SuperChamp

I will cry out to God Most High, to God who performs all things for me – Psalm 57:2

We have a choice – live according to our capabilities or live according to God’s capabilities. When we choose to perform all things for ourselves, we live according to our own strength and self-effort. As such, our performance reflects our mood, nature, and character. When we feel great, we perform well. But when we feel poor, then we perform poorly. The truth is we do not have to live and perform erratically. When we engage God to perform all things for us, we live according to God’s performance; we live according to His strength – that is His grace and wisdom. When we rely on Him, we become conduits of His grace – meaning it is He who performs (as the head) and we are just his hands and feet. And because it is He who is performing, then everything our hands and feet do becomes successful. How wonderful it is when God conducts all things on our behalf.

 I will rely on God’s strength instead of my own

Vows made to You are binding upon me, O God; I will render praises to You – Psalm 56:12

To live to God is to live in alignment with the guidance and leadership of the Holy Spirit. Similarly, to make a vow to God is to commit to something in alignment with his will. It is only these types of vows that God recognizes and makes binding on us. What does it mean for a vow to be binding on us? It means that God expects us to fulfill those vows, helps  us to fulfill them, and will reward us for fulfilling them.  When we make vows that are not aligned with Him, then God does not recognize those vows and does not help us to fulfill them. Thus, the commitments that we make in alignment with God bring blessings into our lives and the lives of others through God’s power. This is more than enough reason to praise Him. We should also praise Him for not empowering us to fulfil vows that have nothing to do with Him; vows that end up hurting us and those around us.

 Vows that are aligned with God benefit me and others

You number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle; are they not in Your book? – Psalm 56:8

God chooses to forget our sins but decides to capture every tear that we have ever shed. Just think about that for just a moment longer. God chooses to never forget our pain and conversely chooses to never remember our mistakes! Even if the pain is a result of your own doing, He deals with our pain as if we had nothing to do with it. Who else but God does this? Unlike man, God is not there on His throne saying, ‘serves you right’. With God, none of our tears fall to the ground. He is always there by our side when we cry. He puts our tears in His bottle and writes them in His book as a record. There is not one tear that we have shed in vain! One day, He will redeem all our tears and turn our mourning into joy. Though some days may be dark, we must remember that our pain will not last, and that joy always comes in the morning. God sees you and cares for you!

 God has not forgotten about me but knows my pain and desires to deliver me

When I am afraid, I will trust in You – Psalm 56:3

Courage is not the absence of fear but the strength to push forward despite the presence of fear. The supernatural strength we need to continue despite the odds comes from our faith in God. It comes from trusting in what He has spoken over our lives, knowing that He cannot lie, and knowing that what He speaks becomes reality. When operating in faith, fear no longer becomes the trigger for us to run away and abort our mission, but rather the trigger to run towards God. Are you afraid? Look away from your problems and look towards His promise! Let go of your worries so that your worries can fall into the hands of God. Do not allow fear to make any decisions for you – that privilege should belong to God and God alone. Let your fears draw you closer to God. As you draw closer to Him, His love casts our fear (1 John 5:18) and you’ll start living a life of triumph instead of a life of internal turmoil.

 When I am afraid is when I will choose to trust even more in God

Because they do not change, therefore they do not fear God – Psalm 55:19b

God is the same yesterday, today, and forevermore. He does not change. But we are not God. The reason God never changes is because He is perfect. As we are imperfect, we are supposed to change. We are supposed to be in a never-ending process of being conformed to the image of Christ as we strengthen our relationship with Him. If we do not change, it is because we have stopped getting closer to God through the renewal of our mind or we have chosen to be conformed to this world. When we do that, we lose the fear of God and start to develop the fear of man. Like fine wine, we are meant to get better with age. Let us not be counted amongst those who never change. Let us choose to get closer to God and by so doing develop a reverence and awe of Him.

