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I will I will not be consumed

| Ramblings and Scribblings for Jesus

Lamentations 3:21-24

“Yet this I called to mind, and therefore I have hope: 22 Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions, never fail. 23 They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. 24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait for him.”

Let’s face it our world is full of sin. Everywhere there is sin and sorrow. All you have to do is read a few headlines, or turn on the news; it is easy to get overwhelmed, especially if you’re leaving God out of the equation. 

Maybe you’re going through a time of sorrow, the death of a spouse, parent, child, or a dear friend; or possibly you’re walking through a divorce, a failed marriage, you are disillusioned and feeling alone. It’s easy to feel alone or overwhelmed by it all when we stare at our circumstances or the world more than we stare at the Lord.

The prophet Jeremiah had these problems in his day, and he saw a ray of hope in all the sin and sorrow surrounding him. “Because of the Lord’s great love, we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.” Jeremiah knew where to turn, and to whom he should look. He knew from past experiences that God is always faithful. God is full of compassion. There is no sin or sorrow he cannot heal. And God always responds to us when we ask him for help. (Jeremiah 33:3) And I believe he wants to astound us with his goodness and mercy. 

Jeremiah knew that punishment would follow disobedience, and it did. But God also promised future restoration and blessings, and Jeremiah knew that God would keep his promises. Do you believe that God will keep his promises to you? 

If you are looking to anyone or any other place except to the Lord for deliverance from whatever it is you’re facing, you’re looking in the wrong place. God alone is Sovereign over everything! God is our ever-present help. God‘s word is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. If you do not want to feel overwhelmed, scared, guilty, etc., read God’s word and pray, and after you’ve done those things wait. 

Every morning we have new mercies, and every morning we need them. We are not always faithful, but God always is. We have to get to the point where we stop looking for the world to fill any void inside of us, and instead remember, “The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait for him.”

Don’t look to the world for your peace of mind, don’t look to celebrities, don’t even look to those around you, keep your eyes fixed on Jesus and his word, and then the things of this world will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace! 

What we all need is God, we live in a world that doesn’t want the things of God. It pushes its agenda on us daily, sometimes hourly. Stand firm and know that one day, on THAT day, this world and its hardships and sin will all pass away, but the Lord will remain and all His promises to us will be fulfilled. 

I don’t know about you, but that makes me so excited! I plan to keep my eyes fixed on Jesus, to fill my heart in mind with his word, and fellowship with him in prayer. He is my portion! 

I CAN TALK TO GOD

| Ramblings and Scribblings for Jesus

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

“Be joyful always; 17 pray continually: 18 give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Does your joy and prayer life fluctuate with your circumstances? Are you an “I can pray when life is good person, or I forget to pray until life gets hard?”

What is prayer anyway? Paul tells us in the passage above that we need to pray in all circumstances, but he does not give us a guidebook on exactly what that looks like, which implies that it must be so easy that we do not need any further instructions from him. My Pastor said that once, and until that moment I had not thought about it. Too many people want to overly complicate praying thinking they need a book to tell them what to say, how to say it, what words are best etc… Jesus was the one who taught us how to pray. We need only to follow his example. So, what exactly is prayer? It is me/you talking to God, taking our burdens to Him. It is me sharing my thoughts, my hurts, my frustrations, my anxiety, my wounds, my sorrow, my joy, my praise, my everything with the one who can bring me comfort, help, and peace; and sometimes it is so simple that all we get out is, “Jesus!” And with that one name, He knows it all.

Let’s face it being joyful and praying continually is not always the natural thing for us to do, it tends to go against our nature unless we make a conscious decision to do exactly what God has told us to do. When we are obedient to what God has told us to do, we will find that it changes our perspective about life and circumstances. We will see each new day and all that it brings as being held by and given to us by God Himself.

As God’s children, we have the Holy Spirit in us, and He is always praying through us, and for us. His prayers are so much deeper than those we can utter, but knowing this should bring us much comfort. He knows exactly what to pray. We are not left to our own devices to figure this thing called life out with all its twists and turns, ups and downs, victories and heartaches.

