Taken by LJL

David and Goliath

“A champion named Goliath, who was from Gath, came out of the Philistine camp. He was over nine feet tall.” 1 Samuel 17:4 NIV

In all your daily going ons do you sometimes feel like a David going up against the biggest Goliath you have ever seen?  So many things come crashing in from family, life, work, and the daily chores, shopping, house work, and taking one child to basketball, another to teen choir, and another to a friend’s birthday party all needing to be at their designated place at the same time.  Wow, when you stop and think about the day it sometimes seems to be so over whelming and you sit down defeated before the day even begins.  We can take a look at David as he stands back and listens to the threats from Goliath, “Choose a man and have him come down to me. If he is able to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I overcome him and kill him, you will become our subjects and serve us” (8b-9). The men all feared Goliath, to look at him in his grand stature and all his armor was rather intimidating, so much so that they ran away fearful and hid.  David asked, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of the living God?" (26b)  Good question who/what is this person/situation that defies the army of the living God in your life?  There is nothing to grand or two small that God does not go through with us.  With the help of God David killed a lion and a bear in order to save one of his own sheep.  With the help of God each day we are able to go through our daily life, get everything done as it needs to be done and still end up sane.  Just like David said, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the LORD Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied” (45b). Go forth, proclaim the name of the LORD Almighty and know that you will survive any Goliath that you may meet along the way and rest in that.

In the Cross

LJL

“Come to the edge,” Jesus said

“No” I said, “I am afraid”

“Come to the edge,” Jesus said

“No” I said, “I am afraid”

So I came to the edge, and He pushed me!

And together we flew!

Stephen Seamonds

  

 

 He Held out for a Cross

After three years of ministry performing healings, raising the dead, feeding the thousands, and teaching the multitudes; Jesus was arrested.  He withstood six trials, contempt and mocking (Luke 23:11).  He was spat on and beaten (Matthew 26:67), and then sentence to death by the very people that received the very best of Christ ministry (Matthew 27:15-25).  After all this was said and done Pilate ordered Jesus to be “scourged” Mark 15:15 NKJV says, “This was the worst flogging and beaten that any man could have been given.  The whip was fashioned with numerous strips of leather with sharp pieces of bone and metal attached.  This was designed to rip and tear the flesh to shreds.”  This was one of the most life-threatening punishments that any man could live through.  Then they placed a crown of thorns on His head, pushing them into His skull and they mocked His royalty by placing a purple robe upon His shoulders. Through all of this, Christ stood by the strength and power of God to carry the very cross that He would embrace up the hill to Golgotha. 

Why would He do such a thing?  Christ fulfilled the prophecies of the Old Testament,’ "But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all..... He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken...... Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he has put him to grief: when you shall make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he has poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bares the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors." Isa 53:5,6,8,10-12.  "I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaves to my jaws; and you have brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me." Ps. 22:14-17. 

Why?  Christ did all of this so that prophecies will be fulfilled, He cancelled our debt for our sins and won us the benefits of salvation.  Romans 3:25-26 NIV says, “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished-- he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.”  Christ did it for His Father who asked Him to go to the cross so that we can have life everlasting!  

In the Cross

LJL

   

A Light to the World

While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

John 9:5

In this passage Jesus is talking to His disciples about the work that God has called Him to, while it is still day that is while the light of God is still on earth.  For He said, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”  Jesus was sent to enlighten (to be the light), that is to give clarity to the world of their future. Jesus had healed the blind man and gave him his sight, He was not only sent to bring light but He was sent to give sight to those that are blind to their future.  Blind to the true meaning as to whom God really is.  He is the light of the world so that all who would see and believe will have everlasting life. 2 Samuel 23:4 says, “He is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning, like the brightness after rain that brings the grass from the earth.” Coffman writes, “The world cannot do without Jesus. He is as vital and necessary as the sun itself is to the physical world. All energy and life derive from him.”  This is so true Jesus lived, ministered, and died so that we can have life with meaning and be able to share it to the world around us, just as Christ was the light of the world so are we called to be the same.  When we claim Christ as our own we take on the very nature of who He is and we become the light of the world.  We are to illuminate (shine) Christ for the world to see.  Christ in us shines through as we allow Him to work through us and then we will see souls saved. 

We as daughters of Christ are also called to be a light to the world around us, Matthew 5:14-16 says, "You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.  Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

The question is “what are we waiting for?”

In the Cross

LJL

Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on John 9". "Coffman Commentaries on the Old and New Testament".

                <http://www.searchgodsword.org/com/bcc/view.cgi?book=joh&chapter=009>.

Devotional Thought: Nothing is Impossible for God

Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible,

but not with God; all things are possible with God.”

(Mark 10:27; NIV)

What are you facing that seems impossible?  Are the bills piling up?  Are there problems in your marriage, with work, or other relationships?  Maybe something from your past is troubling you.  Some times life can seem so overwhelming, unbearable, and the things we face seem impossible to resolve.  But Jesus tells us that "with God; all things are possible."  So, why are we afraid?   

There is a wonderful song, by Sarah Reeves, entitled God of the Impossible.  That helps us to see what our impossible problems look like to God.  Ponder the words of the first verse and realize that nothing is impossible with God.

My biggest storm Your drop of rain

My raging fire Your candle flame

My deepest ocean is like a puddle

At Your feet

To us, our problems are the biggest storm we have ever faced, yet to God it is but a drop of rain, that can easily be handled and disposed of.  Nothing you face is too big, terrifying, or impossible for our God.  Just as His hand created the beauty of the Grand Canyon, so He can create something beautiful out of the problems and trials we face.  So don't be afraid to turn all of your impossibilities over to Him and watch to see what He can do.  Remember He "is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20).  So expect the impossible.

Father God, you know what I am facing that seems insurmountable, and you know my past.  Lord I know that you are bigger and more powerful than any of these and I trust you to do the impossible and led me through them to victory.  Sweet Jesus, I can't wait to see what you will do.  In your powerful Name.  Amen!!

  

by Candi Adams