Our heavenly Father is faithful and will never forsake us. As we come to him daily, willing to be shaped and directed, his word gives guideposts of clear direction. Everything we read, see and experience shows us in some way that, although we do not visibly see God, he is with us. Over centuries of time, others have have looked back to understand that God's spirit and presence were there, even when they felt alone. We have full confidence in what God has said in the scriptures.
Psalm 33:4 For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.
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God enables his people to do great things. Some of the things we do with his ability and might are beyond our own physical power. The things we do with his power should bring glory to his name. God does not give us power to do things that are sinful and contrary to his will and nature. Let us go out today to do great things with the power we have from God.
Philippians 4:13 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. We all go through times when life seems to overwhelm us. The bible reassures us that God's presence is with us to help in difficult times, even when we don't realize it. Moments of darkness in our lives may be caused by the death of a loved one, the loss of a job or a home, or some tragedy. God has promise to never leave us alone.
Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble Jonah 2:2 In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.. I called for help, and you listened to my cry. How far do we see with our physical eyes? Yes, there are limitations. The eyes of faith, our spiritual eyes, can see things in the distance that the physical eyes cannot see. The eyes of faith will determine how we live our lives on the earth. The eyes of faith will see the spiritual reward in the distance, and it will not allow the physical things of this life to distract. The great men and women of the bible had the eyes of faith. They persevered under difficult conditions, and their eyes of faith motivated them to hold on to hope, believing that he who promise is always faithful.
Hebrews 11:13, 26 13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 26 esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward. Jesus taught and did many things when he lived on the earth. Peter said, "Jesus left us an example to follow his footsteps." True Christianity is not based on words but on deeds. When Jesus saw the plight of the sick, downtrodden, poor and suffering people, he was moved with compassion. When we see the same today, are we following the example of Jesus?
Matthew 14:14-16 14 When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick. 15 As evening approached, the disciples came to him and said, “This is a remote place, and it’s already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the villages and buy themselves some food.” 16 Jesus replied, “They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat.” The world has witnessed unprecedented disasters in the past two months. We live on planet earth and it is governed by natural laws. Sometimes the things that are needed for our survival; water, wind and sun, can bring pain, death and suffering to man. When we face disasters and human suffering, we ask the question, "Where is God?" God has not abandoned us. He sees and knows what is happen. He may allow the whirlwind, storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, earthquakes and floods for a reason on the land. We may never understand why. But we are reminded in the bible, the God of the good times is the God of the difficult times. He is the God of the hills and the God of the valley.
1 Kings 20:2828 The man of God came up and told the king of Israel, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Because the Arameans think the Lord is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the Lord.’” There is a rainbow of hope in every child of God in the midst of the storms of life. Faith is our assurance that the sun will shine again. When we face our raging storms, and everything around us seem to fail, God is standing by our side with words of assurance,"I will never leave or forsake you."
Psalm 46:1-3 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, 3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging. Water is an important element in God's creation. It is mentioned about 722 times in the bible. Water appears in the first and last book of the bible. It is used physically and spiritually in the bible. We use water for many purposes; to clean, purify, drink, wash, cook and baptize. It is useful but destructive. The few days of rain in Texas, USA, demonstrates the importance and power of water. God used forty days and nights of rain when He open the windows of heaven and fountains of the deep to destroy the world. Genesis 7:11-12 11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. 12 And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights. God made us with the capacity to sing. He gave us the ability to put words and music together to make pleasant sounds to Him. We sing in different ways. We should not let our limited ability with notes and music stop us from singing. Singing brings happiness, heals broken hearts, turns sadness into joy and express tears when our emotions are touched. Let us start our day with singing and thanksgiving. David encouraged us to sing to the Lord because He has done great things for us.
Psalm 96:1-2 Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! Sing to the Lord, all the earth. 2 Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. Ephesians 5:19-20 19 Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; 20 Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. When answers fail to come, don't be discouraged. Keep leaning on God's steadfast love and trusting in his will. God works on his own time table in answering our prayers. Some prayers are answered immediately, some in the distant future, some are delayed for our own good, and some may never be answered because they are contrary to his will. Knowing why won't make a difference but growing closer to God will. Let us pray in faith and leave it to God.
Luke 11:10 Everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. |
AuthorRoy Graneau is the full-time preacher for the South Edmonton Church of Christ. Archives
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