Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day-to-day.
Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all people. Psalm 96:1-3
truth
Face your giant head-on–Don’t cower.
At times the problems we face get so big that they seem to tower over us like an aggressive giant. In the midst of trouble, fears stirred, understanding becomes darkened, and joy evaporates. Yet, rather than look to God for solutions, one leans on his or her own understanding; and as a dark shadow looms over us–we either run away or cower and fold.
In fact, if we learned to face problems like young David confronted the giant Goliath, no one would become paralyzed by fear, and cower just as the Israelite soldiers did before Goliath and the Philistine army.
On the whole, it was David’s faith and trust in an all-powerful God that allowed him to view his opponent in a different light. Therefore, instead of seeing a giant, David saw an uncircumcised Philistine, whom he defeated.
In Psalm 121 David writes the following:
I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
the maker of heaven and earth.3 He will not allow your foot to be moved;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
4 Behold, He who keeps Israel
Shall neither slumber nor sleep.5 The Lord is your keeper;
The Lord is your shade at your right hand.
6 The sun shall not strike you by day,
Nor the moon by night.7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil;
He shall preserve your soul.
8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in
From this time forth, and even forevermore
Are you justified by faith, or by works?
Theologians have debated the question of whether one can accomplish salvation by faith, or by works of the Law, since the first century. Today, the debate continues, and just like the old days, opinions may differ from one denomination to another.
Personally, I err on the side of the apostle, Paul, who writes the following:
No one can ever be made right with God by doing what the law commands. The law only shows us how sinful we are” (Romans 3:20). “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that, not of yourselves; it is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8).
All who rely on the works of the law are under a curse, as it is written: ‘Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law. Clearly no one who relies on the law is justified before God because ‘the righteous will live by faith’ (Galatians 3:10-11).
Whosoever shall keep the law, and yet stumble in one point, is guilty of all. For he that said Do not commit adultery also said Do not kill. Now if thou commit no adultery, yet if thou kill, thou art become a transgressor of the law (James 2:10-11).
But, despite Paul’s convincing arguments, and his experience as an expert of the law, many Christians still believe we are justified by works of the Law. Even though, some of those same Christians conveniently pick and chooses which Law they should obey. How, then, can anyone who picks and chooses which law to obey, say he or she is justified by works of the Law. If Jesus were here in the flesh, He would call you out as He did the Pharisees.
“What sorrow awaits you Pharisees? For you are careful to tithe even the tiniest income from your herb gardens, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You should tithe, yes, but do not neglect the most important things. (Luke 11:42).
As i have shown, the laws are mostly rigid. They leave no room for error. If you broke one, you broke all. Therefore, no one can keep them. But God, who knows all things sent His Son to die and free us from the curse of the law.
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:1-2).
From zero to Hero
“God can use anyone to do big things, regardless of age, gender, race, importance, popularity, or notoriety.”
David was just a shepherd boy when God used him to defeat the mighty giant, Goliath. Armed with only a sling and some stones, David did the unthinkable. He dueled and slew Goliath, the most feared man in the world at the time. This spectacular performance would catapult David from zero importance to super hero. Thereby giving credence to the general argument that God can use anyone to do great things. Who would have thought a small axe like David could have fallen such a big tree like Goliath.
According to 1 Samuel 17,
The Philistine army had gathered for war against Israel. The two armies lined up across from each other. A Philistine giant named Goliath, measuring over nine feet tall and wearing full armor came out each day for forty days, taunting and daring the Israelite to fight. But Saul, the King of Israel, and the army were too terrified of this giant to make a move.
One day David’s father, Jesse, sent him to the battle lines to see how his brothers were doing. David was the youngest of eight sons and probably just a young teenager at the time. While there, David heard Goliath shouting his daily rants and he saw the great fear stirred within the men of Israel. David responded, “Who is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the armies of God?”
So David volunteered to fight Goliath. It took some persuasion, but King Saul finally agreed to let David fight against the giant. Dressed in his simple tunic, carrying his shepherd’s staff, slingshot and a pouch full of stones, David approached Goliath. The giant cursed at him, hurling threats and insults.
