Trials and Discouragements

Question: Are you tired of trying to figure out what is going on in your Christian life?  Sometimes in our walk with the Lord we may run into what we might call a dilemma.  We may be pretty sure we are going in the right direction, but it seems that the doors keep closing, and we just can’t figure out what is going on.  Sometimes we can get very discouraged, to the point where we just don’t know what to do or which direction we should go.  

I want to stop here and say this, I know I have written on this subject not long ago, but I feel like someone may need to hear more on the topic; I know we can all use some encouragement when we find ourselves in this situation.  This may not be what you are dealing with, or ever had to deal with, but just in case you have this may be useful to remember.  If you are being affected by trials and possibly doubt and discouragement, I would like to encourage you to hang in there.  You are not alone, there are examples of this in the Word of God.  

I could emphasize Job’s situation, when he lost most everything that he had but he never cursed God with his mouth.  One thing he did do was question God and even cursed the day he was born.  I will put down here some of Job’s complaint, please read Job 10:1-15, “I loathe my own life; I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak out of the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; tell me why You contend with me.’ Is it good for You to oppress, to despise the work of Your hands, while You smile on the plans of the wicked? Do You have eyes of flesh? Do You see as a human being sees? Are Your days like those of a mortal, or Your years like those of a strong man, that You should seek out my iniquity and search out my sin, though You know that I am not guilty, yet there is no one to deliver from Your hand? ‘Your hands molded and fashioned me, will You now destroy me completely? Remember You fashioned me like clay; will You return me to dust? Did You not pour me out like milk and curdle me like cheese, clothe me with skin and flesh and knit me together with bones and sinews? You gave me life and steadfast love, and Your care has preserved my spirit. ‘Yet these things You have hid in Your heart, for I know that this is with You. If I sinned, You would watch me, and not acquit me of my iniquity. If I am guilty, woe to me! Even if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head. I am full of shame and conscious of my affliction.”

Job had no idea why he was going through what he was experiencing but he knew he didn’t enjoy it, to say the least.  If you want to put yourself in Job’s shoes for a better understanding of all the things Job experienced, read the whole book of Job, pray and let the good Lord speak to your heart.      

Joseph is another example of someone that must have wondered what was going on in his life.  Joseph was the son of Jacob, in his old age, and because of that he was also his favorite.  When the other sons became aware of it, they hated him and couldn’t speak peaceably to him.  As time went on Joseph had two dreams.  In his dreams his father and his mother and his eleven brothers would bow down to him, which didn’t go over well, so his brothers were jealous of him, but his father kept the speech in mind.  Think of this, Joseph has these two dreams that he would become the greatest in his family and they would honor him, but not long after that he gets sent to his brothers by his father to see how they are doing while they were tending their father’s sheep.  When the brothers saw him, they plotted to kill him, but his brother Rueben heard of it and rescued him out of their hands, so they did not kill him.  Instead they stripped him of his tunic that his father had made for him and threw him into a dry pit, then they sat down to eat bread.  When they looked up there was a Caravan of Ishmaelites with their camels going to Egypt, so they decided to sell Joseph to them instead of killing him, so they did.  You talk about things going all wrong, think about how Joseph may have felt, and that is just the beginning.  After this they take him to Egypt, and he is sold to Potiphar who was the commander of the bodyguards in Pharaoh’s Military and he became his personal servant and was made the overseer in the house.  One day Potiphar went on a trip and his wife wanted Joseph to lie with her, but he wouldn’t, and she kept it up day after day trying to wear him down, in the end she grabbed his cloak and he ran out without it.  When her husband came home, she lied about Joseph and Joseph ended up in prison.  

God was with him all the time and blessed him continually.  Just think about how you would feel if these things happened to you.  To make a long story shorter, and if you don’t know the whole story you should read all of it.  Pharaoh had two dreams with the same interpretation, and they troubled him and no one could interpret them for him, so Joseph was released from prison to interpret the dreams which he did and when it was all said and done he became the most important person, outside of Pharaoh himself, in all of Egypt.  Because of the famine in the land which was part of the dreams that Pharaoh had, it wasn’t long and people were getting desperate because they were running out of food.  As a result of this taking place, Egypt was the only place that anyone could buy grain, and no one could buy any without Joseph allowing it to take place.     

