Even flowers have days when they are tired. Even the strong and resilient daisy has times when her petals droop.
Whenever a hard time comes, I think of the verse in Matthew that says
Matthew 6:28-30 ESV
[28] And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, [29] yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. [30] But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?
But there are days when even the flowers look tired. They have no though or feeling, yet circumstances make them droop. We we think when we come to know jesus that all of the hardship will be gone and will never suffer again.But that’s just not the way it is. We forget that we have an enemy and that our enemy is like a prowling lion and will attack and devour. We feel like if we were just a little bit more diligent, if we just prayed a little harder, maybe we we’d be better off.Emprayer does help but hard times will come.Because God has warned us that they will come. The earlier verse ends with, “O you of little faith.” Whenever we listen to the Bible read aloud, the speaker will more often than not quote the O you little faith versus with an angry tone or a disappointed tone. But I don’t think that that’s what jesus is saying, when he warns us of having a small faith, it’s not because he’s mad that our faith is still small and it’s not necessarily because he’s disappointed, he knew we would have a small faith.Why else would he have said with faith like a mustard seed. When I read Jesus saying you of little faith. I hear it with a tone of that of somebody correcting perhaps a small dog. I’ve had this experience with my own dog where he will do something and I will try and help him or stop him or save him. And he will fight against me, and then he will hurt himself and i’m not mad at him, but I will say, why wouldn’t you have just trusted me and listened to me?Then you would’ve been fine. That’s what I hear when jesus says you of little faith. You of little faith, if only you would have trusted me.If only you would listen to me, I can help you and take your anxiety, your fear and your pain away. Jesus is called.
He is our peace.
Jehovah Shalom.
When the monsters come around at night, it’s Jesus who protects us. It is because of him, we lie down in safety. That doesn’t mean there won’t be times when something evil crashes through your gate. I recall a great missionary speaking on a time when he was in.I believe it was africa, but it might have been india. He was sleeping in a tent like they all did, and in the middle of the night he woke up with a crazy need to pray and he spent the entire evening lying in his bed, praying the blood of jesus, the blood of Jesus. In the morning, he woke up and there was a deep trench around his bed, and if I recall what he said correctly, he said the lord spoke to me and said the devil came to attack you.But because you spoke, my name, all he could do was pace.Around you all night. It’s only in the blood of Jesus that we are safe and protected. The devil can come, but he can’t get through when we are covered in the blood of Jesus. Gods angel, that’s swept through and took the first born child in Egypt. It was the blood on the door that made it so that the angel passed that house by. There will be times later on where the same people who had been under that blood would then doubt God or deny God and maybe some of them were ones that were killed in the desert by disease or by the sword because of the way they had turned from Jesus and God knew full well when his angel passed. Them by. That they would turn from him later and that they would possibly die in the desert, but it was still the blood of Jesus, the blood of the lamb on the door now, I should specify that that’s symbolic and not every lamb’s blood is the blood of Jesus, however, God still permitted those people to be. Left to live when his spirit went through because of the blood on the door. The blood did not blind him to who was inside. He knew full well and he also knew what the outcome would be later, but the blood of Jesus protects you. It’s once you let go of his hand release the hem of his garment and are no longer washed in his blood, but then the monsters can come through. But while you are with him and you have him by your side. And you trust him and love him and speak to him daily. The monsters might show up, but god will give you a safe place where they cannot get at you and that safe place.He’s in the palm of his hand. I speak of monsters, but what is a monster? The monster might be the new diagnosis from your doctor the monster might be the terrible thoughts or horrifying dreams that come in the middle of the night. The monster might be an addiction. The monster might be a person. The monster might be a fear or even a desire. And they will come because the devil doesn’t want you belonging to his enemy. But Jesus is your friend and he is fighting on your side, and he will never let you go.
Category: holy spirit
Math
The hardest math I have ever done was trigonometry. Calculus I was shockingly okay with, and my dad was a great tutor, so, though I hated most of my math (100% of my chemistry math), I got through it. I would walk away from a test and go, ‘we’ll that was the worst, but now it’s over.’ In truth, the hardest math we will ever do is very simple in calculation. 70×7. There is nothing harder than Jesus’s math. Your brain will work to grasp other math because it’s mental, but Jesus’s math hit every nerve. I have one sole person I would call an enemy. This person has hurt my family and myself many times in the past, and every time their name comes up, a little hatred seeps forward as I recall the past. Every time that happens, Jesus reminds me to forgive. It’s an old thought. Forgive for yourself not for the other person, but it is true. Forgiving them or hating them does not really affect them unless you are together often. But it changes you. Holding a grudge keeps you distant from God. Jesus knows what that person did to you and those you love, but He gets revenge for your pain, not you. It’s hard when that person repents and is forgiven by God, but if that does not happen, then God will pay them back for what they did to you. And if they repent, remind yourself that God Forgives you every time you repent. We must forgive and forgive again, It’s actually not fun ever, but when we forgive, we release ourselves and are free. Because unforgiveness holds you in bondage, not your enemies. 70×7. Hardest math you will ever do. But the most rewarding.
