Why do we question anything? Is the Word of God not enough to keep us content and wanting nothing but a relationship with Him? Do we search out our hearts daily? If not, the time is now!
In January, I lost my dad (62 yrs old) and a month later lost my 96 year old grandmother. Both loved the Lord. Both served Him in similar ways. Both from different religious backgrounds. Both showed God’s love and knew the importance of Him in all our lives. Both taught me to love the Lord above anything else. Lessons I want to pass along to my children.
Lately, I have been led to use my grandmothers Bible along with my own. As I thumb through the pages, I see many hours spent in His Word, understanding, love, knowledge and relationship. I then question, like all the writings and underlined scriptures in there, do we have this knowledge and understanding written on the tablets of our hearts? Proverbs 3:3 says, “Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart.” Are they there? Inscribed in your heart?
In this truth/understanding/knowledge, do we not worry (Matthew 6:25), not doubt (James 1:6), not fear (Isaiah 41:10)? It pleases God to trust Him with our every need. Like in Matthew, the birds are fed and have no worry of anything. Why not us? “Look at the birds! They do not worry about what to eat – they don’t need to sow or reap or store up food – for your heavenly Father feeds them. And you are far more valuable to Him than they are. Will all your worries add a single moment to your life?” (vs 26-27) Trust comes from spending time with Him and in His Word. This will help with our heart issue.
It seemed that the Israelite’s were never satisfied in the desert. God provided their every need, but they still weren’t happy. The problem is they were following God with their words and not their hearts. Their hearts were far away and this grieved God’s heart. The same goes for us today. Are we following God with our words or our hearts?
I don’t want to hurt or grieve Him. God has done so much for me over and over again. “I recall the many miracles He did for me so long ago.” – Psalms 77:11. I constantly work on my heart. If we don’t do this, we can’t have a true relationship with Him and we can’t follow any of His instructions in the scriptures.
When I read Psalms 139:17-18, I was overcome with God’s love for us. It says, “How precious it is, Lord, to realize that you are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day your thoughts turn towards me. And when I waken in the morning, you are still thinking of me.” Are we the same way with Him? Our hearts and thoughts should be constantly on Him in this same manner. This is the only way for us to walk through this world and be ready to be with Him forever.
Love Him. Trust Him. Write His Word on your hearts. Share all this with others! He is coming! Are you ready??
I remember back when I was in nursing school, they taught us how important it is for patients to have a positive attitude when going through a medical crisis. It wasn’t until I was out of school years later, going through my own medical issues, that I saw this really was true. I quickly learned it can be more than medical and illnesses; it can be relationships on the rocks, problems with kids, addictions, loss of a job or money problems. It’s not about IF we will face some trial or tribulations, but WHEN – it’s inevitable.
I say all that to get to this. Our attitude, how we handle things, affects every facet of our lives and honestly those around us. Do we have a positive attitude or a negative attitude? It’s a proven fact that when you’re sick, but have a positive attitude and hope, your brain is likely to produce chemicals that boost your immune system and your body’s healing power. Through all my medical issues, I learned really quickly I couldn’t do it alone. My problems were bigger than me but my God is bigger than my problems!
One of my favorite verses that I cling to still today is Hebrew 6:19. It tells us we have a certain Hope like an anchor holding our souls to God Himself. We all know an anchor is usually made of heavy metal attached to a vessel by a rope or chain and cast overboard into a body of water to hold the vessel in a particular place. This prevents the vessel from drifting due to high wind or current. I don’t know about you, but on many occasions I have felt like life has thrown me overboard into raging waters. But just as an anchor secures a ship, Jesus secures me because He has me anchored to Him. I just love that visual!
Jesus wants to be our anchor in all our storms – if we will just let Him. He longs to be connected to us – ALL THE TIME – not just during raging waters. An anchor has to be secured to its vessel for it to do its job in stabilizing that vessel. We have to be tethered to Jesus to have hope in this world. Jesus said in John that He has overcome the world and through this we have gained Hope in ALL of life’s trials and tribulations. Not just this one or that one but ALL of them. When you’re sinking beneath the waves of all your problems, most of the time our common sense goes right out the window. We need something so much greater to hold on to.
