Big God!

Have you ever thought about the size of God? I mean, when you think about Him, how do you personally imagine Him to be? He is often described as great and big. We even sing songs about it – How Great Thou Art, Big, Great and Mighty just to name a few. But again…how do YOU see Him? You may be reading this wondering why I would even ask such a question. Of course God is big and strong and mighty. I say all this because of something interesting I heard this morning on a devotional CD that made me think. It essentially said that in order to really acknowledge God as big, you have to be able to recognize your smallness. That struck a chord with me. It’s commonplace to hear people proclaiming how big God is but then have a hard time trusting Him to handle the “big” problems. So today, I want to challenge you to consciously live like your problems, issues, dreams, etc are no match for the enormity of God.  The question is how big is your God?

Imagine you are trapped in a very deep hole in the middle of nowhere. You can see the sky above but it is a long ways away. I mean…you are DEEP! You begin to cry and scream your frustration because you just cannot see a way out of the hole. Whenever you try to climb up the walls, you fall back down or lots of dirt gives way not allowing you to get a firm hold. What do you do? You begin to pray but you just can’t see a solution. You just have no clue how God could possibly get you out. The hole is just too big and too deep. You give up. Now imagine you stay in said hole for days and the whole time you are praying but not really believing that God could get you out. You’ve remembered recently that you have a pocket bible on you and you begin to read out loud scriptures about the power of God. “…In Your hand is power and might; in Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all.” (1 Chron. 29:12 NKJV) “The Lord is their strength, and He is the saving refuge of His anointed.” (Psalm 28:8 NKJV) You start to think perhaps you can’t save yourself but God is capable and willing to do it. All of a sudden you hear rumbling and dirt starts to come pouring in. It appears a tractor has come to fill in the hole. All of a sudden it stops. You start screaming and then you see a face looking down into the hole. You are pulled free and saved! You are ecstatic and ask the tractor driver how in the world he found you. He tells you that there were plans to develop the area and someone evaluating the property had flown over and spotted the hole and thought that they needed to fill in any holes before the real work could begin. He had stopped to check one of the tires and heard the screams.

This is a long scenario just to say this. Sometimes in order to see just how big God is, you have to be in a place where there is nowhere else to go but to Him. You have to see that you are not the major player in your solution. Your situation may seem insurmountable and unsolvable but what happens when you acknowledge that there is nothing too big for God. Often times your struggles are a part of the evaluation process. God has to fill in some holes before He can take you further. I am reminded of the story of Elisha and the Syrians in 2 Kings 6. Israel was at war with Syria and every time their king wanted to set up camp, Elisha would warn the king of Israel of their exact plan and place. The king of Syria was furious to the point that he was accusing his own officers of treason.  The king determines that they should capture Elisha and shut him up so that they can defeat Israel. They travel at night and surround the city where Elisha is. When Elisha’s servant gets up and goes outside the next morning, he sees the army and is scared to death. Elisha, however, remembers that though he is small, his God is big. He tells his servant something that we should all hold onto. “So he answered, “Do not fear, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”  And Elisha prayed, and said, “Lord, I pray, open his eyes that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. (2 Kings 6: 17-18 NKJV) In the end, the situation is diffused to the point where the Syrians went away. God sees beyond what your human mind can comprehend. When you can get to the point where you know that God has a legion of angels surrounding you and working on your behalf, you can rejoice in His bigness. How big is your God?

If your debt is bigger than your salary, rejoice in Jehovah Jireh, your provider! If your diagnosis is harder than the doctor’s wisdom, rejoice in Jehovah Rapha, your healer! If your marriage is constantly under attack, rejoice in Jehovah Shalom, your peace. He is El Shaddai, the Almighty God and he can see the pitfalls and the rest stops long before you do.  He has the power and the might to solve any of your issues. So, if you are struggling in any area of your life, now is the time to stand up, look at your God and speak life to yourself. It’s time to remember that you serve and worship a BIG God and there’s nothing that He cannot do.

May the width and depth of God’s power, love, and peace surround you today! AMEN

Welcome to your Bounce Back...

