Despair Part II

Joseph.   

They (his brothers) saw him in the distance, and before he had reached them, they plotted to kill him. They said to one another, “Here comes that dreamer! Come on, let’s kill him and throw him into one of the pits. We can say that a vicious animal ate him. Then we’ll see what becomes of his dreams!” When Reuben heard this, he tried to save him from them. He said, “Let’s not take his life.” Reuben also said to them, “Don’t shed blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, but don’t lay a hand on him”—intending to rescue him from their hands and return him to his father. 

When Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped off his robe, the robe of many colors that he had on. Then they took him and threw him into the pit. The pit was empty; there was no water in it. 
Then they sat down to eat a meal. 

They looked up, and there was a caravan of Ishmaelites coming from Gilead. Their camels were carrying aromatic gum, balsam, and resin, going down to Egypt.
Then Judah said to his brothers, “What do we gain if we kill our brother and cover up his blood? Come, let’s sell him to the Ishmaelites and not lay a hand on him, for he is our brother, our own flesh,” and they agreed. When Midianite traders passed by, his brothers pulled Joseph out of the pit and sold him for 20 pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who took Joseph to Egypt. -Genesis 37:18-28

Later he finds himself being treated unfairly once again. A high ranking Egyptian official named Potiphar bought Joseph as a slave, but because of his faithful service and God’s blessing, he was made ruler over Potiphar’s house. The Bible says Joseph was “well built and handsome” (v. 6), and Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him. He fled but left his coat behind. She told her husband that he had come onto her and subsequently Potiphar had him thrown in prison. 

Does Joseph become angry and curse God? No! He continues to worship his God despite his circumstances. So why would God allow this man to suffer? I believe it was to humble him and mold him in preparation for what God had planned. 

Most of us know how the story ends, Joseph becomes Pharaoh’s top man in all the country, but Joseph had no idea what God was doing. Despite the injustices done to him, he never wavered in his devotion to God. 

We too should walk in faith. Joseph was 30 years old when he was released from prison and made ruler, second only to Pharaoh. Thirty years of highs and lows but he never gave up his faith. 

Many of us today have been richly blessed. Maybe things lately have rocked our lives and we are questioning God. Friend, the God of the good times is also God during the bad times. Walk in faith, no matter how bad or how long. Nothing happens to you that He isn’t aware of. He will see you through this.

May God give you peace and joy during this dark season of your life and the faith to sustain you.     
.

Despair Part I

Are You Discouraged?

Are you facing trials and tribulations?

Does everything seem to be falling apart in your life?

Does it feel like God has abandoned you?

If you answered yes, you are not alone. I struggle with this myself, but when I do, I turn to the scriptures. There are numerous passages that tell the stories of Godly men and women who were discouraged. I get no delight in the suffering of others, but I do gain strength by knowing I am not alone. Furthermore, I see examples of how I am to trust God through the worst life has to throw at us.

So they took Jeremiah and dropped him into the cistern of Malchiah the king’s son, which was in the guard’s courtyard, lowering Jeremiah with ropes. There was no water in the cistern, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.-Jeremiah 38:6

I don’t know how long Jeremiah spent in this pit, but having spent time in mud before, I can tell you it is not pleasant. Imagine not being able to sit or lie down without being covered in muck. Where do you use the bathroom? In the muck. This could not have been pleasant.

There was no bread in the city so he was hungry as well.

Jeremiah was put in a cistern that was full of mud and slime all because he spoke the word of the Lord to the king. The king had asked Jeremiah for a word from the Lord but did not get the word he wanted to hear so he punished God’s prophet.

Fortunately, Jeremiah was brought up out of the pit eventually. What do you suppose he did? He continued to speak all that the Lord gave him to speak.

If Jeremiah could endure this and still trust his God enough to continue speaking on His behalf knowing his was an unpopular message, what is it for me also to trust this same God in my light afflictions?

If you are struggling right now and need to share your burdens, consider going to the One, the only One, who can sustain you. Also, please feel free to contact me if you have questions or need prayer.

May God give you His peace, comfort and joy to sustain you through these dark

Days.

Merry Christmas

For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. –Isaiah 9:6

Wishing everyone a blessed, and Merry Christmas.

.

Hope This Christmas

I don’t know about you, but things are not great for me right now. Money is tighter than it has ever been and the economy is not really showing signs of improvement. The world seems to be in a state of chaos. In September my brother went to be with the Lord and I am struggling through my first Christmas without him. No, things are not looking good.

¹ Now gather yourself in troops,
      O daughter of troops;
      He has laid siege against us;
      They will strike the judge of Israel with a rod on the cheek.

