Romans 15:4 "For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, so that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope."
13-19 Now I’m returning to you. I’m saying these things in the world’s hearing So my people can experience My joy completed in them. I gave them your word; The godless world hated them because of it, Because they didn’t join the world’s ways, Just as I didn’t join the world’s ways. I’m not asking that you take them out of the world But that you guard them from the Evil One. They are no more defined by the world Than I am defined by the world. Make them holy—consecrated—with the truth; Your word is consecrating truth. In the same way that you gave me a mission in the world, I give them a mission in the world. I’m consecrating myself for their sakes So they’ll be truth-consecrated in their mission.
Word of God for the Children of God
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
John 17:15-17 Amplified Bible
15 I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but that You keep them and protect them from the evil one. 16 They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world. 17 Sanctify them in the truth [set them apart for Your purposes, make them holy]; Your word is truth.
Jesus makes it good and clear those who have set their hopes in Him and gone on to follow Him are not going to fit in too well with the world around them.
If we think about it does it make sense?
Those so bold as to devote themselves to seeking Christ are shifting their center interest away from all that the worldly men will chase.
Yet there may be a growing trend developing in many churches to blend in with our society as Christians.
The religious concept behind this movement may appear to have good motives.
We might think we could reach more people by rubbing shoulders with them.
We could imagine ourselves to be more effective witnesses if we do not stand out as freaks to society.
Although true to some degree could these kinds of sentiments hide clever tricks intelligently placed within the path of the true servants of the Lord?
Could Jesus be bracing us for this movement by deliberately praying for us not to be taken out of the world, but to be shielded, be protected while we are in it?
For many years Christians were pleased to stand out on their faith in the Scriptures.
They saw that a higher level of morals and going to church brought their hearts better in tune with God.
For them, to wear the mantra of Christian meant to make this great distinction.
Some took it further and ran to the hills in their devout effort to please God and prepare for Jesus´ second coming.
They figured why flee in some future day when we can get out of society early by finding a more remote setting in which to live.
They, like the Christian who embraces society with the idea of witnessing to it would like to think they are doing what they do to please God.
So which one is right?
Neither? Or both?
If we dig a little deeper we could argue both extremes.
Christians today could seek to remove themselves from their society and there are sufficient texts in the Bible to give them the notion that they should.
At the same time the opposite is also clearly asked of Jesus´ followers to go to the world and give their testimony.
So what does this mean?
Do we have a contradiction?
Are God´s children given conflicting instructions?
Or would the Lord have us know what we are talking about when we are not of the world but must be in it?
The answer of our race is still the same.
Jesus is our answer.
He always was needed and He is still needed now.
Old Testament religion looked forward to His day.
New Testament religion heralded His arrival and His Sacrifice.
Modern time religion will have to take its stand upon nothing less.
Therefore our brothers and sisters who live in the big cities need their Savior just as much as those who are living in the most removed corners of the world.
Everyone will need to come humbly to Christ.
This is not a stand on doctrines but a real and personal, intimate encounter!
Our distinction will never save us if it is a distinction of geographic, social or denominational sort.
Our distinction can place us under the protection of God through Jesus´ priestly prayer only if we are truly right with Him. What then should we pray for today?
“As you sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world.” John 17:18
Many churches send teams of young people on short-term mission trips.
As they serve, God uses them to bless others, but these young people often note that they are the ones who benefit most from the experience.
Their eyes are opened to the physical and spiritual needs of people of different cultures and races.
They also learn that we don’t need to get on an airplane to visit a mission field.
Jesus prays for his followers in John 17.
He asks not that we be taken out of the world but that God would protect us as he sends us into the world around us.
The call may be to another far off country, but let’s be careful not to ignore our classrooms, workplaces, neighborhoods which we already know many people.
As you manage your business, or teach the students in your class, or serve on a committee in your community, or follow up with a co-worker in the lunchroom about a rebellious child, be aware that that is our primary places of our mission.
People today are hungry for God.
We need to know how to engage people in conversations and relationships that don’t have a fake worldly “agenda” other than to simply show the love of Jesus.
Ask God today to give you listening ears and to give others an open heart that will respond. As he sends you, know that Jesus continues to work through you.
In the name of God, the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Praying …
Psalm 121 English Standard Version
My Help Comes from the Lord
A Song of Ascents.
121 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
4-5 If you want favor with both God and man, and a reputation for good judgment and common sense, then trust the Lord completely; don’t ever trust yourself. 6 In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you and crown your efforts with success.
7-8 Don’t be conceited, sure of your own wisdom. Instead, trust and reverence the Lord, and turn your back on evil; when you do that, then you will be given renewed health and vitality.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Throughout our lives, we will continue to need God’s direction. Without God’s direction, we will be prone to get lost in our Christian walk. The good news is that God never leaves us, nor does He make our paths blurry. Instead, He makes our paths straight the more we lean on Him instead of our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-8).
Proverbs 3:5-8 Amplified Bible
5 Trust in and rely confidently on the Lord with all your heart And do not rely on your own insight or understanding. 6 [a]In all your ways know and acknowledge and recognize Him, And He will make your paths straight and smooth [removing obstacles that block your way]. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; Fear the Lord [with reverent awe and obedience] and turn [entirely] away from evil. 8 It will be health to your body [your marrow, your nerves, your sinews, your muscles—all your inner parts] And refreshment (physical well-being) to your bones.
First and Foremost; Turning to the Bible and going to God in prayer are the main ways to ascertain God’s direction. The Bible tells us the direct words of God and prayer enables us to speak personally with Him. By practicing these spiritual disciplines, we can sense where God is leading us. As we are following and obeying Him, it will be impossible to miss His guidance, direction, truth.
If you are seeking God’s direction today, you have come to the right place. Never doubt the Lord’s guidance—He will always lead us where we need to be.
Here are a few Bible verses to turn to when you need God’s direction. Through these passages, trust you will be directed by the Lord in the way you should go:
1. Psalm 32:8
“I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my loving eye on you.” Psalm 32:8
Whenever we need God’s direction, we can turn to Psalm 32:8.
In this ancient passage, we are told by God that He will instruct us, teach us, and counsel us.
Since this is true, we take comfort in knowing God is already directing our steps.
His direction has already been made known to us as we are following Him today.
He is instructing us and teaching us in the way we should go through the Bible.
It is also comforting to know God is counseling us with His loving eye on us.
This means God always has His eyes on us and is protecting us.
Never will the Lord fail us.
He is directing us and guiding us each day.
Listen to His gentle nudge and continue to follow Him. (1 Samuel 3:1-10)
God will keep you safe and protected as you continue to follow Him.
2. Psalm 37:23-24
“The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with his hand.” Psalm 37:23-24
If we are faithfully following God, He will make our steps certain.
Psalm 37:23-24 starts out by saying, “The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him.”
What this part of Psalm 37:23-24 tells us is the Lord will make our steps firm if we are delighting in Him.
Those who delight in Him are those who love Him, obey Him, and follow Him.
If we are delighting in the Lord, He will make our steps firm and steadfast.
We also see that although we know we will certainly stumble, we will not fall.
The Lord will uphold us with His hand.
Therefore, even if we weave off course sometimes, God will place us back on the path we should be walking.
There will be times when we do stray; however, God will not allow us to fall.
Trust that He will straighten our paths and ensure His directions are known.
3. Jeremiah 10:23
“Lord, I know that people’s lives are not their own; it is not for them to direct their steps.” Jeremiah 10:23
The prophet Jeremiah is calling out to the Lord. He tells the Lord he knows the people of Israel’s lives are not their own, it is not for them to direct their steps.
Instead, it should be God directing their steps.
The lives of Israel belong to Him just as the lives of everyone in the world today belong to Him. Never should we be as bold to say we should direct our own steps—instead, we need to wise up, look up, look forward, trust God’s instructions to allow the Lord to direct our steps (Genesis 12:1-3).
Allowing the Lord alone to direct our steps looks like faithfully following Him, obeying Him, trusting Him and loving Him. Jesus will direct our steps if we let Him. It might be hard to discern His direction at times, but as long as we are obeying Him, we can trust that we are following His direction in our lives.
God has detailed plans for each one of our lives, and He will ensure we follow the right directions in order to fulfill these plans (Jeremiah 29:10-14).
4. Proverbs 20:24
“A person’s steps are directed by the Lord. How then can anyone understand their own way?” Proverbs 20:24
Each and every step is directed by the Lord.
As the writer of Proverbs says, “How then can anyone understand their own way?”
While this can be a confusing statement, we can interpret it to mean that God will direct our steps even if we are not aware at the time.
This is because God will fulfill His purposes in our lives—even if we mess up, even if we don’t know what’s next.
Whether we fail or not, God will still work through us and ensure we are going in the right direction.
If you are unsure of where God is leading you today, go to Him in prayer.
Use Proverbs 20:24 as a passage to direct your prayer.
Trust the Lord will give you clarity and guidance.
While we will not know all parts of God’s will on this side of heaven, we can trust Him with our steps. His directions will guide us and make our paths level.
5. John 14:6
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’” John 14:6
Our ultimate map is Jesus.
Since Jesus is “The Way,” we can know we are following the Father’s direction by obeying the Lord.
Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.
Trust Him, with baby steps, Follow Him with your entire heart today.
