All God Wants is: "Yes"

I’ve said before how the promise-hunting began in Psalms for me. Well, I also found answers to questions that used to haunt me when I was younger. Looking back, I see how far I’ve come. No, not perfect- just progressing.

Reading the Word of God is what is really radically changing the way I think. I don’t want to think like everyone else. I want to be transformed by Christ and think completely different.

So I’ve also said before how I grew up in church. Something that used to be really hard for me was the hypocrisy. I saw many people come to church and get some of God, but then curse and gossip in the school bathroom. It was beyond hard for me not to judge them for being so fake. I hated seeing them do whatever they wanted and never getting caught. I knew I had to be careful so I didn’t become them, but also felt like I was being unfairly treated by God.

I guess you could say I was having a David moment. I was confused and wanted to know why people who do wrong succeed?!

So I sat down one day to look for some promises, and found Psalms 73. Verses 1-8, 13 are below: 

Surely God is good to Israel,
    to those who are pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet had almost slipped;
    I had nearly lost my foothold. 

For I envied the arrogant
    when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. 

They have no struggles;
    their bodies are healthy and strong.

They are free from common human burdens;
    they are not plagued by human ills.

Therefore pride is their necklace;
    they clothe themselves with violence. 

From their callous hearts comes iniquity;
    their evil imaginations have no limits.

They scoff, and speak with malice;
    with arrogance they threaten oppression.

Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure
    and have washed my hands in innocence.

After reading that, it was like a flashback to those moments where I encountered fake “Christians”. Then I kept reading and discovered something else. Verses 16-17 are below:

When I tried to understand all this,
    it troubled me deeply

till I entered the sanctuary of God;
    then I understood their final destiny.

Ahh, so it’s okay if this troubles me sometimes. It’s okay if I don’t understand. But when that happens, I better enter the sanctuary of God! I better get to His house fast, so God can teach me. Sometimes we really just need to get into the presence of God.

There’s a song that I heard called “Yes” by Shekinah Glory Ministry. I heard it for the first time after a sermon in my youth group. It’s words are powerful and life-changing if they become your prayer. “My heart and soul says Yes.”

The words also brought a challenge and an explanation. This desire to know why people could do bad things and not get caught, but I couldn’t- was answered in that song. (Actually, it's from Luke 12:48!) But on that night of the sermon, with Shekinah Glory Ministry playing, I heard it clearly: “There is more that I require of thee.” Over and over that line is repeated- and it stuck with me. 

I can’t do whatever I want, because God requires more from me. 

I can’t listen to the trashy music, because God requires more from me. 

I can’t go to that party (that I wasn’t even invited to), because God requires more. 

I can’t lower myself to that standard, because God requires more from me. 

So much more.

And even though He requires more of me, still I’ll say Yes. 

I say Yes to His will, His plan, His purpose- because it’s perfect and the only place worth being.

Click the link below to listen to this amazing song. It's long, but completely worth it!

"Yes" by Shekinah Glory Ministry

P.S. I didn't tell anyone that this was my next topic to write about. And a few days ago, a friend came up to me and started talking about this song, how because I talked about it- they've started listening to it more. It was a confirmation to me. Then, as I'm typing this on the computer, my iPod (which was on shuffle) started playing this song. Double confirmation! Thank you God, that you speak Your Word into our lives in so many different ways. I'm beyond thankful.

There's A Reason For the Closed Door

Lately, I’ve been struggling with the whole God-opens-doors-thing. I don’t have a problem with it; in fact, I LOVE when God opens doors for me. I guess the part I’m not so crazy about is when He closes some doors. Actually, that’s the part I’m really having a hard time with.

I see something that is so good. Everything about it looks good. No, not perfect- but good. And sometimes my mind plays tricks on me. Just like Satan and Adam and Eve way back in the beginning. Genesis 3:6 says, “When the Woman saw that the tree looked like good eating and realized what she would get out of it—she'd know everything!—she took and ate the fruit and then gave some to her husband, and he ate.” It looked like good eating. She thought it was good for her, but it wasn’t. That one piece of seemingly good fruit, brought about the fall of man. Now, I am not saying that just because something looks good, it’s automatically bad. I’m saying that you should be listening to God’s voice and following what He commands so that you aren’t off on your own, finding some good-looking fruit that is actually harmful.

Anyways, back to the doors...  So once I make up my mind to go through this door, it closes. Hard. And in what feels like the most ironic and cruel way. Thoughts like, “Really, God?!” were running through my head a lot.

Then, God shows up, as He always does. No, the door is not open, but once again He provides the vision. On a lonely ride home from work, it hit me softly. I felt God’s presence begin to comfort and assure and teach me.

I felt quite clearly in my spirit that night that a good thing- given at the wrong time- isn’t really a good thing. Something can be amazing, but if it’s you trying to call the shots in your timing, then how is is really a good thing? It’s not. If God has something else for you, for that moment, then the “good” thing isn’t the right thing for you then.

A cell phone charger is good, right? In fact, it’s vital to the cell phone’s survival. Suppose someone gives you a phone charger and you don't have a cell phone... What good is that charger to you if you don’t even have a cell phone?

See the connection? 

God has a plan. And good and perfect plan. He knows when you need things, and He will not forget.

Sometimes God opens doors because He wants you to learn what He has for you. 

He opens because the time is right.

Sometimes God closes doors because we’re not ready for what is on the other side. 

The timing isn’t quite right yet.

Has God refused to open a door in your life like He has in mine right now? Maybe we need to check ourselves and see if we’re ready for what God would have in store for us.

In Isaiah 43:19, God says, “For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.”

God is preparing you for something new. He’s aready started. Can’t you see it? God’s making a way, when there doesn’t seem to be a way. Get ready. Get ready because the door is about to open. And it may swing wide, changing everything you’ve ever known.