Isaiah 55:9

“For as the Heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts.”

In 1 Samuel chapter 24:4 “Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.” This verse really speaks wonder to me. Throughout the bible we see command after command from God deliberately speaking one way on how to fulfill His will. In this passage we see God give David a choice. And not just a should I put turkey or ham on my sandwich choice, the choice to assassinate the King of Israel or not. I would like to think that he was in such alignment with God and the plan for his life that his fleshly desires transformed into the pleasures of God. It was no longer a flesh decision or a God decision it became the loving decision that God wants for us, the one we strive to understand everyday of our lives. David's most desirable trait was a man after Gods own heart. I believe his deserving title came from these times when God gave him a choice instead of a clear direction he still chose God's love. I pray that I can transform my heart to a heart of David's. Today I will try to choose God's love in decisions in which I don't get to here his still small voice.

Isaiah 55:8

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,

Says the Lord.”

Direction. I seek what I do not know daily. I want to know exactly who my wife will be, where I'll live, how many kids will I have, or the big one, when am I gonna die. All haunting questions we can't help but ask. All questions that at the push of a button I would accept. I Really hate not knowing. I keep thinking it will make life so much easier if I just had all the answers. The problem is, the more questions I am able to answer as I grow up, the more questions I am troubled with. When I keep my eyes on futuristic questions I don't have to deal with the answers I'm given today. Too many times the questions I asked years ago are being answered today, but because I'm so excited on asking the new ones I overlook what He has already made clear. Definitely one thing I have learned, the questions you ask are never answered in the way you prayed and had expected. There are many situations in which, if I would have known the outcome before I was supposed to, I would have ran as far as I could in the opposite direction. About a year ago now I was at a young adults bible study speaking with my assistant pastor. Amazing bible teacher. The subject of futuristic wealth and prosperity was brought up. thinking I was so wise I answered with “I wanna be rich enough to serve the Lord that I never have to think twice about having enough.” He chuckled and answered with “I only wanna have enough money to know I'll have a meal today, give us this day our daily bread is more than a prayer, it's an act of constant faith.” At the time I thought nothing of it but now I understand I was the idiot. He understood the verse we're all writing about so completely that his wisdom was the action to this verse, submitting your pride, submitting your humility, and turning it all into the act of faith. My thoughts are so definitely not His thoughts, and my ways aren't even close to His ways but that's awesome! Keeping it fresh. I am only here to look up, God will look forward. I'll never stop asking the questions, I just pray for the patience and faith that God will deliver them in His time.

Isaiah 55:8

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,

Says the Lord.”

Direction. I seek what I do not know daily. I want to know exactly who my wife will be, where I'll live, how many kids will I have, or the big one, when am I gonna die. All haunting questions we can't help but ask. All questions that at the push of a button I would accept. I Really hate not knowing. I keep thinking it will make life so much easier if I just had all the answers. The problem is, the more questions I am able to answer as I grow up, the more questions I am troubled with. When I keep my eyes on futuristic questions I don't have to deal with the answers I'm given today. Too many times the questions I asked years ago are being answered today, but because I'm so excited on asking the new ones I overlook what He has already made clear. Definitely one thing I have learned, the questions you ask are never answered in the way you prayed and had expected. There are many situations in which, if I would have known the outcome before I was supposed to, I would have ran as far as I could in the opposite direction. About a year ago now I was at a young adults bible study speaking with my assistant pastor. Amazing bible teacher. The subject of futuristic wealth and prosperity was brought up. thinking I was so wise I answered with “I wanna be rich enough to serve the Lord that I never have to think twice about having enough.” He chuckled and answered with “I only wanna have enough money to know I'll have a meal today, give us this day our daily bread is more than a prayer, it's an act of constant faith.” At the time I thought nothing of it but now I understand I was the idiot. He understood the verse we're all writing about so completely that his wisdom was the action to this verse, submitting your pride, submitting your humility, and turning it all into the act of faith. My thoughts are so definitely not His thoughts, and my ways aren't even close to His ways but that's awesome! Keeping it fresh. I am only here to look up, God will look forward. I'll never stop asking the questions, I just pray for the patience and faith that God will deliver them in His time.

Isaiah 55:7

“Let the wicked forsake his way,

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

Let him return to the Lord,

And He will have mercy on him;

And to our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.”

