“Please, take hold of My hand. Please, child, take My hand…I’m not ‘cross’ like you think, you must know, I understand. I have taken your sin on Myself, I’ve paid the debt in full. The pain and agony of sin, yes, I KNOW, oh, how I know. My nail-pierced hand is reaching out to you. Take hold of My hand, yes, it’s scarred, but it’s healed. Be as a child, and as you seek My face, you will discover, as you do, I am alive and filled and overflowing with grace.”
“Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” Do you remember that verse? Where were His eyes in that ageless Book? They were on Me. I gave him instruction and guidance and courage and then, the story is told, I’m on every page, it’s all written down, Please, take time, take a look, and take notice. I love you my child, please take hold of my hand. Trust Me, and in time, you will understand…”
“The story is written, that you might believe – that God, the King, the I AM knows your need. I’ve provided not just words on a page, I’ve provided power through My Spirit to ‘whosoever’ calls out My name! “Jesus, Jeshua, Have mercy on me! Save me dear Lord, from myself and my sin!”
“‘Call unto Me and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things that you don’t even know’ (Jer. 33:3). Lean not on what you think you understand, trust in Me to lead you through this often rough and dry wilderness – land. I will give you grace, grace indeed in your need. This world I have created, once all things good- is now fallen and hard, yes, you walk among the thorns, and yes, your feet now bleed, and your heart is torn.”
But,“I know My plans for you, yes, a future and hope.” (Jer. 29:11). My ‘hope does not disappoint’,(Romans 5:5). you will see, as you keep your eyes upon Me. My grace all sufficient will overwhelm you with strength, that you don’t have in and of yourself, it comes by My Spirit, wait on Him, (He is ME!) you will see.”
“As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; As the Father loved ME, I ALSO have loved YOU.”Today, today, can you hear what I say? I love you, I love YOU! Yes, ME, “I do!” The God of the Universe, the Three in One, the Creator of all things, the One who calls the stars by name, the One who is with you when you are alone and afraid. He who knows EVERY word that you say. Yes, the Father of Light’, the Bread, and Living water, The good Shepherd – it is ME who is with you, the Immanuel, the Rock – do not fear my dear child, please take hold of My hand, I will guide you in Truth – please remember I AM!”
I meet you at the seat that is covered in mercy. I don’t give you what you deserve, I give you what you don’t. I give you grace, I give you grace, that sweet, and amazing sound – My grace all sufficient, My grace is alive. My Spirit like the wind, gentle and quiet -surrounds. Please, take hold of My hand my child. I will guide you with My eye. Read My word and stay near, you will then understand always, I AM nearby.”
“Take hold of My hand, My beloved, My bride. Walk with Me and a new song you will always sing, today, tomorrow and each day besides:
“I will rejoice in the LORD, yes, I will, ‘I do!” And my soul will be joyful in God! He has clothed me with garments of salvation, and has covered me with His robe. He took my old garments and covered me a-new, with His robe… His robe of righteousness. He is as a bridegroom who decks Himself with ornaments of love, and as a bride I adorn myself with jewels of joy. As the earth brings forth its bud and the garden shines forth God’s glory, I will take hold of His hand, each day, each morning and sing praise to Him, now, and forever – THIS will be my story!” (my paraphrase of Is. 61:10,11).
The media is NOT your friend! Why do you think believers cry when they sing, "Amazing Grace!"
We live in a fallen world – period. The truth is: “All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). That pretty much means – everybody! But the media will have it’s ‘selected tolerance ‘ and its voice will be spoken everywhere, to ears that hear but have no understanding. When a politician lies and cheats, the news get washed away with the next natural catastrophe. But when a Christian, or one that professes to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, is found to have ‘sinned’, even close to a decade ago at times, there is NO TOLERANCE!
The media is NOT your friend! You see, the ‘media’s voice’ is like a camera that takes a picture of ‘selected stuff’ – the media’s voice takes a picture of the garbage, and leaves you there! No wonder when people turn off the voice of the media they are left without hope and depressed! But for a Christian, one who believes and trusts in the blood that Jesus shed on the cross, his or her sins are forgiven! His or her sins are washed away. (Acts 22:16). His or her sins no longer remain on him, (Is. 53:6). His or her sins were put on Jesus, and they have become healed, (1Peter 2:24). YES, “All have sinned and fall short of God’s glory”, AND yes, “The wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23), but God’s word doesn’t leave his children there – there is hope, there is truth, there is a gift of God – and that is “eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord!” (Romans 6:23, exclamation point,mine.) This is the message of the gospel: Jesus! HE came as a baby. He died on the cross for our ugly and intolerable sins, and He rose again!
(Acts 22:16),”‘And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.'”
(Isaiah 53:6), “All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the LORD has laid on Him, the iniquity of us all.”
(1 Peter 2:24,25), “…who Himself, (Jesus), bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteiousness – by whose stripes you were healed. For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”
The media is NOT your friend. Jesus Christ IS! Jesus is a ‘friend of sinners!’
The media’s voice rings like this: “THEY did wrong! That Christian messed up! That Christian isn’t perfect!” “This is INTOLERABLE!”
You better believe this or that Christian messed up! It’s because we, they, them – are human beings and we are ‘all’ part of that ‘ALL’ in the ‘all have sinned…’ verse! But NOT EVERYONE is part of being forgiven, and being washed clean… each human being that has been aloud breath on this broken earth has to, at one point of time in their life, BELIEVE in the Lord Jesus Christ, the precious, gracious gift of God, in order to receive that!
Why do you think believers cry when they sing, “Amazing Grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.” We all are ‘wretches!” BUT GOD has made a WAY for hope, God’s voice speaks TRUTH, and God sent His Son that those who believe have LIFE. Each one of us has to receive Jesus in our life to receive His forgiveness. Each of us has to make the choice to receive the the free gift of salvation that He offers to each of us personally. His arms are not in a fist and with pointing finger – NO, His arms were stretched out willingly on the cross, for ‘whosoever’ would believe! Jesus died for the sins of the world – the whole world that is -‘red, brown, yellow, black, and white, they are precious in His sight…’ to ‘whoever will believe on His name'(John 1:12).
Everyone has the free choice! The voice of the media is ‘damnation’ and ‘condemnation!’ “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.” (Romans 8:1). “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.” (Romans 8:2). For those who ‘choose’ to believe and receive the forgiveness and grace offered on the cross, THEY have the gift of God which is eternal life through Christ Jesus! But the invitation has been sent to the whole world!
The media, the voice of the world and our own flesh fight against us every day, condemning, oppressing -but when we receive Jesus in our lives, we can be lifted to a ‘higher law’ so to speak! Just as we see the engine of a plane rev up and the wheels spin on the runway with all the effects of gravity pulling down, there is a force of ‘aerodynamics’ at work that is more powerful than gravity, which then lifts that plane to fly in the sky! “The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death!” (Romans 8:2, exclamation point, mine.) “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1).
The media is not our friend! The word of God through Jesus Christ our Lord IS. If you have not considered receiving and believing in Jesus as your Savior, perhaps you take a minute to put down the ‘voice of the world’ and hear the voice of Jesus, a friend of sinners: “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10).
“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.”(John 10:11).
“”But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. “And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of my hand.”(John 10:26-28).
Don’t believe the media, believe the Savior, the Good Shepherd! Make the choice to ‘believe on Him whom the Father has sent: “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. “I and My Father are one.” (John 10:29,30).
Jesus spoke to ‘doubting Thomas’: “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” (John 20:27).
“And Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” (Can you see the tears as he sang a new song in his heart? “Amazing grace how sweet the sound…”)
Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believe. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20:28,29).
“‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, And grace my fears relieved. How precious did that grace appear, The hour I first believed.”
“”Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares I have already come, ‘Tis grace that brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.”
You will not find grace in the media toward Christians, but Jesus warned us already, “In this world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33). “I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to theFather except through Me.” (John 14:6).
“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you!” (Romans 8:11, exclamation point, MINE!) Now that is aerodynamics!
“What a friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear…” Now we must continue to go on singing new song after new song as we seek to live in the Spirit, with an aerodynamics to rise above the mess, in this tough and condemning world. And we can do it, because Jesus… He has overcome the world!
* * * * * *
Do you see the three crosses on the hill? As you pass by, take some time to realize that our life’s journey is for the sole purpose of this: deciding which ‘thief we be.’
As for me, I choose to believe and receive and …to sing! ‘Amazing grace how sweet the sound…” “What a friend I have in Jesus…”
Want to pray for America? Anne Graham Lotz gives us the words:
Does your heart break for our country? Do you lack the words to pray to God? Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of Billy Graham has given us words in which to pray for our America, (I share the prayer she invited us to pray in its entirety):
“JEHOVAH ELOHE ABOTHEKEM:
THE LORD, THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? 2″
THE LORD, THE GOD OF YOUR FATHERS How long will you wait before you begin to take possession of the land that the Lord, the God of your fathers, has given you? 2″
We worship You, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. You are the living God of our nation’s founding fathers: George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, Patrick Henry, and many others. We pledge our allegiance as one nation under You. Every time we use American money to buy or sell, we make the statement that in You we have placed our trust.
We acknowledge that You are the One who has set us high above all the nations on the earth. You have made us the head and not the tail. We have led the free world. The whole world has known that we are identified with You, and they have respected us.
Again and again, You have given us victory over our enemies.
You have blessed us when we have gone out and when we have come in.
You have blessed us in our bustling cities and in our beautiful countryside.
You have blessed our “fruited plain” so that we have had an abundance for ourselves and for others.
