Category Archives: HOPE

Do you know what God will do for you? Psalm 91 – Part 4

April 1, 2021ANXIETY, CHRISTIAN VALUES, ENCOURAGEMENT, HOPE, TRUSTING GODFreda Farmer

“Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place, there shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent. For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service]. They shall bear you up on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent shall you trample underfoot.” (Psalm 91:9-13 AMPC)

I cannot “outgive” God. Can you? Now, that is a rhetorical question if ever there were one! Every time I start writing for you, dear reader, God blesses me far beyond anything I could ask or imagine. And that includes the day I wrote this blog, which was the fourth day of record-breaking cold and snow for Texas and many other states. From my desk, I saw snow lining the wide expanse of bare branches in front of the big double window. Piles of snow that had fallen four days before remained trapped in the forks of the bigger branches. Ice coated the smaller branches not big enough to capture snow. I watched, in wonder, as a cardinal, one of my most favorite birds, perched on a snow covered branch – just like Christmas cards I have loved all my life! Those rare snow-bound days gave extra hours for writing and Bible study and motivated me to make more time—when life returned to normal–to just sit down and search out the meaning of passages, new and old, talking with Holy Spirit, trusting Him to lead as I search His Word. By His grace, I have done that. Truly, Romans 8:28 is true!

“Line upon line. . . that concept – again! On that snowy day, as I heard the unfamiliar crunch of snow being shoveled from the sidewalk, thanks to a kind-hearted neighbor, I was looking again at that well-known passage in Isaiah 28–”line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little, there a little” . To dig deeply into that passage is a topic for another time, but briefly I see that God says He carefully taught His people that they must depend on Him and nothing else, that He has a “place of rest” for the weary, but they refused to heed His instruction so He will teach them with bitter consequences. Psalm 91 also speaks of that “place of rest”, that secret place of the Most High. Hopefully, we voluntarily seek out the place of rest that God has lovingly prepared, without being pressed there by the harsh consequences of complacency toward God.

Here is what we saw in previous blog posts on Psalm 91, dated Feb. 4, 11, and 25.

V 1-4 If we make God our home, and confidently trust Him THEN He will deliver us and cover us, thus enabling us to find true refuge. THEN
V 5-9 From our chosen position within that secret place, we will not fear, and we will be protected AND
V 9-13 Because we obey and serve God, His angels will protect us and we will do exploits AND
V 14-16 Because we love God deeply and serve Him, He will give us a peaceful, victorious, overcoming, satisfying and long life.

Verse 9: “Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place, there shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your dwelling.” Notice the “Because” that starts the passage from verse 9 through 13. The KJV also uses “because” and the NLT and NIV both use “If/then”, which makes the conditional nature of the promises in verses 9 through 13 even clearer. God says that because we stay close to Him and trust Him, He will protect us from evil (harm in some translations), plague, and calamity.

Image result for free picture of nothing shall harm hou With this verse, as often happens when I try too hard to nail down what a verse means, I sense Holy Spirit saying to reflect on different translations and related verses that He has brought to mind, and then move on. So, I will just make note that in John 16:33 Jesus says He has overcome the world and deprived it of power to harm us. To me, that means that although we will encounter the “troubles, trials, distress, and frustration” Jesus said we would in this fallen world, those things will not do lasting damage or harm. Perhaps that is what God means here. Also, in Luke 10:19, Jesus says to His disciples “I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you.” (NIV) Such deep truths to ponder!

So, why does God promise us protection from evil or harm, from plagues and calamities? He says clearly that it is BECAUSE we have made Him our refuge and we dwell, or remain constantly, in the secret place of the Most High. Then, in verse 11 He explains how He will do that.

Verse 11: For He will give His angels [especial] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service]. (AMPC)

Image result for free picture of protecting angels The NLT says “For He will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.” Angels are a profound mystery and, obviously, an essential part of all that God does and of spiritual things. (I know that is a woefully inadequate statement.) I know angels are real and that Hebrews 1:14 declares “Are not all angels ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?” I have never personally seen an angel, but they are mentioned often in the Bible, and that is enough for me! I have friends who have, however, seen angels, and I have learned something of them in the books “Angel Armies: Releasing the Warriors of Heaven” by Tim Sheets and “Angels, God’s Secret Agents” by Billy Graham.

Notice that God says His angels will protect us “wherever we go.” It is important to recall that Satan tried to tempt Jesus to misapply this verse. Read Luke 4:1-13 to see the temptations Jesus endured before beginning His earthly ministry. In Luke 4:9 to 12, Satan quotes Psalm 91:11-12 and urges Jesus to throw Himself down from the highest point of the temple. Jesus answers this temptation with another verse, Deuteronomy 6:16 “Do not put the LORD your God to the test.” It is essential for us to follow this example of Jesus. Yes, God’s angels are watching over us, wherever we go, but if we deliberately do foolish things, we are testing the limits of God’s patience and should not be surprised if disaster falls upon us.

Our ways “of obedience and service”. We are promised God’s protection as we go about obeying and serving God. To me, this verse says that If we are living in disobedience or not serving Him, this does not apply.

We will do exploits. When we follow God whole-heartedly, He protects us and, as verse 13 indicates, we will do great things. What could be greater than defeating the enemy of our souls? Holy Spirit led the writer of Psalm 91 to tell us that, if you meet God’s conditions, “You will tread upon the lion and the adder; the young lion and the serpent shall you trample underfoot. (Psalm 91:13, AMPC)” The devil is compared to a roaring lion in 1 Peter 5:8 and in Genesis 3:14 God cursed the serpent, who had tempted Eve.

Image result for free picture of victory Notice that the second half of Psalm 91:13 echoes the first half, saying that not only will we walk upon or trample lions and cobras (NLT) but we will crush them under our feet. Remember the destiny God decreed for Satan in Genesis 3:14-15? Because the serpent had deceived Eve, God told the serpent ”Because you have done this, you are cursed more than all animals, domestic and wild. You will crawl on your belly, groveling in the dust as long as you live. And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.” (NLT)

And Romans 16:20 encourages us that “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under our feet.” (NIV) When an animal is crushed, it is rendered powerless and dead, unable to affect the world of the living any longer. We do our part to crush the enemy here on earth in our personal life by living a life of loving obedience to God. And as John Gill commented, we can be encouraged by the fact that in heaven, we will be eternally free from the reach of Satan (from the John Gill commentary at Biblestudytools.com)

Next week we will look at the last four verses of Psalm 91 – which include eight thundering “I will” promises from God. What a loving Father He is to tell us how to stay safe under His loving wings!

Image result for free picture of gods protection

Do you know you are safe? Psalm 91, Pt. 3

March 25, 2021ANXIETY, Bible teaching, ENCOURAGEMENT, HARD TIMES, HOPE, TRUSTING GODFreda Farmer

God’s good plans for us begin early. “A-n-t-a-g-o-n-i-s-t.” I spoke slowly, waiting until I heard Tammy murmur “Okay” then I continued even more slowly. “The person who opposes the protagonist”. I knew it would take her a while to write the definition. Whereas she wrote slowly, struggling to understand and take notes during the hour Mr. Porter devoted to literature, I wrote fast and also had an aptitude for English and writing. So, Tammy and I had talked an hour each afternoon while I filled in gaps in her notes, genuinely feeling, for once, admired by a classmate.

I wound the phone cord around my fingers as I watched as Mother peel potatoes at the sink, feeling privileged to sprawl on the green corduroy couch in the midst of supper preparations. Knowing she heard each word offended my fifth-grade independence, but a smile softened her features. My difficulty in making friends had begun even then and, reflecting back, I believe she smiled, even though she was doing without my potato-peeling, carrot-scraping, table-setting assistance, because I was talking on the phone with a friend.

In seventh grade, we changed teachers and classrooms for each subject, and I could no longer sustain the accidental friendships, like that with Tammy, that had blossomed from being with the same group of kids all day. No, by then, I considered myself a loner. However, compliments on my writing from Mrs. Loftin, the seventh- and eighth-grade English teacher, watered a heart thirsty for approval and self-esteem, feelings that seldom came from my more socially-adept peers who were busy cementing in-crowd friendships that would endure until and, for some of them, beyond high school .

Mr. Porter, Mrs. Loftin and other beloved teachers imparted good study, writing, and thinking skills as well as a love of learning. Those skills gave me confidence to seek out knowledge on my own which also brought joy and engendered a measure of confidence. That confidence that I could study and write and understand things all by myself sustained me through a painfully shy adolescence and young adulthood, all according to God’s purposes for my individual life, long before I gave Him my heart. (“But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners Christ, the Messiah, the Anointed One, died for us.” (Romans 5:8, AMPC).

Image result for free picture of teacher in classroom “To each is given. . . “ (I Corinthians 12:7) Now, many years later, it is a pleasure to use those skills in Bible study. Often, when I study and outline a Bible passage, I see Mr. Porter, in the center of his classroom, perched against one of the student desks he had arranged in a what was then a most unconventional circle, or I see Ms. Loftin, silver-framed reading glasses dangling on a a beaded chain around her neck, ever-present sweater buttoned around her slim form, walking along rows of desks, handing out graded papers, our grade and her carefully-considered comments neatly written in red ink above our names.

How good God is to give each of us abilities so that we can find pleasure as we use them for His kingdom! Whatever gifts God has given you (Romans 12:6, I Peter 4:10), I pray you find joy in developing and using them for the Kingdom. As for me and my work for God, as I sit here, reading and re-reading Psalm 91, seeking to understand what God is saying, I am grateful once again for teachers who trained me to outline, to group together similar thoughts so as to grasp and find words for things implied but not stated.

“Line upon line, precept upon precept” (Isaiah 28:10) In the previous two blog posts about this treasured psalm, I said I believe the simplest outline and fundamental message of Psalm 91 is: if we make God our home and confidently trust Him, He will take care of us—no matter what!

While pondering Psalm 91 the last two weeks, in reading the whole psalm over and over, another outline that is instructive for me has emerged.

V 1-2–If we make God our home, and confidently trust Him THEN
V 3-4–He will deliver us and cover us, thus enabling us to find true refuge. THEN
V 5-9–From our chosen position within that secret place:
> We will not fear (v. 5 and 6) and
> We will be protected (v. 7 and 8) AND
V 9-13–As we obey and serve God, His angels will protect us and we will do exploits. (God repeats and explains the messages of verses 1 through 8 , giving details that reassure us.) AND
V 14-16–Because we love God deeply and serve Him, He gives us a peaceful, victorious, overcoming, satisfying and long life.

Two HUGE promises for us from God about being in the secret place. In verses 5 and 6, God gives us two promises about what happens when we dwell habitually in the secret place:

We will not fear, and we will be protected.

In the secret place, we will not fear. “You shall not be afraid of the terror of the night, nor of the arrow (the evil plots and slanders of the wicked) that flies by day, nor of the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor of the destruction and sudden death that surprise and lay waste at noonday.[Then] . . . (verses 5 and 6)

In verses 5 and 6, God reassures us about things that might frighten us at night or by day and He uses the same pattern in verse 6, telling us we will not be afraid of any danger or destruction in darkness or at noonday. I believe that is another way of saying that He is keeping guard over us every moment, night and day. He is with us as He was with Abraham, and in Genesis 28:15 He promised Abraham “I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land.” (NIV) This promise in the AMPC reads

“And behold, I am with you and will keep watch over you with care, take notice of) you wherever you may go and I will bring you back to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done all of which I have told you.” (AMPC

Notice: Notice God says wherever you go, He says He will watch over you with care, and He will notice you. What little child doesn’t say, “Watch me!” to Mama or Papa as they hang upside down on the monkey bars or ride a bike without training wheels for the first time.

Image result for free picture of god watching over child Children who are afraid of the dark are comforted by the presence of their parents and often want Mama or Papa to lie down in bed with them and snuggled them close. They may know Papa is in the other room, but sometimes they need to be in his arms and to feel him next to them. Although we know God will protect us, sometimes we need extra awareness of that truth. God gives that to us here when He repeats His promises. Just knowing Papa will come if he cries out helps a child who is afraid of the dark settle down and go to sleep. Even so, just knowing that we have a place in God where fear will stop helps us calm down.

