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When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. Isaiah 43:2
The fairy tales of old all have a familiar ring to them. They all start ‘once upon a time’. It doesn’t matter when they started or took place or where. They started. That’s all that needs to be known. The other thing that rings true is how they end. ‘They all lived happily ever after.’ The tyrant or big, bad wolf, or wicked witch all vanished. The flowers grew, the birds sang and life was good. Forever.
As children, perhaps one of the reasons we loved fairy tales so much was that they give us a glimpse of life that we know, as adults, will never really happen. Wolves win sometimes. Wickedness doesn’t just go away. Giants still roam the land and the walls of our unseen prisons seem inescapable. Fairy tales gave us hope that someday things will work out. Our dreams can be attained. Miracles will happen.
Isaiah 43:2 gives us a more realistic view of how life happens and what we can expect. There will be waters to pass through. The original languages describe this water as ‘deep water’ such as an ocean. There will be rivers to cross. Rushing, rock smashing rivers that threaten to tear our boats apart. There will be fire. Consuming fires that have no regard for the sanctity of life or the treasures we possess. Fire destroys everything.
But along with the horror Isaiah describes comes hope. When the Israelites were trapped at the edge of the Red Sea. And Pharaoh’s army was closing in. And there was no way out, no hope, nothing left to do but surrender and hope for the best. God made a way through the deep waters. He took a hopeless situation and brought His people through it.
When Israel needed to cross the mighty river Jordan to enter into the land promised them long ago. God parted those waters. The rushing torrents were silenced. He delivered His people safely through to dry ground.
When Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace for refusing to give into an evil world system. Innocent as they were and following God’s law to the letter, their fate was sealed by an evil king bent on proving his power. Yet when the King looked into the furnace he saw the impossible. The men were walking around in the midst of the flames. When they were released, they didn’t even smell of smoke!
Three lessons. Three examples of life’s attacks. The open attack of an enemy. The barriers to our dreams. The attacks when we are innocent. They each come into our lives. We were never promised that we would not see adversity and calamity in our life time. We were promised that in the midst of the most violent circumstances our Heavenly Father will walk us through. He loves us. Even in the direst of circumstances He will see us through.
PRAYER: Father God. I thank you for the promise you made that my life is completely and totally in your hands. Today I have many worries and concerns. It seems like my enemies are surrounding me. Sometimes I think I’m my own worst enemy! Help me to trust you in the midst of the trials of life. Thank you for loving me. Amen.
This day I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live. Deuteronomy 30:19
God is pro-choice. Not in the way some people would like to think. His definition of pro-choice goes far beyond the abortion controversy. God’s version of pro-choice has to do with everything we encounter in life. Moses says, “This day…” and it’s a reminder that every day, when we first open our eyes we choose. We choose between life and death, between blessing and cursing.
We have no choice but to choose! To choose between blessing and cursing means that our daily life will either be a blessing to those we come in contact with or a curse. It’s our choice. Paul adds to that when he says in Romans, “So much as is possible live at peace with all people.” Like Moses he’s telling us that every day we must choose to live peacefully with others to the best of our God-given ability.
When we are abused we have the choice to bless through forgiveness or to curse through hatred.
When we are disappointed in God or others we have the choice to bless through contentment or to curse through growing bitter.
When we suffer injustice we have the choice to bless by accepting the decision or to curse through growing bitter.
When we go through broken relationships we have the choice to bless by taking responsibility for our part and moving on or curse by living in shame and regret.
When we others let us down we have the choice to bless by trusting or the curse of accusing them before all the facts are out.
When we choose to bless, it doesn’t mean we agree with the other person. When we choose to bless it certainly doesn’t mean we condone what they have done to us. When we choose to bless we release our own bondage to the person so that the free life of Christ can live through us. Blessing always brings life. Cursing always brings death. Blessing enables us to live in freedom; cursing forces us into bondage. Blessing means I realize who I am as a Christ-follower; Cursing means I’ve forgotten what it means to be a child of God.
Humanly speaking, we don’t have the strength to take the actions to bless on a daily basis. We need to rely on the power of the Holy Spirit for that. But we do have the power to choose! When we choose to bless we choose life not only for ourselves but for others and life is freeing! All of heaven is watching you today, to see which you choose!
