God Is There To Help

During my Bible reading this past week I came up to Deuteronomy chapter 20. The first verse says,
 "When you go out to battle against your enemies and see horses and chariots and people more numerous than you, do not be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you."
There was so much encouragement offered in that verse that I would like to share.

We all know in life that we have battles. There is no getting around that. In this verse the context was that the Israelites would have military battles, but we can also make the application to life's battles that we all face.

In the verse it says that at times, the enemy is going to outnumber you. Let me put it this way for us today, at times the odds will be stacked against you. We all enjoy enjoy a battle when we have the odds on our side. But in life we often have challenges and battles where the odds are against us coming through. Examples? Too much month left at the end of the money. Rumors of losing your job. Marriage problems. So often we see situations that didn't turn out well for others and think that we will experience the same outcome.  The list could go on and on. In life we are often in situations where the odds don't favor a positive outcome on our part.

When the odds are stacked against us, this is where that we still have to trust in God. I admit, it is not always easy to trust when the odds are stacked against you. I wish I could say that I always trust and I'm never afraid, but it's not true. What does help though is that the verse says in those times," don't be afraid of them." Why does this help? It says that I have a choice. I can choose to be afraid or not. I don't have to automatically give in to fear. Why? for the LORD your God, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, is with you.

The Israelites had been in slavery to the Egyptians for hundreds of years. But God set them free through various miracles and great acts. If you have ever seen the 10 Commandments on TV, that movie shows what God did. So what God was essentially saying was, "Remember you have been in impossible situations before, but I brought you out. The odds were stacked against you before, but I brought you through." We haven't come out of a literal Egypt in our lives, but God has brought us out of some impossible situations. So when the odds are stacked against us in life God wants us to reflect on what He has done for us in the past. This is so important, because if we don't keep reminding ourselves of what God has done for us the enemy will continually tell you what God is not going to do. You have heard his voice in your mind before," this situation isn't going to change", "God isn't going to help", "take matters into your own hands", "things never work out for you", "you aren't worthy of God's help". Again, the list could go on and on as to what the enemy says to us to try to discourage us. But remember that God tells us to reflect on what He has done for us in the past. He has brought us through some impossible situations.

So, there are going to be times when the odds are going to be stacked against us. God's Word tells us not to be afraid. For God who has helped us before when the odds were stacked against us, is with us. God is there to help.

If God is for us, who is against us?
Romans 8:31b

Troy

Getting Back Up After A Beat Down

Everyone of us have experienced those times in life when things just don't go the way we had imagined. In fact, there are times when not only has life not gone the way we had imagined, but it went worse then we had imagined. During those times when we've experienced a beat down we can feel like staying down. Like a boxer who has been beat up round after round when they finally go down instead of getting back up, they just stay down. But we all know that in life that we have to keep getting back up.

We are presented with many options when we want to get back up. What will we cling to in order to get back up? Where will we go for help in order to get back up? Many of the options presented to us can just lead to another beat down in life. I think many of us have gone down that road. I know I have before.

In the Bible we are told the story of David. In this particular story, David experiences a beat down. David and his army had been gone, when they came back to where they were staying they discovered that it had been burned with fire by their enemies the Amalekites. As if that wasn't bad enough the Amalekites had taken the women, and the sons and daughters of David and his men. The Bible tells us that David and his people wept until they had no strength left to weep. (Anyone ever been there before?) As if all this wasn't bad enough, David became distressed because the people began to talk of stoning him. In the midst of all of this the Bible tells us that David strengthened himself in the LORD his God. Here is how that story is told:

1 Then it happened when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, that the Amalekites had made a raid on the Negev and on Ziklag, and had overthrown Ziklag and burned it with fire ; 2 and they took captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great, without killing anyone, and carried them off and went their way. 3 When David and his men came to the city, behold, it was burned with fire, and their wives and their sons and their daughters had been taken captive. 4 Then David and the people who were with him lifted their voices and wept until there was no strength in them to weep. 5 Now David's two wives had been taken captive, Ahinoam the Jezreelitess and Abigail the widow of Nabal the Carmelite. 6 Moreover David was greatly distressed because the people spoke of stoning him, for all the people were embittered, each one because of his sons and his daughters. But David strengthened himself in the LORD his God.
  1 Samuel 30:1-6

So when the beat downs of life come (and they do come) we have found that the Bible tells us that we can  follow the example of David and strengthen ourselves in the LORD. But how do we do that? What does that mean? Though I am sure different people have different ways of strengthening themselves in the LORD,I think a few actions are consistent with everyone.

