Helping Others During Trials
"Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was."
Job 2:13
This past week I received an e-mail from one of my readers telling me that their young son had just died from cancer, and they were asking for prayers. It is difficult to know what to say to someone in this situation, as we cannot imagine the thoughts that are going on in their minds, as to why God was allowing this to happen. In the Book of Job we can see how some of his friends comforted him during the time God was testing him. They were also concerned about Job and just spent time sitting with him in silence. Job knew that they cared for him, and that they did not know how to comfort him, other than to be there with him. When we look further into Job's suffering, we see other friends that were giving him advice, telling him to renounce God, as that would stop his suffering. We have to be careful as to how we comfort people, and not give them wrong counsel. If you are watching a friend go through a difficult trial in their lives, you need to pray for the wisdom on how to help them. It is not our place to give them our personal counsel or guidance. Our role as their friend is to intercede in prayer for them, and to help them in the ways that God is leading us to help them. We need to remember that God is watching how we will respond in these situations. We must trust God, seek His counsel, and wait upon Him to know how to help. Wrong advice given to someone who is in pain, can cause them to turn from God, but good advice can comfort them and have them turn to God during trouble.
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Put God In Control
Put God in Control
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
2nd Corinthians 10:3-4
I believe that the strongholds mentioned in the above scripture, and the battle that is being waged is to gain control over our minds. Satan is waging a fierce battle to gain control over each of us, and our mind is the ultimate prize that he wants control of. Our minds control our actions, our thoughts and our behavior. What we think governs what our actions are and where our attention is directed. We can’t outsmart or outthink the flesh or the devil on our own, as there is too much temptation that is thrown at us to resist. Our weapons must be “divinely powerful” if we are going to win any spiritual conflict with Satan. Satan is going to try to promote his lies through deception and temptations to try to turn us to sin. We need, however, the wisdom and knowledge that our Holy Bible gives us to resist this deception and temptation; we need God’s help. We may think that we are strong enough to resist Satan on our own, but we must realize that even though we believe in our own ability to resist, we are not strong enough to withstand the devils attacks. When we wake up each morning and turn on our televisions, we will be attacked by the evil that we see; we will be attacked when we get to our places of work by the evilness, and be tempted to do wrong; everywhere we go we will find evil. We must understand that our world is full of temptations, and we are vulnerable to these throughout our day. We must rely on the strength of God to withstand and ward off the enemy. We must allow God to have control of our minds, as this is the only way to resist Satan’s attacks and keep us pure.
“For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.”
2nd Corinthians 10:3-4
I believe that the strongholds mentioned in the above scripture, and the battle that is being waged is to gain control over our minds. Satan is waging a fierce battle to gain control over each of us, and our mind is the ultimate prize that he wants control of. Our minds control our actions, our thoughts and our behavior. What we think governs what our actions are and where our attention is directed. We can’t outsmart or outthink the flesh or the devil on our own, as there is too much temptation that is thrown at us to resist. Our weapons must be “divinely powerful” if we are going to win any spiritual conflict with Satan. Satan is going to try to promote his lies through deception and temptations to try to turn us to sin. We need, however, the wisdom and knowledge that our Holy Bible gives us to resist this deception and temptation; we need God’s help. We may think that we are strong enough to resist Satan on our own, but we must realize that even though we believe in our own ability to resist, we are not strong enough to withstand the devils attacks. When we wake up each morning and turn on our televisions, we will be attacked by the evil that we see; we will be attacked when we get to our places of work by the evilness, and be tempted to do wrong; everywhere we go we will find evil. We must understand that our world is full of temptations, and we are vulnerable to these throughout our day. We must rely on the strength of God to withstand and ward off the enemy. We must allow God to have control of our minds, as this is the only way to resist Satan’s attacks and keep us pure.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
What Do You Boast About
What Do You Boast About
"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Galatians 6:14
There are not many families in our country which do not have pictures of their children, grandchildren, parents, and other relatives hung on their walls, on their tables and usually scattered all throughout their house. Most people have their wallets full of pictures of their children and grandchildren. We all think that our children are the prettiest and the best compared to others. It also goes beyond just our families, as we proudly display any trophies, service awards, college and high school diplomas, and any other award or tokens that demonstrate our importance. Boasting is nothing new, as even in Biblical times, we see all the rituals that accompanied the mark of being a Jew and obeying the Jewish laws and customs. The Jewish requirements even went further and demanded the rite of circumcision to prove the Jewish faith. The apostle Paul, tells us that we don't need to boast about our faith, except to tell others about the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross to save us from our sins. We don't have to prove, or show anyone a certificate, or an award, or be the best, the prettiest, or smartest to be recognized and known. The only thing we need to boast about is that we have been saved, our sins have been forgiven, and we now have the promise of an eternal home in heaven, to be with our Lord and Savior for all eternity. This is the only thing that Paul tells us that we should boast about, as all the other things in life does not matter, and will be meaningless in the end. Just boasting that we belong to God is all that matters.
