Trust!

Let us, then, feel very sure that we can come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we can receive mercy and grace to help us when we need it.

Hebrews 4:16

As a child, I enjoyed going to the circus.  The smell of peanuts roasting, the clowns creeped me out more than a little, the sounds of the music... But it was the acrobats that fascinated me the most.  They made everything look so easy, as they would swing out over the crowd and "fly" to their partner who would catch them.  It was mind boggling for a kid of 6.

One year on a school field trip we went to the circus and got to talk to some of the performers.  The strongman was HUGE and quite powerful.  But I wanted to talk to the acrobats.  When we got to their area, I asked how they were able to perform those amazing tricks.  The acrobat said, “The flyer does nothing and the catcher does everything.  I have simply to reach out my arms and hands and wait for him to catch me and pull me safely over the apron.”  The flyer must trust, with outstretched arms, that his catcher will be there for him.”

Think about that,God is the catcher, and we are the flyers.  We trust.  Period.  We rely solely upon God’s ability to catch us.  And as we trust him, a wonderful thing happens– we fly!  Your Father has never dropped anyone.  He will not drop you.  His grip is sturdy and his hands are open.  Place yourself entirely in his care.  As you do, you will find it is possible, yes possible, to be anxious for nothing!

"Are You SERIOUS?"

No one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself. Only the Father knows.

Matthew 24:36 

 

Not long ago, I heard an "Evangelistic Apostle" claim that we are in the end times and we should be in fear for our lives, but if you sent this person $100 cash, special prayers would be said on your behalf.  I remember thinking to myself, and I believe I asked God out loud, "Is this person serious?".  Are we truly in the end times?  Yes we are.  We've been entering the end times from the very moment Adam and Eve disobeyed God.

Should we be afraid? As a child of God...no.  Why would God fill His Scriptures with reminders for us to "Fear not, for I am with you"?  Why would God take the time and effort to send Jesus to pay our debt, if He meant for us to be so fearful?  Why would Jesus tell us that "I will be with you always, even to the end of the earth"?  Simple...God has prepared a place just of us.  And it's so much better than anything we could ever imagine.

Now, a word of caution...Never once has God ever advised us to not be careful.  Never once has He commanded us to act without thinking or to simply act foolishly.  NOT ONCE!!!  In fact, the Apostle Paul reminds us, in his second letter to Timothy Chapter 1 and verse 7, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

 

Why would God go to all this trouble and effort to remind us to use our mind, use His power and love, and reject fear if He was simply lying to us?  Has God EVER lied?  Not that I have found.  But each of us must make the conscious decision to trust Him or not.  I vote to trust Him!

Where Are You Looking?

Come, my children, and listen to me,
    and I will teach you to revere the Lord.

Psalm 34:11 

 

We have this habit of turning our eyes toward ourselves, don't we?  When we are struggling, what do we do? We start wondering why God would let us struggle.  When we have doubts, we wonder if God is punishing us or does He even care.  When we are discouraged and discontented, we wonder why God doesn't just fix everything for us.  When we focus on ourselves, it's as if we have crawled into a dark, dismal, damp, disillusioning cave.

Listen, ANYONE who has told you that being a Christian is about going from one silver lined cloud to another, and that the Christian life is one of ease and struggle free....has LIED to you!  "Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all" Psalm 34:19.  When we try to live the Christian life, our enemy will throw all kinds of stumbling blocks in our way. 

 

In Psalm 34, David reminds us where we should be focusing.   

 

To the discouraged, David writes: "Glorify the Lord with me, let us praise His name together" Psalm 34:3.

 

To the distraught, David writes: "I asked the Lord for help and He answered me, and saved me from all my fears" Psalm 34:4.

 

To the distressed, David writes: "O taste and SEE that the Lord is good; how blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him" Psalm 34:8

 

To the overwhelmed, David writes: "You who belong to the Lord, revere Him; for those who revere Him there is no want" Psalm 34:9

 

To those who doubt, David writes: "Even young lions get weak and hungry; but the ones who rely on the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing" Psalm 34:10

 

When we find ourselves in the dark and dismal emotional cave, look up and see that Jesus is right there with His hands ready to life you up.

 

When God Says "Go"

Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.”

1 Samuel 16:1

 

When God tells us to "Go" what is our first reaction?  "Go where?" "But that's not where I want to go."  "What am I to do when I get there?"   You see, when God tells us to "Go" we tend to complicate the matter with lots of questions, excuses why we can't go, arguments about why someone else can't go in our place.  And do you know what all our arguments are called?  Faithless!

 

Let me be blunt...When God tells us to "Go" then we can be certain that He already has everything all worked out for us.  We can rest in the knowledge that God has had this plan in place since before time, and He has been preparing us for just this moment.  

 

When I was younger, I was so afraid that God was going to call me to go to some jungle village in the middle of who knows where to try to tell them about God's love.  But what God actually called me to do was even more challenging.  God called me to love.  That's right!  While that sounds simple, have you seen some of the people out there?  The first thing God had to get through my thick skull is this: "You can only love to the degree we have been loved.  And love begins by allowing yourself to BE loved."  God has taught me to love because HE loves me completely, warts and all!  Because of God's love for me, I have been able to love others.