1: Keep Praying.
Many times a thought will come to us and say," prayer must not work since we had been praying and yet this happened in life." Don't listen to that thought. Reflect on all the answered prayers you have experienced. Reflect on all the good things that God has done for you even when you didn't pray to Him for them to happen.

2: Keep Reading Your Bible. 
This action can help us with our thought process. When those negative thoughts come (and they will) we have to counter them with the truth from Scripture. We can only do this as we keep reading our Bibles in the midst of the beat downs of life. We have to keep talking Scriptures to ourselves. Martyn Lloyd-Jones said the central cause of spiritual depression," is due to the fact that you are listening to yourself instead of talking to yourself." You see we keep listening to those negative thoughts instead of speaking scripture to ourselves.

Doing these two actions isn't always easy in the midst of the beat downs of life but they are critical to strengthening ourselves in the LORD. Sometimes we have to trust even when we don't see any change. I would like to end with an example from the Psalms. In Psalm 42 the person speaks of their soul being in despair. But then he reminds himself of God. He reminds himself of the goodness of God. You see he couldn't just let his soul stay in despair, he had to remind himself of God. He had to action.

5 Why are you in despair, O my soul ? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall again praise Him For the help of His presence. 6 O my God, my soul is in despair within me; Therefore I remember You from the land of the Jordan And the peaks of Hermon, from Mount Mizar. 7 Deep calls to deep at the sound of Your waterfalls ; All Your breakers and Your waves have rolled over me. 8 The LORD will command His lovingkindness in the daytime ; And His song will be with me in the night, A prayer to the God of my life. 9 I will say to God my rock, "Why have You forgotten me? Why do I go mourning because of the oppression of the enemy ?" 10 As a shattering of my bones, my adversaries revile me, While they say to me all day long, "Where is your God ?" 11 Why are you in despair, O my soul ? And why have you become disturbed within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him, The help of my countenance and my God.
Psalm 42:5-11

I hope you are encouraged and remember that when those beat downs come in life we can get back up by strengthening ourselves in the LORD our God.

Troy

The Life Of Jesus Pt. 3

 This blog we will look at two other people who got a chance to see the baby Jesus. Their story is told in Luke 2. Their names are Simeon and Anna.

25 And there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon ; and this man was righteous and devout, looking for the consolation of Israel ; and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple ; and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to carry out for Him the custom of the Law, 28 then he took Him into his arms, and blessed God, and said, 29 "Now Lord, You are releasing Your bond-servant to depart in peace, According to Your word ; 30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation, 31 Which You have prepared in the presence of all peoples, 32 A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people Israel." 33 And His father and mother were amazed at the things which were being said about Him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary His mother, "Behold, this Child is appointed for the fall and rise of many in Israel, and for a sign to be opposed - 35 and a sword will pierce even your own soul -to the end that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed." 36 And there was a prophetess, Anna the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was advanced in years and had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then as a widow to the age of eighty-four . She never left the temple, serving night and day with fastings and prayers. 38 At that very moment she came up and began giving thanks to God, and continued to speak of Him to all those who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem.

Luke doesn't give us much information concerning these two individuals. Though we may not know much about their lives, we do know that they lived holy and devout lives.

It was the custom in those days that you would bring your baby boy and present him to the Lord and to offer a sacrifice. This is why Mary and Joseph had come to the temple.

