God's Will..... Streams in the Desert

God's Will 

Streams in the Desert 

Thou couldst have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above. John 19:11

Nothing that is not God's will can come into the life of one who trusts and obeys God. This fact is enough to make our life one of ceaseless thanksgiving and joy. For "God's will is the one hopeful, glad, and glorious thing in the world"; and it is working in the omnipotence for us all the time, with nothing to prevent it if we are surrendered and believing.

One who was passing through deep waters of affliction wrote to a friend:

"Is it not a glorious thing to know that, no difference how unjust a thing may be, or how absolutely it may seem to be from Satan, by the time it reaches us it is God's will for us, and will work for good to us?

For all things work together for good to us who love God. And even of the betrayal, Christ said, "The cup which my Father gave me, shall I not drink it?"

We live charmed lives if we are living in the center of God's will. All the attacks that Satan, through others' sin, can hurl against us are not only powerless to harm us, but are turned into blessings on the way.
--H. W. S.

In the center of the circle
Of the Will of God I stand:
There can come no second causes,
All must come from His dear hand.
All is well! for 'tis my Father
Who my life hath planned.
Shall I pass through waves of sorrow?
Then I know it will be best;
Though I cannot tell the reason,
I can trust, and so am blest.
God is Love, and God is faithful,
So in perfect Peace I rest.
With the shade and with the sunshine,
With the joy and with the pain,
Lord, I trust Thee! both are needed,
Each Thy wayward child to train,
Earthly loss, did we but know it,
Often means our heavenly gain.
--I. G. W.

How to Hold On..... Dr. Charles Stanley

How to Hold On

Dr. Charles Stanley

Psalms 37:5-7

Job was a man who certainly knew trouble and temptation, and yet he boldly claimed, "Though He slay me, I will hope in Him" (Job 13:15). That is commitment. Job had lost his children, his fortune, and his health, but he refused to abandon faith in God. The stricken man was determined to hold on because he trusted the Lord to do right.

Unwavering commitment to trust the Lord in all situations is a cornerstone of unshakable faith. From the vantage point of that foundation, we can focus our eyes upon God alone. It is easy to be distracted by circumstances and allow them to dictate our emotions. But if that's the case, then when life is good, we're happy; when times are tough, we're frustrated; and when hardship pours in, we're downright miserable and looking for escape.

Unlike Job, we are fortunate to have Scripture, which reveals God's nature and promises. And it is a wise believer who claims those promises when enduring hardship. For His Word tells us that our Father is always good, always just, always faithful, and always trustworthy. When we take our eyes off the whirl of day-to-day activity and concentrate on honoring Him and following in His way, we find a consistent peace that carries us through both plenty and poverty.

In order to hold on to God through any trial or temptation, commit to trust and follow Him all of your days. Lay claim to His promises: The unchanging Lord and Savior (Heb. 13:8) is committed to caring for you in all circumstances (1 Peter 5:7) and will never leave or forsake you (Heb. 13:5).

Fighting for Those Who Forgo the Fight..... JASMINE WILLIAMS

Fighting for Those Who Forgo the Fight
JASMINE WILLIAMS

Lee en español

“When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.” Ruth 1:18‬ (‭NIV‬‬)‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

You know that friend who chooses the wrong guy over and over? Or those relatives who keep cycling through the same struggles? The ones you love — but who make you wonder how much they even love themselves?

We all have them.

And even when we can’t see it, they’re worth the fight.

Fighting for someone who doesn’t seem to want the best for themselves can be a real drain on the emotions, though. I’ve been there.

It’s one thing to constantly remind a toddler that the purple crayon won’t taste like grapes, no matter how many times he sneaks it into his mouth. But when we find ourselves pleading with adults to change their harmful ways, it takes all the energy and love of Christ not to eventually walk away.

Our unmet desire to see them thriving leaves the part of our hearts that’s reserved just for them aching and empty.

Love makes us want more for them. Love makes us detest their bad choices. Love makes us hang on when their will to fight for themselves appears to be diminishing by the day.

What should we do when we’re fighting for them, but they’ve left us in the ring alone? If they’ve given up on their own lives, shouldn’t we?

Jesus wouldn’t. Jesus didn’t. He fought for us when we were at our worst.

Let me pause here and say, this is by no means a suggestion to remain in a relationship that’s dangerous or unbiblical. Quite the opposite.

We honor God by loving our neighbors as ourselves. (Mark 12:31a) If, or when, we find ourselves clenching desperately to the end of our ropes, one strong wind away from becoming an unrecognizable version of our worst selves, we’d want someone to love us. To encourage us. To, at the very least, keep believing in us.

The issues causing someone to continue down a path of darkness are usually deeper than what we can see from a shoreline level. Sometimes things like drug addiction or past abuse are silent influencers.

For Naomi, it was depression and grief. After losing her husband and sons, she wanted nothing more than isolation. She falsely believed that God had turned His back on her, and she felt she had nothing left to offer.

