He Makes A Way

God has surely been working on me on the inside this year. He has challenged me in what I say I believe about  Him verses the beliefs held in the depths of my heart. How can I tell people He is worthy of our trust and is a faithful Father if I question if He will be faithful to me?  I have seen His goodness and how He can bring beauty from ashes in the past, but how quickly I can forget His faithfulness. My life can display the lack of faith like the Israelites, who just experienced deliverance of captivity and saw mighty miracles by the hand of God, begin to grumble and complain against the God who saved them. Hebrews 4:1-2 says the redeemed Israelites gave up their promised land to wonder through the wilderness because "the word which they heard...[was not] mixed with faith," Jeremiah 17:23 says "Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction."

How desperately I need The Lord's instruction.

I am thankful for a God who is not finished with me and He continues to carve away and working a new thing in my heart. There are times of darkness where I can't find the light and it feels like a wasteland. He really is there in every season of the soul, faithfully loving me, and He is teaching me to trust Him more.  In the unseen and times where I wonder if He is done with me, He makes a way.

"Behold I am doing a new thing. Now it springs up! Can you not perceive it? I am making a  way in the wilderness, and streams in the wasteland to give drink to my chosen people, the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise." Isa 43:19-21

 



 

Where are  you chosen one? Maybe you are in your own desert places. He is a God who sees (Gen. 16:13)  and He rejoices over you with singing (Zep. 3:17) even when we cannot see it. He may be making a new thing in you.



The verse earlier on in Isaiah chapter 43:2 says ‘When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.’  It’s not  ‘if you pass through waters'  but ‘when’.  It will happen. You will go through difficult, dark times but He will be with you, making a way to the praise of His glory and grace.

And when we are brought out of the wilderness into the promised land, we are equipped to comfort others as we have been comforted (2 Cor 1:3-4) and strengthen our brothers (Luke 22:32). No dark night of soul is ever wasted in God's economy. “It is God who is at work in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.” (Phil. 2:13,14)

 

I want to trust in His faithfulness even when I don't understand. I want to trust Him even when I cannot see. I want my life to line up with what I say I believe. I pray that for you too, chosen one. Let's lean in hard to the presence of God in this New Year. Let's give Him open ears and heart to hear Him teach us through His Word what it means to follow Him and trust Him with our lives. Let's give Him open eyes that we may see others around us in their own wasteland to remind them God has not forgotten them. He is still there during obstacles, emotional upheavals, loneliness and devastating circumstances. If everyone walks away in your life, He is there. He is there in your desert places even when those places last weeks or years. He is God in your wasteland and God in your promise land so that we may proclaim His praise.



The lyrics from 'Steady Heart' by Steffany Gretzinger

I can't see what's in front of me.
Still I will trust you.
Steady heart that keeps on going,
Steady love that keeps on holding,
Lead me on.
Steady grace that keeps forgiving,
Steady faith that keeps believing
Lead me on

Verse 2
Though the sky is dark,
And the wind is wild
You'll never leave me
Though the night is long
There is a coming dawn
The light is breaking

Verse 3
And as the dawn breaks
And the clouds clear
In an open space
Together we will run

 

Teach Us To Number Our Days

I am sick of what the Enemy is doing to steal the hearts and minds of young people. I am sick of looking at the news and seeing death and destruction. I am begging for His grace to live wisely and be about the things that are of first importance.  This is a spiritual war.  Do not be deceived. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. (1 Peter 5:8) Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. (Ephesians 6:11) Take up the shield of faith brothers and sisters. The Enemy wants to take you down and he wants to take me down but faith in Jesus Christ will extinguish all the flaming darts he has in his hand. Take up the helmet of Salvation and the sword of the spirit which is the Word of God. (Ephesians 6:17)  Our days have been numbered by the Lord. May He teach us to number our days and see the brevity of life and live in wisdom given by God in our days on this earth.



Two years ago, I remember having a conversation with a pastor and  we were discussing the readying of the people for persecution. It seemed that many anointed leaders in the Church were preparing the people for persecution. Sometimes like the weeping prophet, giving  a voice to something no one wants to hear and making the teacher look like an end time doomsday freak.

