Christ, Our Solid Rock

The power of prayer girding every circumstance in our life is laid on a foundation of the solid Rock of Christ and His sacrifice in our life. This solid bedrock supports us with both positive and negative experiences from our past. God used these incidents in our life to add to the emotional and mental framework of the house the Lord is building in our life.

Negative emotions are worm-riddled planks, which give our house an insecure structure. God replaces that rotting wood with His Truth about a situation. He may not use a Bible verse, but He will speak an impression in our spirit that is biblical and that we know is from Him. We renounce Satan's lies about this issue and renew our mind with God's Truth.

This frees us to forgive any person who harmed or wounded us in any way. The negative emotions, which plague us - especially people with a melancholy personality, are slowly replaced with thoughts that are factual, gracious, accurate, holy, divine, admirable and commendable. We focus on what we know is true about Christ in us, and His life in other Christians.

Then the peace of God will fill every corner of the new house, which God is building with our life (Philippians 4:7-9; 2 Corinthians 5:17). These new planks, these strong and solid Truths, add to our firm foundation of prayer and God's presence in our life. Focusing on the Truths of God's Word calms our fears, builds up our confidence in Christ within us (Colossians 1:27, 3:1-4; Galatians 2:20), and releases His power in our thoughts, words and deeds.

Prayer:

Father God, with our eyes focused solely on You and Your Word, we realize that regardless of the battles we experience in our world, You already overcame them all through the blood of Christ. You are working out everything, even negative circumstances, for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28). Help us to rely on You, rather than in worldly wisdom and strength, to fight our battles. For You are our mighty stronghold (Psalm 18:2). Remind us that Jesus is our firm foundation and nothing and no one can shake us out of Your hand (Romans 8:35-39). Regardless of the negative activity around us, we remain peaceful and calm within, with trust and hope in You alone (Psalm 62:5; Isaiah 26:3).

Thought for the Day:

Do not be afraid or discouraged by the negative activity and thoughts in your life, no matter how overwhelming they are; because there is greater power in us through Christ, who helps us to fight our battles, than the power of the flesh, the world or the devil combined. - 2 Chronicles 32:7-8

For help with a wounded past go to:

( www.theophostic.com )

The Power of Knowing God

 

To know God personally is to relate to Him intimately as a man “knows” his wife (Genesis 4:1). This is not an intellectual pursuit, but an experienced unity. Knowing God provides us with eternal life (John 17:3). The Jewish culture looked for signs, and the Greek culture craved wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:21). When Christ came, He served as a stumbling block for both cultures; however, to those who are called in Christ, Jesus is both our power and the wisdom of God in us (1 Corinthians 1:22-24).

When I consider the size and magnificence of creation, I cannot comprehend it. It is too magnanimous for me to fathom. The heavens and skies declare the glorious works of God’s hands (Psalm 19:1). God uses creation to preach His gospel (Romans 1:20). Even in countries where missionaries have yet to preach, the heavens are proclaiming His righteousness and the people see His glory (Psalm 97:6).

Those who reject Christ are without excuse, and refrain from believing only because of their rebellion and pride (John 3:18). God does not need natural beauty, skill and talents, just a submissive person, emptied of him/her self. He does not want those who take the credit, only those who give Him the glory. He has no need for excellence, eloquence and elegance in His people. He simply looks for a surrendered life.

We labor with all the energy of Christ’s power working in and through us (Colossians 1:29). This is the same power, which raised Jesus from the dead and seated Him at God’s right hand (Ephesians 1: 19-20). Jesus knew Peter’s habit of depending on the flesh to fight his battles. That is why the transformation in Peter after Pentecost is so amazing! He learned that God needs no human talents or abilities, but only His Spirit working in and through us (Zechariah 4:6; Acts 2:14-36).

Prayer:

Father God, when I lay down to sleep, I remember all that You do for me. I meditate on Your goodness all through the night watches. You are my help, and I hide and rejoice in the shadow of Your wings. My soul clings to You for stability and comfort. You hold me up with Your powerful right hand (Psalm 63:6-8). You are my rock and You bring me true salvation. You are my strong fortress, which prevents me from being shaken by the storms and quakes of life (Psalm 62:2). I depend on You to move in me by the power of your Spirit.  

Thought for the Day:

As Born Again Believers, we walk in the power of knowing God.

When I Am Weak

Read: Romans 5: 3-5

“That's why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, troubles, hardships and persecutions that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” – 2 Corinthians 12:10

Bad things do happen to good people. Life does hurt...everyone. The good news is that your negative experience holds the seed for a miracle! God is working ALL things, even this fearful experience, out for your good (Romans 8:28). We can actually look forward to bad things happening, because it is just another opportunity for God to show us His goodness and greatness! Paul put it like this, “Count it all joy, when you fall into various trials” (James 1:2).

Life is imperfect because of original sin. When Adam and Eve disobeyed, God's perfect plan for Paradise came to a screaching halt. Man forfeited his dominion over the earth to Satan. Sin became the new norm in the world. Due to our sin, we deserve hell! God owes us nothing! Everything He does for us is whipped cream on the pie, icing on the cake, and gravy on the potatoes! God’s love is a gift from above, way beyond what we deserve.

Negative circumstances are not God’s fault! So, do not blame Him! He created a perfect world in which He planned for us to live. Yes, God can change the circumstances of our life, and He often does. However, He is not obligated to change them. Once He redeems us by the blood of the Lamb, all of our sins are washed away; but sin still rules in the hearts of mankind. Bad things happen to us when others impose their sin on us, or when we reap from the sins that we sowed.