The Lord is the way to everything we need for our life and the life to come.
His directions will never fail us because He is our Good Shepherd (Psalm 23).
As you follow Jesus, don’t be afraid of where He leads.
Sometimes His directions might feel intimidating or scary, but resolve to make the choice to trust Him. Trust He will protect you and keep you safe. Whether He guides you to go on short and or long-term mission trips in distant lands, start leading a Bible study, or break away from a bad relationship, trust His direction.
God has a way of speaking to us and making His directions clear.
Listen to His voice and obey Him (Psalm 19).
God truly knows what is best for us, even if we don’t understand it at the time.
Go to Him in prayer, ask for His directions, and faithfully follow His leading.
The Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are worthy of our trust.
God’s guidance in our lives will bring about our ultimate joy and sanctification.
The path might be difficult and strenuous at times; however, we can know God is working it out for our good (Romans 8:28).
Be it resolved then …
Choose to follow His direction today, see how your life changes for the better.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 121 Authorized (King James) Version
Psalm 121
A Song of degrees.
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments. Of David.
61 Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer; 2 from the end of the earth I call to you when my heart is faint. Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, 3 for you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the enemy.
4 Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings! Selah 5 For you, O God, have heard my vows; you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
6 Prolong the life of the king; may his years endure to all generations! 7 May he be enthroned forever before God; appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
8 So will I ever sing praises to your name, as I perform my vows day after day.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Psalm 61 expresses the desperate prayer of one who senses a great need for God.
David prays “from the ends of the earth” (61:2).
Although this could mean that he was far away from home, the sense of this phrase is more than literal. It speaks of neediness, when we are far away from what is comfortable, familiar, and safe. It may also point to times when we feel more than far away from God, it seems as if he is not near to hear our prayers.
In such times, our hearts can become overwhelmed. The Hebrew term ‘ataf, translated here as “overwhelmed,” can also mean “faint” or “weak.” There are times when our circumstances batter us, when our inner reserves are drying up.
We can feel as if life is just too much for us, and that we’re not going to survive.
In such times, like David, we cry out to God for mercy.
Even though God might feel far away, or we are stuck at the very bottom of the Grand Canyon and looking up at the sheer cliffs we have no skill set nor any equipment nor any inclination, to climb out, even though we are emotionally spent, we nevertheless call out to God to lead us to a place of safety and security.
The “towering rock of safety” is a place where the floods cannot engulf us or our enemies can get to us and crush our spirits. The rock that is literally “higher than” we are, signifies unassailable heights of God’s protection and presence.
Perhaps you’re in a place like David today, feeling beyond far away from God, overwhelmed by the challenges before you, overwhelmed by the challenges that keep coming. If so, cry out to the God who will lead you to his rock of safety. If you’re not in such a place today—thanks be to God!—I’m sure you know people who are. Their hearts might even be too faint to pray, but you can do it for them.
We know the words, we preach, teach, model “TRUST GOD, do not be afraid. “
Yet the circumstances remain, more keeps coming, too many things feel out of control … there never seems to be enough time to “schedule our daily prayers!”
Your routines are not running smoothly.
You tend to feel more secure when your life is predictable.
Let GOD lead you to the rock that is higher than you and your circumstances.
Take refuge in the shelter of GOD’S wings, where you are absolutely secure.
When you are shaken out of your comfortable routines, grip The LORD’s hand tightly and look for growth opportunities.
Instead of bemoaning the loss of your comfort, courageously accept the challenge of something new.
The LORD leads you on from glory to glory, making you fit for HIS kingdom.
Say yes to the ways GOD works in your life. Trust GOD, and don’t be afraid.”
“Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.” ISAIAH 12 : 2
From the ends of the earth I call to you, I call as my heart grows faint; lead me to the rock that is higher than I. For you have been my refuge, a strong tower against the foe. I long to dwell in your tent forever and take refuge in the shelter of your wings. PSALM 61 : 2 – 4
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. 2 CORINTHIANS 3 : 18 (NKJV)
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION:
When have you felt like David, far from God and completely overwhelmed?
How did you pray?
Did you pray?
How did you experience God’s deliverance?
What, for you, is the “towering rock of safety”?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
PRAYER: O Lord, there are times when you feel so very far away, when it seems as if you aren’t even there to hear my prayers. And there are times when I am so haggard in soul that I can barely pray. Thank you my God and my King for the inspiring example of David, whose desperation reminds me that I am not alone.
Lord help when things feel unpredictable and uncomfortable, help me to look up to You, stand tall in the shadow of your Son’s cross, for growth opportunities and stepping forward, accept the challenge of something new. You are leading me, molding me to look more and more like Jesus. I trust you. In Jesus’ name.
Thank you also for his quiet confidence in you. Help me to know that you will lead me to the towering rock of safety when I am feeling lost and exhausted.
Psalm 121 English Standard Version
My Help Comes from the Lord
A Song of Ascents.
121 I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? 2 My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. 8 The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
27 But David thought to himself, “One of these days I will be destroyed by the hand of Saul. The best thing I can do is to escape to the land of the Philistines. Then Saul will give up searching for me anywhere in Israel, and I will slip out of his hand.”
2 So David and the six hundred men with him left and went over to Achish son of Maok king of Gath. 3 David and his men settled in Gath with Achish. Each man had his family with him, and David had his two wives: Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail of Carmel, the widow of Nabal. 4 When Saul was told that David had fled to Gath, he no longer searched for him.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
The sad story of 1 Samuel 27 begins with something David said in his heart.
He may have never said it out loud; he may have never said it to anyone else; he may have never said it to God.
But David said it in his heart.
Now I shall be destroyed someday by the hand of Saul:
This is what David said in his heart.
That was a powerful thought of greatest discouragement coming from a heart tired of running, hiding from King Saul, losing sight of his trust in God for His continued deliverance. In his discouragement he forgot God’s past deliverance.
What we say to ourselves, what we repeat to ourselves inside our hearts has a tremendous power to shape our thinking, our actions, even our whole destiny.
Reverend Charles Haddon Spurgeon once said …
“I remember on one occasion, to my shame, being sad and doubtful of heart, and a kind friend took out a paper and read to me a very short extract from a discourse upon faith. I very soon detected the author of the extract; my friend was reading to me from one of my own sermons. Without saying a word he just left it unto my own conscience, for he had convicted me of committing the very fault against which I had so earnestly declaimed.” (Spurgeon)
1 Samuel 27:1 (KJV) reads, “And David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day by the hand of Saul: there is nothing better for me than that I should speedily escape into the land of the Philistines; and Saul shall despair of me, to seek me any more in any coast of Israel: so shall I escape out of his hand.”
This verse marks a significant turning point in the life of David, who is being pursued relentlessly by King Saul.
It is a moment of great desperation for David as he contemplates his future and the constant threat to his life. In this verse, we are a witness to David’s struggle with fear and his hardened decision to seek refuge among the enemies of Israel.
The context of this verse is crucial to understanding its significance.
David was anointed as the future king of Israel by the prophet Samuel, but despite this, he found himself on the run from King Saul, driven by hate, jealousy and paranoia, seeking to eliminate David as a threat to his throne.
Young David, on the other hand, the man after God’s own heart, remained loyal to Saul and refused to harm him despite those multiple opportunities to do so.
Despite his loyalty, unable to communicate with Saul. convince Saul of his true intent, David realized staying in Israel meant he would continue to be hunted.
This realization led him to deeply consider seeking refuge with the Philistines, traditional enemies of Israel.
This decision was a dangerous one, as it could have potentially placed David in a deadly, vulnerable position as a non-combatant in the midst of enemy territory.
The verse begins with David’s internal struggle.
He reflects on his situation and recognizes the gravity of his predicament.
His continuous fear of Saul’s relentless pursuit and the constant threat to his life weigh heavily on him.
Despite his faith and trust in God, David’s humanity and vulnerability are on display here.
His decision to flee to the land of the Philistines is a clear indication of his desperation and the extremes to which he feels compelled to go in order to secure his safety.
It’s important to note here that this verse does not explicitly depict David considering, making motions, mentioning, ruminating over seeking God’s guidance or approval for his decision.
It shows the inner turmoil and desperation that led David to make this decision.
This is a reminder of David’s humanity and his capacity for fear and doubt, even after being identified as a man after God’s own heart. It also serves to remind us that even the strongest of faith can falter in the face of overwhelming adversity.
Where to Turn When our Thoughts Turn to Darkness
We all have to confess that sometimes our thoughts are our greatest enemy.
However difficult his circumstance, David had always placed his confidence in God. Indeed, in the final conversation that ever took place between King Saul and David, David declared to Saul that although he didn’t know what would happen, he knew God would deliver him from his troubles (1 Samuel 26:23-24).
David had good reason for such confidence: deliverance had been a theme throughout his life. Whether it was from the lion, the bear, or the Philistine giant (1 Samuel 17:37), or, later, from Saul’s murderous pursuit of him, David was generally very quick turn his fear away and to attest unto God’s rescue.
It is surprising, then, having just avowed his commitment to the delivering hand of God, he convinced himself in his heart Saul would eventually kill him.
Rather than reflecting on God’s goodness and faithfulness, he allowed his thoughts to go to dark places.
