You Can't Hide From God

 

Where can I go from Your Spirit?

Or where can I flee from Your presence?

If I ascend to heaven, You are there;

If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.

If I take the wings of the dawn,

If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,

Even there Your hand will lead me,

And Your right hand will lay hold of me.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,

And the light around me will be night,”

Even the darkness is not dark to You,

And the night is as bright as the day.

Darkness and light are alike to You.

For You formed my inward parts;

You wove me in my mother’s womb.

I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made….

Psalm 139:7-14

We all have times when we make ourselves stealth.  Maybe we have problems at work and we spend our days trying to fly under the boss' radar.  Or, maybe we have a problem we can't fix and we are reluctant to ask for help.  We may have health problems that put the brakes on what we need to do.  Or, maybe we just think we need a break from it all.   

God is not like us.

God never takes a break from us.  He is right there with us.  He made us, He loves us, and He will never leave us.

You can hide from the boss, but you can't hide from God.  He is there with you.

 

God Heals The Brokenhearted

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Psalm 147:3

A romantic break up or a death or a job loss or a betrayal or a wayward child or any of a hundred other things can result in a broken heart.  

God understands and feels our pain, and He is there is comfort us and help us heal.

God has promised to heal our broken hearts and all His promises are true.   

Have faith God is taking care of you.   

 

It's A Slippery Slope

 

If the Lord had not been my help,

My soul would soon have dwelt in the abode of silence.

If I should say, “My foot has slipped,”

Your loving kindness, O Lord will hold me up.

When my anxious thoughts multiply within me,

Your consolations delight my soul….

Psalm 94:17-19

Life can be a slippery slope, and sometimes when we get something going in the wrong direction, we need help to put the brakes on it.  

The Lord is our help, and He is there hanging on to us and helping all along the way. 

God is on our side and for this we are grateful. 

Spread A Little Cheer

Greet one another with a holy kiss.  

I Galatians 13:12

Well maybe not a kiss, but at least a smile and a “Hey, how are you doing?” And, for the grumpy ones who scowl and complain, we can say, “Hey, I got your back.” Then run away.

Go spread a little cheer.  

 

God Is Running To Us

 

With my mouth I will give thanks abundantly to the Lord;

And in the midst of many I will praise Him.

For He stands at the right hand of the needy,

To save him from those who judge his soul.

Psalms 109:30-31.

We all know them: Needy people. They may be the victims of situations beyond their control or they may be victims of their own stupidity. They may be us. 

It is easy to beat up on ourselves and other people when things go wrong. God does the opposite. When everyone else is running away, God is running to us. When things are at their worst, God is at His best.

For God's unfailing love and support, we are grateful.

The Spirit Of God Rests On You

 

If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

1 Peter 4:14.

Every Christian has or will experience it. It is never pleasant. Yet, every one of us at some point will be hated because we are Christians. 

I had a philosophy class in college and the instructor publicly called me out. He said, “You’re the only Christian in here.” I replied, “No, there are others. They are stealth.” I was an old lady who was working on an associate’s degree, and I had the gall to ask him questions, while all the children sat silent, and this irritated him. I never once mentioned my Christianity, yet he knew I was a Christian and hated me for it.

After that I wore my “What Would Jesus Do?” t-shirt to class every day. Day after day the instructor insulted the Christian Church. I didn’t say anything because lots of people don’t like organized religion. Then one day he insulted Jesus, and I stood up and walked out. After that he kept his insults directed at the church and I tortured through and finished the class.

Several months later, I was dropping my teenage daughter off at a youth meeting when a young woman came up to me and asked, “Were you in that philosophy class at Owens?” I nodded. Then she said, “Remember that day when you walked out? Well, I walked out too.”

I knew the Spirit of God rested on me.

Who Is The Greatest?

 

At that time the disciples came to Jesus and said, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

And He called a child to Himself and set him before them, and said, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever then humbles himself as this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; but whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Matthew 18:1-6

Notice when asked who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven, that Jesus did not say industrial tycoons or politicians or ministers or kings or queens or billionaires or movie stars or any of the people that wield power here on earth. Jesus said children, and those who humble themselves like children, will be the greatest.

This is because God does not judge success as we judge success. God judges success as having a pure heart and pure motives.

It is not that we cannot have any of the trappings of earthly success; it is that we must also have the attributes of a child – a good heart and a kind spirit.

Let us be mindful of who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and humble ourselves before God.