May 4 – Hushing Up The Storm

“Jesus Himself was in the stern, asleep on the cushion; and they *woke Him and *said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing? And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.  And He said to them, “Why are you afraid? How is it that you have no faith?”” – Mark 4:38-40 (NASB)

Our Savior Jesus Christ when he lived on this earth was fully God and fully human also. He experienced fatigue, hunger, and stress. The crowds of people were always around. Jesus would heal all who came to him of all diseases and cast out demons. Crossing the Sea of Galilee, a serious wind storm blew in and threatened to swamp the boat. Jesus is asleep on a pillow in the back of the boat. The disciples frightened to death wake Jesus up crying for help. “Don’t you care we’re about to die!” Jesus gets up and with the economy of words, says, “Be muzzled!” That is the literal meaning of the original words translated “Peace be Still” or “Hush, be still” Storms normally subside gradually, but when the Creator spoke the order, the natural elements of this storm shut down immediately. Daily Jesus was teaching and demonstrating his authority and power every day. Yet, it still had not dawned on his disciples that God’s power was present in Jesus and so present with them. Our promise is that by abiding in Jesus and He in us, we too have God’s power present in our lives. Let’s have faith in that. 

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September 15 – Solid Gold Trust

“When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You. In God, whose word I praise, In God I have put my trust; I shall not be afraid. What can mere man do to me?” – Psalm 56:3-4 (NASB)

Fear can paralyze us, freeze our feet to the ground and cause us to lose our balance. The psalmist, David composed this song which is labeled as “A Mikhtam.” We do not positively know what this label means. But we do have clues. For one clue, this is a very important and valuable song. It extolls God’s goodness and faithfulness. It sings of why we can put our trust in God especially when we are afraid. It reaffirms for us that human kind and their devices cannot truly hurt the faith believer in God. David pleads and rejoices in the help and deliverance God gives him. The root of the word means to stamp or grave (as in engrave). It leads us to believe that it labels the song as a composition so precious as to be worthy to be engraved on a durable tablet for preservation. Others might render “a psalm precious as stamped gold,” from the word kethem meaning fine or stamped gold. Perhaps like today’s top-selling songs that are “certified gold” could be considered “michtams” of a sort. We don’t know for sure anything except that God’s Word is all more precious than gold.

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January 8 – A Sure Thing

“Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: For the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation..” Isaiah 12:2  (KJV)

Looking for a good reason to trust a sure thing? So much has been uncertain. Maybe our lives have been turned upside down because of the turmoil that rolled over us and flattened us but not the curve. There is One who we can trust and cling to the promises He has given to us. Yes, there is. We can trust without fear because our strength comes to us from our LORD JEHOVAH. This means the LORD our God is our strength where we have none. And it is true we have no strength of our own that will carry us through the year ahead so if we do not trust in the strength we have from God, we have no strength at all. We will end up on a heap of depression, despondency, and dread. We will be lost in the woods and sinking in the sea. Who will save us? The LORD JEHOVAH will. If we step out in faith, and put our trust in His word and guidance, we will not fear but we will stand up on a high place singing our song of salvation and praise to the LORD OUR LORD. It’s a sure thing.

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Understanding the use of JEHOVAH as the name of our LORD God. 

April 15 – To Deliver You

““Do not be afraid of them, For I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord.”  - Jeremiah 1:8  (NASB)

Jeremiah the prophet of God was called by God to be His voice to the people in Jerusalem.  Before, during and after Babylon conquered Judah, destroyed the temple and the city walls, and took thousands, the very best, to Babylon in exile.  God promises Jeremiah that he was chosen to be His prophet even before God formed him in his mother’s womb. Jeremiah resists and claims to not be a good choice. He is afraid and comes up with excuses why God should look for someone else.  He is too young; he is no good at speaking to large groups.  God instructs Jeremiah to not be afraid and promises He will deliver Jeremiah from his insecurities.  God puts His words in Jeremiah’s mouth. Fear keeps us from obeying God.  We fear so much. We fear others, that they will scoff and ridicule.  We fear others will not like us, trust us, or want to do business with us.  It happens, but we still do not have to fear because God says here   “For I am with you to deliver you.”  That’s an amazing promise that will be fulfilled each and every time we trust God. 

