This battle for faith

All Sorts

I love the LORD because he hears and answers my prayers.  Because he bends down and listens, I will pray as long as I have breath!—Pray without ceasing. 

Use every piece of God’s armour to resist the enemy in the time of evil, so that after the battle you will still be standing firm… truth, God’s righteousness, the peace that comes from the Good News…faith as our shield to stop the fiery arrows aimed at you by Satan…salvation as your helmet… the Spirit’s sword—the Word of God.  Pray at all times and on every occasion in the power of the Holy Spirit. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all Christians everywhere.  And pray for me, too.  Ask God to give me the right words… 

Don’t be afraid.  Just stand where you are and watch the LORD rescue you…The Lord himself will fight for you.  You won’t have to lift a finger in your defence! —It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man…I was pushed hard, so that I was falling, but the LORD helped me. —The steps of a man are established by the LORD, when He delights in His way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong. for the LORD upholds His hand.

Keep steady my steps according to your promise,
and let no iniquity get dominion over me.  

Ps.116:1,2 NLT; I Thess. 5:17 ESV; Eph.6: 13-19 NLT; Ex.14:13,14; Ps.118:8,13 ESV;  Ps.37:23-24 ESV; Ps.119:3 ESV

I feel like I’m in a battle these days, not just the one marked with an upcoming Hearing date on my May calendar, but the battle for my mind and heart to rest in God’s power and leading in the meantime.  This battle for faith is far more significant than getting a fair hearing with a human judge, because fire-tested faith brings Jesus glory and honor.  He’s the Judge I most want to please.  I want to represent Him as the glorious, trustworthy LORD that He is.  Pray for me, won’t you?  Pray that He will be glorified in my weakness.

–LS

…that the tested genuineness of your faith–more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire–may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ—the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials.
II Pet. 2:9 ESV; I Pet. 1:7 ESV

Wake up my soul!

TODAY

My heart is confident in you, O God; no wonder I can sing your praises!
Wake up, my soul!

For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens.
Your faithfulness reaches to the clouds.

Be exalted, O God, above the highest heavens.

May your glory shine over all the earth.*

    

I’m awakening my soul this morning with words from the psalms and pictures from our whirlwind road trip to visit our kids and their kids.  It always seems to take a bit to get back in gear after much coming and going.  I’m so thankful for His steady love that steadies my own wobbly steps.

-LS

Keep steady my steps according to your promise, and let no iniquity get dominion over me. Ps. 119:133 ESV

*Ps.108:1,4-5 NLT

Able by His Grace

TODAY

“Stand up, son of man,” said the voice.  “I want to speak with you…I am sending you to the nation of Israel, a nation that is rebelling against me…I am sending you to say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says!’  And whether they listen or not—for they are rebels—at least they will know they have had a prophet among them.”

For the whole lot of them are hard-hearted and stubborn.  But look, I have made you as hard and stubborn as they are.  I have made you as hard as rock! So don’t be afraid of them or fear their angry looks, even though they are such rebels.—Son of man, I have appointed you as a watchman for Israel…

The angel of the LORD appeared to [Gideon] and said, “Mighty hero, the LORD is with you!”—“Sir,” Gideon replied, “if the LORD is with us, why has all this happened to us? And where are all the miracles our ancestors told us about? — Then the LORD turned to him and said, “Go with the strength you have, and rescue Israel from the Midianites. I am sending you!” 

And He has said to me [Paul], “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. —But whatever I am now, it is all because God poured out his special favor on me, and not without results. For I have worked harder than any of the other apostles; yet it was not I but God who was working through me by his grace. 

As persons created by a Personal Creator, we are ‘fearfully and wonderfully made’ for His purposes.  As children redeemed from the power of the Evil One to serve our Creator we are ‘God’s masterpiece’, created anew in Christ Jesus, ‘so that we can do the good things He planned for us long ago.’

Whatever He is calling me and you to today, He is well able to accomplish through us. It’s not about our ability but our willingness to listen and follow instructions ( : He’s got us covered!

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you, … being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete [it] until the day of Jesus Christ. Phil.1:3, 6 NKJV

–LS

Ezek.2:1-5; 3:8,9,17 NLT;  Judges 6:12-14 NLT; II Cor.12:9 NASB; I Cor.15:10 NLT; Eph.2:10

Digging up treasure…

LIVE IT!

I’m home this week from a trip with my sister to visit my folks and get some gears turning toward a move from their beloved Alaska home to somewhere a little nearer family.  Among the myriad of business items were some moments spent sifting through memorabilia…

One afternoon I dug in a musty box in the ramshackle red shed and unearthed a wee journal my dad had kept the year I was born. A little ‘red-faced gal’ was mentioned alongside Dad’s work of the day on ‘the Mack’.  As was the custom of the day, Dad had merely dropped Mom off at the hospital and come back to visit when all the business of childbirth was over and done.  I tucked the book in my suitcase for ‘keeps’.

Before tucking in for the night my sister and I opened an old dresser at the bedside and nosed about in the lives of our ancestors.  Here was the oldest find yet…a letter of my Grandma’s kin on the Jersey shore.  A slice of mystery from the past.  Who is this?

Why are one’s own history and relics from the past so intriguing?  What is it about the passage of time that enhances the value of a simple letter?  The morning after our rummagings in ancestry I opened my Bible to read these words:

This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.

Talk about old letters!  Here’s one from someone who knew Jesus in person.  Incredible!  And my morning reading took on a new depth of meaning:

I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners…God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and His Spirit has made you holy.  As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

May God give you more and more grace and peace.

It is by His great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead.  Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance–an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay.  And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

So be truly glad.  There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while…

I Peter 1:1-6NLT

And with these ancient words my perspective was heightened beyond the nitty gritty tough stuff of moldering earthly possessions and difficult changes of ‘home’…to see joy ahead and the sure hope held out by a brother in Jesus who wrote so many years ago and whose letter found its way to my Kindle this day.

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! 

–LS

 

 

Hang in there!

TODAY

Until the time came to fulfil His word, the LORD tested Joseph’s character—These trials are only to test your faith, to show that it is strong and pure.  It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold…so if your faith remains strong after being tried by fiery trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honour on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. 

Moses said this about the tribes of Joseph:
May their land be blessed by the LORD…with the best gifts of the earth and its fullness, and the favour of the One who appeared in the burning bush.  May these blessings rest on Joseph’s head, crowning the brow of the prince among his brothers. 

May you have more and more of God’s special favour and wonderful peace—Seek the LORD and His strength; Seek His face continually. 

The people refused to enter the pleasant land, for they wouldn’t believe his promise to care for them.  Instead, they grumbled in their tents…

Ps.105:19 NLT; I Pet.1:7 NLT; Deut.33:13-16 NLT; I Pet.1:2NLT; Ps.105:4 NASB; Ps.105:24,25NLT

In the middle of the testing it’s hard to see the end in view, hard to imagine we are dearly known and loved, difficult to trust that God sees and is superintending all things for our good.  But faith believes where it cannot see or even feel the promises of God to be true.  And faith has its rewards—not only are we freed from the bitter bondage of grumbling but we are made candidates for God’s gracious favor in a million surprising ways!  Watch for it!

And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him. (Heb 11:6 NASB)

–LS