His name is Jesus, precious Jesus,
The Lord Almighty, King of my heart,
The Lord Almighty, King of my heart,
The King of glory.
(lyrics by Mac Powell/music by Third Day)
(photo: 5 smooth stones)
"As you come to Him, the living STONE,--rejected by men
but chosen by God and precious to Him--
you are also, like living stones,
are being built in to a spiritual house."
I Peter 2:4-5a
I Peter 2:4-5a
Dr. Bender, my mom’s oncologist, confirmed last week that mom did have multiple myeloma which meant that Mom had to learn about multiple drugs and make multiple appointments for MRI, bone marrow biopsy, chemotherapy and radiation. All and all, it was a mentally and emotionally exhausting day for my mom. And yet, we were so thankful to God that Dr. Bender told us that it was treatable and that he wanted to act quickly to get the cancer in remission. In fact, Mom’s bone marrow biopsy will be on Tuesday, September 18, 2012, at 9:00 a.m. Please be praying for her. Your prayers have meant so much to her and to our whole family.
On that same night, as soon as we got home, before we could even get our of the car, a man hands Chris a Summons in a Civil Action Suit involving a former employee. As Chris handed it to me, I told the kids to go inside and get ready for bed. As I began to read the lies and what they were asking for, I fell to the ground in fear and cried, “I can’t do this anymore.” Chris grabs my arm and yells, “That’s enough! Get up and stop crying!” I got up but decided to take my party to a new location, my bedroom closet, so that the kids would not see me. With the lights out, I fell to floor and cried again, “God, I can’t do this anymore. I need your help!” It was funny because I felt like God was saying to me, “That’s enough! Get up and stop crying!” and to my amazement, at that moment, I got up and stopped crying. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD, your GOD goes with you; HE will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deut 31:6). I still have my moments but, praise GOD, I am still standing in His strength.
This year has been a hard year, a year of tears. There seem to be a different "trial" every morning that would then wake me up every evening and paralyzed me with fear of the future. I would love to tell you that I have stood on the promises of God but instead I have walked around crying in fear that our “enemy” would destroy us even though God has shown His faithfulness in every circumstance that we have faced in this past year. Recently, while I was telling my children the familiar Bible story of David and Goliath in I Samuel 17, I suddenly realized that I was acting like the Israelite army who was paralyzed with fear that the enemy was going to destroy them. Goliath, a Philistine champion who was over nine feet tall, taunted GOD’s people, the Israelite army, “every morning and evening." He wanted the Israelite army to give him a man so they could fight each other. "IF HE IS ABLE to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I OVERCOME him, you will become our subjects and serve us" (verse 9). Before there was ever a battle, the Israelite army became slaves of fear, the enemy’s greatest tactic, as they were left “dismayed and terrified” each day (verse 11, 16). You see, Goliath means “great” and I believe that he represents great fear brought by the enemy in our lives. In fact, when David walked up to deliver food from his father to his brothers in battle, he hears Goliath’s "usual defiance” and wants to remove "this disgrace" but when Israelite army hears it again, they all ran from Goliath in "great fear" (verse 24).
David went to Saul, who was king, even though his brothers thought he was just being conceited, and told him, “LET NO ONE LOSE HEART on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; You are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth” (verse 26, 33). David told Saul, “The LORD delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear. HE will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you" (verse 37). He also tried to dress David in his own armor but David said,” I cannot go in these because I am not used to them” and took them off (verse 39). Instead, David "took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine" (verse 40). When Goliath looked him over and saw that he was “ONLY a boy, he despised him, mocked him, cursed him and told him he was going to kill him (verse 42).
On that same night, as soon as we got home, before we could even get our of the car, a man hands Chris a Summons in a Civil Action Suit involving a former employee. As Chris handed it to me, I told the kids to go inside and get ready for bed. As I began to read the lies and what they were asking for, I fell to the ground in fear and cried, “I can’t do this anymore.” Chris grabs my arm and yells, “That’s enough! Get up and stop crying!” I got up but decided to take my party to a new location, my bedroom closet, so that the kids would not see me. With the lights out, I fell to floor and cried again, “God, I can’t do this anymore. I need your help!” It was funny because I felt like God was saying to me, “That’s enough! Get up and stop crying!” and to my amazement, at that moment, I got up and stopped crying. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD, your GOD goes with you; HE will never leave you nor forsake you” (Deut 31:6). I still have my moments but, praise GOD, I am still standing in His strength.
