Category: Faith (Page 7 of 9)

When God Calls You To It, Do It.

April 17, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“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.

Now that New England’s weather is slowly becoming warmer, my car rides have become more enjoyable. I can finally open my sunroof and feel the pressing warmth of the sun on my face. It feels great to extend my arm out of the car window and feel the force of the wind blowing against it. And I’m so enjoying being able to soak up more sunlight throughout the day now. The warmer weather brings with it an added boost of happiness as well. Yet none of these things compare to the joy my car ride conversations with Jesus bring me.

Besides being at home, I spend most of my time in my car. It’s where I do my pondering, my questioning, confessing, and my praying. And I am convinced that my car transforms into my own private sanctuary in those precious moments. The other day, while driving, I talked with God about many of my worries and stresses. See, I have always been a planner. I’m always looking towards the future. And as great as being prone to thinking and planning for the future may sound, this mindset is also riddled with its own fears and anxieties—Its endless loop of questions. Questions like: “What if this doesn’t work out?”, “What if I run short of money?”, “How long do I have to wait, God?” And the more questions I ask, the more it feels like I’m doing little more than enabling my anxiety. Then suddenly, somewhere on that same drive, the Holy Spirit brought to my remembrance Joshua 1:9, “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.”

Now I’ve heard and read this verse numerous times, but this time, it felt personal. Being reminded that the Lord is with me brought me comfort and peace. My remembering not to be discouraged; uplifted me. Knowing I need not be afraid; strengthened me. And that’s when it hit me: the same God that had spoken those exact words to Joshua; just brought them back to my remembrance! And knowing this prompted me to go and dig into Joshua’s story yet again. Allow me to pivot here and share some of what I discovered about courage and faith, and strength as a result.

The bible tells us, Joshua, son of Nun, became Israel’s leader after Moses’s death.

Moses had appointed him his successor before his death. And shortly after Moses died, the Lord said this to Joshua concerning his new ministry: “Moses, my servant is dead. Now then, you and all these people, get ready to cross the Jordan river into the land I am about to give them – to the Israelites” –Joshua 1:2. God called Joshua to lead the Israelites across the Jordan River and take possession of the land promised to their forefather Abraham –Joshua 1:1-5; Genesis 17:8. Yet before Joshua ever issued his first command to the people, God had already commanded Joshua three times to be strong and courageous. –Joshua 1:5, 7, 9. God’s repeated command over Joshua stood out to me because the Lord’s command for Joshua to be ‘strong and courageous’ was vital for Joshua’s future, his preparedness. Joshua would need to drink deep of this command before he could lead these people—before he would be able to execute God’s plan for them all. The Lord, who is both Sovereign and Omniscient, knows what lies ahead of us—and within us. He knows what we’ll need to be prepared to lead those He has entrusted to us, just as He did both with Moses and Joshua.

Leadership is no easy task. So, God makes things clear for Joshua and, through Him, for us. He outlines for Joshua what he must do to be prosperous and successful. First, and above all, love God and be obedient to Him. Keep God’s Word close to his heart—on his lips, and to not rely upon his own strength but, in all things, to trust God. “Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go” –Joshua 1:7. Secondly, “Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it” –Joshua 1:8. And lastly, “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.

The Lord’s repetitive command to Joshua to be strong and courageous is meant to draw Joshua into a greater understanding that the strength he’ll need moving forward will not be his own, but the Lords. Joshua would never be able to do all that the Lord had for him to do in his own strength. Neither can you and me. Think about it. How many times have you felt afraid before executing a task? How many times have you lost your nerve? God knows we get anxious; Scripture assures us that “He knows our anxious thoughts” –Psalm 139:23. He knows that discouragement will come our way. Yet, if we’ll but only remember that God is with us wherever we go, we can, in His strength, become empowered to be bold and walk confidently in the will of God—despite how weak and incapable we may feel.

It’s not true that God does not give us more than we can handle—He does. He allows it so that we’ll learn to rely and depend on Him even more!

After Joshua instructs the Israelites to cross the Jordan River, he then sent two spies ahead of the people into the next town to scout out its fighting force. Once these spies entered enemy territory, it wasn’t long before they needed to be hidden, and they were with the help of a prostitute named Rahab. But why would Joshua’s spies enter the home of a prostitute in the first place? Simple. No one would have thought it strange for these strangers, these men, to enter and leave the house of a prostitute at all hours of the day and night. But Jericho’s King found out about them and questioned Rahab as to their whereabouts. And as per her agreement with them, she lied to the King. “But the woman had taken the two men and hidden them. She said, “Yes, the men came to me, but I did not know where they had come from. At dusk, when it was time to close the city gate, they left. Go after them quickly” –Joshua 2:4-5.

“By faith the prostitute Rahab, because she welcomed the spies, was not killed with those who were disobedient” –Hebrews 11:31. Talk about courage! Rahab shares with these Israelite spies her belief that it was indeed Yahweh who had given Israel this land. “I know the Lord has given you this land and that a great fear of you has fallen on us so that all who live in this country are melting in fear because of you” –Joshua 2:8-9. I found it remarkable that this harlot from Jericho, a woman from Jesus’ lineage, was used by God to play a significant role in Israel’s story. As with Rahab and the Samaritan woman, God still demonstrates that He will use the unlikeliest of people to protect and support His children. And He’ll use the most improbable people to carry out His will. Let this be a reminder to us all that God goes before us to prepare the way, that He is preparing hearts to receive us, even now.

We can learn many valuable lessons from the first six chapters of the book of Joshua. The first is that even when we do not feel courageous or strong, we must trust God’s strength at work in us. The second is that the Lord is faithful to prepare the way, and He can use an unlikely person in a strange set of circumstances to aid and protect you just as the Lord used with Rahab with the spies. The third is that sometimes God’s instructions both sound and appear foolish; it’s in these moments we must hold tight to His Truth. Even when our minds desire to question God’s will or the instructions He gives us, faith in God means that we obey Him because He alone is faithful to do what He says He will. “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” –Isaiah 55:8-9. And finally, if we desire to see a supernatural move of God, we must be willing to exercise an unwavering, dare I say, crazy faith and obedience to His Word. “Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful” –Hebrews 10:23.

Friends, our obedience to God is evidence of our faith in Him. Like Joshua, the more we unflinchingly follow his commands, we, too, will conquer and be victorious in our walk with the Lord—in His strength. The God of the Bible keeps His promises. So, I encourage you to stir up your faith in this miracle-working God. I encourage you to be strong and courageous no matter what you are facing today. And I pray that, like Joshua, you become unflinching in your obedience to God—come what may. And, if you desire to know more of this God, that you’ll invite Him into your heart. I pray that He reveals Himself to you. And that you’ll trust Him to show you His wonder-working power and faithfulness. “In conclusion, be strong in the Lord [draw your strength from Him and be empowered through your union with Him] and in the power of His [boundless] might” –Ephesians 6:10.

Once It Becomes Personal.

March 27, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“In the past I heard about you, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. And I am ashamed of myself. I am so sorry. As I sit in the dust and ashes, I promise to change my heart and my life.” –Job 42:5-6.

Perhaps Job’s faith in God had been handed down to him from his parents? Maybe it came to him through his listening to the oral retellings of old? Accounts of God’s goodness and mercy, of His great love for His children.

Whatever the channel used, Scripture clarifies that Job recognized there was a God. Job never denied He existed. We realize this in Job’s response to his wife when she flat out tells him to give up on this God who had just allowed one calamity after another to befall them: “His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. –Job 2:9-10.

Job surely had some level of faith. Some belief in the God of the old retellings, the God who went to great lengths to redeem, provide for, and protect His people. “I’ve also done it so you can tell your children and grandchildren about how I made a mockery of the Egyptians and about the signs I displayed among them—and so you will know that I am the LORD” –Exodus 10:2. Maybe Job had lived his life essentially mimicking, perhaps wholeheartedly, what he had observed his parents and family, neighbors and friends—those in his tribe doing or saying—wanting it to be true for himself, wanting to believe it all. Indeed believing, on some level, that this God is real. Remember though, that up until this point in Job’s story, he’d not encountered God personally yet. Job had only known Him as the God of someone else’s relationship. But until Job knows God personally—until anyone does, God remains impersonal, and their lives untouched by the enlivening, relational presence of His Holy Spirit at work

This is the case for so many of us before our relationship with God became personal, Jesus was just a person someone else has experienced. A head knowledge that had yet to touch our heart. A good man hanging on a cross, perhaps? A god among many other gods, maybe? Our mother or father or grandmother’s God? Or the symbol of some unreachable deity whose rules demand more than anyone can give? So then why even try to know Him for ourselves?

