Where are the answers?

We all have moments of crisis. We all have times when we are overwhelmed by what life has just brought to us. We all have real-life, human emotions. And it’s ok to say it.

In Jeremiah 37, the people of Judah were facing a real life battle. But here’s the rub; and here is where the enemy wins, our anxiety, anger, sadness, or other things overtake us, and we veer further off course than we meant or needed to:

Just like the people of Judah, we look for our conclusive help in the wrong place.

They looked to the army of Egypt to save them. But God was there all the time, and had been from the beginning, trying to get them to turn to Him. Yet they refused.

We do it, too. Proverbs 20:7 says, “Some nations boast of their chariots and horses, but we boast in the name of the Lord our God.”

The Lord had saved them time and time again, but they kept forgetting, and way too often not even giving Him credit. Sound familiar? 😬

Proverbs 44:6-8, “I don’t depend on my arrows or my sword to save me. But You saved us from our hateful enemies, and You put them to shame. We boast about You, our God, and we are always grateful.”

My, oh my. Why do we continue to look to ourselves, to others, and to outside sources for the answer, the solution, or the salvation? It is God that fights, God that has the answers, and God that is Faithful.

He protects, shields, defends, provides, supplies, heals, comforts, creates, fights, gives wisdom, gives knowledge, gives understanding, unifies, loves, breathes life. There is literally nothing He can’t do!

The answers we seek? They lie in Him.

We saw the mountain, in the photo, when we were in TN. I mentioned that it reminded me of when Moses was on the mountain talking to God, and it was covered in cloud and smoke. My son said, “Maybe someone’s up there talking to God.” ❤️ Maybe they were. I sure hope so. That’s what we all need to do.

You are loved,

jamie

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Don’t forget who He is

When going through trials and tribulations, if we have no refuge to which we can run, how can we stand?  If there is no shield in which we can trust to guard us, how do we keep moving?  Without a Comforter to overwhelm us and bring the peace that passes understanding, how do we not lose all hope?  With no solid foundation on which to make a stand, what keeps our feet from slipping into calamity, misery, or death?

God was the Restorer for Joseph.  He was then the Deliverer of the Israelites from the hands of Pharoah.  He was the Promise-Keeper for Abraham and Sarah.  The power of God was a cloak for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego in the fiery furnace, heated 7x hotter than usual, so that their clothes did not even smell of smoke.  God was mighty enough to shut the mouths of the lions for Daniel, delivering him from certain death.  David counted on the Refuge, that was God.

God was the Salvation of the people in Ninevah.  Jesus is Savior of the world, and the Forgiver of the woman at the well.  He was the Comforter of Peter.  He was the Healer of the centurion’s servant.  God was the Redeemer of Saul, who then become the apostle Paul.  He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.  He is the one who is coming quickly, bringing His reward with Him.

God is zealous for His people, saying that, “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  Without the hope that comes from knowing and trusting in God, how can we have any endurance for this life.

He has been my Healer, my Savior, my Deliverer, my Shield, my Refuge, my mighty Defender, my Strength, my Comforter, my Hope, my Provider, my Forgiver, and so much more.  Who has He been for you?

Allow Him to be more,

jamie

 

Sin’s brazen embrace

Pr. 7:13:  “So she caught him and kissed him; with a brazen face she said to him…”

Isn’t this just like sin?  The fact is, you don’t always have to be looking for sin.  You can be minding your own business and it will catch you, kiss you right in the face, and boldly and shamelessly speak to you.  I have experienced this in the most godly and reverent settings before.  Satan is relentless.

What do you do in the face of brazen sinful thoughts that seize you unexpectedly?  You speak the name of Jesus Christ, the name above all names.  You don’t try to fight the sin in your own strength.  Call upon the name of the Lord.  Hebrews 2:18 tells us that Jesus is able to aid those who are tempted.

Also worth remembering is 1 Cor. 10:13:  “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”

There is a way of escape from every temptation.  So, understanding that we have a High Priest who can sympathize with our weaknesses, we can go boldly to the throne of grace, and obtain mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.  (Heb. 4:15-16)

Don’t give in to sin, but also don’t try to fight it in your own strength.  Greater is He who is in you [God] than he who is in the world [satan].  You have a mighty Defender and adversary, who will come to your defense.  There is power in the name of the Lord that is able to deliver you from the most brazen of sins.  Call upon Him.

Be bold,

jamie