Looking at His Word

Trusting God

2007-10-02T19:40:00.000-07:00

[Isaiah 50:6-7] ... I (Isaiah) did not hide my face from mocking and spitting. Because the Sovereign LORD helps me, I will not be disgraced. ...
[Isaiah 50:10] Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the word of his servant? Let him who walks in the dark, who has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.

Isaiah had security in knowing God. He knew that he didn't need to fear anyone and that he could always rely on God. He talks about how it is the same, or can be the same, for us.

In the modern world, we don't so much as get faced with whipping and spitting. At least not in Australia. But we can get faced with alienation, disowner ship, name-calling and other stuff just because of our faith and the way that we act. But the thing is that we don't need to fear that. God is so much bigger than anything people throw at us. At church the other night, we talked about putting God into perspective. Often our problems can be so overwhelming and so big, but when we recognise how big God is, the problems seem smaller in size. They're still there but they're not so overwhelming. Isaiah knew that and that's why he wasn't afraid to face people.

He also knew that we can put our whole trust in God. Israel had been going through a pretty rough time with prideful, arrogant kings and being sent in to exile, but God made a way for them to get home ... to their land and to him. In the verse, it says, 'let him who walks in the dark, who has no light ...' which basically means someone walking around in distress, confusion, trouble etc. We need to trust God in these times.

I read this allegory once about a crippled lamb who's walking/climbing/limping through trials to get to the high places where a new life, without a crippled leg, awaits her. There are times when the fog sets in and she can't see her leader at all but she can hear him. Sometimes in times of darkness, we freak out because we don't know where God is, and that's why Isaiah encourages us to trust in God because he promises to always be there with you.

"Do you TRUST Me?"

2007-08-20T17:20:00.000-07:00

Isaiah 2:22
Stop trusting man, who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?
Psalm 118:6,8
The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?
It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in man.

It's so easy to put all of our trust in people when we freak out because we can see they're there and we know they're doing something. I reckon the scariest thing for someone is to know that they have no one to fall back on and to protect them. Everyone hates the feeling of loneliness so we love having people who we can see and we put all our faith in them. But, we can't do that because people have limitations. They can't do everything and save us from anything and they may turn from us for selfish reasons as well. Instead, we need to put our trust in God first for he watches us, knows us by name and loves us too much to let anything happen to us.

I was watching Aladdin the other day and there are these two scenes which show him doing the same thing. In both, he's about to do something crazy (ie, jump out the window) and he reaches his hand out to Jazmine and says, "Do you trust me?"

Wow. Talk about being out on the spot! It made me think of the times when God has asked me to do something which seemed crazy, then reach out his hand and say those four words. I wonder, do I trust God enough that even when my world is shaken, I still firmly believe that he is a just and true God? It sometimes takes a shaken world to knock down the supports and build that trust, rooted in love.

So, my challenge today is to question your trust in God. Imagine God saying to you:

"My child, do you trust me?
My child, do you trust me?
My child, do you trust me?"

My prayer is that God will fire up in you a passion for his name and plan, and that you'll be ready the next time to simply say, "Yes," when he reaches out his hand.

Blessings

Just Go with the Flow

2007-07-04T22:17:00.000-07:00

Esther 2 (Esther Made Queen)

(vs 9) The girl pleased him and won his favor. Immediately he provided her with her beauty treatments and special food. He assigned to her seven maids selected from the king's palace and moved her and her maids into the best place in the harem.

(vs 15b) And Esther won the favour of everyone who saw her

After having 'disposed' of his queen, King Xerxes was asking for all eligible virgins to come to the palace for a year of beauty treatments. The young girl who won his favour would then be his new queen. Esther was a beautiful young Hebrew, brought up by her cousin Mordecai, who was living in the land after being exiled. She was brought to the palace and was asked by Mordecai to conceal her nationality as the Hebrews were not liked in the land.

