The Lord Is
Psalm 27:1-3 NIV
The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I
fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom
shall I be afraid?
When the wicked advance against me
to devour
me,
it is my enemies and my foes
who will
stumble and fall.
Though an army besiege me,
my heart
will not fear;
though war break out against me,
even then I
will be confident.
Jesus Christ, God the Son, is
my Lord and my Savior. My life is in him, and he is living in me in the person
of his Holy Spirit.
When I was a young child I
trusted in him to save me from my sins and to come into my life, to live inside
of me. He lifted me out of the depths of my sin and he gave me new life in him,
to be lived for him. That was about 60 years ago.
But, our salvation is not a
one-time experience, and then we exist, and then one day we go to heaven to be
with our Lord. Our salvation is progressive. It is a process of sanctification,
of being made holy, of being conformed to the likeness of Christ, and of
putting off the deeds of the flesh, and of putting on Christ and his
righteousness.
Fear was something I battled
a lot in my life, first as a child with an abusive father and then as an adult
with an abusive and lust addicted husband. But, these situations in my life are
what drew me close to the Lord in complete dependency on him. I didn’t always
respond to those fears in the right way, but God always brought me back around
to him and to the correct responses of trusting him with my life despite my
circumstances.
I have learned over and over
again to rest in the Lord, to find my all sufficiency in Him, to trust him
fully with my life, to believe in his sovereignty over my life, and to know
that he is fully in control over all things and that nothing can thwart his
purposes. He will accomplish his will in my life no matter what goes on all
around me, over which I have no control. So, I never should be afraid of what
others might do, or of what might happen to me, but daily I put my life in God’s
hands.
Above My Enemies
Psalm 27:4-6 NIV
One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do
I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days
of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek
him in his temple.
For in the day of trouble
he will keep
me safe in his dwelling;
he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent
and set me
high upon a rock.
Then my head will be exalted
above the
enemies who surround me;
at his sacred tent I will sacrifice with shouts of
joy;
I will sing
and make music to the Lord.
As a follower of Jesus
Christ, I can be assured of eternal life with him and that heaven is my eternal
home. But, this is not assured to everyone who professes faith in Jesus Christ.
Scripture teaches that we must walk according to the Spirit and not according
to the flesh, if we want a guarantee of eternal life with God. We reap what we
sow, in other words. If we sow to the flesh, we will from the flesh reap
corruption, but if we sow to please the Spirit, from the Spirit we will reap
eternal life.
Now, this is not saying we
will never sin, or even that we could not stray from our pure devotion to
Christ, for a period of time, and be brought back, for scripture indicates that
both of these are possible. But, if we profess faith in Christ, but our
lifestyles, from beginning to end, are lived to the flesh, and not to the
Spirit, then we don’t have eternal life with God. It all has to do with our
walks, not with our talk. Faith is as it does, not as it says only.
When we are walking in this
close communion with our Lord, then, in daily fellowship with him, forsaking
our sins, putting on Christ, and doing what he says to do and say and be, then
our confidence is in him. And, we can be secure in him and in his promises to
us.
He may not necessarily keep
us safe from harm from enemies, though, but he will deliver us from all fears
of what our enemies plot against us, and he will set us free from
discouragement and hopelessness. And, he will strengthen us and help us to
remain strong in him despite what others do or say, and despite all evil plots
against us.
So, even if all hell is
breaking loose all around us, we can remain confident in our Lord and sing
songs of praise to him, and by that, our enemy will be defeated.
Seek His Face!
Psalm 27:7-12 NIV
Hear my voice when I call, Lord;
be merciful
to me and answer me.
My heart says of you, “Seek his face!”
Your face,
Lord, I will seek.
Do not hide your face from me,
do not turn
your servant away in anger;
you have
been my helper.
Do not reject me or forsake me,
God my
Savior.
Though my father and mother forsake me,
the Lord
will receive me.
Teach me your way, Lord;
lead me in a
straight path
because of
my oppressors.
Do not turn me over to the desire of my foes,
for false witnesses
rise up against me,
spouting
malicious accusations.
When we are in Christ, by
faith in him, and we are walking in his love, in his power, and according to
his Spirit, we can be confident of his help to us in living the Christian life
and in not giving way to fear. Our Lord, too, will never leave us or forsake
us. Although humans will desert us, reject and persecute us, our Lord will not.
He will always be there for us, to help us through any and every situation
which may come our way.
Our Lord will always be
faithful in all that he does and says, so we can always depend on him, no
matter what. He will lead us and guide us in the way that he would have us to
go, even when it seems everything or many things are fighting against that.
For, he has absolute control and authority over all human authority, and he can
move mountains, if necessary, in order to accomplish his purposes.
Although our Lord does not
promise us that we will never have to suffer for righteousness’ sake, or that
we won’t have to go through the things he was put through on this earth, he
does promise to be with us and to carry us through everything which he allows
in our lives. The main thing I know that I can be confident in is in his
sovereignty, and that whatever happens to me he will see me through it all, and
that he will give me all I need to endure.
Confident of This
Psalm 27:13-14 NIV
I remain confident of this:
I will see
the goodness of the Lord
in the land
of the living.
Wait for the Lord;
be strong
and take heart
and wait for
the Lord.
While life on this earth has
its troubles, hardships, heartaches and persecutions, we can remain confident
in our relationships with our Lord and of our eternal life with him and that
one day we will be with him forever.
We can also remain confident
that God is working all things for good for those who love him, who obey him,
and who are called according to his purposes.
So, when difficulties come
our way, and the enemy is fiercely attacking, and we are tempted to fear others
or what they may do to us or our circumstances, we can rest assured that God
has a plan and a purpose for it all, and that he will use it all to bring glory
to his name and to make us into the people of God he wants us to be, for his
praise.
So, although we may not yet
be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, we can know that it is there. So,
we wait on our Lord, we don’t let discouragement set in or give way to fear,
but we trust him, we obey him, and then we believe him to work it all out
according to his plan.
Your Lord is With You
An Original Work / August 14, 2016
Based off Various Scriptures
Fear not for your Lord is with you.
He will not leave you, nor will He
abandon you.
When you walk through valleys of life’s
rough ways,
You must fear no evil, for God is near.
Be of courage, then, and be not
dismayed,
For your Lord is with you throughout
your days.
Fear not for your Lord is with you.
He will not leave you, nor will He
abandon you.
Trust Him with your life and witness.
He’ll go before you, and He will
prepare the way.
The Lord is our helper, so we’ll not
fear.
He will strengthen us. He sees all our
tears.
Do not be afraid, but to God do pray,
And the peace of God will be yours
today.
Trust Him with your life and witness.
He’ll go before you, and He will
prepare the way.
My God, He is my Rock and my Shield
And the Horn of my salvation, whom I
praise.
He reached down from heaven and rescued
me;
Drew me out of waters so deep I’d sink.
My God turned my darkness into His
light;
Opened up my blinded eyes, gave me
sight.
My God, He is my Rock and my Shield
And the Horn of my salvation, whom I
praise.
Sunday, May 13, 2018, 8:30
a.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for these encouraging words and these great reminders
of your love for us, and of your sovereignty over our lives. We never have
reason to fear, for you are always near.
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