The Lord is with You

When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior." ~ Judges 6:12

Our pastor often says that it is easier for us to see the potential in others and to see only weaknesses within ourselves. And that's exactly what happened when God spoke to Gideon. When the Lord first spoke to him, He called Gideon as he was seen through the Lord's eyes, as a mighty warrior. Now, the Lord always sees who we are in Him, even if we don't. Just look at what Gideon said to the Lord when he was told that he would save Israel: "But Lord," Gideon asked, "how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family," (Judges 6:15). That doesn't matter to the Lord. He doesn't look at us from earth's perspective, only from heaven's. The Lord, the Maker and Creator of all things, said to Gideon, "I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites together," (v. 16). The Lord's answer is profound, yet simple: I, the Lord your God, will be with you. The Lord doesn't expect us to do it on our strength, after all, He remembers that He made us of dust and rib. Without the Lord, nothing is possible, but with Him and through Him and in Him, all things are possible!

When the Lord calls us, He often reveals to us the "finished product" and the next step. That's what the Lord did with Gideon and that's what He does with me, I'm sure it's what He does with you. When the Lord calls us, He doesn't reveal the "how's" of the matter, just the final piece that will bring Him glory. And then, He reveals the next step.

The Lord has called you. Don't worry about feeling adequate, prepared, ready, smart enough, strong enough, rich enough, or any of that. When the Lord calls us, He prepares us. As the Bible says, "But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong," (1 Corinthians 1: 27). What is your next step? What has the Lord called you to? When your fears of how it will get done, how will you do it, or how's it going to happen, don't fret. As was the Lord's answer to Gideon, it is also His answer to you: Don't you worry about the details, I will be with you.

You Get What You Expect

A few years ago, my husband and I were meeting with one of our pastors and he said to us, "Always be expecting good things to happen, because you get what you expect." Now, don't blow this out of proportion. He wasn't telling us that if we expected God to give us a big house with a swimming pool, that He would do it and all we had to do was sit back and wait. What he was saying was that our perception becomes our reality. If we are depressed all the time and think things will never turn out for us, more than likely they won't. Why? Because our thoughts control our words and our words control our actions. Look at what Jesus said to one man about how your perception becomes your reality:

Jesus was approached by a Roman officer who had a sick servant. He was seeking Jesus out to heal his servant. Jesus offered to go to the man's home, but the officer wouldn't hear of it. He said to Jesus, "Just say the word from where you are and my servant will be healed! I know because I am under the authority of my superior officers and I have authority over my soldiers. I need only say, 'Go,' and they go or, 'Come,' and they come." When Jesus heard this, He was amazed...Then Jesus said to the Roman officer, "Go on home. What you believed has happened." And the young servant was healed that hour, (Matthew 8:8-10, 13 NLT).

This story shows us two things. (1) You get what you expect. Proverbs 23:7 says, "For as [a man] thinks within himself, so he is." The officer both thought and believed that he was under the authority of Jesus and his servant was under the officer's authority. He expected that what was said to him happened and so on, down the chain of command. The Bible says, "It's like the precious oil...running down," (Psalms 133:2 NKJV). Both this soldier and his servant got what they expected. (2) Our perception of how big God is determines our reality of what He can do in our lives. In his book, In A Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day, Mark Batterson said, "We think of [God] in four-dimensional terms. But God is omni-dimensional...God has no dimensional limitations, and...that truth...[will] transform our outlook on life. ... In very simplistic terms, a dimension is a way you can move. And the number of dimensions determines what is and what is not possible...Faith gives us the dimensional freedom to overcome our human limitations by exiting space-time via prayer," (25-27). If our God is a big God and He said that He created us in His image, then when we ask for things in Jesus' name, shouldn't we expect that it will happen, (see Genesis 1:27; Mark 11:24)?

What are you believing and expecting in your life? Are you expecting that your marriage will be the best marriage there ever was or are you expecting it to fail? Are you expecting that God wants to bless you with good things because He loves to dote upon His children, or are you expecting that God's out to get you and destroy everything in your life? If the Bible is right and we get what we expect, why not be expecting good things?

Lord, You are a big God and Your Word says that Your ways are not our ways. Lord, I know that when we pray, we don't always see with our human eyes the answers to our prayers, so we often think think that they haven't been heard or answered. But Lord, I know that Your Word says that when we pray, you will hear from heaven. So Lord, I pray that you would expand our perceptions today. I pray that you would give us a peace in our hearts to know that the answers to our prayers are just around the corner, if we will only keep believing. In Jesus' Name, Amen.

