Month: April 2021

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.” Proverbs‬ ‭3:5‬ ‭KJV. These words are easy for us when things are going well in our lives. When our situations can be understood it doesn’t require a lot of trust on our part. But it is when the difficulties come, and we do not understand, that is when our faith and trust in God is challenged. There will be many situations in our lives when things happen that we are not able to make sense of on a human level. These are the times we discover if our trust is merely superficial, or if we are truly trusting God with all of our heart. To trust with all of our heart means even in those times we do not understand. It means we trust even when things seem to be the opposite of what God has said. We should also try to remember, as God said to Isaiah (55:9), “that My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than yours.” Trusting God with all of our heart means believing He is the Almighty Sovereign God Who works in ways that are many times, far beyond our ability to comprehend. And if we are children of God, then we have His promise that He is working all of these things out for our good. Let us not depend only on things we can see and understand. But let us trust wholeheartedly in God Who cannot fail.

“Cast your burden upon the LORD and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.” Psalm 55:22. What a great privilege is ours to be able to bring our burdens to Jesus, our merciful High Priest. He is our great Burden Bearer. He is the One Who invites us to ‘Cast all your cares on Me because I care for you’. And may we be humble enough to recognize, that we need to cast our burdens on Him. The burdens of this life can become so heavy at times that we feel them weighing us down to the point we don’t know how to go on. They will squeeze the peace and joy out of us. But our Lord calls us to bring our burdens to Him because He knows we were not designed to carry them alone. He Who created us knows that only He can bear the load of sin and sorrow. Only He can handle the pressures of this life. Only He can sustain our weary souls! And thank God, He will for every soul who comes in faith to Him. Today, as we come to our Burden Bearer, let us know that no one ever cared like Jesus, and be willing to let go and let Him bear our burdens. He will lighten our load.

“But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and He that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art Mine.” Isaiah‬ ‭43:1‬ KJV. In reading this chapter it is easy to become focused on the next verse. There our Lord encourages and reminds us “when you pass through the waters, I will be with you, and through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fires, you will not be burned…” And certainly those are wonderful words that bring comfort to our souls. But do we ever pause to ask “Why?” Why does God promise us such marvelous things? Why does He promise to be with us and keep us through the worst places of this life? Then we realize the answer is already given in verse 1. It is simply because our Creator God, the One Who is our Heavenly Father says, “Thou art Mine”. Because we belong to Him. Because He cares for His own. Because we have been bought with a price. So whatever you are facing today, whatever is going on in your life, however difficult your path may be, remember these words: I belong to God. The Almighty Creator of Heaven and earth, the One Who keeps His promise, He has said to me, “You are My child. And because you belong to Me, I will always be with you. And My grace is sufficient for you”.

“Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. For He knoweth our frame; He remembereth that we are dust.” Psalms‬ ‭103:13-14‬ ‭KJV‬‬. One of the things that hinders many of God’s children is, that they have an unbalanced perception of Who God is. Oftentimes people become so focused on His divine attributes, that they forget His loving heart is touched by the feelings of our infirmities. Others see God as so Holy and Righteous that He is unapproachable. Some see Him more as the Judge, Who looks upon His creation with a frown of disapproval, ready to condemn. But when Jesus came, He said that He came to reveal the Father. He came to remind us that as our Heavenly Father, God is more compassionate towards His children than any earthly father. And rather than have an unhealthy fear and dread of Him, we should have a loving reverence that such a great God would be willing to be mindful of all of our needs and care for us. It is only when we see and know Him as our merciful and compassionate Father, that we can truly have the deep appreciation and love for Him that we should, and that He desires from us. May we lift our minds to see His loving heart and know Him as the Perfect Father He is.

“Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians‬ ‭3:2‬ ‭KJV‬‬. Here is one of the great challenges of living the Christian life in this world. We all know that the things of the earth are necessary to sustain this physical body. We need food, shelter and many things. So we work in order to get those things. But the problem is, that our flesh always wants more than is necessary. And too often, we become attached to material things. We begin to love our comforts and pleasures. We want more of them. And very clearly we are in a time when most people, including church people, have more affection for the things of this world than they do for Jesus Christ and the things that are important to Him. This should be clear to us, anytime we choose worldly things over the things of God. But God calls us to love Him supremely and to set our affections on the things that matter most to Him! Jesus said. “Where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also”. May we be honest with ourselves about this. If our affections are more towards the world than to the things of God, then we need to humble ourselves and repent. Allow our Lord Jesus to arrange our priorities according to His good pleasure. Nothing less is true Christianity.

