shani4jc

“The righteous person may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all.” Psalm 34:19

Every single one of us faces troubled, adversities, calamities, and tribulations over and over and over in our lifetimes. In fact, we would be hard pressed to even count the number of times we have faced adversity in some form or fashion. But, one thing is certain about every single one of those troubling times that we have faced…God has or will deliver us from each and every one. Psalm 34:19 doesn’t say that He delivers us from some of our troubles, or even most of our troubles. It says He delivers us out of ALL of our troubles. His deliverance may not come exactly as we envision it will come and it may not come in the timeframe we hope for, but we can rest assured that it will come and it will be better than anything we had planned. Whatever you’re facing today, He can handle. Trust Him! Watch for Him because He is coming with your deliverance on His mind. This is a promise you can count on!

A few days ago, my grandsons and I were playing in our backyard when we heard a very loud noise. We went around the house to see what in the world had happened. I’m the field across the street, this large section of tree has fallen. Naturally, my animal loving grandson insisted we go investigate to make sure there were no bird nests in the fallen limbs. Thankfully, no eggs were harmed during the collapse of the limb. I snapped some pictures of the boys checking out the tree and I took the top photo during that tune. Later, the man who owns the property had a tractor come to move the tree limbs away. They didn’t get very far due to a problem with the tractor. So, for the past four days, the fallen tree has been just sitting in the field. Yesterday, when I turned into my driveway, the fallen tree caught my eye, and I took the bottom photo above. It had only been four days since the tree limbs had been separated from their food source, yet the leaves have all turned brown. They were not receiving any nourishment, so they were not able to sustain life. We are much like that fallen tree limb in our spiritual life. If we are not being fed by His Word, we are not receiving the nourishment we need in order to thrive. When we don’t receive the nourishment we need, we shrivel up spiritually and die.

“But He answered and said, ‘It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:4

“But You, O Lord, are a merciful and loving God, always patient, always kind and faithful.” Psalm 136:1

Have you ever felt so desperate for someone, anyone, to love you that you settled for something that is anything but love? Have you been willing to endure so much less than what God had planned for you because you were so desperate to be in a relationship…even when you knew the relationship was not a healthy one? Have you ever looked for someone or something else to bring you fulfillment that only God can give you? Most of us can relate to this on some level. My question for us is, “Why are we settling for table scraps when God has provided us with a banquet feast?” God loves us so much and we can easily dismiss that love because we want someone or something we can see and put our hands on. We are willing to settle for so little when God has already given us so much because we want love on our timetable instead of His. We are so busy looking for someone to meet our needs that we overlook the One who is our deepest need. Don’t accept anything less than what God has for you because anything less will not truly satisfy you for long.

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.” Proverbs 27:1

Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.  Mother Theresa

I am not one for hitting the snooze button on my alarm. Generally speaking, I wake up on my own even without an alarm. But, I do set an alarm if I have to be up earlier than my normal wake up time just in case. Once the alarm goes off, I’m up. I don’t hit snooze to get just another few minutes like a lot of people I know. However, I think I hit the snooze button a lot when it comes to sharing the love of God with other people. I think I put off taking to others about where they will spend eternity, especially if I think I may meet some resistance or rejection. Each day that passes is one day closer to the return of Jesus, so is hitting the snooze button on people’s eternity really something I can do? It’s easy to think that we will always have another chance to talk to someone about their relationship with Jesus, but honestly, none of us are promised tomorrow. Time is passing in the blink of an eye. The time to speak is now because this chance may never come again. So my question I leave you with tonight is do you know where you will spend eternity? Do you know beyond a shadow of a doubt what will happen if you die tonight? Don’t let anymore time pass before making sure your relationship with God is where it should be. Eternity is at stake. Don’t wait any longer!

“Therefore is the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” John 8:36

My grandson loves to catch frogs. We have a frog tank on our front porch where he keeps his frogs, but we set them free after about a day so they can return to the ditch from which they came. This morning when I returned home from my walk, I decided I had better let the frog go free. That frog gave me a run for my money. He did not want me to catch him to let him go. He hopped with all of his night to keep from being captured again…even if my intention was to set him free. I finally succeeded and placed him back in the grass near the ditch so he could go about his normal frog life. As I was trying to catch the frog, I kept thinking, “You crazy frog! I’m trying to set you free!  Why do you act like you want to remain in captivity? Let me help you!” It occurred to me that Jesus must look at us sometimes and think the very same things. He must wonder why we are so determined to remain captive to the chains of sin that once held us when He has already broken them. He must wonder why we would rather live as prisoners to our past rather than live in the freedom He died to give us. He must wonder why we would choose to be slaves to our old selves rather than walking in the liberty we have as new creations in Him. He must wonder why we would rather be confined than free to walk in the life He wants us to have. As I’m writing this tonight, I’m sitting right on the other side of the window where the frog tank is and there is a frog out there croaking at the top of its lungs. I have to ask myself if it’s the same frog. Has he returned to the very place where he was being held captive? If so, we may think he’s crazy, but the truth is, if it is him, he’s more like us than we may want to admit.