    ² “ But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
      Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
      Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
      The One to be Ruler in Israel,
      Whose goings forth are from of old,
      From everlasting.”
       ³ Therefore He shall give them up,
      Until the time that she who is in labor has given birth;
      Then the remnant of His brethren
      Shall return to the children of Israel.
       ⁴ And He shall stand and feed His flock
      In the strength of the LORD,
      In the majesty of the name of the LORD His God;
      And they shall abide,
      For now He shall be great
      To the ends of the earth;
       ⁵ And this One shall be peace.

                Micah 5:1-5a

At the time this was written, things were not looking good either. The nation of Israel had been attacked and abused and more of the same was heading their way. But GOD! I love this so I will repeat it; But GOD sent a message to Micah of a promised deliverer. If you read the New Testament, you will see this prophesy, as well as all the others, fulfilled in none other than Jesus, the Christ (Messiah).  

As we gather to celebrate His birth and we think of Him as a precious baby, let us not forget that He was “before” His birth. He has always been and will always be. He came in human flesh to suffer and die for our sins, in our place, but He came to overcome death and the grave “forever!” He came to stomp on Satan’s head and reign and rule for eternity. 

I love one of the last scenes in the movie The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, where Lucy is sad as she watches Aslan walking away down the beach. Mr. Tomlis (sp?) tells her he will return and that he is not a tame lion. Jesus will return and He is love, but He is not a tame lion. 

As we prepare to celebrate His birth in a few days, may we find hope and joy as we contemplate that He will return soon. We need not worry about the bad that surrounds us; we have a hope and a future, of this we can be sure.       

May the Lord Jesus Christ give you peace, joy, and hope this Christmas~

Live and Let Live

¹ Hear the word of the LORD, you children of Israel, for the LORD brings a charge against the inhabitants of the land:

“ There is no truth or mercy or knowledge of God in the land.
² By swearing and lying, killing and stealing and committing adultery,
They break all restraint, with bloodshed upon bloodshed.
³ Therefore the land will mourn; and everyone who dwells there will waste away
With the beasts of the field and the birds of the air; even the fish of the sea will be taken away.  -Hosea 4:1-3

Does this sound familiar? Could this describe America?

One need only turn on the television to see swearing, lying, killing, stealing, and adultery. In fact, many of the top shows promote and glorify this type of behavior. “Reality” shows teach our youth that this is the norm. If you want to be popular, accepted, a free spirit, open minded, this is the way to go.

Sadly, many of our children’s video games promote this as well. Stealing cars, killing cops, and other forms of violence are all part of some of the more popular games on the market.

Think about this for a moment, a ten year old child grows up, surrounded by violence in his home, his school, his neighborhood, even in the games he plays.

If he joins a gang, robs a store, carries a gun to school and kills his classmates, or any other number of violent acts, why are we surprised? Did his environment not program him to do these things?

I do not wish to excuse his bad behavior and I certainly do not condone letting him walk the streets to continue a reign of terror; however, I do not wish to throw him under the bus either. We, as a society, need to protect him “before” he gets to this point. You may be asking, “But, how do we do that?”

“GOD!”

Unfortunately, this is not the answer people want to hear. They would rather this young man live a life of violence and ruin than expose him to God’s truth. God says thou shalt not murder, steal, commit adultery, etc. Jesus said the two greatest commands are to love God and love your neighbor as yourself (Mat.22:34-40), but society says this is too much to ask.

Re-read Hosea 4:1-3 above. I think the point is obvious.

If you have questions or comments, please feel free reply.

May the God of love and peace speak to your heart and fill you with His peace during this time as we celebrate His birth.          

"I Did It My Way"

I read the following posted by a friend on Facebook this morning:

Dear Santa,

[  ]  I’ve been good this year.

[  ]  Ok, most of the time.

[  ]  Once in awhile.

[X]  Nevermind, I’ll buy my own presents.

I thought this was funny and quite clever. Then the thought occurred to me,

what if this was addressed to God?

Dear God,

[  ]  I’ve been good in this life.

[  ]  Ok, most of the time.

[  ]  Once in awhile.

[X]  Nevermind, I’ll find my own way of salvation.

This is neither funny nor clever; it’s sad, and unfortunately it happens everyday.

People are trying to get to heaven by their own means and this will never happen.

 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”  -Romans 3:23

 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” -Romans 6:23

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. –Romans 5:8

If you are trying to find your own way, I beg you, consider what the Lord says.

As we celebrate this season, think about God’s perfect gift to mankind, Christ Jesus. He died for your sins so you don’t have to.

If you have questions or need someone to talk to, please feel free to contact me or talk to your pastor. This decision is much to important to put off another day.

God bless~

The Power behind Us

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power

and of love and of a sound mind.

-1 Tim. 1:7

Do you ever have doubt and fear? If you are a believer and you feel led to do something that is beyond your ability but you think you just can’t do it, you’re right, you can’t; but God can!

Pray and ask for His strength today. If He has called you to do something, He will empower you to do it. The above verse clearly tells us that fear does not come from God.

Why not trust Him today?

God bless~