The song goes, "Something beautiful, something good; all my confusion He understood; all I had to offer Him was brokenness and strife; He made something beautiful of my life!"
"I know, LORD, that a person's life is not his own. No one is able to plan his own course" (Jer. 10:23, NLT).
"The LORD will work out his plans for my life--for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever. Don't abandon, me, for you made me" (Psalm 138:8, NLT).
"How can we understand the road we travel? It is the LORD who directs our steps" (Prov. 20:24, NLT).
"John replied, 'God in heaven appoints each person's work" (John 3:27, NLT).
"And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified" (Acts 20:32, ESV).
"Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm" (Isa. 7:9, NLT).
"Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls" (Jer. 6:16, NKV).
"Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity" (Rom. 12:2, J. B. Phillips).
"Does not the Most High send both calamity and good?" (Lam. 3:38, NLT). "... Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" (Job 2:10, NLT).
We don't need a self-help or self-improvement course to become what God wants us to be, just learn to walk in the Spirit and avail ourselves of His power over sin. There's always room for improvement and we are all works in progress! Even Paul never claimed to have arrived and said that he wasn't there yet (cf. Phil. 3:12-13). Christ exhorts us to be perfect or mature in Matt. 5:48; however, though perfection is the standard, the direction is the test! Christians aren't perfect, but they are forgiven; there's no such thing as perfectionism, whereby we don't sin anymore: "Who can say, 'I made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin?'" (Prov. 20:9, ESV). The psalmist in Psalm 119:96 said he'd seen the limit of all perfection.
When we are mature in Christ we will be overcomers and find victory over our private sin: "I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt [sin]" (Psalm 18:23, ESV). As Job said appropriately in Job 14:14 (NIV), "All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come." As Psalm 103:4 (ESV) says, "[He] redeems your life from the pit [of despair or depression]." Just like the transformation of the apostles after the resurrection to make them bold witnesses, we can count on the same power to change us from within.
Religion is just that: Reaching out to God and trying to gain His approbation. Christianity is where God stoops down in grace and reaches out to us, doing a work of grace in our hearts that we cannot do; if we had to do anything for salvation we'd mess it up and fail! The whole point of salvation is that it's a fait accompli or done deal, it's not "do," but "done!" We don't turn over a new leaf or resolve to make amends, or make New Year's resolutions, but are changed by the same dynamic that resurrected Christ--we are given a new life with a fresh start, freed from our past's power over us. Salvation must be recognized as a gift and we don't earn it, didn't deserve it, and can never pay it back!
Unfortunately, we are incurably addicted to doing something for our salvation, but Jesus said the work of God is to believe in Him (cf. John 6:29)! In a works religion you can never be sure and never know how much work is enough--Christianity alone, of all faiths, offers assurance of salvation and admonishes to make sure of our calling and election (cf. 2 Pet. 1:10) so we won't be the casualty of Satan and our walk won't be paralyzed or stuck in a rut!
We have three areas of weakness that Satan attacked Jesus on the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (cf. 1 John 2:16). Note that one who is born of God doesn't practice sin or make it his way of living--he has renounced sin! (Cf. 1 John 3:6). Knowing ourselves, our adversary the devil and his schemes, and the world-system is key to victory since the best path to victory is to know the enemy! Satan is no original and hasn't thought up any new attacks since tempting Eve in the perfect environment--this means we cannot blame the environment, for we are all depraved through and through by sin's corruption--body, emotions, intellect, and will or volition. Socrates said that the "unexamined life is not worth living," and the Greeks of antiquity said we must know ourselves--this is true because we are our own worst enemy and Satan knows our vulnerability and weakness and "seeks whom he may devour" (cf. 1 Pet. 5:8-9).
God has wonderful plans for us and it is never too late to get on track--He has no Plan B, but if we don't seek His will, He may say, "Okay, have it your way!" which will never work out for us: We must be convinced that all things work out together for our good according to Romans 8:28, but we can thwart God's preceptive will for our lives. Psalm 81:12 (ESV) says: "So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels." We don't clean up our act and then we are ready to do His will or to be saved, but we are incapable of getting our act together apart from grace: "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (cf. John 15:5).
