I Found God's Weakness

Scripture Reference 2 Kings 20:1-6

I know what you are thinking.  If God is ALL powerful and has created the heavens and the earth and that there was nothing made that was made without Him, how could He have a weakness?  Well let’s look at scripture.

When Hezekiah the king became sick, even unto death, God sent Isaiah the prophet to him and said “set your house in order for you shall die, and not live.”  Then Hezekiah began to talk about all the works he had done, but the death sentence was still in effect.  Then Hezekiah began to talk about how he had kept the law of God, but yet the death sentence was still in effect.  Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and began to worship the all knowing God, and said “LORD the grave cannot praise you!”  The all knowing God who said in John 9:31 “Now we know that God hears not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he hears”, turned His head and sent Isaiah back to Hezekiah and said tell him if he is going to worship me I will restore him and add 15 years to his life!

I don’t know what you are going through or what your situation is, but if God were to have a weakness and want to turn His ear towards you and hear you, all you got to do is begin to worship Him!

Are there any who are ready to hit God in His soft spot and begin to worship Him?

The Heartbeat of Our Shepherd

Can You Feel it?

Psalm 23 starts off, “The LORD is my Shepard, I shall not want.” It was one of the first Bible verses I was made to memorize as a child.  I often wondered why Jesus always referred to Himself as a Shepard. Over the years I have learned more and more about what a Shepard did and there have been some amazing revelations Jesus has given me.

Psalm 23 also says, “Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” The rod part I get, it was used to ward or beat off wild beast that came to steal the lambs and carrying them off to certain death.  But how was the staff a comfort?  It’s that one you usually see pictured that has a hook on it.  The staff was used to bring way-ward sheep back.  So if the sheep wandered too far off, the Shepard used the hook on the staff to bring the sheep back closer the Himself, where there was safety.

But sometimes, the Shepard would have a sheep that would stray too far, too often.  At this point other measures had to be taken to insure the sheep’s safety.  The Shepard would actually take the sheep and break on of it legs: Yes on purpose.  This would render the sheep unable to move about, and as you know, a Shepard was constantly on the move for pastures that would feed the flock.

Now you may think it was cruel what the Shepard did to the sheep.  After all, he hadn’t gotten into that much trouble, he simply wandered off a few too many times, but always the sheep thought he would be alright and could come back.  However that is not where the Shepard wanted the sheep.  He wanted him near Him.  So after the Shepard broke the sheep’s leg, He would then take the sheep and place him over His shoulder so that the sheep’s body was startled and the sheep’s heart was right over the Shepard’s.

As the Shepard walked on the hilly countryside, the constant movement would cause the sheep pain; after all his leg was broken.  So the sheep, not being able to stop the movement, would learn to sync up with the Shepard’s movement, even down to His heartbeat.  The sheep would become so in sync with the Shepard that the pain soon disappeared and the sheep could clearly hear the Shepard talking with him and giving him the life-saving instructions about how to never stray too far away from the Shepard again.

My life was like that, I was that wayward sheep that just kept getting a little too far away.  Then one day my Shepard, Jesus, came along and broke my leg.  He carried me upon His shoulder, and it was just me and Him.  I learned to sync up with His heartbeat, and while I don’t have everything down perfect yet, I know how not to stray too far from the safety that My Shepard provides me.

Today I thank Jesus for breaking my leg, and making me to sync up with His heartbeat.  And in me, the beat goes on!

Guarantees Of God

A guarantee is only as good as the guarantor. A guarantee is simply a promise with the ability to back it up! God's Word informs us, "He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think..." Ephesians 3:20  But not knowing what He promised us, makes it impossible for us to obtain the guarantee.

1. He has promised to supply every need we have. The Bible says: "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus". That's Phillipians 4:19. Now notice, God has obligated Himself only to the extent of our needs. That would include food, clothing, shelter, companionship, love, and salvation thru Jesus Christ. It would not include the multiplicity of luxuries that we have come to think of as needs.
2. God has promised that His grace is sufficient for us. (II Corinthians 12:9). in fact, He has made provision for our salvation by His grace through faith. Read Ephesians 2:8. It is through an obedient faith that we have access into the grace of God according to Romans 5:2.
3. God has promised that His children will not be overtaken with temptation. Instead, He assures us that a way of escape will be provided. This promise is recorded in I Corinthians 10:13. Jude wrote: "Now unto Him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present your faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy" (Jude v 24). Darius, King of the Medes, said to Daniel, "Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee" (Daniel 6:16). He did deliver Daniel from the den of lions.
4. God has promised us victory over death. He first resurrected Jesus by way of assuring our resurrection. Peter said: "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we are all witnesses" (Acts 2:32). Paul wrote to the Corinthians: "For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures" (I Corinthians 15:3,4). Later on he adds: "but thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ" (I Corinthians 15:57).
5. God has promised that all things work together for good to those who love and serve Him faithfully (Romans 8:28). It may be difficult for us to see and understand how this is accomplished at times, but God has promised it, and He will deliver.
6. God has promised that those who believe in Jesus and are baptized for the forgiveness of sins will be saved. (Read Mark 16:16 and Acts 2:38).
7. God has promised His people eternal life (John 10:27,28). In closing, let me appeal to you to live so that the promises of God will be yours.

Does God forgive you of all sin?

One of the bibles greatest truths is, Christ died for all of our sins; past, present, future. 

You cannot “loose your salvation” because you commit a new sin today.  Reality tells us we will always have some level of sin, either of word, deed, or thought.  With the gift Christ gave us, we can be forgiven of all sins, each time, no matter what they are. Our salvation doesn’t depend on what we do, but rather on what Christ has already done once and for all on the Cross. The Bible says that Christ “appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Hebrews 9:26).

Does this give us a license to go out and freely sin? “God forbid!”  Sin is an offense to God and separates us from His perfect will for our lives. Our fellowship with Him is hindered, and we open ourselves up for greater heartache and pain.  It also compromises our witness for Christ for the bible says, “Be holy, for I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16)

You cannot live the Christian life in your own strength. You need God’s help–which is why He has given His Holy Spirit to you. When you sin, confess it immediately, and then seek the Holy Spirit’s help each day to live as you should.

Trust Him

To walk out this Christian walk, we must trust in Christ with all of our being. Not simply when things are going good, but more importantly when all hell appears to be breaking loose in your life. Why is it some people fail miserably here and others thrive?

Partly to blame is the consistency of your trust in Him.  Trusting in Christ when turmoil arises, but then forgetting about Him when smooth sailing abounds, does not show consistency, nor commitment towards Him.  Do difficult times shock you into awareness of needing Him where calm times lull you into a sense of false security, thereby causing you to feel you can solely depend upon yourself?

Christ cares as much about our tiny trust as our big trust.  Its all trust to Him. All trust is just Faith. People around you may not notice but the ever-present Christ who is with you sees all.  Consistent trust is vital to flourishing in His presence.

Psalm 40:4, Psalm 56:3-4, Psalm 62:8, Isaiah 26:3-4