FIGHTING FEAR AND UNCERTAINTY

                                                                           

 Hi Friendly People,

This morning finds us with such uncertainty about the future here in the great United States of America. The "united" states seems so far from the truth these days as we hear the spark of civil war being pronounced through social media. I thought it time to write my devotions again so I could encourage someone, anyone. You might be unable to go out doors because of smoke filled skies, you might be in despair over finances, illness or loss, some are over burdened by family and relational dynamic, but I feel the need to really address fear of the future. Fear of the present.

I have always been the sort that evaluates my stance with God on a regular basis; if I were to be tried in my faith would I shine with dignity and hope? 

We are at a place of pressing that will show who we will follow, who and what we believe, who we respect and how far our belief and devotion to God will take us.

Have you been stripped of your strength physically? Have been at the end of yourself emotionally? Have you lost everything? Let's gain some perspective looking at what this great man had to say about being pressed to the end of himself..

Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said, " Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."  He also said, "Shall we indeed accept good from God, and not accept adversity?

This passage is in Job the first chapter but I warn you if you have not decided that God is indeed the Lord of your life you will get angry when you read it. We must decide that God is sovereign over all aspects of our lives; love, honor, livelihood and our physical health. 

Job, In all this, did not sin with his lips. To accept the bad along with the good? Can I? Can you?

Ecclesiastes 5 is a great read on this subject as he (Solomon) says, "To go as he came; and he shall take nothing from his labor which he may carry away in his hand. And this is a severe evil- just as he came , so shall he go.

Choose not to comprehend how the bad dwells with the good but just accept that sometimes it does and enjoy life because tomorrow is promised to no man. To love what is in front of you is pleasing to God. 

Ecclesiastes 5:19-20  (most nations of the world, consider rich, those who live in the United States.) As for every man to whom God has given riches and wealth, and given him power to eat of it, to receive his heritage and rejoice in his labor-this is a gift of God. For he will not dwell unduly on the days of his life, because God keeps him busy with the joy of his heart.

Choose to believe that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning. (James 1:17) 

Are you feeling like David did in Psalm 39, in despair? Are you unable to navigate all that is happening in the world today and in your person life? We don't know what David was going through at the time of this Psalm but we can all relate.

We can worry about the present, be in fear about the future and despondent about the end, OR we can:

"Come to Him (Jesus), all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn of Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." (Matthew 11:28-30)

Let us enjoy what God has given us even as we grieve what we see happening around us. It will lighten the darkness a bit and please God. I have found joy in the darkest of moments and we must do that now to honor God and take on His yoke. We look at what is in front of us and do our best to bring Him honor in faith, hope and thanksgiving in this present time.

A prayer to get you started in reaching out to God and expecting Him to meet you!

Father God, I ask that You penetrate the hearts of those who are in fear and just can't seem to reach their hands to You. You are full of lovingkindness and forbearance, and choose to comfort those who look to You and call on Your name. Would You have Your truth overtake and permeate their hearts and minds until their hearts are softened by Your love and the fear is over-taken by gratitude and thanksgiving. That they are able to see Your goodness and kindness all around them and praise You and thank You! 

In the matchless name of Jesus Christ, Amen 

                                                         Never give up and Never give in!

Let Me Die part 2

Let Me Die part 2

Hello Friendly People,
       Our lives tell a story as we respond to God's nature and character. Let us not grow weary in well doing but finish this race with dignity, trust and hope flowing through us! Let us not waste time arguing our case with God- time is short! God will listen and sometimes even debate our grievances, but the time always comes when we must grow up and deal with our attitudes! My prayer for us all is that we submit so we don't have to endure the worms and scorching heat, or the blazing winds. The trials that can, if we aren't careful, dry up, uproot and wither the seeds God has planted in us.


Jonah 4
V1 But Jonah was greatly displeased and became angry.
V2 He prayed to the Lord, "O Lord, is this not what I said when I  was still at home? That is why I was so quick to flee to Tarshish.


Do you see God this way?                                        I knew that you are a gracious and compassionate God, slow to anger and abounding in love, a God who relents from  sending calamity.

             .
V3 Now, O Lord, take away my life, for it is better for me to die than to live." 
V4 But the Lord replied, "Have you any right to be angry?
V5 Jonah went out and sat at a place east of the city. There he made himself a shelter, sat in its shade and waited to see what would happen to the city.
V6 Then the Lord God provided a vine and made it grow up over Jonah to give shade for his head to ease his discomfort, and Jonah was very happy about the vine. 
V7 But at dawn the next day God provided a worm, which chewed the vine so that it withered. 
V8 When the sun rose, God provided a scorching east wind, and the sun blazed on Jonah's  head so that he grew faint. He wanted to die, and said, "It would be for me to die than to live."
V9 But God said to Jonah, " Do you have a right to be angry about the vine?"  "I do",  he said." I am angry enough to die."
V10But the Lord said, " You have been concerned about this vine, though you did not tend it or make it grow. It sprang up overnight and died overnight.
V11 But Nineveh has more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left and many cattle as well. Should I not be concerned about that great city?


