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You, LORD God, are my protector. Rescue me and keep me safe from all who chase me. Psalm 7:1 (CEV)
He’d been promised the throne. He was a hero in some people’s eyes as the result of killing a giant. He was a mighty warrior and a man of faith and courage. He was apparently good looking, personable and wise. Who wouldn’t like David? He was the kind of guy you could bring home to meet your parents. He was the kind of guy you hope your daughters bring home to meet you!
But with all of the things he had going for him, David had enemies as well. Plenty of enemies. That’s the way it is in life. No matter how hard you try to do the right things, no matter how close you live to God, regardless of how many battles you’ve won and games you’ve pulled out as the clock struck zero, there will be some who find fault in you.
For David, one of the worst ones was a guy namedCush. We don’t have a great deal of information onCushbut we know he was one of King Saul’s closest allies and we know he didn’t like David one bit. According to historyCushwent before the King with all sorts of lies about David. Lies that were considered treason and worthy of death. Those closest to the throne were more believable. If ushsaid it about David it was most likely true, one would think.
We can all relate to David at one time or another. All of us have those people in our lives who seem to be intent on pointing out every flaw, contradicting every idea, showing us ‘in christian love’ the error of our ways. Sad to say, sometimes those who are our biggest critics are those who proclaim to be closest to God.
The danger comes when we start listening to the accusations. Sometimes those accusations come from people, sometimes those accusations come from the great accuser himself, Satan or one of his slimy cohorts. Revelation 12:10 tells us that he goes before the throne every day to accuse us of something.
There was someone else who, like David, was wrongfully accused. Someone who had enemies watching his every move, judging his every word, trying to contradict or downplay everything he did. His name was Jesus.
David and Jesus both learned a secret each of us needs to learn when the accusers come our way. Two simple steps (simple doesn’t always mean easy) to thwart the thorns in our side.
First of all, know where to go for shelter from the attacks. Both Jesus and David knew the truth about themselves, and that they could go to God, their rock, for safety. He would never fail them.
Secondly, they both knew who they were. David knew he wasn’t perfect, but he knew he was loved by the God of the universe and that God had never failed him. Jesus knew that he was perfect, he was God and that this time of trial was for a short time and would lead to victory. Not only that, but when the great accuser goes before the throne to accuse us Jesus is right there defending us.
The best way to defeat the thorns in your side is to know who you are (a child of God) and know who fights for you (Jesus of Nazareth).
PRAYER: Father God, Jehovah my confidence and deliverer. Thank you for protecting me from those intent on destroying me. When I’m under attack help me to trust in your deliverance. Thank you for Jesus who stands before you daily to defend be because of his great love and forgiveness. Amen.
But when Daniel learned that the law had been signed, he went home and knelt down as usual in his upstairs room, with its windows open toward Jerusalem. He prayed three times a day, just as he had always done, giving thanks to his God. Daniel 6:10 (NLT)
Most of us, when faced with a crisis of any sort, resort to the lessons we learned at the University of Worry.
We worry when the marriage relationship begins to grow cold. We worry when the credit cards come. We worry when the doctor calls us and asks us to come in to discuss the test results. We worry when the phone rings late at night, or sirens go by our house and the kids aren’t home yet.
Worry is basically a human ‘skill’. Animals don’t worry. Jesus tells us the flowers of the field don’t worry. Humans worry. Worry really doesn’t do us any good. Worry redirects our focus for a solution away from God and towards ourselves. It’s really saying “God can’t handle this one, I’m in this alone.”
Worry causes all sorts of emotional, physical and spiritual stress in our lives and none of us needs more stress. When that happens we blame God, others or ourselves for the problem. Playing the ‘blame-game’ when we are worried is self-defeating. Worry is paralyzing and keeps us from seeing solutions clearly.
Daniel was a great man of God. He’d learned through experience that breaking away from the crowd and following God when it didn’t make sense eventually paid off. One day, a law was passed that no one was allowed to pray to their God. Prayers, and faith, were only to be put in government. The sentence for breaking the law was death by lion pit.
So what did Daniel do? He went to his room, opened the window, and began to praise God for all he’d done. Did he pour out his heart for mercy? Doesn’t look like it. Did he plead for protection? Don’t see that in scripture either. Did he beg for deliverance? No sign of that.