"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Galatians 6:14
There are not many families in our country which do not have pictures of their children, grandchildren, parents, and other relatives hung on their walls, on their tables and usually scattered all throughout their house. Most people have their wallets full of pictures of their children and grandchildren. We all think that our children are the prettiest and the best compared to others. It also goes beyond just our families, as we proudly display any trophies, service awards, college and high school diplomas, and any other award or tokens that demonstrate our importance. Boasting is nothing new, as even in Biblical times, we see all the rituals that accompanied the mark of being a Jew and obeying the Jewish laws and customs. The Jewish requirements even went further and demanded the rite of circumcision to prove the Jewish faith. The apostle Paul, tells us that we don't need to boast about our faith, except to tell others about the sacrifice that Jesus Christ made on the cross to save us from our sins. We don't have to prove, or show anyone a certificate, or an award, or be the best, the prettiest, or smartest to be recognized and known. The only thing we need to boast about is that we have been saved, our sins have been forgiven, and we now have the promise of an eternal home in heaven, to be with our Lord and Savior for all eternity. This is the only thing that Paul tells us that we should boast about, as all the other things in life does not matter, and will be meaningless in the end. Just boasting that we belong to God is all that matters.
My Daily Devotional: Trust and Have Faith
My Daily Devotional: Trust and Have Faith: "Trust and Have Faith “Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine lik..."
Trust and Have Faith
Trust and Have Faith
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”
Psalm 37:5-6
So many times in our lives we have situations where we had been feeling comfortable with our lives, then suddenly uncertainty enters the picture and we feel unsure and uncomfortable. We can see examples in the Bible where this even occurred with Peter. Peter was a fisherman and was familiar with boats and spent much of his time on the water. He was also familiar with storms and knew how to deal with these and felt comfortable just being on the water. Despite all this, when he saw Jesus approaching his boat, walking on the water, he immediately trusted Jesus so much that he stepped out of his boat, where he was safe and comfortable, into a situation where he was unsure and probably a little uncomfortable. This lasted only a few moments, and then he began to doubt, and his walk on the water ended abruptly. This is how many of us are in our walk with God, as we put our trust in God and are so committed to following Him that we actually step out of our boats, and our comfort zones. We must remember that God will never allow us to fall and sink when we are living by faith. This is the place where God wants us to be, in our walk with him; the place where we have complete trust and faith that whatever we do will succeed. It doesn’t matter that we have stepped out of our comfort zones, and may feel insecure about what God has called us to do, we need to know that God is there and will not let us fail. If God is calling us to do his will, we must be obedient and not hesitate to step out in faith. We must not let doubt and fear of the unknown keep us from pressing forward to do God’s will, as when God is by our side we will be victorious.
“Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.”
Psalm 37:5-6
So many times in our lives we have situations where we had been feeling comfortable with our lives, then suddenly uncertainty enters the picture and we feel unsure and uncomfortable. We can see examples in the Bible where this even occurred with Peter. Peter was a fisherman and was familiar with boats and spent much of his time on the water. He was also familiar with storms and knew how to deal with these and felt comfortable just being on the water. Despite all this, when he saw Jesus approaching his boat, walking on the water, he immediately trusted Jesus so much that he stepped out of his boat, where he was safe and comfortable, into a situation where he was unsure and probably a little uncomfortable. This lasted only a few moments, and then he began to doubt, and his walk on the water ended abruptly. This is how many of us are in our walk with God, as we put our trust in God and are so committed to following Him that we actually step out of our boats, and our comfort zones. We must remember that God will never allow us to fall and sink when we are living by faith. This is the place where God wants us to be, in our walk with him; the place where we have complete trust and faith that whatever we do will succeed. It doesn’t matter that we have stepped out of our comfort zones, and may feel insecure about what God has called us to do, we need to know that God is there and will not let us fail. If God is calling us to do his will, we must be obedient and not hesitate to step out in faith. We must not let doubt and fear of the unknown keep us from pressing forward to do God’s will, as when God is by our side we will be victorious.
Monday, February 7, 2011
God's Inner Beauty
God's Inner Beauty
"Just as there were many who were appalled at him--his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness."