His confidence gave way to depression and his faith gave way to fear, and so he went to seek security in the company of the enemy (1 Samuel 27:2)—a decision that would inevitably lead to a dangerous mess of deceit and difficulty (v 8-11).
Our thoughts really matter; they give rise to our actions.
An old saying reminds us of this principle: Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character. Sow a character, reap a destiny.
We may be able to look back on chapters in our own lifetime when, like David, you began to talk a continuous stream of discouragement into yourself, made foolish choices, and found yourself trapped.
Perhaps you are struggling with finances, or health, you may be in that place right now, struggling to stop your thoughts spiraling inward and downwards, leading you into a course of action you know, deep down, is unwise or wrong.
David didn’t just need saving from threats to his life; he needed saving from himself—and so do you and I.
But the good news is that we can’t exhaust God’s compassion, kindness and forgiveness and mercy, even if our thoughts have gone in the wrong direction and even if our actions have taken us off course, lowered our faith’s threshold.
As God rescued David, so He has rescued us through the cross of Christ.
When you find your thoughts turning to dark places, then, remind yourself of the immeasurable magnitude of God’s goodness, deliverance, and faithfulness, and let that shape your heart’s response to the difficulties you face, and shape, transition into the new course you will take as you do navigate them with God.
You do not have to walk or run into the hands of your enemy the Philistines!
You are absolutely free to choose to run to God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit!
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 121 Authorized (King James) Version
Psalm 121
A Song of degrees.
1 I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. 2 My help cometh from the Lord, which made heaven and earth. 3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. 4 Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. 6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. 8 The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
(1) Adonai, you have probed me, and you know me. 2 You know when I sit and when I stand up, you discern my inclinations from afar, 3 you scrutinize my daily activities. You are so familiar with all my ways 4 that before I speak even a word, Adonai, you know all about it already. 5 You have hemmed me in both behind and in front and laid your hand on me. 6 Such wonderful knowledge is beyond me, far too high for me to reach.
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
Sometimes it may seem like we can’t see the path just ahead of us, and we’re afraid to take the next step which for us may just become the first step into the right direction to God. Rest assured and be encouraged knowing that God knows your path, He knows your lying down, and He is acquainted with all your ways.
The ancient words of the Psalmist from Psalm 119:105 tells us that God’s Word is “a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” If we’ve ever held a candle-lit lamp, along a dark rainy path at midnight, we understand it doesn’t provide a whole lot of light. Rather, provides just enough light for the steep steps in front of us.
That’s the beauty of having a relationship with God. We don’t need to see all the steepest steps waiting for us ahead in the dark; we can trust God’s in complete control, will provide the level of light we require. Just like we’re told in Psalm 139:3-4, God knows all our paths, He knows all our ways. We can rest in that.
“You comprehend my path and my lying down, and are acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word on my tongue, but behold, O LORD, You know it altogether.” Psalm 139:3-4
139 6 Such wonderful knowledge is beyond me, far too high for me to reach.
Psalm 139:3 in the King James Version reads, “Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.”
This verse comes from a larger passage known as “A Psalm of David,” in which David exuberantly sings, praises, the omniscience and omnipresence of God.
In this particular verse, David expresses awe and gratitude for God’s intimate knowledge, watchfulness and understanding of every single aspect of his life.
The theme of God’s omniscience is central to this verse.
To “compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways” suggests God is intimately familiar with every moment and aspect of one’s life.
The image of God “compassing” or surrounding one’s path and lying down indicates a continuous presence, encompassing every part of our existence.
This portrayal of God as all-knowing and ever-present is a #1 source of comfort and reassurance for believers, as it demonstrates God’s unceasing attentiveness and limitless resources for caring for His creation – 24 hours a day, everyday.
The context of this verse is also significant.
David, the author of this Psalm, was a man who experienced both triumph and tribulation throughout his life.
He was well acquainted with the lightning quick challenges and uncertainties of life, as well as the great faithfulness and great provision of God.
In this Psalm, David reflects on God’s unwavering presence and guidance, even in the midst of adversity. This verse serves as a reminder for us even today that no single aspect of our lives ever escapes God’s attention, and He is intimately involved in all details, whether in times of joy or sorrow or in deep background.
Additionally, the symbolism used in this verse emphasizes the depth of God’s knowledge and understanding of His people.
The imagery of God always being intimately acquainted with “all my ways” illustrates His profound familiarity with our thoughts, actions, and intentions.
This symbolizes not only God’s omniscience but also His deeply personal investment in the lives of His children.
This depiction of God as intimately involved in the intricacies of our lives underscores the intimacy of the relationship between God and His people.
In contemporary times, the message of Psalm 139:3 continues to offer us all encouragement and reassurance to believers. In a world filled with uncertainty and challenges, the knowledge that God is intimately acquainted with every aspect of our lives provides comfort and strength. It serves as a reminder that we are never alone, and God’s presence encompasses every step we take.
In conclusion, Psalm 139:3 in the King James Version encapsulates the profound truth of God’s never-failing presence and knowledge of His people.
This verse highlights the theme of God’s omniscience, the context of David’s exuberant reflections on God’s unrelenting faithfulness, and the symbolism of God’s intimate understanding of His people – from our conception unto death.
It continues to resonate with believers today, serving as a reminder of God’s unwavering care and 10000% involvement in the lives of all of His children.
God knows our ways, our condition, and our conduct. The Hebrew verb zarah, translated as “search out,” or “scrutinize,” is used of a farmer winnowing his crops to separate the wheat from the chaff. In other words, God examines our ways, 100% investigates our ways so thoroughly that he doesn’t miss a thing.
Thou compassest my path and my lying down
His walk in the daytime, and every step he took, and his lying down at night. It denotes his perfect knowledge of all his actions, day and night; surrounds every single path of man, wide and narrow that they can’t ever escape his knowledge.
1. What emotions or thoughts does God’s omniscience stir in you?
2. How does the omnipresence of God provide comfort in times of loneliness or hardship?
3. How do you respond to the concept of God knowing every detail of your life?
4. How does knowing you are “fearfully and wonderfully made” impact your sense of self-worth?
5. In what ways have you experienced God’s presence in your own life?
6. How does understanding God’s intimate knowledge of you influence your decisions and actions?
7. If God knows our every thought, why do you think prayer is important?
8. David invites God to search and test him. How comfortable are you with this idea and why?
9. What does it mean to be led in the ‘everlasting way’? How does this apply to your life?
10. How can you apply the self-examination David exhibits in your own spiritual journey?
11. David speaks of darkness not being dark to God. How does this alter your perspective of ‘dark’ times in your life?
12. How can you better recognize and appreciate God’s presence in all places and circumstances of your life?
13. How does acknowledging that God knew your unformed substance impact your view on the sanctity of life?
14. How does this Psalm encourage you to respond to those who are hostile towards God or His people?
15. How does understanding God’s omniscience influence your understanding of sin and forgiveness?
16. What can you learn from David’s attitude towards God in this Psalm? How can you adopt a similar mindset?
17. What steps can you take to ensure your words and thoughts are pleasing to God, knowing He is always aware of them?
18. How does the truth of God’s constant presence influence your actions when you’re alone or think no one is watching?
19. How can we apply the concept of being ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ in our interactions with others?
20. In what ways does the truth of Psalm 139 shape your approach to life’s challenges and opportunities?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 121 Complete Jewish Bible
121 (0) A song of ascents:
(1) If I raise my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come? 2 My help comes from Adonai, the maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip — your guardian is not asleep. 4 No, the guardian of Isra’el never slumbers or sleeps.
5 Adonai is your guardian; at your right hand Adonai provides you with shade — 6 the sun can’t strike you during the day or even the moon at night.
7 Adonai will guard you against all harm; he will guard your life. 8 Adonai will guard your coming and going from now on and forever.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost; as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen, amen.
If we reject Jesus, we reject everything that God is and everything he has given.
We insult Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
We reject grace at every level.
The message of Jesus is precious and treasured, it must never be spurned, rejected, discounted, treated lightly, misrepresented or worse, ignored.
The message of Jesus is precious beyond all the greatest rust worthy treasures of mankind, and to ignore or to reject or to misrepresent this message is to insult all that is holy.
Hebrews 10:26-31 The Message
26-31 If we give up and turn our backs on all we’ve learned, all we’ve been given, all the truth we now know, we repudiate Christ’s sacrifice and are left on our own to face the Judgment—and a mighty fierce judgment it will be! If the penalty for breaking the law of Moses is physical death, what do you think will happen if you turn on God’s Son, spit on the sacrifice that made you whole, and insult this most gracious Spirit? This is no light matter. God has warned us that he’ll hold us to account and make us pay. He was quite explicit: “Vengeance is mine, and I won’t overlook a thing” and “God will judge his people.” Nobody’s getting by with anything, believe me.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
From the Midst of the Mob, a Time for Discipline?
If we are gut level honest, with ourselves, others, we all can recall times when we have failed, faltered, or temporarily lost any interest in the things of Christ.
These experiences can unsettle the faith of even the most seasoned believer.
What, then, are we to make of our faults, failures and our own stumbling’s?
The Bible is clear that once we are in Jesus’ hand, we are not coming out.
Jesus said, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me … No one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:27-28).
