Gods sovereign reign

Lately I've been thining about God and his sovereignty. Really, for a few months now, God has really been growing me in this area. I have been seeing Gods sovereignty in the smallest and largest areas of my life, like going to the grocery store and the things we need being on sale, or a certain scripture that I feel led to share that touches someones heart, or even this blog. I don't feel like I am a good writer, at all, but every so often I will have these reoccouring thoughts that I just feel I need to share. I know that it is the Spirit leading me and causing me to grow, so I try to share it with others in hopes that they may be blessed by it. I say all of this to say that I, in no way, have any talent. God is gracious and any good that comes from me is not of me, but of him.
So on with his sovereignty. Last night when Brian and I were talking, I was telling him that I just couldn't understand how someone wouldn't be thankful to serve a sovereign God. When I read what scripture says about man vs. what scripture says about God, it makes me scared to think what would happen if God weren't sovereign.

The bible on man:

1. Jeremiah 17:9 says "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
2. Romans 8:6-7 "For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace. For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot."
3. Isaiah 64:6 "We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away."
4. Genesis 6:5 "The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
5. Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death."
6. Romans 3:10-18 “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes.”

The bible on Gods sovereignty:

1. Ephesians 1:11-12 "In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory."
2. Job 42:2 "I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted."
3. Psalm 103:19 "The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all."
4. Matthew 5:45 "For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust."
5. Galatians 1:15 "But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace..."
6. Deuteronomy 8:18 "You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth, that he may confirm his covenant that he swore to your fathers, as it is this day."
7. Proverbs 16:9 "The heart of man plans his way, but the Lord establishes his steps."

What I've learned is that my heart is deceitfully wicked. There is no way I could choose to love God without his grace and mercy resting upon me. In fact, without his grace and mercy, I wouldn't even be able to SEE how wicked the desires of my heart are. My path would be right in my own eyes (and it was), and it would lead me to death, straight to hell. Oh praise God for opening my eyes and showing me my sin. Praise God for breaking through my heart of stone and giving me a heart of flesh. Praise God for causing me to walk in his ways, and never leaving or forsaking me. Praise God for sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to bear the penalty for sin that I could never bear the weight of. I am so thankful to serve an all powerful God who is sovereign over all of his creation.

"Oh praise the one who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead!"