What am I thankful for
1 Thessalonians 5:18-19 ESV
[18] give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. [19] Do not quench the Spirit.
Thankfulness isn’t always about being happy. It’s not always a time of rejoicing for something good. Sometimes, being thankful is simply a breath after you have been holding your breath for a long time. Sometimes, it’s a soft smile after you realize you made it one step further because God has helped you. Sometimes, it’s filled with tears of pain or exhaustion or worry, and you simply cry out with a deviance against the circumstance. “Thank you, Jesus! Because greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world.” Being thankful is a war cry against pain and discouragement. Being thankful is saying, ‘My God will supply!’ When there is nothing on the table. Being Thankful is saying,’The same God who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will get me through this.’ When the waters are rising and you see no way out. Being thankful has nothing to do with circumstance. Being thankful has to do with who Jesus is and who you are within him.
Nailing your sins
Those who belong to Christ have nailed their passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross.’ Galatians 5:24
This verse is very interesting because many will look at it and say. “He’s meaning that our sins are forgiven.” Yes, our sins are nailed to the cross of Christ, but I don’t think that is what Paul meant here. He says ‘those who belong to Christ have nailed their passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross.’ Galatians 5:24. I take this verse to mean that when we came to Jesus we left our sinful nature behind at the foot of the cross, covered by His blood, never to be acknowledged again. Yes. Our sins are forgiven, but we MUST leave them behind.
Do we seek Him?
The Saints did not often pray for more bounty. For answers and help to their needs. They did pray for these things, but they mostly prayed for more of Jesus. For more of the presence of the savior. Give me more of Jesus. The tractor broke down. They prayed for Jesus’s presence. A bone was broken. They prayed for Jesus to be near. Finances were failing. They prayed for Jesus to show Himself. The Saints prayed mostly for the presence of God and they knew that everything else would fall under His presence. Every need would fall under God just being near. We forget to seek His presence. We forget to look for His face and that everything else falls under being with God. It’s the moment when we want Jesus more than anything else. Even if He does not heal. Even if He does not provide. Even if the brokenness lingers. Do we seek for Jesus? Do we say, “your will God. I know you still have me.”
It’s not about all He does, it’s about who He is. Seek Him and all will fall in place under Him.
Come as you are
We all speak of come as you are. We speak of it as though it is written right there in the Bible. The thing is. Those words are not exactly there, but the idea is. Come all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest. Mathew 11:39
Some want to stand and say ‘God does not say that!’ Because we have had people who claim that God does not care what they live like because He says to come as you are. But that is not what God is saying. He is saying come to me and let me change you.
If the leper had chosen to heal himself before going to Jesus He would still be sick.
We cannot heal, clean or save ourselves. Only Jesus can.
Now. Come as you are does not mean ‘stay as you are’. We come to Jesus, not so we feel all good and fluffy, we come to Him because we are broken amd need healing. Because a battle rages within us and we need saving. Because we are lost and we need finding. We come to Jesus so we can be changed. He is the great healer and defender. I feel all of us want to come to Jesus. If you look at what people chase after in this world it is clear that their souls are trying to find their way back to the savior. But the devil gets in the way amd distracts and pulls away those who chase Jesus. He throws shiny things on the ground for us to follow and we forget that true treasures are buried deep and do not simply shine on the surface. It makes me think of a geode. The surface gems are pretty and sometimes quite large, so you spend all your time cleaning them up and polishing them. But under the surface there small gems you must chip away at the stone to reach, small gems that do not sparkle as brightly and harder to reach, but are worth so much more than the large surface gems. Don’t settle for shiny scatterings on the ground, seek for the Treasure that only a few find.
The flame passes on
2 Kings 2:9-11, 15 NIV
[9] When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, “Tell me, what can I do for you before I am taken from you?” “Let me inherit a double portion of your spirit,” Elisha replied. [10] “You have asked a difficult thing,” Elijah said, “yet if you see me when I am taken from you, it will be yours—otherwise, it will not.” [11] As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.
[15] The company of the prophets from Jericho, who were watching, said, “The spirit of Elijah is resting on Elisha.” And they went to meet him and bowed to the ground before him.
There is a song from the 80s that speaks of the flame passing on. Some may not be fully sure what that means. Let me explain. The flame passing on is the mantle passing on, the mantle that God placed upon the heads of his Saints. The mantle of God’s presence of God’s love and of God’s strength. When a saint dies we want their mantle the pass on. Saint does not mean some Heavenly being an Earthly form, saint s those of us who are blessed enough by God to be one of his workers. We all have a mantle that we pass on in a way. But the mantle that God passes is a handcrafted metal of his authority that he is left with us.
