There Is No Substitute For God! Part 3

[Rev. Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks, PsyD]

                       

We need to shift our focus on God; the eternal, true and living God because only what we do for God is going to last!! What you do for others and what they do for you is not going to last; it is not eternal – it is temporary!! We must choose NOW whether our eternity is going to be heaven or hell!! We should build our treasures up in heaven, not here on earth because this earth is going to pass away (Matt 24:35; 2 Peter 3:10-12) – we will spend eternity with God IF we accept Jesus as our personal Lord and Savior!!

We need to ask the Holy Spirit to help us wake up out of the sleep we are in because if our focus is on the wrong things (men, women, things, money, a big house, etc. – these things are going to burn up with this world – we will be lost when Jesus return – we will be lost with all our material stuff)!! Our life is not about material things or anybody else – it is about Jesus!! Only God matters and the things of Him!! Again, we need to shift our focus off of “stuff” and make God our #1 priority!! It is NOT about us!! Let me say that again: “It is NOT about us!” It is about us telling God “God not my will but Your will be done in my life!” Therefore, I beseech you to wake up out of your sleep today; forget saying “I NEED somebody in my life!” You got God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit already there with you; They are waiting for YOU to surrender completely to Them! I am not saying it will be easy; especially if you are used to being in a relationship but I know God will strengthen you and help you wait on Him – wait until you are completely healed before you get into another relationship!! God will build your spirit man and give you the inner healing and fulfillment you need; I know He did it for me and still doing it today!! I have not been in a relationship since God delivered me from the last abusive marriage in October 2006; it has not been easy but God has brought me through and still brings me through!! I would rather be alone than to be in a dramatic, chaotic, abusive, etc. relationship; I have no problem waiting on God to put the right person in my path!! A person in our lives and material things satisfies our flesh (soul) temporarily – fleshy desires comes from the soul - the flesh will never be satisfied!! As you saw with Solomon in Ecclesiastes 2:1-11, he searched and searched but found out NOTHING could satisfy the soul!! We as Christians must make sure we are not living out of our soul, our fleshy desires, but are led by the Holy Spirit!! We should not do things in the flesh and say God told us to do it or expect God to approve it!!

When we give our life to Jesus, He gives us an alternative lifestyle to choose from so we do not allow our soul to continue to dictate our lives; we can be led by the Holy Spirit instead of our soul – but we must let God transform our soul – we are to give Him ALL of us – our spirit, soul (which house the mind, will, and emotions) and body! The Holy Spirit will lead and guide us and teach us how to live holy – He will impart His fruit (Gal 5:22-23) into us so we can be fulfilled!!

We need to trust God for EVERYTHING we need; we need to run to Him for help when we are weak because when we are weak, He is strong in us – His grace is sufficient for us – to take us through whatever we go through no matter how hard it seem, God CAN and WILL take us through if we go to Him!!! Jesus is our Shelter in the time of a storm and at all other times He is Whoever we need Him to be in whatever situation or circumstance!!

Remember, people CANNOT help you no more than God allow them to – touch their heart to help you! God does not want you to trust man; not even yourself – don’t put man ahead of God by seeking him when you should be seeking God!! Let’s see what the Word says about this – all verses come from biblegateway.com:

Ps 146:3-9: Don’t put your life in the hands of experts who know nothing of life, of salvation life. Mere humans don’t have what it takes; when they die, their projects die with them. Instead, get help from the God of Jacob, put your hope in God and know real blessing! God made sky and soil, sea and all the fish in it. He always does what he says—he defends the wronged, he feeds the hungry. God frees prisoners— he gives sight to the blind he lifts up the fallen. God loves good people, protects strangers, takes the side of orphans and widows, but makes short work of the wicked (MSG).

Ps 118:8: It is better to trust and take refuge in the Lord than to put confidence in man (AMP).

Micah 7:5: Trust not in a neighbor; put no confidence in a friend. Keep the doors of your mouth from her who lies in your bosom (AMP).

Jeremiah 17:5-10: ⁵ This is what the Lord says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the Lord. ⁶ They are like stunted shrubs in the desert, with no hope for the future. They will live in the barren wilderness, in an uninhabited salty land.

⁷ “But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence. ⁸ They are like trees planted along a riverbank, with roots that reach deep into the water. Such trees are not bothered by the heat or worried by long months of drought. Their leaves stay green, and they never stop producing fruit.

⁹ “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? ¹⁰ But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve” (NLT).

Why do these Scriptures tell us NOT to put our trust in man? Because God is the ONLY One who has EVERYTHING we need; He is the ONLY One who can satisfy us – and God does not want us to depend on no one but Him – He is our ONLY God!! Another reason why we should not put our trust in man is because there is no guarantee that if God speak to someone to help us, they will do it; the person has a choice to obey God or not – they have free will!!

I have been hurt so many times because I put my trust in my “friend” and he or she did not come through for whatever reason; I just knew they had my back – NOT!! The ONLY Person who really has our backs is God!! Man is NOT capable of satisfying our every need; we have so many needs and try to get satisfaction from a human but it is not possible – most of the time people have their own problems and they can’t help us but God does not get weighted down – He can and does carry the burdens of the world and not get tired!!

 

Click here for PDF version of Part 3

 

May God continually bless you!

Dr. Dorothy E. Hooks

 

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