Indeed, our stumbles, failures serve as a daily reminder to, no matter what the circumstances cling to God’s promises all the more and not to our own merit.
For those who are hidden in Christ, “all the promises of God find their Yes in him” (2 Corinthians 1:20).
When God promises that nothing will ever separate us from the love of Christ (Romans 8:38-39), that includes our seasons of stumbling and of sinning.
When we have been redeemed by Christ, when we have been brought into His orbit of grace, He promises to complete the good work which He began in us. (Philippians 1:6)
We must conclude, then, that a genuine believer cannot be lost.
It is not possible!
According to God’s mercy, we are brought into His family and guarded by His power until the day of salvation (1 Peter 1:5).
The Bible is equally clear, however, that there are also those who for a time are marked by some dedication to God but who then turn in opposition to Jesus and His Word, never to return to Him again. (Matthew 13, Mark 4, Luke 8,)
Their repudiation of what they once professed reveals that they never genuinely nor authentically nor faithfully belonged to Jesus at all.
Such individuals, notes the author of Hebrews, receive the knowledge of truth and perhaps even suggest to others around them that their faith is sincere, but in reality, they are trampling the Son of God underfoot.
They engage in the reverse of what Paul describes in Philippians 3:8:
“I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.”
Paul counted everything in life as rubbish compared to knowing Jesus.
But these men and women taste of the hardcore goodness of the Lord yet come to count Him as the rubbish (truth is too hard) when offered earthly pleasures.
The aim of the writer to the Hebrews is to warn against complacency, which leads to dangerous drifting (Hebrews 2:1).
The anonymous author of Hebrews is consistently urging the readership to run to the cross in their weakness and failures, for the wonder of the cross is that there is no sinful believer that cannot be forgiven, the glory of the Holy Spirit is that there is no weak believer He cannot preserve, He cannot revive, empower.
When you stumble, then, stumble toward the cross.
And when you and I awake each day, ask the one who died in our place for a fresh outpouring of His grace in order that you may persevere in your faith.
Draw Near to God and God will Draw Near to You
James 4:7-10The Message
7-10 So let God work his will in you. Yell a loud no to the Devil and watch him make himself scarce. Say a quiet yes to God and he’ll be there in no time. Quit dabbling in sin. Purify your inner life. Quit playing the field. Hit bottom, and cry your eyes out. The fun and games are over. Get serious, really serious. Get down on your knees before the Master; it’s the only way you’ll get on your feet.
Sin absolutely has consequences.
Consequences which can easily cause us to question the Authority of God.
Consequences which can easily cause us to question the Sovereignty of God.
Consequences which can easily cause us to question the Legitimacy of God.
Consequences which can easily cause us to question the maximum love of God.
Consequences which can easily cause our steadfast and immovable faith to be shaken, shifted, cracks in our foundation soon appear, as from a earthquake.
Divisive issues from within the church which cause rancor and disaffiliation.
Family against Family, Brother against Brother and Sister against Sister.
We have likewise consistently and persistently learned from the Bible —and personally—how life without maximum faith in God brings terrible results.
In today’s verses from Hebrews 10:26-31 we are reminded that we may not “keep on sinning after we have received … the truth.”
In other words, once we receive salvation in Jesus, it is time to change our ways.
Hebrews 10:19-25 English Standard Version
The Full Assurance of Faith
19 Therefore, brothers,[a] since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus, 20 by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22 let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
And we can only do that in God’s strength, under God’s surest protection.
In the full assurance of faith in Christ Jesus our Savior.
Moment to Moment, Watched Over and Guarded by God’s matchless power.
But rancor and division and disaffiliation in and within the Kingdom of God comes marked displeasure and anger from the throne of God. (1 Corinthians 3)
From within this propensity to sin quite badly, God may decide to discipline us.
When we face a hard time, we should eagerly ask if this is discipline from God.
If it is, then all sides must rush to that attitude of shared consolation, shared repentance, reconciliation, not return to the sins that God is disciplining us for.
Perhaps you are lonely because you have allowed relationships to break.
Friends and family and churches have forsaken you because of your behavior.
With the Holy Spirit’s intercessory help we can all finally get right with God and with others, and those divided relationships can be faithfully one day restored.
Maybe you are reading these words in prison or within a prison like restrictive environment – refugee camps, migrant and immigration processing centers.
If you deserve to be in prison, you know in your heart that you sinned against God and others.
Countless millions of people have found or renewed their faith in God during their time of imprisonment – there is no place God’s grace cannot reach you!
From within any, all restrictive environments, God guards and protects you.
God invites you and everyone around you to join, to rejoin His family by sincerely turning or returning to His Son Jesus the Christ as your Savior.
As the Prodigal Son found out, whatever your sin or situation, today is the anointed time to (re)open your life to the Savior, who is seeking you now.
This may be an appointed time of discipline, but it is also the time of salvation.
This also the anointed and appointed time for everyone to draw near to God that God will also draw near to us – discipline us for a time – restoring His Kingdom.
Draw Near to God And Hold Fast to the Gospel
If our sins are forgiven through the sacrifice of Jesus, then there is no further need for the sacrificial system represented by the tabernacle and the Temple (cf. Hebrews 10:18).
“Therefore” (Hebrews 10:19) introduces the whole practical section of the letter, but also specifically the application of this point.
The finished work of Jesus gives us confident access to God. It is by His blood, and through the metaphorical “veil of His flesh” that we thus boldly approach (Hebrews 10:20).
With Jesus as our high priest (Hebrews 10:21), exhorts the writer, let us:
“Draw near”(Hebrews 10:22) faithfully, with a sincere heart; and in the certainty of our relationship with God through Jesus Christ (which we call “assurance of faith”).
Make your approach boldly, having had your conscience (inwardly) cleansed by the blood of Jesus, having been outwardly washed in the obedience of baptism.
Furthermore, let us:
“Hold fast” (Hebrews 10:23) to the confession of our hope. Ours should be a rock hard, sturdy foundation of hope, because He who made the promises is reliable!
And, (Hebrews 10:24-25), let us be considerate of other Christians, encouraging one another to love and good deeds.
Let us never neglect the meeting together of Christian community, both giving and receiving the word of exhortation – and all the more so, said our writer all those centuries ago, as we see “the anointed and appointed day” approaching.
Then, having drawn near, make every possible maximum effort to keep near!
Recall that these new Hebrew Christians were not unfamiliar with persecution (Hebrews 10:32-35).
Perhaps this was why some of them were inclined to fall away (Hebrews 6:6)?
‘But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you,’ the writer assures, ‘and things that accompany salvation’ (cf. Hebrews 6:9).
“We are not of those who draw back to perdition,” he asserts, “but of those who believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:39).
Still, the writer issues another warning (Hebrews 10:26-31).
Perhaps some were still inclined to slip from their moorings (cf. Hebrews 2:1)?
If so, perhaps it begins when we neglect to meet together under the sound of the Word of God (Hebrews 10:25)?
Again, we should keep in mind the specific Jewish background which we looked at when grappling with Hebrews 6:4-8 The Message.
4-8 Once people have seen the light, gotten a taste of heaven and been part of the work of the Holy Spirit, once they’ve personally experienced the sheer goodness of God’s Word and the powers breaking in on us—if then they turn their backs on it, washing their hands of the whole thing, well, they can’t start over as if nothing happened. That’s impossible. Why, they’ve re-crucified Jesus! They’ve repudiated him in public! Parched ground that soaks up the rain and then produces an abundance of carrots and corn for its gardener gets God’s “Well done!” But if it produces weeds and thistles, it’s more likely to get cussed out. Fields like that are burned, not harvested.
The writer is demonstrating the untenability of even contemplating a return to Judaism (Hebrews 10:26b).
For those Hebrew Christians, that was what it was to ‘fall away’ (Hebrews 6:6).
The language is strong (Hebrews 10:26-29; cf. 2 Peter 2:20-22), but mercifully punctuated with compassion (Hebrews 10:39; cf. Hebrews 6:9).
The indictment (if it is that) is against those who sin WILFULLY after they have “received the knowledge of the truth” (Hebrews 10:26a).
The question may be: have we really “received” it? So, for us as well as for them, it is a matter of the WILL.
Is our will anchored in the One who taught us to pray ‘THY will be done’ (Matthew 6:10; cf. Luke 22:42)?
The threat is real.
If we have not Jesus as the sacrifice for our sins (Hebrews 10:26b), then we are going to hell (Hebrews 10:27).
If we have (Hebrews 10:29) “trodden underfoot” the Son of God; counted the blood of the covenant “an unholy thing”; and “despised” the Spirit of grace: then the punishment that awaits us is worse than that which was under the law (Hebrews 10:28-31)!
“It IS a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God (Hebrews 10:31), but our writer does not leave his readers there.
Rather he calls upon them to remember what they have already come through (Hebrews 10:32-39 The Message).
Hebrews 10:32-39 The Message
32-39 Remember those early days after you first saw the light? Those were the hard times! Kicked around in public, targets of every kind of abuse—some days it was you, other days your friends. If some friends went to prison, you stuck by them. If some enemies broke in and seized your goods, you let them go with a smile, knowing they couldn’t touch your real treasure. Nothing they did bothered you, nothing set you back. So don’t throw it all away now. You were sure of yourselves then. It’s still a sure thing! But you need to stick it out, staying with God’s plan so you’ll be there for the promised completion.