Psalm 121 says, “I lift my eyes up to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” If the God of Creation can create the earth and the heavens, then why wouldn’t He be able to help me with my pathetic little problems? Why wouldn’t I lay them at His feet? This concept of hope is an important one as it’s mentioned 130 times in the Bible. It’s defined as the confident expectation of what God promised and its strength in His faithfulness. Think about that – confident expectation. In this world there aren’t too many things we can have confident expectation in. Hope usually lies hidden in us until we need it for security and strength in those moments when we think we just can’t go on.
Faith, gratitude and love go hand in hand with hope. We can’t have hope without faith or faith without love and gratitude. We will all face suffering – disappointments, heartaches, loss, trials and tribulations – but how we handle them says a lot about where we are in our walk with Christ. Do we fall apart or do we fall into the loving and waiting arms of Jesus? Do we try to do it all ourselves or do we surrender and let our Anchor confidently stabilize us in the raging seas? Do we constantly ask, “Why me Lord,” or do we show gratitude because that problem might be breaking us down enough for Him to draw us to closer? I know when my hope is in Him and only Him, I am much more confident and secure than when I’m trying to handle it myself. Why would I even think I would be equipped to handle it on my own? The thing is, we never have to do it alone – ever!
He wants us to want Him for every moment of our lives – the good, the bad and every moment in between. I remember when I was going through one of my many medical issues dealing with chronic pain, someone told me, “Donna, you praise Him through the pain”. I don’t know if you’ve ever done that before but it wasn’t easy for me at first. I remember getting in my Bible after that and reading everything I could about hope, suffering, pain and healing. I did that until I could thank Him and praise Him through the pain. And really mean it! Romans 5:3-5 says, “And not only this, but [with joy] let us exult in our sufferings and rejoice in our hardships, knowing that hardship (distress, pressure, trouble) produces patient endurance; and endurance, proven character (spiritual maturity); and proven character, hope and confident assurance [of eternal salvation]. Such hope [in Gods promises] never disappoints us, because God’s love has been abundantly poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
So you see, the suffering you’ve been going through is producing some pretty incredible things in you. I can’t promise you all illness will be healed, all relationships restored or that you’ll come into millions. However, I am promising you that He counts every tear you cry. He will be your strength when you feel alone, when you feel you can’t go on or when you feel it just can’t get any better. He will always be merciful, always loving, always faithful and always trustworthy when you can’t depend on anything or anyone else – and certainly not yourself. The way I see it, we have a few options when dealing with our most difficult trials or even our basic everyday problems. We can let it decide who we are. We can let it tear us apart and destroy us. Or….we can take hold of Jesus’s hand. We can put our hope and trust in Him and by doing that there will most certainly be better days ahead.
I read a quote by an unknown author recently that I really liked – kinda sums all this up. “The deepest level of worship is praising God in spite of the pain, thanking God during the trials and trusting Him when we’re tempted to lose hope. At my lowest, God is my hope. At my darkest, God is my light. At my weakest, God is my strength. At my saddest, God is my comforter.” Don’t lose hope. Don’t quit. Have gratitude in the process of the pain. There is always someone hoping and praying for the very things you may take for granted. There is always someone worse off than you. Remember, have confidence in your Anchor to pull you out of those raging waters. To realize the worth of the Anchor, we have to feel the storm! There is always hope! God bless!
What comes to mind when you think about the Old Testament? Irrelevant? Outdated? Boring? How many excuses have you & I used to avoid reading it? I don’t understand it. It doesn’t make sense. It doesn’t apply to MY life. For several weeks now, I’ve been reading in the Old Testament. To be honest, I’m blown away at what I’ve found. I’ve been in church throughout my entire life, and maybe like some of you, I’ve heard pieces of stories, but never been able to put it together as a whole. In what I’ve read lately, I’ve come to realize that without the Old Testament, you can’t fully appreciate the New Testament, and the value of Jesus’ death and resurrection.
You’ll notice in the Old Testament, the punishment for sin was death, immediate and harsh. If you’re not careful, you’ll have yourself convinced that the God of the Old Testament is different from the God of the New Testament. Though, we know from Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8 that the Lord does not change; He is the same yesterday, today and forever. So, what exactly caused the difference?
Jesus.
“He was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.” Isaiah 53:5
Jesus took upon himself the penalty for our sins so we could experience forgiveness and grace. If not for His sacrifice, your complaining, disobedience, fear, and failure to trust God would result in you missing the promised land, just like the Israelite’s. Though, because of His sacrifice, we get another chance. And another chance. And another chance. We aren’t perfect, but the one who IS took our place.
