Lasting Words
Jesus wants to teach us how to trust. He wants us to approach life with an expectant heart trusting that God is present and will provide.
“I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted...The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation. He is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him...In your unfailing love you will lead the people you have redeemed. In your strength you will guide them to your holy dwelling... Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter...the people grumbled against Moses, saying, “What are we to drink?” Then Moses cried out to the Lord, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood. He threw it into the water, and the water became fit to drink. There the Lord issued a ruling and instruction for them and put them to the test. He said, “If you listen carefully to the Lord your God and do what is right in his eyes, if you pay attention to his commands and keep all his decrees, I will not bring on you any of the diseases I brought on the Egyptians, for I am the Lord, who heals you.”
Exodus 15:1-2, 6, 13, 18, 22-26
It is amazing how quickly we can go from gratitude to grumbling. How quickly we turn from singing to sorrow. The Lord has just brought the people across dry land through the middle of the sea in a miraculous way. They sang and praised until the anxiety of feeding their flesh changed their focus. God wants to heal us of this way of thinking. The way of thinking that puts the here and now ahead of the eternal. He wants to heal the thinking that does not trust that He knows our needs.
What is on your mind today? Where are you allowing the pressures of today to steal your focus from the Heavenly Father?
“You who answer prayer, to you all people will come. When we were overwhelmed by sins, you forgave our transgressions...You answer us with awesome and righteous deeds, God our Savior, the hope of all the ends of the earth and of the farthest seas, The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.”
Psalms 65:1-5, 8
David sings praises to God who answers us in great and mighty ways. It can be easier to trust God with the huge, uncontrollable things like the sun rising and setting, the earth spinning correctly on its axis, having oxygen in our lungs, or eternal salvation than it can be to trust Him for our day to day needs. God wants to fill our lives with songs of joy as we learn to walk with Him day by day. Moment by moment with the biggest and the smallest details of our lives. What prayers do you need answered today?
“There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning a person from the snares of death.”
Proverbs 14:12, 27
One of the best ways to understand death is separation from God. God is God of the living. Where He is there is life. Consider asking if there is anything that is separating you from being close to God? Anything in what you are thinking about, how you are feeling, or what you are doing that is causing separation.
The Bible says sin separates. Jesus came to take away all separation and help us learn to walk in wholeness intimately with our God.
“See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy. I will rejoice over Jerusalem and take delight in my people; the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more. Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.”
Isaiah 65:17-19, 24
Jesus came to make all things new as part of God's master plan of revival. God plan has always been to restore, redeem, and resurrect people to lives intimately connected to Him.
He says before we even says a word, He knows what we are thinking. Before we ask, He has an answer. How do those promises change how we approach the day today?
“Stand firm, and you will win life. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away...Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with carousing, drunkenness and the anxieties of life"
Luke 21:19, 33-36
Jesus sees you. He sees how life's worries can get in the way of you feeling worthy, whole, and wanted. He invites you to make a decision. Will you stand firm and trust Him? Will you choose to believe that He who began a good work will carry it to completion? Will you trust that His promises never fail and His kingdom will never end?
Jesus knows what you need before you ask and has a plan to give you abundant life. His ask is that you would surrender your heart, surrender your doubts, surrender anything that separates you so that you can experience the new life that He has prepared for you.