Lean Not on Your Own Understanding

Fear has been a common theme amongst Christians as of late. The enemy is trying his hardest to make sure that we're kept in fear. Fear from the unknown. Fear from the past. Fear of everything. And I acknowledged that in my last post.

Since we talked about what, or should I say Who, casts out fear, we also have to know that faith and trust is also imperative in casting it out.

A Bible verse that has been in my head is Proverbs 3:5. And although it doesn't exactly say not to fear, there are some little gold nuggets that we can discern from this verse.

First is the obvious. Trust in the Lord. When we put our complete trust in God, what shall we fear? What can anyone do to us that God can't handle? The Bible is always telling us to trust God, but it isn't always so easy. We want to take matters into our own hands and try to handle our situations on our own. But that won't work. We manage to mess it up further, so God has to fix our mistakes and bring us back around to what we're supposed to be doing. We could have avoided all of that if only we had trusted God.

Take Psalm 56:3-4 for instance.  "Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You. In God (I will praise His word), In God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can flesh do to me?" Psalm 56:3-4

Even David knew the importance of trusting in God. There's no need to fear because our trust is in God.

Side note: I particularly like "I will praise His word." Why? Because praise ALWAYS stops the enemy. It's important to praise, especially when it's the last thing we want to do. Praise brings us out of fear and into trust because we're focusing on God, not our fears (problems).

Then we have this little part of "with all of your heart." That doesn't mean with part of your heart. It means with ALL. If we trust in God with ALL of our heart, that means there's no room for fear and doubts. Hard right?

Fear and doubt are sneaky little devils. They will come to torment you, to make you forget that the One in control isn't the one who matters, but God has the final say-so, not them or us. He knows what's best for all of us, and it's time that we started trusting in Him with ALL of our heart.

And, then, we have "lean not on our understanding." This has two possible meanings. One could be that whatever we "think" is wrong isn't really an issue. It's the lies of the devil making us blow things out of proportion, or it could mean that we shouldn't rely on ourselves to fix the situation. That we should ALWAYS put our trust in God.

Both of those are great indicators of how we shouldn't put trust in ourselves but in the Almighty God.

Once we trust God fully, all fear, doubts, discouragement and whatever other lie the devil is trying to use against you will have to go. And once we start trying to do God's job, we give the devil an opening to come back and torment us.

It's time that we put all of our trust in God, that we fully believe that God will take care of any and every situation that we find ourselves in. Lean not on YOUR own understanding but lean on God's! 

Are YOU Ashamed?!

⁷ for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

⁸ Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, ⁹ who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, ¹⁰ and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, ¹¹ for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, ¹² which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me

2 Timothy 1: 7-12


While walking through Wal-Mart, searching for my sister, I saw this lady in one of those store-provided scooters.  No thoughts of prayer were even crossing my mind.  I only had one goal, find my sister.  Yet, when I saw her, I thought pray for her.  I kept walking, sure that I had conjured up the thought myself, until I began to get sick at my stomach, like someone was squeezing my insides.  Gut-wrenching as my sister says.

I sought God.  Asked Him what I needed to do, and I sought advice from my sister.  The conclusion was obvious.  Pray for her, right there in the middle of Wal-Mart, in the greeting card section, pray for her.

I fought God for a minute, sure that He wasn't really telling me to go pray for her.  But, He was serious, and I was going to obey.

I asked her if she minded that I pray for her, and she shook her head, obviously she was uncertain about some crazy girl walking up to her in the middle of Wal-Mart saying God wanted me to pray for her. 

So, I prayed for her, unable to find the words.  I babbled, feeling incompetent and stupid, and all I could think to say was be with this woman and whatever need she has, whether she knows it or not.  So that's what I prayed. 

And you know what?  After that prayer, she hurried away from me, riding that scooter as fast as it could take her without a word.  And even though that's a hilarious image, the fact remains that, she thought I was insane.  Heck, I felt insane.

I immediately began to doubt myself.  Did God even tell me to pray for her? If so, why me?  Why did I have to be the one whose words were nervous and silly sounding, pray for her?  Surely someone else could've done it.  Someone better with spoken words than me. 

No.  That wasn't the case.  I may have acted like a bumbling fool, but God wanted me to do it.  I don't know why.  Only He does, but I obeyed Him.  I could've ignored Him, ignored the woman who needed something, but I chose not to.  Why?  Because I don't want my Father hurt because I disobeyed His commands.  But not only that, God has so many things in store for us if we OBEY His voice!

For instance, Exodus 19:5 states, "Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession among all peoples, for all the earth is mine;"

To be God's treasured possession.  Just think about that.  If we obey God, if we listen to His commandments, we will be treasured among the peoples, among the earth.  Can you imagine the favor we would be getting for just listening to God and doing what He wants us to do?  Really.  Just imagine what He will do for us that we cannot do for ourselves, the doors that will be opened just by obeying.  

In fact, I can give you an example of just what God will do for you simply by obeying Him.  Read Deuteronomy 28.  In that chapter is listed blessings you will receive just by obeying God.  And then, it lists the curses that will befall you if you don't obey God.

