Faith

 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.~Hebrews 11:1

Recently, I took a road trip that had me travel over some pretty high bridges as well as tunnels.  It hit me that we place a lot of trust in things made by human hands.  We trust to get to the other side safely.  Well as I went up the bridges I prayed and asked God for safety because He is ultimately the One that sees me through.

I couldn’t see the end of the tunnel, I had to trust that the light would soon be revealed at the other end.  I couldn’t panic and stop my car thinking about all the things that could happen I had to trust God and keep going.  

In life we will have bridges we will have to cross and tunnels where we can’t yet see the light, but we can have faith and believe that God is with us.  We can trust that He is working it out for our good (Romans 8:28) and that we will get to to other side even when we can’t see it.

Everyday we live by faith.  We trust God to get us from A to B.  To help us conquer our days.  Everyday He answers and shows up.

Lord, thank You for faith and thank You for You.  Help us to continue to walk by faith for we know that without it is impossible to please You ( Hebrews 11;6) We love You Lord and bless Your Holy Name.  In Jesus name.  Amen 

Battling fear

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you~Psalm 56:3

This week I battled with fear.  A major repair was being done to my home and I was so worried that something was going to go wrong.  I knew I couldn’t put my trust in man so I had to continually put my trust in God.  I asked Him to send competent workers.  I asked Him to help me not to fret, but to trust in His word.

I repeated His word that all things work for the good for those who love the Lord, who have been called according to His purpose(Romans 8:28).  I repeated Psalm 56:3 and asked the Lord to help me not be afraid. In order for the repair to be made some of the bad wood had to be removed and replaced.  Seeing this process made me wonder if it could be done and would it be done.  I had to go back to trusting in God and not what I was seeing.

The repair took longer than expected , but God got it done.  He was patient with me in my fears and had compassion on me.  He didn’t leave my side, but answered all of my prayers.  

Lord, thank You.  Thank You for your compassion and grace.  Thank You for letting me come to You with my concerns and fears Thank You for being a God, the only wise God, that I can trust.  In Jesus name.Amen

Praise Break

 Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours , Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted head over all.~1 Chronicles 29:11

Sometimes I think I get so comfortable with God that I don't take time to really consider all that He is,  He is my comfort and my keeper,  He is my friend, but He is also Hoy and full of power and awesomeness.  So I think it's important to take a praise break and to praise Him for being the only wise God who sits on the throne.  

It all belongs to God.  He is Sovereign and majestic, possessing all power.  He is majestic in all of His splendor,  God is great!  Everything in heaven and earth belongs to God.  He is exalted and is head over all.  He is head over my life.  He has everything under control.

The beauty of God is that He encompasses all.  I can trust in Him because there is nothing good that He is not,  He is all good.  All mighty.  Altogether perfect and worthy of all the praise.  So thank You Lord for being Who You are. Thank You for the opportunity to see You in all your glory.

Father You are all together good and I love You.  Thank You for the opportunity to praise Your Name,  I lift You up knowing that You will draw all men unto Yourself.  Be glorified.  In Jesus name.  Amen

Running the race

 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us,  fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  ~Hebrews 12:1-2

I have found the race to not be a sprint, but a marathon.  It requires a steady pace and rhythm.  It requires commitment  and focus on the One who gives us the breath to run it in the first place.  Today I have struggled, but I am determined not to give up.  I am determined to put one foot in front of the other and mediate on God's grace.  I want to win the prize and with His help I will.  

His Word tells me that I am surrounded by a cloud of witnesses.  I am surrounded by others who have similar struggles, but have overcome by faith.  I have to throw off the sin that would seek to tie my shoe laces together and trip me up.  I have to throw the weight of sin off of my back so that I can run with abandonment to Jesus, my ever present help.