I know this is how it was for me.

Raised Catholic, I attended Catholic school in the 60’s—went to Mass daily with those in my class. I learned about Jesus certainly—knew He had a Father, God. I had heard of the Holy Spirit but quite literally never knew Him as anything other than the picture of the Dove I’d seen painted on the Cathederal ceiling, in paintings, or heard referenced in the priest’s homily. I had no clue He was an actual person—the Third Person of the Godhead. Like Job and so many others today, I had undoubtedly heard about God—had some cursory head knowledge of Him, but I did not know Jesus—personally, that is. I had never encountered God face-to-face, so to speak.

But one day, in the blink of an eye, right there in the Catholic Church, all of that changed!

No longer was God someone that lived outside of me in paintings, nor was He a man who hung on a cross over my bed; Jesus Christ was now alive in me—His Spirit at work in me. One minute I was dead in my sin, the next, alive in Christ—just like Job. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved” –Ephesians 2:4-5. And, as with Job, I too felt the weight of my many past sins. How I, too, had questioned God at every turn. Yet, by God’s grace and mercy, the weight of my sins drove me to God, towards true repentance. And in that scared moment of His visitation—I unknowingly followed Job’s example and, as the song says, was gracefully broken.

I’ve since learned this one thing over these many years of walking with the Lord:

God does not break us to harm us; instead, He breaks us that He might re-fashion us, working out of us—pruning away those unfruitful habits—those sins that repeatedly trip us up and stunt our growth, muddying His plan for our lives. Sins like pride, fornication, adultery, addictions, stealing, stubbornness, rebellion, and lying, just to name a few.

I know this first-hand because not only does God’s Word make this plain, but, by God’s grace, Jesus enabled me to turn away from the sins that had had a death-grip on me for so much of my life. By His grace alone, I was able to leave them behind me, running after God with all I had in me instead. And I’m still running towards Him today, now, more than ever! Yet, I have miles and miles to go in my learning more and more about this God I love. This man that came and changed everything—in an instant, and counting. See, that’s what happens when He comes; He makes all things new—not usually overnight—but most certainly over time. And, after having met the Living God personally, after having experienced His Love, mercy, and grace, I began to understand the breadth of His forgiveness. In my finite, weak-as-water way, I caught some dim glimpse of what it cost Him to save me, and that revelation drove me so far into God that now, all I want in this life, for the rest of my life, is more of Jesus. Catching a genuine glimpse of your sins against the unblemished backdrop of God’s Purity and Holiness will cause you to cry out in repentance, in humility.

We witness this piercing truth in today’s Scripture verse. Undeniably, this was the case with Job, listen: “In the past I heard about you, but now I have seen you with my own eyes. And I am ashamed of myself. I am so sorry. As I sit in the dust and ashes, I promise to change my heart and my life.” –Job 42:5-6. The Prophet Isaiah also understood this Truth, listen: “I was frightened and said, “Oh, no! I will be destroyed. I am not pure enough to speak to God, and I live among people who are not pure enough to speak to him. But I have seen the King, the Lord All-Powerful” –Isaiah 6:5. The Apostle Peter understood it as well—me too. Each of us touched by God, transformed in an instant by the power of His Holy Spirit coming and taking up residence within us, making all things new, understood, more believed, that we were sinners who’d been brought into contact with a Holy God. “When Simon Peter realized what had happened, he fell to his knees before Jesus and said, “Oh, Lord, please leave me—I’m such a sinful man” –Luke 5:8.

The Pure Light of God’s presence unmasks every lie we’ve ever told ourselves about who we are—and who He is, exposing then the naked Truth, we are sinners in need of a Savior.

When we come face-to-face with the Living God, we face the depths of our depravity and our propensity for sin and sinning also. We become a witness to our self-justification, denial, pride, and those inflated opinions we hold of ourselves.And in this sacred moment, we must choose: to repent of these and accept Jesus into our hearts and lives, or to shut Him out—keeping Him then out there somewhere as the God of someone else’s relationship. And it is smack-dab in the instant of just such an awakening that we witness Job acknowledging God as His Lord and Savior in today’s Scripture verse.

My prayer in this season of hope and miracles is this: If you know of God, yet have not encountered Him personally, then right now, in these days leading up to Easter, to His death and Resurrection, His ultimate display of love—you’ll follow Job’s lead and say yes to having a relationship with Him, Move Him from being the God of someone else’s relationship, to being the God of your own.

Previews…

March 6, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

Then the Lord said, “Rise and anoint him; this is the one.” So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David” –1 Samuel 16:12-13.

The Word of God is full of these—previews, I mean. Of God allowing His chosen to catch some small sliver of a glimpse of the destiny, they’ve been set apart to fulfill…

One minute a young David is out in the field tending his father’s sheep, and the next, his father’s servant is calling out to him. “David, come quickly; the prophet Samuel is asking after you!” And right there, in the presence of his slack-jawed family, in one life-changing, whirlwind of a moment, David, a young shepherd boy, is anointed Israel’s new King. “Thus Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel. But Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen these.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Are these all the children?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, and behold, he is tending the sheep.” Then Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with beautiful eyes and a handsome appearance” –1 Samuel 16: 10-12. And although it took only a few short minutes for Samuel to seal the destiny of this newly appointed boy-King, it would take David’s “preview” some 15 plus years and beyond to bear mature fruit. And Scripture is littered with examples like David’s. Of the destinies of God’s chosen suddenly being shifted on a dime. Of the so-big plans of God being carried out by His finite creations. Examples of men and women who were changed in an instant, yet it took years for them to grow into the fullness of their calling. A calling God had deposited within them in less time than it takes us to blink! One such example that comes to mind is Joseph, Jacob’s youngest son…

I have to wonder how many times Joseph thought, “Lord, why all this lag time,” as he watched and waited for his preview to come to pass? (Lag time: that period, however short or long, God uses to prepare us for the destiny He’s allowed us to catch some glimpse of). Remember, Joseph was about 17 years old when God gave him a glimpse of his future via a dream. Then, shortly after sharing that dream with his family, he was violently ripped away from his beloved father and sold into slavery by his jealous brothers. After which, Potiphar’s wife unjustly accused him, and he was imprisoned. While there, he was betrayed by those he had worked to free. Then, finally, some 13 years later, at the approximate age of 30, Joseph entered Pharaoh’s service, becoming the second most powerful man in all of Egypt. And soon after that, the dream given him by God when he was 17 was finally fulfilled when those who had sold him into slavery came and bowed down before Joseph. You can read all about Joseph’s extraordinary life in Genesis, Chapters 37- 50.

My apology; we were talking about David.

Some scholars suggest David was somewhere between 12 to 15 years old when he was anointed King by the Prophet Samuel; you can read about this in 1 Samuel, Chapter 16. And yet, David would not ascend to his throne for another 15 plus years. Sound familiar? Didn’t we just read of something similar happening to Joseph? We’ll need to jump over to 2 Samuel 5 and beyond in order to read the account of David’s ascension and reign. And then, moving on from David, let’s look at others throughout the Scriptures who’d caught a preview of their destinies as well.