What did Daniel do in the face of crisis? He thanked God for all the things he’d done. Paul tells us the same thing in Philippians. He says, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.” Philippians 4:6 (NLT)
That’s not an easy thing to do. Our humanity screams lies at us. We’re told we are in this alone. We are told God won’t hear us. We’re told lies like ‘God helps those who help themselves’. It’s a hard, hard truth to learn. When faced with crisis in your life, don’t focus on the crisis, focus on the cross.
PRAYER: Father God, it’s easy to say I trust you. It’s much harder to live ‘I trust you’. Especially when the future looks so dark and scary. In the face of adversity help me to praise you for who you are. Give me strength to believe you will do what you say you will do. Amen.
Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. John 1:3
“He made all things.” Let those words pause in your mind for a moment. The original languages give the sense of detail, not overall systems. Walk out on a star filled night and look up. How far can you see? In a sense you can see to eternity for there is no canopy.
Every star? He put it there for you. Scientists think that perhaps every star may have a solar system with planets. Does that mean there is life out there? Frankly, I don’t care. I’m more amazed at the enormity of space and the enormity of the God who created it!
“He made all things.” I love to look at newborn babies. Those tiny, tiny fingers and tiny toes. The newness of life. What a miracle. The complexity of life, of growing! Even the brain function it takes to read this sentence is utterly amazing! And to think that the whole process of life from beginning to end is not simply set in motion, but guided, ordained by its maker. Astounding!
And when I think of the unseen world. The fact that our bodies are made up of so many different cells, each working together to bring us life; to help us think, reason, feel, be passionate. The way love makes you feel when it grows and endures the tough times. Exciting!
The one who made the mountains with all their grandeur also made the fragile flower, so delicate to touch yet able to withstand ferocious winds. Soft to touch but able to endure the toughest drought. Saplings springing from the hardest granite.
Take some time to look around you. Look past the pain of life, just for a moment. Ignore the fear and worry of the future, just for a minute. Take a deep breath and enjoy the creativity of the many colors in the sunset; the beauty of the fallen snow; the creativity that surrounds us.
All this was made by Jesus and he did it for you. The bible tells us he came to his own and they didn’t take time to notice. Who were his own? Was it the rocks he created? The animals he formed? The water he separated from the land? Nope. It was the only thing scripture says was made in his image. You and I. He made us in his image because he knew that would be the best way to enjoy the world he created.
PRAYER: Lord Jesus. I’ve been so distracted of late by the worries of life. I see the pain others are going through. I feel my own agony. Just for a moment let me see the beauty you’ve created for me. Thank you for loving me enough to put me where I am. Amen.
To do this, I work and struggle, using Christ’s great strength that works so powerfully in me. Colossians 1:29 (NCV)
Do a study of the Old Testament and you will see a phrase from time to time that goes something like this: ‘And the Spirit of the Lord came upon them/him/her.’ When God’s Spirit comes on the scene you know something exciting is going to happen. When the Spirit of the Lord ‘came upon’ people in the Old Testament there was no question that the actions taken by the person ‘under the power of the Spirit’ was acting on God’s behalf.
People were raised from the dead; received supernatural powers; were given wisdom beyond comprehension. Nations fell and lives were changed when God’s Spirit ‘came upon’ people.
Fast forward to some of Jesus’ last days on earth. The time was fast approaching when he would be brutally murdered on the cross. His time with his followers was short. In John 14 Jesus gives the disciples a totally new revelation, one that when completed would change the course of history. Jesus promises that after he is gone God the Father would send his very own Spirit to help, to guide, to teach and to empower the followers of Jesus to do the work of the Kingdom!
In the Old Testament the Spirit ‘came upon’ people. Now, the Holy Spirit ‘lives in’ people! What a marvelous promise. We no longer need to wait for the Spirit to come to us, He’s here! Living inside me! He sees all the things I see, hears the things I hear, feel the pain I feel, lives through the hardship I live through. He feels the pain of my loneliness; sees the heartache of my failures; hears the words of my accusers!
It’s so easy in the Christian life to ‘know the fact of the Spirit’s presence’ without experiencing the ‘power of the Spirit’s presence.’ We get distracted by the cares of the world and start to believe that we are in this struggle alone. We start to rely on our own efforts, seek the praises of men, or measure our worth by the gifts, talents and abilities others consider worthy.
Don’t let the things you see and feel in this world take away from the power that lives within you. Paul says, in our verse for today, that he struggles using Christ’s strength, not his own to do the work God called him to do.