Here was Esther, in a foreign palace in a foreign land not knowing the future. It wasn't an easy place for her to be. It was most likely really lonely for her and she may not have gotten much support from the other hopeful girls as they could have been jealous of her beauty and special treatment. I'm sure Esther was confused about what God was doing, but she trusted him.

Verse fifteen takes me back to the story of Joseph. Both people, Joseph and Esther, were in difficult, confusing situations but neither moped around just because the road wasn't clear. It's so easy to give up when things don't seem right. We may think what's happening isn't God's plan so we sit down and won't even test to see if this is where God wants us.

Joseph went from the favourite son, to a slave, then to the favourite slave and then to jail for at least 10 years. Most people would think now would be the time to sit down and give up. But while Joseph was there in the prison, the LORD was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favor in the eyes of the prison warden. So the warden put Joseph in charge of all those held in the prison, and he was made responsible for all that was done there. The warden paid no attention to anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with Joseph and gave him success in whatever he did. [Genesis 39:21-23]

Both Esther and Joseph trusted God and were willing to do their best no matter what situation they were put in. And god rewarded them, helping them find favour with whoever they came across.

That's the type of attitude God loves. He loves it when people trust him enough to follow him blind folded no matter where he leads. Trusting God in any situation is what makes a grow and become stronger. And God will never ever leave us or give us something we can't handle. Personally, I think that rocks!

Blessings

Vulnerable

2007-07-01T18:54:00.000-07:00

Nehemiah 3

(vs 6) The Jeshanah Gate was repaired by Joiada son of Paseah and Meshullam son of Besodeiah. They laid its beams and put its doos and bolts and bars in place.
(vs 15) The Fountain gate was repaired by ... He rebuilt it, roofing it over and putting its doors and bolts and bars in place.

The wall of Jerusalem had been burnt and torn down when the Israelites were taken into exile. This meant that Jerusalem was now extremely vulnerable as it doesn't have its protection. The walls of cities were extremely important as they protected the city was enemies, not just rabbits. All the Israelites were doing their best to rebuild the wall.

Do you sometimes feel like Jerusalem? Your wall of protection has been torn down or your world shaken. It makes you feel so open and vulnerable. Or maybe you can relate with the gatews, broken and burning and in great need of a massive fix up and repair. I sometimes feel like that. So what do we do?

Heaps of people came and woked on Jerusalem, fixing it and making it safe again. God can do the same with us. He can refresh us, clean us, repair us and give us sparkling new nuts and bolts (metaphorically). But, it's not always an overnight job. Jerusalem was not repaired over night. The temple alone took years. Someone once told me a story of a stone. It doesn't get smooth without first being constantly rubbed a lot in a current. It can hurt but we grow through it. Take heart and wait for the Lord. The Psalms has a lot of verses on waiting for the Lord and as the song says, 'Strength will rise as we wait upon the Lord.' [Strength will Rise (Everlasting God)
Brown and Riley]

Blessings

Psalm 37:7 Psalm 38:15 Psalm 40:1 Psalm 135:5-6

So Sure Nothing Can Stop You

2007-07-01T18:27:00.000-07:00

Ezra 5-6

(5:11) "We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple... "
(6:16) Then the people of Israel - the prests, the levites and the rest of the exiles -celebrated the dedication of the house of God with joy.

After being captured and exiled by King Nebuchadnezzar (how's that for a name!), the Israelites were allowed to go back to rebuild the temple that had been torn down. But in chapter four, the building was suspended due to orders from the king. But two prophets encouraged the Jews to continue so they did, even against the king's orders.
When the governor of the area found out, he asked these guys who they were and why they were rebuilding. Their response : "We are the servants of the God of heaven and earth, and we are rebuilding the temple... "
They were very bold and determined in what they were doing. When King Darius heard of this and found the decree of Cyrus (see chapter 1), he wrote a decree allowing the Israelites to continue. He also wrote that whatever was needed was to be provided. So God was taking care of them, they finished the temple and started praising God.