Life in this world overflows with potential woes and worries, like sickness, disease and hurt from others. However, if we love and obey God, He will work it all out for our good (Romans 8:28 and Genesis 50:20) and it will not harm us (John 16:33). When beset by fresh troubles, I am finding it powerful to repeat to myself, “God will keep me safe in the secret place as I seek Him. I will be at peace and will be protected from anything and everything.”

In the secret place, we will be protected. “A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand, but it shall not come near you. Only a spectator shall you be [yourself inaccessible in the secret place of the Most High] as you witness the reward of the wicked.” (verses 7 and 8)

If a place is secret, it means that the place is hidden from view, that it is inaccessible to others, and other people cannot find it. In the spiritual realm that must mean that the enemy of our souls cannot find where we are and cannot hurt us when we are in the secret place. It would be like a fawn, camouflaged by its coloring and the spots on its back, lying still Image result for free picture of fawn hiding and motionless, watching danger pass right by.

Two other psalms talk about God keeping us save in the shelter we create in our hearts when we are aware of His presence. Psalm 27:5 says, “For in the day of trouble He will hide me in His shelter; in the secret place of His tent will He hide me; He will set me high upon a rock.” (AMPC) Reading the entire psalm shows that the author, David, is dwelling in the secret place and he makes that his priority (verse 4)because he knows God will keep him “safe in His dwelling”. And where is God’s dwelling? That place in our hearts that we talked about in earlier blogs about Psalm 91.

And Psalm 31:20 explains “In the secret place of Your presence You hide them from the plots of men; You keep them secretly in Your pavilion from the strife of tongues.‘(AMPC) In Psalm 31, David is writing from the secret place. Notice he says “In You, O Lord, I have taken refuge. . . “ (Psalm 31:1, NIV) Throughout the psalm, David is asking for God’s mercy and talking with God about his troubles but David also repeatedly reassures his own soul that God IS his refuge and source of strength (verse 3), that God has not handed him over to his enemies (verse 8), that God has stored up abundant goodness for those who fear Him (verse 19), and that God will hide such a one and keep that one safe “in the shelter of His presence (verse 20). David ends this song of trust in God by recalling a time when God heard him in a seemingly impossible situation (verse 22). David concludes by affirming that “the LORD preserves the faithful.” (verse 23)

Keep seeking the One who loves you so! Beloved, if we run to the secret place and pour out our hearts to God, we will find peace and safety and fresh hope. The secret is dwelling in the secret place.

Keep seeking God! Keep pressing in and pressing on! As Paul said in Philippians 2:12-14, keep working out your own salvation, with deep reverence for God, knowing it is God who is working in you. And follow Paul’s example in Philippians 3:13-14–forget your past and “press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ is calling us upward.” The rewards of pursuing God are far greater than we can imagine! God urges us on when He says:

Image result for free picture eye hsa not seen verse “. . . as the Scripture says, What eye has not seen and ear has not heard and has not entered into the heart of man [all that] God has prepared (made and keeps ready) for those who love Him, who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed]. Yet to us God has unveiled and revealed them by and through His Spirit, for the [Holy] Spirit searches diligently, exploring and examining everything, even sounding the profound and bottomless things of God [the divine counsels and things hidden and beyond man’s scrutiny]. (I Corinthians 2:9-10, AMPC)

Please reread this verse and notice how God describes the ones for whom He has prepared those things. He says those things we humans cannot even imagine are prepared for “those who love Him, who hold Him in affectionate reverence, promptly obeying Him and gratefully recognizing the benefits He has bestowed.” May we truly love our indescribable Lord that way!

HE STILL REIGNS!!!

February 16, 2021Bible teaching, ENCOURAGEMENT, HARD TIMES, HOPE, TRUSTING GODFreda Farmer

GOD STILL REIGNS!! I sat motionless, eyes closed, feeling the power of Holy Spirit in the thundering crescendo of instruments and voices raised in exultant praise.

“He sits high above the mountains, King of kings and Lord is He, and all power is His forever! He still reigns! An empty tomb is there to prove, death could never hold our King. He still reigns, He still reigns!”

I first heard “He Still Reigns!” thirty plus years ago, when still a fairly new Christ follower. Just thinking about the truths in that song has stirred my soul ever since. Thirty or so years ago, the enemy was busy seeking to “steal, kill, and destroy” (John 10:10) anything and anyone he could. Today, however, his efforts are even more obvious because God is revealing and thwarting the plans of the evil one and those who serve him. Today, I pray this message encourages and strengthens you and brings you the comfort with which God has comforted me (2 Corinthians 1:4), which is that blessed assurance that I am His and He is mine and HE STILL REIGNS!

Consider this:

The world, our nation, and many individuals are now in battles where it seems that evil has won.
But the battles will last only for a while.
God will get Himself glory through and because of what is happening.
God remains in complete control.
God’s plans and purposes will be fulfilled in every way, in the world, our nation, and our individual lives.
God will enable us to stand our ground and fight, with confident expectation of victory and with His joy in our hearts.
God so often delivers at the last moment.

Three stories of last-moment deliverance by God. Let’s search for understanding in three Bible stories where God delivered His children from seemingly impossible situations, at the last moment. Because of those situations, God got Himself honor and glory and the enemy was made to know that God is the LORD. (Exodus 14:18). These stories are:

Exodus 14 — The parting of the Red Sea
Daniel 3 — Three Hebrews in the fiery furnace
Daniel 6 — Daniel in the den of lions

Exodus 14: The parting of the Red Sea. Read Exodus 13:17 through Exodus 14:31 to get an overview. Then consider the following observations. (Unless indicated otherwise, quotations are from the NIV.)

Ex. 13:17 God knew the Israelites might return to Egypt if they faced war with the Philistines, so God led them toward the Red Sea. He knew they needed a demonstration of His power on their behalf.

Ex 13:21-22 God led them by day and by night and never stopped leading them for a moment.

Ex 14:2-4 God told Moses, His leader, that Israel was to encamp by the Red Sea so that Pharaoh would think they were wandering around in confusion. God would harden Pharaoh’s heart to pursue them which would result in glory for God so that the Egyptians would know He is God. (Think about it – Egypt did not pursue them again, though Israel traveled in a nearby dessert for 40 years. God did indeed make Egypt learn that He IS God.)

Ex 14:5-12 Israel was at first “marching out boldly” (v. 8) but when Pharaoh approached “they were terrified and cried out to the Lord and turned on Moses (v. 10)

Image result for Free Picture Of American Flag Flying. Size: 157 x 110. Source: www.freestockphotos.biz Let me say here: How many have turned against our President, Donald John Trump—from whom the 2020 election was stolen–because it looks like evil won and is about to destroy our nation?

Ex 14:13 Moses told the people “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the LORD will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see a gain. The LORD will fight for you; you need only to be still.”

Image result for free picture of pillar of cloud and fire Ex 14: 19- The angel of God moved behind the Israelites, and the pillar of cloud (which means this event began during the day) also moved behind them and “throughout the night the cloud brought darkness to the one side and light to the other side; so neither went near the other all night long.” (Emphasis added)

Notice: God protects His people while He is preparing their deliverance. I believe this is where our nation and our world is at this moment. Verse 21 says “and all that night, the LORD drove the sea back with a strong east wind and turned it into dry land. The waters were divided, and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.”

Notice: Going through the Red Sea happened at night and all during the process of Israel walking through the divided waters, many many of them were still close to the Egyptians, waiting on the dangerous side, with only God’s pillar of cloud and fire keeping them safe. It took a while for deliverance from evil and into freedom to be complete. And during that time, all the Israelites who could not fit into the dry passage through the sea, had to stand still and wait and stay on God’s side. Had they turned back toward Egypt, rather than waiting on God’s process of deliverance to be completed, they would have become captives again.

Notice also: The deliverance through the Red Sea took most of the night. Verse 24 says “During the last watch of the night” God confused the Egyptian army, wheels came off their chariots and the Egyptians understood that God was fighting for Israel and against them.

This is just my interpretation but perhaps the Egyptian army was getting close to the last of the Israelites who were walking to freedom. God could have had the Israelites walk faster or the Egyptians move slower, but maybe He wanted the Israelites to look into the midst of the Red Sea and observe what He was doing to their enemies. Maybe He wanted His children to have a picture to carry in their memory of mighty Pharaoh becoming terrified. Maybe He wanted them to see that even when the enemy was so very close, that He was still in control.

Image result for free picture of red sea deliverance Returning to the text, in verse 26, God told Moses to again stretch out his hand over the sea and “at daybreak, the sea went back into is place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the LORD swept them into the sea. Not one of them survived.” (emphasis added.) “And Israel saw the Egyptians lying dead on the shore. And when the Israelites saw the great power the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in Him and in Moses His servant. (30b, 31)

Notice: God planned the entire event. He was in control the entire time. Because of the enemy’s efforts to destroy God’s people, God got Himself glory, and in so doing taught His people to fear Him and trust Him. Because of what happened, God destroyed Egypt’s entire army and put the fear of God into that wicked nation.

Daniel 3: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego

Image result for Free Picture of Nebuchadnezzar and idol. Size: 79 x 101. Source: www.pinterest.com Dan 3:3-6 During the time when Israel was taken captive into Babylon, King Nebuchadnezzar commanded everyone to bow down and worship a nine-foot tall idol he had made. He threatened that anyone who did not would be thrown into a burning furnace.

Dan 3:7 Most of the people complied.

Dan 3:8-12 Some men brought malicious accusations against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, reporting to King Nebuchadnezzar that these three did not serve Babylonian gods nor did they comply with his order to worship the idol Nebuchadnezzar had made.

Dan 3:13-15 The king was furious and gave the three a chance to comply, else they would be thrown into the furnace.

Notice: The enemy was threatening them with what looked like certain death if they did not turn away from God. The enemy of our souls wants the worship that is due God and will do anything he can to turn us away from God.

Dan 3:16-18 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied “If our God Whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image you have set up!”

Dan 3:19-23 The king was so enraged that he had the furnace heated seven times hotter than usual, had the three tied up and had them thrown into the furnace. It was so hot that the flame killed the strong men who handled Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.

Notice: The enemy threatens and does all in his power to make the situation even worse. Consider our nation and our world this very day. Is not the enemy doing all in his power to destroy our President Donald John Trump—from whom the 2020 election was stolen–as well as everyone who is standing for righteousness and truth?

Dan 3:24-26 For a while, the three Hebrews were in the furnace; HOWEVER, when the King looked in, he saw a fourth man with them and they were walking around!

Notice: The three Hebrews had to actually go into the furnace and stay there for a while. BUT. . . God Himself was with them, in the furnace, and the king saw God.

Image result for Free Picture of Four Men in The Furnace. Size: 184 x 110. Source: fim-carol.blogspot.com Dan 3:27 After the king told the three Hebrews to come out of the furnace and the king and all his rulers saw the “the fire had no power upon their bodies, nor was the hair of their head singed; neither were their garments scored or changed in color or condition, nor had even the smell of smoke clung to them.” (AMPC)

Dan 3:28-30 The king said, “Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Who has sent His angel and delivered His servants who believed in, trusted in, and relied on Him! And they set aside the king’s command and yielded their bodies rather than serve or worship any god except their own God.” (See also Romans 12:1-3, which instructs us to be living sacrifices and to be transformed by renewing our minds so that we can understand God’s will.) Then the king threatened death to anyone in his kingdom who spoke against the God of the three Hebrews.

Daniel 6: Daniel in the den of lions.

The Bible tells of another time during the Babylonian captivity when God got Himself glory because someone stood strong in the midst of great trial for a while, until God worked deliverance.

Dan 6:1-9 “Daniel so distinguished himself . . .by his exceptional qualities”. . . that King Darius planned to “set him over the whole kingdom”. (Verses in this passage are from the NIV.) The other government officials, realizing they could not find any corruption in Daniel unless it concerned the law of Daniel’s God, persuaded King Darius to decree that no one could pray to any god or man but King Darius for thirty days, else they would be thrown to the lions.

Image result for free picture of american flag flying

Notice: Daniel was highly successful but government officials did all they could to destroy him. Does that not sound like what has happened recently to our President, Donald John Trump—from whom the 2020 election was stolen? He was doing a superb work as President, but then some powerful people attacked him (actually, they have attacked him relentlessly since he announced his candidacy for President.)

Take heart, friend! GOD IS NOT FINISHED WITH PRESIDENT DONALD JOHN TRUMP, AND GOD IS NOT FINISHED WITH AMERICA!!!

