RUN

HIDING IN THE RIGHT PLACE :

"In the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his tabernacle and set me high upon a rock" - (Psalm 27:5, NIV)

Have you ever watched children play hide and seek? They look for the best place to hide in the house or yard and wait quietly for their friend to try to find them. It's a fun game for kids, but even as adults, we need a good place to hide from time to time. Sometimes we need a place of refuge, a place of safety, a place to rest when we feel overwhelmed by the circumstances of life; a place where the enemy of our soul can never find us.

The good news is that God has the perfect hiding place for you! You don't have to hide in your job. You don't have to hide in relationships. You don't have to hide in food or addictions because God Himself promises to hide you! He freely offers you shelter from the storms of life any time you call on His name.

Remember, there's only one place the enemy cannot find you. There's only one place where opposition cannot steal from you. There's only one true place of safety and rest for your soul, and that is in the arms of Jesus. Know that He loves you, and He is ready to receive you when you call on His name!

RUN WITH GOD’S COUNSEL

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in His law he meditates day and night. - Psalm 1:1–2

In today’s scripture, we see the psalmist describing the habits of a man that cause him to be blessed by the Lord. Notice how the blessed man “walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful.”

This means that the blessed man doesn’t depend on the advice of “experts” who are independent of and don’t honor God. Neither does he follow those who plot the downfall of others in order to prosper. And he doesn’t participate in cynical coffee shop talk! The man who does these things then is someone who doesn’t trust the Lord but fallible man and self. And he doesn’t meditate on God’s ways, but the ways of the world.

Beloved, don’t choose this path. Choose instead to trust wholeheartedly in Jesus by meditating day and night on His Word and His ways. And it will be a matter of time before you experience His blessings and success in all that you do!

WORRY (2)

'...I tell you not to worry about everyday life...' Matthew 6:25 NLT

Jesus said, 'Therefore I tell you, stop being perpetually uneasy (anxious and worried) about your life...' (Matthew 6:25AMP) Now, the Lord is not condemning you for having a legitimate concern about your responsibilities. No, what He's condemning is having a mindset that keeps leaving Him out of the equation, or turning to Him only as a last resort. Destructive anxiety subtracts God from the future, faces uncertainties with no faith, tallies up the challenges of today and tomorrow, and forgets to include God's promises and His faithfulness.

Jesus told His disciples, 'I tell you not to worry about everyday life - whether you have enough.' Note the words 'whether you have enough'. That's what we worry about, isn't it? Shortfalls, sickness, redundancies, economic downturns. Faced with the feeding of 5,000 people, the disciples had the same worry. Philip did an audit: '...Eight months' wages would not buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!' (John 6:7 NIV) How do you suppose Jesus felt in that moment? Standing next to them was the solution to their problems, but they didn't go to Him until their backs were to the wall and they had no answers. In their hands five loaves and two fishes looked like nothing. Yet in His hands it was more than enough to feed the multitude and solve their problem. As the bread kept multiplying, surely they must each have come to the point where they said, 'Lord, why did I ever doubt You?'

Let your problems drive you into the arms of Jesus. And when you get there, stay there!

THE SURE SYMBOL OF GOD’S LOVE :
ROMANS 5:8 - But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Imagine this scenario: Your car tire blows and you are late for work. At the office, you find out that someone else got the promotion you had been hoping for. Then, you receive a call from home informing you that your kitchen pipes are leaking again. Before long, you hear a voice telling you, “If God loves you so much, how come all these things are happening to you?”

Perhaps you are asking the same question today and wondering if God really loves you. Well, I want you to know that you must never judge God’s love for you based on your circumstances. No, look at the cross instead! The cross is the sure symbol of God’s love for you. It is at the cross that “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us”.

A teenager learnt that the cross indeed spoke of how much God loves her. At one point in her life, she was contemplating suicide as the only way out of her loveless, messed-up life. She had intended to take some pills with a lethal dose of alcohol. She was all ready to die when she started clicking aimlessly on some MP3 songs on the Internet. And of all the songs that were on her screen, she picked a beautiful song written by one of our church musicians.

The lyrics of the song, sung by one of our church vocalists, spoke of being held by God’s love and being treasured in His sight. They touched this teenager. Sensing that an awesome God with His amazing love was reaching out to her, she abandoned her plan to kill herself. Not long after that, she found our church and even met the person who had sung the song. She eventually came to know how much God loves her and how He has demonstrated His love for her through the cross.

Beloved, when you look at your life and find yourself wondering if God really loves you, look to the cross and see God’s outstretched arms. It will remind and reassure you of how much He loves you!

WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN SAYING?
Death and life are in the power of the tongue… - Proverbs 18:21

Many things in life can cause us to fear — losing our jobs, deadly diseases, terrorist attacks and so on. When these things confront us, we tend to give in to worry and fear, and start talking about our fears.