This year has been a hard year, a year of tears. There seem to be a different "trial" every morning that would then wake me up every evening and paralyzed me with fear of the future. I would love to tell you that I have stood on the promises of God but instead I have walked around crying in fear that our “enemy” would destroy us even though God has shown His faithfulness in every circumstance that we have faced in this past year. Recently, while I was telling my children the familiar Bible story of David and Goliath in I Samuel 17, I suddenly realized that I was acting like the Israelite army who was paralyzed with fear that the enemy was going to destroy them. Goliath, a Philistine champion who was over nine feet tall, taunted GOD’s people, the Israelite army, “every morning and evening." He wanted the Israelite army to give him a man so they could fight each other. "IF HE IS ABLE to fight and kill me, we will become your subjects; but if I OVERCOME him, you will become our subjects and serve us" (verse 9). Before there was ever a battle, the Israelite army became slaves of fear, the enemy’s greatest tactic, as they were left “dismayed and terrified” each day (verse 11, 16). You see, Goliath means “great” and I believe that he represents great fear brought by the enemy in our lives. In fact, when David walked up to deliver food from his father to his brothers in battle, he hears Goliath’s "usual defiance” and wants to remove "this disgrace" but when Israelite army hears it again, they all ran from Goliath in "great fear" (verse 24).
David went to Saul, who was king, even though his brothers thought he was just being conceited, and told him, “LET NO ONE LOSE HEART on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” Saul replied, “You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; You are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth” (verse 26, 33). David told Saul, “The LORD delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear. HE will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.” Saul said to David, “Go, and the LORD be with you" (verse 37). He also tried to dress David in his own armor but David said,” I cannot go in these because I am not used to them” and took them off (verse 39). Instead, David "took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine" (verse 40). When Goliath looked him over and saw that he was “ONLY a boy, he despised him, mocked him, cursed him and told him he was going to kill him (verse 42).
David said,” You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you IN THE NAME OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY, THE GOD OF THE ARMIES OF ISRAEL, whom you have defied. This day the LORD will hand you over to me, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. Today I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth, and the WHOLE WORLD WILL KNOW THERE IS A GOD IN ISRAEL. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the LORD SAVES; FOR THE BATTLE IS THE LORD’S and HE will give all of you into our hands" (verses 45-47). As Goliath "moved closer to attack him, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet him. Reaching into his bag and taking out A STONE, he slung it and struck the Philistine on the forehead. The stone sank in his forehand and he fell facedown on the ground" (verses 48-49). David used Goliath’s sword to cut off his head. "When the Philistines saw that their hero was dead, they turned and ran" (verse 51). Then Saul asked the commander of his army, “WHOSE SON IS THAT YOUNG MAN?” When the commander didn’t know, Saul said, “Find out whose son this young man is.” When asked, David replied, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem" (verses 55-56, 58).
