DEVOTION FOR TODAY

The original meaning for the word man is the upright upward looking being. Of all of God's creation, man is the only being created this way: upright by looking upwards to God. God created man to be upright not uptight. For man to be upright, he must look up to God. That's why God made man a little lower than Himself so man will always look up to God to maintain an upright posture. Psa. 8:4-6.
As long as man looked up to God in the Garden of Eden, he thought, talked and took actions that looked exactly like God. The whole of creation obeyed and revered man because of man's likeness to God. Even after the fall, sometimes, creation mistakes man for God until they discover the difference. The day man looked down, he was gripped with fear, went to hide and eventually kicked out of the Garden of enjoyment. Gen. 3:7-10. All our problems today flow from that looking down or looking away from God. Righteousness is simply looking at God who enables us to stand upright. You don't try to be righteous. You look up to God and He enables you to stand upright. Isaiah 32:17 shows us the amazing results of standing upright by looking at God. 1. You will have peace. Peace with God that frees you from the judgment of God and man. Peace of God that guarantees answers to prayers and makes your words work. Peace with your enemies turning them to work in your favour. 2. Quietness. Peace produces calmness even in the face of raging storms. In the midst of the trouble and turbulence, you can enjoy quietness. You don't have to be restless when you see a text or phone call from your landlord or creditor. 3. Confidence. Right standing with God gives you confidence. You can look at what others call crisis and for you it is an opportunity. You become optimistic. Sir Winston Churchill said, 'The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; the optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.' Look at God daily so you can stand upright to face every opportunity with the mindset to win. Partner with me to help 30 million souls in 50 nations look up to God so they can be upright not uptight this year. Bishop Michael O. Amamieye - www.aggressivefaith.org.