God's Strength

God’s Strength

“Seek the Lord and his strength.” (Ps 104: 3 – 4)

Concentrate on God’s strength and not your weakness.

Do not say: “I do not have this; I do not have that.” Remember that the Lord has everything. If he is my shepherd, I also have everything I need.

Do not say: “I can’t do this; I can’t do that.” Remember that if the Lord is with you, you can do anything he wants you to accomplish.”

Never say: “This is impossible; that is impossible.” For God everything is possible.

Seek the Lord and his strength. Always seek his face.

My Portion and My Heritage

My Portion and My Heritage

“My birthright, my cup is Yahweh; you, you alone, hold my lot secure. The measuring line marks for me a delightful place, my birthright is all I could wish.” (Psalm 16: 5 – 6)

“For the laborer deserves his keep.” (Matthew 10: 10)

“You will have no heritage in their country, you will not have a portion like them; I shall be your portion and your heritage among the Israelites.” (Number 18: 20)

“Put avarice out of your lives and be content with what you have; God himself has said: I shall not fail you or desert you, and so we can say with confidence: with the Lord on my side, I fear nothing. What can human beings do to me?” (Hebrew 13: 5)

In these four scriptures, God speaks about money, property and possessions.

I depend on God for everything. Christ is my boss. I fix my eyes on him for my rewards. I do not doubt at all that it will come and it will be generous.

Time

Time

“You do not know when the appointed time will come.” (Mark 13: 33)

This means that we must learn to wait. We must wait and be prepared like the servant waiting for the return of his master. The appointed time may come suddenly like a thief in the night. Since we know that the thief is coming but do not know the time of his arrival, we must keep awake and be alert all night. Eternal vigilance is the price of success. Life can be described as a period of waiting for things to happen. A woman waits for her child to be born. Then she waits for him to be weaned. She waits for him to go to school and waits for the time when he finishes school.

The bible teaches us that there are two ways of looking at time: time of grace called kairos and measurable time called chronos. Waiting can also be of two types:

Waiting that is connected with kairos, for example: “Watch and pray for you do not know the time.” In this type of waiting, there is nothing you can do to speed up matters. You depend on your faith. In this type of waiting, Isaiah says that “Faith that is firm is also patient.” You know by faith that the event will happen even if you do not know the time or the precise outcome.

The second type of waiting, associated with chronos is more predictable and measurable. The term for pregnancy is normally nine months.

“You do not know when the appointed time will come.” (Mark 13: 33) The appointed time is the time of grace, kairos time. We prepare for it through faith and prayer.

The Clay

“We are the clay and you are the porter; we the work of your hands.” (Isaiah 64: 7)

You either mold yourself and your life or you allow God to mold you and fashion your existence.

Who is molding your life today?

God / Word of God

Man / Word of man

Yourself / Your scripts

“Woe to him who contends with his Maker; a potsherd among potsherds of earth! Dare the clay say to its modeler, ‘What are you doing?’ or, ‘What you are making has no hands’?

Woe to him who asks a father, ‘What are you begetting?’ or a woman, ‘What are you giving birth to?” (Isaiah 45: 9 – 10)

Eternal Vigilance

Eternal Vigilance

“How blessed is anyone who rejects the advice of the wicked and does not take a stand in the path that sinners tread, nor sit in company with cynics, but who delights in the law of Yahweh and murmurs his law day and night.

Such a one is like a tree planted near streams; it bears fruit in season and its leaves never wither, and every project succeeds.” (Psalm 1: 1 – 3)

The promise: “Bear fruit in season”, that is, at the appointed time, at the fixed time.

What does “bear fruit’ mean to me? “Bear fruit” will relate to my special charism, my gift, that is, to learn and to communicate. This promise says that if I fulfill the conditions, at God’s appointed time, I will start communicating his word effectively to his people. In the meantime, what do I do? Two things:

1. Delight in God’s word and study it day and night.

2. Wait for the appointed time.

The 2^nd Promise: “And every project succeeds.” For example, the Enterprise. The Enterprise is made up of many projects, all of them connected with my mission and charism: I learn and I communicate. God promises that if I fulfill the conditions, the Enterprise will succeed.

What are the conditions laid down in Psalm 1?

· Reject the advice of the ungodly with regard to the Enterprise.

· Don’t mix with them; don’t frequent their spot.

· Delight in the word of God.

· Meditate God’s word day and night.

Meditating on God’s word day and night will give no room for the devil to get in. it is like having a vigilant guard on patrol for 24 hours. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance. The price of success of the Enterprise is eternal vigilance.

Almighty King

Almighty King

“Lord, Lord, Almighty King, everything is subject to your power, and there is no one who can withstand your determination to save Israel. You have made heaven and earth, and all the marvels that are under heaven. You are the master of the universe and no one can resist you, Lord. You know all things.” (Esther 4: 17)

The attributes of God from the above scripture:

· Almighty King, therefore sovereign and all powerful.

· Everything is subject to his power, therefore all powerful

· No one can withstand his determination to save me.

· He made heaven and earth and everything in it.

· He is the master of the universe.

· No one can resist him.

· He knows all things.

We need to remind ourselves constantly of the attributes of God to imbue us with filial confidence.

“I have not neglected the commandment of his lips, in my heart I have cherished the words of his mouth. But once he has made up his mind, who can change it? Whatever he plans, that he carries out.” (Job 23: 12 – 13)

I cherish God’s word.

Therefore I obey his commands.

When God makes up his mind on an issue, it is final. “If God is with me, who can be against me?” (Romans 8: 31)

When God endorses a plan, it is accomplished. All God’s enterprises succeed.

“But God saves the afflicted by his affliction, warning him in his misery.” (Job 36: 15)

Our afflictions are part of God’s saving justice. God teaches us through our miseries.