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Praise the Lord; praise God our savior! For each day he carries us in his arms. Psalms 68:19
I was at the store the other day and observed a young mom trying to do some grocery shopping for the family with two small children in tow. One was seated in the cart, the other was walking beside mom. She was tired, I could see it on her face. The older of the two was whining, no doubt he had a rough day at daycare. At one point he stopped, pulled on mom’s shirt and held his hands up. “Momma, carry me.” With a look of tired hopelessness, she responded, “I can’t carry you honey. You have to walk.” He cried, she got upset, I imagine you get the picture.
Have you ever felt that way? You love your kids. You’d do anything for them, but sometimes carrying our kids can be burdensome. We get tired, they get heavy. We get overwhelmed, they get demanding. At times, when we are honest with ourselves, we don’t carry them because we think they need to bear their own load. They are getting to old, to dependent, to spoiled.
On the human level, that’s understandable, but on the spiritual plain, here is a promise we need to remember. Your burden is never too heavy for the Father. As his dearly loved child, He never tires of carrying your pain, whether that pain is physical or relational. He never gets angry when you need to be carried through your fear. He’s not judgmental and refuses to carry you through your addiction. He is never so preoccupied with other things that He’s unwilling to scoop you up in His arms and remind you of his love.
Have you ever seen the picture of the shepherd carrying the little lamb? That’s your Father. He gladly carries you every single day. Every day. Every struggle. Every pain. You are in his arms, and you can rest securely there.
Anyone who listens to my teaching and follows it is wise, like a person who builds a house on solid rock. Matthew 7:24
What do you think is more foolish? Find the perfect spot to build your house. Collect all of the building materials and store them there? Or to find a place on the beach and build a house in an area that is susceptible to storms and destruction?
Neither option is very wise. In the first option, there is no shelter whatsoever. When the storms come, you have everything you need to be safe, but you haven’t put it together.In the second option, when the storm comes, what you have built is destroyed.
It’s one thing to have the right materials to build and have the right place to build on. It’s quite another to take those materials and actually build.
Jesus tells the story of two houses. Let’s assume that the building materials used to build these houses are exactly the same. They are high-quality, they are exactly what you need.
This story isn’t so much about the building materials or the location is it is what you do with the materials you have. Inactive faith is no faith at all.
Just before he tells the story about the two houses, Jesus warns those listening to him that there will be many who claim to know him, but he won’t know them, because they have not lived a life of active faith.
Following Jesus isn’t about knowing him, and knowing all sorts of scripture, and knowing all the right things to say. Following Jesus is having an active faith. Building a house of grace, of mercy, and of love. Building a house in which people can run to for shelter in the midst of the storm.
What can you do today to make your faith more active in the lives of those around you? What can you do today to start building a house that will withstand the strongest storms?
Give your burdens to the Lord, and he will take care of you. He will not permit the godly to slip and fall. Psalms 55:22
The story is told of a little boy whose favorite cat died. Wanting a proper burial for it, he took it out to the backyard and buried it under a tree. The interesting thing is, he left the tail of the cat, sticking up into the air. When I asked why he did that, he said, “I just want to check on it every day to find out if it’s OK.”
Now, that may sound like a rather silly story. However, don’t we sometimes do that with the problems that we face? The Bible tells us that we can cast all of our cares on Jesus. The Psalmist encourages us to give our burdens to God. Yet, like the boy in our story, we tend to want to check on those problems every once in a while.
We aren’t told to give part of our problems to God. We aren’t told to loan our problems to God. We’re told to give them to him. To give it all up. To trust him.
Time and again in the Bible, we are told stories of times when God’s people were up against a wall. They had a problem that they could not handle themselves. They’re only hope was to give it to God and He showed up!
Sometimes we may think our problems are too small. Sometimes we may blame ourselves for the situation we’re in and decide “you got yourself into this you need to get yourself out.” And when we are really honest with ourselves, sometimes we’re not real sure God can handle what we’re up against.
The NIV version of the Bible translates this verse like this, “Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken. Psalms 55:22 (NIV)
I like the word picture in that translation. Don’t lay your struggles gently or cautiously. Cast them! Throw them as you would a piece of garbage. Get rid of it. Give it to a God that can handle it.
Through faith in Jesus, we can trust our sovereign, loving, Heavenly Father to see us through every situation we encounter.
Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift each of you like wheat. But I have pleaded in prayer for you, Simon, that your faith should not fail. So when you have repented and turned to me again, strengthen your brothers.Luke 22:31-32
I’d failed. My actions completely went against everything that I stood for and believed. The worst part about it is, it wasn’t just me that I hurt but those around me as well.
Have you ever failed so badly that you didn’t think you could continue on in life? Maybe it was a destroyed relationship. Maybe it was making a decision that cost you your job or career. Maybe it was living a double life and the hidden part was revealed.
One of my favorite Bible characters is Peter. A close friend of Jesus, he was given every opportunity to be a strong leader. Yet with everything that he had going for him, Peter failed Jesus miserably.
But that’s not the end of the story. Jesus warned Peter that he would fail him. Jesus is never surprised by our failures.
Even though Jesus knew Peter would fail, he made Peter a promise. He promised Peter that when (not if) he returned, Jesus had a place for him in the kingdom. By doing so, Jesus made a statement concerning Peters value.
You see, our value is never placed on our ability to live for Jesus. Our value comes because of what Jesus does for us.
Being sifted like wheat hurts. It can leave lasting scars. But being sifted, like wheat also means the stuff we don’t need, the chaff is removed, and the most important part of us is preserved.
Don’t allow your defeats to determine your destination. Your value is not in your failures, but in your Savoir. He’s praying for you, and he has the power to restore you, so you can be the best that you can be.
For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. Romans 6:7
I used to work at a local convenience store. One of the things this store prided itself on was hot, fresh coffee. In order to assure customers this was true, a timer would go off every 30 minutes. This was our cue as employees to head back to the coffee area, check the product and turn off the timer.
I no longer work there, but frequent the store often and, on occasion, will be there when the timer goes off. Whenever that timer goes off (at this store or any of the others in the chain) my mind tells me to check the coffee and turn off the timer! Then, I remind myself that I’m no longer answerable to that call. It has no authority over me. I’m free!
This is a simple example of sin in our lives. Before we accepted Christ as Lord and Savior we acted a certain way, used certain words and involved ourselves in certain activities.
Once we accepted Christ, and began growing in His word through personal study, and corporate worship/teaching, we began to realize that some of the words, actions and activities we involved ourselves in didn’t please God and weren’t a good example to the world around us.
Because we love Jesus, and because our love should drive us to following His word, our desire is to change. But, if you haven’t noticed, there’s a problem.
We are still tempted to use language that doesn’t build others up. We gossip, curse, lie and stretch the truth (which is really a lie by the way).
Our minds take us to places and thoughts we know displease our Savior, and often our bodies follow!
We doubt and worry even though we know God’s promised to see us through every adversity.
We still enjoy certain activities even though we realize this isn’t a place we should be hanging out at because we bear the name of Jesus.
It’s like that crazy timer at the convenience store. We hear the call and have a choice to make. Do we respond or remove ourselves from the situation.
The bad news is, as long as we are alive we will be attacked by the cursed timer, calling us to the old life.
The good news is that through the Holy Spirit we have the power to resist the call. It may not come all at once. It may be a struggle that hounds you for a long time. But through Jesus, victory is yours. Keep trying.
Don’t let failure discourage you, even the best of Jesus followers struggle. He’s willing and ready to forgive. He’s more than able to give you the power to change those habits, those words and the desire to take part in those activities.
Through Jesus you are free!
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 