Our God is an awesome God. He hides us under His wings during stressful times! The Lord is our rock, our fortress, our stronghold and our deliverer. He delivers us from our enemies. We call upon the Lord, because He is worthy of our praise (Psalm 18: 2-49). He is our refuge, our shield in battle and the horn of our salvation. We still have to go through battles in this imperfect world, but He is our shield that protects us from even greater harm.

Jesus stated that in this life we WILL have tribulation, but to be of good cheer, because He aleady overcame the world (John 16:33). The righteous have many afflictions, but the Lord delivers us out of them all (Psalm 34:19). Remember Job? He is an example of a man who continued to trust the Lord in sorrow and suffering. We can see how the Lord’s plan saw him through suffering and affliction, which eventually ended for his good (Romans 8:28), because of the Lord’s tender mercy (James 5:11).

President Bush, Sr. told the story about a boy who offered this simple prayer at bedtime: "God, bless my Mommy, and my Daddy, and my brother and sister.  And God.... do take care of Yourself...because if anything ever happened to You, we'd all be sunk." I love that!

Since the Lord lives, we are assured that ALL things will work together for our good (Romans 8:28). This is His promise to all of those who love Him and who are the called according to His purpose. We can rely on it and look forward to it. He probably will not bless you in the way you want Him to, but He will bless you in the way you need Him to!

Why do we find it so hard to trust and believe in the goodness of the Lord. One reason is that we take the Lord for granted (Psalm 106:7; John 12: 37-38). Also, we do not stand on what we know as truth (Isaiah 7:9), and we do not relying on the Lord (Matthew 13:58).

Another reason, is because Satan is very quick to blind us by his lies and deception (Luke 8:12). Then, shamefully, at times we also walk in disobedience (Hebrews 4:6 & 11), and/or are double minded (James 1:6-8). Thankfully, God steps in and helps our unbelief. God is faithful, even when we fail to obey (Romans 10:21; 2 Thessalonians 3:3; 2 Timothy 2:13).

Sometimes, we turn the concept of believing into a mountain that seems impossible to climb. The simple truth is found in Hebrews 11:6. It tells us what we must believe: "Anyone who comes to God must believe only two things:
1. That He exists.
2. That He rewards those who earnestly seek Him.”

With this belief in our heart, we can live victoriously in whatever plan God assigns to us, because God is worthy of our trust.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus, You tell us to cast all of our cares upon You, because You care about us (1 Peter 5:17). Remind us to come to You when we need something, and then leave the method and timing of Your supply up to You. Thank You that we can live in the center of Your will with Your peace ruling and reigning in our hearts (Philippians 4: 6-9).

Thought for the Day:
We know that God exists and rewards us, because of His past deeds and His future promises.

The Trouble with Self-reliance

Read: Joshua 7:3-4

“There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.” - Joshua 1:5

Moses faithfully led the children of Israel through every step of their journey from Egypt to the Promised Land. This included the forty years of aimless wandering in the wilderness, when God doomed the twelve tribes because of their sin of unbelief and their failure to obey His directive. Every person, who relied on their own understanding of the situation ahead of them, rather than trusting in God’s direction, died in the wilderness. From that entire generation, only Moses, Joshua and Caleb survived.

In the end, even Moses failed to obey. In his anger over the constant complaining of the Israelites, he struck the rock twice, instead of speaking to it as God commanded him to do (Numbers 20:8-11). After this, God anointed Joshua to assume the leadership of Israel. God also restrained Moses from reaping the reward of his work. He was not allowed to enter into the Promised Land (Numbers 20:12).

As a young man, untried in the realm of full command in leadership, Joshua relied heavily on God’s direction and wisdom. God gave him repeated victories and Joshua’s confidence grew with each success. When they finally arrived at the tiny city of Ai, the scouts reported that the city had few men. Joshua felt confident that his army would come away with another victory; therefore, he failed to consult the Lord’s direction for this battle.

God did not let Joshua down, nor did He go back on His promise to give them the Promised Land, but He did not honor Joshua’s attempt at self-reliance. The army lost the battle, and the survivors came home disheveled, discouraged and defeated. We can learn lessons from the lives of both Moses and Joshua.

Success is ours, only as we rely on God for His guidance and as we walk in His ways. The key to victory is to remember the importance of trusting God and obeying His directions. God gave us His Spirit to guide our every step. No matter how insignificant the task, we can seek His counsel, walk in His strength and enjoy His success in everything we say and do. Self-reliance leads to ruin; reliance on God’s Spirit leads to success.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, seeking Your direction gives us the confidence to accomplish Your will with our lives. Remind us to rely on You every step of the way, and not to lean on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5-6).

Thought for the Day:

Failure is not a necessary ingredient when learning to succeed.

More Than We Can Bear

Read: James 1: 12-15

“Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.” – Ephesians 6:13

People think that 1 Corinthians 10:13 says that God will not test us more than we are able to bear. Then they get angry with God when they experience trials that are too difficult for them. This verse actually states, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."

God gives us the ability to withstand temptations; but He usually gives us more trials in life than we can handle. More than we can handle, but not more than He can handle. He allows this to teach us that we can do all things through Him (Philippians 4:13). He encourages us to put on His armor to protect our vital spiritual organs as we go into battle (Ephesians 6:11-18).

God is our strong tower and our mighty fortress during our trials. He also provides our strength in trials, as we rely on Him at all times. God even promises to work all things out for our good (Romans 8:28). Even though the evidence is against us, we learn to see things by faith rather than by sight (Hebrews 11:1). Then, as we overcome life’s hardships, our faith grows.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, when I have done all I can, teach me to stand (Ephesians 6:13). Help me to remember that when my life is empty, You fill it. When difficulties overcome me, You deliver me. When I fail, You still love me; and that is all that really matters. 

Thought for the Day:

When you can't trace His Hand in your circumstance, trust His heart!