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September 24th, 2018

9/24/2018

Isaiah 61:1b
He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted.

We all have our broken places. We all have areas of
pain that are buried deep so that we don't think about
what hurts. Fractures in our hearts, spirits and bodies
build walls that are hard to get around or over. The Lord
has everything we need to heal those places. He has
been bruised for our iniquities and by His strips, we are
healed.

He knows the pain and hurt and loneliness we feel for
He has been there also. He hurts when we hurt and He
grieves with us when life hands us losses that are more
than we think we can handle.

Some issues may not be healed in our lifetime, but we
can learn and grow and be a witness to others of the
Lord's great mercy and plan for us. Others will be
watching the way we deal with everyday problems.
Whether the problem is short term or long term, how
we deal with the problems speaks in a loud voice to those
around us.

He has not given us an easy path. His disciples and
prophets all lived a life of sacrifice and most died as
martyrs for Him. They believed in the promise of His Word.

He will not forsake us when we continue to live for Him
despite the challenges that we face. We may be afflicted
with financial disaster or life threatening disease or relational
destruction in our lives. But the Lord has already lived
through and dealt with these issues.

He had no home during His ministry. His disciple denied Him and another betrayed him. He has borne our afflictions and will grieve with us but He will also stand with us through it all.

We must be open to allowing Him to help us heal our own
broken places, despite the pain. Then we can help heal the
broken places of the ones He sends to us.

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Confidence in Christ Jesus

9/15/2018

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2 Cor 3:4-6 Such confidence we have through Christ before God. Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

The letter of the law was given to show Israel that they could not keep the law, they needed an intercessor to stand for them. The law required constant sacrifices to attempt to atone for their sins. It seemed that there were never enough to pay the cost of their sins. The cost of sin is death. They needed a perfect sacrifice to cover the total cost of their sins. Jesus, the Son of God, stepped up and paid the full cost with His life.

The Spirit gives life not through following a long list of rules, He gives life through belief in Jesus Christ and Him crucified and risen. He, Jesus, paid the price we could never pay. Our belief in Christ gives us the qualification to share what Jesus did for us.

We do have the competence to tell the world of the free gift we were given. We have all the tools of the trade to share the freedom of following the way of the Lord. We have the competence in Him to be ministers of the new covenant—the covenant of grace instead of rules and regulations.

We do not lack the competence. We lack the confidence in our ability to effectively share the good news with our friends, and family. We lack the confidence in our ability to stand up to the world that scoffs at the message of Christ’s salvation. We fear what others will think or say about us. We fear how our jobs will be affected.

When we learn to lean on the Holy Spirit to give us the confidence and grace to share the hope that we have for eternal life, we can relax and trust the Spirit to give us the words to say. When we learn to rest in Christ, we become a pleasing aroma to God. (2 Cor 2:15).

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Searching for hidden treasure.

9/9/2018

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Prov 2:1-3 My son, if you accept My words and store up My commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding, and if you call out for insight and cry aloud for understanding and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.

Searching for God’s truth may seem like an exercise in futility if you are looking for the answers you want, not what the Lord wants you to see. We tend to desire what we want and not what is best for us. The Lord desires us to let Him enter into our time of study and devotions.

We are told to study to show ourselves approved but sometimes the Bible can be confusing and even seems outdated. We don’t understand the references and what was the norm for them is completely foreign for us. Yet within all of the struggles, I have found a time of complete comfort and reassurance. I have even found that a verse that I have read multiple times suddenly comes alive and fits the situation that I am in at the time.

The disciples frequently asked that Jesus’s teachings be clarified for even they didn’t understand what He was trying to convey to them. Jesus was patient in helping them to understand but occasionally even called them slow of wit and slow to understand. On the road to Emmaus, Jesus opened their minds so that they could understand.

Paul prayed for the believers in Phillipi. ‘Being confident of this, that He Who began a good work in you will carry it to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. (Phil 1:6) And this is my prayer; that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless until the day of Christ’....(v9,10).

The more we learn of the Lord and His Word, the easier it is to fall deeper in love with Him. We can begin to understand the way He does things and the more we commit to understanding Him, the more we learn to trust. Jesus desires only the best for us. He yearns for our time together. He even became a man to that we could physically see Him and touch Him and talk to Him. He loves us.

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Consider the Lilies

9/2/2018

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Luke 12:27, 28 “Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will He clothe you, O you of little faith!

Over the summer as I have worked my flower and vegetable gardens, I have also watched the flowers of the fields. No one fertilized or watered or cultivated them, but they seemed to thrive. Especially the ones that cause my sinuses to go crazy! They had no one to weed them or protect them from the rabbits, etc. While I spent hours in my two gardens, weeding, watering, etc, I noted they flourished just as my weeds and flowers did.

God’s compassion and love for the lilies and forest animals is a beautiful picture of how He cares for us. He may not provide all of our wants but He will not allow us to go through times of need alone. He will provide for all of our needs according to His riches in glory.

He sees all that we endure. He sees all of our joys and sorrows. He sees the hidden hurts as well as the ones we share with others. He sees the relationships that we should avoid. He sees the plans that we should abandon. He sees the true motivation of our hearts when we secretly give to others. He also sees when we do things to be noticed by others.

Learning to trust in God’s provision has always been a challenge for me. I have seen Him provide things exactly when needed or someone shows up exactly when needed. Rarely ever are things or people provided ahead of time.

Corrie Ten Boom told of a story her father told her. Her father said that we receive a ticket to get on the train when the ticket is needed, not before. The Lord handles our needs the same way. I don’t receive the strength I need for a time of trial until the trial comes. He always provides a way through a time of testing or temptation. We just need to take hold of it. Learning to lean on His guidance is just as important as learning to trust in His provision. If you question His love, consider the lilies of the field.

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September 24th, 2018

Confidence in Christ Jesus

Searching for hidden treasure.

Consider the Lilies

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