Pray and Never Give Up

Jesus told his disciples a parable to show that they should pray and not give up. ~ Luke 18:1

In Daniel chapter 10, Daniel received a vision that troubled him, so he set himself to fasting for three weeks for the answer. We read that it wasn't until after the three weeks was up that the angel came to him, (see Daniel 10:1-14). A friend of mine told her story, which was like so many stories, of how her husband was not the man whom she felt God had promised her. For years, she prayed and fasted and loved God and His people. Then she would get frustrated at no results, so she went back to praying and fasting some more. I still remember standing in her kitchen and the shock that hit me when she said, "If this doesn't work, I'm going to give up." It broke my heart when she said it, because I've heard too many women say that line and then, shortly there after, give up. Fortunately, God had a line all His own: He told her to pray and not give up. A very short time later, within a month, her husband had breakthrough--their marriage had breakthrough. It was small at first, but as they both dug into God, God was faithful and it grew.

What have you been praying for? What are you believing for? A friend once told me that our prayers are like men in battle. If we fail to pray, then we fail to send one of our men to fight for us, which gives the other side the advantage. And if we give up praying all together, then who is left to fight for us? I know that the road is difficult and I know that you're tired. But know that as Daniel's answer was just around the corner, as was my friend's, as is yours, if you'll keep praying and never give up.

Opposite of the Truth

A lie is the opposite of the truth and no substitution will ever satisfy like the real thing.

In Genesis 2:16-17, God commanded Adam & Eve to eat of anything in the Garden except from the tree of Good and Evil, for if they did, they would surely die. In Genesis 3:4-5, the serpent told Eve that she would not die, but that instead her eyes would be opened and she would be like God. After hearing that, the woman, in Genesis 3:6, saw that the fruit was good for food, pleasing to the eye, and desirable for gaining wisdom. The result: Adam and Eve both ate the fruit of the forbidden tree, hid from God, were banished from the Garden, and were no longer able to eat from the tree of Life, (Genesis 3:6, 23-24).

Isn't this what happens when you go fishing? You hide the hook with something pretty, shiny, and desirable and wiggle it around in such a way that makes the fish believe this is something he wants. So he follows it for a bit and then takes a big bite. The result: he's just become your dinner. Satan works like this often. He reveals to us a very attractive lie, speckled with pieces of the truth. He dangles it in front of us, drawing us closer and closer to his serpent's hole. When he finally has us all the way in, that's when he eats us alive.

Don't believe the lie. Do with it what you should do with all words that are spoken to you: line it up with the Word of God. Take every thought, idea, and word before the Throne. God's purity has a way of revealing the lies of shadows and shining His light upon the truth. If God has called you for greatness, then the lie might be to get you to ruin it or not believe it, by inundating you with doubts. If God has said you are ready to begin, then the lie might be that you have to be better, smarter, purer, or more prepared before you can even think about beginning.

When God calls us, He prepares us, and His way is already laid out for us. God doesn't call the qualified, lest they believe it was their power and might. God qualifies the called, that He may receive all the praise and glory. Long before the creation of the world, the Lord said, "I have have called you by name," (Isaiah 43:1). That name is the purpose for which He has called you. When the Lord calls you, He knows what He's doing and He has no doubts about the decision He made in choosing you. He has purposely set you apart for His special purposes and His perfect will. Spend time, today, before His Throne, asking Him to reveal to you the Truth in everything you are hearing and cast the rest away as a lie.

Engraved

Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands... ~ Isaiah 49:15-16

Standing in an auditorium, with the lights low and every head bowed and every eye closed, should a pastor ask, "Is there someone in here who has been hurt? Perhaps you were hurt by your parents, grandparents, relatives, siblings, spouse, friend. Are there any in here who have a void, a hole in their heart, who need the love of Jesus to come in and fill it up? If that's you, raise your hand." To that question, hands would go up all over the place. It would be the majority, if not all hands.

And why, you ask? Because we live in a fallen world where hurting people tend to hurt other people, instead of to help others and in turn, help themselves. The saying, "Misery loves company," was probably spoken by someone who witnessed it, who experienced it first hand. So in this fallen land, what hope have we? None, if we are determined to stand on our own. But those whose trust is in the Lord have a new hope and an eternal promise. They have the love of a Father who promises, "I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you in the palms of my hands." And do you know why He took such care in creating us, and in carving us in the palms of His hands? It is because He loves us with an everlasting love and He dotes on us daily. We are His prize and His bride and He wanted to have us with Him, always.

If you are feeling alone, abandoned, mistreated, abused, you don't have to go it alone any longer, wondering why this person who swore to love you has treated you like rubbish. When you're feeling lost and alone, you don't have to look down any longer. Look up! He's waiting for you to turn to Him so that He can wipe away your tears. He wants to hold you and comfort you and kiss you. He loves you--all of us--so much!