I just want to encourage you today. I know it’s been a rough season. You’ve worked hard, you’ve waited, you’ve suffered and you are tired. You are ready for things to turn around and for all of the promises to be manifested. This season has taken a toll on even the most seasoned saints. There have been days when you questioned your faith. Days where you were so tired that you just wanted to sleep the day away. Oh yes and those days where your emotions were completely out of control. Some days you really wanted to quit but you knew that you couldn’t. Today is a new day! I’m here to remind you that God is faithful even in this! Today is the beginning of your bounce back!

According to The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, bounce back means to start to be successful again after a difficult period, for example after experiencing failure, loss of confidence, illness or unhappiness.  Are you ready for that? I hope so because there is no one better at bringing your spirit back to life like God!  So as He was ministering to me this morning, I asked Him to show me in the Word how to bounce back after this difficult season. He led me to the book of 1 Peter.  

Before I even got to the scripture, God reminded me of when Peter denied Christ in the days leading up to His crucifixion. You remember the story. Christ prophesied that before the rooster crowed, Peter would deny Him 3 times. And he did. But the story didn’t end there. When Christ appeared to the disciples at the Sea of Galilee after His resurrection, Peter has a bounce back moment. “After breakfast Jesus asked Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter replied, “you know I love you.” “Then feed my lambs,” Jesus told him.  Jesus repeated the question: “Simon son of John, do you love me?” “Yes, Lord,” Peter said, “you know I love you.” “Then take care of my sheep,” Jesus said.  A third time he asked him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.” (John 21: 15-17) Jesus asked Peter 3 times whether he loved Him. It seems to me it’s a perfect offset to the 3 times that Peter denied Him. It felt like a restoration from guilt. Peter didn’t have to remember his last physical interactions with Christ as being a negative but rather an affirmation of his love for Him and obedience to His commands. That’s a bounce back!

So Peter set the stage for us. He showed us that there is restoration after a rough season and then he seals it in 1 Peter 1: 3-9 with a word of hope. I love the NKJV version of this scripture but The Message really made me feel it this morning. “What a God we have! And how fortunate we are to have him, this Father of our Master Jesus! Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven—and the future starts now! God is keeping careful watch over us and the future. The Day is coming when you’ll have it all—life healed and whole.  I know how great this makes you feel, even though you have to put up with every kind of aggravation in the meantime. Pure gold put in the fire comes out of it proved pure; genuine faith put through this suffering comes out proved genuine. When Jesus wraps this all up, it’s your faith, not your gold, that God will have on display as evidence of his victory.  You never saw him, yet you love him. You still don’t see him, yet you trust him—with laughter and singing. Because you kept on believing, you’ll get what you’re looking forward to: total salvation.”  If you aren’t shouting, read it again! Though you have gone through every kind of hell, you are coming out of the fire purified and genuine with the victory and total salvation!  That’s a bounce back!

So here you are at the brink of a bounce back. You have pushed and pulled, fought and run, cried and prayed but it’s time to get up now. God has made you some promises and He does not go back on His word. You are coming out and bouncing back! These present sufferings do not compare to the glory which shall be revealed in you! You survived that attack on your ministry…BOUNCE BACK! You survived that attack on your marriage…BOUNCE BACK! You survived that attack on your health…BOUNCE BACK! You survived that attack on your mind…BOUNCE BACK! It’s an assurance, you’re coming out stronger, better, and wiser! Welcome to your bounce back…

 

 

 

Where's the boat?

 

Moment of truth! I've had some moments of discouragement lately. Yep! I'm putting myself out there! I was at a bit of a loss and just needed some clarity and a faith boost. I think if you're honest, you've been there too! I prayed and asked God to show me something that would help me and this is what He told me...

