Lists...

Happy Sunday!

We love lists!  Every magazine cover I see has at least one list.   "Ten Steps to Great Abs",  "Five Ways to Know He Cares", and "Seven Steps to a Happy Life" and on and on and on!  My Mother loved to leave us lists of chores that had to be done before she arrived home from work.  My children can attest to the fact that I have created similar lists in my child rearing days.  Even the Bible is full of lists.  Psalm 1 lists the description of a Blessed Man..."Great blessings belong to those who don’t listen to evil advice, who don’t live like sinners, and who don’t join those who make fun of God."(Easy-to-Read Version).    Proverbs 6:16-19 lists the seven things that God hates..."These six things the Lord hates, indeed, seven are an abomination to Him:  A proud look [the spirit that makes one overestimate himself and underestimate others], a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,  A heart that manufactures wicked thoughts and plans, feet that are swift in running to evil,  A false witness who breathes out lies [even under oath], and he who sows discord among his brethren."(Amplified).

So often I just wonder if there is a quick one step method that will cover all the bases.  Obedience is a great starting place!  When King Saul sinned, God instructed the Prophet Samuel to tell him, "Behold, to OBEY is better than sacrifice..."(1 Samuel 15:22, KJV).  Now before you brush me off and stop reading, even the Apostle James saw a need for simple obedience.  He compared our disobedient tongues with animals in nature, but even the animals can be tamed and learn to obey!  James 3:7-8 says, "For every kind of beasts, and of birds, and of serpents, and of things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: But the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison."(KJV).  Now thankfully, when we submit our tongues to the Holy Spirit in obedience, they can be tamed and used to bless ourselves and others.  Obedience is the key, and it's not hard to do!  1 John 5:3 says, "Loving God means doing what he tells us to do, and really, that isn’t hard at all."(Living Bible).  

Dr. Bill Winston continued his series entitled, "Christ in You" with the subtitle, "Fulfilling Your Dominion Mandate".  When Adam sinned against God he lost several things.  He lost fellowship, he lost assignment, he lost provision, and he lost his mind.  What a sad list!  But Jesus came to get all of our stuff back.  What Jesus did for us is not just a sweet story to recant on Resurrection Sunday.  Jesus paid the price needed to get us back to Dominion!  You are meant to dominate!  Situations and circumstances are not supposed to dominate you!  You do have the upper hand, it's the Hand of God through the Anointing of the Holy Spirit.  Dr. Winston said, "Don't you dare complain when you are dominated!  Dominate!"   2 Corinthians 2:14 says, "Now thanks be unto God, which ALWAYS causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place."(KJV).   Don't miss this!  We are designed to WIN all the time!  We have access to the Unlimited Potential of God!  We can listen and obey, and win!   Start where you are.  Obey God when he says, "Don't lie."  Get to work on time, be the best employee they've ever had!  Obey God when he says, "Give!"  He's responsible for the getting and he promises abundance.  Luke 6:38 is true!  "Give, and it will be given to you. They will [a]pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down, shaken together, and running over. For by your standard of measure it will be measured to you in return."(NASB).   Obey God when he says love your enemies.  Hating people is like a self-inflicted wound.  They continue on their way, while you are get stuck in the mud of what they did to you.

We may always have lists, but obedience can change our lists to lists of gratitude and thankfulness...like "One Million Ways God Has Blessed Me".

Love and prayers, Cynthia