These guys were so sure of what they were doing. They were in foreign land, were in exile but when God told them to rebuild the temple, they did it. They were so sure this was God's plan that they weren't going to let anything stop them, not even a king.

It makes you wonder: Is there anything I'm doing what I'm so sure God has called me to do? That I won't let anything get in the way, such as my reputation, money, time? God's not saying just go out and disobey the rules like these guys didn't listen to the king. What I think he's trying to say is if He's calling you to do something and the world says no, who cares. God's plan is so much more AWESOME.

The other awesome thing is that God provides. God called my sister to go on a mission trip to Brasil one year. She was about $1000 short but she knew this was God's plan. At church on Sunday, someone came up to her, asked her how much she was short and gave her that amount the next week. If God's got a plan for you, nothing's going to get in the way. Money, time and energy is just a miniscule thing. The only thing stopping is disobedience or ignorance. But even then, God doesn't give up.

So, today, pray to see is there's anything God wants you to do. When you know, you can be so sure this is what God wants you to do even if it's crazy. Think about Noah. He was crazy building a boat no where near water but he was confident this was God's plan. Ask God for wisdom, guidance and strength to carry to carry it onto the day of completion. And never stop praising God!!

Have a great time hanging with God

Worship

2007-06-11T21:34:00.000-07:00

2 Chronicles 29:27-28
As the offering began, singing to the LORD began also, accompanied by trumpets and the instruments... The whole assembly bowed in worship while the singer sang and the trumpeters played.

Judah was in trouble because Hezekiah's Dad, Ahaz, had completely turned from God and followed other gods. But after Ahaz died, Hezekiah became king and he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. He listened to God and purified the temple, just as He'd asked. When it was finally done, the whole assembly came to offer sacrifices to God. Picture this: the king and heaps of people, bowing, singing and playing for their God, acknowledging that he alone is powerful and good. They believed that God would forgive them and help them make things right.

What is worship? It can practically be anything. According to Answers.com, the verb is to feel deep, devoted love for. Worship is often confused with just singing but it's where your heart is. You could worship God, or show devotion, by loving other people, obeying parents, thinking good things, thanking God. Another act of worship is simply giving time to God. Taking that time out everyday to just sit and hang with God.

These Judaians had been through a rough time. But they still found things to worship God for: forgiveness, mercy, faithfulness. What can we thank God for today? You've probably heard that heaps but just as you like to be thanked, so does God. Praise Him today, give him your time and your trust. He loves that type of faith and devotion.

Bless you

Wholeheartedly

2007-05-28T00:15:00.000-07:00

2 Chronicles 24

(vs 2) Joash [king of Judah] did what was right in the eyes of the LORD all the years of Jehoiada the priest.

(vs 17-18) After the death of Jehoiada, the officials of Judah came and paid homage to the king, and he listened to them. They abandoned the temple of the LORD, the God of their fathers, and worshiped Asherah poles and idols. Because of their guilt, God's anger came upon Judah and Jerusalem.

For the first years of Joash's life, he followed God wholeheartedly. But it says that when Jehoiadah the priest dies, Joash turns his life around. It makes you wonder why this is. It seems that Joash may have shared in Jehoiada's faith but didn't exactly take it for himself. Like he did it all right, got ticks in all the boxes but his faith may not have totally been his own but Jehoiada's as well. It's a bit confusing.

Think of it this way. I love going to the Indy. I go every year with my Dad. I can make myself look the part, buy all the right stuff. But does it really mean my heart is in it? If Daddy stopped going, would I continue of just stop as well? I may have all the merch, the tickets but what about the passion? It's kind of like that. Joash has done all the right stuff, but when Jehoiada 'leaves' he doesn't continue becuase his heart isn't in it.