                  Never give up!Never give in!

Heartaches

   Hello Friendly People,
            What a lesson I have learned! The frailty of our bodies cannot hold the sorrows and burdens we carry. We sometimes think our lamenting, tears and sackcloth will help those we carry on our bent backs, we are not called but only to trust and ask God to do what we cannot do, even in our deepest love for people. When we play God those we love don't see it as love at all. We are left with the bags of misunderstanding weighing us down and our mouth hanging open wondering how we made such a mess of loving. Loving.........He is love. Lets learn from Him how to be gentle and humble of heart in our loving. 


Matthew 11
V28 "Come to Me all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
V29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble of heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 
V30 For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."



    Can we leave what belongs in His hands, in His hands. When we choose to hold what belongs to Christ we ensue devastating consequences in these earthly vessels. 


How long has it been since you read this chapter? I challenge you to memorize it.


Isaiah 53
V3 He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, or ( familiar with suffering). Like one from whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we esteemed Him not.
V4 Surely  He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows. but we considered him stricken by God, smitten by Him, and afflicted.
V5 but He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His wounds we are healed.
V6 We all, like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
V7 He  was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.
V8 By oppression and judgement He was taken away, And who can speak of His descendants? For He was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people He was stricken.
V9 He was assigned a grave with the wicked and with the rich in His death, though He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.
v10 Yet it was the Lord's will to crush Him and cause Him to suffer, and though the Lord makes His life a quilt offering, He will see His offspring and prolong His days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in His hand.
V11 After the suffering of His soul, He will see the light of life and be satisfied; by His knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and He will bear their iniquities. 
V12 Therefore I will give Him a portion among the great, and He will divide the spoils with the strong, because He poured out His life into death, and was numbered with the transgressors, For He bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.  




Thank you Jesus!.........




                       Never give up! Never give in!

Let me Die

Hello Nice People,
     This book has captured my thoughts and taken me into the arena of my mind's unhealthy and unbiblical thought life. Our purpose is to love people and obey God in the process of loving. We so often want to inject our justice and reward system. I pray this book speaks to you as it has me.


Jonah
V1 The word of the Lord came to Jonah the son of Amittai saying,
V2 "Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before Me"
   There are some historical and cultural reasons for Jonah's hesitation.  Nineveh was Israel's enemy. God so often has us pray for those who have wronged us; we groan as we stand back and watch God bless them without any punishment for their sin. Isn't that the heart of God toward us! We so quickly forget how He so graciously forgave us.


Job 42
V8 "Now therefore , take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so I may not do with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has."
V10 The Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and this increased all that Job had twofold.


Jonah 
V3 Jonah runs from the challenge. He catches the nearest ship, running from God's request to go preach in Nineveh. Can you wonder a minute at what it is like to be a Pastor or Prophet in this day, to this (Nineveh) society? I'm sure they would rather be on a long boat trip.  Another thought on this verse: I have been under great conviction about the wickedness in our culture, the church culture in particular. The church is so overwhelmed by the culture that Pastors now have to defend themselves when they try to uphold biblical truth. Can you imagine that a Pastor would be considered "controlling" if he inserts himself with biblical truth into the lives of his own parishoners. These things are happening! Don't think for a minute that God is okay with that. Frankly, I am a little nervous (very nervous) that maybe God has allowed us to sin and mock Him for as long as He can tolerate. I believe with all my heart that our sin has come up before Him and He is sending out the prophets to warn us. Read on.


V4 The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.
V5 Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep.
   When we are God's children we become so confident that He will never leave us or forsake us that we take liberties with  disobedience that we shouldn't. Our sin effects everyone around us, even in the church we attend, our families and friends. The storm that Jonah caused by his rebellion caused a crew to throw much needed supplies overboard. It caused that ship's crew to be in torment as they thought they were facing certain ruin.  