 I choose to be transformed into the image of Christ by renewing my mind in the word

Evening and morning and at noon, I will pray, and cry aloud, and He shall hear my voice – Psalm 55:17

How often should we pray? The answer is always! We know this but praying always is easier said than done! We get lost in the busyness of life and get distracted by the many things we need to accomplish. To help counter this problem, both Prophet Daniel and King David had a daily routine of praying in the morning, at noon, and in the evening. Developing this discipline ensured that they involved God in their daily decisions. What does your prayer habit look like? Being intentional about spending time with God is key to developing our relationship with Him. Don’t leave it to your intentions. Instead, choose to program prayer into your daily routine.

 I choose to set aside time to build my relationship with God

For it is not an enemy who reproaches me, for then I could bear it – Psalm 55:12

Betrayal and disloyalty can be very hurtful especially when we have poured our time, resources, and energy into building what we thought was a solid relationship. Yet, the life of Jesus tells us that betrayal can occur at any point. Judas betrayed Jesus and Peter denied knowing Him. Both of these men were sorry for what they did, and Judas could not live with himself. Still, the betrayal did not stop Jesus from achieving His life’s purpose. If you or someone you know has undergone betrayal, know that the person who has betrayed you has done it because of their own issues and that the impact (no matter how bad) is temporary. Know that they have mostly betrayed you out of weakness rather than wickedness. Do not let betrayal harden your heart towards people. Instead, choose to trust God and He will take away the hurt and redeem you.

 Betrayal may be part of my story but is not the end of my story

So, I said, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! I would fly away and be at rest.” – Psalm 55:6

It is natural to want to escape when we are in trouble or are experiencing a difficult situation. But if we choose to leave every time things get tough, then we will find ourselves alone. Life can be tough, but God wants us to be tougher. When troubles come, we can either choose to run away or choose to run towards God. When we run away, we give ourselves temporary relief until trouble comes again. When we run towards God, we can experience supernatural peace despite our troubles, and we learn to handle the troubles until they are eradicated. God never promised us that there wouldn’t be trouble. In fact, Jesus says that we will have trouble in this life (John 6:33). But then He says we should be of good cheer because He has overcome the world. Thus, there is no point hoping for a trouble-free life as there is no such thing. Rather, we should pray for the presence of God in the midst of our trouble.

 I will choose to run to God instead of choosing to run away

And oppressors have sought after my life, they have not set God before them – Psalm 54:3

To set God before us means that God has taken leadership of our lives, and we have humbled ourselves to follow Him. Those who set God before them experience peace of mind and are not fodder for the thoughts of the enemy. As such, these people are content and see no need to oppress others. Those who have not set God before them BUT have set man before them are always looking for someone to come to their rescue or are always blaming someone for the situation in their life. They are adversarial, oppress, and make enemies of other people because they have not set God before them. What have you set before you – the word of God or the word of man? Who is leading you – God or man? Set God before you today and you will see no reason to play the blame game. Let His instruction be your command and your soul will find rest.

 When I put God before me, I live in peace with people

The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” – Psalm 53:1

Why would anyone say there is no God? Why would people start to doubt the existence of God? People who start to think this way  do so because their focus is on the evil that has happened to them, to their friends or family, or to people around the world. They find it difficult to reconcile the idea that God is good with the evil they see all around them. They start to ask: If God is good, then why does he allow so much evil! Unable to find an answer, they simply conclude that God must not exist or He does not care. The key term here is focus! If we focus on evil, the enemy starts to cause us to doubt the sovereignty, justice, and love of God. When we look for the good and look to count our blessings, we find that good far outweighs evil. We realize that there is a good God who works good despite the evil things that proceed from the heart and hands of man. It is foolish to focus solely on the negative as it warps our perspective of reality and leads us to step away from the Rock of our salvation. The negative will never cease because we live in a fallen world. Rather, let us focus on the good that God has brought and is looking to bring even through people. If in doubt, ask yourself, would you rather live in the 1500’s or in this present time.

 I will choose to focus on the positive things going for me