KEPT IN ALL YOUR WAYS BY GODS ANGELS …
Psalm 91:11-12 For He shall give His angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways. In their hands they shall bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You are about to step onto the road when something pulls you back just in time to avoid being hit by a speeding car. You are shocked. When you come to your senses, you ask yourself, Could it be that an angel just saved me from a fatal accident?
I believe that angels walk with us. The verse tells us that God has given His angels charge over us to keep us in all our ways. And in their hands they will bear us up, so that not even a stone will trip us up.
But we may not know it when we encounter an angel. (Hebrews 13:2) This was probably the case with a couple in our church who were holidaying at a beach resort on Penang Island when a tsunami struck at about 12.30pm on 26 December 2004.
It was slightly past 11am when the wife suddenly had a craving for food from the mainland. The couple decided to check out earlier, so that they could reach the mainland in time for lunch. While loading their luggage into their car at the hotel driveway, a man impatiently motioned to them to hurry up and get moving.
Annoyed by his impatience, they quickly loaded their stuff and drove off. The minute they reached the mainland, they heard that a tsunami had struck Penang Island at the same beach where they were just a while ago. While thanking God for their narrow escape, it suddenly dawned on them that the impatient man could have been an angel charged by God to hurry them off!
God tells us that we have an innumerable company of angels. (Hebrews 12:22) And He has given them charge over us to protect us from accidents, natural disasters, terrorist bombings and other dangers. So dont fear these things and lock yourself at home. Go for that holiday! Go for that lunch appointment! Believe that God loves you, and thank Him for His angels who walk with you and watch over you!
BE CHANGED BY BEHOLDING CHRIST
But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. - 2 Corinthians 3:18
If you go to any good bookstore, you will find a section called “Self-Improvement”. Here, you’ll find all kinds of books describing various principles and methods you can follow to improve yourself. In all these books, the focus is on you using your willpower and self-discipline to apply the principles to improve yourself.
But God does not want you focusing on yourself. That’s self-occupation, which can only take you so far, with results that last only as long as your willpower lasts. God has a higher way. He wants you to be Christ-occupied. When you look to yourself to improve yourself, you are putting confidence in your flesh. But the Bible tells us that in our flesh dwells no good thing (Romans 7:18), and that we should put no confidence in our flesh (Philippians 3:3).
My friend, the best way to change yourself is to forget self and be occupied with Christ. When you read the Bible, see His beauty, His majesty, His compassion and His grace. As you keep beholding and meditating on His glory, the Holy Spirit inside you goes to work in you. He will transform you into the very same image of Christ.
You will be changed from glory to glory, experiencing true and lasting inward transformation!
CHOOSE TO BELIEVE …
Therefore they could not believe, because that Esaias said again, He hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them. - John 12:31
This could be interpreted as the ultimate teaching in predestination. That interpretation would be that these people were never given the opportunity to believe because of Isaiah's prophecies. However, the Word of God makes it clear that "whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved" (Rom. 10:13); "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Rev. 3:20); and "whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely" (Rev. 22:17). No one has ever been denied the opportunity to accept salvation (Ti. 2:11).
Mark 6:5 says that "he (Jesus) could there do no mighty work, save that he laid his hands upon a few sick folk, and healed them." In that instance, it is evident that the reason Jesus couldn't do any mighty work was not because He didn't possess the power, but because He chose not to use that power against a person's will. He couldn't perform the mighty works because of His decision to uphold our freedom of choice.
Likewise, these Jews could not believe because of their choice to reject Jesus. They could not believe because they chose not to believe. "They stumbled at the stumblingstone" (Rom. 9:32), which was Jesus.
Isaiah did not predestine them to this fate. Rather he saw that very few would receive the report (Isa. 53:1) about the Messiah, and therefore would be kept from the knowledge of salvation because they rejected Him in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found (Col. 2:3). This is what Isaiah prophesied, and it came to pass. Be careful what you choose.
“And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).
God has an acceptable and perfect plan for your life. When you allow His Word to change your mind-set, you will begin to align yourself with His plans and purposes.
LOVE SO AMAZING …
Not height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:39, AMP
Nothing can ever separate you from the love of God! His love is truly amazing. It goes beyond any human love we could ever know. There’s nothing we can do to make Him love us more and nothing we can do to make Him love us any less. His love is true and everlasting.
Oftentimes, when people make a mistake or feel that they have disappointed God, they think they have to stay away from Him until they “get their act together,” so to speak. But nothing could be further from the truth! He’s always there with open arms ready to receive you and make you new. Remember, God’s not mad at you; He’s madly in love with you! You are on His mind day and night.
Today, if there is anything in your life that is keeping you from receiving His amazing love, set those things aside. Let His love restore you and make you new. Come to Him with an open heart and receive His amazing love and enjoy the blessings He has in store for you!
CHANGE THE IMAGE …
For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. – Romans 8:24-25
According to Romans, hope is actually looking at something that you can't see. How do you do that? You do it by looking at the promises of God in the Word until with your inner eyes--the eyes of your spirit--a picture is formed.
For example, one of the hardest things I ever had to do was face the fact that the inner image I had of myself physically was fat. It didn't matter how hard I tried to change, it wouldn't go away. I was always on a diet. I must have lost (and regained) hundreds of pounds over the years.
I finally had to admit that as long as my inner image of myself was fat, my outer self was going to match it. Remember, it's faith that changes things, and without the inner image of hope, faith cannot work.
So I decided to fast for seven days. I searched my Bible for every scripture I could find on food and eating and I found many.
I meditated on every one of those scriptures and prayed in the Spirit for seven full days. What was I doing? I was laying hold on a different inner image.
This is not something you can do overnight. It takes time. Especially if the inner image you're changing has been there for years.
But you can do it. Go to the Word of God today and begin to change the images inside you. Change them from images of despair to images of hope. Get a blueprint in your heart and your faith will build on it!
THE SMALL GIANT
The LORD . . . will deliver me. —1 Samuel 17:37
The towering enemy strides into the Valley of Elah. He stands 9 feet tall, and his coat of armor, made of many small bronze plates, glimmers in the sunlight. The shaft of his spear is wrapped with cords so it can spin through the air and be thrown with greater distance and accuracy. Goliath looks invincible.
But David knows better. While Goliath may look like a giant and act like a giant, in contrast to the living God he is small. David has a right view of God and therefore a right view of the circumstances. He sees Goliath as one who is defying the armies of the living God (1 Sam. 17:26). He confidently appears before Goliath in his shepherd’s clothes, armed with only his staff, five stones, and a sling. His confidence is not in what he has but in who is with him (v.45).
What “Goliath” are you facing right now? It may be an impossible situation at work, a financial difficulty, or a broken relationship. With God all things are small in comparison. Nothing is too big for Him. The words of the hymnwriter Charles Wesley remind us: “Faith, mighty faith, the promise sees, and looks to that alone; laughs at impossibilities, and cries it shall be done.” God is able to deliver you if that’s His desire, and He may do so in ways you don’t expect.
Not to the strong is the battle,
Not to the swift is the race;
Yet to the true and the faithful
Victory is promised through grace.
Don’t tell God how big your giants are. Tell your giants how big your God is.
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him: for he careth for you” (1 Peter 5:6, 7).
We humble ourselves when we refuse to exalt ourselves above others. A truly humble person agrees with God in every way. He or she wholeheartedly submits to God’s Word, making it the final authority in life.
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