“O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit or stand. When far away you know my every thought. You chart the path ahead of me and tell me where to stop and rest. Every moment you know where I am. You know what I am going to say before I even say it. You both precede and follow me and place your hand of blessing on my head. This is too glorious, too wonderful to believe! I can never be lost to your Spirit! I can never get away from my God! If I go up to heaven, you are there; if I go down to the place of the dead, you are there. If I ride the morning winds to the farthest oceans, even there your hand will guide me, your strength will support me. If I try to hide in the darkness, the night becomes light around me. For even darkness cannot hide from God; to you the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are both alike to you” (Psalm 139 1-12 TLB).

God knows everything there is to know about you. He knows your name. He knows your every thought. He sees each and every tear that falls from your eyes. He hears you when you call to him. He knows to where you go and from where you come. He is there whenever you go and whenever you return. God even knows the number of hairs that you have on your head (Matthew 10:30). Man is very important to God.

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Did you know that God has a plan, a purpose for your life?

“For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11 NIV).

Yes, it is true. God has a great plan, a purpose for your life. God wants you to succeed and not fail. You were not created to fail, no matter what has happened in your past or what it appears like now. God’s plan has always been for good, meant to prosper you, a plan to give you hope and to give you a future. His plan never included evil that was meant to harm you. How awesome is that! Did you know that you are called and set apart for a heavenly purpose?

“But you are not like that, for you have been chosen by God himself—you are priests of the King, you are holy and pure, you are God’s very own—all this so that you may show to others how God called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light. Once you were less than nothing; now you are God’s own. Once you knew very little of God’s kindness; now your very lives have been changed by it” (I Peter 2:9-10 TLB).

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Believe that no matter what you are going through, the Lord is with you!

“Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Deuteronomy 31:6).

Moses, when he was a hundred and twenty years old and forbidden to go over the Jordan, told the children of Israel to “be strong and of good courage; not to be afraid” as they prepared to go over the Jordan into the Promised Land, led by Joshua.

“And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither
“forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed” (Deuteronomy 31:8). “...as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee” (Joshua 1:5).

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Not long ago we spoke of Paul’s assignment to inform others of the mystery of the gospel and to make clear, the good news of this gospel (Ephesians 6:19). Paul wanted us to clearly understand that his knowledge in “the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:3-4) was by revelation from God, so that he could inform, proclaim fully, and make clear the truth concerning Jesus the Christ through the revelation of the mysteries, which were kept secret since the world began. The one thing we found amazing was the fact that there were many untruths circulating around about the person of Jesus the Christ in Paul’s day as he was making clear the mystery of the gospel. The problem for Paul was that there was another force going about preaching another gospel, different from the one that he was preaching. In a letter to those believers at Corinth, he spoke of his concerns.

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There are many spirits mentioned throughout scripture that have been associated with mankind, some of them good while others are bad. Scripture clearly states that God gives us the good spirits and does not give us the others, yet we find those spirits, which we receive not from God, affecting or influencing our lives. We hear of this war that we are all involved in, where “we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places” (Ephesians 6:12), and though we normally do not think of our opponents in these terms, could altering how we view them give us an advantage in this spiritual war that we are engaged in?

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind” (II Timothy 1:7 NKJV).

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Paul had an assignment to inform others of the mystery of the gospel. He had to make clear without fear the good news of this gospel (Ephesians 6:19). Paul asked those at Ephesus to pray for him that God may give him the right words so he could explain clearly to others what the mystery of the gospel was. Although he was in prison in Rome at the time he wrote to the saints in Ephesus and the faithful in Jesus Christ, he asked that he might continue to open his mouth and speak boldly. He had an assignment to make known the mystery; a hidden truth kept secret since the beginning of time but now revealed to the apostles and the prophets.

“As I wrote afore in few words, whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:3-4). “Withal praying also for us, that God would open unto us a door of utterance, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in bonds: that I may make it manifest, as I ought to speak” (Colossians 4:3-4).

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There appears to be some question as to the love that God has for his creation. So many believers, as well as many non-believers, have this impression that God, in some way, is completely responsible for all the bad that is seen the world through. Many share the belief that God, whom some see as this unfair dictatorial deity, uses such events to either punish his creation, to teach his creation some type of lesson, or for some other kind of purpose only known to him. However, the truth of the matter is that God, who is love, truly loves his creation and would never do anything to harm it.

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As we conclude, lets us open our mind and open our heart so that we may see and hear the truths that God is trying to reveal. Because the Church has redefined “the sovereignty of God” to mean, “God is in total control and that nothing happens but that which the will of God allows to happen,” many believers and non-believers as well, have been led to believe that God is somehow responsible for all the tragedies that occur in the world. They believe God is somehow responsible for the daily struggles that so many go through every day, such as depression, fear, worry, anxiety, confusion, doubt, discouragement, low self-esteem, poverty, sickness, and death. They have been taught and truly believe that everyone suffers these things because this is “the will of God.” That old cliché, “God will not put more on you than you can bear,” appears to fall in line with the teachings that God is responsible for the things that happen to us. We must note that the Old Testament scriptures are more likely to be used to support this argument because the New Testament portrays God as a very willing healer and life giver. Most people are familiar with the story of Job and how God has been portrayed in that story. But more importantly, they are all familiar with one of the most often repeated statements that originated from that story by Job.

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Let us continue our efforts to set the record straight about this misrepresentation surrounding “the sovereignty of God” perpetrated by the Church. Again, the Church has redefined “the sovereignty of God” to mean, “God is in total control and that nothing happens but that which the will of God allows to happen.” From our previous commentaries, we found that the devil, who is referred to as “the god of this world, the prince of this world, and the prince of the power of the air” (II Corinthians 4:4; John 12:31; John 14:30; Ephesians 2:2) is actually in control of this world’s system. We also know that Adam delivered this control over to the devil (Luke 4:5-6). The problem is that this misrepresentation has given many a false impression of God and has turned many away from God, all because they believe the redefined “sovereignty of God” definition. We have even coined the phrase, “an act of God” to use whenever there is a tragedy, a disaster, or a catastrophic event that we cannot explain by any other means.

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