Holding my right hand . . .

I am always with You! You are holding my right hand . . . Psalm 73:23

“Keep your eyes on Me” we hear the Lord whisper. “Don’t let go of my hand”
We live in His Presence and are:

 guided by God Himself!

I will bless the Lord who gives me counsel – Psalm 16:7

 guarded by God Himself!

I have set the Lord always before me

because He is at my right hand

I will not be shaken – Psalm 16:8

(Soldiers defending another would naturally stand on the right -

our God defends us!)

 gladdened by God Himself!

therefore my heart is glad and my soul rejoices,

I will rest secure – Psalm 16:9

In other words, as we live in His Presence – no matter what the circumstances we can be glad, rejoice and sing because we are guided, guarded and gladdened by our God!

Me or . . .

 A conversation in the car this morning . . .

“I can’t let go!”
“I will be there for you”
“It’s my backup . . . if I let go I will have nothing . . . “
“If you let go you will hold on to me.”
“I know that . . .I just want to hang on to this, too.”
“Tell me about your Daddy.”
“What? umm, He was special. He loved me. He was always there for me.  I felt safe when he was there, I knew he would do anything to protect me.”
“Did you have what you needed, food, clothes, home, warmth in cold weather, cool in summer?”
“Daddy made sure I was taken care of, he wanted to do so much more, but I was never without. I knew he loved me and his just being there was enough. I knew if I needed something, he would do his utmost to provide.”
“You said your daddy loved you, so do I – unconditionally, faithfully, eternally.”
“I know, thank you”
“You said your daddy provided for you, so do I – I promise to meet your needs, I always keep my promises. I love to surprise you with special gifts you don't expect – like last week”
“You did surprise me, thank you, again!”
“You said your daddy made you feel safe and that he would do anything to protect you.”
“Yes, my daddy loved me . . .”
“I love you . . .I died for you so that you would be eternally protected by me . . .”
“Father?”
“yes, my dear one”
“I am so sorry. (tears flowing now – sobbing) Here, you take this . . . I asked you to show me a deeper relationship with you and I see now this was in the way. I can’t hang on to this and you. . . I am still afraid.”
“I have you, dear one. My arms are holding you and I never get tired of holding you. You are precious to me. I will never let you go. Disappointment, loss, hurt, worry – these will all come again and again, but I am holding you. Keep giving them all to me - trusting me. I am growing you into the chosen, holy, dearly loved mature child of God I already see. I am pleased with you, you make me sing with joy. You are mine!”

Chosen, holy and dearly loved!

Colossians 3:12

WE are chosen by GOD!

Hand picked by the God of the Universe

Selected specifically by the King of Kings

WE are HOLY!

Cleansed by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross

Pure and without blemish in God’s sight

We are DEARLY LOVED!!!!

not just loved BUT DEARLY LOVED!

Cherished

Unconditionally loved

precious in God’s sight

He rejoices and sings over us!

A great way to start the day!!!!!!     

Chosen, holy and dearly loved!

FEAR!

Fear!

Even the word is frightening - the unknown, the what ifs, the darkness.

This fear enters our hearts, feasts on our energy, our peace and our life, not leaving a crumb behind – only darkness, despair, and paralyzing dread.

Recently I heard:               

F – false   

E  -  evidence

A – appearing

R – real        

Fear comes from so many sources. If we drill down to the center of the source we find: 

Taking our eyes off Jesus

Not believing HE is who HE says He is

Believing Satan’s false whispers

Wanting our way – not God’s, no matter the consequences

 

God promises:

Perfect love casts out fear – 1 John 4:18

What time I am afraid I will trust in YOU! – Psalm 56:3

I have plans for you – Jeremiah 29:11

I love you with an everlasting love -  Jeremiah 31:3

I know the end from the beginning -  Isaiah 46:10

The One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world – 1 John 4:4

I will never leave you – Hebrews 13:5

Do not be afraid – for I am with you – Isaiah 43:5

Fear and Anxiety but a thought away . . .