Today, as believers in CHRIST, we are fighting an enemy that is trying to keep us paralyzed with great fear of the future because he knows his future when CHRIST returns and has great fear of it. “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented DAY and NIGHT for ever and ever”(Revelation 20:10). This is why the devil is trying to deceive GOD’s people and trying to torment them day and night through fear in order to defeat them. But as my good friend reminded me when I felt defeated, “The Battle has already been won; we just have to believe it.” JESUS CHRIST was despised, mocked and "rejected by men but chosen by GOD" to redeem us from the curse as HE died for our sins and took our place. Three days later, an angel of the Lord rolled back the stone and the living STONE came out of the tomb, hitting the enemy square between the eyes and causing him to be facedown at HIS feet. “HE disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities and shamed them publicly by HIS VICTORY over them on the cross” (I Peter 2:4, Col 2:15)
JESUS said, “In this world you will have trouble. But TAKE HEART! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We overcome the enemy because of what JESUS did and by the “word of our testimony” as we let the whole world know there is no GOD besides Him (Rev 12:11). When we are afraid, HE wants us to trust in HIM not become slaves of fear (Psalm 56:3). JESUS “came to set the captives free” and “when the SON sets you free, you are free indeed” (Isaiah 61:1, John 8:36). “HIS perfect love drives out fear“, great fear in our lives (I John 4:18). We need to remember that HE delivered us from our past circumstances and HE will deliver us in this “battle” we face now. May we be strong IN THE LORD, standing IN HIS STRENGTH, and always keep on praying IN THE NAME OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY. May we never forget that JESUS is the Word and the Word is the "Sword of the Spirit" to cut off the head of the enemy (Eph 6:10-18; John 1:1, 14). When the enemy tries to remind you that you are not able, say out loud, but JESUS IS ABLE “to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to HIS power that is at work within us" (Eph 3:20). Don’t believe the lies of the enemy, that you are only a boy or girl, only a man or woman, only a father or mother, only a grandfather or grandmother. "NO, in all these things we are more than conquerors THROUGH CHRIST" (Romans 8:37). Believe this,” Yet to all received HIM, to those who believed in HIS name, HE gave the right to become children of GOD” (John 1:12). When people want to know after the "battle" is over, “Whose son or daughter that is?” Tell them, I am a child of God THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, the KING of glory. “Who is this KING of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. HE IS the KING OF GLORY” (Psalm 24:8, 10).
Today, as believers in CHRIST, we are fighting an enemy that is trying to keep us paralyzed with great fear of the future because he knows his future when CHRIST returns and has great fear of it. “And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented DAY and NIGHT for ever and ever”(Revelation 20:10). This is why the devil is trying to deceive GOD’s people and trying to torment them day and night through fear in order to defeat them. But as my good friend reminded me when I felt defeated, “The Battle has already been won; we just have to believe it.” JESUS CHRIST was despised, mocked and "rejected by men but chosen by GOD" to redeem us from the curse as HE died for our sins and took our place. Three days later, an angel of the Lord rolled back the stone and the living STONE came out of the tomb, hitting the enemy square between the eyes and causing him to be facedown at HIS feet. “HE disarmed the spiritual rulers and authorities and shamed them publicly by HIS VICTORY over them on the cross” (I Peter 2:4, Col 2:15)
JESUS said, “In this world you will have trouble. But TAKE HEART! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). We overcome the enemy because of what JESUS did and by the “word of our testimony” as we let the whole world know there is no GOD besides Him (Rev 12:11). When we are afraid, HE wants us to trust in HIM not become slaves of fear (Psalm 56:3). JESUS “came to set the captives free” and “when the SON sets you free, you are free indeed” (Isaiah 61:1, John 8:36). “HIS perfect love drives out fear“, great fear in our lives (I John 4:18). We need to remember that HE delivered us from our past circumstances and HE will deliver us in this “battle” we face now. May we be strong IN THE LORD, standing IN HIS STRENGTH, and always keep on praying IN THE NAME OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY. May we never forget that JESUS is the Word and the Word is the "Sword of the Spirit" to cut off the head of the enemy (Eph 6:10-18; John 1:1, 14). When the enemy tries to remind you that you are not able, say out loud, but JESUS IS ABLE “to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to HIS power that is at work within us" (Eph 3:20). Don’t believe the lies of the enemy, that you are only a boy or girl, only a man or woman, only a father or mother, only a grandfather or grandmother. "NO, in all these things we are more than conquerors THROUGH CHRIST" (Romans 8:37). Believe this,” Yet to all received HIM, to those who believed in HIS name, HE gave the right to become children of GOD” (John 1:12). When people want to know after the "battle" is over, “Whose son or daughter that is?” Tell them, I am a child of God THROUGH JESUS CHRIST, the KING of glory. “Who is this KING of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle. HE IS the KING OF GLORY” (Psalm 24:8, 10).
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