We are either in God's will, or not, and we can't say that we'll settle for God's second-best either! "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jer. 29:11, ESV). Job's faith was tested as he couldn't understand why we must accept adversity from the LORD if we accept blessing--He sends both good and bad times. But God can remake our lives into Christ's image because He is in the resurrection business, and no one is too much of a challenge for Him, Jeremiah proclaims "... Nothing is too hard for you" (Jer. 32:17, ESV). God answers Abraham and Sarah: "Is anything too hard for the LORD...?" (Gen. 18:14, NIV).
We must realize that Christianity is not a catalog of rules, a list of dos and don'ts, a system of ethics or conduct, a philosophy, but a relationship getting to know Jesus--it's not a creed to believe, but a person to know. Paul said in Acts 13:38-39 (ESV--italics mine) that "everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses." We are set free from sin's dominion (cf. Rom. 6:14) and if Jesus sets us free we shall be free indeed (cf. John 8:36). Our new life is one of victory and glorifying Christ as we progress from faith to faith (cf. Rom. 1:17) and glory to glory (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18) in our sanctification by the Holy Spirit.
God causes us to triumph (cf. 2 Cor. 2:14) and we "are more than conquerors" (cf. Rom. 8:37). We don't try hard, but trust in His power to change us from the inside out ("If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation."). We must remember that nature formed us by procreation; sin deformed us in Adam; schools inform us by education; prison can reform us by punishment when evil; but only Christ can transform us by the power of the Spirit.
Where does this power come from? The Word of God, the Spirit, God through Christ. The Word is alive and powerful (cf. Heb. 4:12); the Word is able to work within us for our good (cf. 1 Thess. 2:13); and the same power of the Holy Spirit that resurrected Christ is at work within us--no one is too big a challenge! (Cf. Phil. 3:10). He's still in the resurrection business, and changing lives is Christ's vocation. Jesus is in the business of changing lives! We can do all through Christ, who strengthens us (cf. Phil. 4:13).
We must rely on the power of God in us and walk by the Spirit, not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh (cf. Gal. 5:16); for as many, as are led by the Spirit are the sons of God (cf. Rom. 8:14). We are transformed by the renewing of our mind, done by the power of the Word sanctifying us (Jesus prayed in John 17:17: "Sanctify them by Your Word, Your Word is truth"). Note that no problem is too big a challenge for God, but the change doesn't come all at once either!
We must be overcomers over the sin that easily besets us (cf. Heb. 12:1), and even our pet sin and let no sin have dominion over us (cf. Psalm 119:133). In the same vein: "How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins. Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin" (Psalm 19:12-13, NLT). Paul writes: "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful, All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything." It is important to realize that our sin doesn't demonstrate our freedom, but proves our slavery and we can be set free (cf. Rom. 6:14). "You are slaves to whatever you choose to obey" (cf. Rom. 6:16).
We can be set free from the vicious circle of sin and death (cf. Rom. 8:2). Anyone who has faith can overcome the world and no evil can control us because greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world (cf. 1 John 4:4). There is no temptation that we cannot overcome and find a way of escape that we can endure it (cf. 1 Cor. 10:13) and nothing will overwhelm us: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and your troubles will not overwhelm you" (cf. Isa. 43:2); "When you go through deep waters, I will be with you, When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown..." (Isa. 43:2, NLT).
We have three enemies of our sin nature, the flesh; the devil and his minions and cohorts; the world-system itself that we are not to love what it has to offer (cf. 1 John 2:15). But our worst enemy is ourselves and we will find more trouble with ourselves than with anyone else! It has been said facetiously that "We have met the enemy and he is us!" We live in enemy-occupied territory, or Satan's turf and are on his hit-list. When we get saved the battle has just begun, but remember, "The battle is the Lord's." Martin Luther sang in "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God": Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing.
