Grace

STRENGTH FOR THE WEARY

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EAGLE GOLDEN
Haven’t you known, haven’t you heard
that the everlasting God, Adonai,
the Creator of the ends of the earth,
does not grow tired or weary?
His understanding cannot be fathomed.
He invigorates the exhausted,
He gives strength to the powerless.
Young men may grow tired and weary,
even the fittest may stumble and fall;
but those who hope in Adonai will renew their strength,
they will soar aloft as with eagles’ wings;
when they are running they won’t grow weary,
when they are walking they won’t get tired.
Isaiah 40:28-31
Complete Jewish Bible

Are you weary today? Are you tired of the “rat race” so to speak? Well, I am. I have to depend on the Lord to renew my strength daily. And you know what I’ve discovered? He usually doesn’t give it ahead of time. He doesn’t give me tomorrow’s strength today. He gives me today’s strength for today and tomorrow’s strength will be there when I need it.

We can spend our entire life anticipating the future and it won’t change it one bit. But if we spend our entire life trusting in God’s grace for the future, it changes everything! Rest follows very closely on the heels of trust. If you are truly trusting, you will abide in rest. There is no place for stress in the believing heart. Oh, you will have opportunity for it, but don’t let it get a foot in the door. When stress comes knocking…send a trusting heart to answer. For once you let stress get a foothold, you have to expend a lot of energy and more stress to get him out. Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. (James 4:7) Let’s learn to just head it off at the pass!

You may be thinking, “Well, God may get tired of me constantly depending on Him.” Are you kidding me?! Our Heavenly Father loves for us to be totally dependent on Him. He wants us to rest in His unending grace, the unmerited favor that Jesus purchased for us with such an awesome price…His own shed blood. And Our Father never gets tired or weary. He’s always there, waiting for His children to call on Him, day or night. But you know what is even better? We can just abide in His grace, knowing that moment by moment He is providing our every need. Knowing that, as an eagle, He will give us the strength…physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally to soar above the temptations, trials and stresses of this life. Hallelujah!!! Now make a decision that from this moment on, you’re going to abide in His grace, rest in His love…and trust Him to help you soar with the wings of an eagle!

OUR GOD DELIVERS FOOLS!

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FOOL - WISDOM

So David escaped from Saul
and went to King Achish of Gath.
But the officers of Achish
were unhappy about his being there.
“Isn’t this David, the king of the land?” they asked.
“Isn’t he the one the people honor with dances, singing,
‘Saul has killed his thousands,
and David his ten thousands’?”
David heard these comments and was very afraid
of what King Achish of Gath might do to him.
So he pretended to be insane,
scratching on doors and drooling down his beard.
Finally, King Achish said to his men,
“Must you bring me a madman?
We already have enough of them around here!
Why should I let someone like this be my guest?”
1 Samuel 21:10-15

I once heard a Bible teacher expound on this passage and it was quite interesting and freeing to me. It has been a long time ago, but I have never forgotten it. The scripture itself is pretty self-explanatory, but I’ll give you a little background on the passage. David was running for his life from Saul who was determined to kill him. He had escaped from Saul’s grasp many a time in the past, but this time he was hot on his heels. Where can he go now to avoid capture and certain death? What one place would Saul never think to look for him? Of course…the City of Gath, the home of Goliath whom David had killed years ago…the citidel of his enemy. David thought he would be welcomed there because he had had relations with the Philistines since that time. But when he got to the city, carrying the sword of Goliath, the officers of the city recognized him and were very skeptical of his presence.

When David heard the comments they made in the presence of the king, he became frightened that his life would be in danger here also. So he devised an impromptu plan to act as though he was insane. Now who would be threatened by a man who was acting a fool? So David started acting the part with precision, scratching on the door and drooling down his beard. What a pitiful picture! The warrior who had killed the giant Goliath and slain tens of thousands on the battle field was humiliating himself by pretending to be insane…a fool if you will. But it turned out that this ploy did become his deliverance. The king said, “Don’t I have enough fools in my court without you bringing one more into my presence. Get him out of here! So David left unharmed, but surely feeling shame for the path he had taken. The point that was brought out in this scenario is, “God even delivers fools!”

