Psalm 121 - God Is

I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (Psalm 121)

Let us remember that when we are facing the dark days that this world brings our way, that God is still on the throne; He is our help in times of hardship, He is our comfort in times of doubt, He is security in times of uncertainty, He is our power in times of exhaustion, He is our refuge in times of trouble, He is our light in times of darkness, He is our strength in times of weakness. 

Let us remember to lift our eyes to The Lord, on His mighty and powerful throne, that He and He alone is our help.  

We Ask "Why?"

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” (Job 1:8)

This past Sunday evening I taught on the book of Job. Several thought come to mind as a person begins to read the book of Job. One question that I have been struck by time and time again; "What would come from a conversation between God and Satan concerning me?" Of Job God called him a servant, a blameless man, an upright man, a man who fears God and shuns evil, and said that there is no one like him in all the earth. 

If you have read the account of Job you know that this blameless, upright, God-fearing man was tested and tried - he lost his wealth, his home, his family, and his health. Yet, through all of this - even when his friends and his wife encouraged him to - Job did not lose his faith in God. 

There is an important thing to remember as we read the account of Job, we are privy to a conversation between God and Satan that Job never was. We see the details and hear the reasoning behind the suffering that perhaps Job never did. Perhaps Job felt as though God was cursing him and surely he felt as though the lot that life was giving him and the lot that God was allowing him to handle was not fair. Yet, he did not curse God and he did not lose his faith in Him. 

Looking at Job, watching him suffer and wrestle with the reality of his situation we find that it was because Job was "blameless and upright" and because he was "a man that fears God and shuns evil", this is why God chose Job to be the one to suffer - the one to face these cruel tests and unfair trials. 

Weekly I sit and hear of cruel tests that people are undergoing, horrible suffering that is going on, unfair trials that are being faced, burdens that seem almost unbearable. Daily we cry out to God, humbly bowing before His Almighty throne and boldly asking the question; "WHY?" And as we ask the question we are confronted with the truth; God is God and we are not. 

I know that you can do all things no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand. things too wonderful for me to know. “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. (Job 42:2-5)

It's Not Too Heavy.

Yesterday's morning teaching focused on our victory over this world and taught from 1 John 5:3-5.

"This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God."

As we touched on God's commands for His followers there was one illustration that seemed to be especially helpful to our church family.

My five year-old daughter is commonly asked to assist around the house with chores, some she likes, others she does not. As we were unloading the car last week she asked if she could carry in some of the groceries with us. We agreed and I handed her a gallon of milk and asked her to carry it inside. As I followed behind her she seemed to be laboring with this eight-pound gallon of milk and, before making it half way up the walk, she set it down turning to me and announcing that it was "too heavy". I understood and did not force her to carry it any further.

Just two days later my wife and I were sitting in the kitchen while our three kids were sitting in the living room playing and watching television. We heard our five-month old son begin to fuss and stopped soon after. The next sight we had was of our five-year old daughter carrying her five-month old, nineteen-pound brother into the kitchen. When I asked her if he was too heavy for her she responded; "he's not too heavy, he's my brother".

You see, that eight-pound gallon of milk was far to heavy for her to carry, yet her brother, who was over two times the weight of the milk was not. Why was that? Because it was her brother. Because she wanted to carry him. Because she loved him.

When we consider the commands of God, there are times when we begin to think, these are too challenging, too hard to keep, too burdensome for us. Yet, 1 John 5 tells us the opposite. So what is the difference? Love! When we have a deep love for God, we want to keep His commands! No longer do His commands seem to be too burdensome. Why? Because we love Him.