Lord, you say in your Word that when the righteous cry out, you hear them and deliver them from their troubles, that you are close to the brokenhearted and save those who are crushed in spirit, (see Psalm 34:17-22). Lord, today I pray that you would do as you say in your word: that you would deliver those who need relief, that you would draw close to those who need comfort, and that you would lift up those who are crushed and downtrodden. Father, we all need a Savior and we are all seeking one--even those who have never met you. Lord, I pray that those who are seeking you would be found by you today and that those who are without hope would find hope eternal in you. Lord, as the song says, you are the lover of my soul and I have full confidence that you will never let me go. Thank you Lord Jesus, for all these wonderful gifts. It is in Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Don't Go It Alone

[Elijah] went a day's journey into the desert....and prayed that he might die, "I have had enough, Lord," he said. ~ 1 Kings 19:4

I remember a couple of years ago, we were going through the pits. There's a saying, "If life is a bowl full of cherries, why am I always in the pits?" That's how I felt. With being fairly young, I'd often heard, "You're too young to have this much stress." Or, "You're too young to have these problems." Whether we were too young or not, we were having them. The devil doesn't discriminate age, position, or sex--he attacks them all. And we were under attack. I've been thinking a lot, recently, about 1 Kings 19 and Elijah's interaction with the Lord. I remember often times thinking or saying, "I'm done. I've had enough. I don't want to play this game anymore." In fact, often times I would tell God (and others), all my husband and I have left of our wedding vows are: for better, for richer, and for healthy. I figured by then, we had already lived through: for worse, for poorer, and in sickness.

Looking back on it, do you know what got me through? It was God and the prayers of others. It wasn't my strength, because, while I was determined, I was still weak. I received great strength and a fresh measure of endurance when my girlfriends would tell me that they were praying me through, lifting me up daily. They weren't telling me to boast or brag, it was to encourage me. They were surrounding me, and us, with a hedge of protection with their prayers. I have one dear, sweet friend who has a card for every person she prays for and I know that when I'm going through something else, or need her to join me in praying over a certain topic, I can call her up and she'll write it on my card and keep praying. In fact, she so inspired me, I started my own set of cards.

That's what we all need. We need people to join with us, to rally around us, and to see it through with us. God didn't call any of us to go it alone, but to join with others and to go through life as part of a community. The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body, (1 Corinthians 12:12). That's us, the church, Christ's bride. We are a unit--the church--but we are many individual people with unique purposes, joined together for the common purpose of Christ and building each other up in Him. If this is who we are and what we are called for, how is it that some are very much like Elijah, who walked out into the desert that he might die? It's because he was all alone.

1 Kings 19:3 says he isolated himself by leaving his servant in town and went off by himself. One, by himself, is very vulnerable. One is not able to warm himself, pull himself out of a deep ditch, carry himself if he is injured, or defend himself very well if under attack, (see Ecclesiastes 4:9-12). For accountability, love, comfort, and encouragement, God made both man and woman, Jesus sent his disciples out in twos, and we are called to be many parts of one body, (see Genesis 2:21-23; Matthew 10; 1 Corinthians 12).

The devil loves to isolate us, but God has called us to be joined together. If you've found that you are walking through life and you are all alone, you don't have to be, help is close by: phone a friend, join a small group, seek out the love of the Lord and His kids. We'd love to love you, we're just waiting for the opportunity. Don't wander through the desert alone, waiting to die. Find someone to go through this valley with you, to lift you up, to encourage you.

Lord, I pray that if any are walking through the desert alone today, that they would be compelled to call even just one person to walk with them, to help them carry this burden that has caused them to be isolated. Lord, a multitude of people does not make one feel loved, but rather close personal relationships. So Lord, I pray that you would send one person to be in relationship with those who are trying to go it alone, and that those who are alone would seek it out. I pray that they would be united in friendship and united in their love for you. Lord, thank you, that you have given us friends who love us so much! In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Red Light, Green Light

By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people. ~ Exodus 13:21-22

When you were a kid, or now that you have kids, did you ever play "Red light/Green light?" The point was to get to the person yelling "red light" or "green light." The rules said you could only move when the caller yelled "green light," and as soon as they yelled "red light," you had to stop. The Holy Spirit is like that. Pastor Larry Stockstill was a guest speaker at our church the other night and he spoke on the seven branches of the Holy Spirit. He said that the fourth branch was "counsel" and that it is intended to give us clear direction. In essence, if we ask the Lord if we should proceed in any area, the Holy Spirit is our "caller," giving us a crystal clear "red light" or "green light."

Now I've experienced times when the Lord gives me a clear red or green light immediately. But other times, I have to wait. Sometimes the Lord is building my patience and my trust, to test my obedience, so He allows me to wait on an answer. I heard somebody once say that patience is the ability to have a good attitude while waiting. Psalm 27:14 says, "Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord." The Bible is full of stories about people who made requests of the Lord. It's also filled with stories of people who waited and didn't wait. The ones who waited were rewarded and kept safe; those who didn't faced things they wouldn't have otherwise had to have faced.

What have you asked God for? What decision are you trying to make? Do you feel like you have an idea, but haven't received that crystal clear answer yet Don't move! Wait until the Lord gives you that crystal clear "yes, green light, proceed," or "no, red light, stop". He will. Just like He stayed with the Israelites as either a pillar of cloud or a pillar of fire, protecting them as they followed His guidance, He will cover you. But, we are commanded to "wait for the Lord."