The Lord Surrounds You

For it is You who blesses the righteous man, O LORD, You surround him with favor as with a shield. Psalm 5:12

The Lord watches over and protects you. Nothing can come into your life without the Lord’s direction. All circumstances in your life are molded by a creative and loving God. A God who sees beyond your temporary happiness, contentment, and peace. He directs your present… for his great plans… for your future.

Missteps occur as we miss the mark that God intends. Yet, God uses our mistakes… our failures… to teach, to guide, to direct our steps in a ‘way of grace’ otherwise unknown to us before.

A ‘way of grace’… a shield that protects us and allows our hearts to change. Allows our motives to reshape… allows trust to blossom… and with it faith… faith in a loving Savior who surrounds us and keeps us by his love.

Just as sunlight touches your eye and surrounds you today be assured that God’s love for you surrounds you… just the same!

Enduring the Trial

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2-4

I don’t know about you but it is not apart of my nature to ‘consider it all joy’ when going through a trial. I either get as grouchy as a bear or I cry like a baby... ‘enduring’ and allowing the heat of a trial to make me perfect… (more mature) is typically not my way of handling a trial. I don’t know about you but there’s just something within me that wants to… run… and run fast when… life hits the fan!

Staying the course is never easy. Doing that which is right is much harder than doing the easy… the simple… the quick-fix. Enduring the fire is never popular, almost always lonely, filled with no celebration, and requires more than we can give.

That is why we pray. (James 1:5) We pray and ask God for wisdom, for mercy, and for help… no one of us is perfect… none of us have reached God’s intended height of maturity in our lives… we all… daily depend on the help of heaven to get us through another day…

God knows what you are going through today. He knows that on your own you will never reach the fullness of character that he intends. God knows that your greatest strength comes through depending on him. The trial… the test… is not as important… as how close you are walking with him… today.

A trust issue

It’s a trust issue-this daily walk with our Savior. He asks us to journey in places that we’ve never gone to before. His Spirit directs our hearts… our thoughts to the fears, the doubts, the strong-holds that continue to persist in our hearts (2 Corinthians 10:4). So tenderly He rebukes our arrogance, our self-reliance, our stubbornness… not to make us robotic but to break the rebellious self-willful-ground of our hearts and to allow his seed and then fruit of the Spirit to take root… to grow (Galatians 5:22)


God would rather see our tears than Our victory. He would rather see a broken vessel who is reliant on Him than a self-righteous saint sitting proud… walking tall (Psalm 34:18). Christ came not to heal the righteous but to bound the sores of those hurting… (Luke 5:31) those who recognize their sinfulness, their awfulness, and their hurt in recognition of their ungodliness and unworthiness.

Those who hurt because they miss their Heavenly Father… who crave for heaven and long to be rid of the shackles that keep them from him (Revelation 22:20).

It’s a trust issue… His Spirit asks… ‘will you trust’? Will you do that which is righteous… will you come and follow me’? Proverbs 3:5

Be renewed in the spirit of your mind

be renewed in the spirit of your mind Ephesians 4:23

Just as our bodies need new nourishment each and every day so our minds need and seek out nourishment as well. Our minds will dwell on, think on, feed-on the good or the evil that is presented it.

Many go through out their day thinking their own thoughts or the thoughts that our media imposes. For the world understands how to influence a person or a people… through their minds. On the whole we are all like sheep… lead by, influence by, some outside suggestion.

It is the heart of God that he be our influence. It is his will in our lives that our minds be renewed and that our lives be transformed through God’s Word acting in our lives Romans 12:2.

This occurs by reading or listening or memorizing God’s Word each day. God’s letters were written to influence our hearts and minds to live righteously… to melt our hardened hearts, to cause us to remember the goodness of the Lord and turn from our sin Romans 2:4.

For life and peace and contentment and true freedom are found in the Bible’s pages and those who love righteousness and desire a change of heart will seek it’s direction… daily.