This has been the hardest one so far for me to write about. Grace has never been something I've harped on. My youth pastor back home would preach and preach about grace and it would bore me to pieces. He never shut up about it. For most of my years in high school I had a very platonic relationship with the Lord. Like I've said before, I bless him, He blesses me. The problem with this ideology is that Grace and Mercy is completely exempt. I saw the Lord as my business partner, we were selling products that save souls and I was his salesman. Learning the product, coming up with clever sayings, presenting in a savvy way, and eventually getting my cut at the end of the day. When people would stop to say “how does it work for YOU savvy man?” I would stop for a moment, compile all the other accounts and say “It's changed the lives of so many people.” Well that's just the problem salesman, you only know how to talk about others conversions. What about your passion salesman? What about your relationship to it? The light behind is eyes were absent. Isn't is so noticeable when a pastor is personally on fire for the Lord compared to the ones who just preach it? For me Grace was the missing link. When Grace is understood the salesman realizes he does not own the product, he is owned by the product. When I realized that need for 'abundant pardon' everyday and that I was wicked and needed to turn to God daily my salesman title became a title of shame and disgrace. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” Christ was the ultimate example of Grace, and I learn that a little more everyday. I see now the maturity in my youth pastor's walk, he fully grasped this idea and let it own him everyday. My application today is to be remember that I am owned by Grace.

Isaiah 55:6

“Seek the Lord while He may be found; Call up Him while He is near.”

Due to recent circumstances, I have learned that calling upon the Lord is a skill in and of itself. In our moment of weakness, when our mind is filling with idea after idea on how to fix the situation, our instant reaction is to fix it in the way that is most pleasing to the flesh. After all, punching that guy in the face cause he stole my girl seems very satisfying, before you actually commit the crime. After the fact you realize how poor of a choice that really was. When we go through these trenches in our life, we need to seek God the most, if we choose against His will, the punishable ramifications will always come in one way or another. When we are in these moments it is foreign to the flesh to choose a will that is not your own. When in those dark times we have to physically force ourselves to choose Him. We will think foolish, weak, or completely illogical. But that's just the point, if it made perfect sense to the flesh then we wouldn't need to ask Him. When life is simple it's easy to choose God in the small choices you make throughout the day. I guess what I actually learned today was that choosing his will above my own is an actual tool you must sharpen. It is not something you can pick and choose as you please, for when the battle of the flesh is at hand you are entering into a war with a dull sword. You will be slaughtered.

Luke 17:10

“So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, 'We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.' ”

We have a duty. We have a debt to pay. We have a Lord that loves us. When I read this section these are the statements I take from it. But unprofitable takes on a whole new motive behind it. Humbleness has never been something I’m good at. In fact, I can't remember a time I was worthy enough to call myself humble. I have lived my Christian life as a profitable servant. I come home from the fields asking wheres the food and my own personal servants. I'm the servant that let's all the other servants know how well I plowed in the field that day. My pride has given me the falling trait of Lucifer, letting myself think God owes me, ultimately making me equal to God. I believe humbleness is the answer to all this. If you could let your eyes be opened wide enough, that you could see all that goes around you, you would laugh in sorrow how truly blind you were. We would realize just how powerful God is, and how weak we are. A man by the name of John Newton spent countless years aboard a slave-ship as captain. Controlling, powerful, and having the fate of 1000's in the palm of his hand. He watched those 1000's be beaten, raped, and killed for joy or simply lack of medical care. Pride at it's peak, with his flesh sitting as king. After years of refuge and repentance, he dedicated himself to the Lord and chose to become a minister. In his later years, he had lost his vision entirely, spending his final days in darkness to the world around him. He wrote these words “Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like, I once was lost but now I'm found, was blind but now I see.” I believe that John Newton's vision completely flipped when he looked through the lens of love, opening his mind to wisdom, and humbling his heart to servant-hood. To be humbled, is to be loved.

My application today is broad, be humbled and open my eyes to the love God pours out on us consistently.

Luke 17:9

“Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him?”

