The Lord is My Rock

Psalm 18:2 “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.”-

In times when life beats me down and things go wrong, He is my Rock! My stabilizer in a time when life is shaking all around me. We face things in life that are bigger than us. Our resources are limited and our energy is depleted. The waves from the sea are overwhelming. Stress on every hand, conflicts at work, relationship with those we have always counted on, have been washed away. Financial circumstance become heavy when unexpected expenses arise. These are just some of the things that cause us to worry and fret about tomorrow. In our own strength, we fall short, but He is our strength, He is our deliverer, we have a buckler that will shield us from the enemies attacks. The key to deliverance is trust. I will trust Him. He is my Rock, and will be with me until the storm passes by.

What is This?

Ex 16:15b “What is this?” For they knew not what it was. And Moses said unto them, “This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat.”-

God does not always give us what we expect. We pray and ask God to provide us with our needs, and when He answers, it is not always in the way we thought it would be. We may ask like the Israelite did, “What is this? This is not what I asked for”. Following God wherever He goes will often require us to accept things that are out of the box or out of the norm. God works in ways that are beyond our understanding and He always knows what is best for us. The next time God does something for us beyond what we expect, our attitude should be, “What is this blessing that God has provided, He is so good!”

Tried in the Fire

But He knoweth the way that I take; when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.”-

The refining and purification of gold requires that it be melted down to allow the impurities to rise to the top and be scummed and removed. Being placed in the fire of God’s refinement for whatever reason causes us to almost always ask, “Why?”. What is God trying to teach us or show us? We examine our hearts to see if sin is the cause. “Did we do something that has displeased God?” We reflect on our obedience to God and we have been faithful to live righteous lives. These were questions that haunted Job. He was left with no explanation and had only one recourse, and that was to trust God in spite of the circumstances. Job learned that God need not answer to any one, He controls the universe and the destiny of the world is in His command. He is sovereign and knows the beginning to the end. He is the alpha and omega, the first and the last. Nothing happen that He does not already knows and has it all under control. I don’t know what will happen tomorrow, but I know the one who hold tomorrow in His hand. 

From the Fountain

James 3:10,11 “Out of the same mouth proceedeth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be. Doth a fountain send forth from the same place sweet water and bitter?”-

Is it possible for a true Christian that loves God to praise God one day and the next day use profanity and speak ill-will of someone else? Paul did not think so. He says that a fountain either has sweet water or it has bitter waters. Which one is it? It cannot be both. It is not the natural course. A person who has experience the love and grace of God will show forth actions that will reflect what God has done. The words we speak, are the words we think. What we think is what is in our heart. It is true, that in our humanity that our bodies can reach a point of stress that our natural reflects can cause us to react too quickly, but such actions can be the results of involuntary impulse. As Christians, we must guard what we say and how we say it. Always remember to speak that which is kind and up lifting. Our tongue must come under the influence of the Holy Spirit. May we be careful to always reflect what we say to please God and honor others.

My Members

Roman 7:23 “ But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members.”-

The battle between doing good and doing evil. Born of Adam’s race, we our all born with sin dwelling in our hearts. Before coming to Christ, our consciences convicted us when we would do wrong. To ease our guilt, we did our best to start doing right and commit our actions to works of righteousness. The struggle is real. We were born to serve God and the inward man that was born of God desires to please its Creator. It strives to live with a conscience that is void of offense. A new Christian who knows that Christ has forgiven their sins is quicken by the Spirit and is empowered to walk toward the light of God. A believer who is consecrated to God and who has given their life as a living sacrifice will rely solely on the Holy Spirit to overcome sin and self. Because we still are human with human desires, the temptation to do wrong will always be possible. Satan takes that which is good and will twist it for evil, but our members are yielded unto holiness and our hearts are changed to seek what God wants. 

Prodigal Son

Luke 15:20 “And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.”-

The story of the prodigal son exemplifies that God never gives up on us. That He is constantly pursuing us with His love and grace. Our hearts are broken when we see our children leave the Father’s house. Children who stray away from the teaching of God’s word and leave the fold of God do so of their own free will. The story of the prodigal son conveys to us that even if you are raised in a good godly home that their is no guarantee that one will follow God. Sin is enticing, and Satan will do his best to lead people away from truth. The Father never ceased to love His son, It shows that no matter what we do in sin that God will not forsake us. As long as we have breath, we can choose to rise up and return to the Father’s house. He will not turn us away. Eternity is forever, and living this life wandering in sin will have eternal consequences. It is a matter of choice, we can live in our sin, or rise up and head on home. The Father awaits with open arms.

4:00am-

Holy Example

Phil 3:17 “Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark those who so walk, as ye have us for an example.”-

There are those who we look up to and admire. We hold them in high regard because they have been an example of someone who lives in the Vine. They are real people with real problems, but their spirit shines in the image of Christ. Their walk with Christ is not necessarily flawless, but they always manage to come through victoriously. We see them go through rough times, but their trust in God is unwavering. In spite of what happens to them, they continue to fight in faith, believing God that all things will work together for good. There are those who are looking to you and me as examples of the faith. They will follow our footsteps, and it is our responsibility to be a holy examples to them. Hold on to God’s unchanging hand, don’t give up the fight, others are following behind us.