The only way to sure victory is to be armed with God's heavenly armor: "Be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might" (cf. Eph. 6:10). Our only offensive weapon of choice is the Word of God and this is how Jesus defeated Satan, by quoting it: "It is written!" We must have our defenses intact too: the shield of faith; the belt of truth; the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace; the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation! So get in uniform with other believers and you'll be ready to wage war on Satan! Christians are set free form evil and the evil one cannot touch them (cf. John 17:15; 1 John 5:18)--knowing the truth of the matter will set us free (cf. John 8:32).
Everyone has a crutch and it is no shame to lean on the Lord and the Word of God as comfort; He'll never leave us nor forsake us (cf. Heb. 13:5), and will be with us to the end of the age (cf. Matt. 28:20). 'The Lord is my strength and my song, and my salvation" said David in Psalm 18:2. Our Rock is Christ (cf. Psalm 18:31, 46; 1 Cor. 10:4). If you don't trust in the Lord, you will trust in man or yourself, and they are not rocks at all. The biggest reason believers fail is a lack of knowledge and that they don't know the Lord (cf. Hos. 4:1, 6, 14). As Sir Francis Bacon said, "Knowledge is power" referring to Proverbs 24:5. Our God is not a throwback to our need for a Father-figure! He is not a projection that we imagine because we have nowhere else to go! God can be experienced and made real--He will authenticate Himself to any earnest seeker who is not a trifler (cf. Heb. 11:6)! "Taste and see that the LORD is good" (cf. Psalm 34:8, NIV). There are perks and fringe benefits to knowing the Lord: "What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me?" (Psalm 116:12, ESV); "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits" (Psalm 103:2, ESV).
And so salvation is freedom from guilt, sin's power, condemnation, and the penalty of sin with the promise of being delivered finally from its presence in glory! Many Christians live defeated lives and fall prey to the devil's schemes of divide and conquer mind games, and deceit or lies. The best offense is to be armed with the Word resident in our souls to give us the divine viewpoint and worldview to see him at work and fight him and his influence. Our faith is not a do-it-yourself proposition or lifting ourselves up by our bootstraps, but a work of grace transforming us into new creatures in Christ or being regenerated by the Spirit. We are saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved, praise the Lord! We must give God all the credit, our righteousness is as filthy rags and any goodness we have is God's gift to us, not our gift to God: "Who makes you to differ? What do you have that you didn't receive?" (cf. 1 Cor. 4:7).
In perspective, man ruins his own life and blames God (cf. Prov. 19:3), and when he's a success he gives himself the glory and credit, not realizing that God gives them success (cf. Deut. 8:17; Psalm 1:3; Josh. 1:8; Jer. 29:11). It is said that modern man is like the Englishman: a self-made man who worships his creator! In contrast note Psalm 100:3 (NKJV): Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture." That is: God is the Potter; we are the clay! Note God's providence; we need to realize our lives are ultimately in God's hands (cf. Psalm 31:15): "The course of my life is in Your power..." (HCSB); "My future is in your hands..." (NLT); "My times are in your hand..." (NIV, NKJV). God orchestrates our lives and plans out each day before we were yet born (cf. Psalm 139:16). We have a destiny with God in control, not a fate with no input--viva la difference!
In conclusion, seven rather obscure passages come to mind with italics mine: "Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee" (Job 22:212, KJV); I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me" (Psalm 57:2, ESV); "But He gives more grace..." (James 4:6, NKJV); "... [But] the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways..." (Daniel 5:23, ESV); I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13, NKJV, italics in Bible for part A); "You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever" (Psalm 16:11, NLT); "Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future lies before those who love peace" (Psalm 37:37, NLT). Finally, quoting Paul in 1 Cor. 15:10 (NIV, CAPS MINE): "BUT BY THE GRACE OF GOD I AM WHAT I AM...." Soli Deo Gloria!
"I know, LORD, that a person's life is not his own. No one is able to plan his own course" (Jer. 10:23, NLT).
"The LORD will work out his plans for my life--for your faithful love, O LORD, endures forever. Don't abandon, me, for you made me" (Psalm 138:8, NLT).
"How can we understand the road we travel? It is the LORD who directs our steps" (Prov. 20:24, NLT).