We’ll start with a young Galilean girl from Nazareth named Mary. She had been given a glimpse of God’s calling on her life—and so had her fiancé, Joseph. Apocryphal accounts say Mary was between 12 to 15 years old when she became betrothed to Joseph. Yet before they could marry, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary—changing the course of her life forever—Joseph’s too. “In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin pledged in marriage to a man named Joseph, who was of the house of David. And the virgin’s name was Mary. The angel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you”—Luke 1:26-28. Verses 30-31 goes on to tell us that Gabriel told Mary, this newly engaged virgin, not to be afraid, that she was going to have God’s baby—and she was to name Him Jesus, listen: “Behold, you will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus.” And then there’s John the Baptist, Elizabeth’s son. And Father Abraham. God called him to leave behind his family and country, all that was familiar to him—to set off towards a destiny that would rival even that of a Hollywood blockbuster! And the list goes on and on. There’s also a young Samuel, woken up one night out of a sound sleep by God’s preview on his life. –1 Samuel 3. And then Moses, who went from a babe being drawn from the Nile in a pitch-sealed basket to a mighty prince of Egypt, turned wilderness shepherd before finally being used by God to free His people from the tyrannical grip of Pharaoh –Exodus, Chapters 2-5. And We haven’t even touched on the Apostles Peter, John, and Paul; each of these men and women hand-chosen by God—and all of them given a “preview” of sorts.

So why the lag time between their being called and that call being fulfilled? Why, since God had chosen them, didn’t He just use them right away? Why so long for David to finally take the throne? Or for Joseph or Abraham to see the call on their life fulfilled? Why did Moses have to experience so many tests and trials? And why will you and I have to endure lag time as well?

The answer is “simple—yet not.”

First, the simple: It’s about election and preparation. The simpler part of it, well, simple for God at least, is election—being chosen in Him: God’s initial call on their lives bubbled up from a deep place within them in an instant—it was effortless. But the preparation part, well, that took some time. That required God to prepare them for the preview He had given them. Preparation then is the “yet not” piece of, “simple, yet not.”

Their preparation would involve God having to strengthen and refine their trust in Him—in His ways and timing as they faced the many challenges and trials that answering His call brought with it. He was teaching them to walk out the “how” of His call on their life—that stepping out in faith part. That, faith over feelings—regardless of what it looks like, part. Think Paul here in Acts 9. Think of the reshaping that God did in Him, the breaking down, and the rebuilding that took place deep within him as he spent three days and nights in that room on Straight Street, having been blinded after seeing God. “He remained there blind for three days and did not eat or drink” –Acts 9:9.

Times of preparation allowed each of the above mentioned to grow into God’s unique call on their life. They afforded them both the circumstances and the opportunities to learn about accepting heartache and loss. To grow in love, they discovered new levels of sacrifice and how to be stretched to the point of breaking yet trusting God that they wouldn’t be. But that’s only after passing their first test, that of answering God’s call on their life. Then, and only then could they start putting one foot in front of the other and, over time, through adversity and times of great confusion or suffering, learn to follow God wherever He led them. And through all of this, they became awoken to what some may say is the hardest of all God’s lessons—trusting His timing. It’s Scripturally sound to say that of the many things God will use to test our calling, His use of time is undoubtedly one of His biggest. “But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day “–2 Peter 3:8.

So, let me ask you, has God shown you a preview? Has He allowed you to catch some small sliver of a glimpse of His call on your life?

Are you heading off to Bible College? Is God calling you into your first pastoral position? Or, maybe, He’s calling you to head up the worship team or become an evangelist or missionary? Perhaps He’s just calling you to get up out of your pew and join in? Does God want to use you somewhere in the board room, city council, or the Nation’s Capital instead of in the pulpit? As a mom instead of a worship leader, or maybe you’ll be both? Wherever that “bubbling up” from your depths inevitably takes you, of this one thing be assured, friend: there will be times of preparation ahead. But oh, the joy they’ll bring with them! The surpassing peace and unplumbed Love of God you’ll experience by stepping out in faith and learning to trust His mysterious ways and timing, learning to accept heartache and loss, love, and sacrifice—the ever-changing-same-ness of God. The fixed fluidness of following Him. And the learning to be stretched to the point of breaking yet trusting God that you won’t be. Learning, as Mary Fairchild so aptly put it: We can pour out our honest desires to God, even when we know they conflict with his, even when we wish with all of our body and soul that God’s will could be done in some other way.

Learning, like Mary, David, Joseph, and Peter did, as Jesus did, to say: “Father, not my will but Thy will be done” –Luke 22:44.

Friend, I hope you know this God who both calls and prepares us for the previews He allows us to catch. But know this: if you don’t yet, you can today. Know that God’s Word brings salvation. Won’t you ask Him into your life as Lord and Savior right now? “But what does it say? “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved” –Romans 10:8-10.

Who of You by Worrying?

January 9, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life?” –Luke 12:25

Amid the world’s chaos, with its many “clanging cymbals,” sadly, so many souls live in a state of heightened fear. Anxiety, depression, frustration, and unrest have left them adrift with no sure place of refuge. For many, the holidays’ joyful spirit has been lost, and many loved ones have died, wedding plans have been postponed, physical touch is all but absent for some, and division within men’s hearts has intensified. While these realities experienced in the natural realm have caused disappointment and great anxiety to grow in so many hearts, we have instruction from our heavenly Father to not worry as Christians. In fact, throughout Scripture, this directive to “fear not” has been expressed multiple times. God knows our frame. He knew how we would react to bad or unexpected situations if we allowed ourselves to focus on our flesh—hence perhaps, His many reminders to “fear not.”

Jesus Christ gives us instruction because He is fully aware of the human heart and its temptations. “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” –Hebrews 4:15.

Worry can happen quickly if our minds and spirits aren’t unwaveringly fixed on the One who holds our every answer, Jesus Christ.

Have you ever considered that worry is the exact opposite of faith! Worry doesn’t stimulate us because it is a depressant. It doesn’t provide joy; it robs our peace. Because fear causes us to trust and rely on our abilities, it drains us, leaving us feeling heavy. This because we were never meant to carry such things, instead to put them in the hands of the One whose burden is light and whose yoke is easy. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” –Matthew 28:28-30.

Worry robs our rest, and it tears us apart. Do you know what “worry” means? According to Merriam Webster, worry is defined as a state of anxiety and uncertainty over actual or potential problems.. Fear of the unknown, aka worry, steals our ability to live and enjoy the present moment by dragging us back into a past that has expired or forward into a future that remains unknown. Anxiety hinders our intimacy and ability to trust in the Lord. Rather than resting on the sure foundation of God’s Sovereignty and faithfulness, we rely instead upon our skills and limited understanding.

As believers, my brothers, and sisters in Christ, though challenging at times undoubtedly, worry has no place in the kingdom of God; if we truly have faith, what then is the use of our worrying?

Listen to the surety given us by God: “Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?'” –Luke 12:22-26; Matthew 6:25-34 NIV. Jesus is both profound and all-encompassing. Knowing us as only He can, He gives us clear examples of those things He knows we as humans are prone to worry about: “what we would eat or what we would wear.” Yet, in His lovingkindness, Jesus prompts us to look beyond these simple daily cares. He reminds us that our life is far more important than those concerns of the body; if He can provide for the ravens, who have no storeroom, why should you and I not trust Him? After all, who better to know what we need than He who fashioned us! If He has provided the birds a place to lay their head, why would the creator of the universe not supply your needs? He assures us, after all, that we are more valuable to Him than birds!

Knowing all of this, why would we allow worries to steal our breath or rob our peace? Have we forgotten that we serve the same faithful, powerful God that oceans, seasons, and life itself both yield and respond to, at His command? Worry is synonymous with unbelief. The Lord knows what we need before we ask. So, for Christians, worry ought to be a spiritual wake-up call, alerting us to the fact that we have lost sight of God’s power and ability, His faithfulness, and His Sovereignty.

I hope I do not sound as though I am above the fray of human emotions or the need to beat back the fears that chase after me? I, too, wrestle with that seemingly ever-present foe known as worry. Recently, I was struggling with fear regarding my future. I bought into the enemy’s lie that the Lord had passed me over, forgotten about me. But God, in His lovingkindness, directed me to the above passages in Luke and Matthew, assuring me not to worry, instead to place my full hope in Him, now and forever. This same assurance was given to me when, again, recently, I also struggled with worry over whether we would ever see unity in the United States? Would order ever be restored from out of this current dis-order? Again, the Lord faithfully assured me through His Word. He redirected my anxiety back to His peace and Sovereignty by leading me to Psalm 20:7. “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord.”

Some trust in political parties, some in offices, but our faith must rest squarely in the Lord as Christians.