The question for us is, are we following God wholeheartedly or basing it off someone else? I was talking to my mum once about when she got married. She said that when she got married, she was just a baby Christian, a new one. As for Daddy, he was a youth leader. She looked to him and saw him as really spiritual. But she learned that Daddy's not perfect and he doesn't know everything. No one can be absolutely right in their faith. She had to quickly make sure that her faith was hers and strong because of her and God, not because of Daddy's.

Now, people are great for support. Friends, mentors, families. They all help us grow, but they can't stand up for us in every situation. We need to strengthen our faith with God's help. God gives us trials to do just that. Trials help us make sure that our faith is genuine.

A prayer: God, I pray that you'll help us to stengthen our faith so that even when Christian supports leave, we'll still have that solid faith. Thank you that you'll never leave.

God bless and keep growing

Don't Just Follow the Crowd

2007-05-03T02:52:00.000-07:00

Micaiah Prophesises against Ahab

Ahab (king of Israel) wanted to go to war and have Jehosaphat (king of Judah) help him. But, Jehosaphat first wanted to ask God and see if this was a good idea and part of 'the plan'. After all, God is the boss and knows 'the plan.' Anyway, Ahab, granting Jehosaphat's wish, gets together 400 prophets who are all telling Ahab to go to war. But Jehosaphat wanted a prophet of the LORD. This is how Ahab replies,

(vs 7) '..."There is still one man through whom we can inquire of the LORD, but I hate him because he never prophesies anything good about me, but always bad." '

I must admit, when I first read that, I laughed. I mean, what's the point of asking someone for advice and the ignoring it because it's bad. But we'll just let that go now and I'll continue on the point of this.

Ahab did end up sending for this prophet. His name is Micaiah as you may have guessed. So, here were 400 prophets, all lying but pleasing the king and only one of God's prophets, whom the king hates. And of course, Ahab doesn't like what Micaiah is saying. You must admit, 400 people and two kings all doing one thing, you'd want to stay on the safe side and copy them or just run away. Well, I would at least. I mean, the king has power! He could do anything to you.

But Micaiah knew that God could do so much more to him then Ahab ever could. So despite everything else, Micaiah stood boldly and told the truth. Even when the king didn't want to hear it.

(vs 13) ' "As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him [Jehosaphat] only what my God says." '
(vs 27) ' "If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me." '

It was probably really humiliating, he got slapped and then sent to prison with just bread and water. But do you think he regretted it? Man can do stuff to you, but how much more could God do? That sounds kind of bad but regret is really hard to live with. Wouldn't it be better to serve God, than try and hide behind the crowd?

Living for God can be a really tough thing. There are many times when we need to stand up for we believe in. Even for people who don't believe in God, not following the crowd is so much better than missing out on who you could be. The best thing to do is PRAY. Pray that God will forgive you for times you hid and will give you strength the next time. He wants to help. He really does.

God bless and keep striving towards the goal

Facing Your Enemies

2007-05-01T02:47:00.000-07:00

2 Chronicles 20

vs 17) Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out and face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.

We all have enemies. Whether they're people or things. The other night, in church, we were talking about identifying your enemies which is pretty funny because now I want to talk about facing them.
For all of us, Satan is our enemy. But there are more: business, greed, confusion, doubt and so on. It has been defined as something having destructive or injurious effects. In other words, it can hurt us. Basically, they stop us from doing things.

In this story today, Jehoshaphat is king and once again, a vast army has marched out against them. In this case, the army represents the enemies. Pretty straight forward. They (the tribe of Judah) call upon God because they know that can do this by themselves.

v6) "O LORD, God of our fathers, are you not the God who is in heaven? You rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand, and no one can withstand you.

God hears their prayer and this is what he says.

vs 15) "Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.

vs 17) You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.' "

He says, 'Look, don't worry. I'll fight this, just go, face your enemies and I will fight for you.

It still took faith for Judah to march down and face their enemies. It's not easy stuff. But they trusted God. They went down singing praises to God. Talk about making an entrance! When they got there, they oly found dead people. Kind of gross but their enemies are gone! In verse 23 it said they (the enemies) killed each other.