Deuteronomy 28: 13
 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them,

That is just ONE example of what God will do for us if we obey Him.

Now, what happens when we DON'T obey God?

Deuteronomy 28:66

Your life shall hang in doubt before you. Night and day you shall be in dread and have no assurance of your life.

 Not only does this hang over us if we don't obey God, but why should we be ashamed for being a Christian?  To listening to God?  God sent His Son to die for me, for us.  So why should we push Him aside because we don't want people to know we're Christians?

And why don't we want people to know we're Christians?  That we're the heirs of God?  I want people know to that I'm a Jesus Junkie!  I want people to know that God is my Savior because without Him, I would be a nobody, I would be lost and in sin.  I don't want that life.  I want this one!  I want to be one of God's treasured possessions!

My dad preached a sermon once about being ashamed of the gospel.  Here's what he said:

When I was about to ignore God's command and push it aside as my thought instead of God's, I thought of this sermon.

The apostles went through so much more than strange stares and hurried escapes.  They died.  People still die in the name of God, missionaries and Christians in countries where Christianity is against the law.  And we're afraid to walk up to someone and say, "Hey, Jesus loves you."  Where is the justice in that?  How can we not see that we're the ones in the wrong for ignoring and being ashamed of the gospel and what Jesus has called us to do, share His Word?

I know it's not easy.  I fought this.  People fight it and ignore it all the time, but I'm stepping out here and saying, don't be ashamed.  Please.  God will lead you where you need to be at the moment you need to be there, and He will tell you what to say.  Just listen to his guidance.

Luke 9:26
For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.

Why so negative?

Negativity is like a poison.  It spreads until finally it's taken over your mind.  It sits there and dwells until finally, you can't see anything positive.  You don't speak positively, everything is negative speaking.  Well, the Bible tells us that "Death and life are in the power of the tongue, And those who love it will eat its fruit." (Prov. 18:21 NKJV)

We are supposed to mind our tongue.  We can do the most good or the most damage by using just our mouth.  It is the member of our body that will keep us in the most trouble.  Since this is the case, then why should we speak negatively about the things in our life.  We will only make things worse on ourselves by speaking this way.  Why not speak good things into our lives instead of speaking the bad things?

Just a few chapters over, the Bible says, "Whoever guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from troubles." (Prov. 21:23 NKJV)  If you speak badly, you're only bringing trouble to yourself.  So why should we sit back and dwell on the things that we see as negative?  Why should we say the negative things that we are thinking?

I have to admit, I'm not always an optimistic person.  I try to be, and I honestly need to be more optimistic than pessimistic.  It wasn't until recently did I start thinking about how badly these negative thoughts affect our lives and attitudes.

James 3: 5 says, "Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things.  See how great a forest a little fire kindles!"  Don't let your tongue spread the negativity around like a poison!  Speak good things into existence.

Have you ever thought about the negative things you say and how they actually impact your life?  Why say that you're living a bad life?  Why not say, "I will live a good life.  I will live a happy life!"  Doesn't that sound much better than thinking and speaking, "Well, it's a bad life for me.  It'll never get better."  With that attitude it won't!

God doesn't want us miserable.  He doesn't want us to worry.  He wants us happy, healthy and whole.

Think about it.  Doesn't negativity and worrying go hand in hand?  Of course it does!  With that negative thinking, you're going to be worrying about your future which GOD HOLDS IN HIS HANDS!  He knows what He is doing.  Why can't we just trust Him?

"Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." (Phil. 4:6,7)

Why should we think negatively when it says that "the peace of God" will guard our hearts and minds?

Paul said to fill our minds with "...things that are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy - meditate on these things." (Phil. 4: 8)  He didn't say to think negatively! He said, basically, to think on good things!

Even in Colossians 3:2, it says, "Set your  mind on things above, not on things on the earth."

Why worry when you don't have to?  The things on earth don't matter!  It's God that matters.  It's God's plans!  Quit thinking about what could go wrong, and start thinking about what could go right!  God has His hand in our lives.  It's Him we should be seeking when we feel negative and down and out.  It's God who knows what we need in our lives.  Don't push him out because you think something will go wrong.  Bring Him in instead.  It can only get better for it. 

Who Directs Your Path?

We like to plan our future.  We like to plan ahead the day.  And when we make decisions, we want to make them according to our plans.  But what about the One who created us?  What does He want us to do?



Twice in the book of Proverbs does is say, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death."  Proverbs 14:12 and 16:25

So, if that wasn't the case, why would he tell us twice?  We need to get it in our heads that one way is death, the other life.  The footnote in my study Bible sent me to Matthew 7:13,14.  This is the end of the Sermon on the Mount.  Jesus is distinguishing the line between destruction and life.  Which meant, if you didn't follow Him, you would be sent to destruction.  He emphasized that we needed to choose life, choose Him.

These verses in Proverbs are indicating that exact thing.  Solomon, in this case, was telling us that we, as man, will see things that seem right but will eventually lead man to death.  So, we need to be wise and choose the right path.

But choosing the right path isn't easy.  Even Jesus said it wouldn't be easy in Matthew 7:14, "Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it."

