Psalms 127:1
Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
DAILY READING -Acts 4:23-37; Deuteronomy 21-22; Job 14
In 1912, there was a ship called the Titanic. At that time, the Titanic was one of the largest and most luxurious ships in the world. Besides its other great features, it had 16 compartments that were presumed to be watertight, in fact, four of these compartments could be filled with water and yet the ship would not sink. Experts at that time considered the Titanic unsinkable. And before its maiden voyage, the captain was quoted to have boasted ‘even God cannot sink this ship’.
Well, the captain represented the many who think God is not a necessary component of success. He was wrong. On its maiden trip shortly before midnight on April 14, the ship collided with an iceberg. And at 2:20 am, on April 15, against all expectations the ship sank, killing about 1500 passengers.
Psalm 127 says, ‘except the Lord watches over the city the watchmen watcheth but in vain.’
Indeed without God, man truly is helpless. It doesn’t matter how fast one may seem to be racing on the path of life. Like the rich fool in Luke 12, who gathered wealth, and yet couldn’t live to enjoy it; without God all of man’s labour is in vain.
Success is not only just about making all the right moves, it is about God backing you up. Even after you have pressed all the right success buttons, you still need God to make it work. It is for man to dig a well, but it for divinity to fill it with water.
For anyone to think they can ignore God and push on to success, it is dangerous. Because just like the Titanic with all the right technology, you could still ‘sink’ unexpectedly.
In 1966, John Lennon, leader of the music group, the Beatles said in an interview that the Beatles will be more popular than Jesus, and that Christianity will vanish and shrink away in no time. However just a few years after his statement, the Beatles broke up and vanished and John Lennon was killed. And Christianity? Well, still very far from vanishing and Jesus is still very popular.
How can a man ever strive against his maker? How can a man ever think he can do anything Without God’s help? Without God we are helpless and nothing.
It is only by His grace we exist. Romans 9:16 says ‘So then, it is not of him that willeth nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.’ It is only because of The Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed.
When king Nebuchadnezzar woke up one morning and declared that his hand had built his great kingdom, God sent him to the school of animals to learn humility. And after seven years in the bush, Nebuchadnezzar recovered and came back to declare that God rules the Heavens and the earth.
We must continually acknowledge the hand of God in our affairs. We must always proclaim Him the doer of every good thing in our lives.
No man can keep himself. We are all kept by the mercy of God. Any day God withdraws His hand we cease to exist. This is why we give Him praise, knowing He is our keeper and protector. All the glory belongs to God, and He will not share His Glory with any man. Let us therefore today give God deliberate praise for His hand of goodness and protection upon us. Because if it had not been for The Lord on our side, where would we be? But despite all our frailties, faults and shortcomings, we have been kept by His mercy, we have been preserved by His love. And for this we are eternally grateful.
PRAYER: Lord, please grant me the grace to know that without You I can do nothing, Help me to know You personally and to always be totally dependent on Your help in Jesus name.
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quote
Praise always guarantees you power for a raise, learning to praise God in season and out of season is key to fulfilling destiny. – WORDBITE 222.
[ADAPTED FROM THE BOOK DIVINE ORDER FOR A LIFE WITHOUT LIMITS]