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