As I was preparing to write this, I had an epiphany. The Holy Spirit reminded me that this same type of evil, these wicked, unpredictable, volatile, antichrist spirits we see in operation today, were present when Jesus entered our world as a Godman. And they will continue to exist until the day God Himself puts an end to them, once-for-all. Only God can restore the wicked heart of man, washing away his sin. As Christians, we have something the world so desperately needs friends – and they’ll continue to need it until the very day of His Coming; His Living, glowing, peaceful, loving, the infallible, inerrant, Gospel of Jesus Christ!

Sadly, while the world may feel as though it’s catching the brunt of some never-ending hurricane, those who put their faith in Jesus will always find shelter in our Strong Tower, in the shelter of the Most High God. “The Lord does not delay and is not tardy or slow about what He promises, according to some people’s conception of slowness, but He is long-suffering (extraordinarily patient) toward you, not desiring that any should perish, but that all should turn to repentance.” –2Peter 3:9.

In closing, friends, when worry tries to enter through your front door, remind it where you keep your hope. Remind it that you “Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight” –Proverbs 3:5-6. Tell worry that God’s Holy Spirit helps you in your time of weakness and that, “…in all things God works for the good for those who love Him” –Romans 8:26-28. Our worry reveals that we have not yet fully cast all our cares, sudden fear, and anxiety into God’s capable hands. We must pray, present our requests with Thanksgiving unto God, and ultimately surrender every care to Him – It’s not surrendering if we continue to pick it up!

Pray, “Lord Jesus, I transfer _____ to you. Your word says come to me those who are weary and burdened, and you shall provide rest for our souls. I yield ____ to you and trust that you will take care of it as you will. Have your way, Father God. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Friends, take heart. Be at ease. Find rest. Jesus has overcome the world! Seek His guidance, then step out of the way that the Lord may work on your behalf. And if you haven’t yet decided to follow Jesus yet sincerely want Him in your life—ask Him to reveal Himself to you. Ask Him to enter your heart. And if worries burden you, call out to the name of Jesus to grant you peace of mind. He is so faithful to answer.

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” –Philippians 4:6-7.

Faith Produces…

January 2, 2021 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“And blessed [spiritually fortunate and favored by God] is she who believed and confidently trusted that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her [by the angel sent] from the Lord” –Luke 1:45.

The Christmas season is behind us now, but not its lessons of extraordinary hope and promise. So, for today, I’d like for us to revisit Mary and Elizabeth. I believe they still have much to teach us as we stand tippy-toed, scanning the nascent, unsoiled horizon of this New Year. Eyes fixed and filled with hope. We allow our faith in the promises of God—all that we have come to know of Him, to guide us ever-forward…

Mary and Elizabeth once stood where we’re standing now—trusting God to guide them, allowing their faith in His promises, all that they had come to know of Him, had heard spoken of from the prophets of old to lead them ever-forward. Working and waiting then, each woman held firm her faith while carrying within her the promise she’d be given. And so, do we. We carry within us the guarantee given us as well—if, as with Mary and Elizabeth, we have put our faith in Jesus. A promise we ought to fiercely guard and treasure, just as they did, as we too await the time, we’ll possess its full measure. “The Spirit is God’s guarantee that he will give us the inheritance he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. He did this so we would praise and glorify him” –Ephesians 1:14.

Two women. Each quite literally carrying within their earthly vessels, heavens promise.

Elizabeth’s promise was a son, John…

In her womb, a child, the very child the angel of the Lord had assured her husband, Zechariah, would undoubtedly come. But the angel said to him: “Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John” –Luke 1:13. This child whose coming was foretold by the prophet Isaiah some 700 years before his birth. “Prepare the way of the LORD; Make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; The crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the LORD has spoken” –Isaiah 40:3-5. And Matthew 3:1-3 confirms for us that indeed it was this same John, Elizabeth, and Zechariah’s son, whom Isaiah was pointing us toward, listen:” In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’” John was a bridge of sorts; a voice foretold in the Old Testament yet realized in the New. And now we’ll read Jesus’ Words found in Matthew’s Gospel that confirm the prophet Malachi’s pointing us to John—God’s Word is seamless after all. “And His disciples asked Him, saying, “Why then do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?” Jesus answered and said to them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and will restore all things. But I say to you that Elijah has come already, and they did not know him but did to him whatever they wished. Likewise the Son of Man is also about to suffer at their hands.” Then the disciples understood that He spoke to them of John the Baptist” –Matthew 17:10-13.

And now to Mary’s promise, God’s own Son, Immanuel, God with us…

Like Elizabeth, Mary was promised a son by an angel of the Lord –Luke 1:26-56. This child’s coming had also been foretold throughout the Old Testament. We first hear of it in Genesis. While reading Genesis 3:15, we witness God castigating that crafty serpent; we also catch the first prophetic utterance concerning Jesus’ birth. “I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.” Moses is credited with authoring Genesis. That means this first prophetic sighting concerning the birth of Jesus was given us approximately 1500 years before He was born! Then, we also have the words of prophets Isaiah and Micah, respectively, each foretelling of Jesus’ birth. God always confirms His Word. Isaiah foretold Jesus’ birth some 700 years before it occurred, and Micah’s prophecy concerning the same, some 800 years earlier. Isaiah speaks to the supernatural, to the miracle of Jesus’ birth and of His name: “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel” –Isaiah 7:14. While Micah 5:2 pinpoints the town Jesus will hail from: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” One child, the Root of Jesse, the promised Messiah, descended from David’s royal linage. The other, His herald. Each foretold through the prophets of old…

“You may say to yourselves, ‘How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?’ If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. That prophet has spoken presumptuously, so do not be alarmed” –Deuteronomy 18:21-22.

In researching these prophecies, I came across this statement by Clarence L. Haynes Jr., You can test the prophetic accuracy of Scripture by asking this one question: Did it come to pass? This is really the only way to know if something that is prophesied is true or not…

Using Scripture as our foundation then, we can say with certainty that each prophesy we’ve read today was sent from God—more, that God is indeed faithful to fulfill His Word. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets” –Amos 3:7. That’s Good News when you consider our eternal hope is anchored to God’s promises.

John the Baptist was born to Elizabeth and Zechariah just as the prophets foretold—Luke 1:57-80. And Jesus was born to a virgin named Mary in Bethlehem, His earthly father, Joseph—Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 2:1-20. Both women then anchored their faith in the promise given to them by an angel. We would be wise to follow their lead. Each “…believed and confidently trusted that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her [by the angel sent] from the Lord” –Luke 1:45.

In closing, I alluded earlier that those who have accepted Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior carry within us God’s Holy Spirit. Allow me to illustrate this. God’s “first installment” is given us as an act of promise; this mirrors the ancient Middle Eastern betrothal customs— (the groom’s father first chooses His son’s wife—God first chose us; we were not the first to reach out to God. When the bride accepts the proposal, she is given gifts, both from her groom and his father—When we said yes to Christ, God gave us His Holy Spirit as a deposit, a guarantee, sealing us in Him. He did this by offering us His only Son, Jesus, all that we might be restored into right relationship with Him. Spending eternity then singing praises to His Holy name and serving Him). There is much more to share with you concerning this practice, but my purpose here is not to school you in Jewish wedding customs. Instead, it’s to bring us full circle and tie each of these individual strings into one final bow.

Let’s start then with faith and hope: Scripture assures us that we cannot please God without it, faith that is. And, it was both faith and hope that fueled Mary and Elizabeth. Hope that Messiah would come and save His people, and each saw that longing fulfilled. “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life” –Proverbs 13:12. God used these two unlikely women; one to birth to His only begotten Son, the other to birth the one who would herald His coming. Mary and Elizabeth each demonstrated steadfast faith in the promises of God, and we are reaping the fruit of that hope and faith, still. “But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that comes to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him” –Hebrews 11:6.