"John replied, 'God in heaven appoints each person's work" (John 3:27, NLT).
"And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified" (Acts 20:32, ESV).
"Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm" (Isa. 7:9, NLT).
"Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls" (Jer. 6:16, NKV).
"Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its own mould, but let God re-mould your minds from within, so that you may prove in practice that the plan of God for you is good, meets all his demands and moves towards the goal of true maturity" (Rom. 12:2, J. B. Phillips).
"Does not the Most High send both calamity and good?" (Lam. 3:38, NLT). "... Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" (Job 2:10, NLT).
We don't need a self-help or self-improvement course to become what God wants us to be, just learn to walk in the Spirit and avail ourselves of His power over sin. There's always room for improvement and we are all works in progress! Even Paul never claimed to have arrived and said that he wasn't there yet (cf. Phil. 3:12-13). Christ exhorts us to be perfect or mature in Matt. 5:48; however, though perfection is the standard, the direction is the test! Christians aren't perfect, but they are forgiven; there's no such thing as perfectionism, whereby we don't sin anymore: "Who can say, 'I made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin?'" (Prov. 20:9, ESV). The psalmist in Psalm 119:96 said he'd seen the limit of all perfection.
When we are mature in Christ we will be overcomers and find victory over our private sin: "I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt [sin]" (Psalm 18:23, ESV). As Job said appropriately in Job 14:14 (NIV), "All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come." As Psalm 103:4 (ESV) says, "[He] redeems your life from the pit [of despair or depression]." Just like the transformation of the apostles after the resurrection to make them bold witnesses, we can count on the same power to change us from within.
Religion is just that: Reaching out to God and trying to gain His approbation. Christianity is where God stoops down in grace and reaches out to us, doing a work of grace in our hearts that we cannot do; if we had to do anything for salvation we'd mess it up and fail! The whole point of salvation is that it's a fait accompli or done deal, it's not "do," but "done!" We don't turn over a new leaf or resolve to make amends, or make New Year's resolutions, but are changed by the same dynamic that resurrected Christ--we are given a new life with a fresh start, freed from our past's power over us. Salvation must be recognized as a gift and we don't earn it, didn't deserve it, and can never pay it back!
Unfortunately, we are incurably addicted to doing something for our salvation, but Jesus said the work of God is to believe in Him (cf. John 6:29)! In a works religion you can never be sure and never know how much work is enough--Christianity alone, of all faiths, offers assurance of salvation and admonishes to make sure of our calling and election (cf. 2 Pet. 1:10) so we won't be the casualty of Satan and our walk won't be paralyzed or stuck in a rut!
We have three areas of weakness that Satan attacked Jesus on the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (cf. 1 John 2:16). Note that one who is born of God doesn't practice sin or make it his way of living--he has renounced sin! (Cf. 1 John 3:6). Knowing ourselves, our adversary the devil and his schemes, and the world-system is key to victory since the best path to victory is to know the enemy! Satan is no original and hasn't thought up any new attacks since tempting Eve in the perfect environment--this means we cannot blame the environment, for we are all depraved through and through by sin's corruption--body, emotions, intellect, and will or volition. Socrates said that the "unexamined life is not worth living," and the Greeks of antiquity said we must know ourselves--this is true because we are our own worst enemy and Satan knows our vulnerability and weakness and "seeks whom he may devour" (cf. 1 Pet. 5:8-9).
God has wonderful plans for us and it is never too late to get on track--He has no Plan B, but if we don't seek His will, He may say, "Okay, have it your way!" which will never work out for us: We must be convinced that all things work out together for our good according to Romans 8:28, but we can thwart God's preceptive will for our lives. Psalm 81:12 (ESV) says: "So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels." We don't clean up our act and then we are ready to do His will or to be saved, but we are incapable of getting our act together apart from grace: "Apart from Me you can do nothing" (cf. John 15:5).
