Calming waters due to other's chaos

When Jonah fled the presence of the Lord, others were severely affected. Have you ever experienced this?

"Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto thee, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous.

And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you.

Nevertheless the men rowed hard to bring it to the land; but they could not: for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous against them." Jonah 1:11-13

Have you ever known someone that carried about their own stormy waters wherever they went? So much so that your life is or was affected by their choices? What did you do to bring peace to your world again? These men on the boat with him not only threw Jonah off the boat, but they also cried out unto the Lord God! 

Many of us have been on both sides of the Jonah experience, whether giving or receiving, however we can see that seeking the Lord and our obedience to Him is key to peace and reprieve! Can you see this 2-step solution? We must continually seek the Lord and willingly obey Him!

If you're going through tempestuous waters, are you seek the presence of the Lord with an obedient heart? 

Discernment is vital!

Notice too, after Jonah gave them instructions to cast him overboard, they refused? They did! They put more effort into rowing harder against the stormy waters. If the storm you're experiencing is due to someone else in your life, how long will you endure it before casting away the one who is responsible? There are times we have to heed the Lord, even when  we don't want to and walk away from these people. Are you willing to obey the Lord as He leads?

Praise, the Power to Stand

"For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation.Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds.Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand;"   Psalm 149:4-6

With all that is corrupt in this world and the gross darkness that seemingly is darker and more destitute by the day, its been my pleasure to plea with the Almighty in what His beloved is to be doing. Over and over throughout the Scriptures I'm reminded there is great power both in prayer and in praise!

What are we to do in such tumultuous times? Stay focused on the King of kings by seeking Him in prayer and praising Him in and through it all! In this there is deliverance, the joy of our salvation, peace, hope and even contentment!

Was it not PRAISE that opened the jailers gates to free Silas and Paul in prison!? See Acts 16:16-23 for the full account. They weren't simply put in prison, they were 1st beaten an then placed in the INNER prison!

Today, what do we see under brutal attack by heavy handed governments across the country and likely around the world? That's it, demands to cease from singing! Why? The enemy knows the power within!

In Psalm 149:6, what do God's people possess? Not only do they have PRAISE IN THEIR MOUTH, but also a TWOEDGE SWORD in their hand! Believers! We know the greatest defense we have IS THE WORD OF GOD! Are you properly equipped for the battle? Are you focused on pain, problems and prison or upon the Problem solver, the Way Maker, and the prison Chain Breaker?

Has the enemy used governments, maybe your church leaders, or even friends, family or neighbors to steal your joy, focus and perfect peace? If so, its past time to get your praise on, to hit them knees in prayer and dig into that blessed Sword of the spirit (Read Ephesians 6:10-18), the Word of God!

We don't have to be defeated. Armor up friends, this battle isnt over yet. Are you doing all to stand in these last days?

There stood a man

Sometimes things aren't as bad as they appear. 

"And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries?

And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant?

And the captain of the LORD'S host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so." Joshua 5:13-15

Isn't that an incredible portrait!? The initial thoughts when seeing this man would've been quite intimidating. Yet, Joshua didn't run or hide, he didn't even let his thoughts wonder. He went straight to him. 

I've been hit recently with a tidal wave of unexpected things. We know that this is a part of life, especially for a believer to be challenged and tried. I'm praising the Lord in these things, knowing like Joshua the Lord will use them for His good and His purpose!

"And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." Romans 8:28

When looking at life's challenges, are you allowing thoughts to intimidate and overpower or are you trusting in the Living God?

Contentious or Godly Counsel

"Only by pride cometh contention: but with the well advised is wisdom." Proverbs 13:10

Contention means 'literally quarrel, strife; properly, a readiness to quarrel (having a contentious spirit), affection for dispute.' ~ Strongs Concordance

"Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts." Proverbs 21:2

Is it any wonder why God Almighty hates pride!? Look around y'all, its everywhere!

However, there's hope in the 2nd part of the 1st verse... "but with the well advised is wisdom." Where's the best place for advice, but by the Word of God!

If we are truly walking with Him, we will seek His advise and take counsel from Him. Its here hope is restored because we aren't focused through the lenses of self or pride!

I dont know about y'all but I sure find this refreshing! Where do you turn in the midst of adversity?

A Daughter's Love

I love the way my daughter looks to her daddy... for love, comfort, affirmations, etc. She lights up when she's around him! She knows he will back her up, he will provide and he will do what he can to help her.

Now I know not all daddy's today are looked at with such favor, with such a deep love or devoted trust but there is One in whom all can come to, learn from, push into or to nestle close within an indescribable embrace.

This innocent portrait of my daughter's love reminds me of how we should revere the Father in Heaven. He knows all, He sees all, His love and concern for us is ever greater than what our humanness can give, completely receive or hold. Yet, in all these truths, do we sincerely delight in Him?

Our capacity to be stirred

If I left you to your own limitations you would be comfortable where you are and you wouldn't grow; you wouldn't learn.

This is what I told my son the other day as he was frustrated with his school work. It was too hard for him to do in his own mind. As these words came out of my mouth to him, they boomeranged back at me!

Wow! I've had a similar mentality too, and I didn't even realize it! 1st our trip seemed impossible, yet God brought us through. Plus we had a great time!

Yet we came back home to prepare for an audit. Not much fun and I allowed it to overwhelm me once again! Prayers welcomed! Haha!

Truth is, if we didn't face difficult challenges, how could our faith grow? It can't! We get comfortable with what we know and we grow content. In contentment complacency sets in and over time we become stagnant. This is spiritually dangerous!!!

Needless to say, the Lord stirs us! He knows our capacity to be stirred and in His infinite love and mercy, He pushes us to flex our faith muscles! It isn't some form of punishment, rather, He sees our need for growth. He sees our need to rely more on Him than a false confidence we can place in ourselves or in other people.

With all that said, please keep us in prayer... as my son is learning new challenging things and facing new adventures, so am I! God has a purpose and a plan in everything! I pray He is glorified in and through it all!

May we draw near to the Lord as we face the unknown, and cry out as David did.
"My soul melteth for heaviness: strengthen thou me according unto thy word." Psalm 119:28

Then hold on tight to Him and His promises! He said, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." Isaiah 41:10

Lips zipped! The Lord is our defense!

If I had a nickel for every false accusation made against me, I'd be rich! I know I'm not alone in these trials & experiences. It's likely many of you can say the same.

So could Jesus! While He was being tried by the Sanhedrin, they found their own "witnesses" against Him.

"For many bare false witness against him, but their witness agreed not together." Mark 14:56

Not only did they conjure up their own stories, sprinkled with a pinch of truth, their stories did not even match!

What a frustrating situation, right? Our flesh wants to immediately flap our lips in defense! How quickly we can be sucked in to the false witness whirlwind.

What did Jesus do?
"But he held his peace, and answered nothing..." (vs. 61)

He did nothing! As hard as it can be, we must do the same! Just as Jesus trusted the Father with the ultimate purpose of it all, so must we!

Every enemy attack that approached Jesus was met with the Word of God. If we don't trust His Word, we not only loose hope, but we loose our strength which results in our trusting Him to be easily broken.

Here's a bit of encouragement from His Word to cling to during these trying times.

"For the LORD your God is he that goeth with you, to fight for you against your enemies, to save you." Deuteronomy 20:4

"Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the LORD delivereth him out of them all." Psalm 34:19

"Say not thou, I will recompense evil; but wait on the LORD, and he shall save thee." Proverbs 20:22

There are many other accounts in the Scriptures of others who have endured these things too, yet there are even more promises to keep our focus on the Redeemer rather than the evil at hand. Keep the faith! God will fight and He wins, especially when we stay out of His way and keep our lips zipped!

If you're going through this, will you be still and know that He is God? Will you trust His defense over your limited human abilities?