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On this mountain the LORD Almighty will prepare a feast of rich food for all peoples, a banquet of aged wine— the best of meats and the finest of wines. Isaiah 25:6
Have you ever noticed how strong one negative comment can be? If 100 people compliment you on a job well done and one person comes along and criticizes your work it can spoil your whole day. Rather than enjoying the encouragement of the 100 you dwell on the negative comment of one person.
Negative comments and thoughts can cripple you and keep you from moving forward in life. Like a thorn in your foot negative comments and attitudes completely halt your progress. People who continue to be negative will hinder your own attitudes about yourself, others and even God! They can take the hope right out of you if you listen.
The prophet Isaiah describes a huge feast that will be held for us who are Christ-followers. It will be a feast with the best of wine and meat. If God is putting on the party you can count on it being a huge party, the best ever. But the blessings we receive from God aren’t just for later. God’s blessings are both present and future.
Don’t let the negative words and attitudes of others pull you down. Stop allowing the worries of the economy, political upheaval and natural disaster keep you from remembering all the good things God is doing around you. Our Father can use even the worst of times for His glory. Even though things in the world seem to be getting worse, for the Christ-follower the best is yet to come!
Enjoy God’s blessings now while you look ahead to the greater blessings He has in store for you. Our Father is preparing a huge party right now and YOU are the guest of honor!
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, Creator of the universe and sustainer of all things. I thank you for the fact that you see all that is going on around me. There are plenty of negative events, attitudes and people around me who are intent on taking away the joy I have in You. I ask that you would empower me by your Spirit to rise above the negative attacks. Keep me from being affected by those who criticize me and those who preach gloom and doom. Keep reminding me throughout the day of the great things You are doing now and the fantastic party You are preparing for me. I praise you for your greatness and power. You are a good God and all good things come from you. Amen.
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Romans 8:1
Imagine what it would be like if you were caught red-handed in a crime. You were arrested and brought to jail, and then before the judge. There was no way out. You were guilty. The judge knows it, everyone knows it. Your crime carries the punishment of life in prison with no hope of parole. In essence your life is over. All the freedom, all the dreams, all the hopes for your future have been dashed by this one desperate and stupid decision.
Now imagine that while you are standing before the judge he stands up, comes around the bench and stands beside you. He states to all in the court room that He, Himself, will take full responsibility for your actions. As a result, you are free to go. The judge not only removes the penalty for your sin, but, with the power vested in his position he removes your criminal record as well. You are free to go with no record of any wrong doing. Awesome!
You leave the court room that day and go directly to the local office supply store and by a lanyard to hang around your neck. You hang a sign from your neck that says, “Guilty. Sentenced to life in prison” in big bold letters. Everyone you come in contact with sees the sign and avoids you. If, by chance they don’t see it, you point it out to them, making sure they are aware of your despicable crime.
Everyday that lanyard reminds you of your failure. Some days the weight of it is almost more than you can bear. It keeps you from pursuing your dreams. It affects the relationships you have now, and keeps you from moving ahead to build new, vibrant relationships. Eventually, the weight of the lanyard is too much. You lose it all.
One day you are sitting on the curb and you hear a voice behind you. You turn to see the judge who pardoned you. He has a completely shocked look on his face and asks you what you are doing here. You show him the lanyard and explain how its weight has completely destroyed your life.
The judge sits down on the curb beside you. Gently he reaches around and takes the lanyard from your neck. The relief you feel when the weight of the lanyard is gone is unbelievable. “Thank you!” You say to the judge. He puts his arm around your shoulder and looks into your eyes. “You were never meant to bear this burden,” he says as he looks you straight in the eyes, “I took this from you once. Why take it back. You are free. Now, go! Go enjoy the freedom of life!” With that he takes the lanyard and destroys it before your very eyes and you feel freedom like you have never felt before.
That’s what it means to be free of condemnation. When the apostle Paul penned Romans 8:1 he wanted us to know that we are free. We don’t need to be tied to the sins of our past. They are done. They have been removed by the judge. You are free because of Jesus Christ to enjoy life, to pursue your dreams and to grow healthy strong relationships with those around you.
PRAYER: Dear Jesus. Thank you for taking my sin on the cross. Thank you that I no longer have to be burdened by the mistakes of my past. You know I have made many mistakes, hurt people and destroyed the trust of many. Please forgive me for those sins. I praise you that I am no longer condemned. Empower me to live life free of the feelings of condemnation. I hereby give you my lanyard. Amen.
Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings. Psalm 17:8
“The apple of my eye” is a phrase that expresses the deepest of all affections. When someone is the ‘apple of our eye’ it means that they are the center of our existence and attention. All of our energies, all of our thoughts, all of our concern go towards the object of our love, the ‘apple of our eye’.
What a glorious picture David paints of our Heavenly Father’s view of us. We are the ‘apple of His eye!’ Imagine that! The Creator of the universe looks down from heaven and sees you. Not as a number in a crowd or as the person in the red shirt. He sees you. He sees your feelings, your fears, your struggles with failure and defeat. He sees how life is attacking you. His attention is focused directly on doing whatever He can to protect you, to provide for you and to help you through the darkest of times.
Sometimes it’s hard for us to feel the love that God has for us. Our view of Him and His loving concern is clouded by many things in our lives. It may be the personal attacks leveled by our enemies. It may be finances, ill health, the inability to build meaningful relationships or poor choices on our part. The Bible says that NOTHING will separate us from God’s love, yet we feel separated when the struggles of life get in the way.