So, how do we pray without ceasing? In every circumstance whether good or bad, we talk to God. Because wherever we are we are not alone, God is right there with us. Knowing that we are not alone, that God is with us, and that the Holy Spirit is also praying deeper things for us than we can, should also cause joy to rise inside of us. On our hardest day, we can find joy. How? We can remember that God has forgiven us of every sin. When we came to him in repentance, He forgave us of every sin. Our slate has been wiped clean, we stand before God the Father washed in the blood of the Lamb and we will never face the penalty for our sins, no matter how great they may have been. That knowledge alone should cause joy to rise inside of you!

We obviously cannot spend our days on our knees, so it must be an attitude of our hearts. When we read God’s word it builds this trust in us that we know we are not alone. God is always with us, hearing us, and His word tells us He always answers us. (Jeremiah 33:3). Does that mean we will always get everything worked out, or given to us exactly how we ask? No, what it means is that God who knows all things, who knows what he wants to accomplish in us and through us, and He who has our days numbered, will work His will out according to the plan He has set in motion. Sometimes, it is a yes, and what we have prayed lines up with His will and it happens. But prayer itself is us coming before God, pouring it all out to him, and while we are doing that, He is working in us, preparing us, changing us, molding and making us more like him, and answering our prayers in His time, in His way, knowing what is best for us.

We can trust the plans God has for us and the process by which those plans come to fruition. God is faithful, God is all-knowing, all-seeing, He is in every detail no matter how great or small they may seem. This is the same God who formed the heavens and the earth and knows every hair on your head. He’s Got This!

I thank God for my Pastor, He is truly a man of God who spends hours praying and seeking the Lord, asking for divine help to speak God’s word to us. And yesterday he said this: “We are standing on Holy Ground, but it is about time we took some ground.” I think that for many of it could be that we/you have allowed the enemy to rob you of your joy. That everyday hardships, or deep wounds, or sin, or whatever has stolen your joy. Take back that ground. Start by reading God’s word, which has the answers for everything in life. Pray…or just sit quietly alone with God; He already knows what you need. Let joy start creeping back into every moment of your day, it too will help lighten whatever it is you are carrying.

I leave you with this: “Rejoice and be glad, Jesus is coming…it could be today!”

HE’S GOT YOU

| Ramblings and Scribblings for Jesus

I have recently been walking through a tough time, with multiple situations to work through and even process. I have had moments when all I could do was sit alone in a dark room and feel the hurt. I am sure you have been there a time or two yourself. My range of emotions has been many; I have felt hurt, confusion, anger, frustration, and the list could go on for a while, and I have cried all of it out to the Lord, desperate for His comfort, help, and peace. He has reassured me in many ways that He is right here with me, never leaving me, always hearing my cries for help.

God does not always take the hard things away from us. God did not remove the sea when Moses and the Israelites needed to cross to the other side; God parted it. The walls of water were on either side, and I am sure at times they felt fear that maybe, just maybe, it might come down on them, and they would all drown; moms and dads may have had to comfort and reassure young children that it would be okay, that God had them and would see them through.

When we pray over certain situations, or for people to be saved, or changed, we have no idea how God will answer those prayers. When we get brave enough to pray “whatever it takes,” are we prepared for the “whatever.” Only God knows what each situation or person needs to make a change, only God knows the true depth of the need in every situation, and every heart. But here is what I know, we have a good God, a faithful God, a God that sees everything clearly, and who can do anything!

As I have sat with my hurt, and walked through some hard stuff, I have cried out to God and searched His word, asking for His reassurance that He has heard my cries for help, He has seen every tear, and He is with me. You know no matter how long you have been a believer, there are times when you still need that reassurance and hope. Here are some verses that have jumped out at me recently, maybe you to could use some reassurance right now.

“As for God, His way is perfect; the word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him.” Psalm 18:30

“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.”
Isaiah 43: 1b-2

“Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. 2 Guard my life, for I am devoted to you. You are my God; save your servant who trusts in you. 3 Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long. 4 Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul. 5 You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call on you. 6 Hear my prayer, O Lord; listen to my cry for mercy.” Psalm 86:1-6

Here are a couple of quotes that God has brought to me during this time, and of course their timing was perfect!

“Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” Jeremiah 33:3

“For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies.” Psalm 108:4

“Ah, Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. There is nothing too hard for You!”
Jeremiah 32:17

“You number our wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? Psalm 56:8

‘It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. Deuteronomy 31:8

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.”
Psalm 46:1

“Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.” Psalm 55:22

“I pray that you’ll remember this: God’s got everything under control, so there’s no need to panic EVER!