It won’t be long now, he’s on the way; he’ll show up most any minute. But anyone who is right with me thrives on loyal trust; if he cuts and runs, I won’t be very happy.
But we’re not quitters who lose out. Oh, no! We’ll stay with it and survive, trusting all the way.
Is it really worth throwing everything away after all this?
Effectively, He calls upon them to return to their ‘first love’ (cf. Revelation 2:4).
It appears that the Hebrew Christians had compassion on those who were persecuted for righteousness sake (Hebrews 10:33; cf. Matthew 5:11-12).
And, having their eyes set on the things which are above, endured the spoiling of their own goods (Hebrews 10:34).
The writer encourages ongoing confidence and reminds them that their reward awaits them in heaven (Hebrews 10:35; cf. Matthew 6:20).
Jesus said, ‘he who endures to the end shall be saved’ (cf. Matthew 24:13).
We must have the patience to bend our will to the will of God in order to receive the promise (Hebrews 10:36).
This is the desire of our writer (cf. Hebrews 3:12-14 The Message).
12-14 So watch your step, friends. Make sure there’s no evil unbelief lying around that will trip you up and throw you off course, diverting you from the living God. For as long as God’s still calling it Today, keep each other on your toes so sin doesn’t slow down your reflexes. If we can only keep our grip on the sure thing we started out with, we’re in this with Christ for the long haul.
These words keep ringing in our ears:
Today, please listen; don’t turn a deaf ear as in the bitter uprising.
People then, as now, were anxious for the return of Christ: so the writer encourages them as to its certainty.
And reminds them, as Habakkuk reminded his readers some centuries before, that meantime “the just SHALL live by faith”(Hebrews 10:38; cf. Habakkuk 2:2-4).
Those who are truly saved “do not draw back” but “believe to the saving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:39).
But we are not quitters who lose out. Oh, no!
We will stay with it and survive, trusting all the way.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Psalm 121 The Message
121 1-2 I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
3-4 He won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep. Not on your life! Israel’s Guardian will never doze or sleep.
5-6 God’s your Guardian, right at your side to protect you— Shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from moonstroke.
7-8 God guards you from every evil, he guards your very life. He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now, he guards you always.
O ABBA Father Almighty, Your Son, My Savior Jesus is beyond precious to me. I know that I ever so richly deserve discipline and punishment for my sins. Thank you God for your love, for thy Son Jesus, for willingly taking my punishment so that I may be forgiven. May my life always demonstrate my love and loyalty to him and to you. I pray, I plead to Forgive me for ever insulting you, Jesus, or the Spirit. In Jesus’ name.
“Faith and love are apt to be spasmodic in the best of minds. Men and women live on the brink of mysteries and harmonies into which they never enter, and with their hand on the door latch, they die outside.” ~ Christian Apologist, G. K. Chesterton
When I read and re-read this quote from Chesterton today on my Facebook feed yesterday, as I closed out the activities for my 62nd Birthday, it reminded me of that passage in Ecclesiastes, a passage that said God “put eternity in our hearts.”
All the while I was in my Mother’s womb, God weaved “eternity into my heart.”
Somewhere, somehow, God, my Creator, weaved “eternity deep into my DNA.”
Ecclesiastes 3:9-13 English Standard Version
The God-Given Task
9 What gain has the worker from his toil? 10 I have seen the business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. 11 He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, he has put eternity into man’s heart, yet so that he cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. 12 I perceived that there is nothing better for them than to be joyful and to do good as long as they live; 13 also that everyone should eat and drink and take pleasure in all his toil—this is God’s gift to man.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
“Faith and love are apt to be spasmodic in the best of minds. Men and women live on the brink of mysteries and harmonies into which they never enter, and with their hand on the door latch, they die outside.” ~ Christian Apologist, G. K. Chesterton
When I read and re-read this quote from Chesterton today on my Facebook feed yesterday, as I closed out the activities for my 62nd Birthday, it reminded me of that passage in Ecclesiastes, a passage that said God “put eternity in our hearts.”
All the while I was in my Mother’s womb, God weaved “eternity into my heart.”
Somewhere, somehow, God, my Creator, weaved “eternity deep into my DNA.”
Because God did this to me and for me, before I was even aware, of God, I can never shake the irrepressible feeling deep within my soul that there absolutely has to be something infinitely more waiting for me in eternity than in this life.
Collectively, in our response to this inner sense of eternity, we can and often do spend our lives either unaware of it, denying it, sidestepping it, fleeing from it, or attempting to resolve it without the assistance of the One who placed it there.
And this only leaves only leaves us in that empty space we call “wanting more.”
What we are called to do instead is turn to the One of whom it is said, “from him and through him and to him are all things” (Romans 11:36)(ESV).
Romans 11:33-36 English Standard Version
33 Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!
34 “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?”
36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.
We turn to the only One in whom we find our origin, our purpose, our destiny.
We can know the only One who holds for each of His Children, in His righteous right hand, the indescribable feeling for eternity that He placed in our hearts.
Jesus said, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6)(ESV).
Jesus said, unto his disciples a day before he died;
John 14:25-27 The Message
25-27 “I’m telling you these things while I’m still living with you. The Friend, the Holy Spirit whom the Father will send at my request, will make everything plain to you. He will remind you of all the things I have told you. I’m leaving you well and whole. That’s my parting gift to you. Peace. I don’t leave you the way you’re used to being left—feeling abandoned, bereft. So don’t be upset. Don’t be distraught.
This is the only path that will satisfy that nagging sense of greater things and the only path that leads us all to both reconciliation and an eternity with God.
The Gift of A Prayer to Live with Eternity in Mind
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 The Message
16-18 So we’re not giving up. How could we! Even though on the outside it often looks like things are falling apart on us, on the inside, where God is making new life, not a day goes by without his unfolding grace. These hard times are small potatoes compared to the coming good times, the lavish celebration prepared for us. There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever.
Eternity is a simple word but a complex concept.
Charles Spurgeon once said, “Time is short. Eternity is long. It is only reasonable that this short life be lived in the light of eternity.”
We waited in line for something relatively inconsequential for an eternity.
We are waiting for the blessed announcement of a baby being born.
We are waiting for the announcement that someone has passed away.
We are waiting for the arrival of family on Christmas or Easter Day.
We are waiting for laboratory and radiology test results to be read.
We are waiting for the bank to approve our very first Mortgage.
We think spring will never come; winter has lasted for an eternity.
We have a vacation planned for only a few weeks away, but it feels like an eternity on the calendar.
We are waiting for our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to Return – “as promised.”
The undeniable reality is that, as humans, we cannot truly fathom eternity.
We know that God has provided eternal life to those who trust in His Son Jesus, but our understanding of the weight of eternity is beyond our comprehension.
Recently, I have come across numerous sermon series, devotional articles, and books, social media posts encouraging believers to live with eternity in mind.
But what exactly does that mean?
Paul encourages us in 2 Corinthians 4:18, “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen. For the things we see now will soon be gone, but the things we cannot see will last forever (NLT).”
Life in a fallen world is tough; there’s no escaping the effects of sin in our lives.
But, we can shift our priorities, our mindsets our perspective, focusing on the things that matter to God (the eternal) and sacrificing ourselves, surrendering ourselves, letting go of those things that don’t matter (the things of this world).
Romans 12:1-2 The Message
Place Your Life Before God
12 1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.
As one of my favorite preachers sermonized, “preaches easy, lives hard.”
We are ever so easily, quickly distracted, discouraged, and disillusioned daily.
It is impossibly challenging to “keep on persevering, keep on pushing forward in our faith, and remain steadfast and immovable always abounding in God’s work.”
The world’s message is “live your best life now,” but God’s word preaches us so utterly and radically different, stating “your forever life is yet to come.”
If we back up a verse to 2 Corinthians 4:17, Apostle Paul again reminds us,
“For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.”
What we are experiencing today will one day come to an end.
Even if the season of steadfast and immovable sorrow drags on forever or your difficult circumstances continue to stay the same day after day, God will still make everyone and everything new one day – and in this new world, His eternal kingdom, there will be no more tears and pain – Just LIFE(Revelation 21:1-4).
I am not sure what anyone of you readers are going through today but PLEASE be ENCOURAGED, be EMPOWERED and take heart; God sees and cares for you.
Psalm 121 The Message
121 1-2 I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
3-4 He won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep. Not on your life! Israel’s Guardian will never doze or sleep.
5-6 God’s your Guardian, right at your side to protect you— Shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from moonstroke.
7-8 God guards you from every evil, he guards your very life. He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now, he guards you always.
On this side of Heaven, you may continue to experience the consequences of sin, but please be INSPIRED, be an INSPIRATION, God’s great mercy provided a way for all His Children to have eternal peace through salvation in Christ Jesus.
Be the ENCOURAGER, Pray, Cling, to the eternal hope we have in our salvation, and let the presence of the Holy Spirit fill you as you live with eternity in mind.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for being a God who cares about our burdens. We know that you are God who sees and hears the cries and prayers of your children. Help us to live with eternity in mind. Blessed Intercessor Holy Spirit of God, We pray fervently you will Be with us as we strive to focus more on the eternal, shifting our perspective from temporary things that distract us from living a life for Your glory alone. Forgive us when we sin against you, and be with us as we pursue holiness.