David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied … today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air … and the world will know that there is a God in Israel … it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
As Goliath moved in for the kill, David reached into his bag and slung one of his stones at Goliath’s head. Finding a hole in the armor, the stone sank into the giant’s forehead, and he fell face down on the ground. David then took Goliath’s sword, killed him and then cut off his head. When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran. So the Israelites pursued, chasing and killing them and plundering their camp.
Can you really give thanks in suffering?
Recently I read an extraordinarily inspiring post titled: “Give Thanks in Suffering,” in About Christianity @ www.about.com. I thought I would share it here.
The post reminds me of my struggles with an autoimmune disease. I was backed into a corner with two choices. Either I continue to lean on my understanding and die, or trust God and live. I chose the latter.
Giving thanks when you’re suffering seems like an idea so far-fetched nobody could take it seriously, yet that is exactly what God asks us to do.
The apostle Paul, who knew more than his share of sorrow, counseled his young apprentice Timothy to do just that:
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Timothy 5:16-18, NIV)
Paul understood the spiritual benefit of giving thanks when you’re hurting. It takes your focus off self and puts it on God. But how, in the middle of our pain, can we possibly give thanks?
Let the Holy Spirit Speak for You
Paul was well aware of what he could do. He knew his missionary work was far beyond his natural strength, so he relied heavily on the power of the Holy Spirit within him.
It’s the same with us. Only when we stop struggling and surrender to God can we allow the Holy Spirit to work in and through us. When we become a conduit for the Spirit’s power, God helps us do impossible things, like give thanks even when we’re hurting.
Humanly speaking, you may not see anything you can be grateful for now. Your circumstances are miserable, and you’re desperately praying they will change. God hears you. In a very real sense, though, you are focusing on the bigness of your circumstances and not on the bigness of God. God is all-powerful. He may allow your situation to continue, but know this: God is in control, not your circumstances.
I tell you this, not by theory but by my own painful past. When I was unemployed for 18 months, it didn’t seem God was in control. When important relationships fell apart, I couldn’t understand. When my father died in 1995, I felt lost.
I had cancer in 1976. I was 25 years old and could not give thanks. In 2011 when I had cancer again, I was able to give thanks to God, not for cancer, of course, but for his steady, loving hand through it all. The difference was that I was able to look back and see that no matter what happened to me in the past, God was with me, and he brought me through it.
As you give yourself to God, he will help you through this hard time you are in now. One of God’s goals for you is to make you totally dependent on him. The more you depend on him and sense his support, the more you will want to give thanks.
One Thing Satan Hates
If there’s one thing Satan hates, it’s when believers trust God. Satan encourages us to trust our emotions instead. He wants us to put our faith in fear, worry, depression, and doubt.
Jesus Christ encountered this many times in his own disciples. He told them not to be afraid, but to believe. Negative emotions are so strong that they skew our judgment. We forget it is God who is reliable, not our feelings.
That’s why, when you’re hurting, it’s wise to read the Bible. You may not feel like it. It may be the last thing you want to do, and it’s the last thing Satan wants you to do, but again, there’s an important reason to. It brings your focus away from your emotions and back onto God.
There is power in God’s Word to fend off Satan’s attacks and power to remind you of God’s love for you. When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, Jesus drove him off by quoting Scripture. Our emotions can lie to us. The Bible never does.
When you’re going through trouble, Satan wants you to blame God. In the middle of Job’s worst trials, even his wife said to him, “Curse God and die.” (Job 2:9, NIV) Later, Job showed extraordinary faith when he promised, “Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him; ” (Job 13:15a, NIV)
Your hope is in God in this life and the next. Never forget that.
Doing What We Don’t Want to Do
Giving thanks when you’re hurting is like one of those tasks we don’t like to do. Perhaps dieting or a trip to the dentist, but it’s immensely more important because it brings you into God’s will for you. Obeying God is not always easy, but it is always worthwhile.
We seldom grow more intimate with God during good times. Pain has a way of drawing us close to him, making God so real we feel we can reach out and touch him.
You don’t have to give thanks for the thing afflicting you, but you can be grateful for God’s faithful presence. When you approach it that way, you’ll find that thanking God when you’re hurting does make perfect sense.
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