Imagine you’re on a small boat in the middle of the ocean after a shipwreck. There is nothing around you but miles and miles of water…no land in sight. You’re tired and hungry and you just want to go home. Prior to the wreck, you remember hearing that there was a big ship that passes on this same route every so often but you didn’t hear the specific time. So…you’re sitting on this boat waiting on that ship so that you can be rescued. Time passes and still no ship. You keep waiting and waiting for that ship but all you see is water in your horizon. During the course of time, there are waves and sharks and other dangers that threaten you and your little boat but you never capsize. You start to get discouraged and wonder out loud often where the boat is and why it hasn’t come. You keep reminding yourself that the statement was made that the boat was coming but it gets very hard to maintain your confidence. Finally, you are at the point of death and giving up, you see something on the horizon. It’s the boat! When it reaches you, the captain calls out as though he’s expecting you and then you realize he is calling your name. They get you safely on board and the captain says to you…”I’m glad you held out until we got here.” You ask him how he knew your name and he replies, “I knew you were out here the whole time from the ship’s passenger list but I had to follow my route even through a lot of debris that was left over from the ship wreck. Good thing you didn’t give up!”

Well alright, God! I hope it helps you like it did me! It made so much sense to me. You see, life can be very difficult. We face hard financial times, dry seasons, death, marital issues, sickness and it seems sometimes like there is no way out. We know that God is able and aware but at times it feels like you are out there all alone. It often seems the hardest when we are living right and doing what God has asked of us. But God reminded me today that no matter what we face, He is there. He knows exactly where you are and He is working on your behalf. There are aftereffects and consequences from things we experience or even bring on ourselves but He continues to work and move even if we can’t see it. The key is to stand on His word because it is truth and it will not return to Him void.

I’m reminded of Moses and his relationship with God. In Exodus 4, God sends him back to Egypt to free His people. He gives him a Word and miracles to perform but easy is not what Moses finds. As a matter of fact, he becomes quite discouraged when things don’t seem to immediately work out and asks God why. He says, “O Lord, why have You brought harm to this people? Why did You ever send me? Ever since I came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all.” (Ex. 5:22-23 NASB) Sound like you? ‘God, I’m doing what you asked me to do and yet You have not done what You said you would!’ It’s not always an easy road and even those of us who are believers and even working in ministry or leadership face hard trials. But Moses is a testimony to fighting through the hard times and being obedient to see your purpose fulfilled. All of the miracles that God eventually worked through Moses brought about the release of the people of Israel.

I want to encourage you today to continue to hold on and look up. No matter where you are in your process, stand strong and know that God has you! “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” (Rom. 8:15 NKJV) Keep your eyes on the horizon; God is sure to show up right on time!

Be blessed….AMEN!

 

 

Independence Day!!

Today, America  celebrates its freedom! It was a hard fought and high priced freedom with many lives sacrificed for the good of many. As I reflected on that,  I immediately thought of Christ and what He did so that we could be free. I know it's not Easter but His resurrection is real today! Today, I challenge you to celebrate your freedom! 

Do you remember the day you gave your life to Christ?  Was it a Sunday or a Wednesday? Was it in your bedroom, on the street, or at the altar? Do you remember a feeling of release and joy? Did you feel lighter? God wants you to remember YOUR Independence Day! He wants you to celebrate the moment that you met His Son and welcomed Him into your heart. You see, your freedom was hard fought and high priced too! Christ paid the ultimate cost for you and if truth be told most of us put up quite the fight. But He did it and we should celebrate that moment. 

Ok...I hear some of you saying my life is a mess right now and I don't feel much like celebrating. Hey, I understand the struggle! Trust me...but let me ask you this...do you remember America being involved in any wars after independence was gained in 1776? Absolutely, there were multiple wars - Civil War, WWI, WWII, and the list goes on up to today. What's my point? There was no guarantee after America won independence that another enemy or situation wouldn't come along to challenge its freedom but once independence was secured that was it! Christ did not promise you a pain free, battle free existence after you got saved but He did say, "Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed." (John 8:36 NKJV) You are free and your freedom is secured!

Today, as you eat your burgers and watch fireworks, think about the precious gift of freedom that Christ so lovingly presented you. Don't dwell on what is not but rest in what is! You have  a God that loves you so much that He gave you His Son so that you could be free. Honor that and enjoy your independence!

God bless and keep you during this holiday weekend!