Under His Wings

Ruth 2:12 The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be given thee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come to trust. “Keep me as the apple of the eye, hide me under the shadow of thy wings” 

We are faced with many predators in life, the greatest of all is the attacks on Satan to cause our faith in God to be abandon. God, like an eagle has His wings stretching out over us protecting us from any harm that comes our way. Each day as we wake and head out into a world that despises all that is holy and right, God has promised to keep us under His wings. Staying under His wings we have come to trust that where He leads, He will take care of anything we might face. Ruth came to trust the God of her mother in law Naomi and believed that God would meet her needs. She garnered the attention of Boaz, and Her trust in God gave her favor in his eyes. God looks after His own, and those who trust Him, He will protect and keep.

Opportunity

Gal. 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Opportunity is a window of time given to us by God to do something good. Such opportunity often go unnoticed because we are too occupied with making sure that all our needs are being met. We get busy with legitimate things in life and fail to look for those windows of time when we can do something good for someone else. We sometimes have to go out of way to make those opportunities happen. Sacrifice may be involved when the window of time is open, and we need to be willing to say yes to the Holy Spirit as He whispers to us to seize the moment. May God help us to be alert and take advantage of those times, He desires us to be a blessing to others, let us be aware of our surroundings and do good to all men.

The Still Small Vocie

1 King 19:12 And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.

God reveals Himself in various ways. There are times that He comes as a burning bush, or an angel of light. We like to see God in a demonstrative way. Without a doubt, we know we have heard from God and we are assured that He is in control. But often it is in the quiet times of our day that God chooses to make Himself known. He speaks in a still small voice within our hearts and mind. His word reveals to us his love and care and His desire to be our guide and shield. Our conscience is pricked by the Holy Spirit warning us of spiritual danger ahead. It is in the stillness of our day that we are able to listen to the small voice that shows us the way we should go. We live in a busy world with so much to do. Finding time to get alone can be a challenge for some, but we must make time if we are going to hear the still small voice of God.

Legacy to Remember

2 Tim 1:5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

Let those that follow behind us find us faithful. The song writer must have been referring to Lois and Eunice. They left a godly example for Timothy to follow. They held on to their faith in spite of the circumstances they faced in their day. The faith passed down from generation to generation. A legacy of hope given to son and grandson. Such is the desire of all who follow Christ. As time moves on and the sun begins to set on the horizon of life, what is the legacy we leave behind? How will we be remembered? There are a lot of good things in life that have been accomplished, but it is our faith in Christ that will last for eternity. The things of this world will fade away, my hope is built on nothing less, that Jesus Christ and His righteousness. A legacy of love, hope and faith.

Be Sober, Be Vigilant

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

There’s a part we play in keeping our hearts right before God. As Christians and followers of Christ, we have a responsibility to make every effort to be vigilant and aware of the enemies attack. We don’t want to carelessly walk into one of Satan’s traps due to our failure of letting our guard down. The defeat of the enemy can only be accomplished by God’s might and power.  He is our sword and shield and very help in time of trouble. But failure and defeat often comes when we allow our will to deviate from what God wants us to do. Being sober is to be aware of the temptations around us and to flee the very appearance of evil. It is the grace of God that is able to strengthen us in time of need, when our will power to do what is right is being attacked, we need to lean on Him for help. It is only the grace of God that we our able to be established and settled, but He must have our willingness to be sober and vigilant. 

The Battle Is Not Ours

2 Chronicles 20:17  Ye shall not need to fight in this battle: set yourselves, stand ye still, and see the salvation of the Lord with you, O Judah and Jerusalem: fear not, nor be dismayed; to morrow go out against them: for the Lord will be with you.

The battle we fight is not flesh and blood. The enemy that Jehoshaphat faced was an army that sought out to destroy the people of God. Today, there may be enemies that carry weapons of destruction and seek to destroy the very fiber of our freedom, but the real battle is a spiritual warfare. The principality and powers in high places, the world not seen by human eyes. Satan seeks to destroy the spiritual fiber of our soul. The battle is against the forces unseen that desire to pull us down and forsake the ways of God. We face the battle of fatigue and discouragement. Becoming weary in well doing as we seek to live out our lives to please Him. We our constantly up against the philosophies that govern this world. A philosophy that leaves God out, or relegates Him to a position of convenience. The battle to maintain a standard of living that requires a careful Godly walk. To live circumspectly, to trust and obey His Word. Without the Spirit of the Lord, the battle is lost. We need Him every moment, everyday if we are going to win this battle. 

The Fingers of God

Psalm 8:3.4 When I consider thy heavens, the work of thy fingers, the moon and the stars, which thou hast ordained; What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

The psalmist sees the Almighty as a artist, sculpting with His fingers the universe. The Creator of heaven and earth calls into existence the suns of the universe, the stars in the heaven are made for His pleasure. He has ordained the creation of the moon to help light the earth at night. He has gifted man with the intelligence to peek into the vastness of space. We have but scratch the surface of the vastness of His creation. The fingers of man have invented and constructed things of marvel. but it is God who can take what is not and make it into something that is. Who is man, but once again the fingers of God forming him from the dust of the earth. He is molding man into His image. We our the clay in the Potter’s wheel willing to let God make us into the vessel of His desire. The same God who with His fingers creating the worlds, wants to make us a vessel of honor, ready to be used for His pleasure.

Suffering

2 Corinth 1:7 And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation.

To suffer, means to experience pain and loss. The pain may be physical, emotional, or even mental. The loss may be due to evil demised, unfortunate events, or the death of a loved one. Christian are not exempt from suffering. Sin has scared this world of all that his pure and good. The consolation of Christian is that God give the grace help us endure the suffering we bare. And through suffering we are able to emphasized with those who also suffer, and give them comfort. When bad things (suffering) happen to good people, it is an opportunity for lovers of God to show forth God’s love and goodness. God is good and He does all things in His time and for His purpose. Like Job, who am I to question the almighty and His ways. Accepting suffering is not easy, but it is what God desires. Yes, we are encourage to ask God to relieve us of our suffering, and He is able. But, ultimately, like the 3 Hebrew children that were thrown into the fiery furnace. It it be God’s will, He can and will bring us through our suffering. 

Suffer Persecution

2Tim 3:12- Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. 

Through time and history, the church has faced persecution from all that fight against God and the claims of Christ as God. Followers of Christ are seen as bigots and intolerant for they claim that Jesus in the only way to God the Father.  The church has suffered persecution from all those that oppose a God that requires obedience to a moral law. In the face of evil, John the Baptist darned to cross the immoral behavior of the daughter of Herod, for this he was beheaded. We stand today in a world with a philosophy that ever man is doing that which is right in his own eyes. If you dare show any intolerance or judgement of their behavior you are labeled as narrow minded and are ridiculed for your faith. In America, persecution may not show up as physical beating or elimination, but the faith of believers who stand up to truth is belittled and mocked. All those who live godly in Christ will be attached and judged by those who claim that they are tolerant of all people except Christians. With grace, Christian need to stand firm for truth, yet show to the world the love of Christ that is able to bring peace and forgiveness to the hearts of men.