Tag: Trust

Posted on

Measuring Up

Daily Reading

Numbers 11-13

Daily Thought

Twelve spies were sent by Moses to check out the land of Canaan, the Promised Land of God. They returned after forty days, with good news–the land was flowing with milk and honey. However, there was also bad news–the people were strong and their cities fortified. “There we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them” (Numbers 13:33).

There would be, someday, another warrior of God thought too small for battle against a large opponent. First King Saul told David, “You cannot fight Goliath. You are only a boy.” Then David put on the armor, but it did not fit. If you are too small for the armor, you are too small for the battle. Finally, the big Philistine himself laughed at David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?”

The Israelites’ problem was someone thought they were too small for battle, but it wasn’t the Nephilim or the Amalekites or the Hittites or the Jebusites or the Amorites or the Canaanites. It was the Israelites themselves. “We seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers.” 

It never occurred to David to measure himself. He measured Goliath and he measured God. “You come to me with a sword and with a spear and with a javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel” (1Samuel 17:45). 

“What then shall we say to these things?
If God is for us, who can be against us?” ~Romans 8:31 

So David killed Goliath with a slingshot. Then he cut off his head.

Daily Prayer

Awesome God, You reign from heaven above with wisdom, power, and love. You are the Almighty, the Everlasting, my Stronghold, my Shelter, my Fortress in time of trouble. You are my Savior.

My God is an awesome God. May I never rely on my own strength and may I never forget Your strength. I shall place my trust in it, in You, always. If my God is for me, who can be against me?

Amen

Daily Question

Do you measure situations more through your eyes or God’s eyes?

Posted on

A Virgin Betrothed

Daily Reading

Luke 1

Daily Thought

“The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary” (Luke 1:26). Gabriel is the same angel who 600 years earlier visited Daniel. Gabriel seems to be the angel God sends when he has a really important message. Mary, a virgin betrothed, is a pure young woman, legally engaged to be married. This is an important detail. Here is the important message.

 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” ~Luke 1:30-33

This is a huge announcement, but Mary zeroes in on one detail: “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34). First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage. That’s the proper order, and Mary is a proper virgin. She knows the facts of life. She knows how babies are made. If she is to bear a son, she wants an explanation. 

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” ~Luke 1:35

That was the explanation, and it is the delight of heaven, but Mary knew it would not play well on earth. Nazareth and Bethlehem are small towns. Tongues will wag, her reputation will be lost, Mary’s life will change forever. Gabriel may have called out to Mary, “Greetings, O favored one” (Luke 1:28), but Mary knew she is about to become a woman of shame. Mary is a young teenage girl, engaged to a righteous man, and she is about to be pregnant. That is the situation presented to Mary by the angel Gabriel, and this is her response. “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word” (Luke 1:38). Do not miss two small words, “to me.” Mary knows what is being asked of her. 

“And the angel departed from her” (Luke 1:38). Enough said, Mary heard all she needed to hear–and so did Gabriel. 

Daily Prayer

My God, You announced the coming of Your Son to a humble couple hidden in Judea, and they believed in You and faithfully obeyed. It is only in humility that a baby in a manger is recognized as Savior of the world. You showed Your great love and gave us Jesus and life is never the same. You change everything.

God, I don’t need to know the details, I need to know You, better and better. My faith in You is not blind, even if I do not know what is to come. I know You, and that is enough. 

Amen

Daily Question

What do you need to know in order to put your trust in God?

Posted on

Trust and Treasure Go Together

Daily Reading

Jeremiah 32-34

Daily Thought

Jeremiah spoke a terrible and terrifying truth, “Thus says the Lord: Behold, I am giving this city into the hands of the Chaldeans and into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he shall capture it. The Chaldeans who are fighting against this city shall come and set this city on fire and burn it” (Jeremiah 32:28-29). Then he spoke of a hope and a future, in spite of the defeat, “Behold, I will gather them from all the countries to which I drove them in my anger and my wrath and in great indignation. I will bring them back to this place, and I will make them dwell in safety. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God” (Jeremiah 32:37-38). It was a package deal. As sure as there was something terrible about to happen, “at that time the army of the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem” (Jeremiah 32:2), there was a certain hope to come.

So sure was Jeremiah of the truth of God’s Word that he put his money where his mouth was, he put his treasure into the land of Israel, “I bought the field at Anathoth from Hanamel my cousin, and weighed out the money to him, seventeen shekels of silver. I signed the deed, sealed it, got witnesses, and weighed the money on scales” (Jeremiah 32:9-10). He would have a place to build when he returned. He was sure of it.

Jesus, likewise, spoke to his followers a terrible and terrifying truth, “In the world you will have tribulation,” but also the certainty of hope in him, “but take heart; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Like Jeremiah, how sure I am of God’s Word is revealed by where I put my treasure.

“Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” ~Matthew 6:20-21

Daily Prayer

My God, Creator of all, Creator of me, You and You alone are worthy of my worship and devotion. Everything I see is awesome. I know I use that word a lot, but it truly applies to Your handiwork. I am awe-struck at the majesty, the intricacy, the wisdom, the beauty.

I have concerns, needs, issues, problems in my life. We all do. No wonder we pray to You. You have created a grand universe, and paid attention to the tiniest details. I can trust you with anything, big or small. How I spend my money and my time reveals my trust in You. I trust You with me, all of me, all that I have.

Amen

Daily Question

In what ways do your finances demonstrate trust in God?

Posted on

Sunrise, Sunset

Daily Reading

Jeremiah 30-31

Daily Thought

Thus says the Lord,
who gives the sun for light by day
and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night,
who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the Lord of hosts is his name. ~Jeremiah 31:35 

It says sunrise will occur at 6:32am, so I show up at 6:30 and wait. Five minutes pass, I check my watch, and still no sun. Here is what I know: either my watch is wrong or the charts were wrong, or maybe I am facing west. The sun is not wrong. It shows up exactly on schedule every morning. You can bet your life on it; in fact, God says you should: 

“If this fixed order departs
from before me,” declares the Lord,
“then shall the offspring of Israel cease
from being a nation before me forever.” ~Jeremiah 31:36

Judah sinned and was taken captive by God’s enemies. Would God remain faithful to them, they wondered, even though they were not faithful to him? Jeremiah assures them God will and fastens God’s promise to the universe; more sure is his Word than the sun and the moon and the stars. “This is the day that the Lord has made,” proclaims the Psalmist. Every sunrise is a promise kept, a daily reminder that God is true.  

“Let us rejoice and be glad in it.” ~Psalm 118:24

Daily Prayer

My God, You are true and right and good. By Your breath this world came into existence, and Your Son holds it together. “He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together” (Colossians 1:17). You are faithful and true. When You declare what will happen, it will happen.

I place my trust in You, O God, because there is no foundation more sure. So much is outside of my control, I would feel helpless and hopeless, but I know that You, my God, are sovereign. You have declared the end from the beginning so that I may always live in the wonderful hope of things to come.

Amen

Daily Question

What have you done that you wouldn’t have done unless you trusted God?

Posted on

Believe Him

Daily Reading

Isaiah 45-48

Daily Thought

God used prophets such as Isaiah to teach his hard-headed people to trust him, “because I know that you are obstinate, and your neck is an iron sinew and your forehead brass, I declared them to you from of old, before they came to pass I announced them to you” (Isaiah 48:4-5). 

For instance, Isaiah said, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). Seven hundred years later, an angel appeared to a girl named Mary and told her she will give birth to the son of God (Immanuel means “God with us”). Mary responded,  “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34).

“The former things I declared of old;
they went out from my mouth, and I announced them;
then suddenly I did them, and they came to pass.” ~Isaiah 48:3

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,” announced Isaiah (11:1), “in the tent of David” (16:5). The first verse of the first Gospel begins “the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, and Jesse the father of David the king” (Matthew 1:1, 6). 

John the Baptist announced Jesus, “preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand’” (Matthew 3:1-2). Isaiah, 700 years earlier, forecast John, “a voice cries: ‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God’” (Isaiah 40:3). 

Isaiah even knew how and why Jesus would die, “he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5), and Jesus said to his disciple, “Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe” (John 20:27).

God speaks and it happens.

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven” (Acts 1:11). 

Believe him. Trust him. What he says, he does. 

Daily Prayer

Saving God, Immanuel, God with us. You promised a Savior, You sent Your Son. Thank You for Jesus Christ, my Savior, my Lord, my God. I trust You in all things. You are the God of Your Word. May I be a man of my word, as well.

O Lord, You are faithful and true. You said Your Son would come. He did. You said He is to come again. He will.

Amen

Daily Question

Do you believe Jesus will come again? Why or why not?

Posted on

Big Deal!

Daily Reading

Isaiah 36-41

Daily Thought

Isaiah was prophet to King Hezekiah, a good king who “did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God” (2Chronicles 31:20). He restored Judah to faith and worship, and stood against Assyria, the mighty nation that had defeated the northern kingdom of Israel. Assyria presented to Hezekiah and to Judah a question they must answer, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? In whom do you now trust’” (Isaiah 36:4-5). 

That same question is asked of each generation, including ours.

Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, presented Hezekiah with a reasonable argument. Assyria has demonstrated her strength. Lots of little nations depending on lots of little gods have fallen. “Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?” (Isaiah 37:12-13). Your God will fail you, too.