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” Matthew 5:6

Have you ever seen the TV commercial for Stouffer’s lasagna that asks “what do you hunger for?” I saw it tonight while I was watching TV and immediately I thought about the Scripture above. There are so many things that we may find ourselves hungering for:..money, material possessions, power, control, just the right job, a spouse, children, etc. But what we truly need to hunger for is righteousness…the holy righteousness of Jesus Christ. Anything else we hunger for will leave us empty and wanting more. However, Jesus promises to fill us if we pursue righteousness. Too many people are living empty, unfulfilled lives simply because they are seeking the wrong things to fill them. Only Jesus can satisfy what we truly hunger for!

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13

Phillipians 4:13 is probably one of the most quoted Bible verses among Christians. It is the latest Bible verse I have been working with my grandson on memorizing. When I asked him what Philippians 4:13 said this afternoon, he replied, “I can do whatever I want and Christ gives me strength.” Well, he’s pretty close, but we still have a little work to do on this one. As I thought about what he said, I realized that the way he quoted it is  probably a little closer to how we live out the verse than what it actually says. We tend to want to do whatever we want to do and have God give us the strength to deal with it when it all falls apart. We forget that we “can do all things through Christ” is contingent upon us following what it is Christ wants us to do. For example, He is not going to give us strength to rob a bank because that would go against His character. He’s not going to give us strength to murder someone because that contradicts who He is. We can’t just do whatever we want to do and expect Him to bless it. We have to line up what we are doing with what He is calling us to do. Then, we can know with full assurance that He will give us the strength necessary to do whatever that it.

“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet God’s unfailing love for you will not be shaken.” Isaiah 54:10

Every day tragedies occur in our world. Every day people suffer loss, heartbreak, and total despair. Every day people search  for answers to problems that overwhelm them. Every day people seek help from anything and everything they can get their hands on in order to survive this chaos we call life. The truth is life is hard. The truth is bad things happen. The truth is situations and circumstances occur that leave us shaken to our very core. Nothing is certain in this world. Things change on a dime. One phone call, one conversation, one text message, one bad decision – life as we know it will never be the same. We long for something, anything that is a guarantee. We desperately seek for something or someone that will not fail us. But the fact of the matter is, as long as we look earth side for this something or someone, we will continue to come up empty handed. Only when we look up and focus our eyes on God will we find the One who cannot be shaken. Only when we cling to Him will we find an Anchor that cannot be moved. Only when we set our hearts on Him will we find the One who will hold us together when everything around us falls apart. Life is hard, but God can handle it. Turn to Him and you will see that He will never let you go.

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whine he may devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

In her book, “Seize the Day”, Joyce Meyer says something that has really stuck with me:

”If the devil isn’t bothering you, then perhaps you are not bothering him.”

I have been going through a season where the devil seems to be working overtime to get to me. When I read that quote, it gives me some much needed encouragement to keep fighting the fight. Since he seems so worried about knocking me down, I must be up doing something that is getting on his nerves. So, I’m going to just keep on keeping on. I am not going to allow him to deter me from what God has for me to do. Maybe you, too, are going through a period of time in which the devil is on you every moment. If that is the case, then don’t let it get you down. Look into the mirror and smile at yourself and say, “I’m on the devil’s nerves! Yay me!” Then keep on doing whatever it is you’re doing. Don’t let him have any ground. God has big plans for you…don’t let ANYONE or ANYTHING get in your way!

“Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoiced to see the work begin.”  Zechariah 4:10

We all probably can agree that God has specific plans for each of us, and I would imagine that most of us would like to carry out those plans to the best of our abilities. However, carrying those plans out may not be as easy as we think. For starters, it’s not always the easiest thing in the world to figure out what it is God wants us to do. We may think we know what He wants us to do one minute, but then doubt ourselves into uncertainty the next. We may go back and forth between being confident and being unsure until we decide to just do nothing. Another thing that can hinder us from fulfilling the plans God has for us is that we may not feel like we are equipped to carry them out. We doubt ourselves and our abilities, so we try to avoid coming face to face with the plan at all. We don’t want to fail, so we do nothing. Other people can also deter us from carrying out God’s plans. They can say or do things that convince us that we couldn’t possibly have heard God correctly. We don’t want to be made fun of or fail in front of others, so we allow their opinions to matter more than what God says. Finally, we can simply be overwhelmed by the plans God has for us. What He’s called us to do seems so be monumentous that we don’t even know where to begin. So, we choose to do nothing. We don’t want to do the wrong thing, so we don’t risk it. We don’t want to fail God, so we never step out of our comfort zone. We allow so many things to derail us, but God just wants us to take one small step at a time towards those plans. He is not concerned about whether or not we can do it all right now; He is concerned about if we will trust Him or not to take one step at a time. He isn’t concerned about our failures; He’s concerned about our small victories. He rejoices when we have enough faith for the first step, then the second step, then the third. He will give us exactly what we need each step of the way, but we have to be the ones to actually step out in faith.