Dan 6:10 Upon hearing the decree, Daniel went home, opened his windows to Jerusalem and prayed, “just as he had done before.” Observe that Daniel continued living the righteous life as had been his habit. We need to develop solid spiritual habits before disaster strikes. If you are not doing so, get busy friend!

Dan 6:11-17 Daniel’s enemies reported Daniel’s actions to King Darius who was “greatly distressed. . . and made every effort . . . to save him.” However, as the enemies of Daniel reminded the king, no decree or edict of the king could be changed, so Daniel was thrown into the lions’ den. King Darius said to Daniel, “May your God whom you serve continually rescue you!”

Dan 6:18-21 After a sleepless, tormented night, King Darius “hurried to the lions’ den.”

Notice: Daniel was in the apparent grasp of the enemy for a while – the entire night.

King Darius called out to Daniel, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your Glod, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” The phrase “Whom you serve continually” appears in verses 16 and again here in verse 20, urging us, I believe, to strive to be like Daniel so that everyone knows we serve God continually.

Image result for free picture of daniel in the lions den Dan 6:21-23 Observe that, even in this situation, Daniel is respectful. Daniel says, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in His sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.” (NIV). The king was overjoyed and had Daniel set free, and the Scriptures tell us “No wound was found on him, because he had trusted in His God.” (v. 23b)

Dan 6:22-24 The men who had falsely accused Daniel were themselves and their families thrown into the lions’ den and were devoured before they reached the floor of the den. This last piece of information is included, I have heard many pastors state, to show that the lions were starved and would indeed have devoured Daniel but for the angel of God’s protection.

Dan 6:25 God gets Himself glory because of the hard situation in which Daniel was placed for a while. King Darius orders all in his kingdom to “fear and reverence the God of Daniel” for, or BECAUSE, King Darius states ”He is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and He saves; he performs signs and wonder in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions” (NIV)

Daniel 6:28. “So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.”

These three Bible stories encourage us to stand strong. Reread them and talk them over with God. See what Holy Spirit tells you.

God still reigns. God is in the process of getting Himself glory now, in the very midst of what seems hopeless. God delivered the Israelites, the three Hebrews, and Daniel, and He will deliver us! Read I Peter 1:1-12. Notice that verse 5 says ,”And through your faith, God is protecting you by His power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.” (NLT) Rejoice, fellow believer! We have the hope of eternal life, and we have God protecting us this very moment.

The song “He still reigns!” I have walked with God for 39 years. Our awesome God has never, no never, no never failed me in any way whatsoever, in any degree, not for one moment! (Hebrews 13:5-6). Our God sits in heaven and laughs at the wicked (Psalm 2), “But what joy for all who take refuge in Him!” (Palm 2:12c)

Now, today, in my home, I worship God as I listen to “He Still Reigns”, and my spirit and all that is within me rejoices and exults in Him. I feel the power of the One who speaks and mountains move, I hear the sound of the One who roars and lays bare the depths of the ocean, and I am in the presence of the One who created and sustains the universe and all that exists, the One who loves us, our soon-coming King, our King of kings and our Lord of Lords! Find a video of this powerfully anointed song, like the one at the link below, and be strengthened. Give our God the glory due His name! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fESjsMgzYTE

“This old world’s in such confusion, hearts are failing everywhere, and sometimes it seems that God just doesn’t care. But don’t you fear! He holds our future. Let all heaven and earth proclaim He still reigns, He still reigns! An empty tomb is there to prove, death could never hold our King. He still reigns, He still reigns!” (Verse 2 from “He Still Reigns!”)

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Are you under His feathers? Psalm 91, Pt. 2

February 11, 2021ANXIETY, Bible teaching, CHRISTIAN VALUES, DEVOTIONALS, ENCOURAGEMENT, HOPEFreda Farmer

More about the secret place. In studying the first two verses of Psalm 91, we learned that all the rich promises of this psalm are contingent upon our fulfilling the conditions in those first two verses, which are dwelling in “the secret place of the Most High” and trusting God, with confidence, to take care of us.

Surprised afresh by even more truth. I had my little outline ready for the next few verses of Psalm 91, intending to look at the “thens” or the effects of dwelling in the secret place, which we do by habitually loving, obeying Him, and trusting Him. But in getting my three Bibles opened to Psalm 91, in the NLT I saw something powerful: most of this psalm is simply reassurances of God’s love.

His promises make an outline. For me, this entire psalm is about God’s compassionate, merciful, Father heart. It is about His craving to help us know His Father heart better and– in the strength that comes from that knowledge–to live the abundant life, with the confidence and the constant comfort found in His presence. I say that because in this psalm, He is teaching us, in detail, how He will take care of us and He is promising. Notice how often He repeats “He will” and “I will”.

His promise to take care of us is the foundation of this psalm, the truth He keeps repeating in different ways. God’s promises are one way to outline this psalm, one way to structure our understanding of His central message here:

If we love and obey Him, He WILL take care of us.

Each verse (except 1, 2 and 9) describes what God will do for us. Verses 1 and 2 describe our part, but verses 3 through 16 describe what God will do in response. So, a simple outline is:

1-4 — Our obedience and God’s response (summarized)
5-8 — Details about how God will respond — the “He wills”
9-16 – A restatement of verses 1-2, the exploits we will achieve, and seven thundering “I will” promises.

Safe in God’s father arms. In these promises can’t you hear Him pleading to come into His arms, into the secret place of His presence? Can’t you hear Him promising and reassuring, like a parent reassures a frightened or fretful little child? “There, there now. Everything is all right. It is all okay. Daddy is right here. I will help you. You are safe. . .”

And all the while, that Daddy’s strong, father arms are holding that little child close to his chest, enveloping her in the warmth and strength of his own body. You cannot hold a child close without that child feeling comfort simply from contact with your body. The very essence of your physical presence, your strength and power and superior size, brings comfort, just as the warmth of a mother hen’s body, the softness of her feathers, and the soothing darkness under her wings comfort a little chick.

Why so many promises? God could have ended this psalm with verse 4, because verses 1 through 4 give the entire message. However, I believe He continued expounding upon His message because He knew hearing the details of how He will protect us would bring comfort. Father God knew how many millions of His children through the ages would need to hear each of these words. He knew we sometimes need to hear “You are safe” more than once and in more than one way.

To continue with the previous example, when you cradle a frightened or hurt child in your arms, you keep murmuring reassurances, over and over, you instinctively rock them back and forth, and you do all that until the child is calm and at rest in your arms. You do not just say “It is all right” once then put the child on his feet—because you know that child needs to hear your voice and your words until calm returns. You know that child needs time in a safe place, time for heart rate and breathing to slow, and time for human touch to perform its God-ordained work. Just like that child, we need to stay in His presence, quiet and still, for a while.

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I believe (and this is a thought I approach with utmost reverence and respect) that somehow, in the spiritual realm, God comforts us when we are in His presence by giving us something of the essence of His Very Self. Somehow, when we come into contact with Him, our human spirit and our soul actually touch and are touched by Him and in that touching, He imparts part of Himself, a bit of the essence of Who He is, just as a loving human father imparts something of his physical being to the child he cradles in his arms. We receive that from Him when we stop what we are doing and focus our whole attention on Him.

NOTE: After I had written the first draft of this blog post, I found similar thoughts in “Experiencing the Depths of Jesus Christ”, a book written by Jeanne Guyon in the latter part of the seventeenth century. How kind God is to us when we seek Him!

God could have made the Bible very short. He could have stated each command and principle one time and given only one brief illustration or story. But, no, like the Perfect Rabbi He is, He repeats things over and over and over, in a multitude of ways. He knows we sometimes need many words from our Heavenly Father, many reassurances, much cuddling, and much time in the secret place of His arms. So, He repeats truth by placing it in numerous places throughout the Bible and in some places, such as the psalms, He repeats a truth over and over, within just a few sentences, like in Psalm 91 when he repeats “I will. . . I will. . . I will. . . “.

Our seeking Him blesses Him. I personally believe that the main reason God tells us, repeatedly, to turn to Him and trust Him is because it benefits us and keeps us safe. Putting the other first is part of true love (I Corinthians 13) and sacrificial love is part of God’s nature (John 3:16).

I think it must also be that the act of giving us comfort and reassurances blesses God. It must be good and pleasant for God when we seek Him out for comfort, when He is the one we turn to when we hurt or are afraid or when a bully, like the enemy of our souls, has threatened harm. It must be a delight to His Father heart, like the surge of relief when you successfully kiss away the hurt of a boo-boo.

Because of the nature of love—and we know that God IS love—giving comfort blesses the One who gives it. God would never do anything from selfish motives but it is somehow built into the nature of things, the way that love works, that it is good for God when we turn to Him for our needs. Somehow, when we let God meet our needs, we do a good thing for Him. That is a jewel to ponder for the rest of this earthly life!

So, with that thought and keeping in mind what verses 1 and 2 teach, let’s examine verses 3 and 4.

Verse 3: “For [then] He will deliver you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.” (AMPC)

Notice the “For [then]” at the start of verse 3. To reiterate, all the promises in this psalm depend upon our doing our part, as God explains in verses 1 and 2.

“He will deliver you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence.” God delivers us from the traps of the enemy in two ways: from getting caught in the trap and freeing us after we have stepped into it. I was blessed to see that this was part of the sermon outline Charles Spurgeon used on this verse (The Snare of the Fowler by C. H. Spurgeon (blueletterbible.org)) The seven insights below are from that sermon by Pastor Spurgeon. I urge you to look up the entire sermon at the link given above.

In Psalm 91:3, Satan is depicted as attacking not with persecution and as a roaring lion (I Peter 5:8) but as a snake, an adder, . . . “creeping silently along the path, endeavoring to bite our heel with his poisoned fangs, and weaken the power of grace and ruin the life of godliness within us.”
The fowler (Satan) has numerous kinds of snares, suited for each bird.
The fowler carefully conceals his trap. The non-believer rushes into sin whereas believers are “taken by secrecy.” As Spurgeon says, if the devil knocked on our door “with his horns visible” we would not let him in, but we too often welcome him in when he comes dressed as a gentleman.
“The fowler’s snare is frequently associated with pleasures, profit, and advantage.” Satan makes sin look like fun and look like it will be good for us.
Sometimes the fowler uses the force of an example, a “decoy duck”. The enemy does not send an outright sinner to lead us astray. Rather he “. . . makes use of a man who is pretendedly religious, and who looks to be of the same quality as yourself, and therefore entices you astray. . .” Then if that man goes astray, I am easily trapped in the same snare. “Be careful of your companions. . . follow them no further than they follow Christ. Let your course be entirely independent of everyone else.”
Also, Spurgeon notes that sometimes when the fowler cannot “take his bird by deceit and craft, he will send his hawk into the air to bring down his prey. He will go “a hawking after his prey.”
Finally, sometimes the fowler uses all his tactics at once so that the “bird is beset on every side.”

And from the deadly pestilence (AMPC) or “deadly disease” (NIV). Even without being a historian, I know that in Bible times all types of disease, including many types of plagues, were more common. It is easy to see why Holy Spirit moved on the psalmist to include this promise, is it not? Even though we live in a fallen world, surrounded by temptations and sin, sickness, and death, as we seek God, He delivers us and gives us victory and the peace that comes from God and which is part of God Himself. Take heart, fellow pilgrim! In His presence is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11)! His Word guides us into experiencing part of, while here on earth, the greatest blessing of eternal life—being in the presence of God Himself. Selah, oh, selah!

Verse 4. [Then] He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings shall you trust and find refuge; His truth and His faithfulness are a shield and a buckler.” (AMPC) (NIV says shield and rampart.)

Then He will cover you with His pinions.” The first four verses suggest a process, steps we can take with God. (1) We make God our home and (2) trust in Him with confidence, (3) then He delivers us from Satan’s snares, (4) then He “covers us with His pinions” . And, (5) from that place under His outstretched wings, we are empowered to truly trust and find refuge.

Notice that in Verse 2 we say “God is my refuge” and we trust in Him, but Verse 4 says then we shall trust and find refuge. To find refuge means we have to look for it. We have to take action. To put it another way. . .