Sennacherib made Hezekiah an offer: Trust me. “Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern” (Isaiah 36:16). Sounds good, but Sennacherib continued, “until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards” (Isaiah 36:17). My land. Trust Sennacherib, you belong to Sennacherib. You belong to whom you trust.

Rather than listen to these reasoned words of a faithless man, Hezekiah put Sennacherib’s words before God and worshipped. The little gods destroyed by Assyria “were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone” (Isaiah 37:19), so big deal! “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth” (Isaiah 37:16). Worship gave Hezekiah perspective. He would answer the question. He would trust in the one God, his God, the God of the heavens and the earth. Big deal, indeed!

After the one God defeated the Assyrians, Isaiah added this postscript regarding Sennacherib, “as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword” (Isaiah 37:38). Another little nation depending on a little god has fallen.

‘Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: ‘On what do you rest this trust of yours? In whom do you now trust?’” It is a good question.

Daily Prayer

My Creator, You are Lord of all. You establish justice and promote righteousness. You have made Your ways known, Your Laws are clear and they are good. I may choose to follow them. Or not. You give me freedom to decide the path I walk, the choices I make, the direction of my life.

At the end, God, I know I will stand before the King of kings and Lord of lords, the God of all the kingdoms of the earth. Thank You for Your Son, who paid the price for my sins on my behalf. He has given me his righteousness, so that I may stand with confidence before You. There is no other choice but You.

Amen

Daily Question

What do you do that demonstrates you trust God?

Posted on

Unsinkable

Daily Reading

Job 40-42

Daily Thought

And the Lord said to Job: “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty? He who argues with God, let him answer it” (Job 40:1-2). God’s question for Job: Do you know who I am?

That’s the question, and we dare not get the answer wrong. 

“Are you capable of forgiving and loving God even when you have found out that He is not perfect, even when He has let you down and disappointed you by permitting bad luck and sickness and cruelty in His world, and permitting some of those things to happen to you? Can you learn to love and forgive Him despite His limitations, as Job does?” That was written by Rabbi Harold Kushner in his book, “When Bad Things Happen To Good People.”

Really? An “A” for effort? Good job for trying? Kushner didn’t believe God could change what happened so he changed God. 

Remember the Titanic? “There is no danger that Titanic will sink. The boat is unsinkable and nothing but inconvenience will be suffered by the passengers,” said Phillip Franklin, White Star Line Vice-President, just before midnight, April 14, 1912. The Titanic sunk, April 15, 1912, 2:20am. If you claim you are unsinkable, don’t sink. 

Kushner got it wrong. He was mistaken about God and about Job. When bad things happen, knowing why they happen or what to do is not as important as knowing the one to trust. Job rested at last, not because he knew how or why, but he knew who. He knew God. “I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted,” said Job (Job 42:2). Unsinkable.

And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job. ~Job 42:10

Daily Prayer

Heavenly Father, You are good. Every good gift comes from You. You are holy and just and righteous. You are love.

There are times when people and events may argue against that, but God, I will not be swayed. I know that You are true, the First and the Last, and that in all things, You work for the good of those who love You. Father God, I love You. My life is Yours, no matter what.

Amen

Daily Question

How much do you trust God?

Posted on

Do You Believe?

Daily Reading

John 5-6

Daily Thought

In the 1850’s, tightrope walker Charles Blondin crossed Niagara Falls several times on a rope two-inches thick and 1,000 feet long. On his first attempt, the bets were against him, but as he succeeded, and succeeded again and again, the crowds grew and the crowds believed. Everybody loves a good show, but when Blondin asked the crowd if any would ride on his back while he crossed, there were no takers. Belief only goes so far.

Rumor of Jesus coming to town brought people out of their homes “and a large crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick” (John 6:2). Everybody loves a good show. The crowd was expectant and Jesus did not disappoint. A boy with five loaves of bread and two fish provided all Jesus needed to feed the thousands. From this small basket of loaves and fish, Jesus kept pulling out more and more, passing them to the crowds until all had plenty, with leftovers. Now they were following him, “not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves” (John 6:26).

Then Jesus told them of a better bread, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst” (John 6:35). Jesus said he is bread from heaven, claiming God as his Father. The crowd disagreed, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?” (John 6:42). The crowds had first followed because they were curious, then because Jesus was interesting, and finally because he filled their stomachs, but were any prepared to put their life in his hands? Jesus said, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever,” and he invited them to, basically, ride on his back. “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him” (John 6:66). 

No one truly believed in Charles Blondin, not enough to put their life in his hands, but his manager, Harry Colcord, did. Colcord climbed aboard and Blondin gave his manager these instructions, “Look up, Harry, you are no longer Colcord, you are Blondin. If I sway, sway with me. Until I clear this place be a part of me, mind, body, and soul.”

It is easy to believe until it’s not, and then you find out if you truly believe. Jesus asked the twelve who remained, his faithful followers, “Do you want to go away as well?” Peter shook his head for all of them, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68).

