May The Spirit Of God Rest 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 

If you have any religious beliefs you too may experience being hated because of your beliefs.  As a Christian, I have had this experience. 

It is never pleasant. 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 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.

God Stands At The Right Hand Of The Needy

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 is running away from us, He stands with us. When things are at their worst, God is at His best.

Thank God for rescuing us.

Love Your Neighbor

Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.

Romans 13:8

Some of the simplest commandments from Jesus prove to be the toughest. All of us are neighbors and all of us have neighbors and all of us can be downright unlovable at times. You know what I mean. This scripture urges us to look beyond petty and not so petty annoyances and to look to God’s unconditional love for us so that we can love our neighbors.

Now go say something nice to your neighbor who just blew leaves all over your yard.

Coming to Grips With Fear

 

Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:10.

Fear and anxiety can grip us at the most unexpected times. We may be doing something we have done a hundred times with success, when we begin to question our competence. This may be brought on by a boss who micro manages us at work or by critics who take delight in under minding our efforts.

We are not left alone to face conjured up fears. God is with us and He will help us overcome all obstacles.

God will strengthen you.

God Goes With You

 

Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord Your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.

Deuteronomy 31:6

Spare A Prayer

But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.

Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep.

So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”

Jonah 1:3-6

Jonah was running away from God. The captain and the crew did not know this. They believed that there were many different gods and that to get things done; they needed to appeal to the right god. Since it was still storming they knew that they had not appealed to the right god.

Jonah apparently was the only man on board who was not yelling to a god, and therefore, the captain thought perhaps that Jonah’s God was the right God.

In the end, Jonah was thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish. But the other story is that “Then those men feared the Lord greatly….”

When we encounter people who have huge problems, our first instinct may be to run away. A more merciful course of action is to say: I don't know what you should do, but I will pray with you.  Prayer calms and comforts, and heals the brokenhearted.  Prayer changes things and people like the sailors who were with Jonah.

Spare a prayer for someone in need. It may be all it takes to bring a soul to Jesus.

Have Faith, Take Action

 

He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.

Ecclesiastes 11:4

Every time a farmer plants a seed, he is taking a risk. He is relying on rain and sun and weather so that he can harvest a crop and make a profit. If farmers did not have faith, they would not be farmers.

Life is a risky business. Choices we make don’t always turn out the way we think they will. Sometimes things are much better and sometimes they don’t go so well.

Fear should not paralyze us. We know God is on our side and no matter what happens God is with us.

And, sometimes when we think things have gone terribly wrong, it turns out that it was for the better in the long run.

Have faith and take action.