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Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things. Psalm 107:8-9
It isn’t during the good times, but the times we wander in the wilderness that we should focus our praise towards God.
That may seem like a strange statement. For it is during our wilderness wanderings that we want to focus more on our pain. It is during those times of loneliness in the desert places that we want to cry out for justice. It is during those times of failure that we tend to allow the feelings of despair to overshadow the fact that we are indeed children of the King. It is during those times when we are treated unfairly that our demands for justice scream loudly.
One of the reasons we tend to turn inward when times are tough is because the enemy wants us to believe that we are in control of our own destiny and that we know what is best for ourselves, our loved ones and our enemies. But the reality is we can only really look back and learn from our mistakes. Looking forward does us no good because at our best we can’t even see one second ahead!
When we are in the wilderness, W When we are alone, beaten up and nursing wounds of our own failures or the attacks of others, or when those we love are being treated unfairly, the only thing that can help is to look to the one constant in life: God. Times change. Circumstances change. Health changes. Relationships change. He is the same today as he was yesterday and He’ll be the same tomorrow.
Not only does our God never change. His love for us never changes either. You may be going through something right now that makes you confused, angry or frustrated. You may doubt God’s ability to work, or your ability to cope. Those are the times He says come to me. Those are the times when He asks us to rest in His love and feel his healing and soothing touch on our lives.
You may be in a wilderness now. You may be too angry, hurt or frustrated to see the wisdom of God’s plan. You may be questioning your ability to go on. That’s okay. He’ll wait for you. Just remember that He is standing nearby waiting for your call.
PRAYER: What an awesome God you are! During this time of hopelessness and wandering I continue to be amazed that you would be so patient with me to love me, comfort me and patiently wait for me to come to you. Forgive me for thinking my way is best and doubting you. Help me to see how you have worked in the past in my life to bring me to you. Empower me with your Holy Spirit to trust you with my today, tomorrow and beyond. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. Hebrews 6:10
There are perhaps few things in life more frustrating than when our work and good deeds go unappreciated. You work hard to get it ‘just right’. You tend to every detail and make sure all is in place for a successful day or event. For all your hard labors you get the ‘know-it-all’ who manages to see every flaw or, in Christian love of course, tells you how you can do it better ‘next time.’
In the meantime you walk away thinking, ‘There will NEVER be a next time. Why do I do this?”
Then there are the people that completely misinterpret your intentions. The see everything you do as an attempt to elevate yourself when you were really trying to be the servant Christ called each of us to be.
If you are someone who works to serve people, especially people in ministry, teachers or parents, you know the feeling. Like the little red hen you work hard and feel all alone and unappreciated in your labors. God’s word offers hope for you. The writer to the Hebrews reminds each of us that God is a just God. Don’t read Hebrews 6:10 so quickly as to miss the nugget of truth and encouragement: “He will not forget your work!” Others will miss it, critique it, tear it apart or find ways to do it better. God remembers.
It may not be this week. It may not be next year. It may not even be until you are able to see Him face to face. But someday your labor will be rewarded. Don’t grow weary in the battle. When you do things for others and feel unappreciated try to remember that you are really doing those things for Jesus.
But there is a double edge to God’s sword of justice and it’s one of the painful, but real, parts of scripture. God’s justice works both ways. If you are living for him and obeying Him; if your relationship with Him is growing through prayer, Bible study and personal and corporate worship and you are being mistreated, his justice will be sure.
On the other hand, if you harbor unconfessed sin in your life. If you are refusing to forgive someone or are angry, bitter or resentful towards others, then God’s justice may work against you.
It’s important for us as, especially as Christ-followers, to remember that sees life and justice differently than we do. God’s view of justice has more to do with bringing us into right relationship with Him than it does making us feel comfortable and appreciated.
If we are harboring sin, doubt, worry, anger, bitterness or resentment in our hearts, He will do whatever He needs to do to bring us into right relationship and obedience to Him. He isn’t concerned about yesterday. If you have made a mistake yesterday (or in your past) ask for confess it to Him, ask for forgiveness and rely on His Holy Spirit to move on. Then, forget about the mistake.
The double-edged sword of God’s justice is this. No matter where you are in life, you will encounter those who hate you, mistreat you and misunderstand your motives. When that happens do a spiritual self-examination. If your heart is right with God remember He looks at your heart and knows your true motives. If you find some way in which you have transgressed, ask forgiveness and move on. Either way, God’s justice is fair, true and loving. Rely on Him for today.
PRAYER: Father God, I confess to you that many of the things I’m dealing with are a result of poor choices and my rebellion towards your ways. I ask you to show me where I’ve failed and then help me to grow in relationship with you. During those times when others wrongfully accuse or misunderstand me I pray for your strength and encouragement to move on. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Don’t you see how wonderfully kind, tolerant, and patient God is with you? Does this mean nothing to you? Can’t you see that his kindness is intended to turn you from your sin? Romans 2:4 (NLT)
Everyone likes to be right. Everyone likes to be in the popular crowd, the winning team, the champions. When the Apostle Paul wrote to the book of Romans, his readers were mostly made up of Jewish people who laid most of their spiritual integrity on the fact that they were the people of God. This status gave them great pride.
The problem was, according to Paul, they were basing their position on the wrong thing! There were some Jewish believers that thought themselves a step above other believers because of their Jewish heritage. Paul tells them to step back and take another look at what got them where they were. Paul reminds them that the only reason for their position of faith was God’s goodness. It had absolutely nothing to do with their religious tradition.
The message is the same for us today. Everyday we are bombarded with horrific stories of how people treat one another. Even within so-called Christian circles there are people who place their entire identity on their religious tradition, the number of ‘spiritual activities’ they participate in, the music they listen to, or even the version of the Bible they read.
Our position in Christ has nothing to do with anything we have done, either good or bad. If your past is full of addictions, poor choices, or dysfunctional relationships and you have found forgiveness in Christ, you are no different than the squeaky-clean person who has grown up in the church or hasn’t been involved in all sort so sordid activities.
God doesn’t base His love for us on a background check. He bases it solely on who Jesus is and what He did on the cross for you. There is no grading system among Christ-followers in God’s eyes. His love, forgiveness and power isn’t given according to whether you are more, or less worthy than the next person. All are equal in his economy regardless of race, gender, or denominational background. God loves you regardless of all the bad or good things you have done.
None of us are any better or worse than the next person, in God’s eyes. Don’t let others judge you on the basis of your past. Don’t judge others on what you see on the outside. Learn their story before you judge their character. Consider how good God has been to you before judging how other people are. Unconditional love for others is based on the fact that the God of the Universe loves us all the same regardless of our past.
PRAYER: Father God, I thank and praise you for the fact that even though you know how rebellious and stupid I can be, you still love me dearly. Thank you for choosing to love me in spite of myself. Forgive me of my past and empower me by your Holy Spirit to live in close relationship to you. Help me to live unaffected by those who judge me wrongly. Keep me from judging others on the basis of what I see. In Jesus name, Amen.
“I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing.” Genesis 12:2
Imagine what it must have been like for Abram to receive a message from Jehovah God that he was going to be leaving his homeland. This wasn’t going to be a temporary trip. He wasn’t able to just go down to the corner rental spot and get a truck. He wouldn’t be coming back. Ever. He was leaving his home, his extended family, friends and life as he’d known it since he was born.
We are never told why God chose Abraham. Elsewhere God tells the Israelites that He didn’t choose them for any of the reasons we might choose to make someone great. They weren’t the strongest people. They weren’t the most numerous people. God seldom has reasons for doing what He does. He’s God, He knows best, and even when we don’t like it, His way usually works out best.
At any rate, there was something that God saw in Abraham that moved him to call Abraham away from everything that was familiar to him, his family, his home and his country in order to make him great.