Have you ever heard anyone say, “She or He acted a fool!” I certainly have. As a matter of fact, remembering this passage has given me comfort more than once in my own life. I am a born again Christian. I love the Lord. I have a desire to serve Him with my whole heart. But there are times that I have acted very foolishly. It’s not like I didn’t know better. I did. My flesh just wanted to do it and I gave in! Afterward, I was sorry. I was grieved at my own lack of self-control. I was disappointed in myself. Never mind that I felt that I had let the Lord down and grieved the Holy Spirit.

But thank God for His mercy and His grace. It is never-ending. It is new every morning. No matter how far we sink into the quagmire of Satan’s temptation, He will reach down and lift us out if we ask in sincere repentance. Our God even delivers Fools!

If you have acted foolishly in any area of your life and you are ridden with guilt and shame. Know this…there is nothing that the blood of Jesus cannot cover! Repent, shake off the guilt and condemnation and get back under the umbrella of His mercy and grace. Bask in the sunshine of His love and let it the water of His infallible Word wash you as clean as the mountain streams that He created!

A JOURNEY OF HOPE, CHARITY, FAITH AND A LITTLE GRACE

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BABY - GIFT FROM GOD
The following is a true testimony from my daughter,
Sherry Evans:

“And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in You.” Psalm 39:7

I was saved at a young age but drifted away from the Lord in my teen years. I became a teen mom. My first daughter, Hope, was born shortly after  I turned 16. I went through a period of depression as I was finding my way back to the Lord, but God is faithful and He brought me back to Himself with open arms.
“I have wiped out your transgressions like a thick cloud And your sins like a heavy mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.” Isaiah 44:22

“Charity suffers long, and is kind.” 1 Corinthians 13:4a.

A couple of years later we were blessed with another daughter…Charity. Shortly after she was born, I was given a shot at the doctors office which caused me to be unable to stand. My vision became fuzzy, my thinking cloudy, and my speech slurred. My muscles tensed and would not relax.  No doctor could find the cause or offer any hope. However, I had Hope in the Lord.

Now He had provided me with Charity (love) when I had no control over my circumstances. Over the years my symptoms improved and today simple seizures remain.
“The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in Him, and I am helped.” Psalm 28:7a

“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” Heb. 11:1

Ten years later we became expectant again. However,  the baby was not thriving. We arrived at the hospital to undergo a DNC, after testing revealed no heartbeat and blood tests showed the pregnancy was not viable.

As soon as we arrived, the nurse, on the spur of the moment decided to run one more unscheduled test and found a heartbeat. Thus, we were given Faith, our third daughter, in our time of need.
“For nothing will be impossible with God.” Luke 1:37

“My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9

Five years later, we were blessed with our fourth child. The baby was diagnosed in utero as having only one partially functioning kidney. The other kidney was an unformed mass of cysts and tissue. Surgery was imminent according to the doctor. The outcome looked bleak.

We prayed for her to have two kidneys at birth. We prayed that there would be no surgery. When Lilah Grace was born she did have two kidneys. However, the doctors said she would need one kidney removed and a portion of the other removed as well. She had cysts in her bladder which could block her kidneys and those must be removed too.  Because of our reluctance, the surgeon agreed to wait and watch the situation. She continued to improve dramatically, astounding the doctors. Today, Lilah Grace has two functioning kidneys. Both kidneys are normal size. As for the bladder cysts, one disappeared completely, and the other shrank to a minimal size. No surgery has been performed. She is on no medication. By God’s grace the doctors say she is very remarkable.
“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3-22-23

Throughout everything,  God has given us His Grace to hold on to Hope in order to trust Him in Faith, while He wrapped us in His love (Charity). How truly blessed we are!