"God Rules"

"But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased." (Psalms 115:3)

 The first rule in worshiping God, is to believe that He rules! Make no mistake in thinking otherwise, because there is nothing that takes place here or anywhere else that He does not allow to happen. Some people make take issue with that, because there is a lot of terrible stuff that goes on here, and they might ask, 'How could God allow that to happen?' There are things that happen which God does not like, every second of every day. We ourselves are guilty of doing things that God does not like, but what would you like Him to do about those things we do? He could stop all the madness at any time He might feel fed up with it; and soon enough, He will start that process by taking His church out of this place. But for now, He is patiently waiting for that last Gentile to believe in His Son. That is all that He is waiting for, so do not think He does not care about all the terrible things we do, because His heart is grieved every moment of every day by what we do to one another. Besides, it is because of His great mercy that we are not judged instantly for the things that we do. Imagine if that were the case, and if we were judged for our sins, the sins that we do not confess or do not feel that we have committed. Oh, you don't think that you have any unconfessed sins? Interesting subject, because I think we all have sins that go unconfessed, because we just do not think we were wrong by treating someone a certain way that has wronged us, or holding onto unforgiveness just because we just do not feel vindicated or satisfied with a the outcome of a disagreement or dispute. I know it might seem petty, but unforgiveness is a pretty big deal to God. Besides, unforgiveness is like a cancer growing inside our heart; it will tear us apart if we do not confess it and let God cleanse us from the inside out. I have seen way too many brothers and sisters destroy their testimonies of God's mercy and love by not forgiving one another. It is really sad to see how stubborn the heart can really be. But one way to help fix that is to let God rule our hearts, just as He rules the heavens...

""When you pray, don't babble on and on as the people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. Don't be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him! Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don't let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one. "If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins."" (Matthew 6:7-15) NLT