PRAYER: Father God. I ask that today I would be a blessing to those around me. I choose life over death. It is so easy to curse through words and actions and so hard to bless when others are so selfish. I ask that you would empower me through your Spirit to see ways in my life to be a blessing and impart your life to others. Amen.
We live by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7
Faith is believing in something even though we can’t see it. Some say they have no faith but we all have faith so some extent.
In the physical life:
- We believe in wind because we see the leaves moving for no apparent reason. But we know about wind. We can’t see it. We can feel it on our faces and see its results. Therefore, I have faith that wind exists.
- We believe in ‘chair-ability’. We see a chair. We’ve experienced chairs before. We know by faith from our previous experience that when we sit we will be upheld.
- We believe in wet. We can’t see wet. But we know when we touch water that wetness happens.
To say we have no faith implies we have had no experiences because faith is often learned by experiences.
The same is true in the spiritual realm. We can’t see God. We have His word to show us His actions through history. Actions that can be verified by historians, scientists and other scholars. We see his actions in creation and when we look into the skies. Living by faith is a decision to accept what we know to be true and applying it to life even when we can’t see it.
I live by faith, not sight when finances are tight and God says He’ll provide. I take the necessary actions to make wise choices. I live to the level of my ability and realize that money and possessions aren’t what life is about.
I live by faith, not sight when the doctor’s report isn’t good. I believe that my God is Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals. I know that my health is in His hands and that He knows what is best for me. No matter what the doctor says, I know my spiritual health is more important than my physical health. I trust Him to take care of me.
I live by faith, not sight when the relationship I thought would last for my entire life ends. I know that in God’s eyes it’s not so important why it failed or how it failed. What’s really important is that I come to Him for healing, knowing I’m forgiven and that He can still use me no matter what.
I live by faith, not sight when the political scene contradicts God’s law. I know that my sovereign God is ultimately in control of all things. Because He is in control, when the political scene grows worrisome I will stand in the face of adversity and walk all the more closely to Him for protection, guidance and wisdom.
I live by faith, not sight when the justice system fails me. I know that the unfair things of life are here only to make me stronger. I will work within the system for change and accept, as God’s will, when things don’t go my way.
I live by faith, not sight when God says I’m forgiven. It doesn’t matter what others say. It doesn’t matter how others treat me. It doesn’t matter how many times others bring up the mistakes of my past. I know my Redeemer lives. I know that He has forgiven me and there is nothing anyone can do to change my relationship with Him.
PRAYER: Father, it’s so easy to think about faith and so hard to live it. There are so many things in my life that scare me right now. So many doubts; so many feelings of inadequacy; so many questions about what is right and what is wrong. Life is so confusing. I ask that today you would help me to grow in my faith as I experience Your presence in my life. Amen.
I have chosen the way of truth; I have set my heart on your laws. Psalm 119:30
A friend of mine told me of the first time he visited his girlfriend’s (now wife’s) family in rural Minnesota. My friend was born and raised in the city. His only experience with tractors and farm machinery was the area called ‘machinery hill’ at the State Fair. But my friend was always willing to try new things. There were few challenges he wasn’t ready to take.
His girlfriend, however, was born and raised on a farm miles from the nearest large city. ‘She’d learned how to drive tractor almost before she knew how to walk!” He chuckled as he told the story.
On his first visit to the farm he was eager to learn about the farm and equally eager to impress this new family. He willingly helped with chores and laughed at himself when he made some goofy, ‘green-hand’ mistake. He readily accepted the offer from one of the brothers to drive the tractor and was quite impressed with how quickly he learned the ropes.
On the third day on the farm he overheard talk at the dinner table about an 80 acre field that still needed to be plowed before the predicted rain came later that day. After the meal he offered his ‘dad-in-law-to-be’ his services to plow the field. After some discussion the father finally agreed and the two climbed on board the tractor for the trip to the field.
Dad made the first two trips across the field explaining how the plow and tractor worked together and giving some instruction. My friend now admits that he wasn’t really listening. The excitement of the new challenge occupied his mind completely. The father soon left him on his own for the new adventure and walked back to the farm. My friend was on his own.