We are either in God's will, or not, and we can't say that we'll settle for God's second-best either! "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope" (Jer. 29:11, ESV). Job's faith was tested as he couldn't understand why we must accept adversity from the LORD if we accept blessing--He sends both good and bad times. But God can remake our lives into Christ's image because He is in the resurrection business, and no one is too much of a challenge for Him, Jeremiah proclaims "... Nothing is too hard for you" (Jer. 32:17, ESV). God answers Abraham and Sarah: "Is anything too hard for the LORD...?" (Gen. 18:14, NIV).
We must realize that Christianity is not a catalog of rules, a list of dos and don'ts, a system of ethics or conduct, a philosophy, but a relationship getting to know Jesus--it's not a creed to believe, but a person to know. Paul said in Acts 13:38-39 (ESV--italics mine) that "everyone who believes is freed from everything from which you could not be freed by the law of Moses." We are set free from sin's dominion (cf. Rom. 6:14) and if Jesus sets us free we shall be free indeed (cf. John 8:36). Our new life is one of victory and glorifying Christ as we progress from faith to faith (cf. Rom. 1:17) and glory to glory (cf. 2 Cor. 3:18) in our sanctification by the Holy Spirit.
God causes us to triumph (cf. 2 Cor. 2:14) and we "are more than conquerors" (cf. Rom. 8:37). We don't try hard, but trust in His power to change us from the inside out ("If any man is in Christ, he is a new creation."). We must remember that nature formed us by procreation; sin deformed us in Adam; schools inform us by education; prison can reform us by punishment when evil; but only Christ can transform us by the power of the Spirit.
Where does this power come from? The Word of God, the Spirit, God through Christ. The Word is alive and powerful (cf. Heb. 4:12); the Word is able to work within us for our good (cf. 1 Thess. 2:13); and the same power of the Holy Spirit that resurrected Christ is at work within us--no one is too big a challenge! (Cf. Phil. 3:10). He's still in the resurrection business, and changing lives is Christ's vocation. Jesus is in the business of changing lives! We can do all through Christ, who strengthens us (cf. Phil. 4:13).
We must rely on the power of God in us and walk by the Spirit, not to fulfill the lusts of the flesh (cf. Gal. 5:16); for as many, as are led by the Spirit are the sons of God (cf. Rom. 8:14). We are transformed by the renewing of our mind, done by the power of the Word sanctifying us (Jesus prayed in John 17:17: "Sanctify them by Your Word, Your Word is truth"). Note that no problem is too big a challenge for God, but the change doesn't come all at once either!
We must be overcomers over the sin that easily besets us (cf. Heb. 12:1), and even our pet sin and let no sin have dominion over us (cf. Psalm 119:133). In the same vein: "How can I know all the sins lurking in my heart? Cleanse me from these hidden faults. Keep your servant from deliberate sins. Don't let them control me. Then I will be free of guilt and innocent of great sin" (Psalm 19:12-13, NLT). Paul writes: "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful, All things are lawful for me, but I will not be enslaved by anything." It is important to realize that our sin doesn't demonstrate our freedom, but proves our slavery and we can be set free (cf. Rom. 6:14). "You are slaves to whatever you choose to obey" (cf. Rom. 6:16).
We can be set free from the vicious circle of sin and death (cf. Rom. 8:2). Anyone who has faith can overcome the world and no evil can control us because greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world (cf. 1 John 4:4). There is no temptation that we cannot overcome and find a way of escape that we can endure it (cf. 1 Cor. 10:13) and nothing will overwhelm us: "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you and your troubles will not overwhelm you" (cf. Isa. 43:2); "When you go through deep waters, I will be with you, When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown..." (Isa. 43:2, NLT).
We have three enemies of our sin nature, the flesh; the devil and his minions and cohorts; the world-system itself that we are not to love what it has to offer (cf. 1 John 2:15). But our worst enemy is ourselves and we will find more trouble with ourselves than with anyone else! It has been said facetiously that "We have met the enemy and he is us!" We live in enemy-occupied territory, or Satan's turf and are on his hit-list. When we get saved the battle has just begun, but remember, "The battle is the Lord's." Martin Luther sang in "A Mighty Fortress Is Our God": Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing.