What work has God called you do to today? Do it in the strength of the Spirit, not your own. Whether it be managing a huge corporation or tending to children in a day care, whether it is flipping burgers at the local fast-food shop, or cleaning rooms in the local hotel. God has called you to a work and given you his Spirit to strengthen you!
PRAYER: Father I thank you for your Holy Spirit that lives in me every second of my day. Forgive me for the times I try to take matters into my own hands and do them in my own strength. Help me use the power within, the power of your Spirit to live. Amen.
“If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:22
There are certain things in the Christian’s life that I have to admit I struggle with. Perhaps the biggest one is prayer. Don’t get me wrong. I believe in the power of prayer. I’ve seen miracles that can only be explained by the working of God’s hand. I’ve seen lives changed. I’ve seen demons flee. I’ve seen people get up and walk when medical science told us they’d never walk again. Prayer works. Jesus’ words are not void.
On the other hand, I’ve seen parents weep over the casket of a child because their prayers ‘weren’t answered’. I’ve seen the innocent accused wrongly because a judge decided to use his own ‘wisdom’ rather than look at the evidence ‘objectively’. I’ve watched spouses walk away from families while the church prayed things would be different. Prayers offered up to heaven seem to fall harmlessly to the ground leaving lives and bodies strewn in their path. Does that mean I don’t believe in prayer? NO. As I stated earlier, prayer works. I’ve seen far too many personal examples of God’s working to believe otherwise. I believe the Bible to be God’s Holy Word, without error unashamedly. I believe in and take advantage of the promise we have in Hebrews and elsewhere that we can come with confidence before the throne of God to receive mercy and grace in our time of need. I believe our God is sovereign, all-powerful, loving and merciful. I believe my faith is a package deal. You can’t pick and choose which parts of ‘God’ you will believe and which you will not. It’s all or nothing. He believes in you when you fail, all he asks is that you believe in him when he disappoints.
So here are my thoughts on the hard aspects of prayer thus far in the journey. It’s not an inclusive list, I didn’t find them on some tablets buried in the ground. They came from my heart.
When you struggle to believe in prayer, remember that prayer you can believe in means:
- Your Heavenly Father won’t give you something that’s harmful to you. All of us are like 2 year-old children. We want the things we see in life with little regard for the consequences they bring to us. We see for today, not tomorrow. Why else does lust, addiction and spending beyond our means hold such an allure. Jesus promises us that if we pray for bread, God won’t give us a rock. The opposite is also true. If we pray for a rock to eat, God won’t give it to us. He loves us too much to give us something that will hurt us. Having said that, remember he also will never force you to take the best choice. He loves you too much for that too.
- Your Heavenly Father wont keep you from going through something that you need to go through in order grow stronger. None of us like pain. Sometimes we’ll choose painful things because we think that pain will be less than the pain before us, but we never choose pain as the best route. However, strength never comes without adversity. Walking never comes without falling; good health never comes from willing it to as we over-eat and under-exercise; learning faith never comes without an element of doubt leading to trust. A loving Father knows what it’s going to take to make you strong and he won’t give up on you until he has you strong enough to face what lay ahead.
- Your Heavenly Father won’t thwart his eternal purpose by keeping you from going through something you need to go through in order to help others on their journey. Your Father’s ultimate desire is to bring all of his children into relationship with him. The only way that will happen is through Jesus Christ. When Jesus left planet earth he left behind a charge to each of us, a challenge to go, to disciple, to reach out to those caught in the web of sin and despair. The most effective ambassadors are those who’ve struggled themselves. Because of his great love for you and others; because of his eternal goal of passionately desiring to spend eternity with your neighbors, he may allow you to go through things so you can more show more passion and more understanding to those who need Jesus.
- Your Heavenly Father won’t answer a prayer that is contrary to his holiness. This may be the hardest of all for us to endure and understand. He is a holy God. He is a perfect God. Sin can not stand in his presence. Because of this, when sin in in our lives he needs to cleanse us. Not for his sake but for ours. Unconfessed sin keeps us from the passionate relationship he so earnestly desires. We may endure the consequences of our actions, not because he hates us, but because he wants to cleanse us.
That’s the short list. There are no easy answers. There are times we’ll never understand his actions. There are times we won’t even know how to pray. Circumstances may change our view of God, but they will never change God’s love for us.
PRAYER: Father I confess to you that I don’t understand your actions in my life. I thank you and praise you that in spite of my limited view and my weakness you still love me. I worship you for the fact that I can approach your throne even when I question your actions. Thank you for the grace to go on. Amen.
