   

The reward of humility and reverent worshipful fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life (Prov 22:4).

In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayerhttp://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  
http://www.answers2prayer.org/

LIVING AMAZED - PART 2

Dear Blessed Saints,

          I like to talk about how God is amazing because there is nothing fiction or some form of fantasizing, but is based on absolute truth.  When I am around people who only talk about either sports, weather or any other worldly topic you can imagine, and yet, when I get around Christians who talk about the Lord, I find it amazing that I never get tired talking about Him and the wisdom of His eternal life-giving Word.  Sometimes, I find it important to add these adjectives in sentences to bring greater emphasis to what we need to say.  Especially when we talk about the Lord.  This is why I also like the Amplified Version where it often expounds in great detail of the amazing God we serve.  

          In Prov 30:18-19, it mentions about three things that are too wonderful for me: The way of an eagle in the air, the way of the serpent upon the rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea.  I often think to myself that what really is too wonderful to me is when I often question this profound thought "How is it that You can love me so much and how You can be so mindful towards us", even though You knew everything about me and my faults?  I don't think I can ever be smart enough to answer that question beyond human understanding.  When I truly consider this, I realize how amazing His love is towards me that goes beyond my understanding.  Consider the fact that when I give thought to Him leaving His glorious Throne in Heaven and willingly accepts to come down to earth in the form of flesh not born in a nice hospital or comfortable setting, but started His live in a manger, I compare it like myself going from being a human being to accepting by becoming an ant in the lowest ranks and being that servant to all and willingly being chastized, beaten, mocked, ridiculed and rejected by His own family members, people from His own hometown, etc.  And how He did this for myself (insert your Name here) personally.  To me, this is just scratching the surface of His amazing love He has for each of us individually.

          Another amazing thing about God is when you consider the billions of people on the face of this earth, there is no one who is out of sight of God.  Nor is our innermost thoughts, our words, our motives ever hid from Him out of the billions of those who have lived, are living and are still to be born.  When we dwell in the uttermost parts of this world, He is there with us (Ps 139:9,10).  To ever think He has forgotten you is a trick of the enemy just because we "feel" like He is not present with us does not mean He is not present with us.  These are the times we need to put our faith in what we know and read about Him and not come to believe just because we feel His presence, but we NEED to know He loves us and is ever so present with us.  This is where we need to rise up above our fickle feelings and BELIEVE He loves us and cares for us and to ever stop being lead by our feelings.  Just because we don't feel like He is amazing has nothing to do with the reality that He truly is AMAZING!!  When we stop and consider how fearfully and wonderfully we are made, that in itself should amaze us.  Even back thousands of years ago, David Himself remarked about this (Ps 139:13,14).  How much more that when we find out more about the human body should we should make this same remark ever so much more.  When we think how the brain is formed and how it is made, it is amazing to know that our God is an amazing intelligent designer beyond human understanding.  I did some searching lately in the internet about how the brain is formed.  It makes up around 10 billion neurons, electrical impulses that directs how our bodies react.  The brain alone is the most amazing complex information management system in the universe that only takes up the top portion inside our head!  That alone should amaze us about God who is the One who designed all of this when He formed us in our mothers womb (Jer 1:5) (Ps 139:15,16).  To think of how He knew us before we were born indicates only one more of multiple billions of examples to indicate how amazing our God really is.  Even all the languages in this world, God knows each one!!

          When we take a moment each day, everything we see, everything we do, what we eat and what we have, it is utmost essential that we should take moments of each day to consider God and acknowledge how amazing He truly is.  I find familiarity and commonality are some of the most dangerous mindsets we can allow ourselves to become because this is where our minds grow dim and our hearts become dull of the reality of how awesome our God really is.  We lose vital sight of how fully dependant we truly are for God to sustain us in every moment and every breath we take in our entire lives.   We need to understand that if He were to turn His back on us for a very short moment, we would no longer be alive to tell of it.  This makes me realize in a truthful profound way that He truly is amazingly merciful towards us and so long-suffering.  This no longer just becomes some vocabulary we say, but when we stop to think of these things, it becomes so real.  Just like when His Word becomes a Rhema Word which is "Revelation" to our spirit.  When I consider these things, I find it very scary when we become so familiar in our surroundings, that we forget the One who gives us life in such great magnificent detail, with such loving care simply because we don't bother to take even a few minutes of our time to acknowledge His greatness in every facet of our lives.

          Another thing I find fascinating that God has accomplished far more than all the millions upon billions of published volumes of books, the world could not contain or have room for the books that would be written (John 21:25).  I truly believe that if I could write a Blog everyday just by mentioning every amazing thing about God, I don't think I could ever cover everything about His amazing attributes during my entire life.  Everything that man is able to do is because God enabled every man to have every skill set in the first place.  Consider right from the beginning of time, the Bible doesn't speak about people living in caves (like the evolutionists like to advise), but even Cain, who was one of the firstborn had built a city (Gen 4:17).  This is the theory of evolution when you think that man lived in caves like neanderthal apes.  It's disgusting to me to believe in evolution rather than seeing ourselves created by an awesome designer that only God could ever create.  To me, there is no way any man could do that if it weren't for the awesome power of God to give man the amazing ability to build a city.  Where would he have gotten the education to do such a task?  To marvel at what man can create is simply because God has given that wonderful ability to each one in the first place in everything imaginable.  God told Noah exactly how to build the ark in every detail to satisfy every living creature with Noah and his family.  Even to think of how God was able to direct two animals (male/female) alone to come to the ark is amazing.  The ark was build right to the exact measurement in every detail directed by our awesome God.

          As you can see, these examples are barely a shaving of ice off a huge iceberg to describe of how awesome our God really is.  Therefore, I find it most essential if we would just spend a few minutes throughout each day and see how the mighty hand of God has blessed us in so much detail of life.  Even if we spent every minute for our entire lives, we could never cover every detail of life and how He sustains our lives, protects our lives, blesses our lives in such detail while holding every order of life and all creation in the universe by the power of His Word.  When I think of these things more and more, I cannot but agree with David when he says of God "Your infinite knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high above me.  I cannot reach it". (Ps 139:6).  Truly, His awesome ways are hid from our hearts when we fail to give time to be still and know that He is an awesome God (Ps 46:10).  When we take time to see how awesome our God is and coming to know the truth to reverently fear Him, this is where we begin to attain wisdom (Prov 1:7) simply because our eyes and heart are open to receive understanding of the truth of how awesome He truly is.  Who in their right mind does not want to receive true wisdom that comes from on High?

If any of you is deficient in wisdom, let him ask of the "giving God" who gives liberally and ungrudgingly, without reproaching or fault-finding, and it will be given him        (James 1:5)

In the Matchless Name of Jesus
Richard
Associate Director
Answers2Prayerhttp://sites.google.com/site/greatestbuilderforourlife  
http://www.answers2prayer.org/


Who is like You, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like You, glorious in holiness, awesome in splendor, doing wonders? (Exod 15:11)