“God has no problems, only plans. There is never panic in heaven.”
Corrie Ten Boon

As humans sometimes no matter how long we have walked with the Lord we can feel overwhelmed, almost fearful, but God who understands that we are just dust comes alongside us and hears our cries, sees our tears, and comforts us on the deepest levels. He never grows tired or weary in our fumblings; He never tells us to “get over it,” He gently reminds us of “who He is,” “all He has done,” and that in Him we have hope and a bright future.

No matter how BIG the mountain may seem, no matter how HARD the heart may look, GOD IS BIGGER! There is NOTHING He cannot do!
He is ALWAYS FAITHFUL! And God ALWAYS HERES OR PRAYERS AND AND ANSWERS!

So, for me, even in this hard place, I choose to trust Jesus. I have chosen to rest in Him, knowing that He has it all under control and that His timing and ways are always perfect!

ARE YOU EAGERLY WAITING?

| Ramblings and Scribblings for Jesus

Hebrews 9:28 “So, Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him, He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.”

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.”

Revelation 1:7 “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.”

2 Peter 3:10 “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.”

As Christians, we are to be eagerly awaiting Christ’s return, not linking arms with the world and its beliefs. Jesus has saved us from our sins if we have called on the name of Christ and believe that He is who He says He is, and have repented of our sins and been born-again into His kingdom.

When we spend more time in the world and are caught up in the lies it tells us, then we have lost our focus. As His children, we are to constantly be aware that at any time Christ could return. It tells us He will come as a thief in the night. No warning, one minute we will be doing life as we always do, and the next, He will come. There will be no time to make things right! This is not going to be something that happens without the knowledge of every person. He says He will come with a shout of the archangel and a trumpet of God, and that EVERY EYE WILL SEE HIM!
We are not just going to disappear and the world be left wondering what happened to us, they will know that it is too late for them, they missed it.

He will first gather those who have died in Christ, those sleeping in their graves will rise first, and then those of us still living will suddenly be with him in the air. Isn’t that the most wonderful thing you have ever heard? We will suddenly have our faith made sight!

This earth is going to pass away, it will be burned up. Knowing all this shouldn’t we as His children be eagerly awaiting our returning King? Shouldn’t we spend our time living right, shaking off the dust of this dead and dying world? We walk in faith. And what is faith? Hebrews 11:1-3 tells us this: “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2 This is what the ancients were commended for. 3 By faith we understand that the universe was framed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Assurance and anticipation are what faith is. There is a secure beginning and a sure end.

We have read in God’s word how he formed all that we know and see. We have read how he bled and died for sinners such as you and me. We have heard how he ascended to heaven to sit at the Father’s right hand, and just as surely as He ascended He will also descend again, to take His children with Him to rule and reign forever and ever.

If you are too mesmerized by the world, its politics, and passions, then it is time to refocus. As His child, you need to read and pray and search your heart and mind often, asking God to forgive you and give you a heart that desires Him above all else. Be sure that you are saved, one day you will not get another chance. Today is the day of salvation!

Get your heart right before God, let your relationship with Him be the drumbeat of this life so that you can spend the next with him!

Look up, your redemption draweth near!

THE OMNIPRESENT GOD

| Ramblings and Scribblings for Jesus

Psalm 139:7-10 “Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? 8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, 10 even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

God is omnipresent-which means he is present everywhere at all times. There is not a second that goes by on this earth that God is not in it. Because this is so, you can never be lost to his Spirit. What good news this is to believers. No matter where we go or what we do, we can never be far from God’s comforting presence.

In Romans 8:35-39 we read: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written: “For your sake, we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In the past Christians were persecuted and even killed in horrible ways, Paul’s hypothetical situations would be turned into painful realities. Even today Christians are experiencing different types of persecution. The more the devil controls people in the world, the less Christianity is looked upon favorably. We are becoming the hated group. These passages reaffirm God’s love for His people. No matter what happens to us, or where we may go, God is present and holding us. We can’t be abandoned by God. We have already read in Psalm 139 that God is omnipresent. Wherever we are, He is in the midst of it all. These passages bring us so much peace, knowing we are never left to face illness, death, persecution, or any other thing in this life by ourselves. We are not even alone in our sin. Whatever sin we find ourselves in as God’s children, he is present with us. What a thought, and reminder.

