God Cares for Us

 

God has a special interest in the underdog. He usually chooses the downcast and trodden to use as His servants. He is no respecter of human qualities, but looks for humility of heart (James 4:10; Matthew 5:3).

It is wise for us to put our complete trust in our Father God, who loved us enough to come to the earth as our defense (John 3:16-17; Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23). He is our refuge in times of trouble and oppression (Psalm 9:9).

When God is with us, just as He was with Moses and Joshua, no one can successfully oppose us. He never abandons or fails to help us (Joshua 1:5). He takes the anxiety out of all of our tomorrows as we live one moment at a time (Matthew 6:34).

God listens to our prayers and gives us all good things to enjoy, with hopeful plans for our future. We find Him if we will seek Him and look earnestly for Him, walking in His will by His Spirit (Jeremiah 29:11-13).

Christians world-wide experience trials like ours and some even worse than ours. Satan looks for those that he can attack, harass and shred. So, we can lay our cares and worries on God's capable shoulders, since He is always thinking about us and watching out for our concerns (1 Peter 5:7-9).

God has not given us any reason to fear, but showers us with His power, love and stability of thoughts and feelings (2 Timothy 1:7). When stress and anxiety threaten to overwhelm us, His presence in our life brings us life-altering peace and joy (Psalm 94:19). 

Prayer:

Father God, You have never forsaken those who seek You. We sing praises to You, O Lord, as You dwell not only in Zion, but also within our spirit. We will declare Your wondrous deeds among all people and nations (Psalm 9:10-11). You give us Your peace so we do not need to fear anything life throws at us (John 14:27).

Nothing will ever separate us from Your love - not any current or future trial. No demon from hell, circumstance in our life, or natural or man-made disaster can shake our foundation of salvation in Christ (Romans 8:37-39; Isaiah 41:10).

Thought for the Day:

Whenever we are afraid, and we will be afraid from time to time, we can put our faith in God's faithfulness. - Psalm 56:3; Philippians 4:6-7

Yoked With Jesus

Jesus told us to take His yoke on us and He would give us rest (Matthew 29:29-30). Picture a wooden yoke hooking two oxen together to pull a load.

One oxen alone bears all the burden, but two oxen share the weight and make the load lighter. Alone in this world without Christ in our life, we are not fully alive, because our spirit is dead in sin (Ephesians 2:1-5). We barely make it and even our success is hollow and meaningless.

If we are yoked with Jesus, He carries the full brunt of the load on His shoulders. The shared yoke also keeps us in step with Jesus as we traverse life (Galatians 5:16, 25). We are never alone again.

We have no worries or fears because our sin nature is dead, and our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3, Romans 6:5; 1 Corinthians 6:17). Paul learned this lesson when God used him mightily even while imprisoned (Acts 16:16-40).

Like Paul, we too can keep our focus on Christ in us (Romans 6; 2 Corinthians 11:23-12:10). Paul considered the loss of his human achievements as trivial when compared to the joy of serving the Lord (Philippians 3:9).

We can make it the goal of our day to feast on God's Word in order to feed our spirit, to nurture our soul with spiritually beneficial activities and to sustain our body with wholesome foods.

Yoked with Jesus our burdens lighten, our worries diminish, our fears vanish and our faith in His faithfulness increases. This intimate union nourishes every part of our being through every moment of our day.

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, You invite us to yoke up with You and to permit You to carry our burdens. We do not crumble under the weight of our circumstances, because we are yoked as one with You. The closer we live in this union with You, the more peacefully life transpires for us, regardless of our circumstances. You set us free from caring about whatever is bothering us.

Because of Your plan and purpose for our life, we die to this concern and it no longer has power over our life. If we experience a similar trial, You remind us that we are dead to this issue. It is no longer a false god or a graven image, which consumes our time and attention. We experience total freedom in this area. Now, Satan has less and less to tempt or badger us with in the future. 

Thought for the Day:

When we follow God’s Spirit each moment of the day, we live in overwhelming peace and gratitude for all He has done, is doing and will continue to do for us, in us and through us. 

- Colossians 3:15

I Don't Worry; I Pray

Someone asked me if I was worried about an issue and I said without thinking, "I don't worry, I pray." That comment hit me between the eyes, and I realized how true it has become in my life of over 40 years of learning to have faith in God's faithfulness.

Worry is a negative emotion and all negative emotions are red flags to show us areas in our life where we need attention. We may have a burden to share with someone who cares, a problem to solve or an idol to renounce.

Idols do not come in different shapes and sizes anymore. They are pet peeves, unrealistic goals, unwarranted demands, irritations and worries that do not belong in our life.

They tear us down by whittling away at our joy and serenity. They cause us to respond with irritability and even anger. They spoil our mood and rob us of our witness for Christ.

When we sense a negative emotion in our soul, a searching moral inventory is a good place to start. Ask yourself what is really bothering you and give yourself time to really think about it and to answer truthfully.

When you discover the root of the negative emotion ask yourself if you can do anything about it. If so, do it; if not then ask someone for help or give it to God to solve if it is something beyond human effort.

God can move mountains in our life when we trust in His faithfulness. He may not answer our prayers as we think He should, but He always works them out for our ultimate good (Romans 8:28).

Prayer:

Father God, we often overlook the power of prayer in our life. We worry first, connive through human effort second, ask other people for help and eventually, when all else fails, we remember to pray. Remind us to use prayer as our first defense and offense against the issues we face in life.  

When we trust You completely and put You first in our life, You always direct our steps and lead us to success (Proverbs 3:5-6). Help us not to allow worry to paralyze us into inactivity and to limit or stop our efficiency and initiative as You inspire us by Your Spirit.

Thought for the Day:

When we pray without ceasing, the Lord keeps us from trouble and delivers us in our distress; He calms our storms and smooths the rough seas; He quiets the waves and brings us safely home to our port. - 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; 

Psalm 107:28-30; Matthew 8:23-27