“…let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord, and His strength: seek His face evermore.” Psalms‬ ‭105:3-4‬ ‭KJV‬‬. We are in a world where people are seeking everyday for something or someone to satisfy their heart’s desire. Many people seek to be strong in many ways. They seek for physical strength, financial strength and even for intellectual strength. But the psalmist reminds us here that we should seek the Lord above all. We should seek Him first and wholeheartedly. In seeking His face, we are seeking that personal intimacy with Him that He desires and we so desperately need. Too many people in religion are seeking God’s gifts, but not Himself. They want the blessings but not the Blesser. And that is one of the reasons for so much spiritual weakness. But when we truly seek the face of God, we are doing so with the knowledge that His eyes see us as we are. We can only seek His face when our hearts are pure before Him and our attitude is right with our fellow man. And when we do seek His face, it is there we find the true Source of spiritual strength. Because the greatest strength available to man, is in an intimate relationship with our Holy God.

“And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here: for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.” Matthew‬ ‭28:5-6‬ ‭KJV‬‬. He is risen. What amazing words these are! These words have become the pivotal point in human history. Because of our sin, mankind had long been held in the cruel clutches of satan. Death loomed over the hearts of men bringing misery to the mind. But then Jesus, the only begotten Son of God, came to be our Saviour! He lived a perfect life. He took our sins upon Himself, and died a perfect atoning death, becoming the propitiation for our sins. But thank God, death could not hold Him! On the third day HE AROSE, victorious over death, hell and the grave! And now, because He lives, we can live also. Through the miracle of salvation, we can be raised up to new life in Him. We can share in His glorious triumph. Dear one, you have the highest privilege a person can ever have in this world. And that is to know this wonderful Saviour in a life changing personal relationship. Through His divine power you can be raised up from that old life with all of it’s sin and misery. On this day we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection, may some precious soul come to the Crucified and Risen Saviour and find new life and hope in Him.

“And when Jesus had cried with a loud voice, He said, Father, into Thy hands I commend My spirit: and having said thus, He gave up the ghost.” Luke‬ ‭23:46‬ ‭KJV‬‬. These final words of Jesus on the cross remind us that He died as He lived. From His earliest days, all of His life was lived in complete trust and total submission to His Father. He said that He did nothing of Himself, but only lived so that the Father’s purpose could be done in Him. He had prayed in Gethsemane “Not My will but Thine be done”. And now as He faces the final moment of human existence, He looks into that void which we call death. Death is the place that has long brought fear to the hearts of ordinary men. But as Jesus makes this crossing, in spite of all that He has endured, He places His soul and spirit into His Father’s loving hands. He has such complete trust in His Father’s Word, that for Him there is no fear in death. In our mind, we can see Him breathe that last breath, and with His soul looking Heavenward He says to the Father, “Here am I. As I have given My life to You, even so now I place My spirit in Your hands”. If we want the end of our life to be peaceful and without fear, then that same spirit of trust and humble submission to God must be ours as well.

“When Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, He said, It is finished…” John‬ ‭19:30‬ ‭KJV‬‬. In the original Greek this brief phrase was only a single word. It was the word used when a runner completed a race or a debt was fully paid. In one sense, when we think of what Jesus did in His life and atoning death, it is a word that defies all human understanding. No other human being could say it with truthfulness as Jesus did. Every single thing He came to do, He did. Every purpose for His coming and dying, He accomplished. He had drunk the last drop of that bitter cup. He had trod the winepress of God’s wrath against sin, all alone. He had made His soul an offering for our sin. And yet, this was a word of ultimate triumph! This was His dying song of victory! This was Jesus completely fulfilling the Father’s will in every detail. This was Him taking all that was against us and nailing it to His cross! This was our salvation being bought and paid for! Hallelujah!! Would to God we could accept it as done. In all those times the devil tries to take us back to our past sins and failures, we need to remind him of what Jesus said, “It is finished!” In those times we are in the battle and we wonder about the outcome, let us remember Jesus’ words, “It is finished! The battle is over and the victory is won!”

“After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst.”John‬ ‭19:28‬ ‭KJV‬‬. As we think about Jesus’ hours upon the cross, what usually draws our attention most is the physical suffering. We see the disturbing pictures and read the graphic details of what a crucifixion involved, and we become more focused on what His body was experiencing than anything else. But as horrible as all that surely was, it was only a small part of the true agony Jesus was experiencing. We could try to describe His painful, physical thirst caused by severe dehydration. But again, that only touches on the physical. We should keep in mind this was spoken immediately after His being forsaken by His Heavenly Father, when He became sin for us. His soul was in agony, because for the first time, He could not sense His Father’s presence. That eternal union between Father and Son had been broken. He had given up the most precious thing in His existence. And so, like the psalmist wrote in Psalm 42:2, “His soul thirsted for God” more than anything in this world. To know Jesus was willing to do all of this, should fill our hearts with thanksgiving and adoration for this great sacrifice He made for our salvation. He thirsted so that our thirsty souls could be completely satisfied in Him.