My Rock and My Salvation

"He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will not be shaken." (Psalm 62:6)

I am so thankful that we have a heavenly Father who loves and cares for us so much! Hebrews 4;16 says that we can "come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." I have seen the goodness of God manifested in my life over and over again. Not just in emotional help to deal with problems but in real tangible "God episodes" where His provision and help came to bear. God still works in His people just as he always has. When you are in a hard place look to Him. Run into Him.

I love the picture in Hebrews 4:16. We run boldly to the throne of grace. When we do that we find mercy and grace when we most need it -- not when everything is just right and we have it all together but when things are hard and we've made mistakes. That's a verse we can can grasp in the midst of our brokenness and pain. In the throes of our fallen nature we can run boldly into Him because of what Jesus has done for us!

Psalm 46:1 says that "God is is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble." Look to Him first. Don't try to fix everything in your own strength and when that doesn't work try God. Run into Him first. Ask Him for wisdom and help. Trust that He is at work in your life. We serve a wonderful God.

"Whosoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock" (Matthew 7:24-25).

New Wineskins

"Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." (Matthew 9:17)

Wineskins, in Palestine, were usually made of tanned goatskins. New wine would be stored in new wineskins. The weight of the wine and the process of fermentation would stretch the skin to its maximum elasticity. The collagen in the wineskin would break down during this process. As the wine and wineskin aged together the wineskin became stiffer and stiffer. Putting new wine in an old wineskin would risk the loss of the new wine as the old wineskin would break.

In a way we are like those wineskins. We need to remain pliable before God. When you think you've figured it all out where God is concerned you have become an old wineskin. The Christian life is an ongoing process of growth and change that should continue until we die. Don't become an old stiff wineskin. When you read something in God's Word that challenges you don't try to explain it away. Be willing to submit to what God has said! When you are tested with something from the Bible that seems out of synch with your particular group don't fall back on the group and say "we don't believe that." I know ministers that will only teach passages of the Bible that line up with their beliefs. They refuse to even deal with passages that will cause them difficulty.

Let the Word of God challenge you! Let it test you! Dare to wrestle with it instead of trying to neatly package it in some palatable form. In doing so you will remain anew wineskin that God can pour into!

Humble Before God

"The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way." (Psalm 25:9)

As we humble ourselves before God we allow the process of transformation to work in our lives. As fallen human beings we are prone to be self-centered and prideful. We want our own way. We want to do our own thing. James 4:6 tells us that "God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble."

God calls us to submit our lives to Him. It's easy to say but sometimes hard to do. Of course, most of us (Christians anyway) say we do. We don't find out of if we really do until we are tested. Change and growth is a process. We all have areas we need some help in.

I have a son who works in a Christian Bookstore and he has related a lot of disturbing stories about Christians who behaved badly. Almost every story he has shared relates to people not getting their way. People wanting to use expired coupons or wanting discounts but then getting angry when they couldn't get them. He even had someone tell him he wasn't very Christian when he wouldn't take back a CD. This person had opened it up and wanted to return it. It's against state law to allow returns on opened music because of potential copyright violations.

I always wonder -- do they read the Bible? Have they been taught at all? That old self- centered behavior exhibits our ugly side for sure! The only solution for it is to humbles ourselves and submit our ways to God in everything we do. Then you begin to understand that you live for Him and not for yourself.

"I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the [life] which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Galatians 5:20)

Bring Those Thoughts Captive!

"For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." (2nd Corinthians 10:4-5)

So many of the battles that we face in life occur between our ears. Our minds can really be a battleground. That's why it is so important to submit even our thoughts to God. Sin doesn't happen in a vacuum. Wrong attitudes and beliefs don't magically spring up. They sometimes happen because of bad teaching or no teaching but, many times, they simply happen because we don't submit our thoughts to the Word of God.

For example -- somebody hurts your feeling. What is your response? Do you walk in humility, love and forgiveness? Or do you think about it and stew over it until it becomes a real resentment issue in your life? If you're living you are going to have problems. It's critical that we respond as God would have us respond. A key in doing that is to bring those thoughts that are contrary to God's Word captive. Bring them into obedience. How do you do that? By making a decision to change what you are thinking about. Replace the angry or fearful thoughts with some scripture. Talk to the Lord about it. Pray for the person who wronged you. Don't take a thought and make it sin by dwelling on it!

A Good Word

"The Lord GOD has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary." (Isaiah 50:4)

Proverbs 18:21 tells us that "death and life are in the power of the tongue." Ever notice how much quicker some folks seem to criticize instead of encourage? And yet, you can, by the words of your mouth be an incredible blessing and encouragement to someone else. Jesus told us that "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks."

If you only criticize and tear down it's time to examine your heart. We can use words to hurt or to heal -- to harm or to help. Satan is called the accuser of the brethren and we sure don't want to participate in that ministry.

Some folks say they're just speaking the "truth in love" (Ephesians 4:15) when in reality they are using that verse to excuse their behavior. I've seen a lot of truth spoken among Christians that was not handled in love.

Be a blessing. Be an encourager. God is simply looking for those who are available.

"Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers." (Ephesians 4:29)

Our Help in Time of Need

"Look!" he answered, "I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God." (Daniel 3:25)

Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego had refused to bow before the idols of Nebuchadnezzar. For this offense they were thrown in a fiery furnace. The fire was so hot it killed the men who threw them in. But then an awesome thing happened. God showed up. Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-Nego walked out of the fire.

We serve an awesome God. When you are going through the fire turn to Him. He will be there for you. Don't just believe for comfort but believe for help. We serve a real God who works in real ways for His children. God is greater than your struggle and difficulty!

"Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him [be] glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." (Ephesians 3:20-21)

The Hearing of Faith

"Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?" (Galatians 3:5)

Paul is asking a rhetorical question here. The obvious answer is by the the "hearing of faith." The hearing of faith is, in a nutshell, hearing what God has said and believing and applying it to our lives. Paul is addressing the trap that Christians easily succumb to as fallen human beings -- thinking that God's work in our lives is based on our goodness. In reality it is based on His goodness.

That's not to say that there is not a price for sin and disobedience. There is. Sin hurts us. One of the ways it hurts is that it gnaws at our conscience and gives the enemy a place to speak into our lives with thoughts like, "God doesn't listen to your prayers. Look how you sinned." It plays out in our lives by creating a paradigm for God's work in our lives that is based on our ability. We think that God helps us when we're good and abandons us when we're not so good. We've made ourselves the standard.

Paul nails that with this question. God supplies His Spirit and works in our lives by the "hearing of faith." He doesn't do this because we keep the rules and live a really good life. He doesn't do this because we are good but because He is good.