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” ~Galatians 2:20

Daily Prayer

My Lord and God, Author of Life. Everything about why I am here, You are the answer. I love You and promise to follow You. I know it will be hard because Your truth is difficult. People want to do things their own way, and You demand that we follow You to find full and everlasting life.

I choose to stand for You, to stand with You, God. Thank You for standing with me because, really, I am not that strong (You knew that already.) But, in the power of Your Spirit by the authority of Your Son, I will stand for Your truth and live a life fully committed to You.

Amen

Posted on

A Virgin Betrothed

Daily Reading

Luke 1

Daily Thought

“The angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary” (Luke 1:26). Gabriel is the same angel who 600 years earlier visited Daniel. Gabriel seems to be the angel that God sends when he has a really important message. Mary, a virgin betrothed, is a pure young woman, legally engaged to be married. This is an important detail. Here is the important message.

 And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” ~Luke 1:30-33

This is a huge announcement, but Mary zeroes in on one detail. “How will this be, since I am a virgin?” (Luke 1:34). First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby in the baby carriage. She is a virgin betrothed. She knows the facts of life. She knows how babies are made. She wants an explanation. 

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God.” ~Luke 1:35

That was the explanation, and it is the wonder of heaven, but Mary knew it is not going to play well on earth. Nazareth and Bethlehem are small towns. Tongues will wag, her reputation will be lost. Mary’s life will change forever. Gabriel may have called out to Mary, “Greetings, O favored one” (Luke 1:28), but Mary knew she is about to become a woman of shame. Mary is a young teenage girl, engaged to a righteous man, and she is about to be pregnant. That is the situation presented to Mary by the angel Gabriel, and this is her response. “And Mary said, ‘Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.’” Do not miss two small words, “to me.” Mary knows what is being asked of her. “And the angel departed from her” (Luke 1:38). Enough said, Mary heard all she needed and so did Gabriel.

Daily Prayer

My God, You announced the coming of Your Son to humble people hidden in Judea, and they believed in You and faithfully obeyed. You showed Your great love and gave them Jesus and their life was never the same. Neither has been mine. You change everything.

God, I don’t need to know the details, I need to know You, better and better. My faith in You is not blind, even if I do not know what is to come. I know You, and that is enough. 

Amen

Posted on

Death Can Wait

Daily Reading

Mark 4-5

Daily Thought

The daughter of Jairus is at death’s door. “Then came one of the rulers of the synagogue, Jairus by name, and seeing Jesus, he fell at his feet and implored him earnestly, saying, ‘My little daughter is at the point of death. Come and lay your hands on her, so that she may be made well and live’” (Mark 5:22-23), What an opportunity, to save the daughter of a prestigious man. This would do much to advance the mission of Jesus. You would think. “And he went with him. And a great crowd followed him and thronged about him” (Mark 5:24).

Then, from the crowd, a woman, we do not even get her name, “came up behind him in the crowd and touched his garment” (Mark 5:27), and she was made well. For twelve years she had a bleeding illness no doctor could cure, but one touch healed her. And Jesus stopped. Jairus and his daughter and death would have to wait. “And Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out from him, immediately turned about in the crowd and said, ‘Who touched my garments?’” (Mark 5:30). “Everybody!” thought the disciples. “You are in a crowd. Hurry up Jesus. You have to get to the home of Jairus. This is important,” but the immediate is never more important than the eternal. “The woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace, and be healed of your disease’” (Mark 5:33-34). Jairus’s was not the only daughter who needed the touch of Jesus.

While Jesus is not hurrying, while he is taking valuable time to talk to this woman, who was already healed, by the way, the news Jairus feared arrives. “Your daughter is dead. Why trouble the Teacher any further?” (Mark 5:35), but the limits we place on God are not God’s limits. “But overhearing what they said, Jesus said to the ruler of the synagogue, ‘Do not fear, only believe’” (Mark 5:36). The immediate is never more important than the eternal.

A little girl on the edge of death was next on the agenda, except Jesus was interrupted by a woman. Death could wait while Jesus paused to heal this woman, but death did not wait and the little girl died. No matter, the King of kings is the Lord of life. “Little girl, I say to you, arise” (Mark 5:42), and she did.

Daily Prayer

My Great God, what an amazing story, Your Son born a baby to Mary. No earthly father, but a Heavenly Father, a poor family, peasant shepherds announcing His birth, a Friend of sinners and outcasts, and yet Jesus is King of kings and the Lord of lords. Big things come in small packages.

You came humbly and changed the world. You defeated all enemies, including the last enemy – death. You have established an eternal kingdom of peace and declared the good news of salvation. I’m listening and believing, and my life has been changed forever. Thank You, my God and Savior.

Amen