See the source image I think it is like God, using the metaphor of a bird, stretches out His wings over us and the outermost edges of his wings, His pinions, overshadow us. Remember, verse one says we are under the shadow of the Almighty. Then, like a tiny chick snuggling in as close as possible to the mother hen’s body, once we are safe in the shadow of His presence, if we keep snuggling in closer to Him, then we will find the refuge we seek.

It is like a fuzzy little chick running to its mother when danger approaches. That chick is not safe until the running its little feet are doing positions it under her pinions—the feathers she is stretching out to protect him. And that chick is not truly safe until he snuggles in close to mother hen’s body where, even if the attacker continues to pursue, the chick will be safe while the mother hen defends against the attacker. I have never raised chickens but I am sure a mother hen will fight to her death to protect a chick under her wings.

In my opinion, because God is so merciful and compassionate and loving, He overshadows and protects us when we love and serve Him, but when we press in even closer, He gives us deeper trust and peace. A child who runs to her father when she is afraid benefits greatly just from his nearness but she benefits from the full measure of his love and fierce desire to comfort her only when she has flung herself on him and wound her arms around his neck.

“His truth and faithfulness are a shield and a buckler.” I believe this sentence suggests two ways that God shields us. (1) God protects us because of His nature—He is by nature faithful to His children and His covenant with them–and (2) He also protects us by giving us the ability to remember His nature.

When we have had experiences where God delivered us, we begin to understand His character, and then we can trust Him because He is always, always, always faithful. This is what Psalm 9:10 promises:

“And they who know Your name [who have experience and acquaintance with Your mercy] will lean on and confidently put their trust in You, for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek (inquire of and for) You [on the authority of God’s Word and the right of their necessity.] (AMPC)

A little girl playing in the back yard who has run into her father’s arms to get away from the over-excited puppy chasing her feels safe because her father has kept her safe before. She has known only love and comfort in His arms. I am sure beyond all doubt, dear friend, that you have found the same each and every time you have been aware of being in God’s presence, in His arms.

When I read the last half of verse four, another verse that talks about God shielding us comes to mind:

“The Lord is my Strength and my [impenetrable] Shield; my heart trusts in, relies on, and confidently leans on Him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoices, and with my song will I praise Him.” (Psalm 28:7, AMPC)

Other verses that speak of God being our impenetrable shield include Psalm 19:14, 28:7, 29:11. 46:1, 62:7, and 68:28. Pondering these verses and their context is a comfort.

A shield is a piece of defensive armor, and a buckler, according to some sources, is a small shield carried in the left hand and used to deflect blows from an enemy. Other sources say a buckler was a shield that completely covered the body. Regardless, the truth is that God’s protection is complete. He is all-powerful. (Job 42:2, Luke 1:37, and Jeremiah 32:17). And Psalm125:2 encourages us “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the LORD surrounds His people both now and forevermore.” (NIV)

When we exercise our faith in God, we are lifting up the shield of faith (Ephesians 6:16) and it will “extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (NIV).

Our heavenly Father is exceedingly loving and compassionate and “earnestly imprints on His heart” that we are frail, weak humans. (Psalm 103) We do not have to have perfect faith. We just have to try to trust and to run in His direction. If we do, then we will find His strong, loving arms outstretched to us, to scoop us close, and ever closer, under His feathers – until we can truly trust. May it ever be so, oh, our Father!

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Are you dwelling in the secret place of the Most High? – Psalm 91, Pt. 1

February 4, 2021ANXIETY, Bible teaching, DEPRESSION, ENCOURAGEMENT, HOPE, TRUSTING GODFreda Farmer

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand]. “I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust.

“The secret place of the Most High.” Hmm. . . I pondered, as I took a sip of half-caf, lowered the volume of the gentle piano music streaming on the computer, and leaned back in my chair. “Dwell” means to live permanently, to make someplace your home by living, eating, sleeping, and finding shelter. And what exactly is the secret place? I think I know but. . .

Do you have your own arsenal of Scripture? Psalm 91 is part of my arsenal of Scripture, the verses I deliberately keep fresh in my mind through repeated meditation and which I use every day when something threatens to steal my peace or my feeling of security in Jesus. I discovered this group of verses in the spring of 2019, when deep healing of life-long depression began. Many things, including Bible reading and study, prayer, Christian counseling, and medicine, all had helped greatly.

However, deep healing of the root causes of sorrow and discouragement did not happen until God helped me give His Word its proper place in my daily life and in my heart. Only when God taught me to diligently study His law, His precepts, instructions, and teachings and to meditate, to ponder and study them, by day and by night, (Psalm 1:1, AMPC), only then was I able to keep my emotions stable and to walk in victory. Only then could I trade my ashes for beauty, my mourning for joy, and my spirit of despair for a garment of praise (Isaiah 61:3, NIV)

Peace and security in the secret place. The biggest causes of depression for me–the ugly roots that caused death and decay– were fear and insecurity. Two years ago while memorizing Psalm 91, I realized that the powerful promises of Psalm 91 were dependent on what I did, like dwelling, trusting, making God my refuge, and loving Him. Part of the reason the Word helps me so much, I think, is that verses like this give me something to “do” and the confidence that if I do my part, God will certainly do His. For example, keeping Psalm 91 in mind, I did the best I could to stay in God’s presence all day long and as I did so, even though I was mired in the mud of negative feelings at the start, I kept reminding myself that God would do His part and that no foe could withstand His mighty power (Psalm 91:1, AMPC). That brought a small, but ever-increasing measure of peace and security.

I felt little difference at first but by day by day, week by week, my faith in God’s promises grew as I saw Him deliver me one hour, one situation at a time. When we do our best to obey God, God does good things for us. Hebrews 11:6 in the NIV tells us “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He reward those who earnestly seek Him.”

The “thens” of Psalm 91. A clear example of how God rewards us for seeking Him is found in Psalm 91. The AMPC has this footnote for Psalm 91: “The rich promises of this whole chapter are dependent upon one’s meeting exactly the conditions of these first two verses.” Before we examine verses 1 and 2, let’s look into those rich promises. The “thens” that follow verses 1 and 2, along with the “becauses” in verses 9 through 16, (using the 1965 Amplified Bible) highlight those promises, as follows:

IF I dwell in the secret place AND SAY God is my refuge AND TRUST in Him (verses 1 and 2)

THEN God will “deliver me from every trap” (NLT),
THEN He will cover me,
THEN His “faithful promises will be my armor and protection”,
THEN I will not be afraid of anything evil, at any time,
THEN “No evil will touch me” (NLT) though people fall all around me. (phrases in parentheses are from the NLT)

. . . the “because” point the way to promises, too . . .

BECAUSE I make God my refuge and dwelling place (which repeats verses 1 and 2), “no evil will conquer me”, (NLT) and that is true because “He will order His angels to protect me wherever I go” (NLT)

and finally. . .

BECAUSE I love God and trust in His nature, He will rescue me, protect me, answer me, honor me, give me a long life, and show me His salvation, which includes deliverance, as well as redemption from sin through the blood of Jesus.

So, let’s begin pondering this beloved psalm, often called the soldier’s psalm. Let’s explore what those essential first two verses instruct us to do.

Verse 1: “He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand].

Dwelling in the secret place of the Most High. In considering what “dwelling” meant, I turned to John 14, a passage that speaks of dwelling. In John 14, Jesus promised to send Holy Spirit—“Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart) because it does not see Him, nor know and recognize Him. . .“–but Whom the disciples would recognize because the Comforter lived with them and would be in them (meaning after Jesus ascended to heaven and Holy Spirit came).

Jesus promised that after His resurrection, His disciples would know, for themselves, that “I am in My Father, and you [are] in Me, and I [am] in you.” (v. 20). Jesus said that if they really loved Him, they would obey Him and He would show Himself to them and let them clearly see Him and He would make Himself real to them. That promise also applies to us, His current-day disciples.

Image result for Free Clip Art of Moving In. Size: 168 x 204. Source: www.clipartpanda.com When asked how He would reveal Himself to us and make Himself real to us—and not the world– Jesus answered that if someone loves Him, that person will obey His Word and Jesus and the Father will “come to him and make Our home (abode, special dwelling place) with him.” (John 14:23, AMPC). Jesus reiterated that if we really love Him, we will obey His teachings.

So, our love and obedience causes God to dwell, or live, in us and our love and obedience causes us to live in God and God in us. And His abiding in us is how He makes Himself real to us. So that means that He does not show, reveal or manifest Himself to the world—to those who do not love or obey Him. People who do not love and obey God do not think He is real.

His dwelling in us is hidden from the world. It is a secret, like the secret mentioned in Psalm 25:14: “The secret [of the sweet, satisfying companionship] of the Lord have they who fear (revere and worship) Him, and He will show them His covenant and reveal to them its [deep, inner] meaning.”

God’s hidden, or secret, companionship, God’s friendship, is promised to those who fear, revere and worship Him, which includes obeying His commands. As we just read In John 14, Jesus promised to make His home with those who love Him and do what He says. So where is this home? Jesus promised to make His home with “each” of us, so that implies to me that the “home” is in our individual hearts.

Child Whispering to Grand Parent I think this helps describe that “secret place of the Most High” of Psalm 91. It is a secret place, where no one else can see, a place created when we love and obey God. When we deeply love someone, we tell them they “have a place in our hearts”, right? So, that phrase must apply here. We give God a place in our hearts when we love Him and respond to Him, and He makes His home with us. He is always with us. We are His dwelling place. I think that must be like a cousin would make your residence his home if he moved in and became part of the routine of your family, if he had his own seat at the table and his own bed, and other members of your household included him in their daily activities. That cousin would be making your residence his home.

“the Most High. I think Scripture uses “Most High” here to remind us of this attribute of God, that He is “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” and that He is above, and in control of, every being that exists. “Most High”, or ‘El’Elyhon is saying that “God is the very highest of all spiritual begins to which humans give the title ‘god’. (https://namesforgod.net)

“shall remain stable and fixed”. The NIV and the NLT say that the one who dwells in the secret place shall “find rest”. I love the idea of finding rest in His presence, but remaining stable and fixed spoke more powerfully to me in the months when I was fighting desperately for emotional stability. “Stable and fixed” implies something is anchored in place securely and is unlikely to overturn or be changed. There is that security theme again!

“under the shadow of the Almighty.” “God Almighty” is from the Hebrew El Shaddai, meaning “God, the All-powerful One”. (www.compellingtruth.org). It comforts me to ponder the fact that this God, this Holy One Who is protecting me, is the most powerful Being that exists. He is THE Highest. and if I am in His shadow, that means He is above me, covering me, and because He is The Highest, He is covering me, shading me, from all things because He is above all things and He is All-powerful.

“whose power no foe can withstand.” How reassuring to hear that no enemy can stand against my God! “Withstand” means “to oppose or resist” (Webster’s 1828 online dictionary). Withstand also means to hold out against, or to stand one’s ground, as in the case of a battle. It also means to remain undamaged by, as when some structures withstand hurricane-force winds. I smile each time I repeat that phrase—“whose power no foe can withstand.”

I smile because, when I look closely, I see that it is the foe who will be unable to withstand, it is the foe who will be unable to hold out, it is the foe who will be damaged by the power of God Almighty, which means God Almighty is fighting my enemies for me! God is the One attacking. The foe is the one trying to not give ground and not be damaged and destroyed. Almighty God is going to move the enemy back, God Almighty is going to damage the enemy! The enemy will not be able to resist God Almighty! This verse did not say that God Most High can withstand all the power of the foe, although that is more than true. That would imply that the Most High was in a defensive position. No, to me it means that although God protecting us is a defensive action, from our human perspective, when God defends us He always gains ground against the enemy and defeats the enemy! God never, no never, no never fails!

Verse 2: “I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust.

“I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God.” Picture two nine-year-old boys building a fort in the woods bordering their back yard. They cannot lift a heavy log they want to use. One boy says, “Wait til my Dad gets home. He will move it for us. He can pick up anything!”

The boy says that because, in that boy’s experience, his Dad can lift anything the boy has needed. If I have sought refuge in God before, I know, by experience, that He keeps me safe and shelters me from danger. If I have experienced the security of being safe and unharmed in the Fortress of His love while the enemy warred against me, I too will say “the Lord is my refuge, my Fortress.”

This is another wording of the truth expressed in verse 14 of Psalm 91 and in Psalm 9:10, which is that those who are familiar with the character of God, through experience with His character, will trust in Him.