Because of what was happening, Jacob sent Joseph’s brothers, except the youngest which was Benjamin, to buy grain.  When they stood before Joseph they bowed in reverence, but they didn’t know it was Joseph, then after that their Dad went down and bowed down before Joseph also.  Now there is more of the story that I left out, but I think you got the message.  Joseph’s dreams came to be a reality, but it sure took some twist and turns, you might say.  When Joseph had the dreams years earlier, I’m sure he was very excited, but he didn’t know what he would experience before these things would take place.

And what about Job, he was blind sighted, you might say, but God came through in both cases and if we don’t give up and throw in the towel, God will also come through for me and you!!  Remember this; just before a breakthrough, the forces of darkness may break out against us and just run havoc amongst us, but in the end, we will be victorious if we don’t give up.

Think about what Joseph said when his brothers realized who he was, he said this in Genesis 50:19-21, “But Joseph said to them, ‘Don’t be afraid. For am I in the place of God? Yes, you yourselves planned evil against me. God planned it for good, in order to bring about what it is this day—to preserve the lives of many people. So now, don’t be afraid. I myself will provide food for you and your little ones.’ So he reassured them, speaking kindly to them.”

Enough said, may you and yours have a super day and may the good Lord bless you and yours with His perfect peace, love and joy and health and happiness!!

A Faithful God

Question: How faithful is your god, for there are many false gods in the world today and there always has been?   People have worshiped many things, from people to things that resemble animals to the starry host of heaven and even a snake.  Remember the bronze snake that Moses made because he was commanded to by God when the Israelites complained against God and Moses, the people called the snake Nehushtan.

Please read what happened in Numbers 21:5-9, “The people spoke against God and Moses: ‘Why have you brought us from Egypt to die in the wilderness, because there is no bread, no water, and our very spirits detest the despicable food?’ So Adonai sent poisonous serpents among the people, and they bit the people and many of the people of Israel died. The people came to Moses and said, ‘We sinned when we spoke against Adonai and you! Pray to Adonai for us, that He may take away the snakes!’ So Moses prayed for the people. Adonai said to Moses, ‘Make yourself a fiery snake and put it on a pole. Whenever anyone who has been bitten will look at it, he will live.’ So Moses made a bronze snake and put it on a pole, and it happened that whenever a snake bit anyone and he looked at the bronze snake, he lived.

Please read some of what King Hezekiah did in 2 Kings 18:4, “He removed the high places, smashed the pillars and cut down the Asherah poles. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made—for up to those days Bnei-Yisrael were still burning incense to it—it was called Nehushtan.”   Nehushtan means a bronze thing, a mere piece of brass.

Satan, himself is worshiped as a god.  Who did the first serpent in the Word of God represent?  Satan himself.  If you don’t know the story of Adam and Eve and the serpent, please read Genesis chapter three.  None of these that I mentioned are real gods but many have idolized them and treated them as gods, bowing down in worship to them.   There is but one true God and He is the one who created the heavens and earth in six literal days and rested on the seventh.  

I sarted this Tidbit out asking how faithful is your god?  Now I want you to consider this, when you read the Old Testament, you read how the God of the Old Testament seemed to be demanding and somewhat mean.  Now I would like you to consider this, the God of the Old Testament is the same God of the New Testament because there is only one true God and He is a God of truth and a God of grace and mercy and love and forgiveness and the God that judges righteously with compassion.  The thing that is hard for us to grasp is that He knows all things and everything about every individual from the time we are born till the time of our death; something that our finite minds can’t fully understand or comprehend.  That means He knows who is going to truly repent and follow Him and who never will.  

God being the ultimate in love, mercy and grace plus all the other attributes that He possesses, knows what needs to be done for the good of the other nations and for the Jewish people He chose from all the other peoples of the world.  We have a hard time wrapping our heads around some of the things that God does or allows to take place in the world because we don’t know the beginning from the end, only He does!!  