Now let’s tie in prophecy & the inerrant Word of God: God assures us that what He has declared will be. We’ve read account after account of this Truth today. And the Bible is full of both promises and prophecies yet fulfilled. So, we must remain fully confident then that the same God who overshadowed a young virgin girl somehow depositing His Only Son within her has indeed spread the hem of His garment over us—claiming us as His own, making us eternally one with Him. This God, who miraculously opened the womb of a barren old woman removing her shame, will remove our guilt and shame as well if we’ll but accept the free gift of His Son, Jesus. And trust that He will continue to perform His Word until His final prophecy is fulfilled. “Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose,’ From the east I summon a bird of prey; from a far-off land, a man to fulfill my purpose. What I have said, that I will bring about; what I have planned, that I will do” –Isaiah 46:10-11.

Now we close, our final thread, fruit, faith’s byproduct: God chose Mary and Elizabeth for a specific purpose. A purpose spoke of by the prophets and fulfilled according to His will. Friends, God has chosen you for a particular purpose as well. And, just as Mary and Elizabeth, by the grace and strength and favor allotted them by God, birthed their promise, so shall you. Walk confidently then into this New Year, trusting that your faith in His promises will produce bountiful, good fruit for His glory. “And blessed [spiritually fortunate and favored by God] is she who believed and confidently trusted that there would be a fulfillment of the things that were spoken to her [by the angel sent] from the Lord” –Luke 1:45.

Friend, if you have not asked this same promise-keeping Christ into your heart as Lord and Savior, what better time than now! Start your Year off with an eternal relationship with the God who so loves you; He gave His only Son to die in your place all that He might have you back! Won’t you accept His invitation today?

Preparing the Way.

December 26, 2020 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction” –Malachi 4:4-6.

In the Old Testament Canon, we hear the Holy Spirit’s final Words pointing us firstly towards John the Baptist. Toward his crying out in the Judean wilderness to all who will listen concerning Jesus’s imminent arrival. “He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, ‘to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord” –Luke 1:17. Malachi’s final verses in the Old Testament are a bridge connecting us to the promises that will not see their fulfillment before Christ’s second coming. And within these closing verses of Malachi, we discover a harbinger, also. For clarity’s sake, let’s define that term. Harbinger: a person or thing that announces or signals the approach of another; a forerunner of something. A Harbinger is a sign, a herald, a forewarning. It announces some future event—good or bad. A harbinger is an anticipatory sign, much like crocuses and budding branches are in spring. Like dark storm clouds on the horizon, it can imply a storm is on its way. Today’s Scripture verse is just such a harbinger, a warning that something sudden and life-changing is on its way.

Biblically speaking, harbingers are often given us in advance of some impending judgment or possible disaster that we might repent, having been forewarned. Israel, and through them, the gentile nation would soon receive just such a sign in the person of John the Baptist. Israel had turned away from God—all but forgetting Him. Stepping out of the dry and dusty obscurity of the Judean desert, John the Baptist’s sole message a clarion call to anyone who would receive it: “…His message was, Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near” –Matthew 3:2. A strongly expressed, far-reaching demand for action if ever I have heard one. More, it is a harbinger that will remain unchanging until the last of those Christ has called to Himself answers Him. This call is challenging people as acutely today as it challenged them when John first spoke it—forcing them to turn either towards Jesus or away decidedly.

God designed us—our heart, to recognize His Truth when we hear it—our consciouses instantly pricked then, having recognized His voice.

Today’s few Scripture verses ought to make us pause and reflect on what the Holy Spirit is saying to His people—these Words His last for some 400 years! Indeed, they must contain the hope and promise, and direction needed to sustain us through such a long silence.

Within them, Malachi challenges us never to forget the laws given to us by God. How appropriate as we stand facing the close of another year, a gracious gift to take with us lest we forget God’s mercy, His “guardrails”—those immovable boundaries He has set in place both to guide and protect us in the form of His Commandments. “Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel” –Malachi 4:4. Next, Malachi encourages us to look forward with hope, looking towards this “Elijah” who will prepare the way for Christ’s return. “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome day of the Lord comes” –Malachi 4:5. Lastly, he encourages us by speaking of restoration and renewal, not destruction, as the portions reserved for God’s children. “And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction” –Malachi 4:6.

These verses are like superfoods for those of us who believe. They are chuck full of direction, hope, and promise. They are the bridge that connects the closing Words of the Old Testament and the opening Words of the New. In them, we are encouraged to look back and remember how God has freed each of us from our personal Egypt. From what and where it is, He has delivered us. Because as certainly as God delivered the Israelites from Pharaoh’s death grip on their lives, so too He has delivered you and me from the grip of sin and death on our own—if we have accepted Him as our Saviour and Lord. “We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin” –Romans 6:6-7.

God, mercifully, with Moses as our witness, made His first covenant with us on Mount Horeb—revealing His profound love and power, His intentions for us—through His ordinances and commandments. These our guardrails then, saving our lives—protecting us from hurt, harm, and danger, if we’ll but obey them. The enemy has irrationally done everything in his limited power to maintain the façade that both he and sin will prevail on the earth. Malachi assures us just how wrong our enemy is, building a bridge of hope instead, carrying us into the New Testament towards Jesus, restoration, the forgiveness of sin, and new life. “For we died and were buried with Christ by baptism. And just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glorious power of the Father, now we also may live new lives. Since we have been united with him in his death, we will also be raised to life as he was” –Romans 6: 4-5.

And finally, in fulfillment of the Scriptures, Israel and the world will witness God’s two final witnesses. One of which will surely be like “Elijah” having the power to shut up the sky—just as we see the first Elijah did in 1 Kings 17:1.

“These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire” –Revelation 11: 4-6.

These witnesses are the vessels used by God to continue His outpouring of undeserved mercy on a lost and a dying world. A world He chose to leave heaven for—offering Himself as the propitiation for its sins so that those who will receive Him will be restored into right relationship with the Father. He did this in Sodom, for Nineveh, and He did it in Jerusalem to pour out His mercy. And He is and will continue to lavish undeserved mercy on this world that has rejected Him—until He finally comes again. Jesus left His place at God’s side and wrapped Himself in human flesh, a Babe born in the lowliest of places all that He would one day offer Himself a living sacrifice for the world. From eternity past, it was the Father’s heart to bestow mercy upon us that we might be spared from the curse of sin and the second death. “Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years” –Revelation 20:6.

So, now, in the closing hours of human history, God uses this same mercy to soften the hearts of the fathers toward their children and the hearts of the children toward their fathers.

“We know that our old sinful selves were crucified with Christ so that sin might lose its power in our lives. We are no longer slaves to sin. For when we died with Christ we were set free from the power of sin. And since we died with Christ, we know we will also live with him. We are sure of this because Christ was raised from the dead, and he will never die again. Death no longer has any power over him. When he died, he died once to break the power of sin. But now that he lives, he lives for the glory of God” Romans 6: 6-10. And in kind, so must we.

Yesterday, we celebrated Christmas. And in our celebrating, remembering. We remembered why God’s Son was given us at all. This leading us back, finally, to the harbinger I spoke of earlier, that anticipatory sign, much like crocuses and budding branches in spring, like dark storm clouds on the horizon.

Concerning this harbinger, Matthew Henry states the following: Let the believer wait with patience for his release, and cheerfully expect the great day, when Christ shall come the second time to complete our salvation. But those must expect to be smitten with a sword, with a curse, who turn not to Him that smites them with a rod. None can expect to escape the curse of God’s broken law, nor to enjoy the happiness of his chosen and redeemed people, unless their hearts are turned from sin and the world, to Christ and holiness. His testament is stark certainly, but True, nevertheless.

Friends, as surely as Christ came to us the first time, He will come again. Ask yourself—have I prepared room for Him in my heart? If not, I urge you don’t delay! Please, do it now while there is still time. No man is promised tomorrow. “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” –John 5:28-29.

Victory, in Pursuit…

November 7, 2020 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

Here we are in November 2020, suspended in thin air hoping for release, at any moment. The joy of freely gathering with our beloved friends and family, the privilege of returning to work, the gift of peace of mind. It appears time has decided to just stop without a care in the world about its effects on our human experience. Yet as I sit here asking God how I can share a spark of hope, I am reminded of all the times that God has met me with supernatural strength to fight my way through the muddy seasons of life. I’m not talking about physically, but more so mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. It feels reminiscent of the story of Gideon. It’s one of great courage and redemption which seems like a timely message for this moment.

