"Trouble For Today"

"And Moses said, Let no man leave of it till the morning".  Exodus 16:19

Yesterday we talked about having troubles from without but not letting them come within.  Well, that was yesterday.  Along with the dawn of today came its own new troubles, new problems, new sorrows, new challenges, new obstacles, new temptations and new trials.  So how do we handle them?  The same way we handled them yesterday-- through our trust and confidence in Jesus. 

When the Israelites were in the wilderness, the Lord provided food for them each day.  This food they called manna.  The instructions the Lord gave them for gathering it were that they were only to take enough for each day.  Daily they would have to go gather it and it would be good for that day only.  Only once a week they could gather enough for two days, and that was for the Sabbath.  They were not supposed to work on the Sabbath so they gather extra the day before. 

For today's troubles we can't go on yesterday's "manna".  We have to go to God each day and get what we need for that day.  Like I said earlier, today is a different day with different troubles, therefore, you have to get new instructions as to what to do today.  You have to get new strength for the day.  You have to get fresh peace for this day.  The Lord doesn't want you trying to "stretch" out yesterday's provision and answer.  He wants to give you something "fresh" to make it through today. 

You are going to the same faithful Lord who provided for your troubles yesterday and with confidence you know He will provide for them again today, but you have to go to Him again today for today. 

Have a great day.  You have to go to God daily for help and answers to the new troubles that come daily.   

"Troubled In Trouble?"

"Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me".  John 14:1

"Don't let your heart be troubled".  How is that possible when there is trouble all around us?  We are constantly hearing of wars and rumors of war.  The economy is unstable.  Relationships are rocky.  We have threats of persecution.  Our enemies are rising up against us.  Someone is always out to "get us".  Evil men are getting eviler.  Our jobs aren't as secure as they once seemed to be.  Disease is more common than ever.  Natural disasters are on the rise.  We are faced with trouble on every side.  So how can we not be troubled?

The answer:  believe in Jesus as you believe in God.  This leads to another question.  How does believing in Jesus give us the power and ability to keep from being troubled (disturbed, fearful, anxious, disquieted) in our minds and hearts?  Especially when we dwell in a troubled world.  Especially when trouble is hitting our lives.  Especially when there is trouble on every side we turn.   

Troubles won't cease.  They will always be here as long as the earth exist as it is-- under a curse.  And we will continue to face trouble from time to time as long as we live.  But what Jesus was saying was "trouble may come, but it doesn't have to have you".  You may be in it, but it doesn't have to be in you.  You don't have to be "troubled" over the troubles.  You don't have to be defeated by them. 

You can't stop trouble (difficulties and problems) from coming.  But you can choose to either let trouble overcome you and defeat you.  Or you can choose to overcome and defeat it.  This is where "believing in Jesus" comes in. 

Problems and difficulties come to bring distress, fear, anxiety and steal our inner peace.  Our confidence and trust in Jesus will combat the fear and anxiety it brings with peace and drive it away.  Our confidence and trust in Jesus may not stop the problems from coming, but it will give us the inner peace we need to face them with strength, grace, courage, boldness and wisdom.  It will give us the peace and assurance that though all is not well on the outside, all is well on the inside, therefore, it will all be well in the end.    

Have a great day.  Though troubles come, we don't have to be troubled by them because of our faith in Jesus.   
 

"Broken Bones"

^"Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice".  Psalm 51:8

Broken bones are no fun.  They hurt.  There is pain attached to them.  They have to go through a healing and mending process after they are broken.  Sometimes in order to fix a broken bone it requires surgery.  Broken bones are caused by trauma.  Something has to happen to cause them to break-- that something may be from the outside (like a strong blow to them) or from the inside (a disease strikes).

The Psalmist may have been speaking about physical bones when he was writing.  Or perhaps he was speaking more in a spiritual sense.  Our bones are strong and support our body.  Without them we would not be able to stand.  We would be like a "jellyfish" basically.  Spiritually our bones represent several things.  They symbolize strength, vigor, good health and wholeness.  Broken bones symbolize defeat or oppression.    