We love you, Lord; we are undeserving of your grace and mercy but thankful that you freely grant us both. We ask that you strengthen and help us as we share the Gospel in a broken world. Guide our conversations, and direct our paths to those who need to experience the eternal hope of salvation through Christ Jesus. In Jesus’ Name.
6 So we always have confidence. We know that while we live in this body, we are away from the Lord. 7 We live by what we believe will happen, not by what we can see. 8 So I say that we have confidence. And we really want to be away from this body and be at home with the Lord. 9 Our only goal is to always please the Lord, whether we are living here in this body or there with him. 10 We must all stand before Christ to be judged. Everyone will get what they should. They will be paid for whatever they did—good or bad—when they lived in this earthly body.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
“Life is a Journey, Not a Destination”
Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Life is a journey, not a destination.”
While each one of us on a journey in life, that journey does lead to a destination – either eternal life in heaven, or eternal torment in hell.
But our devotional text from 2 Corinthians 5:7, focuses on the journey.
Paul wrote to the young, heavily divided and struggling Corinthian church and said, “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
Whether we are a believer in God, or we do not believe in God, or we are right now struggling to believe or to continue to believe, every individual must now choose which path their journey will take – the path of life or the path of sight.
Walking by faith, living by believing in what will happen as opposed to seeing what will happen is like our leaving our homes, taking journey with a blindfold on, “walking in some direction” and trusting God to get you He’s leading you.
But if you leave your home, look at and pick your own direction, you walk by sight where you want to go, then you see the path and each step along the way.
You see what is before you – you see the potential obstacles, the potential risks and the potholes and the pitfalls – you see them and then automatically avoid.
But, how does all that change if you cannot see where you are going?
If you cannot assess the quality of the terrain and the environment you travel?
You can’t see the raised portions of the side walks which present a trip hazard?
You cannot see the puddles of water sure to get your socks, shoes and feet wet?
Where are the curbs you need to stop at to avoid walking into oncoming traffic?
Walking by what we can see is easy and such listed obstacles and threats to our physical health and spiritual wellbeing are otherwise so very easily avoidable.
Paul understood well this analogy on the Damascus Road when he went from walking by faith and fury after the new followers to sudden blindness courtesy of the risen Jesus when Paul encountered, experienced the very brightest light.
Suddenly and without explanation and with no time for defense of self, he was blinded by the incomparable light of the risen Jesus.
Now he could no longer rely on his vast knowledge of himself, his own survival skills to live and visually walk his own path and road from one town to another.
In an instant he was full of all the self confidence in the world, then reduced to that anxious and fearful someone who needed help with literally everything.
From immediate instant confidence into an immediate, instant helplessness.
He had no idea when or if ever he would regain his sight.
He had to figure out what all that change meant to the rest of his life.
And standing there on that Damascus Road, the risen Jesus left him with no instructions, no road maps, no guide books, no walking sticks, no nothing!
His companions took him to someone’s home and there Saul sat – in Prayer and in Fasting until some response was to come from somewhere, somehow.
The operative thing we each need to see is the choice of responses Saul had available to him and how he how fast and how instinctively he chose prayer.
We read nowhere in the Word of God Saul went into wild, flailing, hysterics.
His first instinctive response was to the spiritual disciplines of prayer, fasting.
How about our own most instinctive, most immediate response to any crisis?
Praying and Leaning into God’s Equipping
2 Corinthians 5:7 Easy-to-Read Version
7 We live by what we believe will happen, not by what we can see.
It is always disheartening to feel as though I have reached a significant point in my journey only to ask, “Now what, Lord?”
God has put a desire in my heart to write for Him which I cannot calm.
I wrestle and fight, clawing for any direction or insight or wisdom not my own.
God tells me to listen, watch, do the next thing, and wait.
He reminds me not to worry about the future, but to wait on Him.
Obediently, I try my best to research, learn, write, pursue, listen, follow …and wait.
I choose to trust Who is leading me, even when it feels like I am always walking with blinders on, I have no walking stick to use and I can’t see and cannot know and cannot watch the results of my efforts unfold before me and my own eyes.
God gave me the desire to write and keep right on writing, but it is up to me to raise up every morning to pray and to fast and to study, to put all the work in.
A work He promised to equip me for!
Isaiah 55:8-11 Easy-to-Read Version
People Cannot Understand God
8 The Lord says, “My thoughts are not like yours. Your ways are not like mine. 9 Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts are higher than your thoughts.
10 “Rain and snow fall from the sky and don’t return until they have watered the ground. Then the ground causes the plants to sprout and grow, and they produce seeds for the farmer and food for people to eat. 11 In the same way, my words leave my mouth, and they don’t come back without results. My words make the things happen that I want to happen. They succeed in doing what I send them to do.
The road and the devotionals can be can be long and precarious, and often we don’t know the destination … what God is going to do with them, but God does.
He will equip us when we don’t feel capable or worthy of His calling on our lives.
Our calling is to do the work He has assigned us, wait for Him to clear the way.
I am learning to take each day as it comes, trusting Him to lead and guide my steps and my writings.
I try to plant my boots and my roots in securely into His ways and His truth.
I am too often overwhelmed with all the roads I could veer off onto, but He quietly reassures me with each effort that He alone will guide me through.
I feel dwarfed among thousands of Christian theologians, commentators and writers, but He gently tells me He’ll help my voice reach who it is intended for.
It may not be the masses; it may only be intended for one.
It may be for someone tomorrow; it may be for someone years down the road.
Philippians 2:12-13 Easy-to-Read Version
Be the People God Wants You to Be
12 My dear friends, you always obeyed what you were taught. Just as you obeyed when I was with you, it is even more important for you to obey now that I am not there. So you must continue to live in a way that gives meaning to your salvation. Do this with fear and respect for God. 13 Yes, it is God who is working in you. He helps you want to do what pleases him, and he gives you the power to do it.
God did not call me nor anyone and everyone else into something big only to leave us hanging and struggling on the side of some ditch to figure our life out.
He is not reliant on our human ability to pick the right road.
He works within us.
It is our calling to fully rely on God instead of ourselves.
It is our calling to fully relay on our Savior Jesus instead of ourselves.
It is our calling to fully rely on God, the Holy Spirit instead of ourselves.
Even when the road ahead of us is full of seen and unseen fog, seen and unseen potholes, pitfalls, stumbling blocks we can keep our both eyes fully on Jesus.
Psalm 121 The Message
121 1-2 I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
3-4 He won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep. Not on your life! Israel’s Guardian will never doze or sleep.
5-6 God’s your Guardian, right at your side to protect you— Shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from moonstroke.
7-8 God guards you from every evil, he guards your very life. He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now, he guards you always.
Even if we cannot nor ever see the words of the Psalmist before our eyes;
We can 100% trust Him with each day, task, and notion to do things for Him.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Lord, You have placed a desire and calling on my life. I have heard Your voice and know the direction You want me to go. However, I am overcome by discouragement. I can’t see the road ahead and need Your strength to keep moving forward. I need Your sight, Lord, and Your leading. Forgive me, Lord, for taking hold of things that do not belong to me. Forgive me for striving in my power to try and manifest things that were never intended for me. Help me to see clearly what You have for me. I surrender my calling to You and place it securely in Your ever more wise, ever more capable hands. Reveal and inspire me with Your Holy Spirit. I trust You to equip me for all You want me to say and to do. You did not call me to do Your will because of my ability but because of my willingness. Take my worry and strife and turn it into glory-filled work. Give me discernment when I start to go down the wrong path.
I rebuke the enemy and the distractions that he is placing in my path. I pray for strength against laziness or complacency. I come against the lies that enslave me, telling me I am not good enough, I don’t have what it takes, or that I will never get to where I want to go. I stand firmly on the truth and promise that You are with and will never leave me. I surrendered all my heart’s desires and ask You to lead every moment of every day. Thank You, Jesus, for Your everlasting love, and the many treasures of life You have stored up for me in the heavens I have never, ever seen.
20 So I became sad about all the work I had done. 21 People can work hard using all their wisdom and knowledge and skill. But they will die and other people will get the things they worked for. They did not do the work, but they will get everything. That makes me very sad. It is also not fair and is senseless.
22 What do people really have after all their work and struggling in this life? 23 Throughout their life, they have pain, frustrations, and hard work. Even at night, a person’s mind does not rest. This is also senseless.
24-25 There is no one who has tried to enjoy life more than I have. And this is what I learned: The best thing people can do is eat, drink, and enjoy the work they must do. I also saw that this comes from God.[a]
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.
According to Winston Groom,
“Life is like a box of chocolate. You never know what you’re going to get.”
But what if you did?
What if life was always exciting and rewarding?
Could you still be happy?
What about pain?
Suffering? Heartache? Sadness?
Are those emotions essential to living completeness?
Are those emotions essential to living in a complete cycle of struggling
How would you grow?
How would we mature?
What would you learn from a life full of bliss?
What would we learn from a life full of struggling
Do you and I need to struggle at constantly struggling?
Do you and I need to struggle at living a life full of constant bliss?