God sees and knows everything you do, even your thoughts and the intent of your heart. I find this both comforting and scary. It makes me want to take a good long look at myself and rid myself of anything that displeases my Lord and Savior. I want to be pleasing to God in all I do, say, and think. People want to think that they can engage in secret sins; but not true, those around you may not know, but not only does God know, but he was there with you. What a sobering thought, what a scary thought. Even in those moments, God is holding you, calling you back to repentance.

The next time you think some random bad thing has happened, or you read a news story that unsettles you, remember this, God is Sovereign and in control. There is NOTHING that happens without first being filtered through his loving hands. God allows evil, hurt, death, illness, persecution, trials, and tests of every kind to fulfill His purposes and to make us ready for His soon return. He is refining us in the fire, ridding us of all those earthly things that must fall away from us. We need to hate what God hates and love what God loves. What are these things? Read your Bible and you will know.

Time is growing short my friends, it is time to get serious about your relationship with the Lord. Every word in the Bible is true, it tells us what we must do to be saved; it tells us how to conduct ourselves once we are saved; it tells us of God’s faithfulness and mercy, his keeping power, his Sovereignty over ALL THINGS. Whatever question you have, HIS WORD IS THE ANSWER!

I pray we each will read and pray more. That we each will examine our hearts and lives for anything that displeases God, and that we each as His children will be found living our lives obeying His will and way, ready at any moment for His return.

Remember- you cannot hide from God, there is no place he is not; and no matter what you face, you are not alone, He is with you!

Blessings!

CONSISTENCY

| Ramblings and Scribblings for Jesus

Jonah 2:2
“In my distress, I called to the Lord, and he answered me. From the depths of the grave I called for help, and you listened to my cry.”

Jonah found himself in a bad place; the belly of a great fish. As far as he knew his life was over. He had run from God, refusing to do what God had asked of him. We pick up the story where Jonah is crying out to the Lord; he says, “When my life was ebbing away I remembered you.” All too often we act the same way as Jonah. When life is going along fine and we have a false sense of peace, safety, and good things, we tend to take God for granted. We don’t give him much of a thought, because nothing has rocked our world just yet. However, when a bump in the road comes, a crisis hits us hard, or life gets too overwhelming, suddenly we want him, NOW!

When we have this kind of relationship with the Lord, it is an up-and-down kind of spiritual relationship. We have no consistency, we can become distant from God by not having daily communion with him in prayer and reading his word. It is only in a daily, consistent relationship that we can gain that solid spiritual ground we so desperately need to navigate this world, especially as it continues to decline in morality and idolatry, fornication, adultery, anger, offendedness, etc. It can begin to feel like we are in the belly of the great fish like Jonah, with our life feeling like it is ebbing away, almost like being buried alive.

When life rolls over us, and it will eventually, or the tide of good fortune changes and life gets hard, and at times can even feel desperate, we need that solid ground that we find in our Bibles and prayer. God’s word is active and living, it has the power to change our lives, and even though it will not stop the hurts and hards of life, it will anchor our souls, and give us hope; knowing God is faithful, He is on our side, He does hear our prayers, He is our Rock in the storms of life. Prayer keeps that constant communication going and keeps the relationship close so that there is no hesitation when we cry out for help. All too often when you feel distance in your relationship with God you try to hide, to run away from shame or some other emotion. Trust me, only you move, God is still right there, waiting patiently for you to turn to him, to trust him, to call out to him.

Just like Jonah, we can cry to the Lord and know that He not only hears us; he will answer. God can hear your voice no matter the clatter of the world around you, as the waves of adversity rise, our Savior’s ears are always attentive listening for his children’s voices, and his help is on the way. Jonah said: “When my soul fainted within me, I remembered the Lord; And my prayer went up to You, Into your holy temple.” (Jonah 2:7)

I cannot say that I have never been a Jonah. I have waited until I thought it was over, whatever the hard of life seemed to be winning, but I can also say that I have found that the sweet communion in God’s word and daily prayer has made my faith stronger, the ground under me more firm, and my cries quick on my lips, because I know this to be true, God hears, and God answers.

I want to live in a place of Spiritual soundness. I want my eyes fixed on Jesus, so that the clatter of this dying world, the chaos of those who seem to have lost their minds, and the wickedness around me does not shake my faith.

Make the decision today to get in God’s word, make prayer a daily communion between you and the Lord, Be consistent in your walk with Jesus, surrendered to His Lordship knowing that he directs your paths, and he can keep you from the belly of the great fish of disobedience.

Blessings!