God had fantastic plans for Abraham, but He couldn’t do His work in Abraham’s life with Abraham where he was. God had to take Abraham out of his comfort zone and place him in a place which forced Abraham to rely completely on God. Abraham had to be willing to give up all of his dreams to attain the dreams God had for him.
Not only would Abraham be blessed by giving up everything to follow God, his life would also be a blessing to others. Our Heavenly Father brings things into our lives to prepare us for greater things and in order to show others His great love and compassion.
Too often we ask God to bless us but expect Him to do so in our time frame and within our comfort zone. But that’s not the way it works. He needs to take us where we are, prepare us and then place us where we will be the most effective workers for Him.
As we progress through this journey we call life, remember that your Heavenly Father, the God of the Universe has your destination already picked out. There may be times when the choices you make cause you to waiver from the path. You may have made decisions that have consequences that follow you daily. Through Jesus Christ He can forgive you of the choices and use you for His glory and to bless others.
Abraham, David, Samuel and many other Bible characters made mistakes in their lives. God was able to bless them and use their life experiences to bless others. If you want to be blessed by God and be a blessing to others expect to have to leave your comfort zone so you can rely on Him completely and be a blessing to those around you.
PRAYER: Father, even though I want to be used by You in mighty ways, I have to admit I’m nervous about leaving the comfort of my current life. Empower me by your Spirit to be willing to step away from what is comfortable so I can experience your power and blessing. Help me use what you’ve taught me to bless those around me. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. Acts 12:7
“I’ll pray for you.” We say it all the time, especially as believers. I remember when my son was only a few months old. He was very sick and the doctors in our small town couldn’t figure out what was wrong. We were referred to a doctor in a much larger city, very well-known for it’s medical expertise.
As we were making the preparations to go and word spread, many from our church called or stopped by to offer support and prayers. Some even prayed with us. The one comment that sticks in my mind the most was a dear lady where I worked. In a very sincere voice she said, “We’ll be thinking of you.”
The reason her comment has stayed with me all these years is because of how empty those words were. ‘Thinking of me? What good will that do?’ Of course I knew her heart and sincerity, but I was struck by the fact that our prayers are so much more than simply thinking sympathetic, heartfelt thoughts about something or someone. Prayer, whether spoken, written or simply thought in our minds, is a personal, intimate communication with the eternal, omnipotent, all-knowing God of love! What a privilege we have to approach Him in that way for ourselves and on the behalf of others.
The apostle Peter was taken prisoner and sentenced to death. The Bible gives us no indication that he was distraught about this, but it does give us a picture of God’s people in action. We don’t know the details, but at some point after his arrest a prayer meeting was held to pray for his deliverance. It was in the midst of that prayer meeting that an angel appeared to Peter. How many of us, if we were in prison and to be executed the next day, would have to be awakened from a deep sleep! Peter wasn’t worried. He knew that whatever happened, God’s will would be done.
Prayer works. Don’t think prayer doesn’t work when you don’t get the answers you want. Don’t think it a waste of time because no one will hear you. As a follower of Jesus Christ, you have the privilege, honor and responsibility to approach the very throne of God. Don’t take the matter of prayer lightly. When you say you will pray for someone, do it. Right then. Whether you are driving, walking, in a meeting or working, PRAY! You don’t know how much impact your prayer may have on the person(s) involved.
As a body of Christ we must always be ready to fight the enemy. Prayer is our major weapon of attack. It was no doubt the fact that Peter ‘knew’ his friend were praying that allowed him to sleep that night.
One more thought. Surround yourself with people who pray. ‘Thinking of others’ is a nice gesture, but thinking of someone doesn’t really do anyone any good. Your problems may not go away when you have friends praying but the burden will be lighter.
PRAYER: Holy God, I thank you for the gift of prayer. Thank you for the example of prayer in the life of the early church. Like Peter, I ask that I can have the faith to rest in the midst of despair because I know people are praying for me and your perfect will will be done. Help me to remember to pray for others and not treat it as merely a spiritual exercise. Help me to really believe that prayer works. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 