THE LORD WILL HOLD YOUR HAND

FIGHT OR FLIGHT

 

The adrenaline rushes through your veins as the lion stalks around you seeking the weak spot where he can come in and conquer you physically.

You must remain still and calm and be prepared to defend yourself in the manner that you have been trained, and with the weapon that you have been given to be victorious over this assault.

There are times when being still demands more strength than to flail about striking at the air and weakening your position by unwisely using the resources available to you.

Your composure is the highest result of the power within you.   Isaiah 41:11-13   

 

Whenever Jesus was accused and unlawfully charged of crimes that He did not commit, He responded with deep, unbroken silence, and His ability to do so further inflamed the pack mentality of His accusers.

Whenever we are unjustly and wrongfully accused, it will take a tremendous amount of strength to keep silent and allow God to do battle for us.

The Apostle Paul was at times during his ministry, beaten, stoned, falsely accused, hated, cast out of communities, cast into the animal den, and imprisoned for the message that he delivered, and even so was able to say that “None of these things move me.” Acts 20:24

Paul did not say “none of these things hurt me.”

It is one thing to be hurt, it is another thing to be moved, from your belief.

Matthew 10:28

Paul was a man that was able to shed tears for those he loved, for those he had never met, for he knew that they had need of a Savior and someone had to bear the truth of the Good News of Jesus to them, for without it they would perish in a sinners hell.

Yet we never read of Paul crying for himself, his concern was for others.

The Apostle had determined not to be moved from what he believed to be true, even if it damaged him physically, and financially.

Paul was concerned about one thing above all, the unchanging message of God, which is that all men are sinners and in need of a savior, and His name is Jesus.

John 3:16-17

The Apostle was not overly concerned about the approval of man, he had been given a mandate by the Son of God and therefore his only concern was the approval of a smile from his Savior.

Matthew 25:23

Be honest with yourself, what matters most , the approval of man or the approval of God?

THE UNDESERVED GIFT

A REAL LIFE CHRISTMAS STORY

 

A mother of two had just spent a week of frantic searching and shopping for just the right gifts for her family and friends.

The crowds had been thick and rude, the lines were long with tremendous times of frustration, the stores and shops were cluttered with the disarray of inventory that had been rummaged through unendingly and not placed back on the shelves in a manner that was presentable. The two children one eight and one four were tired, and unruly, and behaving badly, more so as mother became frustrated and disenchanted at her seeming inability to find a moment of rest and comfort in the seasons rush.

As the final day of shopping came to an end, and as the reality of the madness screamed in the ears of the mother, she finally reached the car that was some distance from the shopping center, and was able to get her children comfortably seated in the car, she let her emotions overwhelm her, with one long sigh and a few tears.

The Christmas joy that she once knew had escaped her and her regret was evident.

Upon noticing the anguish of the mother the eight year old inquired as to what was wrong.

The answer that the harried mother gave was this, “I don’t know who started this whole mess but they out to take him out and shoot him.”

The eight year old was taken aback by the remark, but responded, “ Mom they already know who it was and they don’t have to shoot him, because they nailed Him to a tree.”

Isaiah 9:2-7 and Isaiah 53:1-12

HIDDEN IN MY HEART

DON’T SWING A WOODEN SWORD

A gladiator in ancient Rome was a slave who lived only for the entertainment of others.

He had no rights of his own, other than the right to die a bloody death to the cheers of a decadent crowd.

If a gladiator was quick enough and was able to defend his life long enough, the emperor may in time grant the slave his freedom.

In such an instance the gladiator would be brought before the Caesar with great pomp.

He would then kneel before Caesar and be touched on the shoulder close to the neck with a symbolic wooden sword.

The gladiator would then receive the wooden sword as a sign to all that he was now set free.

The wooden sword was useless in battle. It was attractive, it was symbolic, but it had no function other than to point to the decree of Caesar.

It was the decree and not the sword, that freed the gladiator from the arena of entertainment by death.