Job was no different. He constantly feared that God would punish him and his family because he kept thinking that his sons had sinned against God. He would get up early in the morning to offer burnt sacrifices, saying, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” And the Bible tells us that he did this “regularly”. (Job 1:5)

So Job kept confessing the sins of his sons and fearing that something terrible would happen to him and his family. In fact, his sin-consciousness didn’t just produce fear, the Bible tells us that he “greatly feared”. (Job 3:25)

It is important that we understand that it was Job’s sin-consciousness that opened the door to Satan. His preoccupation with sins that his family may have committed gave Satan the opportunity to bring death and destruction into his life. God had a hedge of protection around Job. But when he started being sin-conscious and having a fearful expectation of judgment, the hedge was removed and Satan could attack him. (Job 1:9–12)

My friend, today, if you have sinned, don’t say, “I have failed again. I deserve to be punished by God.” Know that you already have forgiveness of sins because Jesus was punished and condemned in your place! (Ephesians 1:7) So say, “I am the righteousness of God in Christ. Jesus, You are my holiness and perfection.” (1 Corinthians 1:30; 2 Corinthians 5:21)

We must be mindful of what we believe and say regularly because “death and life are in the power of the tongue”. So when you hear of a deadly virus taking many lives, don’t say, “I’m next because I have not been a good Christian!” Instead, say, “Jesus, You are my righteousness and protection. Surely You shall deliver me from the snare of the fowler and from the perilous pestilence!” (Psalm 91:3)

Beloved, such believing and confessing not only please God, but they also shut the door on Satan so that he cannot make any inroad into your life!

Thought For The Day :
Be mindful of what you believe and say regularly because death and life are in the power of the tongue.

HE USES THE USABLE :
John 2:24, "But Jesus did not commit himself unto them, because he knew all [men]."

This was the first time Jesus had ministered in Jerusalem. Multitudes believed on Him when they saw the miracles He performed (v. 23). This looked like a perfect opportunity for Jesus to take these people and use them to spread the news far and wide that He was the Christ. Instead Jesus did just the opposite. He didn't want people proclaiming His gospel in their own ability.

This reveals an attitude of Jesus which is lacking among many Christians today. Jesus is more concerned with the quality of ministry than the quantity of ministry. In contrast, today's Christians often feel that "the end justifies the means."

We take new converts and place them in leadership--which is directly opposed to the Bible's instructions (1 Tim. 3:6). Many times movie stars or other famous people who have come to the Lord are made spokesmen for the Christian faith. This works to the harm of these people and the Body of Christ as a whole.

Some of you can't understand why the Lord hasn't used you, but rest assured the Lord is using everyone who is usable. Instead of looking at the need and begging God to use you, take a hard look at yourself and ask the Lord to make you usable

RESOLVE TO RESOLVE

Resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way. —Romans 14:13

I haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions since 1975. I haven’t needed any new ones—I’m still working on old ones like these: write at least a short note in my journal every day; make a strong effort to read my Bible and pray each day; organize my time; try to keep my room clean (this was before I had a whole house to keep clean).

This year, however, I am adding a new resolution that I found in Paul’s letter to the Romans: “Let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way” (14:13). Although this resolution is old (about 2,000 years), it is one that we should renew annually. Like believers in Rome centuries ago, believers today sometimes make up rules for others to follow and insist on adherence to certain behaviors and beliefs that the Bible says little or nothing about. These “stumbling blocks” make it difficult for followers of Jesus to continue in the way of faith that He came to show us—that salvation is by grace not works (Gal. 2:16). It requires only that we trust in His death and resurrection for forgiveness.

We can celebrate this good news of Christ in the coming year by resolving not to set up hurdles that cause people to stumble.

Thank You, Lord, that You sent the Holy Spirit to do the work of convincing and convicting. May I be content with my own assignment: to do what leads to peace and edification.

Faith is the hand that receives God’s gift, then faith is the feet that walk with God.

You Don't Get to Choose Who You Love
"But if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? But love your enemies, do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High. For He is kind to the unthankful and evil." (Luke 6:32,35)

God is light. God is good. God is love. And He loves the world through us; however, we cannot just be the conduit for His love. We must also show love.

When the Bible says that God is light, it also tells us that we are the light. (1 John 1:5; Matt. 5:14.) In fact, Jesus said it-that we, as Christians, are the light of the world; and He said that we should let our light shine in such a way that the world would glorify God. (Matt. 5:16.) So, God is light and we are light.

Something else the Bible also tells us that God is good. (Ps. 100:5; Matt. 19:17.) When Moses asked to see God's glory, God caused His goodness to pass by. (Ex. 33:18-21.) God's glory is His goodness.

We're also told in the Bible that God is love. (1 John 4:8.) God loved the world so much that He sent Jesus. (John 3:16.) He gave of Himself while we were still in our sin. (Rom. 5:8.) And Ephesians 5:1 says that we are to imitate God. We should be able to imitate God because we have been created in His likeness and in His image and we have been given His Spirit to live inside of us to help us do what we can't do on our own. God is love and we can be like Him.

Now don't take me wrong. I am not saying that we are God. What I am saying is this. The very essence of God is love and if we were created in His image and in His likeness (Gen. 1:26) and if we are to be like Him as we are commanded to be in Ephesians 5:1, then we need to actually be love as He is love.

Love must be in our heart. Love must be in our mind. And even if we are cut (or hurt by others), we must bleed love.