We see from Simeon that 1) We should never give up hoping.
God had promised Simeon that he would not die until he had seen the Christ. Events in Irael's history were not looking good. They were under control of the Romans. Many of the religious leaders didn't know what it meant to have a relationship with God. But Simeon held on to God's promise. I believe that what helped him to remain hopeful was that he was righteous and devout. Hope seems to wither away when we begin to forget about God. For then the only thing we can hope in is what we see and ourselves. In that type of situation we begin to lose hope because we see how bad things are and we know deep down inside we do not have the power to change things or circumstances. But keeping our lives devoted to God helps us to stay hopeful. For we know with God all things are possible.

2). The manifestation of the promise goes beyond the promise.
Simeon was told that he would not see death until he had seen the Lord's Christ. He kept hoping in that promise all his life. But as we scene played out, not only did he get to see the Christ, he also got to put him into his arms. Isn't this true of our lives in God? There have been many instances in my own life where I felt God had given me a promise. But when the promise was fulfilled it turned out even better than I thought. This can also happen in life situations where we may not get a promise from God, but where God has put something in our hearts to do something and it turns out better than we could imagine. I think of all my musician friends in this instance. We all as young kids desired to play an instrument. I believe that God put that desire in us. But as we look back over our lives, all of the experiences we have had are greater than anything we imagined in that initial desire just to play music. Parent also have this experience when it comes to having kids. The experience exceeds anything they could have imagined. And so it is when God fulfills His promise.

3). Like Anna we should give thanks to God and tell others about Jesus.
Luke tells us that when Anna saw the baby Jesus she began giving thanks to God and spoke of Him to all who were looking for the redemption of Jerusalem. I believe we should also thank God for His Son and tell others. Life may not always work out the way we hope or expected but we still have many things in life to be thankful for.

It is amazing how God allowed these two people to come into contact with Jesus. As we know it wasn't like Jesus was born and the whole world knew He was the Savior. No one knew at that time except to the few who it had been revealed to. The wise men, the shepherds, Simeon and Anna. As Jesus' life goes on even though He does only good, preforms miracles and fulfills what God had said His Son was going to be like, the majority of people still didn't believe that He was the Savior, The Christ. Isn't the same true today? Most people know the name Jesus, have heard about what He has done and yet still don't want to believe He is who He says He is. That is why for those of us who do believe we should be extremely thankful to God. We should be thankful for God's grace. That like Simeon and Anna,  God has allowed us to come into contact with His Son. It is nothing we can boast of. Because we didn't have anything to do with it. It is by grace God has revealed Himself to us. Let us share with others how good God has been to us.

Troy

The Life Of Jesus Pt. 2

When we think about the birth of Jesus. We usually get the image of the manger scene in our mind. In the Bible, besides Mary and Joseph, there are four different instances of someone seeing the baby Jesus. The first two that I will mention are the one's that are well known. The last two are not as well known. In this blog I will discuss the first two, and in the next blog I will discuss the last two. I will again, without going to deep would like to share some life application from the stories that we find in the Bible. The first group of people that I will mention who saw the baby Jesus are the wise men. They are also known as the magi. The following passage is from Matthew 2:1-12.

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, saying, 2 "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews ? For we saw His star in the east and have come to worship Him." 3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 Gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. 5 They said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea ; for this is what has been written by the prophet : 6 'AND YOU, BETHLEHEM, LAND OF JUDAH, ARE BY NO MEANS LEAST AMONG THE LEADERS OF JUDAH ; FOR OUT OF YOU SHALL COME FORTH A RULER WHO WILL SHEPHERD MY PEOPLE ISRAEL.' " 7 Then Herod secretly called the magi and determined from them the exact time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the Child ; and when you have found Him, report to me, so that I too may come and worship Him." 9 After hearing the king, they went their way ; and the star, which they had seen in the east, went on before them until it came and stood over the place where the Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced exceedingly with great joy. 11 After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother ; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. 12 And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way.