God tends to catch us off guard by finding us right in the place of obscurity where we thought we were invisible. Let me give you a tiny snippet of Gideon’s situation before we dive into the good stuff.

When we find Gideon in Judges 6, Israel (God’s chosen people) had been under the oppression of Midian for 7 years after they had “done evil in the sight of God”. At this point, much of Israel had adopted the pagan gods of their oppressors. In this case that god was Baal. Now, let’s meet the man of the hour. While Gideon is thought to be one of the greatest judges of the Old Testament, his valor did not come naturally. At our introduction to Gideon, we find that he was timid (although I’d say timid is an understatement). He was NOT the kind of guy I’d pick to lead me into battle. We meet him while he was threshing wheat in secret. Threshing is the process by which the edible portion of wheat (the kernel) is separated from the stalk, a laborious task that I can’t imagine was very subtle. But in this case, he was literally preparing his food in secret out of fear of his oppressors. He feared they would steal the bounty of his demanding work. Yet it is in this secret place that the Bible tells us, “When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior” —Judges 6:12.

The Lord is with you, mighty warrior?

Those words echo so loudly in the caverns of my soul. Perhaps that’s because I’ve found myself in a fearful place where hearing the words “mighty warrior” would have been too overwhelming to bear. I don’t know that I would have believed anyone who would call me a “mighty warrior”. Honestly, I’m not 100% convinced that Gideon bought it either. But I don’t think the angel of the Lord cared whether Gideon believed it, because the angel was speaking to who he knew Gideon was created to be, not to who Gideon thought he was. See, our perceptions of ourselves don’t always reflect God’s intentions for our purpose. He sees the warrior in you long before you can ever even think you’re capable of being strong.

The first thing we learn in this story is that although he was insecure and filled with doubt, God STILL chose Gideon. Instead of being confident in this identity, he came back with skepticism, listing reasons the angel was wrong according to what Gideon could see, God wasn’t doing signs and wonders anymore; God had abandoned them—and his clan was the weakest of all the clans, and, he’s the weakest in his family. These are all declarations devoid of hope. Yet, when hope is all but gone, God can restore your purpose in a moment! The response was remarkable. The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.” Judges 6: 14;16. God’s responses are always brilliant. He speaks to the root of the problem and not just the symptoms. Gideon is giving all these excuses as to 1) why God is absent and 2) why he’s not qualified, but it’s almost as if the Lord said, “yeah, and?” In a lot of ways, He does the same with us. Just stick with Him and He will lead you out of the hands of your oppressor! Whether that oppressor is someone, something, or even anxiety, depression, or insecurity. He is faithful to lead you into victory.

The next thing we see about Gideon is how fearful he was. This angel had just given him a divine revelation of who he was, but Gideon was skeptical; he needed proof. So, the angel gave him a sign that he was from the Lord, and then Gideon was *kind of* comfortable following his lead. The first thing the Lord commands Gideon to do is to tear down the altar to Baal. Now, instead of making a scene in broad daylight, Gideon is terrified. He agreed, but he did it at night when no one could see. Let’s stop here and observe something. How often do we get caught up trying to make ourselves good enough to live for God or even do something as simple as going to church? Right here, in this humble story, we learn something about God the Father, He’s not afraid of your fear. Gideon was afraid, but he obeyed while afraid. God knows our fear, but he’s looking for our obedience. He alone will give us the courage to obey His Word in the face of our greatest fears!

Are you getting the gist of Gideon’s personality yet? I hope so!

Let’s fast forward a bit. Now, Gideon is getting used to fearful obedience (which ultimately turns him into that mighty warrior God knew he was). God leads Gideon to fight a battle with Midian (remember, these were the oppressors). Now, the Midianites were a large army; the Israelites were not. But that’s JUST how God wanted it. In fact, as small as the Israelite army was, God wanted it smaller still. God’s power shines brightest in the face of the impossible. So, Gideon chose 300 of the most unlikely men to be in his army, and off they went to war.

Now, if you’ve made it this far, here’s where I REALLY want you to pay attention!

Gideon and his three hundred men exhausted, yet keeping up the pursuit, came to the Jordan and crossed it. –Judges 8:4. The text makes it clear these warriors were exhausted. But they KEPT. ON. FIGHTING. How many times have you been so exhausted and wanted to throw in the towel? I for one have oft found myself too tired to keep moving forward, maintaining joy amid crisis, keeping faith when I felt incredibly let down, finding hope when it felt like I was drowning. I’m sure you can relate in some way? But be of good courage, because if you walk with God, He promises to be with you! He will give you strength. He’ll give you what it takes to keep up the pursuit! Victory is often just around the bend, yet how often we miss it because we quit too soon. Keep fighting. Keep moving. God is on your side!

You may find yourself in the same place Gideon was—just living your life when bam! your all of a sudden moment comes, and you get that sense that there must be more to life than this. We can be doing the most normal thing when God moves us to action, and it’s up to us whether to respond with obedience or complacency. As we think about this time we are living in, may I remind you that God has created you and me for such a time as this, to surrender to Him, be His righteous ones, live with the kind of obedience that “does it afraid”, and fight until the battle your in is won. I know these are trying times, but remember, God’s power shines brightest in the face of the impossible. “His power is made perfect in your weakness” 2 Cor 12:9.

Are you afraid, tired, hopeless, doubtful, lonely, anxious? God sees you. He knows your short-comings, yet He still calls you by name- the name HE gave you. It’s up to you to respond. With God by your side, victory is yours! I invite you to turn to Jesus, repent of anything in your life that may not be pleasing to Him, and ask Him to walk with you, giving you courage and strength to live to your fullest potential.

Waves of Affliction And Trouble. Matthew 14:22-25.

November 9, 2019 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

***“As soon as the meal was finished, he insisted that the disciples get in the boat and go on ahead to the other side while he dismissed the people.”***

It wasn’t Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand, nor was it Peter’s walking on water that jumped out at me as I read Chapter 14 of Matthew’s Gospel. It wasn’t even Jesus’ walking on water. Rather, it was the fact that He ‘insisted’ that His disciples get in their boat and cross the Sea of Tiberias, and head towards Gennesaret without Him—all the while knowing a storm was headed their way. But why? Why did Jesus insist that they go ahead without them? Why send Twelve of His dearest friends—His beloved disciples, into a perilous storm He knew was coming? Why would He send them off on their own to face a storm He knew was far beyond their capacity to traverse?

Would you be surprised if I said His love for them was the motivating force behind Jesus’ command that they cross the sea without Him? Be sent into a storm He knew they were ill-prepared for? Difficult as it may be to take in, God’s love will, oftentimes places us in situations or allow us to face seasons of difficulties that we simply do not understand, are in no way prepared to handle. Included within these often-stormy moments, are precious gifts given us—if we’ll but receive them. Those sweet moments of clarity that lead us into the sure knowing that He alone is God. And, in those moments, a heart-cry goes out, Abba! Father! Save me as only can! We hand ourselves over to the One who allowed the storm so that we might witness Him walking on the water right there beside us; already there with us, ready and willing to save. Just as it was with the disciples, so it is with us, too. Though skilled in their craft as fishermen, and dedicated followers of Jesus, what they were about to face is an example of one of the occasions the Lord would use adversity to build their faith in Him. To redirect their natural tendency to handle things on our own—back towards Himself.

When we become aware that life will give us more than we can handle and come to grips with this, we find a promise: God is faithful to meet us in the mess and in the pain. And when He does, we learn to recognize our constant need to depend on Him. This is why Peter instructs the Church to cast our fears, worries, suffering, and pain on God. He reasons we can do this because God cares for us. When life deals us more than we can handle, we can rest in the reality that God can handle it –MICHAEL HIDALGO.

They were following after Him, mind you, serving Him, they were not out of the will of God, had not disobeyed Him. This was no rebuke. No punishment for deliberate sin. These were not men who had decided to run off and go their own way. On the contrary, in getting into that boat, they were following Jesus’ command, just as they always had. From the time Jesus called His disciples, He began stretching their faith, preparing them for that day when He knew He would have to leave them behind and return to the Father. This command to cross over before Him was no exception. He was ever instructing them, refine them and building them up. Taking from them what did not benefit them, their calling and purpose, and depositing into them instead new-life and purpose, a new vision and wisdom; readying them for the task of spreading His Message to a world who would all-too-often reject that message—reject Him. Sound familiar?