“They who know Your name (have experience and acquaintance with Your mercy and) will lean on and confidently trust in You, for You, Lord, have not forsaken those who seek (inquire of and for) You [on the authority of the Word and the right of their necessity.] (AMPC)

If I have seen, through experience, that He shows Himself strong on my behalf when I call upon Him (2 Chronicles 16:9), then I can say, with confidence, “The Lord is my Rock, my Fortress, and my Deliverer, my God, my keen and firm Strength in Whom I will trust and take refuge, my Shield, and the Horn of my salvation, my High Tower” (Psalm 18:2, AMPC). Then I will love Him “fervently and devotedly” and He will be my strength (Psalm 18:1, AMPC)

“on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust.” To lean, as a verb, means “to incline, deviate, or bend from a vertical position; to cast one’s weight to one side for support. MacMillan’s dictionary also says it means to “to tend to choose or support something.” Decades ago, when I first made Jesus the King of my heart, I memorized Proverbs 3:5-6 and made it the guiding principle of my life. Although my meditation back then was not as deep as it is now, I clearly remember the first time I experienced that inner knowing that Holy Spirit had touched my mind with fresh understanding. As I was Image result for free picture of little girl sleeping reflecting on those two verses, having my evening devotions after tucking my daughter into bed, I realized that leaning on God, rather than my own understanding, meant to lean or depend on Him so much that if He did not come through I would fall, just like if I truly leaned on a crutch or a cane I would fall if the crutch or cane broke.

Experiences of God’s mercy are what empowers us to trust God with confidence, but we have to incline our heart, and our actions, toward Him and we have to walk, or live our lives, holding to Him and letting Him take the weight of our burdens and needs. Actually leaning on a crutch or cane requires me to lean forward, grasp it and take a step on my weak foot with the crutch bearing much of the weight. If I step out letting my weak foot support my weight, I am not really leaning. And I am further harming my own weak foot – and my own silly self.

Image result for free picture of check book I remember taking a quivering breath as I wrote out my tithe check that first time so long ago. There would not be enough money left to pay bills and buy groceries for my precious little one and me if God did not do something miraculous with finances. I had several tremulous days until I saw God steadily supply our needs, week after week, with specials on the foods we regularly ate, a unexpected reimbursement from insurance, invitations to dinner, and on and on and on. God did do miracles that month and every time I have needed a financial miracle–for the last forty years. We-can-depend-on-God! He-IS-faithful!

Confidence in God—and the matchless peace it brings—is built by acting in faith. I have a wonderful quote written on a post-it note, scotch-taped to the cubby above my desk: “We live by believing, not by seeing.”

We become confident that God will keep us “stable and fixed” in His presence as we actually try to do that. And wobbly first attempts to find His presence must be exceedingly precious in God’s eyes. How does a mother or father feel when their baby boy takes his first step? And when that baby says “Papa” and reaches upward, what does Papa do?

Faith grows in the furnace, in the fire, and in the flood. The next time a situation or your feelings seem overwhelming, act in faith, while you are still feeling overwhelmed. That is worth repeating: Faith grows in the furnace, in the fire, and in the flood. While you are closed in, it is hot, and you feel you are suffocating, make the effort to get alone with your heavenly Father for a few minutes. Remind your soul of His good qualities and of all the times He has taken care of you. Read the promises in Psalm 91 and rest in the peace of knowing that He will fulfill those promises for little old you if you make Him your dwelling place, by loving and obeying Him.

If you love Him and obey Him, He IS your dwelling place. He DOES live in you, and you DO live in Him. Your feelings and thought arrows from the enemy might lie to you, but if you are doing your part in one of the promises of God, God IS doing His part to fulfill that promise in your life. Let the truth of those promises from Jesus comfort you as the warm embrace of a father soothes a fearful, restless child. Find your rest in His presence, in just being with Him.

Next time, we will look into what God promises those who make Him their Refuge and their Fortress, those who lift up their hearts to Him and call on His name, those who run into His arms, like a little child crying “Abba! Father”! (Romans 8:15)

Image result for Free Picture of child Running into father's Arms. Size: 147 x 105. Source: www.youworkforthem.com

Are you truly seeking?

January 28, 2021Bible teaching, CHRISTIAN VALUES, ENCOURAGEMENT, HOPE, TRUSTING GODFreda Farmer

To seek – ‘to try to locate or discover” (www.thefreedictionary.com)

^“1Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are the undefiled (the upright, truly sincere, and blameless) in the way [of the revealed will of God], who walk (order their conduct and conversation) in the law of the Lord (the whole of God’s revealed will).

²Blessed (happy, fortunate, to be envied) are they who keep His testimonies, and who seek, inquire for and of Him and crave Him with the whole heart. (emphasis added)

³Yes, they do no unrighteousness [no willful wandering from His precepts]; they walk in His ways.” (Psalm 119:1-3, AMPC)

My conclusion after an initial exploration of what seeking God means is that truly seeking God takes time and diligent, focused effort. Here are the questions I explored and some conclusions I reached as I searched the Word.

Why do we seek God? Three of the many reasons are: He tells us to, it pleases Him, and we need the safety and blessings seeking Him brings.

God is looking for those who seek Him. How tender is the thought that the Creator and Sustainer of the universe looks over the whole earth for people who seek Him! “The LORD looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. “ (Psalm 14:2, NIV).

God eagerly longs to be gracious to us and show us mercy and loving-kindness (Isaiah 30:18.) when we put Him first, when we turn away from all “. . . idols—false gods [from anything and everything that would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life.. .”] (1 John 5:21, AMPC)

God keeps our human frailties in His mind with intense seriousness. In Psalm 103, David describes God’s blessings and His mercy and loving-kindness toward our sins and iniquities. Just like a father, God loves and pities those who fear Him because He knows how we are made: “He [earnestly] remembers and imprints [on His heart] that we are dust.” (verse 13-14). Think about that. He imprints–on His heart–the fact of our weakness. How often do you put your hand over your heart when you are deeply touched? Have you not, in deep sorrow for a loved one, felt actual physical pain in your chest? It must somehow be that God’s love for us actually affects His heart. Dear fellow believer, all I can say is “Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain.” (Psalm 139:6, NIV)

Because God knows how we are formed and what we need, He tells us to “Seek the kingdom of God above all else and live righteously” (Matthew 6:33,NLT) and we will have all that we need. Part of seeking the kingdom of God first is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5, NIV) It is wise to do this, to seek God—whole-heartedly. Psalm 14:2 in the Amplified tells me that we are wise and understanding when we seek God above all else.

²The Lord looked down from heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any who understood, dealt wisely, and sought after God, inquiring for and of Him and requiring Him [of vital necessity].

What does God mean by seek? To seek means to try to find someone or something. Webster’s 1828 Online Dictionary defines seek as “to go in search or quest of” and “to search for by going from place to place.” That implies effort, movement, and making progress toward something. We must make the effort to step out from our current position and then we must keep moving along, following the path that our pursuit creates. How often does the Word tell us to take action? We are told to put on God’s armor (Ephesians 6:11), to lay aside sin (James 1:21), and to trust God (Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalm 34:8). How often does the Word show us that following God is a process, that it is a journey along a path? 2 Peter 1:3-11 exhorts us to “make our calling and election sure”, to keep growing and work hard to add to our faith one godly quality after another. God describes the path of the righteous person in Proverbs 4:18 (NIV): “The path of the righteous is like the morning sun, shining ever brighter than the full light of day.”

Other facets of seeking. When you do a word search for “seek, inquire and require”, you find words like crave (2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 105:4) and yearn (Ezra 7:10, Psalm 84:2). And in everyday English, synonyms for seek include explore, pursue, follow, and to look high and low (like the Luke 15 parables of the lost sheep and the lost coins).

Clearly, when God says seek Him, He does not mean thinking about Him for an hour on Sunday and five minutes once in a while during the week.

Are you truly seeking the Lord? Do you desperately require Him, like the person in Psalm 77:2?

Why is “Inquire and require” associated with the word seek in the Bible? I am finding that the more I study the Word, the more I want to study the Word. One fruitful method is pursuing the explanatory words and phrases in the Amplified Bible, which include ideas speakers of the original language would have understood implicitly. For example, when I noticed that “inquire and require” appeared often after the word “seek”, I entered “seek, inquire and require” into the search window in BibleGateway.com.

I found that there are two ways to inquire– to “inquire of and for the Lord.” God caused King Artaxrexes to give Ezra all that he asked BECAUSE “. . . Ezra had prepared and set his heart to seek the Law of the Lord [to inquire for it and of it, to require and yearn for it] and to do and teach Israel its statutes and its ordinances. (Ezra 7:10, AMPC).

To inquire of someone is to ask a question of that person. To inquire for someone is to ask to see that person. So, we ask God questions (we ask of God) and we ask to see Him (we ask for Him, for His presence.)

To require God means He is our vital necessity, something necessary for life itself. This was how David instructed Solomon to love God when he was commissioning Solomon to build the temple.

And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father [have personal knowledge of Him, be acquainted with, and understand Him; appreciate, heed, and cherish Him] and serve Him with a blameless heart and a willing mind. For the Lord searches all hearts and minds and understands all the wanderings of the thoughts. If you seek Him [inquiring for and of Him and requiring Him as your first and vital necessity] you will find Him; but ^[a]if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever

Stop and notice how David told Solomon to approach God. David told Solomon to get to know God personally, to understand Him (which requires a lot of interaction), and to recognize His worth, to obey Him and to cherish Him. David told Solomon to do that BECAUSE God understands every single thought and BECAUSE if Solomon loved God that way, then he would be blessed.

And notice that this is how King Asa began his reign. Asa did what was good and right in the eyes of the LORD his God (2 Chronicles 14:2, NIV), he removed idols from the land “ and in verse 4 “commanded Judah to seek the Lord, the God of their fathers [to inquire of and for Him and crave Him as a vital necessity] (emphasais added), and to obey the law and the commandment.”

When something is vital to our survival, like air and water and food, we pursue that above all else. Is God your vital necessity?

We can seek God with confidence based on our needs and the authority of the Word. One chain of thought always leads to another when you plunge into the Word. What an unavoidable blessing! In pondering the previous verses, I saw a diamond of a promise in Psalm 9:10—that after I have personally experienced God’s mercy, I will be able to trust Him with confidence because I know He never forsakes me when I rely on His Word for my needs.

These two concepts—our needs and the authority of God’s Word—are paired in these other verses given below. These verses show me that God will take care of me, will supply my needs and deliver me, when I have a need and when I approach Him on the authority of His Word.

“The authority of God’s Word” is an extremely broad and deep topic about which I have only a partial understanding. Here, in the verses below, I believe it means that we are living in the authority of God’s Word when we are doing our utmost to believe and do what He has told us to. So this means to me that I must obey and seek God with all my heart for His Word to operate, with authority, in my life.

Read these verses below and be amazed at what that blessed way of life includes.

Psalm 27:8–You have said, Seek My face [inquire for and require My presence as your vital need]. My heart says to You, Your face (Your presence), Lord, will I seek, inquire for, and require [of necessity and on the authority of Your Word].

Psalm 34:4—I sought (inquired of) the Lord and required Him [of necessity and on the authority of His Word], and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. (I especially love this verse because it says God delivered the psalm writer from ALL his fears!)

Psalm 34:10–The young lions lack food and suffer hunger, but they who seek (inquire of and require) the Lord [by right of their need and on the authority of His Word], none of them shall lack any beneficial thing.

Lamentations 3:25–The Lord is good to those who wait hopefully and expectantly for Him, to those who seek Him [inquire of and for Him and require Him by right of necessity and on the authority of God’s word].

Notice that Lamentations 3:25 comes after Jeremiah has recalled his great afflictions and then in verses 22 through 24 Jeremiah turns to remembering the reason he has hope:

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.”

Dear friend, I, too, say that God is my portion. He is more than sufficient. He is all I need and more, just like a heaped-up plate at a sumptuous banquet. I am satisfied with Him, so I will truly seek Him, and I will wait for Him – with confident expectation!

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Can you truly trust?