Naomi’s daughter-in-law Ruth chose to believe otherwise, and despite Naomi’s best efforts to push her away, Ruth didn’t let go. In the book of Ruth, Chapter 1, verse 18 says, “When Naomi realized that Ruth was determined to go with her, she stopped urging her.” Perhaps it was at that moment that Naomi’s hope began to be restored — when she saw there was someone willing to fight for her.

A broken woman, frustrated with God, Naomi was set on being alone and miserable. She even changed her name from Naomi, meaning pleasantness, to Mara, meaning bitter. (Ruth 1:20) Naomi’s hurt was so deep that it became her identity!

Yet Ruth clung to her. She stayed with her. And she loved her.

Sometimes this is what it looks like to fight for those who have no fight left in them. As much as we may want to give up on them and their destructive ways, we should lean on God for the strength it takes to keep on loving them.

For Ruth, that meant leaving her home to start a new life with Naomi. It meant clinging to her mother-in-law and keeping their relationship alive.

For us, it may be continuing to bring a person before God in prayer even though they are angry with Him. It may be going the extra mile to make sure they feel loved even when they’ve been less than welcoming to us.

There are also times when fighting for them looks like cheering them on from a distance while we heal and protect our own wounds. We have to seek God’s wisdom on how to stay in the fight for those who have lost hope and have, frankly, become hard to be around. He still loves them. He still wants them to live the best life they can on earth. He still wants them to have eternity with Him, and so should we.

Jesus, You are the author of reconciled relationships. You drew me to You when I felt like giving up. Help me love like You. Show me how to stand in the gap wisely for those who desperately need You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Colossians 3:12, “Therefore, as God’s chosen ones, holy and dearly loved, put on compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience.” (CSB)

Strangely Dim..... by John UpChurch

Strangely Dim
by John UpChurch

Four crumbling stairs leading up the hill from the rock-encrusted sidewalk—that’s all that’s left. If you drove by today, you wouldn’t know that I once smashed honey bees on the driveway with a shovel, or that I did so barefooted until one got a squishy revenge. You also wouldn’t know about the loft in the garage where my brothers would hide away or the window in my room that thieves peeked through before they stole our bikes. You’d never see the stairs leading out the back door where my mom would sit while we brought her giant grasshoppers to examine or plums from the fruit trees.

You see, I had this idea that one day, when I got the chance, I’d take my wife and girls to Marion, Alabama. I’d show them the house where I spent the first five years of my life, regaling them with stories about the giant heating grate in the middle of the hall that my brother used as a bathroom while sleepwalking, and the stove fire that sent my dad to the hospital, and the small square pond with goldfish that our landlady’s cat loved to eat.

But I can’t—at least, not the way I intended. My oldest brother dashed this plan by posting a Google Street View image. The two neighboring houses still stand. Ours is gone. Completely. Considering the size of the trees that now play the stand-in role, I’m guessing the house disappeared years ago (given our experience with electrical issues there, probably in a blaze of glory).

I’ve been told by movies and books that I can’t go home again, and this sad image of an empty lot does make a pretty good case for that. But that house—no matter the memories of watching PBS in the living room or music blaring from my brothers’ stereo—that house was never my home, not really. Nor is the house where I spent most of my youth, nor is the place I live now.

Seeing an empty lot reminded me how easily the things here on earth disappear. One moment you’re settling into a comfortable Alabama life; the next you’re suddenly uprooted for Tennessee. And when you look back, all that’s left is in your head.

Intersecting Faith & Life: When I saw the empty lot in Marion, it reminded me of an old song that I’ve never really liked. I know I’m supposed to because it’s a classic and all. But I don’t. I do admit that it makes a ton of sense:

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

We can try to cling to all the stuff around us—our family, our house, our money—but it all disappears. That’s why our foundation is so important. Building on the Rock of Christ isn’t just a happy-happy phrase that we can post on our fridge and feel good about. It’s a necessity. If we build on anything else, even without realizing it, we might look down someday to find our foundation and discover it’s gone.

For Further Reading
Matthew 7
Luke 6

The Secret to Loving God Much..... By Mark Altrogge

The Secret to Loving God Much
By Mark Altrogge

The more we realize how much Jesus has forgiven us, the more we will love him.

In Luke 7 a woman of ill repute shows up at a meal Jesus is attending in a Pharisee’s home. She breaks open a flask of expensive ointment, then, weeping over Jesus’ feet, wipes them with her hair and anoints them with the oil. The Pharisee, named Simon, most likely disgusted that Jesus would let this unclean woman touch him, thinks if Jesus were a prophet he’d know the kind of woman this is and have nothing to do with her.

Then after mentioning Simon’s lack of courtesies—he didn’t wash Jesus’ feet, welcome him with a kiss, or anoint his head with oil—he pointed out how the woman washed his feet with her tears, kissed his feet and anointed them with oil. Then he delivers the punch line:

“Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven—for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little.” (47)

Before he saved me, Jesus let me sink into a self-made miry pit of sin, selfishness, and misery. I couldn’t get out and couldn’t stop sinning. God is sovereign. He could have kept me from sinning. But he allows us to plunge deeply into sin. One of the reasons is so that when he does rescue us, we’re far more amazed and grateful than if we’d never sinned.

