WHO WERE WITH ‘THE OTHER GUY’!!!
The angel of the LORD camps around those who fear God, and he saves them.
Examine and see how good the LORD is. Happy is the person who trusts him. You who belong to the LORD, fear him! Those who fear him will have everything they need. Psalm 34:7-9
When situations seem overwhelming – God hasn’t deserted me! In fact, He’s gone before me!
Those who go to God Most High for safety will be protected by the Almighty.
I will say to the LORD, “You are my place of safety and protection. You are my God and I trust you.
God will save you from hidden traps and from deadly diseases.
He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you can hide. His trust will be your shield and protection. Psalm 91:1-4 (NCV)
God is faithful. Even the darkness of my troubles is like light to Him (Psalm 139). He is ready to meet with me any time of the day or night. When turmoil comes, stopping right then and laying it all out to God will bring peace and clarity to my overloaded mind and spirit. Allowing God to separate truth from lies and shift the priorities to His will produces the strength that I need for the day.
Questions: With thought and total honesty, what are my fears?
Share some times when God was working in a situation even before we knew there was a need.
Week 8
Give thanks to the LORD and pray to him. Tell the nations what he has done. Sing to him; sing praises to him. Tell about all his miracles. Be glad that you are his; let those who seek the LORD be happy. 1 Chronicles 16:8-10 (NCV)
Isn’t that a great hymn of praise to God, who is so worthy of praise?! David spoke these words as the Ark of Covenant was brought into Jerusalem. Truly a time of celebration!
But we thank God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. So my dear brothers and sisters, stand strong. Do not let anything change you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your work in the Lord is never wasted. 1 Corinthians 15:57-58 (NCV)
I am very blessed in my life. I have found our Father God to be faithful. May I briefly testify?
In April 1999, my then 12-year-old son was playing baseball and basketball and had discovered girls weren’t as bad as he previously thought. One day, he came to me complaining of a sore throat. I looked. There was…a growth …a tumor. Three weeks later, he was diagnosed with cancer.
Always be joyful. Pray continually, and give thanks whatever happens. That is what God wants for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NCV)
For the next year, that kind of Scripture was hard for me to read, much less claim and agree. For the next year, my son and I went every week for chemo and every three weeks it would require chemo in the hospital. Four weeks of radiation treatment would cause 2nd degree burns on in the inside of his mouth. No school. No baseball or basketball. No hair. Weight loss. Some visits with friends when he wasn’t too sick or too weak or having treatments or transfusions or…whatever. God is faithful and He is worthy of my praise.
Hundreds, no thousands of people prayed. I received emails from all over the world, as one person would tell another. We had compassionate doctors, nurses, technicians, and volunteers, who treated us like we were the only one they would care for that day. We had a family of God that held our arms up (like Aaron and Hur did for Moses) when we were too tired to pray for ourselves. God is faith and He is worthy of my praise.
I know how to live when I am poor, and I know how to live when I have plenty. I have learned the secret of being happy at any time in everything that happens, when I have enough to eat and when I go hungry, when I have more than I need and when I do not have enough. I can do all things through Christ, because he gives me strength. Philippians 4:12-13 (NCV)
I will not lie to you and tell you that I live these Scriptures. I continue to press in closer to Jesus to learn from Him and His friends.
My son was healed, miraculously and by God. The enemy, satan, would try to remind us of all that we do not have; of our troubles, all our unanswered questions…especially the ‘whys’. But what about all the many, many blessings He gives us? He has given me trust…that step beyond faith…where I believe in Him no matter what I ‘see’ or what the situation. He gives peace beyond understanding. God is faithful and He is worthy of my praise.
Suggestion: Share Scripture that is ‘hard’ for you right now.
Week 9
I am pleading for your help, O Lord; for I have been honest and have done what is right, and you must listen to my earnest cry! Publicly acquit me, Lord, for you are always fair. You have tested me and seen that I am good. You have come even in the night and found nothing amiss and know that I have told the truth…
Protect me as you would the pupil of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings as you hover over me. My enemies encircle me with murder in their eyes..
Lord, arise and stand against them. Push them back! Come and save me from these men of the world whose only concern is earthly gain – these men whom you have filled with your treasures so that their children and grandchildren are rich and prosperous.
But as for me, my contentment is not in wealth but in seeing you and knowing all is well between us. And when I awake in heaven, I will be fully satisfied, for I will see you fact to face. Psalm 17:1-3, 8-9, 13-15 (TLB)
Have you ever wanted vindication? I can raise my hand on that! Whether it’s “winning” a discussion with my husband or seeing MY baseball team annihilate a rival, I have desired vindication.
Validation is a close cousin to vindication. Many times they travel together. When I am vindicated, my worth, my integrity, I might even say, my name, is validated.
David, or this psalm writer, humbly cries out to God because He knows THAT is where His vindication will come! Linda Smith, a woman of God who has mentored youth for many years, tells the young people, “What God says about you is the most true thing about you”.
Who I am, what I am worth is not defined by my job, my boss, my family, parents, the people I call friends, or even the church that I attend. So anything that they might say against me – what do I care? If God didn’t say it – it isn’t totally true!
What God says about me – now those are defining words:
For I am God – I only – and there is no other like me who can tell you what is going to happen. All I say will come to pass, for I do whatever I wish. I will call that swift bird of prey from the east – that man Cyrus from far away. And he will come and do my bidding. I have said I would do it and I will. Isaiah 46:10-11 (TLB)
Dear friends, let us practice loving each other, for love comes from God and those who are loving and kind show that they are getting to know him better. But if a person isn’t loving and kind, it shows that he doesn’t know God – for God is love.
God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into this wicked world to bring to us eternal life through his death. In this act we see what real love is: it is not our love for God, but his love for us when he sent his Son to satisfy God’s anger against our sins. 1 John 4:7-12 (TLB)
Questions:
