He Does Not Forget

Have you ever felt like God has forgotten you? That He has lost your address? That as you try to make your way through life, tossed to and fro by contrary winds, it is as if He has disappeared into the night and your prayers are met with nothing but deafening silence? During the different seasons of our lives it is the responsibility of the Adversary to bring doubt and fear into our minds and, for the most part, he does a very good job at it. Those dark periods in our lives challenge our faith and belief in God's goodness and care. Some of us are able to keep trusting God in the dark; others are overcome by it and are left confused, hurt, and bitter towards Him.

The psalmist David was quite open in telling God exactly how he felt. Whether he was extolling the virtues of God, complaining about his enemies, or expressing feelings of loneliness and despair, we have the benefit of reading his psalms and often times find ourselves able to identify with him. In Psalm 139 he sings about the omniscience and omnipresence of God, and for those of us who have experienced or are experiencing a dark season in our lives, we take specific note of verses 7 to 12: "Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee." In other words, because God is omnipresent, everywhere at the same time, we are never out of His sight and as such we are never out of His care.

However, as we see in the preceding verses, the psalmist also recognizes something equally important; that God knows him and everything about him. So much so that every word he spoke was known to Him, and his every thought understood. Eugene H. Peterson, in The Message, paraphrases it this way: "I'm an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I'm never out of your sight. You know everything I'm going to say before I start the first sentence" (vv. 2-4). This kind of knowing transcended superficiality and gives us an insight into the level of intimacy, into-me-see, that God shows when it comes to us His children.

Even if the devil would tell us otherwise, we can be comforted by the fact that just as God knew David and everything about him, the very same way He knows us and everything about us. Just as David recognized that he could never be out of His presence, we too can be assured that even during the dark seasons of our lives we are never out of His sight. David realized "darkness isn't dark to you; night and day, darkness and light, they're all the same to you" (v.12, The Message). This should resonate within each and every one of us because it tells us there is nowhere, no situations we can or could find ourselves in, and that there is no time that we are ever out of His view. The truth is that despite the seemingly unanswered prayers, the winds of contrariness blowing in your life or the dark season you are walking through, God has not lost your address. He hears you; He knows exactly where you are. Ponder those thoughts and be encouraged by them. He has everything about you under control.

"Why Call Ye Me, Lord, Lord?"

Jesus had a habit of getting straight to the point and it could be unnerving. With laser-like precision His words often struck deep, leaving His hearers at a loss for words. It wasn't just His eloquence. It was the way He unmasked the hypocrisy of His audience while making it clear that there was nothing in their actions, thoughts, or motives that was hidden from His view.

In chapter 6 of Luke's narrative we see the equivalent of the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). As He meanders His way through various teachings, in verses 45 and 46 we read Him saying: "A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh. And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" It would have been so easy for them to have missed it. The fruit of our lives that springs forth from the condition of our hearts bears testimony to our allegiance. If we are aligned with God, our fruit will bear that out. However, the opposite is also true. "where the love of the world and the flesh reign there is an evil treasure in the heart, out of which an evil man is continually bringing forth that which is evil; and by what is brought forth you may know what is in the heart, as you may know what is in the vessel, water or wine, by what is drawn out from it" (Matthew Henry).

Having pointed out the obvious disconnect that it was the condition of the heart that was important, Jesus asked the probing question: "And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" While the people talked a good talk, their walk with Christ was not aligned with what they professed. It is not enough to hear the sayings of Christ; we must do them. It is not enough to profess relation to Him as His servants; we must make it our business to obey Him. For Jesus to be "Lord" is to have Him be the controller of our lives. It means we are wholly at His command, we are devoted to His service, and we are serving the interests of His kingdom. We cannot call Him "Lord" yet walk in our own ways and doing as we please. If we are going to call Him "Lord," we must do the things He says we ought to do.

"And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?" Remember, He judges the heart not by words but by works. What do you call Him? What do your actions say?

"Nothing Between / I Surrender All" - Neville Peter

Neville Peter.  I have never heard of the guy until this past week when I saw one of his YouTube videos and what an amazing talent!  God has truly blessed Him and it was a delight to have found a video with him singing a medley of two of my favorite hymns. I hope it blesses you as much as it blesses me.  You can check him out at http://www.nevillepeter.com

Only For A Season

Elijah had just delivered God's judgment to King Ahab that there would be no rain in Israel until he (Elijah) said so, right after which God told him: "Get thee hence, and turn thee eastward, and hide thyself by the brook Cherith, that is before Jordan. And it shall be, that thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there" (2 Kings 17:3-4, KJV). This sure sounded like he would be settled in for the long haul! It is interesting to note that Elijah did not make prior preparations for himself even though he knew what was coming. There was no borrowing of pots and pans to store water for a season. Rather, he did exactly as the Lord told him "and the ravens brought him bread and flesh in the morning, and bread and flesh in the evening; and he drank of the brook" (v. 6).

We do not know how long he was there for, but what we know is that "after a while . . . the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land. And the word of the LORD came unto him, saying, Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which belongeth to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee" (vv. 7-9). So far, everything had gone exactly as God had said. What we want to note, however, are the following - it was God who had sent him to the brook; the brook dried up; it was time for him to move again. Why didn't God simply bring food to Elijah where he was by other means? For sure, that wasn't a big deal for a God who had demonstrated on Mount Carmel that He was the God of everything. I would like to suggest that this wasn't about God but Elijah. Would he trust God in a situation where he had nothing else to fall back on? His season at the spot was over. God's faithfulness would continue to and beyond Zarephath.

Life really is about seasons. In Ecclesiastes 3:1 we read, "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven" and there are times when God have us walk a certain path that is meant to last only for a season. However, we can become so comfortable by our dried-up brook reflecting on the way things were that we fail to trust God with the next step. Maybe we are expecting Him to do something in a way He has done it before, yet being God, He can do anything in whatever way He chooses. For Elijah, the famine was not over but his season by the brook was. Had he stayed by the brook he would have died from starvation. His blessing, food and sustenance, was now commanded in Zarephath and in order to claim it he had to leave where he was. A dried-up brook could be a failed relationship, a failed friendship, a job loss, or some other unexpected challenge. Regardless of whatever it is, it could be that your blessing has been commanded elsewhere. All of this assumes no violation of God's Word, for He will not give an instruction that conflicts with His Word.

If God has demonstrated His faithfulness in your life, you can trust Him with your next step. He knows what He is doing.

The Power of Remembering Who He Is

Jesus had just finished feeding the multitude with a little boy's lunch. It was an incredible miracle. Five thousand men plus women and children, sitting down in ranks by hundreds and fifties, eating until they were filled and all from five loaves and two fishes. As if that wasn't enough, there were twelve baskets full of leftovers (Mark 6:40-44)!
 
Shortly after, Jesus "constrained His disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before unto Bethsaida, while He sent away the people. And when He had sent them away, He departed into a mountain to pray. And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and He alone on the land" (vv.45-47, KJV). According to the narrative, not only was the ship in the midst of the sea but there was a contrary wind and the men were experiencing much difficulty. By this time it was the fourth watch, somewhere between 3:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m., and Jesus, walking on the water, went out to them "and would have passed by them. But when they saw Him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: For they all saw Him, and were troubled. And immediately He talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid. And He went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered" (vv. 48b-51).
 
What did they wonder about? They were in awe and wonder of Him that was among them. He had walked on water and the minute He came into the ship, the storm had ceased! "Amazed in themselves beyond measure" suggests being in a state of ecstasy "as if it were a new and unaccountable thing, as if Christ had never done the like before, and they had no reason to expect He should do it now" (Matthew Henry). But then Mark added a compelling sentence: "For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened" (v. 52).  In other words, they had forgotten what Jesus had done before!
 
Isn't that so much like some of us? When we are confronted with challenging situations, we are in awe when God comes through for us. It is as if we have forgotten who He is and the miraculous works of His hand, not just in the Scriptures but also in our day-to-day lives. Whatever we are going through, we ought to remember that He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8) and so what He has done before, He can do again.  There are no limits to His power; no circumstances too difficult for Him to handle. We are never too far our for Him to reach; He will walk on water if He must. Our challenge is to remember or we risk entering into states of anxiety, fear, and uncertainty.  On the other hand, remembering who He is and what He has done provides us with assurance and comfort.  Not only does it change our perspective in our circumstance, but we will walk in expectancy that He will do for us all He says He can and will do.
 
How much of who He is, what He has done and what He is capable of doing do you know? How much of it do you remember?