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December 29 – Peace For Whom?

“Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”  -Luke 2:14   (ESV)
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”  John 14:27 (ESV) 

We can reliably say that Christ’s mission on earth was to bring peace.  But, not the peace of the world which is little more than a brief cease fire.  Our first verse is most often heard and sung from the King James Version – “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” Luke 2:14 (KJV)  The world has long embraced this as if God was promising peace on earth out of His good will toward all people.  But, the angel’s message to the shepherds promised Peace among those with whom He is pleased. "Without faith it is impossible to please God " Hebrews 11:6 (ESV).  So, the angel did not promise to bring peace to all on the earth.  It is offered to all but what brings us God’s peace is faith in God.  Jesus does not offer the peace of the world, as our second verse informs us, but the peace that came with Jesus when he was born in Bethlehem.  So Paul prays, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing” Romans 15:13  (ESV). Rejoice today that God has given us peace with Him.

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March 11 – Holding Us Strong

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”   Psalm 27:1 (ESV)

As we read through the Bible we find many times the words telling us not to fear or that we have no need to fear.  Yet we still have times that fear fills our life for so many reasons.  God is our defense against fear and that is our promise in this verse.  What is a stronghold?  A stronghold is a place where we are safe from the things that threaten us and frighten us.  A stronghold is a defensive place and our stronghold is the Lord God Himself.  We who have believed in Jesus as our Savior and by faith have received eternal life from Him are within our stronghold.  We are safe from all that threaten us.  Yes, we still face times that our physical bodies can be threatened and even those who believe might lose their physical life or temporal possessions but even that is not a loss to fear.  We have salvation in the Lord and He shines on our paths and guides us.  This promise is worth carrying with us today and every day. 

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March 6 – Peace, not Fear

“ But the LORD said to him, “Peace! Do not be afraid. You are not going to die.” So Gideon built an altar to the LORD there and called it The LORD Is Peace. ” Judges 6:23-24a (NIV)

We read today of another name for our God which comes to us in the story of Gideon.  It was the Angel of the the LORD sent by God to commission Gideon to lead the Israelites against the Midianites. When Gideon realized that he had been talking to the Angel of the LORD face to face, he became afraid and prayed to God. The Hebrew name Gideon used was Yahweh Shalom with is translated The LORD is Peace. In the context of Gideon's experience we realize that God gave him personally real peace in his heart. We can read further that God helped him to miraculously win victories over the Midianites with a very small army and the victories brought peace for the people of Israel. We can trust in this same God to fill our hearts with His peace. Because we know Him today we can experience this peace today, because it is the LORD of Peace who is the God we know.  It's a promise as sure for us as it was for Gideon.

June 8 – Strength and Courage Wherever You Go

“ Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:9 (NIV)

One goal of this blog is to remind ourselves of the promises God has given to us. Each one can be trusted. One in particular is that God will be near you. We can do this over and over again because the Bible reminds us of this promise often. The promise in our verse for today was also given to Moses but Moses had died and God was re-confirming Joshua as Moses' successor in leading His people of Israel. Because God gave this promise so many time to so many before and after Joshua we can know how important it is for us to know it and to believe it. Strength and courage can be ours without fear or discouragement because our Lord God has promised to be with us wherever we are and wherever we go and whatever He leads us to do. Let's be sure to remember these promises today and believe and live according to the truth in the promises. 

March 18

“They were on their way up to Jerusalem, with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished, while those who followed were afraid. Again he took the Twelve aside and told them what was going to happen to him.”  Mark 10:32 (NIV)

Jesus was on his way from Jericho to Jerusalem. I am impressed by the difference in the attitude of Jesus and of His followers. His followers were afraid, no doubt thinking of His enemies in Jerusalem who were looking for a chance to get rid of Him. But what about Jesus? He was not afraid. He knew He had come to die for the sins of the world and He explained again to His disciples what would happen. Aren’t we glad that Jesus went all the way to the cross!