God Orders Your Steps

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And he delights in his way“ Psalm 37:23

If you trust in God, He will guide you and secure your steps. He will lead you in the right direction and strengthen your walk.

An average person in America takes about 4,700 steps a day. Over a life time that’s a lot of steps. For a believer God has ordered each of those steps. The word “ordered” means to make firm or establish. Every day, God is firming up your steps to keep you from falling.

There are two essential truths we have to remember about God ordering your steps.

The first truth is that God has an order for your steps. In Jeremiah 29:11 we see God has a plan, and that plan was good. God has a plan for directing our steps so we can fulfill the plan He has for us. If we allow Him, He will show us the right choices to make and lead us down the best path. He will show us which step to take to keep us going in the right direction.

The second truth is that God orders your steps by securing your footing. Sometimes life can feel like we are walking up a mountain of loose gravel. One step forward two steps back. Progress is slow treacherous and exhausting not knowing if we will ever reach the top.

God helps us from falling by making sure we are standing on solid ground. In Psalm 40:2 David says God had placed his feet on a rock and made his footsteps firm. God is doing that same thing today. While we see others sliding backwards or stumbling, God always our steps firm and secure. He plants our feet on the right path and shows us where we should step.

When we allow God to order our steps. He delights in us. Like a proud Father he rejoices in the first steps of Hid children..

Last week as I was leaving the grocery store, being tired and just wanting to go home. I thought about taking a faster way. Then I suddenly thought I would just go through town. When I returned home, my husband had told me there was a fatal accident on the road I was going to take. I immediately said to him, God ordered my steps. If I had gone that way, I could have been involved in the accident.

When you allow God to order our steps, He keeps us firm and secure. He plants your feet on the right path and shows you the right path.

Middle Name And Significance

What is your middle name? Does it carry any special meaning/significance?

I am named after my nagymama -my grandmother. Her name was Elizabeth. She was energetic, confident and determined. She loved life and lived to be 100 years old.

The significance of that name is the meaning of it. Elizabeth means “God is my oath.”

God’s Glory

“The heavens declare the Glory of God; the skies proclaim the works of His hands“ -Psalm 19:1

What is glory?

The dictionary defines it as praise and honor. We see glory in sports as people scream and cheer for their favorite team or player. We see glory for celebrities, as the camera flashes their picture and people scream and want their autograph.

But the Glory of God is different. David points out in Psalm 19 that there are two areas where God reveals Himself. “The heavens declare the glory of God.” it’s probably hard for us to even comprehend, that the universe was God’s creation. It testifies and displays the Glory of God. This Glory of God is the visible manifestation of His attributes and His character. Think about everything you see; the sun, stars, the ocean, and a spectacular eagle – all display God’s Glory. Nothing is hidden from it. Nothing can hide from God’s Glory.

There’s a song that comes to mind about the Glory of God. “I saw God today,” by George Strait. “I’ve been to church, I’ve read the book. I know He’s here. But I don’t look, near as often as I should. Yeah I know I should. What we choose to ignore on a daily basis is God’s Glory.

The Jewish people have a word for God’s radiance it’s “Shekinah.” Shekinah means to dwell or reside with. The Glory of God resides with humanity so that we can experience it.

God’s original design was for us to live in a glorious world with a Glorious God. But because sin entered the world through Adam and Eve, we have the desire to live for ourselves and our own glory. We want things our way and to take credit for what only God can produce. We want others to glorify us, we want to try to do things our own way and we fail time and again.

Our only hope is for the God of glory to invade our lives and rescue us. That was why God sent His only Son Jesus to earth, to give us a second chance. To have someone completely sin-free to die for our sins and make is white as snow. Our response should be to praise and thank Him and give Him Glory.

“From the rising of the sun to its setting the name of the Lord is to be praised. The Lord is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens” – Psalm 113:3-4.

Many people are trying to be their own God. We can see the way the world and see it isn’t working. There’s a quote by Albert Einstein that says, “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” It looks to me that the world as we know it is pretty insane right now,

We need to open up our eyes and make conscious decisions to praise Jesus for dying for us. Because He is so faithful and so good to us. Ignoring Him and choosing to do things our way is insanity.

The Last Thing I Learned

What is the last thing you learned?

I learned that God expects us to obey. Blessings will not come until we do the last thing God told us to do.

I can’t expect to receive a blessing until I obey the last thing God told me to do.

Almost every commandment we receive from God is accompanied by a promised blessing. Obedience to the command brings freedom, personal growth, protection from danger, and many other temporal and spiritual blessings.

If we are struggling we need to remember what the last command God told us to do and do it.

Developing Faith Through Adversity

Trials allow us to apply God’s Word instead of just reading it.

When we read the Bible we see many people serving Jesus for years. They experienced continual suffering. Which doesn’t seem fair. Who would God let them go through so much pain? It’s a question many of us ask today about ourselves. We think that the Lord should protect us from hardships but He doesn’t always do so.

Maybe our reasoning is backward. We think that faithful believers don’t deserve to suffer, but from God’s perspective, suffering is part of being a faithful believer. If we all had lives of ease without pain, we would never really know God, because we would never need Him. Like it or not, adversity teaches us things that simply reading the Bible never will.

I’m not saying we don’t need to know Scripture, that’s our foundation for faith. But if what we believe is never tested, it remains only head knowledge. How will we ever know God can be trusted amid trouble if we’ve never experienced hardships? God gives us opportunities to apply scriptural truths to the difficulties facing us, and in the process, we find Him faithful,

Trials can be a means of building faith or an avenue to discourage and self-pity -it’s up to you. But if you apply God’s Word to your situation, your trust in Him and your faith will be strengthened through adversity.