There are times when our spiritual "bones" are broken.  We don't feel very strong.  We may have been through a tragedy that leaves us feeling broken.  We are suffering pain from grief.  We feel defeated because we gave into a sin and condemnation is hanging around and tormenting us. Because of a trial we have gone through we don't feel very "whole"-- things seem out of sort, we are confused, we feel fragmented in our emotions.  There are times we feel helpless and hopeless because of various situations.  What do we do?  How to we get our "bones" healed and mended? 

When our bones are broken physically, we go to the doctor and he either places us in a cast, boot or some other device to help support the broken bone.  Or he may do surgery to repair it.  When our spiritual bones are broken, we go to the doctor also-- Jesus, the Great Physician.  He knows how to bind up what is broken.  He will pour His healing oil in.  He will give you a dose of joy, hope, peace and laughter (which does good like a medicine).  He will turn your mourning into dancing, your sorrow into joy and cause what is broken to be healed.  Make an appointment with Him now.  You won't have to wait. 

Have a great day.  Are your spiritual bones broken?  Go to Dr. Jesus.  He is the Great Physician. 

"The Rock And Water"

"Behold, I will stand before thee there upon the rock in Horeb; and thou shalt smite the rock, and there shall come water out of it, that the people may drink. And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. And did all drink the same spiritual drink: for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ". Exodus 17:6; 1 Corinthians 10:4

We have been talking about rock and water-- solid and liquid.  We have said that we can't be both a "rock" and "water" at the same time.  But Jesus can be both and He is both.  The Bible says He is the Rock and He is Living Water.  This is good news for us. 

He is the Rock.  It speaks of His character.  It means He is strong.  I can look to Him for strength when I am weak.   He is a firm foundation upon which we can build our lives without fear of destruction.  He is unmovable and unshakeable.  He will be there when I need Him. He is unchanging.  I don't have to worry that He will not be as faithful to me today as He was yesterday.  He is the cleft of the rock that will hide you in His loving protection.  He is the Rock of my salvation.

He is Living Water.  He cleanses me from all unrighteousness.  He cleanses me when I get "soiled" by the world.  He cleanses me from sin.  He sustains my life by refreshing me when I am tired and weary.  He quenches my thirst.  He pours His life giving water upon me and I am renewed. 

He will be that rock when you need Him to be.  He will be water when you need Him to be water.  He is the Rock and He is Water.  He is all-sufficient for everything that you have need of. 

Have a great day.  Jesus is all that you need and need Him to be.   
 

"Water Or A Rock?"

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new".  2 Corinthians 5:17

The past two days we have talked about Psalms 114:8 how God turns a rock into standing water and a flint into a fountain of water.  We have compared this to our lives and salvation.  We said that there are three main forms of matter:  solid, liquid and gas.  Today I want to continue with this thought and relate it to what happens at the new birth/salvation.

In order for a solid to become a liquid there has to be a change in its molecular structure.  At the new birth-- when we are born again-- a change takes place in us.  Our "spiritual DNA" is changed.  We go from being a "rock" to "water".

A rock is a hard, rigged, solid, stationary, restricted, dead object.  Water is the total opposite.  It is soft, flowing, conforms to whatever it is put in, yielding, and alive.  A rock does nothing.  It can't move.  It can't refresh.  It can't conform.  It is just what it is.  Water can do much.  It gives life.  It can satisfy a thirst.  It can clean what is dirty.  It can support life. 

When we are born again, God changes us from a "rock" to "water".  He makes us something brand new that we weren't before.  He takes our dead hearts of stone and makes them into live hearts of flesh.  We are no longer a dead hard lump.  We are a live, freely flowing stream.  We are the total opposite of what we once were because of the transformation that has taken place in us at salvation.

Have you been saved?  Did a transformation take place in you?  Or are you still a "rock"?  If you are, then you weren't really born again.  You may have become religious, but religious is just another name for being a rock.  If that is the case, let Jesus Christ come into your life and make you into that new person.  Let Him transform you into a free-flowing fountain of water. 

Have a great day.  Have you been changed from a rock into water?