Second-chances

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Matthew 5:7

We live in a throw-away society. A society ready to pass quick judgment for a failure, a mistake, for one wrong. Second-chances are few and yet how badly we all need them! It was second, third, and sometimes a squadron full of second-chances that gave me the opportunity to retire from the military. Mercy and compassion forgave my mistakes, corrected me, and gave me a chance to improve.

Do you need second-chances? Is your best… most of the time not good enough? Do you feel the sting of guilt although you know of Christ’s forgiveness? Does the world beat you up or do you beat yourself up… if so… you need second-chances.

Has someone wronged you? Forgive their wrong. Give them a second-chance. They made a mistake, made an error… will you hold their wrong against you forever or will mercy come from your heart?
It is easier to forgive a hurt once it occurs that to wait… time only hardens our resolve… our hearts.

If we’ve received second-chances don’t we need to show others the same?

Christ and anxiety

I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:4

There’s a lot of anxiety in our world today. Gas prices are soaring, the war in Iraqi is on-going and we are all growing older. Change and the agents of change are all around us. Unsettling is the lack of continuity and connectivity in our world… in our lives.

The anxiety… the fear… can twist like a knife within us, break us down, torment our sleep, and crush our health. Fear can paralyze us… cause us to flee into in-action… or to avoid… or to ignore. What needs to be done; goes undone and the pressure only increases.

Is there hope? Is there a way out? There is hope when we place our trust in Christ. There may not be a way out but Christ will give you the strength to face whatever life throws your way. For Christ understands your heart, your weakness, your inability, and your tormenting fear.

Christ would have us face our fears… face our giants… but never alone. For our Lord desires that we place our hope, our trust, our hearts, and our lives in him. When we do this then he protects and shields us just as a mother or a father protects their children.

Under the protective love of Christ we can live with hope, with faith, and with trust that he’s in control. Knowing that Christ will not allow anything to come into your life that is not apart of his plan for you. That means that painful and anxious moments may always fill your life but Christ is there to comfort, to care, and is someone to whom you can share your struggles with.

Christ your Friend

A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother. Proverbs 18:24

As we live this Christian life there is nothing so sweet as having friends who can help and understand along the way. Friends encourage our hearts when we are down and they correct us when we make the wrong choice. Friends bring words of encouragement and care that shakes off disappointment, despair, and discouragement.

A faithful friend will love you when you are not your self; when the chips are down; when you are not the most spiritual person on the block. For true friends have been around the block… they’ve lived the ups and downs of this Way and so they understand and show their care.

Sometimes though… our friends let us down or… we let them down. Sometimes there are misunderstandings… sometimes time and distance blurs the closeness and oftentimes we find ourselves alone when we badly need a friend.

Sometime are friendships are swept away to allow us to recognize our one true and everlasting friend… Jesus Christ. For in the midst of trouble our Friend is there. When tears wet our pillow… Christ is there! When the sun warms our face and joy fills our heart… Christ is there! Through the good and the bad… the ugly and the sad… Christ is there… he’s with you!

Christ is with you each and every day. He’s your friend regardless… we understands, he cares, and he prays for you all the time. He’s your friend and so truly you are never alone… you are never alone… he can fill your loneliness!

You ever have a friend in Christ. You are blessed with having him as your best friend!

Still Small Voice

And after the earthquake a fire; but the LORD was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice. 1 Kings 19:12 (KJV)

In our moments of solitude there is often this unquenchable desire to hear from the Lord. Often, we just want some kind of reassurance that He still loves us, cares for us, and thinks of us.

Sometimes we go to church and hope to ‘feel’ something… anything… to hear something in the message… to find relief.

Yet, the thunder of a sermon does not satisfy. The fellowship is always a good and wonderful thing but deep… deep inside we want more.

We grab a ‘spiritual-self-help’ book written by a leading pastor but the words don’t quite hit home… they are good words… good advice… but they don’t shake our ground… they don’t light a fire beneath us.