“But we also rejoice in our suffering, knowing that suffering produces perseverance; and perseverance, proven character, hope, and hope doesn’t disappoint us because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us“ – Romans 5:3-5

One Question I Hate Being Asked

What is one question you hate to be asked? Explain.

I hate being asked why I’m so quiet. After being told to shut up as a child. I feel I am more of an observer and listener. I like to listen to people it’s how I learn. We can listen and learn a whole lot about a person. I used to and learn whether to trust them or not.

I gain insight, I notice little things. When we learn to be quiet we are more able to pick up on patterns, behaviors, and nuances most people overlook.

Because of my childhood, I had to learn by listening and observing the things around me. I am quiet because that’s how I have learned to function.

It takes me a long time to warm up to people, if I don’t think I can trust someone I don’t let them in.

4 Ways The Holy Spirit Speaks To You

The promise from Jesus came when He went away. He promised to send us a helper.

There is a description of the nudge if the Holy Spirit. It’s an inarticulate expression in out minds to do this or that or not to do something. These are usually whispers that don’t come articulated in the form of a complete sentence or even in words. It is an overwhelming feeling of peace and confidence you are doing the right thing, or taking action that God wants for you.

1. An unshakable thought

The Holy Spirit tugging starts as a tiny thought that comes into your mind and begins to poke at you. It’s like a “Ping Ping” maybe I should be this.

“For your thoughts are not my thoughts not are your ways my ways, says the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” – Isaiah 55:8-9

You can rest assured that a thought can be planted by God to help lead you. Thoughts come and go, but an unshakable thought, whether unshakable for a week or years, if it comes back, it is worth looking at.

Sometimes there are wordless impressions in your mind. When they come in a form of a thought, they can be very powerful, or they can come as a whisper.

2. The Holy Spirit’s leading will come with doubt and fear.

Why would His leading come with doubt and fear? Because we are human, and we don’t know the outcome. It is typically out of our comfort zone, something that causes you to do something disruptive in your own life, that start or stop of something new or old. In a nutshell, it’s uncomfortable.

3. The Holy Spirit’s leading transitions into a feeling or heart positioning.

It feels like your heart is pulling and doors start opening where you see that this is possible for you.

This is when the feelings start to help you know it is from the Holy Spirit.

Heart positioning is where your heart aligns with the Holy Spirit’s heart and now you are working together.

4. The Holy Spirit prompts you to take action.

You will feel prompted to act. There is nothing you can do to stop yourself from taking action in what you are feeling led to do. This is how you know for sure that this is from the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit is speaking to you. You are spiritually being convicted to move.

Don’t try to overthink it or second-guess yourself. Just act. If you are not sure pray. He will give you a yes if it’s the Holy Spirit.

John 14:17 says, “The spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him not knows Him. But you know Him for Her dwells with you and will be in you.”

The Holy Spirit is a truth bringer, a truth speaker, and there is truth over your life. The truth of God reigns. The truth of where you are being called to go is available for you, it is time to take action on the very step.

God’s plan is so much bigger than your dreams can ever be. The Holy Spirit’s nudge is what got me writing a blog.

If you feel that nudge, you have nothing to lose, and clarity to gain to see if it’s the right next step for you.

Hindered Prayer

How effective are your prayers? What things can harm the prayers you pray? All of us want our prayers to be answered. Why else would we pay them.

God always answers. We just get troubled when His answer is contrary to our request. His answer is sometimes no.

1 John 5:13-15 says,

“And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.“

God definitely answers prayers. The key here is “according to His will.” That’s when He hears and answers our prayers.

The Bible says our prayers can be hindered by several things. So there are prayer blockers.

The first prayer blocker is unforgivenes. When we harbor resentment, offense, bitterness, or anger toward another person it blocks our prayers.

In Mark 11:25 Jesus says, “And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone; so that your Father, who is in heaven, may also forgive you your transgressions.

We are to forgive if we want to be forgiven.

The second prayer blocker is unconfessed sin. Asking God to move on your behalf when you knowingly continue to sin leads to our prayers going unanswered.

Psalm 66:18 says, “If I had cherished iniquity in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.”

Doing bad things never earns good things. Sin is a barrier that always separates us from God.

Romans 6:23 says, “For the wages of sin is death,but the free gift of God is eternal life in Messiah Yeshua our Lord.”

The third prayer blocker is selfishness. James 4:3 says, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” We don’t get our prayers answered because our motives are impure and wrong.

God always answers prayers according to His Will and desires. If it isn’t His will or goes against His will, you can be sure it won’t get answered.

It isn’t selfish to pray for ourselves, but we can be unselfish about it.

Jesus prayed to His Father, “Not my will but Yours be done” in Luke 22:42.

Another prayer blocker is ignoring Scripture. James 4:17, says, knowing what to do and not doing it is a sin.

Proverbs 28, 9 also says, “If one turns away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer will be an abomination.”

Luke 6:46 says, “Why do you call me, Lord, Lord, and don’t do the things which I say.”

Hope can we call Him Lord if we don’t know what He says. How can we pray something contrary to God’s Word and except God to answer us. I have found one if the best ways to get my prayers answered is to pray the scripture itself.

“For the Word of the Lord is right and true. He is faithful in all He does” – Psalm 33:4.