“For Yahweh is always good and ready to receive you. He’s so loving that it will amaze you— so kind that it will astound you! And He is famous for His faithfulness toward all. Everyone knows our God can be trusted, for He keeps His promises to every generation!” Psalms 100:5 TPT. The biggest temptation we will ever face is not about having a happy life – the biggest temptation we face, daily, is whether we choose to believe our GOD IS GOOD and FAITHFUL … or not. Any other attitude is dangerous. This points to the very heart of Who our Father is.
Now before we move an inch further, I want to say … The Lord is so faithful, loving and kind, He deserves every single bit of our thanks, praise and worship, forever. But when stuff happens around us, and to us, it can become so easy to doubt His goodness, faithfulness, etc. Doing that undermines our faith. Doubt yourself, your friends, your life, what you hear, your family, your circumstances, but do not ever doubt God’s goodness.
I know the concept of His kind of love is far above our understanding, but that’s the bit of the kite of God’s Grace we totally need to hold onto. I strongly urge you, don’t ever let go of Who He is – His goodness – no matter what is going on in your heart or around you. I’ve found that when I focus on what I think I need, my knowledge of His goodness toward me, fades away. Like that kite I mentioned, it climbs up so high, I can barely see what is written on it. God Himself has promised us grace, grace and more grace. (James 4:6).We will have it when we need it – ask.
This is why we read and soak in the bible. It daily reminds us of His loving kindness, which is so much better than this life can be. It is also very helpful to read the bible looking for descriptions of Who He is, How much He loves us, as well as the things that position our hearts to be in communion with Him. We were made for that. Let’s enjoy Him now, and appreciate His love now. In our hard times a sacrifice of praise is a worthy gift for our King.
However, there is always a danger for us to simply fit the Lord in, around the edges of our already busy days. Or we can take up our time with Him, with lists of prayer requests. But the bible tells us to … “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.” Psalm 100:4. So much depends on our responses to His instructions, and I choose to treat those things as a to do list! I follow the verses looking for things to do, or things to say, or not to say -then I act on them.
We already know that love, is an action word, not just a noun. God loved, so He gave. And Jesus laid down His life. He healed the sick. Raised the dead. He taught the truth. He lived to serve His Father’s will. All action words. Now we are alive, right here, right now, to do the same things He did. We choose to love our enemies and those who despitefully use us. We don’t love them because they are loveable, because that would be masochistic! We do it because Jesus Himself told us to treat people this way.
If we take our Heavenly Father and faith out of our own daily lives, we won’t have anymore power to overcome the things of this world, than the-people-who-don’t-know-Him yet. Why are we surprised when all kinds of people do terrible things? “Without God, (as in all of mankind!), none of us can do anything.” We need Him to lead us out of temptation, into loving those careless people around us who have no idea how to live in love, and it’s our job to be a witness for them.
The danger we face every single day is that we will read what He said, agree with it, and then DO nothing about it. That’s when our faith becomes dormant, because we only use it to ask for the things we think we need or want. I understand when desperate people pray for healing – I need healing too. I too have been in impossible relationships that nearly destroyed me. But if Jesus came to our house in Person, I would not say: ”Why was I not healed, or delivered, Lord?” I would put my face on the floor and worship Him, and all that other stuff would fade away.
The things I need to remember are things like these: “The righteous person may have many troubles, but the LORD delivers him from them all; …” Psalm 34:19. “He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. In Him we have placed our hope that He will yet again deliver us,..” 2 Corinthians 1:10. “We are hard pressed on all sides, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; …persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-9. This life is a blink. A hiccup in the passage of time, only made boring or heartbreaking by the way mankind approaches it!
As Christ’s followers, let’s learn to live with the possibility of danger and trouble landing on us, pressing up against our faces and hearts until we feel we are going to die … but we won’t. That’s when Jesus says to us: “Now, you are ready to learn of ME!” So we pick up His yoke, and find true freedom. Feelings come and go, depending on whether we get what we want or not, but ‘The Word of our God stands forever.’ Isaiah 40:8.
“For we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about our trouble in [the west coast province of] Asia [Minor], how we were utterly weighed down, beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life [itself].” 2 Corinthians 1:8. The Apostle Paul knew, first hand, how very dangerous choosing to love others can be. Bye. 👋.