You have opened up the storehouse of Your bounty, and have blessed the work of our hands.
You have given us unprecedented prosperity so that we have lent to many nations but been debtor to none.3 Until now. O Lord God of our Fathers, what has happened to the United States of America, the land that we love?
We acknowledge that You______________
For one hour each day for the past five days, we have worshipped You and confessed our sin before You. Now, Lord God of our Fathers, we turn to You and confess the sin of our beloved nation, United States of America.
We are appalled by the blatant sin that is all around us. We dare not lift up our faces before You. We are covered with shame. How could we, in our arrogance, pride and rebellion, dare to even think, much less discuss and legalize defiance of Your institution of marriage? How could we publicly celebrate relationships that are an affront and a contradiction to Your Creator’s instructions for living the life You have graciously given us? How can we willingly, intentionally exterminate life that You created and that bears Your image…for our own convenience?
Life is still precious…to You. All life. Your rules still apply. Your principles still work. Your instructions are still valid. Your opinion still matters. More than anyone else’s. How could we even imagine that nine Supreme Court Justices could overturn what You have said? How could we have reached the conclusion that …
What we want is so vital,
What we think is so critical,
What we feel is so crucial…
That we elevate ourselves over You?
We are appalled by_______
We are so ashamed that our nation that was founded on faith in You has turned its back on You. And we know better. Our history records the faith of our fathers. If You do not judge us, then You will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. We have had so much more truth then the Sodomites did, and therefore we are more accountable for our sin. We have heard Your warning. The Day of the Lord is near and it’s going to be ugly. In response, we fall at the foot of the Cross and repent of every sin that made the death of Jesus necessary. Every sin that even now is provoking Your judgment.
We confess national addiction to sex. To money. To pleasure. To entertainment. To pornography. To technology. To drugs. To alcohol. To food. To television. To popularity. To ourselves.
We confess we no longer fear You, and thus we have not even the beginning of wisdom with which to handle the vast knowledge we possess.
We confess our foolishness of denying You as the one, true, living God, our Creator to whom we are accountable, living as though our lives are a cosmic accident with no eternal significance, purpose or meaning.
We confess our greed that has run up trillions of dollars of national debt.
We confess our arrogance and pride that has led us to think we are sufficient in ourselves.
We confess to believing that the prosperity of our nation is because we are great while refusing to acknowledge that all blessings come from Your hand.
We confess that we depend upon our military might and our weapons systems to protect us from harm and danger, while denying, defying, and ignoring You.
We confess that we have succumbed to the pressure of pluralism in our desire to be inclusive so that we honor other gods as though You are just one of many.
We confess that we have allowed the material blessings You have given us to deceive us into thinking we don’t need You.
We confess that we feel entitled to what someone else has earned, instead of taking responsibility for ourselves and our families as we trust in You.
We confess that we live as though material wealth and prosperity will bring happiness.
We confess that we have marginalized truth and mainstreamed lies.
We confess that we have become one nation under many gods, divided and polarized, with license to sin and justice that no longer follows the rule of law.4
We confess________________
Therefore, we turn to You with tears of shame and a heart of fear for the judgment we are provoking. The Spirit within us witnesses to the truth that the Day of the Lord is soon! You are backing away from us as we tell You to get out of our national life. We are losing Your blessing as a nation. So we turn to You with humility. With sincerity. Out of necessity. With a desperate sense of urgency.
We turn to You with ________
Hear our prayer. Forgive our sin. Heal our land. We are standing in the gap for our nation. In the name of the One who was with You in the beginning,5 the One to whom our forefathers looked, and the One who is with us today. JESUS.
We acknowledge that You are the One who has set us high above all the nations on the earth. You have made us the head and not the tail. We have led the free world. The whole world has known that we are identified with You, and they have respected us.
Again and again, You have given us victory over our enemies.
You have blessed us when we have gone out and when we have come in.
You have blessed us in our bustling cities and in our beautiful countryside.
You have blessed our “fruited plain” so that we have had an abundance for ourselves and for others.
You have opened up the storehouse of Your bounty, and have blessed the work of our hands.
You have given us unprecedented prosperity so that we have lent to many nations but been debtor to none.3 Until now. O Lord God of our Fathers, what has happened to the United States of America, the land that we love?
We acknowledge that You______________
For one hour each day for the past five days, we have worshipped You and confessed our sin before You. Now, Lord God of our Fathers, we turn to You and confess the sin of our beloved nation, United States of America.
We are appalled by the blatant sin that is all around us. We dare not lift up our faces before You. We are covered with shame. How could we, in our arrogance, pride and rebellion, dare to even think, much less discuss and legalize defiance of Your institution of marriage? How could we publicly celebrate relationships that are an affront and a contradiction to Your Creator’s instructions for living the life You have graciously given us? How can we willingly, intentionally exterminate life that You created and that bears Your image…for our own convenience?
Life is still precious…to You. All life. Your rules still apply. Your principles still work. Your instructions are still valid. Your opinion still matters. More than anyone else’s. How could we even imagine that nine Supreme Court Justices could overturn what You have said? How could we have reached the conclusion that …
What we want is so vital,
What we think is so critical,
What we feel is so crucial…
That we elevate ourselves over You?
We are appalled by_______
We are so ashamed that our nation that was founded on faith in You has turned its back on You. And we know better. Our history records the faith of our fathers. If You do not judge us, then You will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. We have had so much more truth then the Sodomites did, and therefore we are more accountable for our sin. We have heard Your warning. The Day of the Lord is near and it’s going to be ugly. In response, we fall at the foot of the Cross and repent of every sin that made the death of Jesus necessary. Every sin that even now is provoking Your judgment.
We confess national addiction to sex. To money. To pleasure. To entertainment. To pornography. To technology. To drugs. To alcohol. To food. To television. To popularity. To ourselves.
We confess we no longer fear You, and thus we have not even the beginning of wisdom with which to handle the vast knowledge we possess.
We confess our foolishness of denying You as the one, true, living God, our Creator to whom we are accountable, living as though our lives are a cosmic accident with no eternal significance, purpose or meaning.
We confess our greed that has run up trillions of dollars of national debt.
We confess our arrogance and pride that has led us to think we are sufficient in ourselves.
We confess to believing that the prosperity of our nation is because we are great while refusing to acknowledge that all blessings come from Your hand.
We confess that we depend upon our military might and our weapons systems to protect us from harm and danger, while denying, defying, and ignoring You.
We confess that we have succumbed to the pressure of pluralism in our desire to be inclusive so that we honor other gods as though You are just one of many.
We confess that we have allowed the material blessings You have given us to deceive us into thinking we don’t need You.
We confess that we feel entitled to what someone else has earned, instead of taking responsibility for ourselves and our families as we trust in You.
We confess that we live as though material wealth and prosperity will bring happiness.
We confess that we have marginalized truth and mainstreamed lies.
We confess that we have become one nation under many gods, divided and polarized, with license to sin and justice that no longer follows the rule of law.4
We confess________________
Therefore, we turn to You with tears of shame and a heart of fear for the judgment we are provoking. The Spirit within us witnesses to the truth that the Day of the Lord is soon! You are backing away from us as we tell You to get out of our national life. We are losing Your blessing as a nation. So we turn to You with humility. With sincerity. Out of necessity. With a desperate sense of urgency.
We turn to You with ________
Hear our prayer. Forgive our sin. Heal our land. We are standing in the gap for our nation. In the name of the One who was with You in the beginning,5 the One to whom our forefathers looked, and the One who is with us today. JESUS.
We come to You…
we bow before You…
in His name and for Your glory.
Amen.”
we bow before You…
in His name and for Your glory.
Amen.”
[1] John 17:11
[2] Joshua 18:3
[3] This paragraph is drawn from Deuteronomy 28:1-14
[4] Some of these confessions have been take with permission from The Daniel Prayer,Anne GrahamLotz, Zondervan Publishing, Grand Rapids, MI, 2016
[5] John 1:2
A Hymn about God's mighty hand. And God's word starts a sentence with 'But' and 'And!'
“Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but Thou art mighty, Hold me with Thy pow’r-ful hand…” (Hymn, Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah, 1745, William Williams/John Hughs).
“The hymns dear Lord, instruct and teach us. Even when some don’t ‘believe’, the words give light to what is true around us, and whoo us and draw us out of the dark. Who are we kidding Lord, as we trod this ‘barren land’ and with each day around us, we see the weeds, and thorns and sand.We wake up hungry, we seek bread. ‘By the sweat of our brow’, we have to work to be fed, and in great pain a baby is born’. Who are we kidding Lord, when we think we can ‘do it on our own!’ It’s like a fish in a tank pretending that their sufficient of themselves, when they so desperately wait to see that ‘powerful’ feeding ‘hand’!
“Could it be Lord, that You teach us through the children? We watch first steps taken, when a toddler takes the hold of the ‘hand’ to walk? When the arm is lifted, waiting to be held, waiting to be strengthened, so the ‘feeble knees’ may walk. “Guide me, O Thou great Jehovah, Pilgrim through this barren land; I am weak, but Thou art mighty, Hold me with Thy pow’r-ful hand. Bread of heaven, Bread of heaven, Feed me till I want no more; Feed me till I want no more.” (Hymn by William Williams).
“Who are we kidding, we can see it all along, our stubborn and ‘sin-ful’ nature that says, “I can do this without Him!” My hand reaches for knowledge, my hand will reach for Docs, my hand will reach for… nothing, when discouraged and afraid from our very own thoughts. So we grope and fight to find our way, competing and selfishly moving forward. But then we soon grow tired, so weary, and empty. But we notice You are with us. And You’ve been there all along.”
