No Fear Here

On March 23, 2015   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 41: 10

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you. Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

How many times do we need to have God say to us, “Do not fear?” Probably at least once a day. So here is today’s dose. Our Father wants us to know that He is on the job. He is paying attention to us and we should not fear. He isn’t begging us not to be afraid, though. This really appears as a command. And now that I look at the situation from His perspective, it is a bit insulting, isn’t it, that He is our God, our Father and yet we are running around in high anxiety and fear. Our God is Yahweh, He that is and ever will be. Why should we be afraid?

Father goes on to assure us that He is with us. We don’t have to anxiously look around us. We can go with confidence knowing that He is with us always, that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He is strength for us so that we need not try to be strong in ourselves. In fact, Paul taught us that in our weakness is strength (2 Corinthians 12: 10). 

How do we convince ourselves that our Father is with us; that He will strengthen us and uphold us? I really believe we learn it through the most frightening mechanism of all; letting go. We have to let God be God. We have to relinquish a bit of the control to Him. I like to say that we have to let go of the reins because that paints a picture for me that I can relate to. I really think that for most of us we have to take God out for a test drive. We trust Him with something small and see that all works well when we put situations in His hands and then the next time we are able to trust Him with something a bit larger. The other situation is that get to the point that we are so exhausted that we have nothing left but to trust God. And then, Eureka! It works.

I really wish one person could experience this for everyone and then that we could all just believe that person, subsequently taking this verse as truth on its face. If we could only believe that God and Isaiah actually knew what they were saying. Unfortunately, it rarely works that way. So, instead of asking you to believe me or to believe this verse, I am asking you to give it a try. Take it around the block, kick the tires and see for yourself. God is worthy of our trust. He will uphold you, guard you and protect you. He is your shield and your refuge. Invest a bit of your trust in Him and let Him show you that you have no need in being anxious ever again. Think about it, to never fear again. Now that is a good way to live.

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Staying Dry

On May 26, 2014   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ephesians 1: 13

In Him, you also, after listening to the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation – having also believed, you were sealed in Him with the Holy Spirit of promise.

We are sealed in Christ. Our lives are sealed in Him. That is enough good news for us to close the book and go home. Perhaps some of you are outdoors adventurers and can relate to this. I like to kayak but one thing about kayaking is the water. Now, I love the water but my electronics don’t and even the dry clothes I carry with me are useless to me if they do not remain dry so I have dry bags for everything. I have a dry bag fanny pack and a dry bag for my phone and a dry bag for towels, clothes, etc. The technology of sealing these bags is remarkable. Some bags have zip lips, others fold down and clamp, others have zip locks that are impenetrable. So when I think of being sealed in Christ I have an idea that nothing unwanted, not even dust, can get to me. I am hidden away in Christ. We are in Christ but it is the Holy Spirit which seals us in Christ. So, imagine that Jesus is the dry bag. The Holy Spirit is the new technology of zip lips. The Holy Spirit is the seal that secures us from the damaging effects of the world. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one working together for our protection and security much like the dry bag and the closure on the dry bag. You cannot separate one from the other and truthfully say, “Well the bag is what protects my phone,” because the bag would not function fully without the seal and vice versa.

This is part of the miracle of Jesus’ victory over Satan. We know that Satan is like a lion on the prowl just looking for someone he can devour (1 Peter 5: 8). We know also that Satan’s intent is to steal, kill and destroy (John 10: 10). Knowing Satan’s nature God devised a plan to send the Holy Spirit into the world. Jesus even told us that it was to our advantage that he leave the earth so that he could send the helper, the Holy Spirit (John 16: 7). So, God sent the Christ to die for us so that the eternal life we live might be with Him in paradise. Then the Christ sent the Holy Spirit of promise so that we might live this life on earth in security and victory. God’s plan was a master plan that left nothing out. He did not disregard the time that we spend here on earth. He made a plan to seal our eternal life in His son, the Messiah and his plan further sealed out all of the devastating effects of life in the earth.  

I include amongst those ravaging effects the decay that the things of the world undergo. You know that just living on this planet creates a wear and tear on our bodies. Even gravity, for all of the good it does us, has its down side too. It is just like the water when you kayak. It is really, really beneficial to have water if you want to kayak but at the same time you have to protect yourself and your possessions from it too. So God gave us dry bags, and life preservers. In the same way, God sealed us from the negative impact of living in the earth so that our bodies do not have to suffer the negative effects of living in the world without protection.

The revelation of Paul was so huge that one little statement, such as today’s verse, contains a marvel of the miracle and mystery of Christ. This is why we must meditate on the scriptures. There is so much contained in even just a few words.

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