Jesus knew His friends end from their very beginnings. Hence, He knew exactly what they’d need, both individually, and collectively to do the will of the One that had sent Him, and chosen them. As evidence of this stretching of their faith, we first witness Jesus’ disciples facing a similar storm back in Matthew Eight. Immediately following Jesus’ informing those within earshot of the cost of following after Him, He instructs His disciples to get into their boat and head off to the opposite side of the lake –Matthew 7:18-22; 8:23-27.

God is always working. Always preparing us for what is just ahead—just on the other side of any given storm or struggle.

It is here then, in verse 24 of Matthew 8, that we first see the disciples facing a storm at sea. It is here also, where we come to understand that the disciples have yet to come into the full knowledge of just who this Jesus truly is. The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the waves obey him!” –verse 27. It is here too, that we witness an eternal Truth that can and will carry us through any storm. Jesus has promised to never leave His chosen alone.

He was as present in the disciple’s boat in Matthew 14 as He was in Matthew 8. The difference between the two being the lesson He was teaching in each instance—the degree of stretching that was taking place. Their learning to see beyond the limits of the natural world that they may see more clearly into the realm of the spirit. Contained within Matthew 14 is, in part, a vital nugget: to always remember the Truth of who God is, has shown Himself to be in our lives; contrary to the intensity of the storm we may be facing. For as long as we are on this earth, waves of affliction and troubles will come our way. How we perceive them, allow them to affect us, determines the shape we’ll come out in on the other side of our storm. Shipwrecked or strengthened?

Know this beloved: it is to the other side of the storm that we as His disciples, His servants, are being called; to serve, witness to, to bind up and undergird another. Why, in part, we have been chosen in Him at all. The other side of the storm is what we, as our brothers before us, are being prepared for, stretched, that we might reach the one God is sending us to; all the while becoming more like the One who sent us…

Another of the reasons the disciples were sent into the thick of a situation that was too great for them to manage on their own, was to teach them reliance—to trust in God alone. Only God can safely get us through the perilous storms that would otherwise destroy us. Contrary to our strengths and gifts, to our God-given abilities and our divine potential, we were not created to live apart from God—we are not our own. Love teaches us to rely solely on God, while the world around us screams at us to be self-reliant. To be our own god, to save ourselves. Let us each, instead, follow the lead of our brothers before us.

After being saved from a storm, once again—after allowing God to have stretched their faith one more time, it is here, for the first time that we hear these men finally proclaim that they know, (a knowing so deep and pure and true that they were willing to die for it) that this Jesus is, in fact, the Son of God. Long before Jesus ever stood over the dark void this storm—and its outcome, existed in Him; as does every storm—and its outcome, that you and I will ever face. Even that one that appears so perilous that it threatens to take us out! Fear not beloved. God is as present with you now as He was with our brothers then. And, the wind and waves still obey Him today…

But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze” –Isaiah 43:1-2.

He has called you to pass through the afflictions, the troubles, this current storm, beloved. Through the waters and rivers. Through the fire—to faith and Life in Him. Trust that you have everything within you you’ll ever need to get there; God in you and with you—always and in all ways. Waves of affliction will come—troubles too, but we, you and me and Peter and John and every believer that has ever or will ever live—are never, not for one nano-second, ever alone. He still walks on the stormy waters we are passing through them on the way to those He has sent us to reach; before He calls us back to Himself. Rely on that Truth. Place your trust in God alone…

If you have read this through this teaching, and do not have a relationship with Jesus, the One who saves all those who cry to Him from their hearts; then please, ask Him to show Himself to you know. Ask Him to be the Lord and Savior of your life. “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” Romans 10:9.

Exodus 14:22. In Spite of The Fear…

September 7, 2019 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

***“So the people of Israel walked through the middle of the sea on dry ground, with walls of water on each side!”***

They did this, it’s true. Yet, they didn’t do it alone. God had safely hemmed them in as they walked across this parted sea on a dry seafloor. It was so dry, in fact, that neither carriage wheel nor full-grown man was lost to its once sopping, sandy, sea bottom. We can read the account of their crossing over and the subsequent death of their captors in the Scriptures —Exodus 13:17-22;14.

As for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land. –Exo. 14:16.

There’s a Word of confirmation for someone in today’s verse: Just take that next step regardless of how things might look to you. Even though your flesh may be screaming, “this is crazy!” Choose to believe instead, that God’s got your best interest at hand. Just as the Israelites had the choice to cross over or to stay put; so do you. Even when the path He’s chosen for you looks both frightening and unappealing, just keep moving in the direction He’s led you and trust Him; in spite of your fears.

If I were to stop here, life and hope and confirmation have been tossed out like a life ring to that one soul that was in jeopardy of going under. Yet the Holy Spirit isn’t finished speaking with us…

Their prayers had been answered. God sent them a man to help deliver them from days of brutal oppression and unalleviated struggles. God had sent Moses to free His people from Pharaoh’s tyrannical grip. How apt that this man who had gone from freely strolling the opulent halls of Egypt’s palaces, to spending 40 something years in Midian’s wilderness as a shepherd, be called to return to the very place and people he’d fled from; in fear for his very life. This same man who knew well the deadly ire of Pharaoh was being used to deliver and lead a people he was born kin to, out from under Pharaoh’s despotic grip.

Here’s a lesson to us all: God can send the very one that once hung out in your enemy’s house to save you. Not that Moses was such a one, mind you. Nevertheless, don’t judge who or how God has chosen to save you. – Exodus 14:2-4; Isaiah 45:1–8.

And so they stood, leader and followers; much like a ship that has gone aground. Momentarily hemmed in before this outwardly impossible path which led to their safety. Moses at the fore, the lion’s share of those following him at the aft. Each facing the near mile divide of salty sea that separated them from the safety they so desperately longed for, there on its other side. (To put this in perspective, safety loomed some 17.6 football fields across a seemingly impassable sea!) All the while behind them, a demented Pharaoh with his army of Egyptian fighting men were rapidly closing in. Doggedly eating up the ground that stood between them both. This blood-thirsty band of despots locked onto them, like some weapon of mass annihilation, determined to land a swift and deadly blow.

Is this not the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone that we may serve the Egyptians’? For it would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the wilderness.” The Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward –Exodus 14:12;15.

As it was with Moses and the Israelites, so it is with us. Our enemy Satan seeks not to simply destroy us rather annihilate us –John 10:10.
Yet when all appeared hopeless, when the scent of defeat rose thick above any other scent in the very air they breathed, God did what only God can do. He made a way where, just a nano-second before, one simply had not existed.

And, He’ll do the same for you and me!

Now God may have used Moses to lead His people to the very edge of their deliverance, but He alone would save them from certain death. This is simply who our God is. He alone is mighty to save! God will use any man He so chooses to take us so far. But He will not share His glory with another…

It is at the end of Chapter 13 that we begin to catch a glimpse of God’s perfect plan of deliverance for His people. In His Sovereignty, God chose to lead these people to freedom via the long way home, when a much shorter route was available. But why? Why would God place these worn and weary people He had sent Moses to free in such a seemingly indefensible position?

And it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt. But God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea: and the children of Israel went up harnessed out of the land of Egypt –Exodus 13:17-18.

Here is where we clearly see that God’s ways are so far beyond us. And, also, why we are instructed to walk by faith, and not by sight. Not allowing ourselves to be led, like one with a ring through their nose, by our fickle feelings. God knew that His people would be weary from wear after leaving Egypt. He also knew a formidable enemy lay in wait for them. Being tried in the wilderness would help to prepare them for the fight that lay ahead— for those events just beyond their knowing. No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it –1 Corinthians 10:13.

So, now, seeing the sea parted some mile wide before them, these frail, frightened souls numbering 2-3 million, men, woman, and children, had each to decide whether they would take their chances walking between these walls of towering seawater, or stay put and do battle with a known and deadly enemy.