Yes, I know we are not to start a sentence with ‘And’, but when talking about God, I can! I can, because I’ve lived it! “But God, pulled me out of the pit I was in, AND, He was with me all along!”
The stories, the stories, all so different, but the same. It is told of one’s journey, a ‘witness’ was sent to ‘help’, and the words that were spoken have been heard before…but this time,… FINALLY headed. “Find a Bible and read it! Start in the Book of John. You will discover Jesus loves you! You’ll have a story that says, “But God, …! “And…!”
The truth is spelled out quite simply, and it’s obvious even today: “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.” John 1:10,11. We convince ourselves, “He doesn’t care, when the problem is, the fall! “But…!”
Yes, the sentence begins with “But…”But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of god.” (John 1:12,13, NKJV).
“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14).
“But God makes us His children. To all who receive, to all who believe. He doesn’t make us strong and able, He makes us His children to take hold of His hand! He is able, He heals, He feeds. And …He guides, the hymns, the hymns, along with His word, they tell us besides:
“Open now the crystal fountain, Whence the healing stream doth flow; Let the fire and cloudy pillar Lead me all my journey through. Strong Deliv’rer, strong Deliv’rer, Be Thou still my strength and shield; Be Thou still my strength and shield.”
“When I tread the verge of Jordan, Bid my anxious fears subside; Death of death and Hell’s destruction Land me safe on Canaan’s side. Songs of praises, songs of praises, I will ever give to Thee; I will ever give to Thee.”(Guide Me, O Thou Great Jehovah).
“Keep me Lord, ‘as a child’, ‘as a child’. Help me remember the whole day through, as I walk in weakness and feel weak and feeble help me remember, “But God is able.” “And He loves me too!” In Jesus’ name, Amen, Amen!
Re-weave this frayed tapestry
“Empty the impatience, empty the anxiety.” You, Lord, can read my heart as it cries, “Give me a break!”
This tapestry of mine is frayed and torn and worn out, forlorn.
Then, I remember, when You walked this dry, barren land, officials with position put on Your head a thorny crown.
The words, “Give me a break,” come back to me, as I watch You in Your word, in silence You went, the way of the cross.
I have a payment owed. I can’t come close to pay it.
Death for my sin is the bottom line. To be separated forever from Your Love, for all time.
I am broken and frayed. I can’t meet the requirements. To be perfect and holy, there’s naturally, no way.
“I am willing.” Jesus answers. Not with words, but in action. The words of the pages bring the past into focus. The words are today, for me, in the present.
“Show me!” I cry. And He answers before my eyes:
The words, “Give me a break,” come back to me, as I watch You in Your word, in silence You went, the way of the cross.
I have a payment owed. I can’t come close to pay it.
Death for my sin is the bottom line. To be separated forever from Your Love, for all time.
I am broken and frayed. I can’t meet the requirements. To be perfect and holy, there’s naturally, no way.
“I am willing.” Jesus answers. Not with words, but in action. The words of the pages bring the past into focus. The words are today, for me, in the present.
“Show me!” I cry. And He answers before my eyes:
Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face.
Once more Pilate came out and said to the Jews gathered there, “Look, I am bringing him out to you to let you know that I find no basis for a charge against him.” When Jesus came out wearing the crown of thorns and the purple robe, Pilate said to them, “Here is the man!“
As soon as the chief priests and their officials saw him, they shouted, “Crucify! Crucify!” (John 19:1-6, NIV).
The Jewish leaders insisted, “We have a law, and according to that law he must die, because he claimed to be the Son of God.” (John 19:7).
The word speaks with such sharpness. How the story often is blurred. But living, it speaks. To me, every word:
When Pilate heard this, he was even more afraid, and he went back inside the palace. “Where do you come from?” he asked Jesus, but Jesus gave him no answer. “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?”
Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
12 From then on, Pilate tried to set Jesus free, but the Jewish leaders kept shouting, “If you let this man go, you are no friend of Caesar . . .”
13 When Pilate heard this, he brought Jesus out, . . . “Here is your king,” Pilate said to the Jews.
15 But they shouted, “Take him away! Take him away! Crucify him!”
How can I read all this and not ask, “Who is this Man?”
Praying, “God, give me a break.” He shows me, “I AM.”
Deeply woven in me is a sense of justice. But, it’s not found in You.
Weaved inside my being are threads that life should be fair. That what’s “right” must prevail.
But, Jesus. You didn’t fight. You didn’t defend Your innocence.
You remained silent. You weave the word s-a-c-r-f-i-c-e in Your cloak of Love.
And in my tapestry, you find competition, comparisons, insecurities, and pride.
And, who am I kidding, rudeness and evil thoughts thread their way through, knit, naturally within my whole being.
Rip it all out Lord. Rip these threads from me. I believe Who You are. You came that I might be made free.
Weave in me, Your Scarlet thread. Death to myself and my own righteousness – and my needing control of the circumstance. Re-weave me.
I am broken and frayed. But I believe You came. Let my tapestry proclaim You.
He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. (Revelation 21:5-7).
"I Sing the Mighty Power of God…"
“There is not a plant or flow’r below But makes Thy glories known,
and clouds arise and tempests blow,
By order from Thy throne.
While all that borrows life from Thee
Is ever in Thy care;
And everywhere that man can be, Thou, God,
art present there.”
This is a hymn of Isaac Watts written in 1715. And in just a few little lines Isaac Watts reminds me of the promises of God in the flowers, even though God has allowed the trials to come much like the clouds,(out of nowhere,)that I am ‘ever in His care,’ and that no matter what, God is with me.
There is a treasure for you in me in verse three of ‘I Sing the Mighty Power of God’ . The other verses remind us of His mighty power, His flowing seas, His lofty skies, His sun and moon and stars. And His wonders of creation – but verse three – it brings everything down to you and me: ‘There’s not a plant or flow’r below But makes Thy glories known…’ Yes, the mighty mountains and oceans give glory to God, but there is not a plant or flower below that doesn’t give God glory!
Yes, God speaks to me with the flowers. The same way that the stars are written of in the Bible, God speaks to me through the flowers. “The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Day unto day utters speech…There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard…and their words to the end of the world.”(Psalm 19).
Well, for me, I cannot stay up late because I am worthless in the evening- I find that speech in the flowers. What is its speech? It is not easy, it is not pretty – but when I look at the flower, the fruit of so much labor, I see the prize and it keeps me on the right path.
“What is it’s speech?” You might be saying, get on with it.
“There’s not a plant or flower below But maketh Thy glories known…’
They speak the words of Jesus,
“The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.
Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and
dies…
it remains alone; but if it dies,
it produces much grain.” John 12:23,24.
You see, we can’t see the flower, until there was a death that had occurred. But because a grain of wheat fell into the ground and died, it then sprouted and grew and was nourished and brought forth fruit.
And things in life happen that are ‘not fair’! Things happen that hurt and bring scars – Jesus knows.
He was mistreated and misunderstood, He was hurt and has scars. He prayed, “Not My will, Father, but Yours be done.” and He willingly went to the cross and
died.
But now there is so much life, so much life- everlasting life to all who believe!
So what does this mean for you and for me?
Am I willing to lay down my rights? Am I willing put off my pride? And for what?
For the promise, for the Promise:
“As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him,
rooted , (just like a plant,)and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught…”
It’s hard to die to ‘self!’ But remember the flower and all of its beauty.
‘Rooted and built up…as you have been taught’,
You might be saying, “Remind us, what have we been taught? There is too much dirt right now in this dying stuff, not a lot of color, just darkness! Please keep it simple!”
In a child’s version, here it is:
“God has chosen you and made you His holy people. He loves you. So always do these things:
Show mercy to others, (don’t give them what they deserve!)
Colossians 3:12.
“This is way too hard!” you might be saying.
Remember the fruit, remember the flowers!
“Be kind,
humble,
gentle,
and patient.” Colossians 3:12.
“Death” must come before the growth and ultimately the fruit!
“So do not be angry with each other, but forgive each other. If someone does wrong to you, then forgive him. Forgive each other because the Lord forgave you. Do all these things; but most important, love each other.” Collosians 3:13,14.
“But I can’t do this,” you might be saying.
You are so right. We cannot do this- but He can!
We cannot forget that
“Christ died, and we have been joined with Christ by dying too.” ( I just make a lot more noise in my dying than He did!) So we will also be joined with Him by rising from death as He did…
We know...(well, if you didn’t know or forgot, you and I now KNOW!) that our old life died with Christ on the cross (when we received Him in our lives),…Anyone who has died is made free from sin’s control.” (!)Romans6:6. Exclamation point mine. We have power over sin because of Him.
“There’s not a plant or flow’r below But makes Thy glories known.” The flowers are the fruit! The fruit of the Spirit is love; joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. Gal 5:22.
“If a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies…”
I cannot do this on my own, but Oh, “I will sing of the Mighty Power of God”, because In Him, I can do all things, even bear good fruit.
When the words, "bitterness of soul" got my attention…
I woke up this morning and read a Spurgeon poem: “My heart is resting, O my God;...” and I thought, “O Lord, You see my restless heart.”
The poem then speaks, “I will give thanks and sing;” and I know right away, this is my remedy.
The poem was the caboose to the portion of scripture where Hannah, the wife of Elkanah was in ‘bitterness of soul’ when she went to the Temple to pray to the LORD, and “she wept sore.”(1 Samuel 1:10). Even if I don’t embark on telling the whole story of Hannah and her great ‘bitterness of soul’ because her husband had a second wife who had many children and she had none, and not only that, she was mocked and ridiculed by the other woman- and so she wept before the LORD in simplicity of heart with a request that she vowed to return back to Him – only to be rebuked by the priest of the Temple. But Hannah was so broken she didn’t get angry, she just responded and reported of pouring her broken heart before the LORD.