I can truthfully say that God is faithful, He has been faithful to me even though I at times I question it because I have a real struggle with love.  To be honest, I hear much more about love than I actually see!!  I think I agree with the person that first said these words, “I would rather see a sermon than hear one any time.”

I am going to put a few scripture verses in here that anyone could look at if they are interested in knowing about the faithfulness of God!!  

Deuteronomy 7:9, “Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.”

Numbers 23:19, “God is not man, that he should lie, or a son of man, that he should change his mind. Has he said, and will he not do it? Or has he spoken, and will he not fulfill it?”

Hebrews 10:23, “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.”

Jeremiah 29:11-13, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

Psalm 36:5, “Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.”

There are many more verses I could put down here, but I think I have said enough.  I pray that this Tidbit was an encouragement and a blessing to you!!  May the good Lord bless you and yours and may you all have a super day!!  If you haven’t yet today, I hope you will thank and praise the Lord today for He is worthy and so faithful!!

Emmaus

Have you ever had an Emmaus road experience?  Not long after Jesus was crucified, died and was laid in the tomb and rose again, two of Jesus’ disciples were walking down the road to Emmaus.  Cleopas was the name of one of the disciples that met Jesus on the road going down to Emmaus, but he along with the other disciple, were kept from recognizing Him.

This was a very sad day for these two men as they were talking about what had happened to their Lord just prior to this experience, then Jesus joined them, but they were kept from recognizing Him.  While they were walking along, Jesus asked them about what they were discussing.  They must have been shocked because they stood still with a gloomy look on their face saying, “are you the only one visiting Jerusalem that doesn’t know what has happened there in these days?”  Then the Lord said, “what kind of things,” to which they went on to explain them to Him.  Then Jesus said to them, “oh foolish ones, so slow of heart to put your trust in all that the Prophets spoke!”  Then Jesus gave them a history lesson about Himself in the scriptures.  As they approached the village where they were going Jesus acted like He was going further, and they encouraged Him to stay with them because it was getting late and so He did.

Now all during this time they had no idea who Jesus was.  It happened as Jesus was reclining at the table, He said the blessing and broke bread with them and as He gave it to them their eyes were opened and they recognized Him, and He disappeared from them.  Then they said to one another, “didn’t our hearts burn within us while He was explaining the scriptures to us?”  They got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, but this time they weren’t sad, they probably had mixed feelings and I would say that they were very excited and told the other disciples what had happened.  What an experience that must have been; first to recognize their Lord right there with them, and then to see Him vanish right in front of them, then to realize how their heart burned within them when their Lord was explaining the scriptures to them.

Question: Have you had any experiences with the Lord that made you so excited you couldn’t wait to share them with others?  I have had many experiences with the Lord that I couldn’t wait to share with someone, there is nothing like the peace and joy of the Lord.  I have been on the mountaintop, so to speak, at various times and I have also been in the valley, or you might say the desert but like I always said there is no better way to live than to live a Christian life, or something close to that statement.  I realize that there are many people that don’t believe that the Lord exists but if they would just taste and see that the Lord is good, they would realize how wrong they have been!!

Please read what God’s Word says in Psalms 34:8-9, “The angel of Adonai encamps around those who fear Him, and delivers them. Taste and see how good Adonai is. Blessed is the one who takes refuge in Him.”  

I have said this in other Tidbits, that if the Lord touches you, you will never be the same and that is so true, as far as I am concerned.  Maybe you could share, in a comment, some of the experiences that the Lord has done in your lives that excited you, so that I can be excited with you.  Then for those that don’t have a personal relationship with the Lord, but just religion or nothing at all, you need to seek the Lord while He may be found, repenting by turning away from your sins and turn instead towards the Lord, the One who says to His people I will never leave you or forsake you, even unto the end of the age.  Then confess and ask the Lord to come in and be your Lord and Savior.   I believe if you are serious you will find forgiveness and you will know what it means to be born-again and to taste and see that the Lord is good!!  Then let me know, in a comment, so that I can pray for you.  

I pray that this Tidbit, was a blessing and an encouragement to you and may the good Lord bless you and yours and may you all have a super, super day!