Trusting God
As mentioned before, God never changes. “He was; He is and He is to come…” He never lies and He is always faithful. Faith / Faithfulness is also one of the fruits of the Spirit (Gal 5:22-23), so if you have the Holy Spirit in you (happens when you give your life to Jesus and are baptised) you are given a measure of faith, added to that which you already have. From here on, building this faith is one of the cornerstones to living to your fullest and fulfilling your purpose. Abraham, [before Jesus], BELIEVED the Lord and so God counted him as righteous because of his faith. If you can have the faith to believe God’s word then you will live the best life that you can. God promises that He is always with you, He is your strong tower / safe place, provider and wonderful counsellor, He has a plan and a purpose for you – that will prosper you and not harm you! He knows you better than you know yourself as he created you that way, and has called you not to live by the norms, standards and laws of this world- but as an ambassador of heaven. The people of the world have to grovel and store away food in barns, but how much more will God feed his people and provide their every need? Food, water, housing, clothes… the people of the world worry day after day about these things, but can all this worry add even a single moment to your life? God is in control, he holds the keys to life and death.
Understandably we seldomly start off with this amount of faith unless it is gifted to us, but as we walk this road there are many, many times and opportunities for you to experience God’s faithfulness if you will let him. By this I mean that God says that he predetermined and set the boundaries of every nation and empire on Earth, that He decided beforehand when they should rise and when they should fall (Acts 17:26). So yes, maybe your neighbour gave you a donation to help you come out this month – while the neighbour deserves a thanks you must realise and acknowledge that, that is how God often provides. For me the ‘coincidence’ answer was a really difficult one to get over, and sometimes it still is, but know that God is in control, especially concerning those who love him. As you continue down this path, and learn to live by the standards spelled out for us by Jesus, being willing to take the leap of faith, even if just small ones at first, it will grow your faith and you will move closer to living life at its pinnacle.
Being grateful with what you have
Surely until now you may not have had life in abundance, but if you are honest with yourself you will see that God has provided and taken care of you, even now. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you, then, stop and count your blessings – now and for times gone past. Heck! Take a piece of paper and write them down. If you are realistic with yourself, it won’t be difficult and once you’ve done that turn to God and give him praise and thanks for all that He has done and is doing for you. It should humble you, it should bring about a peace and calm beyond understanding – so much so that you may even be inclined to be satisfied with the bliss that you find yourself in, and even so God has so much more for you if you would only accept it.
Not dwelling on the past – look to the future
Your past may be great, it may be a source of nostalgia that you love to lose yourself in or it may be filled with regret – yet there is always tomorrow. I believe that looking to the past for strength, testimony and to build your faith in God is a great thing. Troublesome times and periods are gold mines to find God in, and to see how He looked after or protected you. When looking back, common observation may involve having strength to overcome a situation that other people may say “how did you manage?” – From doing this you can take strength and reassurance of God’s faithfulness so that you can overcome the now and whatever may come in the future, as God will not bring something across your path too great for you to overcome. God promises that He is always with you and that He will never forsake you. Honestly it’s a bit cliche but when you are at your weakest, He is strong – meaning this is when His activity in your life is clearest and easiest to see. In all this be sure to remember God has a purpose for your life, and because he knows you best, you can be sure that that purpose is the one that will suit you best. Therefore in light of this, continue looking forward and do not get caught up on past regrets, there is nothing for you there and doing so will only allow the enemy to steal from your future. I’ll quote a song from Don Francisco here: “Satan the accuser has been whispering in your ear, just tell him your forgiven, he’s got no business here – because it doesn’t matter what you’ve done it matters what you’ll be, [Jesus] will take your guilt and sin away if you’ll just let them go.”
Identity – understanding yourself
You were made by God, your personality and everything else that is you reflects a part of God, in his ‘body’ that only you can do – as surely as only you have those fingerprints and eye retinas. Who could better teach you about yourself than the one who created you? In discovering who you are you find value, meaning, purpose, a belonging and asureity of the highest order – and being able to share that with your friend, who is also the GOD of the universe, who understands and cares for you on a far more intimate level than anyone, is ultimately a perfect foundation. By discovering who you are, you may receive a self-love better than you’ve ever had or a self-love that you desperately need.
Self Love / Appreciation
Do you think you can even love yourself as much as God loves you? It is because He first loved us that we are even able to love. As you draw closer to God your pool / depth of love becomes deeper and as it does, and you become more able to grasp God’s infinite love for you, you learn to value and love yourself. As you become more intimate with God and grasp the depths of His love for you, you realise that this love and belonging exists for your brother and sister, for your neighbour and even for your enemies. If you spend time thinking about it you’ll realise that as we are called to love Jesus first, Yourself last and Others in between [JOY] that not loving yourself may significantly limit how much you can love another.
Now this is not ‘Biblical’ as it is my psycho-social theory, but it does seem to be true – If you don’t love yourself, the love that you assign yourself is limiting the worth of what your love will be for the other person and in doing so will limit the ‘love base’ that you are capable of loving from or sharing with others. For example, if person A’s self love value is 5, then that person has a base love value of 5 that can be shared or given to others. So you might be able to share 3 and keep 2 for yourself at any given time. The thing is, your self love value limits what you can share or give to others. If you struggle to love yourself and treat yourself badly, how can you expect other people at a surface level to treat or love you any more than you do yourself? So at the same time a low self love prevents you from accepting or receiving love from others. Keep in mind that if person B’s love base is 10 while he/she may give a love base of 7 to person A, person A is only capable of receiving 5. Just as the amount of God’s love that you can experience is limited by how much you can love yourself as the person that God intended for you to be.
Conclusion
So you sum it up – Trust God! Being grateful for what you have is a source of growing your faith / trust in God. In trusting God you can trust His excellent work in making you, His perfect plan for you and His love for you – which accumulates in a self love value which will go a long way in helping you not only cope, but live life to its fullest, the way God intended.
I would like to invite you to partner with me in doing the Lord’s work: become a Champion for Christ in Scotland and the nations. You can be a contributor through:
1st – through prayer, for strength in great challenges, further growth, providence, wisdom and for more amazing encounters with God.
2nd –financially: Banking detatils
FNB – Branch Code: 200407
Account Number: 62736570757
I also have a Paypal account: paypal.me/DanielFaure1079
Thank you! Best regards and blessings, Daniel.
United with Dan on a Mission 
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