It was the words, “bitterness of soul” that first got my attention, and the poem at the end that proclaimed, “My heart is resting…” There must be some Word from the Lord here today, for me, just for me, not just a story to be told. So I read and kept reading asking the Lord, “Speak to me Lord, for my heart is aching as I pray and search, yes, ‘bitterness of soul’ keeps me searching.
So I read from God’s word of Eli the priest, who acknowledged his error and softened his voice. He answered and said to the one in anguish: “Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant thee thy petition that thou hast asked of him.” (1 Sam. 1:17, KJV).
And the verses that followed spoke mightily too: “And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. so the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more sad.” (1 Sam. 1:18, KJV).
“Go in peace, and God will answer your prayer.” These were the words given to the one in “bitterness of soul” and the response was, “May I find grace in your sight.”
“Faith! faith! Increase my faith that I might believe the words You have said, Lord! May the ‘bitterness of soul’ bring me weeping to Your Temple, seeking and searching and asking from You! May I leave it all there, my heaviness of heart and trust in Your grace today – and also for tomorrow. “I can do all things though Christ who strengthens me,” (Phil 4:13), I will go my way and nourish myself and have a countenance of hope. I believe, I believe, I believe – EVEN IN THIS! I will give thanks and sing to You because You are able to make all things work for good.”
“My heart is resting, O my God; I will give thanks and sing; My soul awaits that joyful hour which shall the blessing bring. And a “new song” is in my mouth, To long-loved music set; Glory to thee for all the grace I have not tasted yet. (C.H. Spurgeon, Spurgeon Devotional Bible).
Going no-where? At war with my two natures!
There is a war going on with my two natures! Do you ever have a ‘tug of war’ going on in you as well?
So, I went searching for a treasure of a book with a sketch of the struggle, Donald Barnhouse’s “Teaching the Word of Truth”. Pictured was a wagon with a horse hitched to the front of the wagon and a horse hitched to the back, both pulling in opposite directions, with all their strength – at the same time! The wagon is going no-where!
Then there is a stick figure of a man, on the left the words, ‘old nature’, ‘unhappy Christians’, with some rough words connected to them, like: hatred, wrath, strife and envyings. On the right, were the words, “new nature”, happy Christians, and connected with terms like: love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, kindness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
We begin to think that there are some people that are ‘very’ bad, and there are others that don’t seem bad, like babies or nice people. But God does not see any of our ‘own’ goodness. The Bible says quite strongly that ‘all our righteousness is as filthy rags’, (Isaiah 64:6). God’s word is truth and sometimes the truth is hard: ‘All our righteousness is just as a filthy rag’. This sounds even disgusting. How can that be?
Is there hope? What does God look for? What’s the solution. Well, a very, very ‘good’ man came to Jesus one night. Many of us know the story of ‘Nic at night’. Yes, Nicodemus, a Pharisee, one who even taught the law and a ruler of the Jews ‘came to Jesus by night and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You are a teacher come from God; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” (John 3:2).
Something was missing in ‘Nic’s life. He had to have answers. This man was a ‘good’ man. Wasn’t all his ‘goodness’ enough? What did Jesus say? Jesus gets right to what Nicodemus needed – this good and righteous man needed one thing. “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” John 3:3.
What is Jesus saying? In order to ‘see’ the kingdom of God, we all have to be born again? Well, then this is VERY important then. Who cares if the media and the world is hung up over ‘vocabulary’! We must be born again in order to ‘see the kingdom of God!
I want to ‘see the kingdom of God, today and everyday, don’t you? Don’t we pray, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be Your name, your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Matthew 6).
We all have an ‘old nature’. Our ‘old nature’ can’t please God, it can’t obey God, and it can’t understand God! God doesn’t want us to just ‘stay there’! He wants us to be born again of the Spirit that we may have fruit.
I must first, believe on Him whom the Father has sent. I must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ! What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus! The hymns tell us how!
“Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again, not of corruptible seed but incorruptible, through the word of God which lives and abides forever, because
“All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, But the word of the LORD endures forever!” (1 Peter 1:22-25, exclamation point mine).
God doesn’t want me to ‘fix up’ my old nature – He wants it dead to make room for the NEW! “And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
“Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” (1 John 5:11-15, emphasis, mine).
I’m asking LORD, “Fill me with Your Spirit that I might abound in the fruit of the Spirit, not the outcome of the flesh! My ‘new nature’ is the life of Jesus in me. “Lord, that others might see more of You and less, so much less of …me”” In Jesus Name, Amen.” “Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.” (1 John 5:11-15).
“This is all my righteousness, nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace, nothing but the blood of Jesus. “Oh precious is the flow, that makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Reasoning with God only to discover that Now is the time to praise…
In great trial,the Spirit whispers, “Worship the Lord and give Him praise.” But my flesh says, “Not now.” But the Spirit’s remedy: “Come and bring a ‘sacrifice of praise.’ There is a struggle because my flesh doesn’t want to, so I spend some time ‘reasoning with God’ with some ‘wrestling’ going on, only to discover that NOW is the time, yes, now, is the time…to praise.
I turned to a song in Isaiah, in the midst of many ‘woes’, and You inspired him to sing, so I sacrifice to focus on the words in print and find they lift me from the pit in which I sit. So I choose to ‘speak’-sing the words in Isaiah 25, and I find a balm for my sores: ‘O LORD, You are God. I will exalt You and I will praise your name. For You have done wonderful things, Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth.” (Isaiah 25:1)…”For You have been a strength to the poor, a refuge from the storm, a shade from the heat; for the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall.” (Isaiah 25:1,4).
‘…And it will be said in that day: “Behold this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” (Is. 25:9).
I don’t always have a willing heart to praise, but I ask over and over again, ” Lord, will You give me a willing heart, that the words ‘glad’ and ‘rejoice’ may again express my soul. Maybe it’s supposed to ‘feel’ like a sacrifice so that we think about You and the great sacrifice you chose to make for me. Dying on the cross after praying from Your bleeding heart, and even sweating those drops of blood, “O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will.” (Matthew 26:39).
Yes, You understand sacrifice.
Then my eyes read on the black and white pages as I confess about my heart in which You can already see, asking for willingness to offer You praise, I see Your promise of peace, for me…instructions for peace, and yes, for me. Truly Lord, You are good: “You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength.” (Is. 26:3,4).
‘My eyes Lord, get focused in the wrong directions, over and over again. Keep them straight on You Lord and fill me with Your Spirit. May I ‘feed’ my mind and heart and soul on Your word that I might trust You through the storm and be ‘kept’ in Your ‘perfect peace.’ It ‘feels’ like a sacrifice, but help me trust You more, ‘for in YAH, the LORD is everlasting strength.”
So, I flip through the pages of His inspired Book and find the Psalms to give me a song. Today I choose to bring a sacrifice of praise, to You O LORD, from Your very word: Psalm 86 “Teach Me Your Way, O LORD” “Bow down Your ear, O LORD, hear me; For I am poor and needy…Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer; And attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon You, For You will answer me…Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your name. I will praise You with all of my heart, And I will glorify Your name forevermore.” Psalm 86:1,6,7,11,12).
“You, Lord, have given me a ‘willing heart’ that I might seek Your face, that I might give You praise, even as I wait…I will exalt You. You are my God. In Your presence is peace and joy, I wait on You, the Lover of my soul. ” In Jesus name I pray, Amen.”
Words? God's Word IS life. Robin shared with me…
The written word is one thing, God’s Word is a whole other thing entirely.
The written word can be persuasive, whether it’s truth or a lie.The written word can be a good thing, and it can be a bad thing as well. The written word can bring direction, entertainment, encouragement, and color to life here on earth, however, God’s Word IS Life. God’s Word IS Truth. There is a difference between just words, and God’s inspired Word, the Bible. God’s Word births life in a being that was…well, naturally alive, but not ‘living’.
How do I know? I give you two examples. The first, is when I had 5 small children, with the infant being ‘colic’ and crying endlessly leaving me with large amounts of ‘stress’ to say the least, I opened the Word of God and read: “This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your Word has given me life.” (Ps. 119:50). After reading, “This is my comfort in my affliction,” I stopped and tried to guess what the rest of the thought might be, “What is the comfort in my affliction?” Well, to my surprise, God’s word did NOT say, “This is my comfort in my affliction, in that God takes it away.” And it doesn’t say, “This is the comfort in my affliction that God lets me see the answers.” No, it doesn’t say that either. (Present tense because the word speaks presently as well as past!)
The Word of God says,“This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life.” (Ps. 119:50).
It was then, that God began to ‘touch me’ as a Great Physician, probing and prodding in and through me, bringing ‘breath’ to my ‘out-of-breath’ life! You see, it’s ongoing. It’s not a one-time thing, it’s day by day, ‘this is the comfort in our affliction, God’s Word is life!’ God gives us His word, but He also gives us ‘witnesses’ in the course of our lives. ‘Witnesses’ to His power and glory and peace and love. I will share one such witness. I must share Robin with you:
Robin was a mother of 4, she loved the Lord, she honored her husband, she obeyed God’s call to home-educate her kids, and she was a mentor to me. I wasn’t one of her best friends, but Robin cared about people and she cared about me. Robin’s eyes were on the Lord and she was obedient to Him. Well, all did not go well with Robin. She got cancer, then it spread to her lungs, then she didn’t get better, she only got worse-she could barely breathe, she needed oxygen… HOW CAN THIS BE? What’s wrong with this picture? A young woman with children, living for the Lord, and God allows her to get cancer? Everyone had questions…everyone except Robin, that is.