Friend, it is coming. So get ready. What you believe will be tested. It probably already has.

Persecution is rampant in our world. ISIS is after annihilation of anyone who does not abide to the caliphate and sharia law. Please hear me, annihilation. Then there is Boko Haram and other terror organizations. Increasingly, there is hatred of Christians in America.

Persecution of Christians is nothing new but what will be new will be with greater force and authority and hatred for that which we stand on by those in our own country. Increasingly, those under the Lordship of Jesus will live in opposition to our countries leaders. Our lives will be obviously against the cultural grain. We will increasingly be foreigners and exiles on this earth.  For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. (Philippians 3:20)  This push back against the culture will be labeled hatred and intolerant. If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:18-19) 

We are all sinners. We are all created in God's image. We are sinners by birth and by choice. We have fallen hearts and flesh turns toward sin, all kinds of sin. How do we know what sin is? The Bible, the revealed Word of God states it clearly. He would not leave us wondering what is good and bad and how we should live. We are called by God to turn away from sin and seek after Him. Why? He loves us. Heaven and hell are real and eternity is forever.  There is a way that seems right to man, but in the end is death. (Proverbs 14:12) What may be seen as our individual freedom will bring people into bondage of sin. For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1)  Jesus says, "Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32) His way is better.  The message is the same to all of us no matter what the sin is. Repent and believe the gospel. By grace we are saved through faith. How do we know about grace? The revealed Word of God. Don't celebrate sin, rationalize or justify it. Turn from sin and trust Him. Trust that Jesus is the Son of God who came into the world to save sinners. Sinners like me. He rose from the grave, defeating death, sin and hell so we could be with Him forever. God takes sin seriously. Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? ..but the life you live, live to God. So you must also consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus. (Romans 6)  You can sow to your flesh or sow to the Spirit. You must choose one and fight the other. But fight! He is a gracious loving God and when we fall, the call is the same, repent, trust God, get back up and get in the fight.

I have wasted so much time living in the flesh. I don't have this thing figured out but I know that Jesus is life and I want to walk in knowledge and wisdom of The Lord. Each day is a struggle to "create in me a clean heart and renew an upright spirit within me."  I fail, sometimes in big ways, but by His grace, I ask to be used as a living sacrifice unto the Lord. Sometimes I think, how could He use someone who has denied Him and sinned against Him. But He picks me up, turns me around and places my feet on solid ground. His mercy is there waiting and He is teaching me what it means to follow Him. The same grace that taught my heart to fear and brought me safe thus far is the same grace that will lead me home.

This is a fight that is not easy. Salvation is a free gift. Living is a disciple of Jesus, it is costly. Then He said to them all, "If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. (Luke 9:23)

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. (1 Timothy 6:11-12)

The only thing that will carry us through this time, is the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His revelation to us through the Truth of His Word. The grace that saves, is the grace that sustains. The grace that accepts you  just as you are, will not leave you as you are but will transform you from the inside out. That same grace will carry you when you face a decision and choose to obey God rather than men. The same grace through the power of the Holy Spirit will give you strength to speak the word with all boldness. It will be a fight but as the circumstances, temptations, persecutions, around us pull our eyes downward and the world grows increasingly dark, may we lift our eyes to the heavens, our help comes from the Lord. Encourage each other to Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. (Romans 12:12)  

We are here, in this time and in this place to make Jesus known. We are here as the light in an increasingly dark world to point to the Savior King, Jesus Christ and His Kingdom that has no end. By His grace, may we do our part to push back the kingdom of darkness and be faithful to what He has entrusted us with and live as both salt and light to our families, workplaces and communities. God's purposes will prevail. All of history is moving to the day when Jesus returns. He is preparing His Bride. I don't want to live deceived and I don't want you to either. These are days of drawing near. "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your  hearts, you double-minded." James 4:8  Brothers and sisters, be ready. Jesus is King and will be worshipped. He is coming to judge the living and the dead. 

"I am coming soon. Hold on to to what you have so that no one will take your crown." Revelation 3:11