So Judah praised God even more. (vs 7)

Alrighty, there's the story. Now it's our turn. How can a really old story help us?

As I said before, we all have our enemies. Whether it's doubt, busyness or Satan. They all stop us from completely enjoying God and doing what he wants. These are pretty hard to face.

But God tells us to face them. We can't keep running. But He'll help us eliminate them. If Satan's starting to overpower you, say some verses or sing some songs. Satan hates it. He can not stand to hear God being praised. If fear's getting in the way, talk to God. He's bigger than everything. He wants to help.

Judah stood up and faced a massive amount of enemies with the right attitude and God saved them.

He can help us too!

Seek the Lord

2007-04-27T21:28:00.000-07:00

Asa, King of Judah

2 Chronicles 14

vs 4) ... seek the LORD...

So many times in the bible does it say to seek the LORD. But that's because it's so important.

I believe God created the world and that he created us. He has an awesome plan for our lives. We can only know how to live out his plan by continually seeking God. When we seek God, we find out a bit more about his plan and just how great he is. Seeking God and what he wants and seeking him in times of trouble, should become a common thing.

vs 7) ... because we have sought the LORD our God; we have sought him and he has given us rest on everyside."

Here, Judah wanted to rebuild some cities that had been knocked down. But it's a bit hard to do when you keep getting caught in wars. So they sought the LORD and asked what he wanted. And God gave them rest. Remember, God's in control. He has the power to do that.

When Judah had finished building, a man marched out against him with a vast army. Once again, Judah had found themselves outnumbered. I love this prayer below because it shows a mighty king, humbling himself before God, giving him all the control.

vs11) Then Asa called to the LORD his God and said, "LORD, there is none like you to help the powerless against the mighty. Help us, O LORD our God, for we RELY on you, and in your name we have come against this vast army. O LORD, you are our God; do not let man prevail against you."

And as you can see, God fought for them and they won.

Seek God in every situation. Stop every now and again and see what God wants. Stop and think about what he's doing in your life and what he's done. He's got an awesome plan. Trust.

Have faith: God's in Control

2007-04-27T20:59:00.000-07:00

Abijah, King of Judah

2 Chronicles 13

In the old testemant, there were often many wars as kings wanted to take over more and more land. The story I read about here is when Abijah is king of Judah. Jeroboam is king of Israel, Judah's rivalry, and wants to fight them.

Check out the stats. Israel = 800 000 able fighting men. Judah, 400 000 men. Looking at those numbers, itdoesn't seem like Judah has a chance. But wait, there's more. : )

Jeroboam had forsaken God and turned to other gods. But listen to what Abijah says in vs 10 in response to Jeroboam. "As for us, the LORD is our God, and we have not forsaken him." He then goes on in verse 11 to say, "... We are observing the requirements of the LORD our God."

So, looking at the stats again. Israel, 800 000 men. Judah, 400 000 men AND God.

Clearly, they were pretty outnumbered but they trusted God. They trusted God would help them and even warned Jeroboam. Check it out in verse 12.
" God is with us; he is our leader... do not fight against the LORD, the God of your fathers, for you will not succeed."

But, of course, Jeroboam didn't listen. He thought he had the better end of the bargain. They started to attack from both the front and the back so that Judah was surrounded.

Judah, helpless as anything, called out to God.

(vs 16) "The Israelites fled before Judah, and God delivered them into their hands."
(vs 18) "... the men of Judah were victorious because they relied on the LORD, the God of their fathers."

God is in control of absolutely everything. He's stronger than anything. You may think that, yeah, Judah had reason to be concerned because they were so many people. But wouldn't you think that our God's stronger than 800 000 people HE created?!

Everyday, this world is chucking more scary things and more terror at us. You only need to look at the news to find out. But God is so much bigger than all that. We just need to trust him and call out. He'll help us.