He soon found out that the task wasn’t as easy as he had expected to be. Whereas the father had plowed nice strait furrow in the earth, my friend found it nearly impossible to stay on track. His furrows were crooked and overlapped. He constantly had to cut back to pick up places he’d missed completely. After a couple hours of frustration he turned the tractor around once more only to see a gaping spot he’d missed in the field and a familiar shape standing near the fence line.
As he guided the tractor across the field one more time he looked back and noticed that in his nervousness he had once again left a gaping hole, missing an entire segment of earth. The father climbed on board the tractor and asked him how it was going. My friend admitted that it was much tougher than he’d expected and was more impressed than ever with the father’s ability to plow such straight furrows time after time. He asked what the secret was.
The father smiled and pointed across the field. “You see that fence post at the other end? Let’s take one more pass here. I want you to place all your attention on that post. Don’t look to the side, don’t look back. Only drive to the post.”
My friend put the tractor in gear and looked ahead at the post. He resisted every temptation to check the plow, the sides or anything else. When he got to the end of the field he looked back and saw a perfectly straight furrow! The trick was to keep his focus on what lay ahead.
What a perfect lesson to learn for each of us. The Psalmist tells us to ‘set our hearts on the Laws of God’. In order to make straight paths on the journey of life we must set our attention completely on what God wants for us. Don’t look at where we’ve been. Don’t look at what is going on around us. Set our eyes squarely on Jesus and we won’t waver.
PRAYER: Holy God. I confess to you that I am constantly tempted to look at my past and what others around me are doing. When I do that I lose my vision of who you are, of who I am and what you want for me. I ask that you would empower me to only pay attention to what you want for me. Keep me from being distracted by my past. Help me to ignore those things that would keep me from following you. I ask this in the name of your Son Jesus. Amen.
“Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes.” Ephesians 4:22-23 (NLT)
As Christ-followers, we are to be a catalyst for positive change in the world. We are called to be holy. Holiness has sometimes gotten a bad image. For many the idea of a ‘holy person’ is one that is legalistic, has no fun and spends their time doing nothing but prayer, Bible Study and doing ‘spiritual things.’
Holiness really means we are set apart to live lives that are free from the negative thoughts and harmful actions that the rest of society is imprisoned by. Holiness is as more about attitude than it is action. The ‘holy person’ is one that has the freedom to live life with a positive mindset.
In order to be different, or ‘holy’, on the outside (actions) we must first change how we are on the inside (attitudes). We need to get rid of attitudes that lead to negative thoughts, personal attacks, anger, revenge, refusal to forgive, selfishness, lust, and other thoughts that are harmful to us and to others.
To make the change is really a two step process. Paul says that we must first make a decision to change (throw off your former way of life). This means we have to decide that we actually want to change how we feel about ourselves and others.
After we decide that we really want to change we need to ask the Holy Spirit of God to help us change our thought patterns and our attitudes. Changing actions without changing thoughts and actions is hypocrisy and legalism. True change comes from the heart and is only possible through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and relying on His Spirit to make the change in us.
The Christ follower has a mindset and attitude that shows:
- A true love for God, ourselves and others;
- An inner joy when everything seems to go wrong;
- A peace that passes all understanding when life is scary;
- Patience with those who constantly fail us;
- Kindness to those who are rude, arrogant or insensitive;
- A spirit of goodness or generosity to those who are in need physically and emotionally;
- Faithfulness in our relationships with God and others;
- A spirit of gentleness to those who are hurting;
- Behavior that refuses to give up self-control.
The problem comes when we realize that it’s not enough to just decide to change. We need the inner strength to make that change work on the outside. We can’t do it on our own and it won’t happen overnight. We’ll have set backs. We’ll stumble and fall, sometimes daily! But the first step is the desire to change.
PRAYER: Holy Father. I thank you for the new life you have given me in Christ Jesus. I confess to you that there are so many times in my life when negative thoughts and attitudes control me. I want to change but I’m afraid to give myself completely to you. Help me to live in the freedom of your Spirit. Empower me to change on the inside so that others will see changes in my actions for your Glory. Amen.
