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Therefore let all the faithful pray to you while you may be found; surely the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them. Psalm 32:6
As I read Psalm 32:6 a picture came into my mind. It was a home video taken during the horrific Japan Tsunami of 2011. As flood waters came into a small seaside village, sirens wailed and residents took shelter on a small hillside, running to the safety afforded them by a single set of stairs. We all watched with amazement and horror as the sea crept down the streets, then gained momentum and began to sweep cars, truck, boats and other debris ahead of it.
The water rose higher and higher, endangering the small group of people taking shelter there. They were safe, but the destruction around them was a stirring testimony to the power of nature and the frailty of life
“Surely, the rising of the mighty waters will not reach them,” is a promise those of us that are believers in Jesus Christ can hold on to. Flood waters will come. Those earthy things we hold dear may be taken from us. Those things that have provided us security may falter or even fail.
Relationships we thought would last a lifetime end in divorce or death or job changes. Careers once though secure will end abruptly. Freedoms we hold so dearly too may be in danger or taken completely from us. The winds of time and age will change the lifescape we have always known.
Those who put their faith completely in God, who trust in Jesus Christ and build their security on the word of God and prayer, need not worry when the flood waters approach. We may lose all of our earthly possessions. We may watch as the world we once knew gets swept away. But our souls remain secure in the promise of Psalm 32:6.
Here’s the true beauty of this promise. Sometimes the flood waters that threaten us are our own doing. Sometimes they are the result of evil in the world. God’s promise of protection isn’t affected by the reason for our struggle. His promises are based on his character and strength, not ours.
When you see those flood waters approaching. When everything you held as secure crumbles or is swept away, remember that the God of the universe has promised to be a refuge from which the raging waters of the sea can not reach you.
PRAYER: Father, we are surrounded by adversity and pain and trials. It seems sometimes as though our hopes and dreams are being swept away in flood of adversity. During those times may we run to you for refuge and strength. We praise you for your promise of ultimate protection. In Jesus name, Amen.
“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.” Isaiah 55:1
We’ve all heard the old saying. “If it seems too good to be true, it probably isn’t.” In most of life, the saying is full of truth, unfortunately. The relationship you found is amazing. He/she does everything you ever expected. You pinch yourself and say ‘It’s too good to be true’, and a few weeks later the relationship ends when the real person emerges and you hear the small voice inside say “If it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t’.
You look for a house where you can raise your family. As you are moving in you fight off the visions of watching your grandchildren swinging from the tree in the backyard. Never mind the fact that you are expecting your first child. Years from now the dream will come true. You are sure of it. Until the promising job you have ends abruptly and you lose the house. As you are moving your young family into a too-small apartment the vision of the back yard swing comes back and you hear the voice, ‘If it’s too good to be true, it probably isn’t.’
Life is full of dreams and hopes and anticipation, but all too often that anticipation turns to discouragement because people, careers, finances and health fails us. We watch television shows about the rich and famous and wonder what it would be like to have all the money in the world. To see something you want and get it without a thought of how it will affect the electric bill at the end of month.
I can give you an idea of what it is like. Not because I’ve ever been there of course. I have little hope of ever being in that lifestyle. But I can tell you based on what I’ve read and heard. The suicide rate and drug use rate and divorce rate is amazingly high for many of those who ‘have it all.’
Perhaps the wealthiest man in all of history put it in his own words. “I had it all,” Solomon said, “I had women, and money and power. If I wanted something, I got it. Know what I found? It couldn’t buy my happiness and contentment. It was meaningless and worthless.” (Read the book of Ecclesiastes for the real story.)
The only source of true fulfillment and contentment is found in our Heavenly Father. The only way to find true and meaningful peace is through the God of creation who promises us that he will take from his wealth and his storehouses to give us all we need to be content.
An unending supply of money will provide you with all your physical needs, but the needs of the heart will only be met through a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. He will supply all you need to fill that hole in your soul. And best of all, it’s all free for the asking.
Be strong and let your heart take courage, all you who wait for and hope for and expect the Lord! Psalm 31:24 (AMP)
The amount of courage we have is dependent on what we put our hope in.
If I put my hope in my own ability to follow God I’ll be frustrated. I’m weak. I follow my own desires far too often. Selfishness sneaks up on me at the least likely time. I’m full of lust. My past haunts me.
If I put my hope in relationships I’ll be lonely. People fail us. The promise things, but fail to honor that promise. They all too often put demands on me that I can’t fulfill, or if I do fulfill them to the best of my ability, expect more.
If I put my hope in finances I fall short. Too many times that I have way too much month at the end of the money and if I do have the finances to get what I want, it’s often outdated by the end of the week.
Putting hope in religion is demoralizing. Religion puts far more expectations and demands on me than God would ever do. Churches seem to be ivory palaces full of dead man’s bones. Pretty on the outside but full of politics, judgmental attitudes and hypocritical leaders on the inside.
If I put my hope in living healthy, you know, doing the diet thing, exercising, and all the rest, someone else always seems to be trimmer or enjoying life more than I. And I still get sick. Some of the ‘healthiest people I know’ have suffered from debilitating illnesses or accidents that have robbed them of life.
Maybe you have felt some of the feelings listed above. Your strength to go on seems to have left you. Increased effort has only brought increased frustration and feelings of failure. It doesn’t have to be that way.
If we put our hope in God’s hands our frustration turns to a realization that our success has never been dependent on our ability. God has never put much hope in our ability to follow his rules, that’s why he offers me Jesus. That’s why he offers me forgiveness and grace.