January 18, 2021ANXIETY, DAILY LIFE, ENCOURAGEMENT, HARD TIMES, HOPE, TRUSTING GODFreda Farmer

My most used Bible. For most of December 2020, my 1964 Amplified Bible, which my beloved earthly father carried to church each Sunday, sat on the little table next to the rocker by the window, left open each day to the two pages displaying Psalm 32:4 through Psalm 35:3. Cracked edges around the cordovan faux leather cover, loosening binding, and spotty yellow glimmers on page edges that once were gilded tell its age. This is my most used Bible, the one I read morning, night and in between, the one that has the markings most meaningful to me, markings made in the first hours of my day when seeking God for strength to do what I could not do, and markings made in the last waking hours of my day when thanking God for His faithfulness and, by faith, finding His peace for a troubled heart. For most of December, I read these two pages several times each day, gleaning fresh strength and comfort every single time. Why?

How has your life been lately, dear friend? December 2020, and much of 2020 itself, has included vexing trials for many, many people, for many valid reasons, including me. In addition to the holiday blues, effects of the covid-19 panic, and the APPARENT AND TEMPORARY victory of evil in our nation and our world, I had a new personal challenge. And the new personal challenge, on top of the other accumulated stress, overwhelmed me. But through it all, through this whole month and a half of dark valleys, I have found fresh solace in the truths of God’s Word, especially truths I learned from Psalm 33:18-22 – that trust leads to joy, and joy leads to peace, the deep peace that comes from conscious awareness of His presence, that peace we cannot explain (Philippians 4:7).

Cause and effect . . . obedience and blessing. During this past month or so, in the midst of cheery Christmas songs and happily decorated houses, in the midst of suggestions for New Year’s resolutions, I have fought hard not to worry and to have faith. And I have been pondering what it means to really trust God.

One truth about trusting God became clear as I studied verses 1 through 7 of Psalm 21–God keeps us in peace because we keep our thoughts on Him and because we trust Him. In verse 1 David finds joy in God’s strength because God has blessed him and given David His presence. And that happened because David had trusted, relied on, and been confident in the Lord. In cause-and-effect order, this chain of truth might be stated:

(verse 7) David trusted, relied on and was confident in the Lord. So,

BECAUSE OF THAT

he was blessing others and he was exceedingly glad with the joy of God’s presence (verse 6), and

BECAUSE OF THAT

David was rejoicing and feeling strong in God (verse 1),

The fruit of trust. This chain of thought reinforces the truth of another verse that I repeat many times each day, the blessed promise in Isaiah 26:3–God keeps us in peace because we keep our thoughts on Him and because we trust Him.

I know what it means to keep my thoughts focused on someone or something, but what does God mean by trust? The Bible shows that trust means “to commit, lean, and hope confidently.” The clarifying phrases in the Amplified Bible (those words set off with parentheses, brackets, and dashes+) show what people speaking Hebrew or Greek would have understood was meant in the original writing. Thus when Isaiah 26:4 says “So trust in the Lord— commit yourself to Him, lean on him, hope confidently in Him. . . “, that is where I see that trusting in God means to: commit myself to Him, to lean on Him, and to hope confidently in Him.

The words “commit, lean, and hope confidently” clarify that trust requires action. It requires commitment, and it requires leaning on and hoping confidently in God. I may have faith that a chair will support my weight, but I trust that chair when I actually sit in it.

Trust, joy, and the peace of His Presence. During these difficult last few weeks, I have tried hard to trust God, “. . . with all my heart and with all my soul and with all my strength” (Deuteronomy 6:5, NIV). Why? To stay out of the pit of depression! I am working on a book about it and I wanted to be able to say that I stayed in victory after God had shown me what to do. And that was so for about a year and a half, by His grace! However, this past few weeks I kept stepping into the snare of worry and the symptoms of depression began popping up. What kept me moving forward, though I was slogging through muddy emotions, was the truths of God’s Word, and one passage in particular.

Image result for free picture of cup of coffee in hands One morning in early December, sitting in the rocker by the window, chilled hands cuddling a cup of half-caf, I discovered Psalm 33:18-22, another passage about trust. Since that morning, my favorite Bible has been open to that passage. The truths it contains have been my anchor through many desperate moments lately. What do these verses mean to me, and to you?

Psalm 33:18. Behold, the Lord’s eye is upon those who fear Him [who revere and worship Him with awe], who wait for Him and hope in His mercy and loving-kindness. When the despicable, toothless lion of fear roars, just reading the words that “God is watching me” calms the fear and stops the worry. It gets my thoughts off of whatever caused the worry and turns my attention to the fact that God–is–here. As I keep my mind fixed on that truth by continuing to think about it, by meditating on it, I start feeling God’s peace. Then, like an undercurrent, comes the thought “Surely God IS with me right now, right here, because I do treat Him with reverence and respect, I do love and adore Him, and I do hold Him in awe. So this verse applies to me, little old weak me, right here and right now!”

How many times in the Word does God begin His messages to His loved ones by reassuring them that He is right there with them? Everything is harder to deal with when we feel alone. The Word tells us in many places that we are never alone, that God is always with us and will always, always, always be with us, no matter what. And what is one reason why is He watching over us?

Verse 19: “To deliver them from death and to keep them alive in famine.” This “death” God is watching over us to save us from is not just physical death but also “the effect of wickedness and sinfulness upon the natural human heart and soul in the sight of God.” (p. 134, Wilson’s Dictionary of Bible Types, 1957, Eerdmans Printing, Grand Rapids.) God watches over us so that He can set us free and deliver us from the effects of sin. That means He watches over me so that He can set me from the consequences of my wrong thinkings as well as my wrong doings.

That reassures me that even when I get bogged down in stinking thinking, even when I lose my self-control, even when my outer life looks like a neglected mess, that He is going to set me free from the effects of living in this fallen world, those things of the flesh that I cannot control no matter how hard I try because I am not perfect. And as far as my physical needs, God promises I will have more than enough. That promise is true even though the world might be in a time of lack or famine.

Verse 20. Our inner selves wait [earnestly] for the Lord; He is our Help and our Shield. To me, this says that I can wait intensely, with all my heart, for the Lord. Picture a five-year-old, waiting at the door for Papa to return because Papa promised a trip for ice-cream when he came home. Like that little child waiting for a delightful promise that he knows will be fulfilled, when I am troubled or in trouble, I can stand by, I can wait. And while I wait there, like a child by the front door at 5:15, I can intentionally focus my thoughts and my feelings on the Lord. I can wait earnestly, knowing that my Father is coming and will do what He has promised me.

“He is our help and shield.” I can wait patiently, like that little child, because I know God will help me, and I know He will shield me. God helps me, which means He makes my life easier. God is also my shield. A shield is something that protects you from harm, which includes danger and unpleasant experiences. God knows the enemy’s plans, and He reassures me in John 16:33 that He will protect me from harm.

Image result for free picture of biblical shield A shield protects a person by absorbing the impact of a weapon and preventing the weapon from penetrating to reach the one who is being shielded. Lately, Holy Spirit has been highlighting verses for me on how impenetrable God is. With God as my shield, my protection is absolute, complete, total, utter and not diminished in any way. And I find great comfort in Psalm 29:11 “The Lord will give [unyielding and impenetrable] strength to his people; the Lord will bless His people with peace.” (AMPC)

God Himself, Who IS our impenetrable shield, will give us that same impenetrable strength, which includes strength that is impenetrable to temptation, like my tendency to worry and slide toward discouragement and depression. Impervious is similar to impenetrable, so See the source image visualize water running off a duck’s back or water running down a concrete driveway. The strength God gives us is unaffected by temptation, untouched by circumstance and situation, deaf to the enemy’s lies and roars, closed to evil, and unmoved by trials, hardships, distress, and sufferings! If we are a child of the King of the world, we have His royal blood flowing in our veins and we have His strength—that mighty, invincible, all-powerful strength of God Himself–working in us.

Spend some time feasting on verses about the impenetrable strength of God. Look up these verses in the Amplified Bible: Psalm 19:14; Psalm 28:7; Psalm 29:11; Psalm 46:1; Psalm 62:7; and Psalm 68:28. Selah, selah, selah!

Verse 21: For in Him does our heart rejoice, because we have trusted (relied on and been confident) in His holy name. Notice that the “for” connects verse 21 with verse 20. We are empowered to wait earnestly and confidently for Him, knowing He will help us and shield us, because of verse 21. And verse 21 explains another power-packed promise, another blessed chain of cause and effect. I can wait confidently for God BECAUSE my heart finds joy in Him and I have joy in Him BECAUSE I have relied on and been confident of His name, Notice the same pattern that is in Psalm 21:1-7? When we trust, rely on and are confident in the Lord, God gives us His presence, we bless others, we are glad and we feel strong in the Lord.

7 Attributes of God Notice also that we trust in His holy name, which means His nature or His attributes. No one can adequately describe what God is like but He clearly tells us some of His qualities in the Word. God is all-knowing, all powerful, everywhere present, unchangeable, holy, and merciful, just to name a few of the facets of this Divine Being Who adores us and lavishes all good things on us when we walk uprightly with Him. (Psalm 84:11)

No wonder I am happy when I am depending on this Wonderful One! No wonder that I feel strong when I think about His strength! No wonder I feel loved when I think about His love!

Verse 22: Let Your mercy and loving-kindness, O Lord, be upon us, in proportion to our waiting and hoping for You. I interpret this verse as an extremely loving nudge from God, to motivate me to do what is right and what will protect my heart. I interpret it as saying that God’s mercy and loving-kindness will be poured out on me in proportion to how much I wait for and hope in God. That makes me want to wait and hope in Him, with every fiber of my being, even if it seems impossibly hard.

And as I search the Scriptures, I see this cause and effect in other places, such as Psalm 37:39-40. Verse 39 says to me that God rescues us and sets us free from harm when we are consistently righteous, when we do our best to stay in right standing with Him, and that He shelters us and keeps us safe during the difficulties we experience. Verse 40 explains why–“And the Lord helps them and delivers them; He delivers them from the wicked, and saves them because (emphasis added) they trust and take refuge in Him.” You can see the active aspect of trust here because “taking refuge” means to go to a place of shelter.

Trusting is hard but. . . Trusting is indeed hard. Fortunately, the more I know about God, the stronger my trust will be. Knowing that God is strong enough to take care of me helps me to actually lean my feelings, my heart, on Him, just like knowing about a chair helps me actually sit in it and let the chair, not my own legs, support my weight.

And how do I learn more about God, enough to truly trust Him? By studying and meditating on His Word. Romans 10:17 says, “So then, faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God” (KJV) We can increase our faith when we accurately perceive the nature of God as we listen to teaching about the Messiah and the freedom from sin that His blood makes available to us.

If I truly trust. . . If I truly trust that He will deliver me from all my troubles (Psalm 54:7), I can pray and ponder on the Word as I do the tasks of daily life, this one day, knowing that He is watching me, that He is right here with me, and He will deliver me from death, which includes all negative feelings. And I can wait, with confidence, helped and shielded by “The secret [of the sweet, satisfying companionship of the Lord. . . “ (Psalm 25:14), while He does the things I cannot do.

Safely nestled in the Rock of His presence, I can tell my soul that:

We are blessed when He trains us to keep ourselves calm. (Psalm 94:12)
Everything will turn out for our good (Romans 8:28)
God IS in control. Period. Absolutely. Completely. (Psalm 115:3; Colossians 1:16; Matthew 19:26 and many, many more)
Nothing surprises Him. Nothing.
- He has ordained each one of our days (Psalm 139:16-17) and
- God IS “. . . the Alpha and the Omega,
  - the First and the Last
    - (the Before all and the End of all). (Revelations 22:13, AMPC)
He is looking, right now, over the entire earth to strengthen His believing children.

“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen the hearts of those who are fully committed to Him. . . “ (2 Chronicles 16:9, AMPC)

WE—CAN—TRUST—GOD!!

Hallelujah!

Selah! Selah! Selah!!!

Look! The Lord my God is near!

December 10, 2020ANXIETY, DAILY LIFE, ENCOURAGEMENT, HARD TIMES, HOPE, Singable Bible Truth, TRUSTING GODFreda Farmer

“Look! The LORD my God is near. . . “ I untwisted my scarf, snugged it more closely around my neck and kept walking. The cool air felt good on my cheeks but stung my nose and bare fingers. Brown leaves tumbled over each other, scratching along the sidewalk in the intermittent breeze.

