I recently started a new job, and it has been quite a challenge spiritually. My new coworkers swear often, and one blasphemes the Lord’s name many times a day. The two of them talk right behind my desk in graphic detail about horrific things; serial killers and the evil deeds they’ve done to others, including children. The other day, during a slow time, one played that kind of content loudly on her computer as well. Although it is beyond distasteful, unprofessional, and disturbing evil, God has given me peace, as if I have a God “bubble” around me. He protects my thoughts and my sleep as I stay in His Word daily and pray lots!
This morning, a couple of verses jumped out at me from II Timothy, Psalms, Philippians, and Romans.
II Timothy 2:24-26 NKJV And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.
The verses comforted and encouraged me. I have a job to do at my workplace alright, but not what they think it is! Maybe you find yourself in a similar situation? You have the Lord on your side, be encouraged today!
Psalm 118:6 NKJV The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?
Romans 8:31 NKJV What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?
Psalm 18:1&2 NKJV I will love You, O Lord, my strength.The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Philippians 4:6-7 NKJV Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
Springtime reminds me of something God/Holy Spirit told me years ago. I’ll start with a little background; one summer I was out for a walk in my neighborhood. Across the street was a double cul-de-sac which had not been developed yet, only the road and a bit of landscaping had been done thus far. To my dismay, as I rounded the corner, I saw that one of the two young trees in half of the figure eight created by the road had apparently been hit by a car and was laying on the ground. I love plants, so this was a very sad sight to me. The tree had reached about 20 feet tall at that point, but was still fairly slender, and I mistakenly thought that maybe I could lift it back up. I couldn’t even budge it at all! The root ball was completely out of the ground and I couldn’t move any part of the trunk even an inch. I was very sad, and in the next few days on my walks, I watched the leaves start to wither in the late summer heat as the tree lay there, parched and burning on the asphalt. More than once as I passed by it, I asked God to please pick the tree up.
To my astonishment and delight, after about two weeks, I rounded that corner only to find the tree upright again!!! There was no indication of human intervention, and the ground and gravel around its base was as undisturbed as if the accident had never happened. In my mind, I could vividly see God’s hand reaching down and gently lifting the tree and smoothing out the ground after placing the roots carefully back in place.As evidence of the accident, the leaves were still withered and one of the main branches was broken and dangling, held only by strips of bark and splinters of the heart of the branch. As a gardener, I knew there was no chance for that branch to make it, so I twisted and pulled on it to break it free from the main trunk and lay it on the ground next to the tree.
It soon turned to fall, then winter, and finally spring again, and I had forgotten all about what had happened until I was out for a walk again and came upon the tree. I remembered what had happened and was both surprised and thrilled to see the leaves unfolding from their buds. As I expressed my surprise to myself, the Holy Spirit/God said, “I don’t pick things up to let them die.”
That statement has stuck with me all these years, and every time I pass that tree on my walks, I am amazed by God. No one will ever convince me that it was anything less than the hand of God that lifted that tree and took such care to erase almost all traces of the accident. A large, sturdy branch grew in place of the broken off branch, but if you look closely, you can see the scar on the trunk where the first branch had once grown.
I feel such deep application of this truth to my own life, and maybe you will too. Many of us have deep scars and have fallen and felt like we were going to wither and die.When God sent Jesus to reach out and lift us up from our despair and apparent death, His intention when we believe in Him is that we flourish and grow. He even uses our scars to bring new life, and to be a testimony to others who feel like they are withering under the heat of life, or from the damage they have received in this fallen world. I believe that the Word of God, the Bible, supports the sentence He spoke to me back then:
John 10:10
The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
II Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.
Romans 6:4
Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
John 10:28
And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.
John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
John 3:16
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
John 15:16
You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.
Psalm 113:6-8
Who humbles Himself to behold the things that are in the heavens and in the earth? He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the ash heap, that He may seat him with princes, with the princes of His people.
Be encouraged by the Word; He has new life for you, and for those you share your journey with!
God woke me with a funny thought this morning. I work around big machinery and log trucks, and everyone has to wear hardhats, safety glasses, and hi visibility vests. This is called PPE; personal protective equipment. During covid, we’ve heard this term too, referring to masks and face shields. The thought the Holy Spirit gave me was that God has told us in the Bible that He has given us the PPE we need for this battle, He’s even given us the instructions on how to properly use it in Ephesians 6:10-18. So, every day, let’s work at being mindful about putting on our “hi vis” and the battle gear before we face the “perilous times” inside and outside of our homes!
Armor of God
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. 13 Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm. 14 Stand firm therefore, having belted your waist with truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having strapped on your feet the preparation of the gospel of peace; 16 in addition to all, taking up the shield of faith with which you will be able to extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. 18 With every prayer and request, pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be alert with all perseverance and every request for all the saints,
It is easy to join millions in collective disappointment and even depression right now. There may be some fear accompanying that, too. The Bible commands us to fear not, though, for the Lord is with us. (Isaiah 41:10) Not only is He with us, but He will strengthen us. I don’t know about you, but I know I will need that to finish my race well!
Consider this, that just because there has been an administration change, that doesn’t change the fact that we are one nation under God! We are still called to be a nation whose God is the Lord. (Psalm 33:12) whom He will bless. We are still called to bless the nation of Israel (Numbers 24:9) and we will be blessed. Israel will not stop being Israel if their administration changes hands.
We are still His people, those of us who choose Him as our Lord, therefore the admonition in II Chronicles 7:14 still applies. It is good to look at the preceding verse as well: “(13) If I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or if I command the locust to devour the land, or if I send a plague among My people, (14) and My people who are called by My name humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” The Bible doesn’t specify how He will do this, only that He will.
In I Timothy 2:1&2 we are also told to pray for our leaders. “2 First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made in behalf of all people, 2 for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness.” This is a tough request when we don’t support their agenda. We can pray that they get revelation of God, that they be held accountable for their decisions, etc.
In the meantime, I refer back to my last blog, What Can We Trust? We claim that we trust God with our lives. That is easier to do when it doesn’t require sacrifice, it is comfortable, and optional. Now is the time to test our beliefs, are we willing to take Him at His Word and let that be the input we choose to receive? Believe me, this is not an easy thing for me to challenge myself with either. I am concerned about our future in this country and the world as it appears that we really are very near dangerous times for believers in this country. Don’t be convinced that who we are has changed, though. That is a tactic of the enemy, to (as I heard somewhere recently) try to perform identity theft on millions of people. We have to go back to the One who is trustworthy and His Word and recognize this lie. It’s important not to isolate or stop gathering. Hebrews 10:25 says “not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.”
Faith isn’t worth much if it isn’t tested. (James 1:2-4) “2 Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Hebrews 12:2 and Acts 3:16 indicate that even our faith is a gift from God. Jesus is the originator and perfector of our faith and it comes through Him. I desperately need Him to do the work, and He will! Jesus died for us knowing that we can’t do it. So, Lord, use us and perfect us in the way You see fit. Please strengthen our faith and trust in You as we remain, one nation under God.
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