         Notice Jonah sleeps through their anguish.
V6 So the captain of the ship approached him and said, "How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish." 
V7 Each man said to his mate,"Come, let us cast lots so we may learn on whose account this calamity has struck us." So they cast lots and the lot fell on Jonah.
    The people that cause problems aren't the ones seeking God; but the people around them sure are, out of desperation! Wouldn't it be great if we could cast lots! You feel the effects of rebellion (the storm) but don't know who's causing it until they leave the church, or God puts them in a fish.
V8 They question him. 
V9 He said to them, "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land."
V10 Then  the men became extremely frightened and they said to him, "How could you do this?" For the men knew that he was fleeing from the presence of the Lord, because he had told them.
V11 So they said to him, "What should we do to you that the sea may become calm for us?"-- for the sea was becoming increasingly stormy.
V12 "Pick me up and throw me into the sea. Then the sea will become calm for you, for I know that on account of me this great storm has come upon you."
V13 However, the men rowed desperately to return to land but they could not, for the sea was becoming even stormier against them.
V14 Then they called on the Lord and said, "We earnestly pray, O Lord, do not let us perish on account of this man's life and do not put innocent blood on us; for You, O Lord, have done as You have pleased." 
V15 So they picked up Jonah, threw him into the sea and the sea stopped its raging.

V16 Then the men feared the Lord greatly, and they offered a sacrifice to the Lord and made vows.
V 17 the Lord appointed a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was in the stomach of the fish three days and three nights.


Chapter 2
This whole chapter is a cry to God, a prayer, an acknowledgement of who God is. Take some time and read it.
V2 I called out of my distress to the Lord, and He answered me. 
I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; You heard my voice.
He ends with this:
V9 "But I will sacrifice to You with the voice of thanksgiving.
That which I have vowed I will pay. Salvation is from the Lord."
V10 Then the Lord commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto dry land. 


Chapter 3
V3 So Jonah arose and went to Nineveh according  to the word of the Lord. Now Nineveh was an exceedingly great city, a three days' walk.
V4 Then Jonah began to go through the city one day's walk; and  cried out and said, "Yet forty days and Nineveh will be overthrown."
V5 The people of Nineveh believed in God; and they called a fast and put on sackcloth from the greatest to the least.
Read what the King does in verse 6.
V10 When God saw their deeds, that they turned from their wicked way, then God relented concerning the calamity which He had declared He would bring upon them. And he did not do it.


   Pray with me that God would give us a chance to repent. That He would sweep over our church with a revival fire that would purify us!

                      NEVER GIVE UP, NEVER GIVE IN !

Vessels of Honor

      
Hello friendly People,
    To be in the potters hands is a very fascinating adventure. Yes, at times very painful but when you ponder His touch in you; His careful and precise shaping of your character and gifting, it is all worth it. When our prospective  becomes a determined trust in God and His word, then the journey becomes invigorating and a welcomed challenge. Grateful people, who are honored to be called by God, will allow Him to chisel away at them and remain faithful and fruitful, year after year.  




Romans 9
V13 Just as it is written: "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."
V14 What then shall we say? Is God unjust? Not at all!
V15 For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion."
V16 So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy.
V17 For the Scripture says to Pharaoh: "I raised you up for this very purpose, that I might display My power in you and that My name might be proclaimed in all the earth."
V18 Therefore God has mercy, and He hardens whom He wants to harden.
V19 One of you will say to me: "Then why does God still blame us? For who resists His will?"
V20 On the contrary, But who are you, O man, who answers back to God? "Shall what is formed say to Him who formed it, "Why did you make me like this?" 
V21 Does not the potter have the right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use, and another for common use? 
  


2 Timothy 2
V19 Nevertheless, the firm foundation of God stands, having this seal,"The Lord knows those who are His ," and, :Let everyone who names the name of the Lord abstain from wickedness."
V20 Now in a large house there are not only gold and silver vessels, but also vessels of wood and of earthenware, and some to honor and some to dishonor.
V21 Therefore, if a man cleanses himself from these things, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work. 
V22 Now flee from youthful lusts, and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.




1 Peter 5
V6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, that He may lift you up in due time.
V7 Cast all your anxiety on Him for He cares for you.
V8 be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.
V9 resist him, standing firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kind of sufferings.
V10 And the God of all grace who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.
V11 To Him be the power for ever and ever, Amen.   




                    Never give up! Never give in!

Reward For Obedience

Hello Friendly People,
        Do you like spending time in the Old Testament looking at God's character, what matters to Him, and how He so wants to provide for us and protect us? I pray you will feel His love today, that you could absorb all that He has for you who believe and choose to obey Him. 


Leviticus 26
V1 "Do not make idols or set an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the Lord your God.
V2 Observe the Sabbaths and have reverence for my sanctuary, I am the Lord.
V3 If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey my commands, 
V4 I will send you rain in its season , and the ground will yield its crops and the trees of the field fruit.
V5 Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.
V6 I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid. I will remove savage beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country.
V7 You will  pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you.
V8 Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.
V9 I will look on you with favor and make you fruitful and increase your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you.