“Lord, help me have the right attitude about exercise. Help me not complain about needing to do so much walking and stretching and everything else. Help me just be grateful, Lord! Help me not be afraid about health. Help me overlook the discomfort. This body is Yours anyway, not mine! I will choose to rejoice in You and all You have done. . . ”

Image result for free picture of music notes I continued walking and began humming one of the 14 Christmas carols I had rephrased a year ago. To the tune of “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” I began:

[Verse 1] Look! The Lord my God is near, He will keep me safe from fear.

Though the enemy roar, God is king forevermore.

I submit to God’s great hand. He will lift me up to stand.

Casting all my care on Him, on His love I can depend.

Look! The Lord my God is near, He will keep me safe from fear!

“I can keep my heart controlled. . . “ As I walked, one of my stand-by verses floated into mind. “Thank You, Lord, for Your promise in Isaiah 26:3, that “You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on you, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.” So, Lord, because I know Your wonderful promise in verse 3, I am committing myself to You, I am leaning on You, and I am hoping confidently in You and I know You will strengthen me, for You alone are my source of strength (from Isaiah 26:4, AMPC).

[Verse 2] I can keep my heart controlled. God Himself indwells my soul.

I’m alert, and I watch out for the devil prowls about.

I resist him, I stand strong, though the trial might feel long.

In my weakness, He gives grace, so I rise and run my race!

I can keep my self controlled. God Himself indwells my soul!

My God covers me with peace. All my fears and worries cease! What are you struggling with right now? Dear friend, I do not know what might trouble you most right now. But I do know that in this Christmas season of 2020 the visible world overflows with the “tribulation and trials and distress and frustration” Jesus spoke of in John 16:33 (AMPC)

Your personal world might look overwhelming, too. Whatever you are facing, I pray that God pours out His mercy and loving-kindness upon you and your situation. I pray that He leads you to comforting passages in His Word.

Image result for free picture of meditating on the word I wrote these rephrased lyrics to “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” a year ago, when God was comforting and disciplining and instructing me, out of His law, so that He could grant me the power to keep myself calm and to find peace in hard times. (Psalm 95:12-13). At that time, I was learning the habit of constant meditation on the Word and His presence, which has consistently kept me far from the pit of depression. God is still training me and making me better equipped, through each trial. And He has done it through meditating on His Word.

[Verse 3] My God covers me with peace. All my fears and worries cease!

He will keep me in His rest as I think on what is best.

In my weakness, He is strong. He will keep me from all wrong.

I will walk with Him in love. I will keep my mind above.

My God covers me with peace. All my fears and worries cease!

“God Himself has full control. He Who rules earth rules my soul!” The small e-book “Carols for Consecration” (see the “Books and More” tab on this website) was written in the late fall of last year while I was desperately meditating on Scriptures about peace and security, while God was comforting and instructing me. “Carols for Consecration” contains 14 rephrased lyrics to beloved Christmas carols. The rephrased lyrics are filled with Biblical truths upon which I was meditating. A list of those verses is included in the book.

I pray Holy Spirit uses these rephrased lyrics to imprint His truths more deeply upon your heart. May Holy Spirit help you and me, more than ever, find delight in and desire the law of the Lord,

so that we habitually study and ponder His teachings and instructions,

so that we will be like a tree firmly planted and tended by streams of water, ready to bring forth fruit in its season (adapted from Psalm 1).

May we both declare, and know with certainty, that . . .

[Verse 4] God Himself has full control. He who rules earth rules my soul!

He will give me grace to fight. We will win o’er darkest night!

Nothing that attacks me stands, for He holds me in His hand!

God is faithful. He will save! This the banner that I wave!

God Himself has full control. He who rules earth rules my soul!

In this season, when we celebrate Jesus, our reason for living, let us “make a joyful noise to the Lord, serve Him with gladness and come before Him with singing (Psalm 100:1a, 2, KJV). Our God is good! Life is indeed hard, but our God, the God who made heaven and earth, our God is, INDEED, good! Let us “give thanks unto the Lord, for He is good; for His mercy and loving-kindness endure forever! (Psalm 118:1,AMPC)

May we “speak to one another with psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:19a, NIV)
May we “sing and make music from our hearts to the LORD (Ephesians 5:19b, NIV), “for He is good!”

Image result for free picture of victorian carolers

Our never, never, never failing God

December 1, 2020ANXIETY, Bible teaching, DEPRESSION, ENCOURAGEMENT, HOPE, TRUSTING GODFreda Farmer

_{“. . . be satisfied with what you have for He, (God) Himself, has said:}

_{I will not, in any way,}

_{fail you,}

_{nor give you up,}

_nor_{leave you without support.}

_{[I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not]}

_{in any degree}

_{leave you helpless,}

_nor_{forsake you,}

_nor_{let you down}_{[relax My hold on you]}

_{Assuredly not!}

_{So, we take comfort and are encouraged and}_{confidently and boldly say:}

_{The LORD is my helper.}

_{I will not be seized with alarm.}

_{[I will not fear}

_{or dread}

_{or be terrified]}

_{What can man do to me?”}_{(Hebrews 13:5-6 AMPC) (Emphasis added to words in bold and underlined)}

_{“Nana, can we play outside afta’ you exacise?”}_{I smiled down at my grandson and gently stroked the back of his head.}_{“ Of course, darlin’.”}

_{Pondering the Word. I watched him put his Garfield water bottle and hoodie into one of the red and yellow cubbies lining one wall of the playroom, then walk over to the table where the childcare worker was tracing little hands onto white paper plates. I smiled. I knew what Ansel would proudly give me in an hour and a half when I finished my “exacise”.}

_{“Thank You, Father, thank You, thank You, thank You that I live close to my grandsons. Thank You for the privilege of helping care for them.”}

_{I walked down the hall and into the kitchen area, filled my own, non-Garfield, water bottle and added an energy/vitamin powder. The familiarity of the kitchen and lounge area of the big, window-walled YMCA enveloped me. A twenty-something woman sat in one of the cushy chairs near the silenced TV, yellow baby blanket draped from shoulder to lap, caressing little feet in tiny lace-topped socks as she talked to another mom opening snack boxes of grapes and cheese for the two toddlers staring at the Cookie Monster.}

_{I nodded and smiled at the retired couple sitting at one of the four countertop-height tables. As usual, he was reading the paper and she was working the crossword, several copies of which were set out each morning for the many seniors who frequented the YMCA, some of us by choice and others of us, like me, to combat arthritis and keep some body parts from further loss of function.}

_{After putting my gym bag and water bottle into their usual spot in the corner by the rack of weights, I spread a mat on the floor, sat down cross-legged and put the stack of hand-written papers on the floor so I could look at them while I stretched my quads. For the next twenty minutes of stretching, I looked at the top paper in the stack, moving it from one side to the other as I twisted and turned, repositioning legs, arms and torso, reading one phrase, doing one stretch then glancing at the paper again to be sure I had that phrase right, then moving on to the next phrase as I held the next stretch for fifteen or so seconds.}

_{Two weeks earlier, I had started studying, desperately, Bible verses about peace, my area of greatest need. Heeding the sound teaching of Joyce Meyer and Derek Prince to take the Word of God like the medicine it is and to meditate constantly on verses in my areas of need, I had used a rickety card table as my desk, perusing the Word as if for a test. I copied the verses in longhand so I could carry them everywhere and use them as the sword and shield they actually are, to fight back against fear and other negative feelings.}

_{As I copied the verses, I put groups of phrases that went together, on a separate line, anything to help me deeply understand what God was saying and to ensure God’s imprinted Word came to mind when negative feelings surged. That little stack of handwritten verses had become my lifeline and that morning, while Ansel played and I stretched, lifted weights and then bicycled, I thought about what God was saying in Hebrews 13:5-6.}

_{The context of Hebrews 13:5-6.}_{Hebrews 13 opens with instructions about loving each other, practicing hospitality, and the surety of God’s judgement on adultery. Verse 5 begins with the warning to not love money, but rather to be satisfied with what you have because God would never fail or abandon us and that, because of that, we can confidently say “God is my helper, so I will not fear. What can people do to me?” (Hebrews 13:6, NLT) .}_{By God’s grace, thirty-plus years of experiencing His faithfulness had molded a trusting heart, and years of consistent effort to be thankful had molded a grateful heart. However, I was now desperately pondering God’s faithfulness to provide for my biggest need, which was emotional. I glanced at the page as I leaned sideways, arms overhead.}

_{“. . . be satisfied with what you have for He, (God) Himself, has said: . . . “}_{“So, satisfied means content, which brings to mind a cud-chewing, peaceful, cow, one that has ceased grazing and is not fretting about the next mouthful of grass, simply enjoying what she now has.}So, I reflected as I leaned to the other side, to be content emotionally I should relax where I am right now and stop searching. I inhaled deeply. And I can do that because God, God Himself, the Amplified version says, is making the rest of promises I have copied down. God Himself, the One Who created and sustains the entire universe, is here with me, He Himself. I repeated those words several times — “God Himself”.

_{“I will not, in any way, fail you nor give you up, nor leave you without support . . . “}_{“Father, those three beautiful words, “in any way”, cover everything. How reassuring! And You have, in every way, taken care of me and Sharon for so many years. And not just materially. You sent godly men to be father figures for her, kind-hearted people to initiate friendships in my years of painful shyness, the energy to finish school and get a good job, and a wonderful husband for Sharon. And then You brought me here to Austin when she had Ansel’s older brother.}

_{I paused as I flipped on my back for crunches. “Lord, I am certain that the words ‘in any way’ include healing my heart of depression and fear and teaching me to stay in peace, though that seems impossible right now. I choose to believe that, Lord. no matter my feelings.”}

_{. . . fail me, nor give me up, nor leave me without support. My margin note from Webster’s 1828 dictionary defined fail as “to become deficient, to decay or decline or to be entirely exhausted” (}_{http://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/fail). “Well}_{Lord, You are the exact opposite. You are all-sufficient, never-ending, ever the same, and without limits. Failing is impossible for You, and You say You will never fail me.}

_{And regarding giving up, that sounds like giving someone up to an enemy, and I know You would never do that, because the enemy of my soul is Your enemy. I need to ponder on that some more, but the promise of never leaving me without support brought hope and comfort the first time I saw it. You know, Lord, how often ‘I can’t do this!” comes to mind. In just the three days I’ve been pondering this verse You have already done something because now, as soon as that thought comes, this truth of Yours overrides the lie, and I think of You right beside me, helping me. Then I do not feel so alone or scared. I know that in You, with Your support, in any way I need it, I can do anything You want me to (Phillippians 4:13) and that includes sitting down with the bills, getting the car fixed, and hanging on to Your Word until depression is only a memory.}

_{[I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not.}_{I held the papers in my hand as I did leg extensions. “Bible teachers and preachers consistently say pay close attention when You repeat something three times, Lord. Thank You for focusing my attention on that. It speaks of the fierceness and determination of Your love for us. And it strengthens all of these promises.”}

_{“in any degree”}_{I know that degree can mean part of something or how much of something is present. It is also a term in geometry, like the smallest parts of an angle or circle. And Your Word has lots of references about how You encircle us or surround us or compass us about. That is another way of saying You have us completely covered.}

_{. . . leave you helpless, nor forsake you, nor let you down [relax My hold on you]. “}_{Lord, that is so comforting! You know how often I feel helpless and like everyone has given up on me. You know how dreadfully alone I feel sometimes. Help me hear, with my heart, how intensely You are saying in these verses that You will take care of every single aspect of every single thing I need.}

_{“Assuredly not}_{!” I put the papers on the floor by the biceps machine as I read the next phrase and thought: As if He had not already made it clear, with this “Assuredly not!”, God is reinforcing, like rebar undergirding concrete, everything He said before. He is saying that He will DEFINITELY take care of me.}

_{“So, we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say: The LORD is my helper. .}_{.” Hmm, that “so” is there because it connects these thoughts, meaning that everything in the previous verse, I am empowered to take comfort. And I notice the word “take.” God offers it, but I must take it. That is a choice. So, because of everything else God has just said, I can be comforted and encouraged . I can know God will help with whatever I am doing and I can have confidence to say boldly. . .}

_{I will not be seized with alarm. [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me?”}_{I pondered that phrase and the whole passage during the next thirty minutes on the recumbent bicycle. Then, I put my verses in my gym bag and walked toward the Child Watch room, pondering the phrase “seized with alarm.”}_{“Lord, that is what the fear feels like. It feels like someone has grabbed me. So, maybe that means if I give in to fear, if I think about the problems instead of You, the enemy uses fear to grab and control my heart. Help me think about that, Lord.”}

_{God Himself. . . I signed Ansel out then followed his eager feet down the hall to the playground. With him seated on the bench next to me, swinging his legs, I opened the package of cream-cheese and chives crackers and made a circle of the six crackers on the napkin in his lap. He leaned against my left shoulder, I opened my baggie of grapes, and we had our usual snack as we watched other children run up the ramps and giggle on the see-saw.}_{Grandfather oaks interlocked thick branches overhead, grackles flew under the shaded canopy from one tree to another, and butterflies zigzagged above the tall grass at the distant edge of the play area, all as familiar to me as my own bedroom.}

_{“And to Ansel”, I reflected. “He is at ease here with me. Although he cannot verbalize it yet, he feels safe and he is fully immersed in the moment. He is not afraid of anything here, he is not dreading anything, and if something does scare him, I will not let his fear turn to terror because I will take care of whatever has troubled his little heart. I will not let anything happen to him. I have the power to do that. He is safe and content because I have never, never, no never, failed him in any way. Assuredly not! And don’t I tell him over and over “I love you, I love you, I love you”? And don’t I show it a thousand ways?”}

_{A soft breeze whispered in my ear and I turned to the side to be sure the paper plate was securely nestled in the top of my open gym bag, safe from any gust of wind. I placed my hand over the little hand print traced in the center, encircled by paper flowers with white glue bulging around the edges.}

_{“Yes, Lord, and don’t You tell me You love me in a thousand different ways? And don’t You take care of me a thousand different ways? I will be content, Father, right here where I am, with You, with You Yourself. That is more than my mind can comprehend, Father. Thank You! Help me have more faith, faith like a little child.”}

Image result for free picture of childs hand in fathers hand

Complete and constant peace IF . . .