Trusting, faith, waiting – being still – all so foreign in today’s lifestyle.

Our peace comes and goes as the sun shines or the wind blows.

We believe the lie – this world  and how it operates is our reality. We have to deal with it’s unexpected problems, its loudness and distractions, its sorrows and its disappointments by ourselves.

Fear and anxiety are but a thought away - 

Jesus reaches out and touches our shoulder.

He gently turns our face to look fully at Him.

He speaks to us lovingly – reminds us of His continual Presence.

His light baths us, infusing us with His beauty, peace and love.

“Trust ME”

“Put your faith in ME”

“Wait for ME”

“Be still and know I am GOD”

Fear in the storm!

Poor Peter . . . He’s in a small boat with his friends in the middle of a big storm. Coming toward them, walking on the water is the Lord and they are out of their minds scared! 

Peter yells above the wind “Lord, if that is you tell me to come!”

Jesus answered “COME!”

So Peter climbed our of the boat and walked on water toward Jesus. (Have you ever just done something, then realized what you just did!!!) Peter did that! “Whoa, I‘m walking on water – cool!” 
Then he felt the gale force winds and saw the waves coming at him, over his head!
He was totally afraid and sank.

“Lord, save me!” He cried.

Immediately, Jesus reached out His hand and caught him!

We are so like Peter! Surrounded by problems, we find ourselves in the middle of the storm filled with difficulties, worries and anxieties. 

We look up and Jesus is there. Perhaps it is during our quiet time with the Lord, or looking at a wondrous sunset, hearing a child’s giggle of pure joy – and we find ourselves in the clam and peace of Jesus. We praise Him. We spend time talking with our Savior then off we go into life’s stormy waters.

We start to struggle against the pull of strong tides. We panic. Overwhelmed, we take our eyes off Jesus and start to sink!

“Lord, save me!” we cry.

Immediately He holds us – wiping our face with His robe and whispers quietly in our ear -

“I’m right here. I’m holding you. It’s ok, I’m right here.”

The wind stops blowing and the turbulent sea becomes glassy – reflecting His glory!

Matthew 14

Worries, overwhelmed by “what ifs”?

There is one whose life is consumed by hate for us.

 He surrounds us with destruction – 

 destroying our peace of mind, taking delight in replacing calmness with chaos.

 His goal is to keep us uptight,

 depressed,

 stressed out and

 consumed with worry so we are of no use to the Lord,

 let alone anyone else who needs us.

He constantly whispers the “what ifs”, the “I should haves”, the “I can’t believe I did or didn’t . . .“. He brings the shovel of pain and digs up those buried fears and old tapes – inadequacy, not smart enough, not good enough, not worthy and failure.

He plays to our weaknesses and  slyly says :

“You know better, God needs to do it this way . . .”

 “Where is God? He isn’t listening . . . “

 “He doesn’t really want to answer you”

“You have prayed and prayed for  . . . and still no response , it is hopeless” 

“You really want this, it is for the right reasons, then why did He say NO!”.

We crumble.

Our shield of faith lies on the ground with our helmet and sword. We sit there in tears and misery, self pity and despair. 

He laughs!

He then triumphantly looks to the King and points out our complete failure of our faith and trust, boasting loudly to all of Heaven and Hell of his accomplishment.

The King looks at Satan,  then stands. He smiles and says, “Listen, . . . listen to my child!”

Satan is hushed and looks back and forth in consternation, “What?” he exclaims and covers his ears!

“Satan, I  rebuke you.”

A trembling whisper is heard throughout Heaven.

 The angels clap and praise God!

“Satan, I rebuke you.” stronger now with confidence. 

The angels worship at the King’s feet.

“Satan, I rebuke you! I resist you in the wonderful name of my Jesus!!!” 

All of Heaven erupts in praise and song!

This triumphant shout resounds in all of Heaven and Hell.

Satan cowers, looks for the crumpled victim . . .  instead,

before him stands a warrior,

 fully dressed for battle,

 shining brightly with God’s reflected glory!

and Satan runs!