He’s never measured our success by the amount of money in our bank account or the number of friends we have on social networking sites. He’s never demanded anything that he doesn’t first give us the ability to follow through on. He knows your heart. He knows your deepest fears. He knows your past and wants to walk with you into the future.
Losing hope? Frustrated? Worried? Tired of losing sleep. Have courage based on a loving forgiving God. Worship and praise him for fact that he has reached down to give you peace through his son Jesus Christ.
PRAYER: Father God, there are many things that scare me today. I have lots of worries; lots of fears; failure seems to follow me wherever I go. Thank you that I can find my hope and rest in you. Help me have courage through your son Jesus Christ. Amen.
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. Hebrews 1:1-2
What do you do when you have important information you want delivered to someone? Historically, the answer to that question would be to tell them, face to face. To announce the message personally would be the clearest, most understandable way. Messengers would be okay, but sometimes the message may be so important you couldn’t trust it to anyone else. In that case you would most likely deliver the message personally to avoid any misunderstanding.
Today of course, the rules have changed. Face to face contact is no longer necessary and can even be impossible. Still you can send a letter (spelled S-N-A-I-L M-A-I-L); you could send an email; make a phone call or text. Today’s technology makes it easy to contact most anyone at any moment.
Still, with all the technology that is out there, the best and most effective way to get your message to people so you are sure they understand is face to face contact. (For me, that is most preferably done at a coffee shop, but you may choose your own poison!
When the creator God of the universe was nearly finished with his creative work, he looked around him and said (to his Son and his Spirit), it’s not enough. I have one more creative work in me, a masterpiece that will be like none other. The angels watched in awe as the Triune God created man and woman. They marveled at the relationship the ensued in the Garden of Eden. God, Adam and Eve, walking hand in hand down the garden path. The humans listening to the love language of their creator.
When sin entered the world through that first couple, everything changed. While God still loved his ultimate creation, mankind, their sin forced him to look away. He longed for that relationship to be restored. He put a plan in place (the Law of Moses) to try to reconcile them, but that didn’t work. He spoke to them through prophets and through nature. God did everything he could to gather our attention to his desire to enjoy the love relationship we once had with him.
The urgency of the message determines the method of delivering the message. The most urgent message is relayed face to face. So that is just what he did. Time was short and his message needed to be heard. So, Creator God sent his very own son, his flesh of flesh so to speak, to send a face to face message to his beloved.
Jesus Christ was sent to deliver Gods’ message of love, forgiveness and grace. The ultimate message of love delivered in the most marvelous of ways. God with us. Emmanuel. Alleluia. When your smart phone has a message for you it says something on the order of ‘you have mail’. Jesus was sent to remind you of the message of love from your Heavenly Father.
PRAYER: Father God. Jehovah God. Daddy. I am so thankful for Jesus. So unworthy of your love, but so glad to receive your message of love, hope and forgiveness through him. Thank you for seeking me out. Thank you for sending the ultimate message of love. Amen.
Remember the things I have done in the past. For I alone am God! I am God, and there is none like me. Isaiah 46:9 (NLT)
I recently read a book on leadership and values in business. The author tells the story of how he took an ‘educated risk’ early in his career. His company was considering buying another company. He was on the team that would make a recommendation to buy or not buy the company. While the rest of the team gave the go ahead, he had a hunch that it was a bad situation. He went over the heads of his team and supervisor to tell the CEO his opinion.
As a result of his risk, the issue was reopened and it was decided not to buy the company. History would show that the decision he suggested was the right one. His decision was made on the basis of the things he learned about the other company’s track record among other things. His investigation told him that the company simply wasn’t worth the cost.
What’s true in the business world is true in the spiritual realm as well. Yet, ironically, we seldom treat our spiritual lives the same way as we treat our finances and physical life. Jehovah God tells us to count the cost. Look at his track record; consider what you’ve seen about him in the past when you make a decision about the future.
There are many god’s in our world, and they all have one thing in common, they have a cost involved. The god of relationship demands that the relationship remain exciting, fulfilling and new. If it doesn’t measure up our nature tells us to look elsewhere, to find a new, exciting relationship to fulfill our desires.
The god of want tells us that true happiness comes from the newness and amount of our toys. Gaining possessions at all costs is the demand of this god of want. The true cost isn’t realized until our kids are grown and we realize we’ve never taken time to get to know them. We aren’t aware of the true cost of want until we’ve built a wall of debt so thick we will never see the light of financial freedom.
The god of self-indulgence demands that we pursue a lifestyle that keeps us happy. Monetary cost is no issue. The bodies strewn in our path are of no consequence. The important thing is to realize that ‘life is too short to take it seriously’.
The god of religion demands that you act a certain way; that you worship in a certain style; that you hold to a certain set of dogmas and doctrines. The god of religion is a sly one because he knows just enough to lure you into a trap of feeling you are a good person, until you realize you’ve paid with your soul.
There is only one God in this world that is different from all the other god’s. Jehovah God asks nothing from you. He’s not about rules, he’s about relationship. He’s not about changing the plan in the middle of the game. The cost was paid at the cross. He simply calls us to be everything he hoped we could be.
Count the cost. When you choose who to follow realize that the best deal out there is the God who’s already paid the cost and offers you the deal of a lifetime…and eternity.
PRAYER: Father God, my prayer today is for those who’ve been following after god’s who require a cost they will never be able to pay. Draw them to yourself. Thank you that you are about relationship, not rules. Amen.
Mike Fisk & Built with Grace 