faith

Our Heavenly 911

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The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord; he is their stronghold in the time of trouble. The Lord helps them and delivers them… Psalm 37:39-40a

Calling God our helper has gotten a bad name as some have misinterpreted this as if it meant treating God like an assistant or employee. But the Hebrew word used here for help means to surround, protect and come to the aid of someone in trouble. God is not working for us, but instead He is like the ambulance driver or fire fighter who is equipped and waiting to answer our cry for help. So today if you look out your window and see trouble on your street and the news on television is filled with videos of riots remember that God’s help is available whenever we ask. The writer of Hebrews puts this into practical terms by saying;

Keep free from the love of money and be content with what you have. for He has said; I will never leave you nor forsake you. Hebrews 13:5

What is really at the bottom of a lot of the unrest and anger we are witnessing is money. Liberals and conservatives both act as if people would be content if they just had a little more. Conservatives complain the government has taken too much and liberals act as if people need to be given more. Whatever happened to; “All we need is love!”? So no matter what side of the political aisle we stand on, today’s reading counsels us to take a deep breath and step back from the conflict and remember that the love of money is like a boss who can never be satisfied. If we become slaves to him we will lose our spiritual freedom and the only one happy with that is Satan. But if we turn to Jesus for help; He promises us contentment that no government can tax away and no thief can steal. He has promised to never leave or forsake us and the Greek word used here for never means – NEVER! He never hides out in the middle of a crisis or walks away when we mess up. He is our ever present help in the time of trouble(Psalm 46:1). He is heaven’s 911 operator and when we dial the phone of prayer; Jesus answers. He is always listening. All we need to do is cry out in faith and we will hear His calm and steady voice saying; “This is 911. What is your emergency today?

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Meditations From Psalm 25

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To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. O my God, in you I trust; let me not be put to shame; let not my enemies exult over me. Indeed, none who wait for you shall be put to shame; they shall be ashamed who are wantonly treacherous. Psalm 25:1-3 ESV

Last week on Kathy’s Hesaidwhatks Blog she talked about her own experience of waiting with her son Aaron. What got me to thinking of today’s post was her closing thoughts from Psalm 25 on waiting. So yesterday I was excited to look back from the beginning of the Psalm. This is the first of at least two parts on what I found.

“To you O Lord I lift up my soul” Tells us of the direction of David’s prayer. Too often when we are in trouble we turn in every direction except to God. That is not to say we are necessarily praying to another god but that in place of prayer we often turn to every available source before we turn to God. We call up our friends or family. We buy whatever is the latest book on the subject or we even look up remedies on the internet. None of these things is wrong in and of itself but why is it that we exhaust every other resource before we ask Jesus for His help?

The second idea that David tells is to fill God in on all the details. David does more than just ask for God to bless his day; his food and sleep. David starts right out with his problem. While we may not know the exact setting of this Psalm we know that real combat was part of David’s experience. I can picture him peering down to where the enemy troops are camped and asking for God’s help because he is about to charge down the hill into battle.  

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Last David shares with us the answer God gives him even before he takes a single step. “Indeed none who wait for you will be ashamed. David’s waiting for the Lord is akin to William Prescott at the battle of Bunker Hill commanding “Don’t fire until you saw the whites of their eyes” He had learned that waiting on God meant deliverance from shame and that choosing not to wait is treachery.

What about you? What is God asking you to wait for and what battles do you need to begin asking Him to help you with. God is listening and waiting to listen for our cry. Why shouldn’t we learn to listen and to wait on Him?

For more from HesaidwhatKS here is the link

Jesus Take the Wheel

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Do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 ESV

Worrying over our grandchildren’s relationship with Jesus has been a recurring theme for me lately. When they were small things seemed pretty simple. We took them to church, prayed with them and at every opportunity made sure they had plenty of cookies. But now they are older things have changed. Some days it feels as if I am slogging through a mud bog, when I try to communicate even the basics of what it means to be a Christian. As I tossed and turned through another middle of the night worry session recently, God’s peace seemed light years away.

Then the Holy Spirit tapped me on the shoulder and reminded me that I wasn’t doing them or myself any good. While I had been trying to overwhelm them with good arguments or coax them towards an interest in Jesus, I was forgetting that ultimately that job is His and that He loves them way more than I do. It is hard to trust God with people who are the closest to us. Yielding control over our spouse, a child a grandchild or a friend means letting God take over. What we really need to do is like what Carrie Underwood sings, “Jesus take the wheel!” We need to release our grip so that God can steer. Jesus won’t rip the steering wheel away from us. He will allow us as many nights as we wish to toss and turn. But if we are worn out with worry and fed up with fear God is waiting and even longing for us to trust that He knows how to fix the situation better than we do. Only He has the strength to carry us our worries and has promised a peace that stretches from our anxious hour all the way to heaven!