I think most of us have at least tried to wrap our heads around what God really did for us by sending His son, Jesus, to die for us. Though, admittedly, it’s a seemingly impossible feat. I have three sons that I love with my whole heart. I cannot fathom for one second sending any one of them to die for even the MOST righteous person. Imagine sending them to die for the person who cut you off in traffic last week, the coworker who constantly criticizes you, the person who broke into your home and stole from you, the person who murdered someone you love….can you imagine?
Recently, it occurred to me, God didn’t give His only son so that everyone would have a relationship with Him; He gave His only son so that everyone would have the CHOICE to have a relationship with Him. No guarantee of the relationship. To put it another way, imagine that you want to adopt, but the only way you can is by giving up your child’s life. Then, imagine giving up your child’s life for someone who then rejected you, who decided not to be adopted by you. Then, imagine knowing BEFOREHAND, that you, and the adoption, would be rejected, and STILL giving up your child. Imagine giving up your child’s life for just a CHANCE of having a relationship with someone. That’s how much He loves us.
“For this is how much God loved the world—he gave his one and only, unique Son as a gift. So now everyone who believes in him will never perish but experience everlasting life [never being separated from God].” John 3:16
I don’t know that we can ever fully understand the sacrifice that was made for us, but through the reading of His Word, I have gotten a small glimpse. Ever since this realization, there’s been an old song in my heart on repeat.
How Deep the Father’s Love
By Stuart Townend
How deep the Father’s love for us
How vast beyond all measure,
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure.
How great the pain of searing loss –
The Father turns His face away,
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory.
Behold the man upon a cross,
My sin upon His shoulders;
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers.
It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished;
His dying breath has brought me life –
I know that it is finished.
I will not boast in anything,
No gifts, no power, no wisdom;
But I will boast in Jesus Christ,
His death and resurrection.
Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer;
But this I know with all my heart –
His wounds have paid my ransom.
Maybe today we can put aside our preconceived ideas and opinions, and hopefully even our excuses. Let’s pray for the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth, that we may see the Father’s love revealed to us, all the way from Genesis to Revelation.
There are times I deal with the “I’m not good enoughs” and sharing this makes me rather vulnerable, so I would rather not share it—but I feel like I must. For example, at different times, it could be, I’m not good enough for God to speak to me like that or I’m not good enough to find treasures in scripture. I’m not good enough for God to use me, and the like.
Thinking this way is an IDOL. Although it’s a sneaky one. This is meditating on lies and completely negating all scripture that speaks of HOW MUCH HE LOVES AND WANTS OUR ATTENTION. An idol is by definition a “form or appearance visible but without substance”.
Thinking this way is an IDOL.
In his LOVE the “not good enoughs”or “good enoughs” don’t even exist. Those ideas revolve around self not God. Major pride factor, too, because I’m insinuating at some point I will be “good enough” for God. Your “self-consciousness undermines God consciousness”, a famous minister once said.
1 Corinthians 10:5 Casting down IMAGinations and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.
Imagination has the word image in it. Aren’t idols, after all, false images. In this case the false image we have of ourselves that God doesn’t think favorably about us. We have been told that God wants a clean temple with no idols—So we need to cast down these lies about ourselves that we aren’t good enough for God to use, speak to or otherwise.
How do we cast them down? Instead we purpose to think on ALL God has done for us and on His love for us in scripture. Here’s a place to begin to direct your mind.
Jeremiah 31:3 …Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.
Zephaniah 3:17 …He will rejoice over you with joy; He will be quiet in His love [making no mention of your past sins], He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy.
Hebrews 13:5 … He has said, “I will never [under any circumstances] desert you [nor give you up nor leave you without support, nor will I in any degree leave you helpless], nor will I forsake or let you down or relax My hold on you [assuredly not]!”
We build pathways in our mind according to our repetitive thoughts. Like rivers, these pathways easily form with the path of least resistance when we let our mind wander. If we want to change the pathways of thinking that are contrary to what God says about us, we must purpose to do so by meditating on how precious we are to the Lord. We can take the next step by reading the scriptures above (or ones like them) out loud to ourselves when we wake up, before we go to sleep, and when our mind starts to wander.
