Fantastic Friday #232-Gives

Gives

³⁴ Proclaim the power of God,
whose majesty is over Israel,
whose power is in the skies.

³⁵ You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary;
the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people.
Praise be to God! Psalm 68:34-35

Have you heard the statement the Lord gives us only what we can handle . How many times do some of us sit there and think that is so true; but then something happens and we say to ourselves, "I can't deal with this." If you notice, I had that statement in quotes, and maybe that is because that was an exact quote from me this week. Why is it we forget so quickly what God has for us and that we aren't supposed to handle it or deal with it by ourselves. Maybe we need to focus less on the "I" statements and focus more on the "He" statements. He has given this to teach me. He has been there to support me. He has given me power and strength to deal with this. He is the reason I am who I am. Just remember that when you are telling yourself you can't deal with something it is probably very true, because we truly aren't handling it, He is through His Power and Strength He has given us.

Fantastic Friday #231- Backup

Backup

¹⁴Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm. The Lord will repay him for what he has done. ¹⁵You too should be on your guard against him, because he strongly opposed our message.

¹⁶At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them. ¹⁷But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth. ¹⁸The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 2 Timothy 4:14-18

When you are working on something, do you have a backup if things don't go according to the way you had planned. Do you remember in school working on a presentation with a group, and having a backup in case the preparation wasn't going quite the way you thought it was going because someone wasn't doing their part? I saw a perfect example of a backup play at my one of my son's baseball games this week, when he backed up the third baseman and actually got a runner out at third. Who do you turn to for your backup when things just aren't going right? Do you turn to a co-worker you might not be able to trust, or someone that says they are your friend but actually is just an acquaintance? Or, do you just try to rely on your own way to get out of the trouble you are in? Why not let the Lord be your backup/support and let Him guide you in the direction you need to go. He is always there, and is backing you up every single moment of every day. Have faith in how He can lead you.

Fantastic Friday #230-Shameless

Shameful

¹ Gather together, gather together,
O shameful nation,

² before the appointed time arrives
and that day sweeps on like chaff,
before the fierce anger of the LORD comes upon you,
before the day of the LORD's wrath comes upon you.

³ Seek the LORD, all you humble of the land,
you who do what he commands.
Seek righteousness, seek humility;
perhaps you will be sheltered
on the day of the LORD's anger. Zephaniah 2:1-3

A friend of mine asked me about the book of Zephaniah this week and that was timely. Looking around this week I saw some things that were pretty shameful in how people were acting. It was like they didn't care about the people they were around and how those people were impacted by what they said or did. While I wasn't finding myself falling into trap of shamefulness, I was skirting that border of some anger towards those people, which in its form could be shameful. Shameful has a true meaning of being atrocious. Now that's a word we can all relate a picture to or have experienced. How I don't want to be atrocious in the sight of the Lord and be one of those people that the His anger comes upon. I would rather be that humble individual seeking righteousness and be sheltered by the Lord on the day of His anger. Avoid being shameful and focus on being humble, maybe you can have an impact on those around you.

Fantastic Friday #229-Together

Together

¹ I will extol the LORD at all times;
his praise will always be on my lips.
² My soul will boast in the LORD;
let the afflicted hear and rejoice.
³ Glorify the LORD with me;
let us exalt his name together.
⁴ I sought the LORD, and he answered me;
he delivered me from all my fears. Psalm 34:1-4

Did you spend time this week alone? Or did you spend this week together with someone else? My guess is that you thought when you were spending time alone, you were actually together with Him. Now whether you acknowledged Him or not might be a different story. I spent a lot of time together with my family this week, with what time I had available, and it was really some good quality time. The time I did have alone I have to admit I rarely was able to focus on the One thing I needed to. I was easily distracted by the radio and sports which made me think about other things in the future yet to come. I also had a few dates at work weighing heavily on my mind, and since I didn't spend much time together with Him, I didn't rely on Him to lift me with His strength. I learned a good lesson this week, with over 6 months of planning for this event I had, I still didn't allow Him to deliver me from my fears until it was here. Maybe if I would spend more time together with Him, my faith would be stronger and those six months of planning would have been easier on my mind.

Fantastic Friday #228- Escape

Escape

¹² The wicked desire the plunder of evil men,
but the root of the righteous flourishes.

¹³ An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk,
but a righteous man escapes trouble.

¹⁴ From the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things
as surely as the work of his hands rewards him. Proverbs 12:12-14

What do you think of when you see the word Escape? I find it interesting when the Israelites escaped from Egypt, interesting when many of God's people escaped the hands of the enemy over and over again, and interesting how Job escaped his suffering. What do you do to escape? Typically people dive into a book, watch a TV show or movie, listen to a concert or music, enjoy a sporting event, or just sit in silence away from the world. Why do we escape from this world? Does this world not offer us everything we need? Some of it is good and some of it can be bad, but if we are careful to live in our reality with God and escape the trouble, our life might be more fulfilling. Those things I first mentioned had God's people escaping from difficult situations, only with God's help and reliance on Him. How about looking to God and escaping the bad things of this world and escape into the reality of living life with our family. Enjoy and love those around you and remember to love God, it could be a better place to escape.

Have a great weekend.

Fantastic Friday #227-Complain

Complain

¹ I cry aloud to the LORD;
I lift up my voice to the LORD for mercy.

² I pour out my complaint before him;
before him I tell my trouble.

³ When my spirit grows faint within me,
it is you who know my way.
In the path where I walk
men have hidden a snare for me.

⁴ Look to my right and see;
no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life.

⁵ I cry to you, O LORD;
I say, "You are my refuge,
my portion in the land of the living." Psalm 142:1-5

Wow did I hear some people complain this week. I heard it all and if you are like me, you just wanted to run and hide. One thing that happens when people complain is that it can kind of rub off on you, and sometimes you can slip into the complaining attitude that some people have. Yes, I know you are probably thinking the first scripture to come to mind is Phillipians 2:14 and why didn't I choose that simple scripture for this week, something easy to remember and take with us. Well, that is because the above Psalm has something in it that the other doesn't, it has a true picture of what we experience daily. Where do you take your complaint, to someone you know, or Someone you know. Do you let yourself slip into the snare, or do you take refuge in the Lord. Do you turn to someone for a portion, or do you turn to Him for your fill. Just remember, when you have someone who complains to you, don't slip into the snare but give the Lord a chance to provide you that refuge.

Have a great weekend.

Fantastic Friday #226- Concern

Concern

⁴ Look to my right and see;
no one is concerned for me.
I have no refuge;
no one cares for my life. Psalm 142:4

²³ But the LORD was gracious to them and had compassion and showed concern for them because of his covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. To this day he has been unwilling to destroy them or banish them from his presence. 2 Kings 13:23


²⁵so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.1 Corinthians 12:25

A friend told me this week that they were concerned about me, so it kind of got me thinking. What were they concerned about? My welfare, my sanity, my health, or were they just being a tad sarcastic with me on one of my opinions. Well then it got me thinking about how concerned I was about other people, and am I as concerned with other people as God is about me? If you look at the above scriptures, they kind of paint a picture that we all go through in life. All of us at one time or another have asked God if He is concerned about us, and I think we can all say that the Lord has been gracious to us on more than one occasion in our life. What about your concern for others who are believers, and better yet, those who are not believers. If you show the same concern for those people who are a part of our lives that God shows to us regularly, think what kind of difference you can make. Show concern this week to someone and see what happens.

Have a great weekend.