I have to persevere and run the race He has marked out for me.  He brought me to and He will bring me though it.  I have to believe in HIs promises and believe that He is able and willing to do what He said,  He is bigger than any situation, circumstance, or problem.  He is the fuel in my body that propels it forward.  I can't look back.  I have to fix my eye on Jesus the author and perfecter of my faith.  It's not me.  Its bigger than me,  God will keep His word.

So I inhale His love and exhale His grace and take step after step.  Not looking to my left nor right, but straight ahead to Him.  Knowing that He is cheering me on, giving me the victory.  So I encourage myself in Christ and keep moving, staying in the race.  I look to my brothers and sisters and Christ as we run this race together, knowing I am  not alone.  I gain inspiration and courage from others who are ahead of me and I reach back to help those who are behind me for it says in His Word , "let us" ( Hebrews 12:1)

Lord, I thank You for grace, mercy, and love.  Sometimes I want to treat this life like a sprint and I wear myself out, but it is You that refreshes me and tells me to get up when I fall.  It is You who tells me not to give up, but to keep running.  It is You that sets my pace and orders my steps.  It is You that lavishes me in your forgiveness and encourages me to keep my eyes on You an run the race with faith.  It is You that I run toward.  Thank You for being such a good Father and God.  I love You Lord.   I pray for my brothers and sisters who run the race with me.  May we run till the end. In Jesus name

A wake up call

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Leave this place, you and the people you brought up out of Egypt, and go up to the land I promised on oath to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, saying, ‘I will give it to your descendants.’ 2 I will send an angel before you and drive out the Canaanites, Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 3 Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey. But I will not go with you, because you are a stiff-necked people and I might destroy you on the way.”  ~Exodus 33:1-3

When I read these verses this morning I was sad and being transparent fearful.  The last thing I would want is for God to remove His presence from me.  The people also mourned this news and immediately repented.  But there are nuggets of God's goodness and faithfulness even in the distressing news.  

First nugget, God keeps His oaths.  He promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that their descendants would have the promised land. God had been with the people day and night.  He wanted to dwell with them and for them to dwell with Him.  He wanted relationship, yet as He noted they were stiff necked, stubborn.  Yet, God keeps His promise.  He is going to provide them with an angel to go before them to drive out the people so that they could possess the land.  The people had been faithless, but God remained faithful. By no means am I saying that we should be stubborn and rebellious and expect God to bless us, but the fact remains that we do not get what we deserve.  God is gracious. His faithful character should cause us to examine ourselves and make a change where needed.  

Secondly, God is merciful.  He says He will  not go with them because he might destroy them.  I think this shows God's love.  He knew the people and He wanted them spared because He is a just God and will hold sin accountable. Yet, the removal of His presence should be a wake up call.  Nothing can substitute God, not an angel nor man.  His presence is how we move and have our being.  It is His breathe in our lungs.

Today's passage of versus makes me grateful for His promise that He will never leave nor forsake me (Deuteronomy 13:6 ; Hebrews 13:5).   I am grateful that He knows me.  He perceives my thoughts from afar and is familiar with all of my ways.  He knows what I am going to say before I even speak it.  He hems me in and lays his hand upon me.  Where can I go from His Spirit, where can I flee from His presence? (Psalm139:1-7) 

He knows me and loves me anyway.  He sent His Son to die for me.  His Son Jesus lives and  now I can live too. He lives in me.  His presence is with me.  Its up to me to abide in Him and gain strength from what He offers freely and daily.  Its up to me to not be stiff necked and to yield to His Spirit.  Its up to me to cultivate my  relationship with Him because He has given me the access to do so.  His arms are open and so are mine.

Lord, I thank You for Your word that causes me to examine myself.  I thank You for your truth and faithfulness even when I am not faithful.  I thank You for your compassion and grace and consuming love.  I thank You for being God.

He Keeps Me

 The LORD will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. ~Psalm 121:7-8

God kept me.  When I look back over my life I see all the ways that He kept me and is keeping me.  What a blessing to know that God is looking out for me and over me.  He is watching me as I come and go.  God is good and He is a loving Father. 