V10 You will still be eating last year's harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new. "


Leviticus 25:20 You may ask , "What will we eat in the seventh year if we do not plant or harvest our crops?" v21 I will send you such a blessing in the sixth year that the land will yield enough for three years. v22 While you plant during the eighth year, you will eat from the old crop and will continue to eat from it until the harvest of the ninth year comes in.
     Chapter 25 is about the year of Jubilee, so it's worth your time to read and contemplate what it would mean to live a lifestyle of trust and obedience at this level. We may at some point in the United States have to fully rely on God's provision and safety. 


V11 I will put my dwelling place among you, and I will not abhor you.
V12 I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people.
V13 I am the Lord your God who bought you out of Egypt so that you would no longer be slaves to the Egyptians; I broke off the bars of your yoke and enabled you to walk with heads held high.
  

    Hold your head high, God loves you and cares about every part of your life!

                                Never give up! Never give in!

Isaiah 30

Hi Friendly People,
     What I've written today has been difficult because the reality of its truth frightens me. If God were to look at the church in the United States as He did Sodom and Gomorrah would He find many righteous? People who take correction from Him? People who aren't looking back at Egypt when things get hard?  God is so merciful to give us warnings and chances to repent; will we listen?  
     
Isaiah 30
V1 "Woe to the obstinate children" declares the Lord, "to those who carry out plans that are not Mine, forming an alliance, but not by my Spirit, heaping sin upon sin;
V2 "who go down to Egypt [a place of bondage]without consulting me; who look for help to Pharaoh's protection, to Egypt's shade for refuge."


2Kings 18:21 Look now, you are depending on Egypt, that splintered reed of a staff, which pierces a man's hand and wounds him if he leans on it! Such is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who depend on him.



Psalms 91:1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. 

V3 But Pharaoh's protection will be to your shame, Egypt's shade will bring you disgrace. Though they have officials in Zoan and their envoys have arrived in Hanes,


Zoan: where Israelites once served as slaves.


V5 everyone will be put to shame because of a people useless to them who bring neither help nor advantage, but only shame and disgrace.
V6 Through a land of hardship and distress of lions and lionesses, of adders and darting snakes, the envoys carry their riches on donkeys backs, their treasures on the humps of camels, to that unprofitable nation,
V7 to Egypt , whose help is utterly useless. Therefore I call her Rahab the Do-Nothing.


Rahab: a mythical sea monster, here symbolic of Egypt. The name itself means storm and arrogance.


Isaiah 27:1 In that day the Lord will punish with His sword His fierce great and powerful sword, Leviathan the gliding serpent , Leviathan the coiling serpent: He will slay the monster of the sea.


V8 Go now, write it on a tablet for them, inscribe it on a scroll, that for the days to come it may be an everlasting witness.
V9 These are rebellious people, deceitful children, children unwilling to listen to the Lord's instruction.
V10 They say to the seers, "See no more visions!"
and to the prophets, "give us no more visions of what is right!
"Tell us pleasant things, prophesy illusions.
V11 "Leave this way, get off this path, and stop confronting us with the Holy One of Israel!"  
V12 Therefore, this is what the Holy One of Israel says:"Because you have rejected this message, relied on oppression and depended on deceit, 
V13 this sin will become for you like a high wall, cracked and bulging, that collapses suddenly, in an instant.
V14 It will break in pieces like pottery, shattered so mercilessly that among its pieces not a fragment will be found for taking coals from a hearth or scooping water out of a cistern"
V15 This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says:


"In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your  strength,
but you would have none of it.


V16 "You said, 'No, we will flee on horses.' Therefore you will flee!
"You said, 'We will ride off on swift horses.' Therefore your pursuers will be swift!"

V17 A thousand will flee at the threat of one; at the threat of five you will all flee away, till you are left like a flagstaff on a mountaintop, like a banner on a hill.


V18 Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you;
He rises to show you compassion. 
For the Lord is a God of justice.
Blessed are all who wait for Him!
V19 O people of Zion, who live in Jerusalem, you will weep no more. How gracious He will be when you cry for help! As soon as He hears,  He will answer you.


V20 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.
V21 Whether you turn to the right or the the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying , "This is the way; walk in it."
V22 Then you will defile your idols overlaid with silver and your images covered with gold; you will throw them away like a menstrual cloth and say to them, "Away with you!"


 O God, Merciful and Just, "We ask Your forgiveness and choose this day to put You in Your rightful place as our King the only true Protector and Provider. We will no longer run back to those places you have delivered us from. We will call to You for our help and not depend on the Pharaoh's of our land. We look to you for our peace and strength. We will honor Your voice in our lives and listen to Your correction. We will open our ears to Your instruction, we want to hear Your teachers, we want to hear the truth even when it hurts. We humbly ask You to tell us which way to go. You alone give us the power to give up our Idols and we ask You for Your help. Be our shade, our King, The Holy One of Israel. Amen. 






                    Never give up! Never give in!