How Precious Is God's Word To You?

“The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb” Psalm 19:9-10

    One summer I removed many books from my home. But the hardest to part with were my hoard of Bibles in various versions.

    Many of them had print that was too small for my aging eyes to read. Others were duplicates–or triplicates–of versions I really did not need. I kept a select few necessary Bibles, but the extra Bibles were hard books for me to finally let go of.

    Without God’s precious Word I do not believe I would have survived all my years of affliction. The encouragement, the wisdom, the love, and the power that emanates from God’s holy Word and enters the human soul is like nothing else on earth.

    There are many self-help books numbering easily into the thousands, and there are tons of religious books and books about religion. Yet there is only one Bible, one God-given book that can save lives, souls, and offer eternal life to anyone who accepts its teachings and its Author.

    There is nothing wrong with reading other books that can help to improve your life or elevate your mind, but no single book except the Bible offers so much to so many.

    Those who have numerous illnesses and afflictions struggle to find the energy, or perhaps even the ability, to read and study God’s word. Yet we are in dire need of the power and encouragement that the Bible offers to us. The Bible is like no other book on earth, and we are the reason and people the Great Book was written for. It would be a shame not to read this most important love letter from God to us.

    Take time to meditate upon God’s Word this week.  Read the Bible, restore your soul, empower your spirit with the greatest book ever given to humanity.

    Prayer: Dear Lord, we struggle with many things, but help us to never neglect Your Word. It is both a blessing, and our connection to You and Your power. Amen.

Like A Cage Filled With Monkeys

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Isaiah 26:3

I find when stress builds, when cares increase, and my “nerves” get into overdrive it is very difficult to calm my mind and stop thoughts from jumping around in my brain like a cage filled with monkeys.

Eastern philosophers speak of having a “monkey mind”. They use words like restless, indecisive, unsettled, and confused to describe having a monkey mind. Far too often I find myself dealing with a monkey mind.

When problems increase and stress weighs us down we can can lose our peace and calm. Instead of looking to our Lord we look to ourselves to work things out, trying to decide what to do, and often come up short on solutions. This only increases our stress level and sets more monkeys loose in our brain. Worries for tomorrow overload our thoughts today.

"Never be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God." — Corrie ten Boom

We know the solution to a monkey mind. However, as if we have temporary amnesia, we instead see our problems as ever increasing and our faith in God somehow diminished in stressful times. Yet Our God is all powerful. The problems we face are nothing compared to His strength and ability to meet our needs.  

One of the first things we need to do when fear starts causing the mind to race is to stop in our tracks and look up. Jesus, the One who has solved or seen us through every problem of the past has not changed. He has not suddenly become powerless to help us.

Jesus came to give us peace, and though the believer will wrestle with this world's problems we also have an endless resource that we can tap into daily to find the strength to settle our fears and calm our racing thoughts.

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:27

God is good. He cares about His children and never fails to stand in our corner encouraging us to trust Him in all things. He also gives us peace through His Holy Spirit to settle our hearts and minds as faith comes back into focus. 

Life can fill us with cares and troubles and send our thoughts racing in all directions from worry and fear. Yet we have help and hope in the world through our Savior Jesus Christ. We not only have God’s word to help and guide us, but the very presence of the Lord within every believer aiding us. Chase the monkeys out of your mind with the promises, peace, and power of Jesus Christ.

Do you often find your thoughts racing? Do you have too many things on your mind robbing you of peace?

Call upon the Lord  for help.

Dear Lord, old habits are hard to break and fear robs us of the peace You can give. Calm our racing thoughts and fill us with faith and peace as we look to You for help. Amen.

Coincidences?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. Psalm 139:8

In the Christian life we believe the Lord is directing our steps (Proverbs 20:24 & Jeremiah 10:23). What the unbeliever sees as coincidences in life, the believer with eyes wide open sees as the Lord’s direction and blessings.

With respect to Albert Einstein I think he got the following quote wrong. I do not believe God does anything to remain anonymous:

"Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous." —-Albert Einstein

God made the very world around us to get our attention, as well as blessing us daily to show His goodness.

Recently I was downtown and decided I would go to the music store and get some guitar picks. Once I arrived there I found the store closed. Disappointed, I went to fill up the car with gasolene. As I got to the pump and stepped out, at the foot of the pump lay a guitar pick. Now I have lived fifty-eight years on this earth and never in my life have I found a guitar pick laying at the foot of a gas pump.

Years ago while out camping I decided to walk the forest paths and look for flint arrowheads used by the historic Native Americans. I spent a long while walking those paths and had no luck. Going back to my tent I leaned down upon one knee to unzip the tent flap and a stone turned up under my knee. To my shock and surprise it was a flint arrowhead.

I could go on with many such “coincidences” in my life, such as when I was dying of Crohn’s Disease in the year 2010 and was stricken with arthritis. I visited my doctor with my sore arm and leg joints and swollen fingers and he began setting me up with a specialist. I remember praying to the Lord, reminding Him that He promised not to let more come our way than we could endure (1 Corinthians 10:13). And I said to Him that arthritis on top of my already overwhelming Crohn’s Disease and other afflictions was indeed more than I could bear. Before I was able to set up the appointment with the arthritis specialist my arthritis was gone.

I don’t believe in coincidences. I do believe in God. When blessings come our way, when we are healed, or given the power from God to endure the unendurable, we know there is Someone at the helm of our life. Jesus is there guiding, leading, strengthening, and blessing us.

This world and our arrival in it are not coincidences. Our Maker reveals Himself to us not only in the created world around us, but in a myriad of ways. God blesses us in both small and large ways as we walk through this life on our homeward bound journey toward God.

It is easy to get bogged down in the problems of life, and begin to forget our blessings. Just recently I had a very good day and asked the Lord to help me remember that good day for I knew there would be bad days ahead. You too will have good days and bad days, hard times and blessings unlooked for. The important thing to remember is that God is the Author of all of our days and all of our blessings. Thank Him today for the blessings Jesus brings into your life. And stay on the lookout for “coincidences”.

Dear Lord, it will take an eternity to thank You for the multitude of blessings You have given to us in all shapes and sizes, and the many blessings we didn't even notice. Open our eyes to things that are Not Coincidences. We thank You and praise You Lord for blessings beyond counting. Amen.