Something happens to us as we learn to trust the Lord. Our reliance on our-self diminishes as our dependence on Him increases. Our old self, with all its baggage, slowly falls away as we learn to trust and have confidence in Him and His plan for our life. And as we’re changed from the inside out, true joy, happiness, and hope fill us to overflowing…and we too can then join in this song of praise from Moses and Miriam.
Month: March 2019
I Timothy 6:9 ” People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.”
When a person fails to think through the implications of a “get rich quick scheme”, their decision to act is usually influenced by greed and recklessness, not common sense. For you hear it all the time – If it sounds too good to be true…it probably is. But that still doesn’t stop foolish people from being duped and cheated everyday. For it’s so easy to fall into the devil’s trap of running after riches… and instead ending up in ruin.
Job 11: 13-15 ” Yet if you devote your heart to Him and stretch out your hands to Him, if you put away sin that is in your heart and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear.”
These verses can give us great insight into what it takes to combat doubt and fear in our lives. The first part gives us clear directions as to what our responsibilities are. We are to be steadfast trusting in the Lord at all times…calling on Him first, and not as an afterthought. We are to turn our back on our old sinful ways, but even more importantly, it says we are to not tolerate or enable sin to remain in our house. This is called compromise, and unfortunately many a Christian household has crumbled when questionable moral concessions have been made. As we work on our responsibilities, we can as Job 22:26 says, ” Find delight in the Almighty and lift up our face to God.” For when there is no longer the guilt and shame of sin weighting us down, we can lift up our head and look straight into the eyes of Jesus with a clear conscience…free of self-doubt and fear.
I Corinthians 11:28 ” A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.”
Paul had not been with the Believers of the Church in Corinth for about three years. But he had gotten wind of the abuses that were happening concerning the Lord’s Supper…or if you will, Holy Communion or the Eucharist. Here he was instructing them to stop and soberly scrutinize and determine whether they were worthy of taking Communion…before they partook. When something becomes so ritualistic and automatic, we tend to perform it without thinking…going through the motions without allowing it to impact us. We are to examine ourselves first, before we participate…for who better to ascertain our own spiritual condition than us? And don’t worry, what you choose to ignore…the Holy Spirit will be faithful to point it out!
Psalm 32:7 ” You are my hiding place; You will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”
In times of danger and distress let it be You, Lord, I go to first. Not after I’ve already tried everything myself and failed miserably, but to call on You from the very start. For You, Lord, are my shelter and refuge…and a safe haven from the storms of life. And I know You’re with me…ever watching over and surrounding me with Your encouragement and love… constantly reminding me of the promises within Your Word, the Bible. I thank You Lord for loving me. Amen.
Isaiah 11:2 ” The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him – the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord – and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.”
I admit when I first read this verse and the concept of the Sevenfold Spirit, I was baffled. Here they are listed…God’s empowering of the coming Messiah… the Spirit of the Lord, truth, understanding, counsel, power, knowledge, and piety. Then I followed this idea to the book of Revelation where John writes about the Sevenfold Spirit four times in his revelation of Jesus Christ, (Revelation 1:4, 3:1, 4:5, and 5:6). Finally, I followed it to Galatians where it is called the Sevenfold Graces (or Fruits of the Spirit) given to Believers by the Holy Spirit…truth, power, love, self-discipline, wisdom, judgement, and life. The Sevenfold Spirit is one of those wonderful mysteries of God that I may never understand, but still stand in total awe of.
Ephesians 4: 29 ” Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”
You’ve probably heard the old saying…If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all. Oh that we would take that to heart the next time we’re frustrated or angry and our children are close enough to hear us. Careless words confuse and at times frighten children, even when the words are directed at a car that just cut you off or at your spouse. For children feel the angry emotions and then can mistakenly blame themselves for your outburst…even if they had nothing to do with it. ( Interestingly enough, I’ve found this reaction to parental bickering does not go away with age). Romans 14:19 reminds us, ” Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and mutual edification.”
Psalm 33:18 ” But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear Him, on those whose hope is in His unfailing love.”
In I Peter 3:12 the Apostle Peter quotes Psalm 34:15 when he writes, ” For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and His ears are attentive to their prayers.” Peter was writing to God-fearing Christians, encouraging them to endure the persecution that was prevalent at the time. Persecution can take on many type of faces. It can be internal physical affliction that drags us down…or it can be external forces that exasperate and irritate us. Peter wanted to show that regardless of the kind of persecution…God’s loving mercy is everlasting and always near to those who love Him.
Matthew 17: 18-20 ” Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed from that moment. Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, ‘Why couldn’t we drive it out?’ He replied, ‘Because you have so little faith.’ “
This story about the boy and the evil spirit was important enough to be in three of the four New Testament accounts by the disciples. Matthew, Mark and Luke all give slightly different takes on this event, but the main thought rang true throughout all three…the disciples couldn’t heal the boy on their own. But instead of admitting defeat, giving up, or walking away, they came to Jesus searching for answers. In Matthew 21:21 Jesus replied to their inquiry by telling them, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and do not doubt…” Doubt is being double-minded or having a divided mind. So when we doubt, we sway back and forth between faith and fear…never achieving full confidence and trust in what God can do. But just like the disciples, if we will go to Jesus admitting our shortcomings, He will speak truth in order to dispel our doubt. And if, like the boy’s father we ask Jesus to, ” Help me overcome my unbelief!” He will show us the way.
Job 21: 14-15 ” Yet they say to God, ‘Leave us alone! We have no desire to know Your ways. Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him? What would we gain by praying to Him?’ “
So why is it that the world is not attracted to the things of God? Instead of being drawn to Him, they’d rather say, “Go away!” The answer can be found in Jeremiah 9:6 where it says, “You live in the midst of deception; in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge Me, declares the Lord.” Our carnal nature tells us we are independent self-made people who don’t need anybody’s help. Couple that with all the world’s misleading and deceptive ideas and it’s no wonder we would have no desire to worship God. Deception tells me I’m the center of the universe…the Truth bears witness that I’m not…and I don’t want to admit that.
Safetypinlove 