Fantastic Friday #943 - Destruction

Destruction

2 How long, Lord, must I call for help,
but you do not listen?
Or cry out to you, “Violence!”
but you do not save?
3 Why do you make me look at injustice?
Why do you tolerate wrongdoing?
Destruction and violence are before me;
there is strife, and conflict abounds.
4 Therefore the law is paralyzed,
and justice never prevails.
The wicked hem in the righteous,
so that justice is perverted.
5 “Look at the nations and watch—
and be utterly amazed.
For I am going to do something in your days
that you would not believe,
even if you were told. Habakkuk 1:2-5

This week several places around us received significant physical destruction, with homes destroyed and families displaced. We also saw where trees that had probably been around for over 50 years, uprooted like they were toothpicks. It is challenging to look at the destruction around us and see anything but negativity and ask the question why is this happening. Like anywhere in the past where destruction has been seen, what good have you seen come out of the destruction? I can think of a couple of things, one most recently being the COVID situation where those times brought so many families closer together and closer to God and His teachings. Just like with Job, in these circumstances our faith can be tested, but if you look at verse five above, God is preparing to do something amazing that even we cannot believe. If we focus on the goodness of God, the challenges of these specific destructive events can have a purpose. Remember to keep others in your thoughts and prayers and rely on faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #942 - Hard

Hard

4 Let those who fear the Lord say:
“His love endures forever.”

5 When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord;
he brought me into a spacious place.
6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me? Psalm 118:4-6



Do you hear people say they do not want to do something because it is too hard, or do you find that people often say that life is hard? God never promised that life would be easy, but He did provide us a way to make our life's difficulties more bearable. We only need to remember that the Lord is present and we need to think about how his presence makes our lives less hard. It is through His never ending love that we can be at ease, but we can't just assume He is going to make things less hard. We need to go through the hardness and ask for His guidance in order to achieve the glory that lies at the end. So the next time someone says life is hard, you can say yes it is, but there is a way to make it less hard.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #941 - Warrior

Warrior

17 The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.” Zephaniah 3:17

When I think of a warrior, I picture someone with a large stature that protects those who cannot protect themselves. I certainly do not think of myself as a Warrior, but when I look back at my life with my kids, maybe I was a warrior. I protected them, cared for them, provided for them and sheltered them from the enemy in the best way possible. I think the foundation of being a warrior prepared them all for this world as an adult, but I am still finding myself looking for ways to protect them. Our God is the ultimate Warrior, and we probably don't recognize that daily. I often wonder what my life would be like without a knowledge of God or His presence. I often think that if I didn't have Him, I would be lost in an abyss or even a black hole. How wonderful it is to have a Warrior that is willing to stand up for us if we truly accept Him and His unwavering protection. Be a warrior for those who cannot protect themselves and let yourself be protected by the ultimate Warrior.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #940 - Slow

Slow

8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:2-9

There was this song that I came across the other day and this lyric kind of stuck with me, "So, I'm gonna slow on down, someway, somehow." We get going in our lives and it is rush here and rush there, and when do you have time to sit down and focus on God and what He wants to teach us. I will admit that I am guilty of not slowing down enough and definitely not spending enough time in His Word. Those times when I don't slow down, the anxiousness can creep in and control my thoughts of what I need to do next. The times that I slow down and give just a few minutes of thoughtful thanks to our Lord and Savior, my spirit calms and I can go about my business with a mind free of the mess. It does take intentional effort to slow down and not let our world consume us. This week during a meeting about midday I asked everyone to look at their phone screen time, and most people were between 30 and 90 minutes, but one person was 6 hours and 20 minutes. If we can slow down enough to spend this much time on our phone, we can slow down enough to give God time to work in us. Slow down, don't give in to the enemy and what they want, slow down and give thoughtful thanks.

Have a great weekend.

Matt

Fantastic Friday #939 - Treasure

Treasure

18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. 1 Timothy 6:18-19

When something has been around for some time or been lost for years and found, people refer to that as treasure. Or maybe there was something hundreds of years ago that was hidden from view, but then found as a buried treasure. Do we think of our Lord Jesus Christ as treasure, something valuable and necessary in our life for our future? Or do we put other things of "value" ahead of Him? There is nothing more valuable than our Savior who guides us and protects our life so we can prepare for the next path in our existence. We also need to value the treasure we are building up when we do things for people, and when we are kind to others and not hateful. Now more than ever, we see the hateful stance of people and the negative impact they have on others, and I can guarantee that our Father In Heaven mournes over those lost souls and wishes to bring those back in the fold to enjoy the full treasure of Jesus Christ. Take a moment today to look at what you think the treasures are in your life, and they probably don't involve material things.

Have a great weekend.

Matt