Our church was studying the Book of Job when Robin got the news her cancer had spread. “Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat!” These were the words of Job, (Job 23:3).”I would present my case before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which He would answer me, And understand what He would say to me.” (Job 23:4,5).
THIS is what Robin did! She searched and she found Him. She placed herself between her ‘Rock of Ages’ and He answered her. How do I know? She told me herself. One of my most precious moments ever was my last conversation with Robin. If I don’t write the story it will be forgotten, but I tell the story again and again:
In my deep heartbreak as her body was growing weaker and weaker, and her lungs were so sick with cancer that her every breath was a struggle, Robin had urgency to comfort ME, the words she spoke were to comfort ME. “Toni, I know what is going on. I understand the whole thing.”
She didn’t pull out some great understanding that she had thought up in her own head, NO- she opened her Bible and began reading ALOUD! My friend, and mentor, who could barely breathe, started using all of her energy, to read to me from God’s word! I came to visit, to be a blessing of some-sort, but, dear Robin, (who didn’t know on that day, she only had two weeks to live), read aloud to me from her Bible. The Words took all the mystery away for her! The Words were LIFE and she passionately shared them with me.
How can I ever forget that? I write about this, and remember this often, because, there was no mystery for Robin! God had revealed everything to her, and it meant everything to her that she share it with me. Breath for her was a very difficult thing, yet at this moment in time, she took her breath and spoke His Word of life. It was as if we both were enveloped for a small amount of time in the Kingdom of God and the power of the word went out through Robin as she read – it was indescribable!
“This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.”
I was witnessing LIFE from a woman that had unbelievable rough days, bad news, and trials extreme! Robin read the WHOLE of CHAPTER 4 in 2 Corinthians! Robin opened her Bible and read,(the whole chapter – word for word, however, I will write just enough to make you hungry to go and read the whole!) Robin’s life still bears fruit as I hear her voice lovingly read :“…as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.” (2 Corinthians 4:1).
You might be thinking, God didn’t answer those prayers for healing, how can that be mercy?) Robin took a breath and spoke His word and told me, “I understand everything.” She understood His great mercy and love, and she had received it. So she did not lose heart, instead she turned around to give to me these words of ‘life’, so that I would not ‘lose heart’.
Robin kept reading:“For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6).”
What a contrast, “For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness”, in that Robin was so weak and so sick, yet, “who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”. Robin was ‘giving the light of the knowledge of the glory of God’ and she so clearly was looking ‘full in His glorious face’ as she read. How could I forget these words? They weren’t words at all, they were all that was going on in that very moment. This was ‘life’ happening in me, from a woman who was a ‘bondservant’ to Jesus sent to suffer ‘darkness’ so that God’s light could shine through her and give God glory!
Not just for that day, but even for now and all eternity! God spoke to Robin through His word and gave her understanding and had peace! I witnessed this and tell you today, many years later.
Robin is an inspiration to me even today. She encouraged me in the ‘light of the life’ in God’s word because she had understanding and ‘knowledge’ of the glory of God, and soon to see her Jesus face to face, she explained it all to me:
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed-always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4 8-10).
God’s word brought life into her sick and tired spirit reminding her, yes, Jesus died, but He rose again, and she would too!
“…Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16,17).
You see, these Words are more than words. They are rich, and ‘past finding out’, they are life and light, they are treasure. We have trials today and worries, but the Bread of Life, the Word that is for ‘yesterday, today and forever’ reminds us that the things which we see with our eyes everyday, the rent, the clothes, the food, the jobs- we can see all that, it’s just temporary, but the things which are not seen, like God,and His angels, and many of the special family members or friends, who are no longer here on this earth, they are eternally living – living with Jesus in heaven.
So Robin sat with me on that day, to GIVE TO ME, not the other way around! She read from God’s Book, His Holy Word. Just as Job cried out in his groaning, “Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat! I would present my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which He would answer me, and understand what He would say to me…” Job 23:3). God answered Robin, and she shared the answer with me. What a beautiful gift she gave me, and it lasts forever!
Hugging her ‘baby’ the oxygen tank that sat by her feet feeding her ailing lungs the necessary breath, and with much labor and loving sacrifice, Robin read on through 2 Corinthians,Chapter 5: “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Corinthians 5:1).
The words brought so much hope, and Robin kept on reading: “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.” (2 Corinthians 5:2,3,4).
Robin continued reading, (yes, word for word. These words were life! God had given her understanding): “Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. ” (2 Cor. 4:5-8).
“Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God…”(2 Corinthians 5:9,10,11).
God’s light shone through darkness that day in incredible ways and His word, brings life! Robin was a testimony to the truth of God’s word! There are T-shirts that say ‘Life if good’, well, the life that we can see with our eyes is not always good, but the life that we can’t see that is hidden with Christ in God, THAT is good! God’s Word is our ‘comfort in our affliction’.
Thank you Robin. Forever you inspire me. And many others too. I hear your voice when I read those words, exhorting me to ‘live a life that is ‘pleasing to Him’.Thank you for sharing to me what God showed you.
God’s word is truth and life. I am forever thankful to God for Robin. God is faithful…“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:1,2).
If she could know my heart, I would say, “Thanks Robin! Thanks for loving God with every breath you took on this thorny earth, and loving me, and so many, and your family. Forever you inspire me. I hear your voice when I read God’s word exhorting me to ‘live a life that is ‘pleasing to Him’. Yes, Robin, your life is everlasting in Him, and your life lives on in each of our hearts!”
These words tell a story, God’s word BREATHE LIFE!
How do I know? I give you two examples. The first, is when I had 5 small children, with the infant being ‘colic’ and crying endlessly leaving me with large amounts of ‘stress’ to say the least, I opened the Word of God and read: “This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your Word has given me life.” (Ps. 119:50). After reading, “This is my comfort in my affliction,” I stopped and tried to guess what the rest of the thought might be, “What is the comfort in my affliction?” Well, to my surprise, God’s word did NOT say, “This is my comfort in my affliction, in that God takes it away.” And it doesn’t say, “This is the comfort in my affliction that God lets me see the answers.” No, it doesn’t say that either. (Present tense because the word speaks presently as well as past!)
The Word of God says,“This is my comfort in my affliction, For Your word has given me life.” (Ps. 119:50).
It was then, that God began to ‘touch me’ as a Great Physician, probing and prodding in and through me, bringing ‘breath’ to my ‘out-of-breath’ life! You see, it’s ongoing. It’s not a one-time thing, it’s day by day, ‘this is the comfort in our affliction, God’s Word is life!’ God gives us His word, but He also gives us ‘witnesses’ in the course of our lives. ‘Witnesses’ to His power and glory and peace and love. I will share one such witness. I must share Robin with you:
Robin was a mother of 4, she loved the Lord, she honored her husband, she obeyed God’s call to home-educate her kids, and she was a mentor to me. I wasn’t one of her best friends, but Robin cared about people and she cared about me. Robin’s eyes were on the Lord and she was obedient to Him. Well, all did not go well with Robin. She got cancer, then it spread to her lungs, then she didn’t get better, she only got worse-she could barely breathe, she needed oxygen… HOW CAN THIS BE? What’s wrong with this picture? A young woman with children, living for the Lord, and God allows her to get cancer? Everyone had questions…everyone except Robin, that is.
Our church was studying the Book of Job when Robin got the news her cancer had spread. “Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat!” These were the words of Job, (Job 23:3).”I would present my case before Him, and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which He would answer me, And understand what He would say to me.” (Job 23:4,5).
THIS is what Robin did! She searched and she found Him. She placed herself between her ‘Rock of Ages’ and He answered her. How do I know? She told me herself. One of my most precious moments ever was my last conversation with Robin. If I don’t write the story it will be forgotten, but I tell the story again and again:
In my deep heartbreak as her body was growing weaker and weaker, and her lungs were so sick with cancer that her every breath was a struggle, Robin had urgency to comfort ME, the words she spoke were to comfort ME. “Toni, I know what is going on. I understand the whole thing.”
She didn’t pull out some great understanding that she had thought up in her own head, NO- she opened her Bible and began reading ALOUD! My friend, and mentor, who could barely breathe, started using all of her energy, to read to me from God’s word! I came to visit, to be a blessing of some-sort, but, dear Robin, (who didn’t know on that day, she only had two weeks to live), read aloud to me from her Bible. The Words took all the mystery away for her! The Words were LIFE and she passionately shared them with me.
How can I ever forget that? I write about this, and remember this often, because, there was no mystery for Robin! God had revealed everything to her, and it meant everything to her that she share it with me. Breath for her was a very difficult thing, yet at this moment in time, she took her breath and spoke His Word of life. It was as if we both were enveloped for a small amount of time in the Kingdom of God and the power of the word went out through Robin as she read – it was indescribable!
“This is my comfort in my affliction, for Your word has given me life.”
I was witnessing LIFE from a woman that had unbelievable rough days, bad news, and trials extreme! Robin read the WHOLE of CHAPTER 4 in 2 Corinthians! Robin opened her Bible and read,(the whole chapter – word for word, however, I will write just enough to make you hungry to go and read the whole!) Robin’s life still bears fruit as I hear her voice lovingly read :“…as we have received mercy, we do not lose heart.” (2 Corinthians 4:1).
