Tag Archive | Ephesians 6i:16

Lamentations 3:22-24, 26 …my take

Aug26

Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
    for his compassions never fail.
23 They are new every morning;
    great is your faithfulness.
24 I say to myself, “The Lord is my portion;
    therefore I will wait for him.”

25 The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him,
    to the one who seeks him;
26 it is good to wait quietly
    for the salvation of the Lord.

The book of Lamentations, attributed to the prophet Jeremiah, was written following the destruction of of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. They were feeling the consequences of their disobedience. The city is in ruins, the people are in mourning, and the atmosphere is heavy with despair. (BTW, the word portion means inheritance)

The above verses remind us that our God is faithful. Even when our circumstances threaten to overwhelm us. However, God’s word reveals to us that with the dawn of every morning, we can begin anew. We just need to be reminded of these verses in Lamentations. Hope can be restored and with faith we can wait quietly for our God’s deliverance. Just seek Him and be at peace. The fiery darts of doubt, worry, fear, etc., can be thwarted.

Oh, trust me, it won’t be easy. It may take awhile to regain our footing after difficult circumstances. The fiery darts of the enemy can come in like a flood. Especially, in our weakened moment. That’s why God has given us the ammunition of the above truth thought to resist the enemy’s weapons. Every morning we rise and turn our focus towards Jeremiah’s words to the suffering. Then we put one foot in front of the other. We remind ourselves of who God is. That He is bigger than our disappointments, our fears, our sufferings, our trials, etc. No matter what the enemy throws at us to bring us down, he cannot defeat God. (In 1 John 4:4 the word them refers to false prophets and those spreading deceptive spiritual ideas against Christ)

Remember, even if we have to refresh our faith every morning with these verses, we must keep at it. The enemy doesn’t give up easily. But be reminded that he is a defeated foe and eventually, we can claim the victory for our God fights the enemy and wins.

The Bible and the Truths therein, are our most powerful weapon against the enemy. But if we don’t go to God’s Word, we won’t know that! Will we?

Worry or Peace? You MUST choose!

Sep30

Ok, here’s the scene. We have just poured out our hearts to God about a prayer concern. After we have exhausted every detail we can think of, we close said prayer. Then we move on through our day. Yet. ‘worry’ lingers!

Therefore, I offer this tip: Through the years, I have learned to address my prayer concerns using God’s own words from Scripture. After thoroughly addressing the needs of my prayer using God’s word, I have confidence in God carrying through with His word. It’s like, after walking away from my prayer session with God I turn around and say, “You got this God?” To which He always replies, “I just said I did!”

So, what do I do about the worry that on occasion subtly sneaks back into my mind? I return to the model God has given me about attaching His word to address my particular prayer needs. In this case the lingering worry over what I just prayed about. The conversation with God then goes something like this:

“You have told me you believe my words concerning the prayer request you just gave me. That’s good. But you are still worrying over it. So believe me when I say, Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to Me. 7 And my peace, which surpasses every thought, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” taken from Philippines 4:-6-7

For you see while I believed God could do what the Scriptures said He could do about the petition I had presented to Him, worry indicated that I didn’t. So, I ask myself another question, “Are you going to believe Philippines 4:6-7? (Because, if I did, then peace would replace the lingering worry.)

I really wanted that, but it didn’t happen suddenly. I had to fire back with verses like Romans 8:28, Philippines 4:6-7 every time worry tried to infiltrate my thinking. You know, like in Ephesians 6:16. Thus over time and with consistent use, I continue to gain skill in wielding the force of these mighty weapons.

But remember, it’s a choice!