November 17, 2020ANXIETY, Bible teaching, DEPRESSION, ENCOURAGEMENT, HOPEFreda Farmer

In the midst of daily life, Holy Spirit speaks. Bzmmmmm. The floor-to-ceiling glaring-white machine rotated itself, and me, 45 degrees so the technician could record a different view of the heart. I closed my eyes again and took a long, slow breath, careful to stay still.

“Ten more minutes or so strapped into this device,” I thought. “Harumph! Help me have a good attitude, Lord!”

“Thank You for training me to meditate on Your Word. It helps in every situation! So, let’s start at the beginning of my verses again, with Isaiah 26:3-4.

“You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because He commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. So trust in the Lord—commit yourself to Him, lean on Him, hope confidently in Him—forever; for the Lord God is an everlasting rock—the Rock of ages.” (AMPC).

Hmm . . . “ the mind [both its inclination and its character]”. . . I opened my eyes and managed not to jerk upright only with effort.

“Lord, what does character of mind mean? I have repeated this passage how many times and I only now see this? I believe that “inclination of the mind” means what your thoughts are focused upon and that was my subconscious thought while meditating on this verse these many months, but what does “character of mind” mean?

Clear guidance. I was reviewing the first of the verses and passages I had memorized on my way to victory over depression last year. For the last three days, after completing the blog post for the week, I had wondered which of the many topics floating in my mind to start on for next week. I was wondering, that is, in brief snatches of time during the work of daily life, which now included extra time invested in health and thus, less time to write, some of the “troubles, trials, distresses and frustration” which Jesus said His followers would experience. I was indeed frustrated!

Image result for free picture of notes handwritten So many things I wanted to write! I desperately wanted to finish the book about depression but other topics, including blog posts on each verse I had memorized, had fluttered overhead like birds zipping across the high ceiling of a big building. Some writers, like me, have difficulty picking and completing one topic. But I recognized when Holy Spirit was getting my attention, like now, in the middle of the stress test. He was saying write about Isaiah 26:3-4. Now.

Complete and constant peace is possible. So, dear friend and fellow pilgrim, here we are, you and me, exploring God’s truth in Isaiah 26:3-4, the first weapon in my “spiritual arsenal”, that list of verses that opened the dungeon doors of depression and fear for me.

It helps me think deeply about the Word to put new thoughts on a new line and sometimes to put each word on a new line. Many months ago, as I pondered Isaiah 26:3-4, I wrote it in long-hand like this.

“You will guard him and keep him in

perfect and constant peace

whose mind [both its inclination and its character]

is stayed on You,

because

He commits himself to You,

leans on You,

and hopes confidently in You.

So trust in the Lord—

commit yourself to Him,

lean on Him,

hope confidently in Him—forever;

for the Lord God is an everlasting rock—the Rock of ages.” (AMPC).

Let’s look at each phrase and see what God might be saying. Remember, this is the Amplified version of the Bible, which has phrases other translations do not include. These phrases give the fuller, or amplified, meaning of words that modern-day readers do not understand but which speakers of that time would have automatically known was what the words meant. I find it extremely helpful to study and meditate using the Amplified. For a more detailed explanation as to why, please see the blog post “God’s Arsenal for Peace and Security”, October 1, 2020.

Isaiah 26:3-4. Two years ago, when I desperately needed peace, I studied verses about peace. I had not purposely memorized Bible verses for a long time and those hidden in my heart years earlier, including this one, had faded. I liked the essence of this verse that remained in memory, the concept that God keeps us in peace if we fix our minds on Him. So, I began studying this verse in more detail, through meditating on the clarifying phrases in the Amplified.

Image result for free Picture of Guard In Bible Times Guarding and keeping. “You will guard and keep. . . “ The first thing I noticed was that the verse said God would guard and keep our minds in peace, whereas the NIV, only said God would keep. It was reassuring to ponder that God would not only keep us in peace if we kept our minds fixed on Him, but He would guard us as well. To guard something or someone, is to protect or shield them from harm by keeping potential danger away. So that must mean God will not allow anything to damage my peace when my mind is focused on Him.

“Complete and constant peace”. The next phrase shows two aspects of the peace God promises: it will be complete, or perfect, and it will be constant. Complete peace would mean freedom from worry about any aspect of one’s life. One aspect of peace is freedom from struggle and fighting, and phrases similar to “He was given peace from his enemies round about” appear often in the Bible. So, if the nation of Israel was given peace on all sides, then maybe God is saying we will be free from attacks of worry, or fear or irritation any such thing, on all sides of our life, in each aspect of life, including health, family, friends, finances, our world, etc. That would be complete peace.

Image result for free picture of clock And, I reflected, constant means constant, sixty minutes each hour, twenty-four hours each day, seven days each week, and so forth until we see our loving Father face to face and, finally, no longer have to battle the world, the flesh, and the devil. That must mean there is a way to stay in peace all the time, so that means no dread at any time–no dreading hard mornings or exercise or the job or house cleaning, or anything! And that verse “A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.” (Proverbs 14:30). Life, life from God, the good life He planned for human beings, is a peaceful life, with us enjoying every day and staying in God’s presence every day.

Inclination of mind. “You will guard and keep in complete and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is fixed on You.” As I pondered “inclination of mind”, I thought about focusing and I thought about the psalm when the psalm writer asks God to incline His to him. To incline your ear to someone, you focus all your hearing powers on that person’s voice. And I know the earth is inclined, or tilted toward or focused, at a precise angle toward the sun and that angle causes the seasons of the earth. To me, that means our thoughts, our mind, is focused or pointed toward God. And that means I am to be consciously thinking about God—His innumerable good qualities, His love and power and goodness and strength, His loving ways, His faithfulness, and the things He has done for mankind and for me in particular. That leads to light and life and all good things.

Image result for free picture of earth tilted toward sun And I think that principle operates in my life only in those minutes and hours when my mind is focused or inclined, toward God, thinking about Him as the earth is inclined, tilted toward, the sun. If I incline my mind away from God, then my thoughts will start darkening.

The character of the mind. “Hmm. . . Lord, I know we develop character by repeating actions over and over and over, like that truism most people credit to Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Sow a thought, reap an action; sow an action, reap a habit; sow a habit, reap a character; sow a character, reap a destiny.”

So, just as our character, our “mental and moral qualities”, is shaped by what we repeatedly do and think, so is the quality or nature, the quality or character of our mind, shaped by what we repeatedly think and do?

Lord, I know that thinking on the Word all day long remakes our heart, but is the doing of that meditating, the habit of meditating, does that habit in itself also change the nature of the mind and how it works? Is that like if someone develops the habit of being patient by choosing, time after time, to wait quietly and calmly and then eventually they develop a patient character so that their automatic reaction to frustrating situations is to consciously stay calm?

I know that getting Your truths deep into my heart healed depression, but were You also changing how my mind actually works? Now, when problems arise Your Word immediately pops into consciousness. However, before You trained me in the habit of constant meditation on Your word, my mind consistently thought negative thoughts and my heart constantly felt negative emotions, not only when problems came.

Image result for free picture of calendar That is such an encouraging thought, to know that You have already changed at the fundamental, most basic level, how I think and act, that You have already begun forming a stronger, more Christ-like character of mind. That is encouraging because I know it took months of persistence on my part, but the change did happen. So I know that, as I continue to persist, these occasional flare-ups will become less and less as You continue to give me a stronger character of mind, Lord! Thank You!

“Fixed on Him.” And “fixed on You” would mean to always have You on my mind, as that old song says, so that not only do I consciously, deliberately think about You but also in the moments when my mind is not occupied with some task or some other thinking, there You are! It’s like being in love or being a new parent or being preoccupied with an enjoyable project. So, it is a choice but it is also automatic because of deep, all-consuming love, attraction, and pleasure.

. . . because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. Thank you, Lord, for showing me to ponder cause and effect links in Your Word, like here, and to study entire verses and passages. I see that You keep us in peace when we keep our minds fixed on You because we commit to You, lean on You, and hope confidently in You. I had always quoted just the first part “You will keep in perfect peace whose mind is fixed on You” (NIV) and forgotten the second part of the sentence. So I see that peace requires a trusting heart as well as a mind fixed on You. How had I overlooked that all those years?

So, trust in the Lord – commit yourself to Him, lean upon Him, and hope confidently in Him — forever. That word “so” is another connecting word, meaning “therefore” or “for this reason”. That “So” after verse 3 means that “because of verse 3, do verse 4.” Clearly, You are saying that trust is essential in this process of having peace.

And, as I look at verses 3 and 4 together, I see another example of how Your Word defines itself. In verse 3, You say You will keep us in peace as we keep our minds on You and commit, lean, and hope confidently in You. Then verse 4 says “So trust. . .” The Amplified version sets the next three phrases off by dashes, which signifies “additional phases of meaning included in the original word, phrase, or clause of the original language” (from the preface to The Amplified Bible, Zondervan, 1965.) So trust means to “commit ourselves to You, lean upon You, and hope confidently in You.” That shows me that the kind of trust You require is not some half-hearted thought or mindless repetition of a verse.

Rather, Your kind of trusting requires purposeful, focused thought and mental effort. You require trust like Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines it (as a verb) meaning “to place confidence in; to rely on”. The definitions of trust as a noun give even more clarity: “confidence; reliance or resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship or other sound principle of another person.” And perhaps Noah Webster also defined trust as “confident opinion of any event” and “credit given without examination” because he was mindful of how You meant it in Your Word. Your Word is used often in Mr. Webster’s 1828 dictionary!

Image result for free picture of picnic So, trusting You means committing to You, leaning, and hoping confidently on You. If I really trust the weather report (and wouldn’t I be a rare bird!) I will schedule a family reunion at an outdoor park, with no alternate location identified. Furthermore, I will bake beans, make potato salad, and ice cupcakes with confidence. I would thus commit to, lean upon and hope confidently in the weather report. So, if I really trust You I will go about my life with confidence and NOT WORRY! Oh, help me, Lord!

And You say we are to trust You that way for ever. Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines “ever” as “at all times; always; continually; eternally.” That leaves no exceptions, does it Lord?

“. . . because the Lord God is an everlasting Rock – the Rock of Ages.” And here is another connecting word. We are to trust You like that because You are our Rock. I had seen Scripture use rock as a metaphor for the Lord many times, which I knew from a footnote (I forget where) that says rock means a source of strength. And sure enough, that is how Webster’s 1828 defines rock: “defense; means of safety; protection; strength; asylum; and a firm or immovable foundation.” In looking into this, I saw that the website for R. C. