Psalms 56:2-4 Mine enemies would daily swallow me up: for they be many that fight against me, O thou most High. What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. In God I will praise his word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear what flesh can do unto me.
Some experts believe that acute stress can provoke changes in the heart that may lead to death. In one study, fifteen cases were identified in which people died after a physical assault, even though the injuries alone were not enough to kill them. Eleven of the fifteen showed a type of heart-cell death, similar to a reaction in experimental animals that feel helpless to anticipate or avoid danger.
We live in a day that godlessness is on the rise — a day in which the world (and even some of the church) is motivated by money, power and the desire for worldly pleasures — a day in which the fruit of this behavior is apparent even to the worst of us. It’s a scary time.
Even amidst these frightful times, though, isn’t it wonderful to know that we don’t have to pretend we’re not afraid? God knew we would be afraid from time to time. But He encourages us to redirect our attention to put our trust again in Him. He, who is all-powerful and watches over us intently. What a gracious and compassionate Father we have!
Let’s ask the Lord to help us keep our focus on trusting Him for all things. When we are focused on this, there’s no stopping us from doing the great things He has called us to do!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]Some time ago, I wrote a devotional about not worrying for tomorrow because tomorrow holds its own worries. But it occurred to me recently, that just about as often as we worry for tomorrow, we fret about yesterday. How many times do we find ourselves saying, "I wish things could be the way they were, I wish I was younger, I wish I could fit into those jeans again, I wish I didn't make that terrible mistake ... you fill in the blank"?
Colonel G.W. Goethals, the man responsible for the completion of the Panama Canal, had major problems with the climate and the geography as it was being built. If that wasn’t enough to deal with, he had an even bigger problem. It was the growing criticism back home from those who predicted he’d never finish the project and had opinions about how to do it better.
While on the road to Damascus, Jesus appeared to Saul, blinded him and directed him to go to Damascus. There, God spoke to Ananias of Saul and told to lay hands on this troubled man. Ananias did as he commanded and Saul was filled with the Holy Spirit, healed of his blindness and immediately baptized.
Shortly after WWI, Lawrence of Arabia was entertaining some of his Arab friends in Paris. He showed them the sights of the city: the Arc d’Triomph, the Louvre, the Champs Elysees. It was a remarkable irony to Lawrence that these amazing sights were not what most impressed his Arab friends — but rather the bathtub faucet of their hotel room. They were completely astonished that someone could turn a handle…and get all the water he wanted.
In this prophetic passage the critical question is immediately followed by the powerfully convicting answer. Joel prophesies the Day of the Lord, and asks, “Who can endure it?” The next word “therefore”, is followed by the prophet’s urgent counsel: “Turn to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping and with mourning!”
The Lord gave us His promise to send us a helper -- the Holy Spirit. The word for "helper" in the NT Greek is "paraclete". This word has more meaning then simply "helper" -- it was also an ancient term used in warfare. When Greek warriors went onto the battle field, they went out in pairs, so when the enemy attacked they could stand back-to-back, covering each other's blind side. The battle partner in Greek was called a "paraclete" -- he was there to watch your back!
When I was younger I used to take an ax and cut up firewood from the woods behind our house. The one thing I always did was sharpen my axe! A dull axe meant harder work chopping through fallen trees. The sharper the ax the less effort and energy required for the task. So I learned early on to sharpen my ax before venturing into the woods, and I saved myself a lot of time and energy. (Besides I was a small kid, growing up, so I needed all the help I could get! 😉 )