I think one of the first lessons we can learn from the story of the wise men is that, 1) God speaks to people in ways that they can understand.
This group of people had been looking at the stars probably most of their lives. It was a passion to them. There are so many stories of God doing this in people's lives. There is a journalist who investigated the claims of Christ just as he would have investigated a story. As he approached Christ's claims in a way that he was familiar with, He came to believe the claims of Jesus. The way that God revealed Himself to the wise men was completely different than the way He would reveal Himself to the shepherds. And so it is with us, God will usually reveal Himself to us in a way that we can understand. He will generally use things that we all ready have a passion for.The way that He reveals Himself to you will probably not be the same way He reveals Himself to someone else. He doesn't use this approach all the time, but He does use it often.

We also see that, 2) God will use unlikely ways to lead people to Jesus. 
When you think of the purpose of a star, you don't initially think that the purpose of a star is to lead a person to Jesus. This lesson shows us that we can't limit God as to how He might lead someone to His Son. There are people who have never been drawn to Jesus by a sermon but have by the kindness of a Christian, or by the birth of a baby, or by the death of a loved one. There are so many examples that could be used. I have heard so many stories in my life of ways that people have been led to Jesus. Some have been conventional, some haven't.

The next passage is from Luke 2:8-20. It tells the story of the shepherds.

 In the same region there were some shepherds staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid ; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people ; 11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger." 13 And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased." 15 When the angels had gone away from them into heaven, the shepherds began saying to one another, "Let us go straight to Bethlehem then, and see this thing that has happened which the Lord has made known to us." 16 So they came in a hurry and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger. 17 When they had seen this, they made known the statement which had been told them about this Child. 18 And all who heard it wondered at the things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary treasured all these things, pondering them in her heart. 20 The shepherds went back, glorifying and praising God for all that they had heard and seen, just as had been told them.

God will reveal Himself to people who society doesn't think too highly of is the lesson I want to share from this story.
In the Jewish culture shepherds weren't thought too highly of. The orthodox looked down on them because they could not keep all the ceremonial laws. Isn't the same true for us? There are those who are very religious in their lives. I mean this in a negative way. They do all the rituals that you can think of. In the process of doing all these rituals they look down on others. They think they are better than others. They do all the rituals, but they do not have a relationship with Jesus. In fact, they aren't able to have a relationship with Jesus because of their self righteousness, their spiritual pride. They think in keeping all the rituals that they are ok with God. Yet, when you read the story of Jesus' birth, it wasn't to religious people that God revealed His Son. It was to the wise men, they weren't even Jewish. It was to these shepherds, they couldn't keep all the rituals. You and I would think that if God's Son is going to be born into the world, God would let the High Priest see Him, or the top religious people of the day. But those people were full of spiritual pride. No, God revealed Himself to the lowly, to the seekers. The same is true today. God reveals Himself to the humble. To those who don't feel they know it all. To those who others would never think of. If you are in a relationship with Jesus right now, you would probably agree with me that most people who know you would never have thought of you as someone who God would desire to have a relationship with. Yet, here you are, in a relationship with the God of the universe.

Remember, if you feel like you don't know it all when it comes to God. If there is a humbleness to you when it comes to God. If you feel that a relationship with God has to be more than keeping rituals, you are the type of person God can reveal His Son to. God may reveal Himself in ways that you are familiar with and He may use things that you or others would never think of as ways to get your attention and reveal Himself to you. Stay humble and alert for God loves to reveal Himself.

Troy

The Life Of Jesus pt.1

So I thought I would go through different parts of Jesus' life and write my thoughts. I will not go "too deep" with my thoughts. What I think I will do, is comment on the verses and maybe share a practical application to life and then a prayer. I may call it "The Life Of Jesus" and as I add a new post I will go pt.1, pt.2, etc. So we will begin with Matthew chapter 1.