David knew something that each of us need to learn and live. He knew that no matter what happens in life, he was the main focus of God’s love, affection and protection. Even during those times when David sinned he knew that God’s love for him wasn’t less. Sin doesn’t keep God from loving us. Sin keeps us from sensing God’s love.
The same is true for every other obstacle in our lives. The promise of Psalms 17:8 is always true. We are always the focus of God’s love and affection. We can always count on Him welcoming us to the protection found beneath His wings. We can never stray from the shadow of His watchful, loving, compassionate eyes. My failures do not diminish God’s love for me.
Your Heavenly Father earnestly desires to hold you in His arms of love. He wants to wrap His arms around you, hold you close and whisper words of comfort and love in your ears. Don’t let the obstacles of your life keep you from experiencing the love of Your Heavenly Father.
PRAYER: Dear Father. I confess to you that I can’t fully comprehend that it means to be the ‘apple of Your eye.’ To realize that You, the God of the Universe, would love someone as weak and stubborn as I am is more than my mind can comprehend. Reveal to me the obstacles in my life that are keeping me from experiencing your love. Empower me, through Your Holy Spirit, to live in the shadow of your wings of protection. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. Genesis 1:27
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. When you can’t describe something the best thing to do is to show a picture, an image, of the item you want others to learn about. One day God walked through the world He had just created. Birds sang; water’s babbled; the breeze brought the fresh aroma of blooming flowers to His nostrils. He felt the warmth of the sun on His face as he watched a lion cub playing with a new born lamb. Life was good.
As He continued His stroll through the garden He looked around and thought, “I need to share this with someone. Someone that has emotions and intellect like I do. Someone that can choose to love my world and me. Someone that, while he shall have a beginning, can live eternally with me to enjoy fellowship with me.
He knelt one more time in the newly created soil and began to form His most amazing of all creations, man. For a time He walked with man and they enjoyed the intimacy of perfect relationship. While it was fulfilling to Him, God knew that man would need someone like himself who would be a helper. Someone who would stand beside him and fulfill the emotional and intellectual needs unique to man. So God created woman. Together they would share the intimate fellowship of love only possible through God, their Father.
The Bible tells us that we are created in the image of the Almighty God of the universe. We can not, and perhaps will not grasp the fullness of that truth until we see our master face to face. Being made in the image of God has individual as well as cultural implications for the Christ-follower. Individually it reminds us that we bear the DNA so to speak of deity. We are set apart from every other life form because we bear within us the capacity to love, to think, to choose intellectually and to live beyond the time allotted this physical shell we call a body. We will live forever, either with Jesus in Heaven or eternally separated from God in Hell.
Culturally, as Christ-followers, bearing the image of God means that we show those around us the essence and power of God through our lives. The dictionary defines image as an “exact likeness; a person strikingly like another person.” The image of God that those around us have is directly tied to what they see in us on a daily basis. We show what God is like when we get cut off on the interstate, or get lousy service at a restaurant, or are verbally and emotionally attacked or treated unjustly. If others were to describe God based on the His image shining through you, what kind of God would they see?
PRAYER: Holy Father and Creator God. I’m humbled when I try to comprehend the great love you have for me. I’m honored by the fact that you want an intimate relationship with me. I’m so unworthy of your love and grace. As I go forth I ask that in every life situation you would empower me to show others an image of You that would lead them to follow you. Empower me to believe in myself based on the fact that I am made in Your image. Amen.
Even though the fig trees have no blossoms, and there are no grapes on the vines; even though the olive crop fails, and the fields lie empty and barren; even though the flocks die in the fields, and the cattle barns are empty, yet I will rejoice in the Lord! I will be joyful in the God of my salvation! Habakkuk 3:17-18 (NLT)
During the Prophet Habakkuk’s ministry to Israel ominous times loomed on the horizon. A new enemy was arising, the Babylonian Empire, and threatened its borders. The Babylonians were a ruthless enemy. They didn’t believe in God, they didn’t care about the people they killed. They had no conscience whatsoever.
In the meantime, the people of Israel completely disregarded their covenant with God. They continued to live Godless lives in the face of imminent danger. Habakkuk’s message of repentance fell on deaf ears.
Habakkuk was a frustrated man. He prayed and prayed to the God of Heaven but got no results. At one point he says, “If you are a God that hates evil then why don’t you do something to change all of this?” Another time he says, “Why won’t you listen to me? Why do you make me look at all this sin and filth and do absolutely nothing about it?”
The tiny book of Habakkuk ends with a prayer in Chapter 3. Habakkuk once more begs God to look at his situation and change it. He reminds God of all the great things He has done in the past. He worships God for the many times He has rescued Israel and for His love.
As He continues to think of all that God has done something interesting happens near the end of his prayer in verses 17 & 18. Habakkuk states that no matter what happens he will rejoice in God’s salvation. For example, if fig trees don’t blossom, not only will year’s crop fail, but next years as well. This is not only present tragedy but future crisis as well.
When you look around you and see the danger of a lurking enemy or you get frustrated by the way you are treated or the way people have turned from God. When the shadows of your past or the weight of your present pull you down, take a lesson from the pages of Habakkuk. Focus your attention on what God has done in your past and what He has done for other people and at other times.
God has never gone back on a promise. He has never forgotten His people. Even though He seems silent at times, His will is accomplished. We can trust Him even when hidden enemies loom on the horizon and our society rejects Him. He never changes.
PRAYER: Father God, I have to confess to you that I get really angry when I see the injustice around me. It seems like people who are completely against you flourish while I struggle as I try to live for you. I’m ashamed of my past, worry about my present, and fear for my. Help me to remember all you have done in the past. Help me to praise you in the midst of my struggle. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 