Wrestling With Something?

Child of God,

When outsiders (close to you, or strangers) look into your world and see your hurts and your struggles, it may seem a slight thing to them. They may see that your blessings so much outweigh your complaints that they scoff at how ridiculous you sound; especially in light of all they suffer. They don’t see you, they compare your world to theirs, never stopping to consider that what you wrestle with is the very trying of your faith.

(picture from en.wiktionary.org)

As others grapple with their own faith and get frustrated with their own doubt and unbelief, they may hold you in high esteem and wonder how you could even bring up your struggles in light of theirs, whether you know how much they struggle or not.

But, know this, God sees your heart. When no one else seems to understand what you’re going through or how much you hurt, God sees you and understands. He’s not ignoring you or playing on His cell phone there on the sidelines while you’re getting tackled on the field.

(picture from stack.com)

God sees you. He holds your breath in His hands. He’s continuously pouring His life into you, even when it seems you’re at your weakest.

God hears you. He saves your tears as treasures, because He knows how much they cost you. He knows when it’s a battle to even shed those tears, when they won’t quite breech the surface of your eyes.  (Psalm 56:8)

God feels your heart break. He’s forever joined to your spirit, facing your pain and anguish with you.

No matter how you read Isaiah 59:19 – God is there to rescue you.

“When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.”

“When the enemy shall come in, like a flood the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.” 

(videoblocks.com)

Moving the comma only accents where the flood is coming from; do you feel the raging flood of your enemy? Or do you allow the flood of God’s raging rescue?

No matter how small your struggles feel when you compare them to the struggles others face – they are the trying of your faith.

Stop comparing battles, don’t be discouraged if others don’t take you seriously.

God is in this with you all the way. ---All. ---The. ---Way.

(picture from thespiritbusiness.com)

“…He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” – Philippians 1:6 (NIV)

The trying of your faith proves the power that’s within you. God already knows how strong you are; He IS the power that’s within you. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead – LIVES IN YOU!  (Romans 8:11)

He’s merely exposing that power, so that you can see it and use it!

“Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” – Luke 12:32 (KJV)

(picture from mcsinferno.news)

I'll Huff and I'll Puff....

It’s funny; sometimes you pray and know you’ve heard from God. Other times, you’re not even in prayer and God speaks to you and you recognized Him. But sometimes you travail in prayer and feel as though you’ve run into a brick wall, as though God’s not listening and you may begin to wonder if He’s really even there. We’re so fickle.

That brick wall is ours. God didn’t place it there. We’ve built it up over time. Each brick is a lie we’ve believed. Eventually the wall becomes sizeable, looking insurmountable. We built it up – and we need to tear it down.

But God doesn’t leave us to our own devices. He clearly tells us that “there’s a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” (Proverbs 16:25 KJV)

He provides the key to every problem, the solution for every riddle, instructions for removing every brick in the wall. We need to search out His Word, and learn it, knowing it’s good and profitable.

There are effective ways to pull down the wall that hinders our communication with God, which threatens our faith in God. Though it can be a very intimidating wall with a commanding presence, it can crumble like the Walls of Jericho. Surely the Israelites thought God’s instruction for bringing that wall down were silly, too. But it led them to victory. Plans they created on their own may have sounded more practical but, if in direct mocking and opposition to God’s direction, they’d have failed miserably; their way would have led to death.

Before you can submit yourself (your heart; mind, will and emotions, your body, your family, your finances, your health and all that makes you who you are) to God and His Ways, you’ll first need to choose to do so, and then follow through. So whatever it takes for you to come to a place to make this decision, get on your knees and wrestle it out with God.

I’ll follow this up with some biblical instructions for tearing down the walls that if left untouched, will eventually wind up imprisoning us, where, if left alone, despair would take our hope – then our lives.

Bigger, Better Buts

In January I wrote of getting rid of our buts –a great post (read it here), I thought. The other day, however, I realized that I like some big buts, and I cannot lie!

In the King James Version of the Bible I found this reason to stop and take notice 43 times, 61 times in the New International Version.

“But God…”

Some of my favorites are:

Psalm 73:26 – “My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever.”

Romans 5:8 “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

1 Corinthians 1:27 “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;”

1 Corinthians 2:9-10 “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.”

1 Corinthians 15:37-38 ^“And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or of some other grain: But God giveth it a body as it hath pleased him, and to every seed his own body.”

Galatians 3:18 “For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise."

Ephesians 2:4-5 “But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)”

1 Thessalonians 4:8 "He therefore that despiseth, despiseth not man, but God, who hath also given unto us his holy Spirit.”



Ezer Rising VI

So we’ve got it! We need to be in the Word every single day. If we’re a Christian, that’s our first essential. It teaches and equips us to do everything else we need to do. If you’re not a Christian, you’re fighting a losing battle. You cannot fight your way into heaven. Your name is either in the Lamb’s Book of Life, or it isn’t. That’s the easy part. Message me if you need to know more.

Now that we understand we need God’s Word daily, prepare yourself for the fact that Satan isn’t going to let that go uncontested. Whether he’s whispering in your ear about the million other things you need to do today, or your Bible is ‘conveniently’ out in the car because you took it to church last night, stand your ground. Lines like ‘I’m too sleepy’ or ‘I don’t understand what I read anyway’ are lies you’ve fallen for before that the enemy will keep using until they stop working.

Simply reading God’s Word – and allowing God to speak to you through it may be enough to get you on your feet and well on your way past discouragement. That’s not okay with Satan, either. He’s not going to give up. He wants you discouraged. He wants you doubting yourself, your salvation and your abilities to do anything for God. Without the reassurance you need from God Himself, it’s easy for Satan to lie to you and get away with it.

When are you going to stop harping on this, Helen? Well, most likely, never. Throughout our Christian walk, the temptation to make God wait on us may always be there in the backgrounds of our mind – or it may just pop up to try to sabotage us from time to time. Always, get back to the Word. If you’ve neglected it for a while now, begin again. God is the God of new beginnings.

What next? Come back for part VII….

Ezer Rising V

Okay, so some of you didn’t find yourself in the last post. You read your Bibles every single day. The angels are celebrating your commitment. I rejoice with them. What a way to seek after the heart of our Father!

This post isn’t aimed at everyone either, but to those who read the Word out of habit, like they take their vitamins every morning. I think some people even read their Bibles out of the superstitious feeling that if they don’t something will go wrong that day. So is it a good-luck charm?

Today I want to challenge you to examine your motives when you read God’s Word. Are you looking for something? That’s okay. But be ready to receive what God’s desiring to pour into you, as well. If you’re looking for a ‘word in due season’ – something to provide encouragement for your day or the answer to a question, great. But be open to the idea that God may be pointing you toward something you didn’t go there for.

When you’re looking for something you’ve misplaced, isn’t it great to find something else you thought you’d lost forever, or discover something you didn’t realize you had in the first place? God has nourishment and blessings and instructions and commands and even correction for us that we might not have been looking for when we opened our Bible covers. I love digging a purse out of the closet to discover there’s money in it I’d forgotten about. I love finding a note I’d written to myself with a nugget God gave me, refreshing me once again. But I love it best when I’m reading God’s Word and I find that He’s talking about me, that He’s written something there just for me, that I need right now. He knew I’d need it today since before I drew breath!

He’s good like that!

Look at your routine. Is it just a routine? If it is, you’re missing a lot.