Elisha knew what the mantle Eljiah carried was worth. He knew that the Spirit of God resting on the Elijah was the greatest inheritance you could receive. Now. If Elisha had not been worthy in God’s eyes He would not have permitted Elisha to gain the double portion, but Elisha shared a similar love for God as Elijah.
Elijah and Elisha both faced difficult times. Times brought on them because of their mantle. The mantle of God gives you strength and protection, but those in sin will hate seeing you in it and will come after you because of it. Thankfully, in this age we won’t be hunted to death by crazed queens or Pharoahs, but we might have people call us names on the internet. Elijah laughed in the faces of the servants of the devil and taunted them as he watched God bring them to their knees. Do we have that kind of faith? Do we know in our hearts that God will save us from darkness?
We stand in the face of anyone and anything if God stands with us. Do you ask Him to be your strength and mantle? If not, you are fighting a battle alone that you cannot win by yourself. Seek Him. Find Him. Never let go of Him. He is all you need.
When I’m gone
Sorry that it has been awhile since my last Devotional. My grandfather died and we have been very busy getting things together.
His funeral however, was where my inspiration for today came from. What do you want people to say about you after you are gone?
I will tell you what they said about him. He was a friend to strangers (and that caused is trouble on a few occasions 😅) he would serve quietly without being asked. He loved God and knew Him as a friend. He prayed for family, friends and people he never knew with the same fervancy. He loved to work and create but mostly loved to serve Jesus. He gave of himself. In the end. He was the example the Bibles give us on how to live lile Christ.
Not every day. Not every moment. There were plenty of times he was just as human and emotional and led by self as the rest of us. But the times he was like Christ in his actions and words greatly outnumbered the times he was not, so that’s what people remember.
We will never be perfect in our service and walk with God. But are we trying? What do we want others to remember when we are gone? If they think of us and see Jesus in our life then we have truly won the race.
You never stand alone
Do not forget that we are an army.
Legions upon Legions of angels stand alongside us, beating their sword on their shields, marching out unafraid.
We have a shield too. As well as a sword.
We match forward in boots and helmet that are a little too big because we are still growing into them, making Jesus smile. He bends down and lifts our visor, looking into our eyes with a huge smile.
Then, as the leader He is, He stoops low and tightens our boot laces before taking our hand and leading us forward. He knows we cannot fight alone.
He knows we are broken and scared. He surrounds us with His army of angels and sends us forward despite our weakness. But not alone. The King and His army fight with us.
Bridges
We are all walking along a long, wood plank bridge. A chasm stretches out under us and as we strain past the lurch in our stomachs to see the bottom we find that all we see are the tops of whispy clouds. A gust of wind blows and the bridge sways, causing us to grasp the sides and close our eyes.
But who made the bridge? Where did it come from? It is the only way to travel unless you go back, and you know that you can’t go back. Someone must have built it.
The bridge is the path we follow. God made it. It began in Genesis 1:1. Then came the snake in the garden and pieces were lost from the bridge. But God would not let our path to Him be fully destroyed so He made a way. He was always making a way everytime we broke a part of the bridge. But those sections that were replaced were quickly old news as a new section was destroyed. It was never enough. So finally God made a stability chord that ran the length of the bridge from one end to the other. A chord that could not be broken. A chord that looks very much like a cross.
People still break sections out of the bridge, but the chord holding the bridge to the other side will never be broken.
Now that the chord is there to keep the way secure God let’s the travelers repair the broken slots. Where the world has thrown a rock that breaks a plank from the path and creates a pitfall, God has provided is with the way to repair the hole. The deciples began by reinforcing the rope sides and adding stable blocks that connect the path to the chord. But people have tried to break away those blocks. They have tried to destroy everything that connects the path to the chord, to Jesus who is the stabilizer and strength and hope and purpose of every path. They knew they couldn’t break the chord, they could never destroy Jesus. So they have tried to destroy everything that connects to Him and leads to Him. But we as Christians have the task of repairing all that the world has destroyed. We wear our tool belts as we walk this narrow way. When we see a hole in the bridge or a Crack in the bonds, we kneel down and take out our tools. The Bible has equipped us with all we need on our journey, not only to help ourselves but also to help others.
As we repair the places where people have tried to destroy the path we kneel on sections already repaired by others, knowing that someday someone will step on the repair we have made and find it solid.
We are all sojourners together and the devil attacks us all in different ways making pit falls in our path, but God has given us the blessing of each other. We pray for each other, guide each other and help each other, even if all we do is quietly hold hands in the presence of Jesus. Sometimes we can’t fight the wind. Sometimes we have fallen through the cracks and cannot pull ourselves back up. Sometimes our questions and doubts are too loud. But Jesus is the chord stabilizing our path and our walking companions on the road are there to repair the gaps and to take our wrists and pull us to safety.
You may never see how the work you have done for Jesus has blessed or helped others, but nothing you do for Him is ever a waste. Keep repairing the wounds and the gaps and the needs in the path before you. Someday, someone will be able to keep going because of what you have left behind for them.
Carried in the cross 