The love we receive from God is perfect in all areas. In correction, in faithfulness, in compassion and that's just to name a few. He wants to grow us, strengthen us and protect us from the devices of the devil. When I am often praised in this world I find a sense of comfort and complacency. I know I've done it right, I can just do that same thing over and over again and go into auto-pilot. For example IBS, if I was praised on how good I was everyday I would get comfortable and quit seeking the Lord's will and go off my own talents. This in retrospect is small, but in the large scale look at Pastor's, if they were told how talented they were for every message they could get comfortable and prideful and speak from their own intellect and not God's counsel. Personally I believe the Devil can take things that seem pleasing and beautiful to man, even harmless and innocent, but within the heart can grow a seed of sin. Because the Lord loves us we are blessed on his timing, giving it to us when He decides. An unloving Father would give praise to the child whenever he kicked and screamed for it, growing a sinful selfish behavior that could lead to rebellion. A loving Father would work his son, correct him, and have enough compassion to grow him through the time of loneliness. If the son is wise he will understand that this type of love will bless him tenfold for the future ahead of him. Lord thank you for loving me enough to not bless me for every little thing I do.

Today I will do my best to humble myself after I pray and give it all to the Lord.

Luke 17:8

“But will he not rather say to him, Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink'?

I find in myself that I often want to put God on my terms. When I'm done being angry, I'll serve Him. When I'm done with this sinful relationship, I'll serve Him. When the storms come, I'll build the boat that will protect me and deliver me to the other side. We put ourselves as Gods, and put the Lord in our time of laziness and downtime. When we're done doing what we care about and love, then we can give the Lord his time. Yes, this will qualify you as a “Christian” but are you truly seeking the Lord with your heart, mind, soul, and strength? It kind of goes hand in hand with the saying “I'm only a Christian on Sundays.” In Acts, we see Paul serve the Lord against the pain of his flesh, against his pride by being publicly humiliated before all the people he knew and loved, and laid down all the fears of dying and all the joys of living to give the Lord his supper when He called for it. Personally, I deal with this problem by thinking I'm to smart for this or that and seeking my own will above His. I will get a piece of pride, try to stand on my own, and eventually exhaust myself until I'm broken on my knees once again. This is a reoccurring process in my walk that I feel is my largest struggle. Yes, I've been a Christian my whole life and saved for as long as I can remember, but I worship myself above Him all to often. My “knowledge” becomes my idol and of course leaves me in ruins every time. My ultimate goal for Pottersfield, is to soften my heart for the Lord to such a point, that His deserved obedience will come before mine without hesitation.

Personally, I will strive to be supernatural for the Lord. Go against the flow of my fleshly desires and unnaturally place the Lord on the throne of my heart before every tiny situation I make.

Luke 17:7

“And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, 'Come at once and sit down to eat'?

I think as Christian Americans we mix our culture with the way we view our relationship with Christ. What I mean by this is instant gratification and stocked rewards. Sometimes by tithing, praying, or fasting enough we let our minds make it about us instead of Him. In a sense, we believe that our good deeds will protect us from the struggles of this world. And if we don't have struggles, then we will noticeably be blessed in some way or another. Practically investing in Christ to be blessed for the riches of this world. We are glorifying ourselves, by giving our physical and mental strength we expect to be praised for all that good that we have done. In this verse I take from it that Jesus is rebuking those with this mindset. That as Christians we are expected to do our daily share of the work that should be done in His name. All to often we want that spiritual pat on the shoulder to get that reassurance when in all reality we have the bible to remind us daily. I find myself trying to keep score with God, trying “to bless Him” so I can “be blessed”. God is all loving and does not need to be blessed in anyway, we are His creation, He is not our whispering Jiminy Crickett.

I plan to do an act for the Lord in which I am sacrificing something and I will do my best to give entirely and completely and expect nothing in return for it. Also remember that all my treasures will be stored in Heaven and not in the prideful pleasures of this world.

Luke 17:6

“So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,' and it would obey you.

I find myself being very humbled by this verse. For me it's a reminder of how unworthy we truly are, that if it was left up to us to work towards heaven the rate of success would be a whopping zero percent. That God looks down on our overwhelming sins and is able to see through all of it, and see us as his beautiful creation. It's humbling to think that even when you are walking with the lord for Xamount of years, and you've saved Xamount of people, we still cannot have enough faith to simply size up to one of the smallest seeds known to man. The love we receive cannot be altered from our end to the slightest degree. This verse ultimately proves to me the amount of God's love for us, even though our faith is small, our hearts are heavy, and our minds are darkened with countless numbers of sins, God loves me no less than that same day I took my first breath.

Today I plan to make even the tiniest of decisions with the help of Christ. Therefore, building my faith little by little with each tiny decision made and strive to prove this verse wrong with everything I do.