Perhaps you have been trying to “help yourself” so that God would “help you”? Why not be still, do nothing, wait on the Lord, and let Him help you, in His timing and with His plan, just because you are His child! The greatest way you can help yourself, might be to humble yourself before the God who wants to bless you.
In his day Nebuchadnezzar was a king. He was a well-known King that brought havoc to the Israelites. He was a greatly feared and powerful leader. At his word nations and people’s could be destroyed (except where God intervened of course). As greatly as he struck people in fear and awe in his day, I am not too afraid of Nebuchadnezzar today. The fact is he is dead. No more. Gone. Out of sight. As big and bad as he was then, he is no longer a threat today.
Elisha told the widow and her family to be alone. Sometimes, especially during the darkest days of life, we just need to be alone…with our God! Are you in one of those times today?
I think Paul is saying to the Corinthians, “You see the immoral culture around you. You don’t have to participate. You can’t choose to be different. You have the ability to flee temptation.” I believe we can love the people of the culture without falling into the sins of the day. It’s a challenge, one that I struggle with daily, but one that is made possible by Christ’s power working in us.
Jesus told this parable, not so much about a boy, foolish in his youth who squanders away all his wealth and then comes cowering back to an expectant father. Even though that is what occurs in the story, this story is about you and me.
An often-confusing term concerning the Biblical character of David is the term “man after God’s own heart”. Have you ever wondered what that really means? What does that kind of heart even look like? This morning I read a verse from the writings of David that I believe perhaps best captures the meaning behind this phrase.
Even today God knows that there will be times in our life that cause fear to be our lead emotion. He sees the trouble before it comes. The One who MADE the disciples get into a boat and face the raging sea often allows the storms to come in our life.
Bear with me through a little Bible pilgrimage to illustrate a point about grace.
I remember when my son was younger, three or less, and we would be in public and a stranger would come up to take notice of the cute little blonde in my arms. The more the person would try to get my son’s attention, the more my son would hide his face in my chest. We called it shyness, but it was really a son seeking protection in his father.
Moses was not eloquent in speech. He did not command a great army. He was in exile from his people. He was not the most obvious choice to lead this great exodus from Egypt, but He was God’s man. And, Moses had everything God needed to complete the task!