 

When God says "Go" then don't hesitate..."Here I am. Send me" (Isaiah 6:8)

Journey

The Lord had said to Abram, “Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family, and go to the land that I will show you."

Genesis 12:1 

 

Following God's direction can give us cause to wonder if He has lost His senses.  I wonder if Abram followed God's instructions without question.  Think about it, God told Abram to pack everything up and move.  And in God's words..."to the land I will show you."  Remember Jeremiah 29:11 where God tells us "'For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord. ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.'"  God has the plans, knows the plans, and will fulfill those plans.  We don't.  So when God says, "I have plans for you and it's part of your journey on this Earth" we can fully trust Him.

 

But how many times have we questioned God?  How many times have we doubted God's choices?  How many times have we been too scared to have faith in God's plan?  Quite a lot, in my own life.  Yet if God had told me all about my journey through life, I, most likely, would have become far too overwhelmed.  But God tends to reveal His journey for us one step at a time.  Remember, "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."  God shows us that one step at a time...we can trust Him, we have faith in His love for us, we have faith in His plan for us, we believe that He will get us to the next step.

 

Trust....Faith....Love! 

I will tell you that our dog, Woody Bear, is NOT a fan of loud noises, especially thunder and fireworks.  When he hears thunder or fireworks, he will either go hide in the closet or want me to hold him to comfort him.  He's trusts us to keep him safe and to comfort him (not to mention give him snacks).  

But think about this, when we are afraid, God is right there to comfort and protect us if we TRUST Him.  If we truly trust God as we claim to, then we trust Him completely!  We trust Him with providing what we need; we trust Him with our families; we trust Him with our jobs; We trust Him with every aspect of our lives!  When we trust God, we have nothing to fear because He is in control of EVERYTHING!

Trust A Tiger?

They do not fear bad news;
    they confidently trust the Lord to care for them.

Psalm 112:7 

 

"Well, I've got good news and bad news."  How can you hear this and not get a knot in your stomach?  Let's face it, we don't like hearing bad news, because that means something bad has either happened or is about to happen.  The best we can do is trust God to make everything turn out right in the end.

 

Trust...a bond which is built over time and through events.  Look at the picture, the man is trusting the tiger not to eat him.  The tiger is trusting the man not to kill him. As a result, they have a bond between them.  

 

Let me ask you this, has God ever let you down?  In all reality, the answer is "NO."  Yet we still struggle with trusting Him to take care of us.  God has promised to never leave us and never turn His back on us.  He never promised we would have an easy time here on this rolling globe.  But He did promise to take care of us.  Build the bond of trust!

God Uses Pets?

Trust in the Lord with all your heart;
    do not depend on your own understanding.

Proverbs 3:5 

I had to take my dog, Woody Bear, to the vet the other day because I found a lump under his skin.  Did you know that God uses our pets to make His point sometimes?  How do I know this? Well, Woody Bear does not like going to the vet and he shakes so badly that the car vibrates.  I pet him and talk to him and try to explain that it's for his own good that we have to go to the vet.  He probably doesn't understand what I'm trying to explain to him, but he trusts me to get him there and be there when it's time for him to come home.

Now....I look at my own life.  I don't always have any idea what God has planned for me, and if God tried to explain it to me, I would still be nervous...just like Woody Bear!  However, I trust that God will never leave me or turn His back on me because He has never let me down before and is not about to start now.  So I trust Him even, and especially when, I don't understand what's going on or why it's going on.

God uses whatever He must to reach us and teach us...even pets!

We Are David

Goliath stood and shouted to the Israelite soldiers, “Why have you taken positions for battle? I am a Philistine, and you are Saul’s servants! Choose a man and send him to fight me. If he can fight and kill me, we will be your servants. But if I can kill him, you will be our servants.” Then he said, “Today I stand and dare the army of Israel! Send one of your men to fight me!” When Saul and the Israelites heard the Philistine’s words, they were very scared.

1 Samuel 17:8-11 

 

The photo is of Andre the Giant comparing hands with Muhammad Ali.  You can see the difference.  Imagine having this giant standing in front of you yelling at you to come out and fight?  What would you do?  Yet, that is exactly what Goliath did to the Israelites.  And guess what?  The entire Israelite army was terrified!

 

Think about this now: What sort of Goliath are you facing today?  What is it that has you afraid?  What is it that has you anxious?  What is it that has you upset?  You see, our Goliath comes in many forms and in many ways, and yet the outcome is always the same!  God wins every single time.

 

David trust God and did what no one thought he would ever be able to do.  Remember the stipulation that Goliath put on this fight?  If Goliath won, the Israelites would become the slaves of the Philistines.  If the Israelites won, the Philistines would become the slaves.  And Israel pinned all their hopes on the kid names David.  David trusted God and won that match.  And when we trust God, we are David! 

Paths

The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.
    I will advise you and watch over you."