You might be thinking, God didn’t answer those prayers for healing, how can that be mercy?) Robin took a breath and spoke His word and told me, “I understand everything.” She understood His great mercy and love, and she had received it. So she did not lose heart, instead she turned around to give to me these words of ‘life’, so that I would not ‘lose heart’.
Robin kept reading:“For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. (2 Corinthians 4:6).”
What a contrast, “For it is God who commanded light to shine out of darkness”, in that Robin was so weak and so sick, yet, “who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ”. Robin was ‘giving the light of the knowledge of the glory of God’ and she so clearly was looking ‘full in His glorious face’ as she read. How could I forget these words? They weren’t words at all, they were all that was going on in that very moment. This was ‘life’ happening in me, from a woman who was a ‘bondservant’ to Jesus sent to suffer ‘darkness’ so that God’s light could shine through her and give God glory!
Not just for that day, but even for now and all eternity! God spoke to Robin through His word and gave her understanding and had peace! I witnessed this and tell you today, many years later.
Robin is an inspiration to me even today. She encouraged me in the ‘light of the life’ in God’s word because she had understanding and ‘knowledge’ of the glory of God, and soon to see her Jesus face to face, she explained it all to me:
“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed-always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.” (2 Corinthians 4 8-10).
God’s word brought life into her sick and tired spirit reminding her, yes, Jesus died, but He rose again, and she would too!
“…Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:16,17).
You see, these Words are more than words. They are rich, and ‘past finding out’, they are life and light, they are treasure. We have trials today and worries, but the Bread of Life, the Word that is for ‘yesterday, today and forever’ reminds us that the things which we see with our eyes everyday, the rent, the clothes, the food, the jobs- we can see all that, it’s just temporary, but the things which are not seen, like God,and His angels, and many of the special family members or friends, who are no longer here on this earth, they are eternally living – living with Jesus in heaven.
So Robin sat with me on that day, to GIVE TO ME, not the other way around! She read from God’s Book, His Holy Word. Just as Job cried out in his groaning, “Oh, that I knew where I might find Him, That I might come to His seat! I would present my case before Him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would know the words which He would answer me, and understand what He would say to me…” Job 23:3). God answered Robin, and she shared the answer with me. What a beautiful gift she gave me, and it lasts forever!
Hugging her ‘baby’ the oxygen tank that sat by her feet feeding her ailing lungs the necessary breath, and with much labor and loving sacrifice, Robin read on through 2 Corinthians,Chapter 5: “For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” (2 Corinthians 5:1).
The words brought so much hope, and Robin kept on reading: “For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life.” (2 Corinthians 5:2,3,4).
Robin continued reading, (yes, word for word. These words were life! God had given her understanding): “Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. Therefore we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. ” (2 Cor. 4:5-8).
“Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him.For we must all appear before the judgement seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are well known to God…”(2 Corinthians 5:9,10,11).
God’s light shone through darkness that day in incredible ways and His word, brings life! Robin was a testimony to the truth of God’s word! There are T-shirts that say ‘Life if good’, well, the life that we can see with our eyes is not always good, but the life that we can’t see that is hidden with Christ in God, THAT is good! God’s Word is our ‘comfort in our affliction’.
Thank you Robin. Forever you inspire me. And many others too. I hear your voice when I read those words, exhorting me to ‘live a life that is ‘pleasing to Him’.Thank you for sharing to me what God showed you.
God’s word is truth and life. I am forever thankful to God for Robin. God is faithful…“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith…” (Hebrews 12:1,2).
If she could know my heart, I would say, “Thanks Robin! Thanks for loving God with every breath you took on this thorny earth, and loving me, and so many, and your family. Forever you inspire me. I hear your voice when I read God’s word exhorting me to ‘live a life that is ‘pleasing to Him’. Yes, Robin, your life is everlasting in Him, and your life lives on in each of our hearts!”
These words tell a story, God’s word BREATHE LIFE!
"Near to the heart of God," a hymn.
“Near to the heart of God.” (Cleland B. McAfee).
The first line of this hymn brings hope and comfort: “There is a place of quiet and rest,…there is a place of comfort sweet, near to the heart of God.”
Quiet, rest, comfort…is this what you and I seek for today?
Perhaps your heart is very heavy. Perhaps you know someone who has been stricken somehow, be it fear, or great sickness, or addiction or afflictions of great loss.
Maybe it is a brother or a sister or a mother or a father or maybe that someone is …you.
When asked the question, “How are you?” The only reply near to the tongue is,
“I’m tired.”
Today, I read the words aloud of an unfamiliar hymn, (unfamiliar to me that is),
“O Jesus, blest Redeemer, Sent from the heart of God,
Hold us, who wait before Thee, Near to the heart of God.”
and they brought to mind a most familiar story.
It was the words, ‘who wait before Thee,’ that reminded me of King Jehoshaphat in 2 Chronicles. Do you remember him? Well, if not, I will write one of his famous prayers from 2 Chronicles 20:12.
“O our God, will You not judge them?” (Them? The enemy that came out to battle. We won’t battle with the people of Moab, but we will battle fear and doubt everyday!) “For we have no power against this great multitude that is coming against us; nor do we know what to do, but our eyes are upon You.”
Could this be the prayer of your heart today? It is mine as well. I am so glad it was recorded for us. It has become an anchor prayer to troubled hearts for many, over and over again, for many, many years. (That is how the Bible remains on the best seller list year after year after year.)
Did you know that King Jehoshaphat had gathered all of Judah, with the little ones, their wives, and their children, and they stood before the LORD to pray that together? And they received an answer because the Spirit of the LORD came upon Jahaziel the son of … who was the son of (oh, those names!)…., and the response was recorded,(after you get through all of the names!) many, many years ago, for you and for me – today. It’s in 2 Chronicles 20:14-17.
“Listen, all you of Judah and you inhabitants of Jerusalem, and you, King Jehoshaphat! Thus says the LORD to you: “Do not be afraid nor dismayed because of this great multitude, for the battle is not yours, but God’s…You will not need to fight in this battle. Position yourselves,
stand still and see the salvation of the LORD,
who is with you. O Judah and Jerusalem!” (and repeated a second time, he continues,) “Do not fear or be dismayed; tomorrow go out against them, for the LORD is with you.”
Jehoshaphat then bowed his head to the ground and worshiped the LORD.
“Position yourselves,…”
And Jehoshaphat showed us how.
Today, let us speak together this hymn:
“Near to the Heart Of God”
“There is a place of quiet rest, Near to the heart of God; A place where sin cannot molest, Near to the heart of God.
O Jesus, blest Redeemer, Sent from the heart of God,
Hold us, who wait before Thee, Near to the heart of God.”
“There is a place of comfort sweet, Near to the heart of God; A place where we our Savior meet, Near to the heart of God.
“There is a place of full release, Near to the heart of God;
A place where all is joy and peace, Near to the heart of God.
O Jesus, blest Redeemer, Sent from the heart of God,
Hold us, who wait before Thee,…”
Ps. 96,
“OH, sing to the LORD a new song!”
I AM a Rose…
The church, (those who believe in the One that God sent), has received a covenental ring on their finger. It can’t be seen, but oh, it can, when the Spirit reveals all His splendor!
Do not despair when loves in this world change and walk out the door- remember there is a Love that has laid down His life and loves agape, for now and forevermore.
Yes, it’s true , the ring we can’t see, it’s been placed on our finger, personally. He is the Bread, He is the Light, but even more than that He is the Rose… And in our lives He offers to us His tender love, truly.
“I AM the Rose of Sharon And the Lilly of the valley”,’delicate beauty and color – I AM. But I AM your Fortress and Strong Tower and I come to you. I skip on the troublesome mountains.'”
Can you hear the voice of your Bridegroom? Can you hear Love call you today? ” Why so downcast, My beloved? Rest your hope in Me, My lily among the thorns, My love is perfect, come close to Me and stay.”
‘As the apple tree among the woods, sit down under My shade, and refresh yourself with My fruit – taste of My love, My love is complete. My love digs deep, way, way down to the root.”
“Hear My voice, My beloved, I speak to you: “Rise up My love, My fair one and come away. Winter is past, the rain is over, the flowers appear, I sing a song over you and make all things new.”
“O My dove, hide yourself in The clefts of the Rock. And in the Secret Place meet with Me. Confess your faults, be washed, be clean – I have made provision for everything.
“Behold you are fair, My love, yes you are fair. The Holy Spirit like a dove enlightens your eyes. Your lips speak My praise and I draw ever near. How very fair is My love, so very wise.”
“Sing with Me, I inhabit your praises. “I am My beloved’s and He is mine,” let this be your song. You are My garden, so special, so, so precious.”
“I love you. Don’t forget you’re married to Me, all of your days for all eternity. I pledge to you My love forever, draw near to Me, and I will draw ever closer to you My love – forever and ever…”
song of prophesy: Bring Me to My Knees
(Joel 2:28)”And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy…”
My son Chris wrote a song a few years ago in 2008 with his band, ‘asforme’. I didn’t know it at the time, but I know it now -it is prophesy. It speaks true of the human heart and mind at some time in one’s life. It is called, Bring Me To My Knees.
“How long O Lord will You be silent? Will You forget me?
How long O Lord, will You be silent? Will You hide Your face from me? m
“I thought I knew You better than this. So why can’t I hear You?
I thought I knew You better than this, so I’m crying out to You.”
“Bring me to my knees until I breathe, until I hear You, and take me to my face until I break – “I’m lost without You!”
In life, all that happens, God uses…and His word says, ‘He makes all things work together for good.’ (Romans 8:28).