Isaiah 52:14
In the previous devotional I discussed King Saul who was a man of great outward beauty, but his inner beauty was greatly lacking. In the scripture above this is the description of Jesus after being beaten and humiliated and then hung on the cross to die for our sins. This scripture tells us that Jesus had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him. There was nothing in His appearance that would want us to desire Him. Although Jesus was the Son of God, He was sent as a humble servant, to be despised and rejected by men. He would be arrested, tried, convicted and nailed to a cross. From a human standpoint His birth, life, suffering, and death was not what we would expect as the Son of God. However, even though we don't see the beauty of His birth, and His death, we all can see the inner beauty of what He means to us. "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5 I believe these are some of the most powerful scriptures found in our Bibles, and all Christians should be able to see behind the ugly outward appearance, and see the beauty of what God's love is like for each of us. We should see the beautiful face of God, and should bow in humble adoration to His nail pierced hands, and the crown of thorns on His head. We should all rejoice as we view the beauty of our Lord and Savior and His love for us.
"Just as there were many who were appalled at him--his appearance was so disfigured beyond that of any man and his form marred beyond human likeness."
Isaiah 52:14
In the previous devotional I discussed King Saul who was a man of great outward beauty, but his inner beauty was greatly lacking. In the scripture above this is the description of Jesus after being beaten and humiliated and then hung on the cross to die for our sins. This scripture tells us that Jesus had no beauty or majesty to attract us to Him. There was nothing in His appearance that would want us to desire Him. Although Jesus was the Son of God, He was sent as a humble servant, to be despised and rejected by men. He would be arrested, tried, convicted and nailed to a cross. From a human standpoint His birth, life, suffering, and death was not what we would expect as the Son of God. However, even though we don't see the beauty of His birth, and His death, we all can see the inner beauty of what He means to us. "But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed." Isaiah 53:5 I believe these are some of the most powerful scriptures found in our Bibles, and all Christians should be able to see behind the ugly outward appearance, and see the beauty of what God's love is like for each of us. We should see the beautiful face of God, and should bow in humble adoration to His nail pierced hands, and the crown of thorns on His head. We should all rejoice as we view the beauty of our Lord and Savior and His love for us.
My Daily Devotional
Jesus Has Plans for Us
“Take away the stone, ‘He said. But Lord, said Martha, the sister of the dead man, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
John 11:39
Have you ever been disappointed with God’s apparent lack of response to your prayers? I am sure that almost all of us have at one time prayed to God, and have not had our prayers answered in a timely manner. It can be disheartening when you have asked God to help and intervene in a particular situation, and to know that He could have changed the outcome of your particular circumstance. But through all this, we must realize that God’s plans may not be our plans, just as it was with Martha and Mary, and their brother Lazarus. We can see in the scripture above that it was not that Jesus did not care about Lazarus, as He loved him, and had not forgotten about him. The Bible tells us that Jesus intentionally delayed going to help saying “it is for God’s glory, so that God’s son may be glorified through it.” Jesus had a plan, but Mary and Martha did not know that. All they knew was that their brother had died and Jesus didn’t come in time. Jesus knew their pain and felt it also. In fact, the Bible tells us that Jesus wept with them, but when they came to the tomb, Jesus commanded that the stone in front of the tomb be removed and for Lazarus to come forth. Many times in our lives we only see the trouble in front of us, and we want Jesus to come to our rescue and save us, but we don’t always know about God’s divine plan for us. We can become weary and disappointed when God does not immediately answer us. We need to remember that sometimes God’s plans for us might include a delay. As we wait, we must not give up, but continue to trust and have faith that God will answer our prayer, and that He cares for us and in His time will come and save us
“Take away the stone, ‘He said. But Lord, said Martha, the sister of the dead man, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
John 11:39
Have you ever been disappointed with God’s apparent lack of response to your prayers? I am sure that almost all of us have at one time prayed to God, and have not had our prayers answered in a timely manner. It can be disheartening when you have asked God to help and intervene in a particular situation, and to know that He could have changed the outcome of your particular circumstance. But through all this, we must realize that God’s plans may not be our plans, just as it was with Martha and Mary, and their brother Lazarus. We can see in the scripture above that it was not that Jesus did not care about Lazarus, as He loved him, and had not forgotten about him. The Bible tells us that Jesus intentionally delayed going to help saying “it is for God’s glory, so that God’s son may be glorified through it.” Jesus had a plan, but Mary and Martha did not know that. All they knew was that their brother had died and Jesus didn’t come in time. Jesus knew their pain and felt it also. In fact, the Bible tells us that Jesus wept with them, but when they came to the tomb, Jesus commanded that the stone in front of the tomb be removed and for Lazarus to come forth. Many times in our lives we only see the trouble in front of us, and we want Jesus to come to our rescue and save us, but we don’t always know about God’s divine plan for us. We can become weary and disappointed when God does not immediately answer us. We need to remember that sometimes God’s plans for us might include a delay. As we wait, we must not give up, but continue to trust and have faith that God will answer our prayer, and that He cares for us and in His time will come and save us
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