The only way to sure victory is to be armed with God's heavenly armor: "Be strong in the Lord and the strength of His might" (cf. Eph. 6:10). Our only offensive weapon of choice is the Word of God and this is how Jesus defeated Satan, by quoting it: "It is written!" We must have our defenses intact too: the shield of faith; the belt of truth; the shoes of the preparation of the gospel of peace; the breastplate of righteousness and the helmet of salvation! So get in uniform with other believers and you'll be ready to wage war on Satan! Christians are set free form evil and the evil one cannot touch them (cf. John 17:15; 1 John 5:18)--knowing the truth of the matter will set us free (cf. John 8:32).
Everyone has a crutch and it is no shame to lean on the Lord and the Word of God as comfort; He'll never leave us nor forsake us (cf. Heb. 13:5), and will be with us to the end of the age (cf. Matt. 28:20). 'The Lord is my strength and my song, and my salvation" said David in Psalm 18:2. Our Rock is Christ (cf. Psalm 18:31, 46; 1 Cor. 10:4). If you don't trust in the Lord, you will trust in man or yourself, and they are not rocks at all. The biggest reason believers fail is a lack of knowledge and that they don't know the Lord (cf. Hos. 4:1, 6, 14). As Sir Francis Bacon said, "Knowledge is power" referring to Proverbs 24:5. Our God is not a throwback to our need for a Father-figure! He is not a projection that we imagine because we have nowhere else to go! God can be experienced and made real--He will authenticate Himself to any earnest seeker who is not a trifler (cf. Heb. 11:6)! "Taste and see that the LORD is good" (cf. Psalm 34:8, NIV). There are perks and fringe benefits to knowing the Lord: "What shall I render to the LORD for all his benefits to me?" (Psalm 116:12, ESV); "Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits" (Psalm 103:2, ESV).
And so salvation is freedom from guilt, sin's power, condemnation, and the penalty of sin with the promise of being delivered finally from its presence in glory! Many Christians live defeated lives and fall prey to the devil's schemes of divide and conquer mind games, and deceit or lies. The best offense is to be armed with the Word resident in our souls to give us the divine viewpoint and worldview to see him at work and fight him and his influence. Our faith is not a do-it-yourself proposition or lifting ourselves up by our bootstraps, but a work of grace transforming us into new creatures in Christ or being regenerated by the Spirit. We are saved, we are being saved, and we shall be saved, praise the Lord! We must give God all the credit, our righteousness is as filthy rags and any goodness we have is God's gift to us, not our gift to God: "Who makes you to differ? What do you have that you didn't receive?" (cf. 1 Cor. 4:7).
In perspective, man ruins his own life and blames God (cf. Prov. 19:3), and when he's a success he gives himself the glory and credit, not realizing that God gives them success (cf. Deut. 8:17; Psalm 1:3; Josh. 1:8; Jer. 29:11). It is said that modern man is like the Englishman: a self-made man who worships his creator! In contrast note Psalm 100:3 (NKJV): Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture." That is: God is the Potter; we are the clay! Note God's providence; we need to realize our lives are ultimately in God's hands (cf. Psalm 31:15): "The course of my life is in Your power..." (HCSB); "My future is in your hands..." (NLT); "My times are in your hand..." (NIV, NKJV). God orchestrates our lives and plans out each day before we were yet born (cf. Psalm 139:16). We have a destiny with God in control, not a fate with no input--viva la difference!
In conclusion, seven rather obscure passages come to mind with italics mine: "Acquaint now thyself with him, and be at peace: thereby good shall come unto thee" (Job 22:212, KJV); I cry out to God Most High, to God who fulfills his purpose for me" (Psalm 57:2, ESV); "But He gives more grace..." (James 4:6, NKJV); "... [But] the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways..." (Daniel 5:23, ESV); I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living" (Psalm 27:13, NKJV, italics in Bible for part A); "You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever" (Psalm 16:11, NLT); "Look at those who are honest and good, for a wonderful future lies before those who love peace" (Psalm 37:37, NLT). Finally, quoting Paul in 1 Cor. 15:10 (NIV, CAPS MINE): "BUT BY THE GRACE OF GOD I AM WHAT I AM...." Soli Deo Gloria!
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