God with us

I know it is almost Easter, perhaps it is because it is still cold and snowy, but I am still on Immanuel – God with us.!  Maybe Immanuel isn’t just for Christmas, but for all year long ?!

Immanuel God with us, God for us, God on our side!

“Fear not, for I AM WITH YOU and will bless you. Gen 26:24

“So do not fear, for I AM WITH YOU! do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:1

“Do not fear him, declares the Lord, for I AM WITH YOU, to save you and to deliver you. ” Jer 42:11

“When you pass through the waters I WILL BE WITH YOU” Is 43:2.

Fear not, for I AM WITH YOU.” 43:5

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for YOU ARE WITH ME, your rod and your staff, they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God WILL BE WITH YOU wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

“And behold, I AM WITH YOU always,to the end of the age ” Matt 28:20

So many promises! He will be with us.! We really do have no cause to fear.

The Lord is with us. The Lord is on our side, He is for us and not against us. He is working on our behalf .

He is with us as we battle against the world, the flesh and the devil.

He us with us as we battle our own fears and temptations.
He is with us as we seek to live in His truth and holiness.
He is with us when we are feeling overwhelmed by life.

He is with us in all our today’s and all our tomorrow’s .

Immanuel – God with us.

“Behold, the dwelling place if God is WITH man.  He will dwell wth them, and they will be his people and God Himself will be with them as their God.” (Rev 21:3)

God with us, And never is that seen more clearly than at Calvary’s cross.

On the scent of God’s truth

Our Young  dog loves to have a stick thrown for him to fetch and retrieve it.   It is quite fascinating to see how he can pick out his stick from among all the others lying around and how he traces and retraces his steps back till he gets the scent and can then sniff it out and find it!

Lots of spiritual lessons there for us!

I was particularly thinking about when my own mind gets confused, and a bit lost in the midst of the daily clamour how do I get back to God’s truth? How do I trace it back till I find it again and gain that equilibrium ? Where do I pick up that scent to follow it back to the truth of God’s Word?  How do I pick out God’s truth from the distractions of the world?

The truth that I am a child of God .

The truth that I am loved .

The truth that I am forgiven.

The truth that God has a plan for me.

The truth that God is sovereign over all things.

The truth that the Lord, He is God.

To pick up that scent I remind myself of these truths.   I look in my bible.   I still my heart.   I may need a little guidance now and then, I may need the direction pointed out to me, I may need commands to get me back on track, but the important thing is to pick up that scent, to trace it back even if that means retracing my steps over and over again, preserving, keeping on till I find God’s truth from all the other thoughts, distractions, attractions, philosophies, guidance and influences of the world.

You see it is important to hear God’s truth and not settle for anything less, not to pick up the first sounding good advice, but to press on till it is the truth you pick up.  Nothing less.  Catch the scent and don’t let it go!

 

No Guilt in Life

We have been looking this week about being trapped by our fears and worries, or at least this is what has come out of our bible studies for me. And not only trapped by them,  but by the guilt of them!  It is the guilt which weighs me down, the guilt which traps me making me so conscious of my failures and inadequacies . If I am such a failure and can’t even do a little thing like overcome my fears, then how am I supposed to tell others about Jesus?  So I am Trapped and ineffective.

“There is therefore now NO condemnation for those who are in Christ” (Rom 8:1)

No condemnation? Not for my failures ? Not for my guilt?

Wow! NO condemnation! Just saying it brings such joy and makes my heart soar from its depths! No condemnation!

I am reminded now of the wonderful song by Stuart Townend: In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.

There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine –
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I’ll stand.

“No guilt in life, no fear in death, this is the power of Christ in me …  No power of hell,  no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand; till He returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I’ll stand”

Here in the power if Christ I’ll stand. I’ll stand in the freedom He bought me, I’ll stand free from guilt, I’ll stand free from condemnation, for if He doesn’t condemn me, why should I condemn myself?!

“For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm, therefore and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Gal 5:1)

I’m standing then, are you on the fact there there is NO condemnation ?

The plans of Man

As the UK has virtually been brought to a stand-still this week, I am reminded of this verse in Probers 19:21 ” Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand”

Travel plans, shopping trips, getting to and from work, visits, sports events, concerts all thwarted by a bit of snow! So many plans! So many ideas! All brought to nought!  It shows how much we take for granted, how we just make a plan to go and do something and assume that it will come to be, that it will go according to our plans. But GOD!

Sometimes I feel GOD steps in and shows His power to remind us that HE is God and that it is His purposes which will prevail.  So when we make plans it should very much be a case of “if the Lord wills” .

James 4:13-15

Come now you who say “today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit – yet you do not know what tomorrow may bring.  What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.  Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that”.

All our plans, all our days should be brought and submitted to God.  In the midst then of the disruptions, of our thwarted plans, of being brought to a stand-still let us humble ourselves, bow before the Lord, recognise His Sovereignty and say:

Your Will, Your Way, Your timing and for Your glory Lord. Amen.