The same thing happens even after God saves us. He could keep us from ever sinning again. He could deliver us instantaneously from all pride and anger and self-centeredness. But he allows us to fall and struggle at times so we’ll have a fresh appreciation of his grace, forgiveness and love. And as a result we will love him all the more.

John Newton said:

“…when, after a long experience of their own deceitful hearts, after repeated proofs of their weakness, willfulness, ingratitude, and insensibility—they find that none of these things can separate them from the love of God in Christ; Jesus becomes more and more precious to their souls. They love much, because much has been forgiven them!”

Have you blown it repeatedly? Messed up so many times you can’t recall? If you haven’t turned to Jesus yet, do so today! He paid for every one of your sins on the cross and freely forgives all who call upon him in faith to save them. He’ll cleanse you of your every sin, and in turn, you’ll love him much.

Maybe you’ve believed for years, yet you’re discouraged in your struggle with sin. Remember, Jesus paid for all your sins long before he saved you. Ask him for forgiveness and he’ll forgive you and cleanse you of all unrighteousness. Not because you deserve it, but because he loves you. And you too will love much because you’ve been forgiven much.

I don’t advocate continual, morose, Eeyore-like dwelling upon our sins. But I DO advocate contemplating how much Jesus has forgiven us, because the more we realize the height and width and breadth and depth of Jesus’ forgiveness, the more we will love him.

The secret to loving God much: contemplate the immeasurable debt Jesus paid for you and how vast is his mercy and grace to you.

A Prayer for the Strength We Need to be Joyful..... By Meg Bucher

A Prayer for the Strength We Need to be Joyful
By Meg Bucher

“Be joyful always.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16 (GLT)

The Bible commands us to “be joyful always,” (1Thessalonians 5:16) but it takes strength to hold onto joy when life threatens to snatch it from our hands. How do we recognize a threat to our joy, employ a strategy to refute it, and come out stronger on the other side of it …still gripping our God-given joy?

Often, we think that Biblical joy should feel like happiness. However, even though “always” encompasses happy times and feelings of bliss, true Christian joy can endure through extreme hardship and pain. Happy feelings aren’t a requirement to be “cheerful no matter what,” as the Message paraphrase of 1 Thessalonians 5:16 reads.

“Be full of joy all of the time,” the New Life Version translates. “Always be joyful,” reads the New Living Translation. “Celebrate always,” the VOICE paraphrases, and“Rejoice always,” the New International Version states. Joy is an emotion of great delight. Praise expresses approval. Worship regards something as sacred. Celebration makes something known! (dictionary.com) Where do we find the strength to rejoice in the middle of trials, frustrations, and heartbreak …sickness, death, and despair …loneliness, fatigue, and unfairness? The NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible states that “rejoicing might be associated with praise.”

The strength we need is in Christ. Paul wrote,“I can do all this through Him who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13 NIV) Paul knew what it meant to suffer. We can look back a verse and listen to a heart that had been war-torn through a live in service to His Savior. “I know what it is to be in need,” he said, “and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” (Phil 4:12 NIV)

Christ made Paul strong. Not in a one-time miraculous way, but with the continued presence of the Holy Spirit, and through Paul’s relationship with Him.

We become strong enough to grip joy as our personal relationship with Christ strengthens. There’s no shortcut to it, or quick fix for it. All we need to be forgiven is to proclaim Him as Savior, but to retain joy in this life, we need Him …all the time.

It’s His grace that provides strength. We cannot cure our selves from sin, but we can look to Him to wipe the slate clean. “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses,” Paul said in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, “so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

When we walk in faith with Christ daily, we can begin to understand what Paul is talking about, and to recognize trials as growing pains. Our trust in God through the seasons that elude our understanding strengthens. Just as a marathon runner must train diligently over time, we must be all-in for this journey with Jesus in order to catch a glimpse of the wisdom that the pages of His Word contain.

We become stronger, the more we surrender to Him. One verse a day. 5 minutes each morning. Church every Sunday. With every step we take, we get to know Him more. And that makes us strong. He is the strength that allows us to hold onto joy.

A Prayer for Joy and Strength

Father,

Praise You for these lessons on strength and joy, and for Paul’s faithful life witness left behind for us to learn from. Father, You command us to be joyful always, but You do not expect us to be able to figure out how to attain or retain that joy ourselves.

You gave Your Son Jesus to light the way a joy-filled life. Through His earthly footsteps, we study the example He left for us to follow. Thank You for Scripture. As 2 Timothy 3:16 states, “All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”

All of creation reminds us of You. The beauty of nature and marvel of the changing seasons. The uniqueness in all of us and the diversity in the daily horizon. Surround us with reminders of You often, through nature, the people you place in our lives, and the Bible. May the Holy Spirit help us to understand Your Word, and will for our lives. Bless our hearts with sustaining joy, and the strength to hold onto it no matter what.

In Jesus’ Name, Amen.