Four Attributes of a Life God Blesses

This is a devotional that I received from Prime Time With God, written by O.S. Hillman



"So this is what the Sovereign Lord says: "See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed." - Isaiah 28:16


Whenever God calls us into a consecrated life, it is made up of four distinct stages. Christ often compared this process to building a house.

First, we must prepare to build by laying a foundation. That foundation is none other than Jesus Christ Himself. Any foundation other than Christ will not stand.

Second, as we enter a walk of faith with God, He allows each of us to experience trials, testings, miracles, and challenges in life that are designed to provide "faith experiences" that demonstrate tangible evidences of His work in our life: Moses' burning-bush experience, Peter's walk on the water, Joshua's parting of the Jordan River. These experiences built the faith of these people. The depth and width of our calling is directly proportional to the faith experiences He allows in each of our lives. If God plans an international ministry with you, chances are you will experience a higher degree of faith experiences compared to another. The reason being, you will need to look on these to ensure your calling and provide testimony to His work in your life.

The third stage deals with motives. "All a man's ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord" (Prov. 16:2). What is the motive behind my actions? Is it only financial accumulation? Is it to gain control? Is it to create independence? The primary motive must be God's leading you to take such an action - it must be obedience. These other factors must be by-products of the decision.

Finally, we are prepared to take action. Here we must ask, "Do we have the skill, quality, and ability to enter into this activity?" So often we have not trained ourselves adequately to be successful in our endeavor. You would never want someone working on your teeth who had not been trained and certified as a dentist.

Before you begin your next project, ask yourself these four questions. What is the foundation this project is based on? What experiences has God demonstrated in my life that indicate His involvement? What is my motive for entering this activity? Do I have the skill, quality, and ability to accomplish the task? Answering these questions will tell you whether God will bless your activity.

Depending upon God

We often hear and use the phrase … “Just depend upon God and you’ll make it.” Or, “My trust and dependence is upon what God can do.” Have you said these or something similar? Just what do we mean when we say we are depending upon God to see us through?

Life is filled with a vast amount of opportunities to stand still and see God do great and mighty things. But do we stand still long enough to see them? How long is long enough? Our relationship with Christ is based upon having faith in him and believing in what He says he’ll do is what he will do. We accept this when it comes to our salvation, but how deep does it run in living it out day by day?

When we hear and read the wonderful words of scripture and we are often over-whelmed with emotion as we ponder upon themes such as: “I know the plans I have for you, thus says the Lord ….” Or, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” Or, “Our Lord never sleeps nor slumbers.” But just how far can we or do we trust him to fulfill his plans in our lives because he will not leave or forsake us because he is always alert concerning us?

We all, including myself, need to increase our “belief level” when it comes to depending upon God. We all too often get impatient and forge ahead by taking the reins out of God’s hand and in some form or the other tell him, “Let me show you how to do this.”

If this does not reflect upon you in any way at all, great …just tell us how you do it. But if this reflects upon you life in some form, let me suggest the following.

We all depend upon something for our main resource. For some, it is personality; for others, knowledge; still others depend upon past experiences. We often run off the strength of that main source until we come to the end of ourselves and then cry out to God. What are you depending upon God to do? The ability to find that answer is very easy to discover. Those things you are praying for are the things you are depending upon God to do. Those things which you are not praying for, you are doing on your own.

We cannot do life (ministry) upon our own. Prayer is a requirement. If you want to test your commitment to praying for your life (seeing your dependence upon God), do this little exercise. Rate yourself from 1 – 100 on praying for guidance (applying your dependence) in the last month or even the last year. Now put a percent sign after that number. The result: that is the level of the percent of your dependence upon God’s capability to care for your life.