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What if the Lord had not been on our side when people attacked us? Psalms 124:2
We are wired for relationship. From the very beginning God knew this. The only time he saw something was not good was when man was alone.
He created woman for relationship. Not just the marriage relationship, but relationship in the emotional, physical and spiritual realm.
But when sin entered our world, relationship was irreparably damaged. Greed, jealousy, shame and hopelessness replaced the unity, love and mercy of relationship. Faith, hope and love, the cornerstones, of relationship died.
We talk about how Jesus came to offer forgiveness of our sins and that is true, but the ultimate reason for that sacrifice was to restore relationships, first with God the Father, and then each other.
The effects of the pandemic are just now starting to bloom. Violence has increased. Distrust is at an all-time high. Fear and anger seem to run rampant.
Ironically, while we are wired for relationship, we also have a penchant for revenge.
When your beliefs are challenged. You may react defensively in the name of Jesus. (FYI, God doesn’t need our help in this regard.)
When you are told to do something you know is wrong. You are tempted to attack the person who is in charge.
When you are ridiculed and judged for your failures. You may feel guilty or anger at the person.
When your words of encouragement return void. You may try to shame those who didn’t respond as you’d hoped.
When you sit down at an empty lunch table at school and no one joins you. You listen to the lies that you’re not worthy.
When those times, come, remember the words of the Psalmist. God is on your side. Jesus is there with you and totally understands. The Holy Spirit will remind you of who you are if you listen to His voice.
The psalmist finishes his song with this reminder, “Our help is from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” (Psalms 124:8)
The enemy voices have no power over you unless you choose to give them the power.
How I suffer in far-off Meshech. It pains me to live in distant Kedar. Psalms 120:5
Have you ever been far from home? You are on vacation or away at school or perhaps your job has taken you away from the familiar surroundings of family and friends.
You love what you do. You have a good life. You feel truly blessed. Yet there is an emptiness, a longing for the stable structure of the familiar?
In Old Testament times Jerusalem and the Temple was home to the Hebrews. It was there that God dwelt. It was in Jerusalem that one felt truly at home socially, ethnically, and emotionally.
But life happened. Through exile and other things the Hebrews were scattered around the Mediterranean world. A few times a year they would go ‘home’ to celebrate God’s goodness, worship His faithfulness and reconnect with family and friends.
When they were with God and His people, life was good. But then the cycle would repeat. Life called them away with a longing for ‘next time in Jerusalem’.
Have you ever felt that longing? Perhaps sin has lured you away? Maybe it’s just the busyness of life. “Weekends are the only time I have for me.” It could be a bad experience when the body of Jesus abused or failed you.
Maybe it’s time to come home. Maybe you need to return to Jerusalem. There is an emptiness when we are far from Jesus. An emptiness he never intended.
Don’t allow the failure of people or the busyness of life keep you from enjoying Jesus!
But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! John 15:7
Remaining in Jesus is easy when times are good. When the checkbook balances, when the kids are excelling in good things, when your relationships are strong at home, and at work, when you finish your to do list every single day, it’s easy to remain in Jesus.
During those times, you may thank Him for all of His blessings. You may remember all of his promises and bask in his grace. You may even have the courage to testify to his greatness at church!
But what about those other times? Those times, and every road seems to be a dead end.
Those times when you struggle and strive to make things right and yet nothing seems to work.
Those times when the work that you have to do ahead of you seems overwhelming and you wonder how anything will ever get done.
Those times when you don’t even meet your own expectations, much less the expectations of others.
The gospels are full of people facing hopeless situation’s.
The dad, who’s a little boy would have seizures and throw himself into the fire or water.
The mom who followed the funeral procession out of town for her only son.
The woman humiliated because she was caught in the act of adultery.
The woman whose life was a mess, and after five divorces was living with a man who didn’t even value her enough to marry her?
Jesus makes a statement a couple of times in the gospels about the fact that we can have whatever we hope to have or accomplish. It’s a pretty amazing promise! And it’s one that has caused many to abandon the faith. They asked, and they didn’t receive so they decided the promise was invalid.
But the key to ‘getting what we want’ is being so close to Jesus that we want the same things he wants.
Fame is temporary. Possessions can be lost. Relationships can crumble. Good health that can be taken from you in an instant. Those who thought you could count on, can stab you in the back or throw you under the bus.
Abiding in Jesus is more than attending church on Sunday. It’s more than Bible study. It’s more than prayer. All of those things are good, but abiding in Jesus is more about growing in relationship with Him. When that happens, you find your needs are met more often because your desires have changed.
Lord Jesus, help us to learn what it really means to abide in you. To draw so close to you so that your very thoughts become our thoughts, your desires become our desires, and your ways become our ways.
Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them. Isaiah 43:7
What’s your story? You have one you know. We all do. They may not be on the written page, but they are written on your heart and most likely on the hearts of many around you.
Everyday you write a chapter. Some may be mundane. Some you may revisit because they are exciting. Others you wish you could erase, but you can’t.
The thing about stories is they are written to bring glory to the author. No one spends days and weeks and months writing a book they don’t want published. Every aspiring author dreams of being on the ‘New York Times Best Sellers List’. Quite honestly, stories are written for the glory of the author.
So let me ask again, what’s your story? Is it one you’d like to keep buried on the closet shelf?
What if you could rewrite the story of you? What if each word, each page, each chapter was, well, enjoyable. You know, the kind of story you can’t put down, that you can’t wait to read the ending.
Here’s the good news. Your story can be rewritten. Not by you, but by the most creative person who ever existed!
By putting your faith in Jesus, God the Father calls you to Himself. Why? Because you are a story that brings Him glory.
There’s nothing you can do to earn it. He doesn’t expect you to do anything but accept his gift of a story that’s creative and fulfilled.
Ever read a story that has a counter plot. You know the kind where the hero or heroin is well on the way to victory but the villain in the story is trying to sabotage him or her.
Yeah, that’s your story too. But wait to the end. You win! And when you win, you bring glory to the author, God the Father.
Let Him write your story!
“The name of the Lord is a strong fortress; the godly run to him and are safe.” Proverbs 18:10
I read a story awhile back about a couple who were hiking in the mountains. As they were walking through a beautiful mountain meadow a storm suddenly erupted.
The thunder was so loud it seemed to shake the mountain. Lighting crashed around them. In the midst of an unexpected storm they were vulnerable, scared, and helpless.
Then the rain and hail came. There was no place to run to. No place to take shelter. Then one of them noticed in the distance, a cave. More like a indentation in the rocks. But it offered them shelter in the storm. They ran to the spot and waited out the storm in the safety of the rock.
The Bible tells us that God is our shelter in the midst of a storm. When the enemies of worry, doubt, broken, relationships, or consequences from bad decisions attack us, He is the shelter that we can run to.
Three things I notice about this verse. First of all the shelter doesn’t take us out of the storm, it simply gives us protection during the storms.
The second thing is that we as believers in Jesus need to run to the shelter. We are not automatically protected unless we run to the shelter.
The third thing I notice, is that there is no particular place to run to. We don’t run to a place, we run to a name.
You can carry a name with you everywhere. It’s a shelter you have with you during every storm, you encounter.
Run to the shelter of the name of the Lord. He won’t take you out of the storm, but he will carry you through it.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 