Well, the song has a bridge: “The night is dark and cold, but still the morning comes. The night is dark and cold, but still the morning comes…” perhaps every life has a bridge as well. Much like a ‘bridge over troubled waters’ so to speak !
I believe that bridge is God! He’s got a hold on His children.
But the ‘bridge’ of the song( and of life itself) brings us around:To, “Bring me to my knees until I breathe, until I hear You, and take me to my face until I break – “I’m lost without You!”
God uses those cries in the ‘dark, cold’ nights and He ... “Bring(s) me to my knees until I breathe, until I hear You, and take me to my face until I break – “I’m lost without You!”
Nothing makes sense when great loss occurs- of career, or of a loved one, or huge disappointment, or great physical or mental tests and trials.
And many of us understand these words:
“The night is dark and cold,… but still the morning comes…”
And we even understand the repetition as well, as time goes on and on:
“the night is dark and cold, but still the morning comes…”
But GOD. This is the difference right here, this is what makes all things ‘work together’ for good:
“But in this day, I will rejoice, knowing I will breathe again, and in this day I will rejoice and
I will love you more.”
Making the choice to ‘worship’ while waiting IS the very breath. Making the choice to ‘worship’ when the ‘water-pots’ are empty at the wedding feast of life (so to speak) IS when we hear Him (Jesus) say: “Fill the water-pots with water.”(John 2:5-8).
Are we going to argue? Are we going to complain because those water-pots are 20 gallons each and there are 6 of them?! “That is way too hard!” ” And this doesn’t make any sense at all!” Are these our thoughts?
Oh, so often they are. That’s why the wrestling:
Oh yes, we do ask these words, we do over and over again:, “How long, O Lord? will You be silent…?”
And we can admit that we’ve even felt like this:
“I thought I knew You better than this. So why can’t I hear You?
I thought I knew You better than this, so I’m crying out to You.”
God allows at times, our days to be like ‘night’, ‘cold and dark’, yet ‘still the morning comes.’
And He ‘brings us to our knees’. This is how He makes ‘all things work together for good. Perhaps, because He understands that our greatest good begins when we are ‘brought to our knees,’ seeking our King.
“Bring me to my knees until I breathe, until I hear You. And take me to my face until I break -I’m lost without You!”
The Lord is faithful, holding us in His hands. His love is unsearchable. When we are faithless, He is faithful still. That’s what the Bible tells us.
But the song has a bridge. Just as we have a bridge over our troubled waters: ” The night is dark and cold, but still the morning comes. The night is dark and cold, but still the morning comes…”
Bring me to my knees until I breathe, until I hear You. Take me to my face, ‘till I break, I’m lost without You!”
“It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting,…Sorrow is better than laughter, For by a sad countenance the heart is made better…” (Ecclesiastes 6:2,3).
“But in this day, I will rejoice, knowing I will breathe again. But in this day I will rejoice, and I will love You more.”
Our hearts are made ‘better’ by our times of struggle and trial when we choose to see Him and Know Him more. He is concerned with our holiness, which is eternal, which in the end brings great happiness for today and forever.
Do you feel afflicted with great trial? (Isaiah 53:4,5) “Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted…”
Why would God allow suffering?
(Isaiah 53:5) “He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”
Did Jesus know a dark and cold night?
(Is. 53:7)He was oppressed and He was afflicted, Yet He opened not His mouth.
…”All we like sheep have gone astray;(Is. 53:6).
God in His mercy knew that ‘before I was afflicted I went astray’
“But now I keep Your Word.” …and in this day I will rejoice, and I will love You more.”
Thank you Chris for writing a song that touches my heart and speaks so prophetically of all of my days. I love you forever.
A time to increase awareness: Warning, "Mayday!" "Mayday!"
Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of Billy Graham has a sense of urgency, (as so many of us do!) “Mayday! “Mayday!” is a call for distress – and the call is being made, right now, at this time. For 9 days, Anne is calling Christians to take time and pray! “Mayday! Mayday!” is the call. It is time to seek the Savior. Do you have that same sense of urgency? We must have that urgency, and I will write why. (The prayer that Anne Graham Lotz would have us to pray is included at the bottom of my post today).
Just as in the days of Noah, he was given a warning from God. God sees it all, [past tense, present, and future as well(!)]. Way back when, in Noah’s day God reminded Noah that “the earth was corrupt before Him, and the earth was filled with violence.” (Gen. 6:11). God sees. “So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.”
This is only the 11th page in the whole of the Bible, Genesis 6:12! But this is today as well, just as the Bible said it would be: “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be. “For as the days before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, “and did not know until the flood came and took them all away, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.” (Matthew 24:37,38,39).
Violence, corruption… “They’ve been around since the fall,” you might say.
But today, ‘today’ is as the days of Noah! It is time to turn our heads to heed the warning signs, “Knowing this…,that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” (2 Peter 3:3).
We cannot forget, God’s word is true. Jesus spoke sitting on a hill, speaking to multitudes of people the ‘attitudes to be’, and He also said,” For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will by no means pass from the law till all is fulfilled.”
Jesus came, Jesus died, Jesus rose from the dead – but this is not the end…Jesus is coming again! Yes, in the Revelation of Jesus Christ chapter 22, He Himself says, “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.” (Revelation 22:7). And not only once, but twice, “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.” (Rev. 22:12).
The word ‘Behold’ according to Webster’s is: to hold in view; look at; see; regard.
The time is soon. Noah had the warning to all that the flood was coming! One hundred and twenty years of warning as he faithfully obeyed God and built the ark according to God’s instructions with his wife, boys and their wives. How could it be that NO ONE ELSE listened! How could it be that after ONE HUNDRED TWENTY YEARS, Noah was… only laughed at? We know now, that their laughter was turned to eternal death. “Knowing this…, that scoffers will come in the last days…”, ‘So, as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.”
These words are written to increase awareness! Wake up! that ‘day’ is soon!
Just as the days of Noah, do we recognize what’s going on today: “men leaving their natural use of the woman, burned with lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting; being filled with…” (Romans 1:27,28).
“It’s never fun to be around people like you, always filled with doomsday thoughts. We really don’t have time for this now,” these might be your thoughts. Jeremiah the prophet knew all about this. He was given the word of the Lord, and the earthly powers threw him in a pit to die! (But God protected him, saved him, and delivered him). There is a time to heed the warnings!
OK, this is hard, but God’s word is written for our instruction and we must not run every time things get uncomfortable! The Bible is called the Good News! It’s the message that will clean up the mess! Before the rainbow, we have to endure the storm…
So, ‘as the days of Noah’, let us finish the hard stuff, (in the International Children’s version, being a bit gentler), “They traded the truth of God for a lie and worshiped and served things that were made by man. But they did not worship and serve the God who made those things…Because people did those things, God left them and let them do the shameful things they wanted to do…(Romans 1:25,26).
Does this look like our present day? This is not pretty or fun, but it’s important medicine to help remedy our dark hearts.
“People did not think it was important to have a true knowledge of God. So God left them and allowed them to have their own worthless thinking. And so those people do the things that they should not do. They are filled with every kind of sin, evil, selfishness and hatred. They are full of jealousy, murder, fighting, lying, and thinking the worst about each other. they gossip and say evil things about each other. They hate God.” (Romans 1:28-30).
“Why heed the warnings now? What’s the urgent rush today?”
People, can’t you see the signs? Each and every day, ‘as the days of Noah’! “(People) They are rude and conceited and brag about themselves. They invent ways of doing evil. They do not obey their parents. They are foolish, they do not keep their promises, and they show no kindness or mercy to other people. They know God’s law says that those who live like this should die. But they continue to do these evil things. And they also feel that those who do these things are doing right.”(Romans 1:30-32, International Children’s Version, written for young children!) Little children, (young and old), who are we kidding? This is today.
“Seek the LORD while He may be found, Call upon Him while He is near.” (Is. 55:6).Remember, the capital L, capital O, capital R, capital D, is the YHWH, the Yawhey, the unpronounceable One, the One who is your ‘all sufficiency’! That’s the all- caps LORD!
Are you thirsty? That is good! Are you hungry? That is good! On that mountain that Jesus sat and taught, He said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, For they shall be filled.”(Matthew 5:6).
That is the truth about God! Hear the Messiah’s invitation to you and to me: “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; And you who have no money, Come, buy and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen diligently to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in abundance.
“Incline your ear, and come to me. Hear, and your should shall live; And I will make an everlasting covenant with you – “Is. 55:1-3).
“Why must this go on and on?!” you might be asking?
Because, ‘as the days of Noah, so also shall be the coming of the Son of Man be.’
If your heart is anxious and stirred up, ‘fret not’, simply turn to the One who calms the waters. He is God, He is able, He is alive, and that cross that He so horribly died on, He took on His flesh, the sins of the world. Your sins and mine, all of them. So, as easy as a child’s alphabet, if we ‘A’, Admit we are sinners and ‘B’ Believe in the provision of forgiveness given on the cross by the shed blood of Jesus, and ‘C’, call out to Him, He grants forgiveness and new life, once and for all. And for each day after that? “Grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 peter 3:18). And pray!
We are called to pray. If you don’t have the words, or this is all too foreign and new, here are wonderful words to pray, especially for TODAY:
Anne Graham Lotz has given us urgent words to pray” “1 ELOHIM: THE STRONG ONE In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth…2 We worship You, great God of Creation, as Elohim, the Strong One. You were in the beginning. You will be at The End. You always have been and You always will be. You are the Creator who brings forth something out of nothing, who formed man from dust, who turns darkness into light, who makes the world turn, who sustains all things by Your powerful word.”