It is important to remember that although life is difficult and we want to take the easy way out, we can't.  We have to take the right path.  That is the most important fact.

So, how do we figure out this right path and avoid death and destruction?  We pray.  I know I've quoted these verses a lot, but it's so important that we learn it.

Proverbs 3:5,6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths."

Acknowledge God and trust that He will take you where you need to go.  Like Jesus said, it won't be easy.  Life isn't easy, but God knows what He's doing.  We have to trust in Him. Trust that He knows our future, and He knows how it all ends.  He knows what is, and will, be best for us.

Proverbs 16:1 says, "The preparations of the heart belong to man, But the answer of the tongue is from the Lord."

Everyone is subject to God's will and way, no matter how much planning we, man, put into it.  Have you ever thought that life wasn't going like you wanted it to?  That nothing was going according to plan?  I have.  I've been there, many times!  I knew that God had a plan for me, but I didn't want to wait for it.  And, I wanted it to be what I wanted, not what God wanted.  I was wrong.  I was heading down the path of destruction.

One day, after praying about something that I thought was going in the wrong direction, God revealed to me something that I would have never had if I had gone down the path I wanted to go down.  I wouldn't have been able to freely worship God if I had gotten my way.

I thought about that, and immediately, I thanked God for stopping that path.  Because, I didn't want a life where I couldn't praise my King freely.  He gave me life.  He gave me everything.  Why should I NOT trust Him when He directs my path in a different way?  I didn't have an answer.  Because God has my answer.  He knows exactly what will happen and when it will happen and how it will happen.  That should be good enough for me.  That should be good enough for all of us.  It's just that we aren't taking the "me, me, me" out of GOD's plan for us.

"A man's heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps." Proverbs 16:7

Who directs your path?  You or the Lord? 

Have a Little Trust - Why is trusting so hard to do?

Learning to trust is possibly one of the hardest things to do.  I have trust issues.  I don't want to open myself up to the heartache that sometimes come along with trusting people.  But, what good does it do to keep myself from trusting others?  To keep myself from loving because in order to love you have to trust.  And God, well, He wants us to love everyone - even our enemies. So, do we have to trust to love?  I'm not sure, but why test it?

Opening myself up to trusting others has been a continuous battle, because once I finally let someone see the real me, I fear the worst - rejection, heartache - and it's happened to me before.  Over and over and over again.  But do you know what?  The one person who doesn't reject me or cause me heart to ache is God.

So why do I have a hard time trusting Him when all He has ever done is help me out, lead me where I need to be, and given me everything that I've ever needed?  It's because I'm human.  We want to take things into our own hands.  We want to worry about everything, and from that worrying, we want to fix it ourselves.  But, we can't fix it ourselves.  We have to learn to give it over to God.

Psalm 62:8 (NKJV) says, "Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us.  Selah."

God is our refuge.  He will take us into His arms, and He will make sure that nothing bad harms us.  Strong's Concordance says that "refuge" means "a shelter (literally or figuratively):  - hope (place of) refuge shelter trust"

That tells us that God will be our place of hope, a shelter from danger.  So, if He is this for us, why can't we trust that He will always be this for us?  Why in times of distress do we turn away from God and try to "fix it" ourselves?

Proverbs 30:5 (NKJV) tells us that "Every word of God is pure.  He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him."

"Every word of God is pure"  In my MacArthur study Bible, the note on the word "pure" says that it "literally means 'tried,' and found to be without dross or error."  Strong's Concordance says the same thing.  That the word "pure" meant that it was refined and tested to purge away.

So, God's word is pure.  That means that what He says is without error, so if the Bible tells us that He is our refuge and shield, that He will protect us at all times, (Notice it says "Trust in Him at ALL times."), why do we let ourselves DOUBT He will take care of our needs?

Just the other day, I was worried about not having enough money for my bills.  I don't know why I doubted that God wouldn't take care of me, but I did.  Financial burden seems to be something we don't trust God enough in.  Well, I was talking to my dad and mom about it, not asking to borrow money, but having problems trusting that the money was there.  Well, come Sunday, after praying hard about that, I got an email saying that I had received some money through ebay.

This is just one example of how God has shielded me from financial burden, yet each time it looks like things are getting tough, I don't TRUST HIM.  Why?  Why do I not trust the God who has given me everything no matter how many stupid mistakes I make?  His love and protection is without fail.  Why does that not stick with me?

Isaiah 26:4 (NKJV) says, "Trust in the Lord forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength."

That "everlasting strength" according to my MacArthur study Bible means "Rock of Ages," and that means, "a rocky cliff where the trusting one may find shelter from attackers."

When we feel like we're under attack or when we feel like nothing could get worse and then it seems like it does, God is where we need to be.  We need to find our "everlasting strength," our "Rock of Ages," our "shield."  God hasn't moved.  God is the "same yesterday, today and forever."  Our trust should be in the Lord.  He knows our past; He knows our future.  And unlike us, He knows what is actually best for us.

I'll leave you with this final word from Proverbs 3: 5, 6 (NKJV)

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your path."

God will show us where we need to be.  We just have to trust Him, no matter how hard it is.