Step By Step

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter "(Isaiah 5:20 NIV).

Have many have learned to accept the abuse, accept the pain, even come to expect it, and then wonder why it follows them for a lifetime? How many think there is no way out and lose hope for a better future? When will we finally say, "No more"? When will we stop expecting and accepting the worst for our lives?

God says, "My ways are higher than your ways." He says, "My thoughts are higher than your thoughts." However, He doesn't stop there. He invites us to know and learn His ways. He wants us to know His thoughts. I heard Him say, "Move into the kingdom where my light shines bright, where my will is done and your needs are met."

Sometimes, we tend to complicate things and often make things harder than they are. I heard Him say, "It's time to climb the stairs to my kingdom. Live in the present, but rise above the frustrations and the things that make you anxious. I am here. Are you living with my presence in mind?" Let's learn to see what He sees, learn to think how He thinks and learn to do what He does, remembering He is with us.

The Lord's Prayer that so many of us recite says: "your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven"(Matthew 6:10 NIV). This happens as one by one and step-by-step each person begins to think and act as God does. Step-by-step, one foot in front of the other, leads us forward. Everything is motion with God. He expects you to move with him. Step-by-step, let His Holy Spirit guide and direct you, and then you will walk in His ways. Let's begin today to walk in the realm of God's kingdom.

This scripture wraps up God's character: God is love (1 John 4:8). The two greatest commandments given by Jesus wraps up what our character should be displaying: loving God and loving others.

He answered, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself' (Luke 10:27 NIV).

I heard the Lord say, "Consider my ways. Consider my words. Do you hear? Do you listen? Do you understand? My way is simple: too simple for most - Love. There it is - the answer. The only answer. Do you walk in love? Does your heart move in the realm of love or are you stuck in this land of compromise?"

When the world decides to follow God's ways, problems will fade away. Violence will end. Abuse will disappear. Favor, mercy, grace, goodness, righteousness and blessings know no bounds in His kingdom. Let's all pray: "Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven." Then step-by-step, let's walk it out with the Holy Spirit's help, until God's glory fills the whole earth.

Holy Bible, New International Version�, NIV� Copyright � 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.� Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.