When the mind has no other recourse… no other option… we decide to try the simple and true… the old fashioned way… and so on our couch, or at a table, or during a walk we pray. It’s hard at first because there’s not much to say but after a while we sense the presence of God. We don’t ‘feel’ his presence but we sense and believe that he hears, he understands, he cares, and he loves.

The Lord does not need to send a thunderstorm, a whirling wind or an enveloping fire. His Spirit… the gentle, quiet, calming presence that resides within believers speaks unfathomably soft, unmentionable still, and lifts our souls, wets our eyes, with unspeakable peace…

The Lord still speaks to his sheep… will they hear his voice?

Who is good, who is faithful?

Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: but a faithful man who can find? Proverb 20:6 KJV

Most people of this world are out to help themselves with little regard to helping others. We see these folks everyday in our workplace, on television, and at the various places where we shop. They have a self-promotion about themselves that is loud, unafraid, and arrogant.

They claim to be good but is anyone good? (Matthew 7:11). They often claim to know more than they do. They are afraid of the words…”I don’t know”.

Few are the quiet ones who do what they should do. Who show up to work a little early, who have a game-plan in their head for the day, who find the giving of themselves reward enough.

There’s a sick phenomenon that seems to have stretched across our airways and that is an instant desire for fame. Having fifteen-minutes of fame is more important to our youth than the relationships around them…

Relationships are important… just ask someone who is faithful. Someone who does not seek the lime-light… who is more concerned with fixing a problem than seeking out a trophy. Someone who sees beyond the temporary and appreciates the honor of working side-by-side with others. Someone you can count on... someone who is faithful.

Mercy and Truth

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged: and by the fear of the LORD men depart from evil.
Proverb 16:6 (KJV)

We all make mistakes… not one of us is sinless… perfect. Daily we struggle with a sin nature that is with us from breakfast until sleeps first snore. Some days we walk the walk and other days we… well… get ran over… some days it would be better for others if we just stayed in bed...

Why?... our sin. Sin hardens our hearts (Hebrews 3:13) and we need to hear the truth even though we may not like it. God’s Word is truth (John 17:17) and it testifies of the Truth… Jesus Christ (John 14:6). The truth in Christ will set us free from sin (John 8:32).

We need mercy, forgiveness, help… healing… for in ourselves we are hopeless.

It is this hopelessness… this brokenness… this ‘going through the fire’ that changes our heart… that cleanses our heart… it is through these experiences that “iniquity is purged.”

There is no easy way around it. We don’t learn the ‘fear of the Lord’ on a mountain-top… but in the valley and often alone… very alone. Our comfort is not a friend but God’s Word, prayers and tears… We realize that our dependency is not on ourselves, a church, or a relative. God teaches us that He is our only dependency… our only help. In the valley experience we learn that God’s ways are right. We learn to fear Him… to respect Him… to give glory to Him instead of on ourselves for we see a glimmer of his holiness and our sinful awfulness… Alone, in the shadows of the valley we are taught a fear of losing His peace… and our intimacy with Him.

God loves you too much to leave you in your present spiritual condition. He is constrained through love to rid you of your sinful ways and to teach you His ways.

Our love for Him should prompt our hearts to “depart from evil”… to turn from our ways… and to have a heart shaped by his mercy and his truth…

Kind words heal and help

Proverb 15:4 (Message) Kind words heal and help; cutting words wound and maim.

There is power in words. A power that often we disregard or neglect. Too often we say so many words that their effect seems meaningless… to us… but not to others.

Often, others cling to our words for hope, for encouragement, and for some type of light or direction. Of course often we simply do not recognize this… we are so busy with our own thoughts and lives to focus on others. Yet hurting people are all around us.

The world is a cold and cruel machine that too often crushes and injuries. It leaves hurting and damaged people who seek help, kindness, mercy, and an encouraging word.

Often it is up to us to give this help, to show kindness, to display mercy, or to give an encouraging word.

For the world does not need harsh words of condemnation. Many know their own sin. The world needs someone who cares, who loves enough to share a kind word, a helping hand, an encouraging word of hope.

A few kind words heal and help so much!