Within all of this constant and moment to moment barrage of these choices and decisions, how do we remain faithful, what do we remain faithful to, who do we remain faithful to, when do we remain faithful to whatever and whoever it is we are supposed to remain faithful to?
Hmm.. you and I have much to think over, many choices and decisions to make.
Dealing With the Struggles of Life
Everyone faces struggles in life.
It can be as simple as a skinned knee at the playground, or it could be as hard, complex as being confronted by the issues of raising your growing children, growing in your marriage, career and financial choices leading from buying a home for your family, retirement, saving for the college education of children and even by our own, or that of a loved ones chronic life-threatening illness.
All too often we try to face these struggles alone and in private, thinking we have to ‘tough it out’ to get through.
Life’s struggles—they come in all flavors.
They come at the most unexpected times.
They interrupt plans and dreams.
Yet some are chosen!
What are your struggles and how do you cope with them?
For too many it is a struggle with health, such as diabetes or cancer—where the struggle can literally go on for years.
For parents it can be with the struggles of their children.
For some it is a struggle with beliefs and doubts and remaining faithful.
For too many it is a never ending struggle with housing, or finances, or finding a job—or just plain searching for justice and fairness and significant meaning.
Some struggles are thrust upon us and we resent their intrusion very much.
And then sometimes we say, Life’s not fair!
Bad things happen: things that neither you or I didn’t choose; things neither you or I didn’t, don’t deserve.
And you know what?
That’s really difficult.
As our reading from Ecclesiastes teaches: One thing is for sure about life: we are absolutely guaranteed to have all measure of troubles at some point or another.
There’s no avoiding it.
There is no trying to avoided.
There is not enough bubble wrap in the world to wrap ourselves, our family and friends with to keep us 100% safe and 100% secure from all of life’s alarms.
I think there are two key factors that are essential for overcoming hard times:
my attitude, and
my support system.
Facing Problems in Our Lives
When you face problems in your life:
How do you react?
What is your attitude about the problem?
Are you a worrier?
Do you avoid the problem?
Picture the scene:
While walking downtown one hot summer afternoon, you see a crowd gathered before a street preacher, standing atop a soapbox with a megaphone in hand.
In that most unexpected of moments, subtly, suddenly Curiosity (temptation?) gets the better of you and you make the choice and the decision to move closer.
As you approach, you begin to “hear” and “listen” to his message:
“Worried about sickness? Jesus is the healer. Worried about hardship? Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Worried about struggles with finances, job loss, or tragedy? Jesus says my yoke is easy and my burden light. I tell you that if you believe in Jesus, then all the worries, anxieties, and troubles of your life will disappear!”
Now, think about it as you are diligently hearing and listening to the words; If someone had publicly proclaimed this message to you, would you believe them?
How about if someone had privately proclaimed this message for your timely or not so timely consideration?
Is it a Word from God?
Is Jesus coming alongside of you and quietly whispering into your soul?
Is the Holy Spirit nudging your rib cage?
In our busyness, I think we all know that the above message, although sounding attractive, lacks a certain measure and degree of reality and believability to us.
As people of faith, we do recognize that our faith is not an escapist dream.
Faith is not an hallucination, illusion or a delusion which rips us away from the inescapable reality of our having to struggle with the fallen world around us.
As followers of Jesus, we are not immune from the struggle, from contending with the inevitable display of all of the imperfections of our life.
Our fallen world will naturally throw conflicts and crises upon us.
To deny this fact is to deny the very world in which we live.
To deny this fact would be to deny the existence of God, the works of God from Genesis 1:1 through Revelation 22:21 the final verse of the Bible.
Consider the opening verse of Genesis:
Genesis 1:1 Easy-to-Read Version
The Beginning of the World
1 God created the sky and the earth. At first,
Now consider the final verse of the Bible;
Revelation 22:21 Easy-to-Read Version
21 The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all people.
Everything started with God Creating.
In the end, the Grace of the Lord Jesus WILL BE with ALL people.
Jesus is clear about this reality.
He repeatedly tells his disciples that they will be led into times of trouble or persecution; they will witness crises in the heavens and on the earth and will be repeatedly and brutally persecuted and even put before governors and rulers.
Jesus plainly states that the disciples may even be put to death on account of their faith (Luke 21:8-19).
Jesus is honest about the times of struggle his disciples will face.
Furthermore, the history of the church testifies that this is, indeed, what the disciples struggled with and faced and what we will struggle with, have to face.
Given this, what does it mean to be faithful when we are going through a time of difficulty?
How might we respond to the difficulties of life with faithful witnesses?
Here are three things we might consider praying over, a choice to consider, a decision to consider making when these struggles are found on our doorstops.
1. Do Not Deny the Reality of the Struggle
Faith is never lived in the absence of struggle but in response to it.
This is the heart of the incarnation.
The bold and audacious claim of our faith is that God did not, does not, will not ever remain separated from the struggles of life. (Genesis 1:1 – Revelation 22:21)
Instead, in an act of inconceivable, radical love, God physically entered into the affairs of mankind, became incarnate, within our imperfect and fallen world.
God became flesh and entered the fullness of human life. (John 1:1-5)
The incarnation, however, makes no sense without the crucifixion.
Paul writes that “God demonstrates his love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).
Jesus bore the full weight of the world’s struggle, conflict, rejection, and pain.
From literally the cradle to the cross, from cradle to the grave, Christians can be assured that the resurrected Lord has fully embraced the fullness of human life.
Following Jesus, therefore, isn’t about escaping the difficulties we go through.
We follow Jesus to the cross, which means that we sometimes contend with the fallenness of this world.
Jesus is clear, “In this world, you will have trouble” (John 16:33).
But Jesus is also clear about something even more critical to our struggles;
33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
Our faith never keeps us immune from wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, pestilences, or famines nor financial nor healthcare nor any other kind of crisis.
As Christian people, we are called into an imperfect world as agents of new life.
We are given the ministry of reconciliation (2Corinthians 5:18).
Thus, we do a disservice to ourselves and others when we assume that the faithful response to the ills of the world is to deny their effect upon us.
We are not to run from our hurts or struggles but to acknowledge them.
Faith never masks the struggles of life; it speaks into them.
It is only as we recognize that the Lord stands with us amid the hardships we face that we can testify to Christ’s life-giving power.
Ultimately, faith pertains to real live life and the real live stuff we go through.
2. Proclaim the Good News
It is in the presence of our obstacles that we are to express our faith.
Jesus is honest about the disciples’ upcoming experiences.
Yet Jesus also states “this will give you the opportunity to testify” (Luke 21:13).
During persecution and rejection, hardship and struggle, crisis of one kind or another, disciples of Jesus are called to “raise up,” bear witness to the gospel.
We bear witness to Jesus by proclaiming how our faith gives us the strength and perseverance to endure.
Paul’s confession, prayers over his thorn in his flesh, for example, is what gave him the opportunity to declare that only God’s grace is sufficient at all times. (2Corinthians 12:7-10)
This is exactly what happened with the other disciples.
Their lives of witness, amid profound hardship and persecution moved the gospel throughout the world.
As people saw the effect of Jesus in the lives of the disciples, they began to explore the truth of the gospel in their own life.
The circumstances of our lives become the material for our faithful witness.
As followers of Jesus, we raise up to proclaim the presence of Christ as we have experienced and as we have received him.
“Come and hear…let me tell you what he has done for me,”says the psalmist (Psalm 66:16).
This is the cry of faith.
The call of our faith is never to deny the hardship of the world or to pretend it’s not there. Rather, we stand and declare the power of the gospel.
Ultimately, the reason we can proclaim the good news amid life’s difficulties is because we rest on the promise that “by your endurance you will gain your life” (Luke 21:19).
By leaning on our relationship with Jesus, we gain a deeper life than we could ever possibly imagine; we become mature and complete, not lacking anything (James 1:4).
Our eternal life isn’t based on a life without problems. It is based on a life in a relationship with Christ. It is that relationship that we proclaim above all else.
3. Be Boldly Faithful
Returning then to our original question, how might we respond in times of struggle, persecution, or hardship?
As followers of Jesus, we are called to be boldly faithful.
We trust that Christ will be with us no matter what we face.
After all, Jesus says that, amid all our trials and difficulties, we are to “raise our heads, because our redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:28).
Jesus promises our full, total redemption, and in that promise, we have hope.
While the world in its fallenness may ebb and flow away, Jesus secures our futures.
Jesus stands with us regardless of what we may be experiencing.
Thus, we can stand firm in our faith, particularly because no matter what this world throws at us, it will never defeat our life in Christ Jesus.
So, if you are walking through a time of difficulty today, take this promise to heart: the structures of life might crumble around you, but you will remain.
The wealth of all of the nations may come to nothing, but you will survive.
The bastions of security and ease may all dry up, but you and I will endure.
Whatever you and I face in life, whatever discouragement or hardship you and I are, or will inevitably find ourselves walking through, by His resurrection, Jesus says it wont ever have the final word – in faith, we all stand in the power of God.
It All Comes Down To Our Attitude
God talks to us over and over in Scripture about the attitude he wants us to have in difficult times.
This attitude encompasses humility, trust, and joy.
First God calls us to humble ourselves.
James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
I don’t know if we’ve figured it out yet, but no matter how hard we try to control our life, stuff still happens.
Stuff that you didn’t choose, didn’t plan for, could not possibly plan for.
And some of it seems to be just too much to bear.
Admit that to God.
Don’t try to cast blame or point fingers.
Simply humble yourself and admit you need help.
Second, God calls us to entrust our problems to him.
Let him be the first friend you ‘call’ in times of trouble.
1 Peter 5:7 says, “Cast all your anxiety on him for he cares for you.”
Nothing is too big or too small for God.
He loves you and wants to carry you through the hard times.
Third, God wants you and me to keep a positive outlook, and even somehow to quite deliberately and quite intentionally and purposely find joy in our trials.
James 1:2-4 says:
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, when you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
Know that in and within and through every single one our trying times, God is forever with you (Psalm 121) and He, through Jesus is doing a great work in you.
To understand this, ask yourself:
What can I learn from this situation?
What have I learned about myself?
What am I learning about God?
Where has God been working in my life up to this point to prepare me and support me?
Believe it or not: Struggles Strengthen Us
There is joy to be had in knowing that hard times won’t last and you will come out of it stronger, wiser, and more mature.
When difficult times hit, remember that God works ALL things for the good of those who love him. (Romans 8:28)
God doesn’t make bad things happen.
That’s just part of being in this world.
But God can make good things come out of any situation.
Some questions to consider:
When you face problems in your life, how do you respond?
What is your attitude about the problem?
How do you move forward?
Do you turn to God for help?
Do you trust God to hear you and answer you?
Are you able to find joy in the midst of your troubles?
So the Word of God teaches that God offers help for those facing struggles.
Not all struggles are bad for us—we can learn some pretty valuable lessons.
Transformation Through Struggle
1 Peter 1:6-9 English Standard Version
6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9 obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
God’s empowerment for transformation often comes through struggle.
We may reach a point in our lives when we hurt so much that we have to change.
Our faith is refined by fire so that it may become as gold.
As the story goes of a man named Louis Braille;
Nine-year-old Louis was watching his father work with leather in his harness-making shop in nineteenth-century France.
“Someday, Father,” said Louis, “I want to be a harness maker, just like you.”
“Why not start now?” retorted his father.
He took a piece of leather and showed his son how to work with a hole puncher.
Excited, the boy began to work, but soon the hole puncher flew out of his hand and pierced his eye!
He lost sight in that eye immediately.
Later the other eye failed, and Louis was totally blind.
His life came to a standstill until his pain produced a world-changing idea.
Louis was sitting in the family garden, holding a pinecone.
As he ran his sensitive fingers over the layers of the cone, he could picture it clearly in his mind.
Suddenly he thought, “Why not create an alphabet of raised dots to enable sightless people to read?”
So Louis Braille opened a new world for the blind—all because of his pain.
In times of trouble I need to repeatedly, joyfully say, “God has brought me here, God will keep me in his love, and God will somehow make this trial a blessing.”
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray;
Psalm 121 The Message
121 1-2 I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
3-4 He won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep. Not on your life! Israel’s Guardian will never doze or sleep.
5-6 God’s your Guardian, right at your side to protect you— Shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from moonstroke.
7-8 God guards you from every evil, he guards your very life. He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now, he guards you always.
Lord Almighty, we know that difficult circumstances produce spiritual growth. Use our trials to make our faith genuine and to honor and glorify your name. In Jesus,
The Promise of God: The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.
At first glance, Psalm 121 offers tremendous assurance. The Lord will keep us from all harm! Wow! That sounds impossibly wonderful. If I only live my life in relationship with God, then I will be kept from all harm. I won’t suffer hardship or pain. My life will be filled only with good things. O’ What Blessed Assurance!
But wait! The question must be asked when our health is subject to something we cannot see, but yet, threatens each and every one of us with greatest harm, Is this song of assurance really true? I have had my share of difficulties in life, and I know people whose suffering far exceeds my own. I think of Christians in far-away places of the world where they regularly experience persecution, even including martyrdom. Is God keeping them from all harm? It doesn’t seem so.
Other passages in the Psalms bear witness to the reality that God’s people can suffer harm. In Psalm 6, for example, we read, “I am worn out from my groaning. All night long I flood my bed with weeping and drench my couch with tears” (Psalm 6:6). The psalm writer laments because he has been the victim of those who “do evil”(Psalm 6:7).
Similarly, in Psalm 71:20 we read, “Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life.” The Hebrew word translated here as “bitter” is the same word found in Psalm 121:7, where the word is translated as “harm.” So, in one psalm the Lord keeps us from all harm. In another psalms, the psalmist experiences harm and attributes this to the Lord himself. What are we to make of this apparent inconsistency? What is the truth are we to pray for?
Psalm 121 Complete Jewish Bible
121 (0) A song of ascents:
(1) If I raise my eyes to the hills, from where will my help come? 2 My help comes from Adonai, the maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot slip — your guardian is not asleep. 4 No, the guardian of Isra’el never slumbers or sleeps.
5 Adonai is your guardian; at your right hand Adonai provides you with shade — 6 the sun can’t strike you during the day or even the moon at night.
7 Adonai will guard you against all harm; he will guard your life. 8 Adonai will guard your coming and going from now on and forever.
The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.
We all need help at times in life.
The Beatles used to sing: “I get by with a little help from my friends.”
It’s good for mankind to have a reliable and trustworthy support system in place, but we need to look further than that. Because history and experience mightily teach us that no safety plan, no insurance policy, no security system can keep you absolutely safe in this life. You can follow all the safety rules, take every precaution, exercise and eat well, and things can still definitely go wrong.
And that’s why we need to lift up our eyes unto the heavens beyond the hills and the vast majestic grandeur and ranges of mountains, to look only to God for our help. It was Ben Franklin who said, “God helps those who help themselves,” but the Scriptures clearly and succinctly teach us that God helps those who seek his help (Psalm 13, Psalm 23). None of us are safe until we take refuge in God.
Psalm 121 is a psalm about trusting in God’s providential care. It is a travel Psalm. In fact, many families read this Psalm out loud together before going on a trip. Devout Jews recite portions of this Psalm when they leave or enter their homes. They attach a small cylinder called a Mezuzah with some Scriptures in it (Deuteronomy 6:4-9, 11:13-21) to their right door frame.
And whenever they leave or enter their home, they touch the Mezuzah and recite Psalm 121 verses 5 and 8.
Do you find yourself in need help, be it a little or a whole lot this day? Then this psalm is for you. This is a good one to memorize and have handy for the journey of life. Psalm 121 teaches us five big truths about God’s help and care for you.
Let’s look at all five of these as we learn to put more and more of our trust in God’s providence and care for our lives each moment of everyday God gives.
Choosing today, to set my eyes on God. For if He made all of heaven and earth, surely and most certainly, He has a Sovereign, incredible plan, for you and for me. He 1000% knows our way in this journey of life, and He’s a “with us” God.
5 Truths from Psalm 121 that Give Us Hope for Today:
“My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” v. 2 He’s All-powerful. God is a mountain mover and Creator of heaven and earth. He’s with us, always. He breathes His help and strength into our souls, into our day.
“He will not allow your foot to slip; He who keeps you will not slumber.” v. 3 He won’t allow us to fall. We may find ourselves on slippery slopes, or the path we’re walking seems to be full of potholes and obstacles. But the God who knows all, knows our way. And even when we stumble, as our eyes are fixed on Him, He will keep our footsteps firm. For He watches over us and never sleeps or slumbers. He watches over us 24 hours a day, every day so we can all sleep.
“The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.” v. 5 He keeps us, safe, in His care. He protects us like the shade protects from the heat of the day. Why the “right hand?” Because it is known as the hand that works, so we can be assured that whatever He’s given us to do in this life, His covering of protection rests over all of our work and efforts.
“The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.” v. 7 He protects us from “all evil,” not some, but “all.” It does not have the final say over our lives. Fear of death, disease, and hardship has lost its sting, for our lives are hidden with Christ in God. No matter who or what we’re rubbing shoulders with each day, God’s power is greater than whatever darkness we might face. For He is the soul-keeper, and He holds all of our tomorrows.
“The Lord will guard your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever.” v. 8 He watches over us, constantly, His eyes are towards us. He cannot look away from those He loves. He watches our coming and our going, and all in between. He watches over our family and children, even when we cannot see. We do not have to worry, for He strongly supports those whose hearts are His.
“For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.”2 Chronicles 16:9
He is our Everlasting Hope for an Everlasting Future!
Reflect:
Do you find it challenging to believe that God will provide the help and protection He promises? Why or why not?
What are some lesser things you rely on for protection or provision in difficult times?
What is one step God is calling you to take that you can’t do without His help?
What is the one step you can take without any reservation to trust God more?
What is the one step you WILL take without any reservation to trust God more?
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us pray,
Psalm 121 The Message
121 1-2 I look up to the mountains; does my strength come from mountains? No, my strength comes from God, who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
3-4 He won’t let you stumble, your Guardian God won’t fall asleep. Not on your life! Israel’s Guardian will never doze or sleep.
5-6 God’s your Guardian, right at your side to protect you— Shielding you from sunstroke, sheltering you from moonstroke.
7-8 God guards you from every evil, he guards your very life. He guards you when you leave and when you return, he guards you now, he guards you always.
Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 