And so will we…

Friends, there will be times in our walk with the Lord, when, in His leading us towards the fulfillment of His promises for us, in His shaping and reshaping of us, we, like these Israelite’s, must decide if we’ll also take that next step of faith. In spite of how things around us might appear. Even though our flesh may be screaming, “this is crazy!” We must choose to believe instead, that God has our best interest at hand. Just as the Israelites had the choice to cross over or stay put; so do you and me.

Even when the path He’s chosen for us looks both frightening and unappealing, just keep moving in the direction He’s led you and trust Him; despite the walls of water that surround you. In spite of all your fears...

But the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left. That day the Lord saved Israel from the hands of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the mighty hand of the Lord displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the Lord and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant –Exodus 14: 29-31.

Friend, if you’re here today and have not yet met the One who will never leave you alone in your wilderness. Never abandoned you to fight one single battle on your own; won’t you ask this Jesus to come into your life and show Himself real to you, now? Ask Him to take up your fight for you. He will if you’ll but sincerely ask…

Convergence. Mark 5: 29-30

November 25, 2018 / ministermaryellen@gmail.com

“Immediately her flow of blood was dried up; and she felt in her body [and knew without any doubt] that she was healed of her suffering. Immediately Jesus, recognizing in Himself that power had gone out from Him, turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched My clothes?”

More blood. Another day of isolation and sameness. Would it ever stop?

Have you ever felt this way? Is there something “bleeding” in your life?

It was just another day in the village. The sun had risen as it always had—and with it, her never-ending flow of blood. This was her morning; every day. For years—12 to be exact. The sun rose, and the blood flowed. “But one day Lord, I know you will heal my body, I just know you will.” She had whispered this little prayer every morning, hopefully. Trying to believe that at any moment it would happen—her healing that is. She offered it up, this silent pray, as she scattered the morning grain to those hungry hens that gathered unfailingly the moment they heard her footsteps. She had no idea however, that this day, unlike all the others, would usher in the end of her long years of suffering. No idea it would afford her what all the money she’d spent in vain never could. What no doctors visit ever did. She had no idea that every wet-eyed midnight plea, every sunlit prayer was about to be answered…

“She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse” –vs.26.

The sudden commotion in the village was her first clue. The air was abuzz with a myriad of babbling voices. A large crowd was forming near the edge of the nearby lake. At its center, Jairus, leader of the synagogue. And with him some stranger whom Jairus seemed to be pleading with. She didn’t know who this stranger was. She didn’t recognize the One who held her healing. The One to whom her silent prayers ascended, day after day. She didn’t know that before she was even born this very second had been ordained. And, as a result, life as she had known it these past 12 years would be changed forever…

As I read this account of the unnamed woman with the issue of blood, I was struck by the “suddenly” of her healing. Of her encountering Jesus. Of how every single detail concerning that divine moment had to have lined up perfectly in order that she be healed and set free by days end. I was reminded of exactly how involved God is in every detail, every second of our lives—and, how unaware we can be of Him. How we have the propensity to wander through our days robotically, excepting whatever comes our way at face value—life becomes just another day of unremitting bleeding. Like lemmings, we follow rote days that turn into rote weeks that become rote years of living minus any sense of genuine expectancy that at any moment, God may show up suddenly—changing everything! Just as He did for our unnamed woman. Just as He did for me. Just as He does for so many of His “unnamed” children.

God is moved when our faith, no matter how small, is put into action. Suddenly, He shows up and, as a result, nothing is ever the same…

At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes” –vs. 30?

Scripture makes it clear that our unnamed woman had never met Jesus—she’d only heard tell of this man who performed many miracles. It struck me that though she’d not met Him, she most certainly had a measure of faith. Otherwise, why would Jesus have said that her faith had healed her? Some might argue here that she had nothing to lose. That she’d lost everything, had been ostracized long enough, suffered long enough, that it all finally culminated into her running out into the crowd chasing after the One she’d heard the others tell stories of. That faith was not the motivating force behind her dash towards Jesus, rather it was sheer desperation that drove her towards Him that fateful day…

Even so, who’s to say that Jesus won’t use our moments of desperation? Won’t allow our weaknesses, fears, and failures—our illnesses and insecurities, our fractured families and relationships, those moments of sheer exasperation that cause us to crack, to serve His good pleasure? Use them to break up the fallow ground of our hearts, preparing them to fully receive Him? Who says He won’t allow “our bleeding” to be used both to water and to cultivate our tiny seeds of fragile embryonic faith?

Anyone who’s received their salvation later in life—possibly after years of having lived life on their own terms, will, I believe understand this …

Perchance this is what happened to the woman with the issue of blood?

It could be she needed to spend every dime she had, see every doctor that was available, spend countless nights in fear and burdened with worry before she would cry out to God in complete surrender. Some folks need to come to the end of themselves before they’ll humble themselves before Jesus. And too, God will allow us to do things our own way—even if our way isn’t beneficial to us. I liken this to a willful child determined to do things their own way. Loving parents will try to guide them—direct their child towards a path that will benefit their future. Yet, in their rebellious determination to do things their own way, the child runs recklessly headlong on their chosen path of self-destruction. Often getting hurt, losing money, friends, jobs, and precious years of their lives in the process. Ask anyone whose struggled with addiction, they’ll tell you…

Is this where we find our woman with the issue of blood? Is she at the end of herself—her money, patients, and precious time spent stubbornly chasing after a healing that has consistently eluded her?

Has she, like so many of us, exhausted herself through relentless self-sufficiency? Much like the hamster on his proverbial wheel?

Or, did she, like many who’ve been “bleeding”, want nothing more than to taste normalcy and acceptance once again? Hope to be included once again? Become a functioning member of their family, neighborhood, community once again. Join in again. Being rid, finally, and completely, of what has held them captive—isolating them for far too long. Was she instead proving to each of us what true faith in the face of continuous adversity looks like? Was she showing us that even an anemic, isolated faith can muster the strength necessary to push past everything in its way when empowered by the Holy Spirit? Allowing it thus to be led to the place where desperation, desire, and destiny converge. Where the plans to prosper and not to harm finally see the Light of day? “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed” –Mark 5: 22.

On behalf of every person who is weak from years of “bleeding” I believe, and Scripture certainly appears to favor that it’s this later scenario, rather than the former, that enabled this woman to come to the only One who had destined to meet her at this particular shore at this particular time. To allow His virtue to flow into her the moment she allowed herself to go low—to push past everything that had prohibited her to press forward until now. To exchange her un-cleanness and shame—her isolation and pain, for His love, recognition, and healing. The old covenant replaced by the New. By her willingness to drag the ground if need be, the woman with the issue of blood was able to finally stand tall. She was healed. Freed. At peace. There’s a paradox that’s proved in this healing: it wasn’t simply touching Jesus’ garment that healed this woman. It was, according to Jesus’ own Words, her touch of “faith that had freed her and made her whole” –Mark 5:34.

If this is you today my brother or sister, if something in your life is “bleeding”, has caused you to become weakened; whether physically or psychological; If depression or addiction, fear or cutting or drugs, sex or porn has held you captive far too long, then please, I beseech you, take a page from this woman’s playbook. Run after Jesus in faith believing—regardless of those things or people that surround you. Allow your desperation to converge with the wooing of the Holy Spirit so that you too might touch the only One who can make you whole…

And friend, if you’ve yet to ask Jesus into your life—if you’ve yet to meet Him, today is your day! He has led you hear that you too might reach out in faith believing and be made whole in Him. Won’t you stretch out your hand in faith today?

Category: Faith (Page 7 of 9)

When God Calls You To It, Do It.

Like this:

Once It Becomes Personal.

Like this:

Previews…

Like this:

Who of You by Worrying?

Like this:

Faith Produces…

Like this:

Preparing the Way.

Like this:

Victory, in Pursuit…

Like this:

Waves of Affliction And Trouble. Matthew 14:22-25.

Like this:

Exodus 14:22. In Spite of The Fear…

Like this:

Convergence. Mark 5: 29-30

Like this:

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Recent Posts

Search for posts here

Recent Posts

Search for posts here

Teaching from the Word

New Teachings Every Saturday!

Sonsofthesea.org

Meta

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Recent Posts

Search for posts here

Recent Posts

Search for posts here

Teaching from the Word

New Teachings Every Saturday!

Meta