 1 The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham : 2 Abraham was the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob, and Jacob the father of Judah and his brothers. 3 Judah was the father of Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez was the father of Hezron, and Hezron the father of Ram. 4 Ram was the father of Amminadab, Amminadab the father of Nahshon, and Nahshon the father of Salmon. 5 Salmon was the father of Boaz by Rahab, Boaz was the father of Obed by Ruth, and Obed the father of Jesse. 6 Jesse was the father of David the king. David was the father of Solomon by Bathsheba who had been the wife of Uriah. 7 Solomon was the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, and Abijah the father of Asa. 8 Asa was the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, and Joram the father of Uzziah. 9 Uzziah was the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, and Ahaz the father of Hezekiah. 10 Hezekiah was the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, and Amon the father of Josiah. 11 Josiah became the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon. 12 After the deportation to Babylon : Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, and Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel. 13 Zerubbabel was the father of Abihud, Abihud the father of Eliakim, and Eliakim the father of Azor. 14 Azor was the father of Zadok, Zadok the father of Achim, and Achim the father of Eliud. 15 Eliud was the father of Eleazar, Eleazar the father of Matthan, and Matthan the father of Jacob. 16 Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary, by whom Jesus was born, who is called the Messiah. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations ; from David to the deportation to Babylon, fourteen generations ; and from the deportation to Babylon to the Messiah, fourteen generations.

When you first begin to read Matthew you get a bunch of names. This is the genealogy of Jesus. You can read about some of these people in the Old Testament. This list only goes back to Abraham. You can begin to read about Abraham in Genesis 12. At that time he is known as Abram.

The Jews were waiting for a Savior. They had been waiting many years for the Christ. (Christ means Annointed One). But if you really think about it, all people have been waiting for a "savior". It seems to be a universal longing. When you think of many of the most popular movies or books, there is usually a savior of some kind in the story. Think about it, Star Wars, The Lord Of The Rings, Braveheart, Gladiator and the list could go on and on. They all share the idea of a savior. Even romantic movies have the idea of a person coming to be your savior. Jane Eyre books like Sense and Sensibility. In fact, in Titanic, at the end Rose says, "He saved me in every way a person can be saved."

 You would think that if Jesus was going to come into this world He would come through a "pure" line. As you read about some of these people you quickly learn that this family is anything but "pure".

Abraham, for example. He is a great man of faith. But also out of a lack of faith he lied, which put his wife's life in jeopardy. He did this not just once, but twice.

There is David who was known as a man after God's own heart. But as Ken Gire says, he was also a man after other things. Bathsheba, for one. With whom he committed adultery." He also in trying to cover up his sin, had her husband murdered.

Rahab was a prostitute. Jacob was a trickster. As you read about these people in the Old Testament you begin to see they all had dysfunctional lives. You want to talk about a dysfunctional family, this is it.

And yet, this was the line that Jesus came through. These were the people Jesus chose to identify himself with. You and I don't get to choose our family. But Jesus is God, and He came through this group of people.

Application: As I reflect on this passage it reminds me that God can still use people who have made some mistakes in their lives. These people didn't make "small" mistakes. These were mistakes that society looks at as big. Murder, adultery, prostitution, deception and the list could go on and on. So we need to remind ourselves that our sin can't get to a place where God's grace can't reach.

I also am reminded that God is still working out His plan in spite of our shortcomings. Now this isn't an excuse to be disobedient to God. But God still worked out His plan even though these people seemed to make some very big mistakes in their lives.

Finally this passage reminds me that Jesus is not ashamed to identify Himself with us. As I stated earlier, He could have come through a line that was more pure than this line, but He didn't. He continues to reach out to people even when we have made a mess of our lives. Others may be ashamed of us, but He isn't. In fact, the Bible says that the way that He would be ashamed of us, is if we are ashamed of Him. But He doesn't say He is ashamed of us because of our sins and failures.

Prayer: Oh LORD thank You for coming to this Earth and living among us. Thank You for identifying Yourself with us. Thank You that even though it seems like we have messed up our lives, You are still working out Your plan.Help us to not listen to that voice that tells us we have gone too far and there is no hope. As we look at this list of people and their history we know there is always hope. Help us to listen to You and respond in obedience. As You help us to get our lives to the place You want, help us to never become self righteous or to think we are better than anyone else. We thank You for never giving up on us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen