God Helps Us in our Darkest Hour.

Nicholas Lanza, who is now seventeen, lost his mother in the towers on 9/11. For years he was filled with anger, heartache and despair. Then recently, at a church camp, everything changed.

"You see, I was still carrying the one thing that was wearing me down and leaving me broken. I was still carrying my mother. I wouldn't let her go. It was almost as if she was bound to me. But then during a service, one of my good preacher friends and a few other ministers gathered around me and they began to pray for me. My friend told me it was time to let everything go. Throw it all away. For a moment, I didn't know what was going on; all I could see was this blinding white light. A voice began to say, "You belong to me, my child. You shall no longer be burdened with these chains that you wear about you. You are free."

It was then I realized I was in my own prison, bound with the thick iron chains of depression, wrath, unforgiveness, and the thickest and strongest of all chains - my own mother. I can recall being deathly quiet for several moments. Then words came into my head. They weren't really spoken, but it was as though they were there all the time: "I love you. Now go and tell others the same."

Trusting.

I was reading Isaiah tonight and came to the verse I remind myself about quite often.

"He will keep them in perfect peace whose mind is kept on Him."

I also read in Joyce Meyer's online magazine about trusting that God has a good plan for your life. Whenever I hear that I cringe. I don't feel my life has had a good plan, but that is just a feeling.

When I look around at my family, in spite of our troubles we believe in God. We have food, clothing and shelter. We have had lots of great times, happy times. Yet I always fear the future because of the bad things that have happened. I know bad things will happen again one day and it scares me.

I trust God will be with me and will help me. I trust in in wisdom and goodness. I'm just a coward plain and simple.

Oh well, I'll keep on truckin' and I'll keep on trying to trust and not to think of the future like Jesus said, "So do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

His Mercy is New Every Morning.

Jeremiah had seen great suffering and was feeling depressed. Right before he wrote these verses he said he had forgotten what happiness was. He felt his soul bowed down and full of bitterness. Then he said, "But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.'

Lamentations 3:22-27

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases,
His mercies never come to an end,
They are new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness.

"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,
"Therefore I will hope in him."

The Lord is good to those who wait for him,
To the soul who seeks him.
It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his youth.

True or False?

C.S. Lewis from his book, "God in the Dock."

"If Christianity is untrue, then no honest man will want to believe it, however helpful it might be; if it is true, every honest man will want to believe it, even if it gives him no help at all."


"Honest rejection of Christ, however mistaken, will be forgiven and healed—“Whosoever shall speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him.”  But to evade the Son of Man, to look the other way, to pretend you haven’t noticed, to become suddenly absorbed in something on the other side of the street, to leave the receiver off the telephone because it might be He who was ringing up, to leave unopened certain letters in a strange handwriting because they might be from Him—this is a different matter. You may not be certain yet whether you ought to be a Christian; but you do know you ought to be a Man, not an ostrich, hiding its head in the sand."

Look Up.

I just finished reading a book by Mitch Albom called, "Have a Little Faith". Mitch's rabbi, Albert Lewis, asked him to give his eulogy when he died. Mitch felt he needed to know the rabbi better if he was to do this so he came to visit and interview Albert Lewis in the years before he died. In the beginning, Mitch had no faith; by the end he did. I loved this book. Here is a passage from it:

"I used to think I knew everything. I was a "smart person" who "got things done," and because of that, the higher I climbed, the more I could look down and scoff at what seemed silly or simple, even religion

But I realized something as I drove home that night; that I am neither better nor smarter, only luckier. And I should be ashamed of thinking I knew everything, because you can know the whole world and still feel lost in it. So many people are in pain - no matter how smart or accomplished - they cry, they yearn, they hurt. But instead of looking down on things, they look up, which is where I should have been looking too. Because when the world quiets to the sound of your own breathing, we all want the same things: comfort, love and a peaceful heart."

A Man of Sorrow.

Isaiah 53


He was hated and rejected by people. He was a man of sorrow and familiar with grief. People turned away from him and thought he was worth nothing. He took on himself our suffering and carried our sorrow.

But we thought God wounded him, beat him and punished him. He was wounded and crushed for our sins. He was punished so we could have peace and we receive healing from his wounds.

We have all strayed away like sheep from a shepherd. Each one of us wants to go their own way. And the Lord has laid on him the sin of us all. He was abused and punished, but he never opened his mouth. He was like a lamb led to be slaughtered.  He was like a sheep that is silent when his wool is cut. He didn't open his mouth to complain.

He was arrested, taken away and judged. Who would have thought this would happen? He was killed because of people's rebellion. He was placed in a tomb with the wicked and the rich, although he had done nothing violent and never spoken a lie.

Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him with suffering. When the Lord has made his life a sacrifice for our sins then he will see those whom he has saved (his children).  The will of the Lord will be done through him.

He will see and be satisfied with his suffering. He will be able to forgive and set free many people because of what he did. He will carry their sins on himself.

He will have a share with the mighty and share the prize with the strong because he poured out his life in death and people thought he was a sinner. He carries the sins of many and intercedes for the rebellious.

Fierce Winds.

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.

Clement Moore

"Do I fully grasp the truth that He is always with me, even when I’m being whipped around by fierce winds? When I’m lying exhausted before an obstacle too great for my feeble strength? I think when I finally accept that as truth and say, “All right. You are with me no matter how forceful or destructive the circumstances are around me. I believe that. I rest in that.” Maybe–just maybe–if I know that truth, I won’t worry too much about the forces swirling menacingly
around me. Thank You, Lord Jesus,” 


Written by Anabel Gillham

God's Strength.

Isaiah 40:29-31

"He gives power to the faint,
And to him who has no might,
He increases strength.

Even the youth shall faint and be weary,
And young men shall fall exhausted;
But they who wait for the Lord
Shall renew their strength.

They shall mount up with wings like eagles.
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint."

When Life is Unfair.

I was reading, Our Daily Bread this morning and I liked what Mr. McCasland had to say about this baseball player.

by David C. McCasland

http://odb.org/

During the past 135 years of Major League Baseball, only 20 pitchers have thrown a perfect game. On June 2, 2010, Armando Galarraga of the Detroit Tigers would have been number 21 but an umpire’s mistake denied him what every pitcher dreams of. The video replay showed the truth. Even though the umpire later acknowledged his error and apologized to Galarraga, the call made on the field could not be changed.

Through it all, Galarraga remained calm, expressed sympathy for the umpire, and never criticized him. Armando’s refusal to retaliate amazed fans, players, and sportswriters alike.

If we insist on fair treatment for ourselves, we can become angry and frustrated. But when we embrace the Bible’s wisdom, we will seek the welfare of others. Proverbs calls us “to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity” (1:2-3). Oswald Chambers said of our personal dealings with others, “Never look for justice, but never cease to give it; and never allow anything you meet with to sour your relationship to men through Jesus Christ.”

When we experience unfairness, it is our privilege and responsibility as followers of Christ to respond with honesty and integrity, doing what is right, just, and fair.

A Mustard Seed.

Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is like a mustard seed, which when sown upon the soil, though it is smaller than all the seeds that are upon the soil, yet when it is sown, it grows up and becomes larger than all the garden plants and forms large branches; so that the birds of the air can nest under its shade."

I think the Lord plants a seed of the kingdom within us and as that seed grows we can become a tree that can bring help to others. We can begin our life with a tiny bit of faith, but that faith will grow through the years.

Also, God is like a tree where we can rest and find shade. Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is within you." I pray the seeds God has planted in us may grow and grow, larger and more beautiful until the end of time.

The mustard tree Jesus spoke of was called the Black Mustard tree which grows up to 9 feet tall. Its seeds are proverbially small.

In Quietness.

The nation of Israel was afraid of their enemies. They sent to Egypt for help. God told them they should not rely on swift horses or other nations for help, but to rely on Him.

"In returning and rest you shall be saved;
In quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
But you were unwilling, and you said,.'No, we will flee upon horses...'"

"Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you,
And therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
Blessed are all those who wait for him."

"And your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, 'This is the way, walk in it,' when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left." Isaiah, Chapter 30.

Sometimes I go to people for help and answers and I think that is okay once in awhile. But I think the Lord wants us to go to him for help and direction most of the time. If we go to him in quietness and trust then we will hear his words in our heart.

Heaven.

"The wolf shall dwell with the lamb and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
and a little child shall lead them.

The cow and the bear shall graze;
Their young shall lie down together;
And the lion shall eat straw like the ox.

The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
And the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder's den.

They shall not hurt or destroy in all my holy mountain;
For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea."

Isaiah 11:6-9