Too many Christians today treat their Bibles-the written word of God- as if it were the gladiators wooden sword.

Many have been freed from the bondage and guarantee of death in the slave market of sin, by the preaching of justification by faith.

But Christians who have been freed from the arena of sin, are not given a wooden sword as a token of their freedom.

They are given the word of God in the form of a bible, it is not a talisman to carry around and point to the edict of the Caesars of the world.

The bible is the sword of the Spirit.  Ephesians 6:17-18

It is both our offensive and defensive weapon---we must learn to use it.

The Word of God is the sword of the Spirit.

The Word of God living in us must become our only weapon.

God the Holy Spirit gave us the Word, He gave us His Book, and He wields that Word through the lives of every Christian, to pierce even to the dividing asunder of the soul and spirit,  Hebrews 4:12

God has promised in; Isaiah 55:11 that the word which comes out of His mouth “shall not return unto me void, but it will accomplish that which I please.”

It has the power to pierce the hardened heart of man and bring forth the “new creature.’

Each believer in America can obtain a copy of the Holy Bible.

That is not so in many parts of the world.

Carefully study the Word, prayerfully consider its content, apply it to your life

One day each of us will meet an enemy that will require skillful use of the Sword.

Perhaps the enemy will be betrayal- a dear friend or relative who plays a Judas Iscariot.

When sacrificed on the alter of greed of another, you will not be able to stand unless you are skillfully wielding that Sword.

Perhaps the enemy will be disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, or perhaps something even more terrifying.

Can we like the apostle, say “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.” Philippians 1:21

There is no fear in the warrior who trusts the two-edged Blade of God.

God is in control, I am His- I trust in Him alone- in whom shall I fear?

DONT WALK--RUN!

TRADING WEAKNESS FOR STRENGTH

Isaiah 40:27-31

The prophet Isaiah begins by telling of a believer who is totally exhausted, wrung out, spent and discouraged due to an extreme burden of ongoing injustice and now given the weights of doubt, despair, and the weakness that comes with hopelessness.

Weary in faith and physical strength, he cries out “My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God.". vs. 27

Isaiah then reminds the discouraged one that , unlike him , God who created all of heaven and earth, and still retains full creative power, never gets tired, discouraged, or faint: “Hast thou not known, or heard, that the everlasting God the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary?” vs. 28

The difference is obvious, the believers strength is exhaustible, but Gods is inexhaustible.

And God is willing and ready to impart His strength to every weary believer: “He giveth power to the faint; and to those who have no might he increaseth strength” vs. 29

Isaiah goes on to explain that we must receive these fresh impartation of strength, because everyone of us, even the strong, will at times grow weary with the injustices, difficulties, delays, and labors that try us and find ourselves ready to fall or fail: “Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall” vs. 30

We can see that human strength no matter how great will eventually fail under the rigors of divine testing.

We need to be receptive to the inexhaustible strength of God.

Only by sitting in Gods presence daily, by meditatively feeding on the bread of His Word, drinking of the living water that is His Spirit in prayer, and worshipping Him with loving adoration, with a life of thanksgiving and with song, in our hearts and from our mouths.

As we wait in Gods presence something supernatural occurs. The inexhaustible God refills His exhaustible servants with His unfailing strength: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength…vs. 31

A supernatural exchange takes place when we wait upon the Lord.

Strength is renewed, faith is restored, and our vision increases as we rise in ever higher spirals upon the warm breath of the Holy Spirit….”they shall mount up with wings like eagles.” vs. 31

An eagle has the ability to recognize the warmth and strength of the currents of air and can ride that breath to ever higher boundaries leaving the weak and exhausted behind to seek new realms and through their success encourage others in the knowledge of how to exchange the weak, for the limitless supply of strength..

“they will run and not grow weary, and walk and not faint” vs. 31

What has happened? Nothing short of an ongoing miracle.

By receiving Gods graciously proffered strength, we've become more like our heavenly Father: inexhaustible