“3 When the nations rage and the people imagine a vain thing… When the rulers take a stand and gather together against the Lord…4 When the earth gives way… When the mountains fall into the midst of the sea… When the waters roar and foam… When nations are in uproar and kingdoms fall…5 When everything that is familiar unravels, You are the Rock on which we stand! You are our Stronghold. We take refuge in You.6 We worship You alone.”
“As we plunge into spiritual and moral darkness, You are our Light. As political, social, racial, financial, and environmental storms break out all around us, You are our Anchor. 1 John 17:11 2 Genesis 1:1 3 Hebrews 1:1-3 4 Psalm 2 5 Psalm 46 6 Psalm 18:1-3 2 As we face terrorism’s threat and vows of annihilation from our enemies, You are our Shield. When there are wars and rumors of wars—when nations rise against nations and there is rioting in our streets, You are our Peace. In our weakness, You are our Strength. As we grieve over lost freedoms and lost futures and lost values and lost loved ones, You are our Comfort.”
“In our despair over our lack of moral leadership, You are our Hope. In our confusion when truth is spun and exchanged for a lie, You are our Wisdom. In these days of desperation and confusion, we look to You, and You alone. I look to You as _________________ O God our Help in ages past, This is not just a distress call for prayer. This is a distress call to You! For one hour each day for nine days we choose to turn away from everything else and seek Your face. We turn to You—run to You—cling to You—hide in You. We believe You will hear and answer our distress call because… …We come to You in the name of the One by whom “all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.”
“7 …We come to You in the name of the Creator who became our Savior and who has ascended into Heaven to sit at Your right hand, with all authority placed under His feet.8 …We come to You humbly, yet boldly, because we have been invited to come.9 …We come to You with confidence because the way has been opened for us by the blood of Your Son who sits at Your right hand, who is in authority over all.10 …We come to You with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith that You will receive us, You will listen to us, and You will answer us.11 I come to You_________ Hear our prayers as we come to You in the name of Jesus. For the glory of Your name. Amen. 7 Colossians 1:16-17 8 Ephesians 1:20-23 9 Matthew 11:28-29; John 14:13-15).
If there is any reader that was urged by the Spirit of God to ‘admit and believe and call’ out to Jesus, the Lord and Savior of the world, please let someone know,(today!) and begin to enjoy the hunger and the thirst that you feel in each new day for God. He is the living bread, and you will taste and see that the Lord is good as you ‘eat’ of his word daily! No longer a scoffer, but now a ‘delighter’ in God’s word. The promise or the ‘rainbow’ that you are given is: “…He (you) shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that brings forth its fruit in its season, whose leaf also shall not wither, and whatever he does shall prosper.” (Ps. 1:3).
Hey, and the best news of all, is unlike Noah, where there were NO other believers saved except his family, we will see that we ARE the FAMILY walking through the Door! Safe and sound. (Well, perhaps a little smelly, difficult, and uncomfortable at times, but safe and protected and covered in HIs gracious love!
What if we fail? What then…
There is an age-old hymn, “What a friend we have in Jesus.” The old hymn tells us, “All our sins and griefs to bear.”
But what if we are a child, what if we have ‘received and believed’ in the past, yet like Christian in the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ we discover we’ve gone off the path because we ‘believed it too hard’, and are now covered not with the grace of God, but it seems with only a lot of sin and a lot of grief. Can we still find a ‘friend in Jesus?’
The Lord, ‘searches us and knows us’. He ‘knows our sitting down and rising up’. He ‘is acquainted with all my ways.’ ‘There is not a word on my tongue, but behold, He knows it altogether’ (Ps. 139) – and HE STILL LOVES…”Selah”, (pause and think soberly of this). He, God the Father, the Only One God who sent His only Son, He loves me, He loves you, He loves every child born in this world…God loves, because God IS love. Even failures? Even after a great and terrible fall? Where do you think the word ‘l-o-n-g-s-u-f-f-e-r-i-n-g’ comes from?! “The Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and lovingkindness,…” (Ps. 145:8).
We can’t comprehend the grace of God! Human beings can’t comprehend the depth of this love and patience. We think God is like man.
But the word reminds us: “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Is. 55:9).
“Though the LORD is on high, yet He regards the lowly …”( ps. 138:6). When a child of God goes off the path, there is conviction, there is sorrow and ‘lowliness’, because the Holy Spirit speaks. A simple ‘turning’ direction is all we need! Simple, but not easy BUT: What a friend we have in Jesus.
“A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” Proverbs 17:17.This proverb is true always, when thinking about Jesus.
“I no longer call you servants, I have called you friends…” (John 15:15).
To think that these are His very words to you and me who have made a decision to ask Him into our lives, that He is a friend that loves at all times, that He calls us friends, even after searching us and knowing us because ‘God is light and in Him is no darkness at all’,(1John 1:5).
“Understand this, my beloved brethren. Let every man be quick to hear, (a ready listener,) slow to speak, slow to take offense and to get angry. For man’s anger does not promote the righteousness God [wishes and requires].” (James 1:19).
“DRAW NEAR TO GOD and HE WILL DRAW NEAR TO YOU!” (James 5:8). How longsuffering is that?!!
Jesus forgives sin! When we ask forgiveness, He gives forgiveness.
The only failure we need to fear is failure to heed the voice of God. There is no failure when we choose to ,”cleanse our hands,, you sinners; and purify your hearts , you double-minded. Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom…”(James 4:9).
“This is too hard” you might say! “This is why I can’t follow Jesus.” You might argue. You might be tempted to just give up!
That would be the failure then…
We must remember to think on what’s true- What a friend we have in Jesus, after He has searched me and knows my heart, and He can easily see all the wicked ways and thoughts I have, that He doesn’t walk off the scene, that He doesn’t say, “I give up on this one!” But instead, just like what He did to Peter, He literally ‘looked me in the eyes’ so to speak, as I was ‘fighting the oppressive and dark thoughts inside,’and ‘seeking His face’ in the midst of this hurricane of a storm, and making effort to cry out “Help Lord!”
Gods word encourages: ” Humble yourselves in the sight of the LoRD, and He will lift you you.”(James 4:10). “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” (Eph 6:12)
“Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?” The old hymn has us saying aloud: “We should never be discouraged, Take it to the Lord in prayer:
Can we find a friend so faithful? Who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness,…”
(The hymn, What a Friend We Have in Jesus).
It is true, ‘He knows our every weakness…’ Peter stood outside and warmed himself at the enemies fire while Jesus was being ‘tried in a ‘fiery furnace’ of sorts.Peter, a disciple that had only moments before spoke these very words, “Even if all are made to stumble because of You, I will never be made to stumble.”(Matthew 26:33).
What a friend we have in Jesus, He knows our thoughts, He knows our paths, even before we walk in them. His very words to Peter after that statement of faith and courage, “Assuredly, I say to you that this night, before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” (Matthew 26:34).
And it is recorded so we can always take a look at Peter’s words, even though we know all that Jesus said came to pass, “Even if I have to die with You, I will not deny You!” And so said all the disciples. (Matthew 26:35).
And Jesus knew what was comin’!
Jesus is that perfect friend,
“A friend loves at all times…”(Prov. 17:17).What a friend we have…what a friend I have…He touched me today, He didn’t walk off, He is here. He loves me, even though He knows all that is in my heart. He is gracious, He is compassionate, He is slow to anger, and abounding in mercy. He forgives iniquity and sin – because that is what His name IS. He is God and God is love. And He spoke directly to me,
oh yes, even though the words originally were for Peter, they were spoken directly to me, today. There is no doubt in my mind what Jesus wants me to do. He has made it crystal clear: “Toni, do you love Me.”
I believe I am still sweaty with all the wrestling I have been doing with Him, but I can answer, “yes, Lord, You know I ‘love’ You, as best as a ‘cracked clay pot’ can.“Feed my Lambs.” “Do you love Me, Toni?”... “Feed my sheep.”
and a third time He asks, “do you love Me?” Oh Jesus, You know I do.
“Feed My sheep.” (John 21: 15-17).
He loves me, He loves you, He loves everyone – How? Because He is God and we are not! “Are we weak and heavy laden, Cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior,still our refuge, Take it to the Lord in prayer: Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer; In His arms He’ll take and shield thee; Thou wilt find a solace there.”(hymn, What a Friend we have in Jesus).Proverbs 17:17, “A Friend loves at all times”.
John 21:15-17, “Feed My Sheep.”
My response: “Oh Lord, You have searched me and known me…fill me with all you are. Thank you for Your merciful kindness towards me. Thank you that I have a friend in YOU! Help me never get discouraged in following YOU! In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
P.S. (and furthermore…) I must write as I think of my dear friend Jenny, who couldn’t serve a meal, or prepare a feast for anyone for that matter, let alone her own children because of the paralysis, however, I witnessed and I heard her daughters own words at her funeral, that this woman ‘fed God’s sheep’ with an overflowing amount of Love that God filled her with.Jenny fought the good fight and didn’t give up, never! And God was with her always, and she is with Him now!
Jesus loves at all times, even when it doesn’t look like He does. But ‘today’ is all He wants me to be thinking about, so ‘today’ He asks, “Do you love Me?” and I want to answer as my dear broken friend so faithfully answered, “Yes, Lord, You know my every thought.”
“Feed my sheep.”Is what I hear today.
Well, Lord, everyone around here really loves fruit, so will will you repair the many ‘cracks in my clay pot’ with Your Spirit, and fill me to the full of Your love, like you did Jenny, so I can serve up some love,and joy, and peace, and patience, and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and Lord, please don’t forget, can You give me an added measure of Self-control!