 He does nothing half way.  He keeps you from all harm.  No matter the circumstance, we can trust that God is in the midst of it working it out for our good according to His purpose ( Romans 8;28)  We know that His plans for us are not to harm us, but to prosper us and give us hope and a future ( Jeremiah 29;11). So the weapons the enemy throws at us will not prosper (Isaiah 54:17).

You may be thinking I have heard this all before, but I challenge you and myself to take a moment to reflect on the many ways that God has protected you and guided you.  Just getting to and from a destination safely or walking away from a car accident unharmed.  Food and other provisions being provided daily.  Good health and access to medical care. Comfort when one is stressed or feeling overwhelmed. New mercies each and every day (Lamentation 3:22-23).

Throughout this pandemic, wearing masks and gloves and constantly sanitizing God has kept us.  We have His breath in our lungs. As one song says, it could have gone another way. That's more than enough reason to praise Him and thank Him for all He does, for keeping us.

Father I thank You for keeping me through it all. I don't deserve it, but You keep me anyway.   Thank You for watching over me and loving me.  Thank You for being my defender.  Thank You for being my peace. Thank You for your grace.  Thank You for love.  Thank You for keeping my family. Thank You for being God.  In Jesus name.  Amen

"Ouch" moments

 Jesus replied: "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.'~ Matthew 22:37

Have you ever experienced an "ouch" moment with God?  You know when you think every thing is on track and then you hit a bump that causes you to examine yourself.  They are not the best moments to have the, but definitely needed ones.  

This morning I experienced an "ouch" moment with God.  One that caused me to wail on the inside.  I was listening to praise and worship music and the song was talking about desiring Jesus more than silver than gold.  Rather than just sing along with the song, I had to ask myself is this true.  Do I desire Jesus more than silver and gold?  My first thought was surely my answer is yes, but I started thinking about my life in this season.  I am blessed.  God has been seeing me and my family through this pandemic.  I have a good job.  Family is doing well.  I have become comfortable.  These blessings have become my silver and gold.  Do I really want to give that up?

Ashamedly, I had to admit that I have let my comforts come before Jesus.  My blessings have become idols.  So I confessed and am full of gratitude that I serve a God who sees me, knows me and loves me anyway.  I serve a God whom I only need ask for forgiveness and I can receive it ( 1 John 1:9).

It is imperative that I (we) desire Jesus rather than the things He gives us and does for us.  Those things are just icing on the cake,  Jesus is the substance.  Jesus is what it is all about and I ( we) must love Him with everything I (we) have.  I must desire Jesus more than life itself because He is the only way that I have my being (Acts 17:28).

Life will not always be this rosy.  Storms will come as they have been here before and Jesus was the one who saw me through and will see me through.  He is my anchor, not the stuff.  I would hate to go through life without Him being the priority.  For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? _Mark 8:36 (KJV)

Now you know Satan tried to step in have me remain in the "ouch' rather than move forward to repentance and healing, but God would have none of that.  I love the Lord and there is nothing or no one I rather have than Him because He is my everything.  If I didn't have Jesus  I would not be redeemed.  If I did not have Jesus I would have no hope.  It is He who causes me to walk in the light so that I can see the shadows that lurk in my heart and deal with them 1 John 1:7).  So I thank Him for the "ouch" moments.  I thank Him for helping me to guard my heart (Proverbs 4:23)

Lord, you revealed an area of my life where I was lacking and You filled it.  Thank You.  Thank You for being God and thank You for your Son Jesus.  Help us to come to you with the good, bad, and ugly knowing that we can find mercy in our time of need (Hebrews 4:16).  Thank you for your grace.  Forgive me of my sins and help me to turn away from them.  In Jesus name.  Amen

PS.  As I ponder over this post, Job came to mind. and how the enemy was saying that Job was just good with God because He had so much ( paraphrase).  I want to respond like Job and worship the Giver and not the gifts.  Thank You Jesus.