Psalm 32:8 

I don't know about you, but I wish God's path for my life was more of a straight line instead of an obstacle course.  There are days when I don't even want to get out of bed, days when I don't even want to breathe, days that I wish were over before they began, then there are days I wish would never end.  God proves over and over that He has a sense of humor, don't believe me? Look back at your life and see all the times He has brought you through when you didn't think it possible.

God knows what He's doing all the time.  And the thing I am still learning is that I only have to take one step at a time because that's usually all God chooses to show me.  Imagine if He showed you everything you would face and deal with in your life all at once and then asked you "Still want to do this?"  Would you?  Most of the time, we must walk by faith trusting that God will direct us and advise us as He promised. 

God Has A Purpose For Your Life, Part 3

III. Think About This

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. ~Romans 5:8

*  God NEVER said, "Wait until you are 'good enough' before coming to Me." He already had a plan.

 

But those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
    They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
    They will walk and not faint.

~ Isaiah 40:30

* When your focus is on Loving God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength, you will find that you have a renewed sense of purpose.

 

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. ~ Ephesians 2:10

* God has NEVER made anything other than masterpiece and THAT includes YOU!  I may not be the best looking part of His Kingdom, but I am still one of His masterpieces!

So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

~ 1 Peter 5:6-7

*  When we remember that God is God and we are not, our perspective on everything else changes and we realize that God wants us to unload our burdens to Him so He can remind us how much He loves us!

Woosah IS Possible!

WOOSAH RULE #1: Remember that God is in control!

Don’t worry about anything;

instead, pray about everything.

Tell God what you need,

and thank Him for all he has done.

~ Philippians 4:6

What do we do when we worry? We put our focus on ourselves instead of God.

Ask yourself: Do I REALLY trust God or do I “trust” Him as long as everything goes my way?

If you truly trust God, then you know God is in control of everything; you know that nothing surprises Him; you know that it is HIS job to fulfill His plan for your life.

The enemy will try to distract us, he will try to make us doubt, he will try anything and everything to make us ineffective and weak. Point him to the Cross! Remember that God is ALWAYS with us, loving us, protecting us. We have the freedom to go boldly to God’s Throne of Grace, so what’s stopping us?

When the Morning Comes

The thought of my pain, my homelessness, is bitter poison.
    I think of it constantly, and my spirit is depressed.
    Yet hope returns when I remember this one thing:

The Lord's unfailing love and mercy still continue,
    Fresh as the morning, as sure as the sunrise.
    The Lord is all I have, and so in him I put my hope.

The Lord is good to everyone who trusts in him,

Lamentations 3:19-25 

Have you ever had a time in your life where you felt your life was caving in around you?  It felt as if life had imploded on you and everything you had hoped for, dream of, and prepared for suddenly can crashing down?  And all you could hear in your soul was the laughter of the enemy?

Let me be brutally honest....there are times that Life really just sucks swamp water!  There are times when you feel as though Life just cannot get any worse, yet somehow....it does.  There are times when you go to bed begging God not to let you wake up, and yet God awakens you the next day anyway.

There are times.....not minutes, not hours, not even days.....sometime this goes on for years!

But what are we to take from this?  Are we supposed to just give up and accept that Life is going to trample us so might as well just lie down and accept it?  Or are we to cling to even the dimmest ray of hope with the last of our strength?

Remember what the Apostle Paul said, "For I am certain that nothing can separate us from his love: neither death nor life, neither angels nor other heavenly rulers or powers, neither the present nor the future, neither the world above nor the world below—there is nothing in all creation that will ever be able to separate us from the love of God which is ours through Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39).

God's love is unfailing (never, Never, NEVER has it or will it fail) and His love for us is always a fresh as the new sunrise!  Why do we wait until our world is collapsing before re remember that God is in control and that NOTHING has ever surprised Him.  Once we understand that sometimes God allows us to find ourselves in situations where the only one we have to cling to is Him, we will (hopefully) learn to cling to Him always, in spite of what Life throws at us. 

When we cling to Him, our lives won't get easier, rather we'll get stronger! 

Stronghold

"The Lord is good,
    giving protection in times of trouble.
    He knows who trusts in him."

Nahum 1:7 

There's just something about history that fascinates me.  The walled fortress that protected Constantinople saved the city from the 4th Century until 1453.  It was the use of cannons that finally broke the city in 1453 after a six week siege.  These walls protected the citizens of the Roman Empire from all invaders.  Yet in order to be allowed within the walls for protection, you had to be known by the defenders.

Life has a way of pounding us over and over and over and just when we're ready to crumble we remember that God is our Protector.  I'll admit my memory is not what it used to be, and I'll admit that when the attacks begin....my focus quickly shifts to defending myself against the attack rather than seeking the protection of God.  

The thing about fortresses is that once you are inside, you are not supposed to hide and hope the invaders go away.  You are expected to take part in the defense of the fortress and those who are in the protection with you. During the time of the fortress of Constantinople, the people who entered for protection were almost immediately put to work keeping the walls in good repair, helping the wounded, bringing food and water to the defenders, anything and everything to help those within the walls.

God knows who trusts Him.  He opens the gates to His protection, but we are expected to help those who are in the protection with us. 

First Question: Does God know that you trust Him?

Second Question: How are you helping those in protection with you?