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Monthly Archives: November 2011

My God is My Fortress Psalm 91:1-8

29 Nov

Psalm 91:1-8

The one who lives under the protection of the Most High dwells in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

He Himself will deliver you from the hunter’s net, from the destructive plague.

He will cover you with His feathers; you will take refuge under His wings. His faithfulness will be a protective shield.

You will not fear the terror of the night, the arrow that flies by day,

the plague that stalks in darkness, or the pestilence that ravages at noon.

Though a thousand fall at your side and ten thousand at your right hand, the pestilence will not reach you.

You will only see it with your eyes and witness the punishment of the wicked.

The Lord is my Fortress

I take comfort in this verse. I am grateful that the Lord is watching out for my family. That I don’t have to fear the terror of night. And I don’t have to fear the arrows that fly by day (figurative or literal). I don’t have to worry about health or evil that comes to my door. I can trust that the Lord is going to take care of it.

We only see it with our eyes!

This is an amazing verse. Here the Lord promises that we won’t get the full effect of pestilence. We will only see it with our eyes. Again I’m no theologian (as I’m sure you’ve gathered if you’ve read any of my other blog posts). But I wonder if this means that while we recognize the evil of the world, and even experience the bad behavior of others, that pestilence will not fully reach us. Perhaps the pain it should inflict will be softened by the promises of eternal life or the knowledge that vengeance is the Lord’s.

My son is being bullied

Today a neighbor came over to tell me that he witnessed another child bullying my son. The neighbor was amazing. He spoke to the boy and then reported it to the school (they were on school property). My son hasn’t come home from school yet, and I’m curious to hear his thoughts on what happened. I think this verse may be part of my discussion. That no matter what other people do to us or say to us, they can’t hurt us in our soul, because the Lord is protecting our souls. While he shouldn’t let someone bully him, he may be able to step back and pray for that child. Praying that his rage toward my son was not the result of someone else’s rage being taken out on him. We’re fortunate. No matter what happens to us here on earth, we have hope. Hope of eternal life in heaven with our Lord. Oh yeah, and the Lord will take care of any revenge that’s due.

Do you fight your own battles? Do you hang out in the fortress?

 
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Posted by on November 29, 2011 in God is My Fortress, Psalm

 

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My God is…The Bread of Life John 6:35

17 Nov

Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty. John 6:35

Jesus is the Bread of Life!

When I was a preteen, my friend and I were talking in her kitchen. As tweens do, our insecurities about our bodies came up and she said she wanted to have a bigger booty. She had a solution. Eating Bread. She knew what she was talking about. Since I love eating pretty much anything, I was game. So we began eating bread. I don’t know how long we kept that goal up, but I’ve succeeded in getting that bigger booty. Not sure if she has!

We had a need we tried to fill with bread

We wanted to look better. We wanted to get boys to notice us. We had a need. We tried to fill it with bread, but   even though we got what we “wanted” (a bigger booty), we didn’t really feed the true need of a better self-esteem.

What is your bread?

For some of us we’re still stuffing ourselves with bread. Maybe that bread isn’t really bread, but gambling, sex, drugs or alcohol. Maybe it’s less obvious and shows itself as control or manipulation of others. We keep using these things to make us feel better, change our lives or numb us to the realities of this cruel world.

You Never have to go hungry

Jesus is the bread of life. He is the only thing that satisfies me for any length of time. The devil wants me to try to stuff myself with other distractions so I’ll take my focus off of God. But in John 6:35, Jesus promises that when I feed myself with His truths, I won’t be hungry anymore. When I believe Him, I won’t be thirsty anymore. I won’t ache with hunger pains for something more.

You have to eat!

Physically I have to eat to sustain my life, and it’s no different spiritually. If I want to sustain my relationship with the Lord and be healthy in mind, body and soul, I need to eat of the bread of life. I need to come to his table through His word (the Bible) and sacraments (Baptism and the Lord’s Supper). Letting His word fill me up inside so I can release some of the other things I stuff in trying to stop the hunger pains.

What are you stuffing yourself with? Are you hungry later?

 
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Posted by on November 17, 2011 in God is The Bread of Life, John

 

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My God is My Hope 1 Peter 1:3-9

07 Nov
Praise to God for a Living Hope 1 Peter 1:3-9

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

The World Can Seem Hopeless

There are so many things going wrong in our world. It’s hard to think of things getting better. I was watching “Idiocracy” the other day, and sadly it doesn’t take much of a stretch to think that horrible way of life could be where the human race is headed. (As a side note, there is a lot of swearing and lude behaviors in this movie, so I’m not necessarily recommending it, just referencing it). In “Idiocracy”, we’re introduced to the horrible life humans have because they never questioned anything, valued education or hard work. It is a strange movie, but one that makes you wonder where the actions of this world might lead.

If we trust man, we’ll be disappointed

We can’t count on man to get us through in this world. The advice we get from the world is self-centered. Take care of yourself, do what’s right for you, and more of the same. We’re not to care about others more than ourselves. We need to look out for our own self interests, and sometimes people take that to the extreme. Robbing and killing often happens because someone wanted something someone else had.

We do have a hope

Even though the things of this world get us down: politics, job losses, health issues and family squabbles, as Christians we have a hope that surpasses all understanding. Our hope is in Jesus Christ. Through His resurrection, we have been adopted into the new family that isn’t dysfunctional, is healthy and not political. God wants us to look past the bad things of the world and keep our focus on Him. And when we have to suffer grief or trials, we’re able to bear them knowing that God is still with us and our promise for eternal life with him in heaven is ahead of us. He draws us close that we might snuggle in and feel His arms wrapped around us, protecting us from the evils of this world.

Are you hopeful?

 
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Posted by on November 7, 2011 in 1 Peter, God is My Hope

 

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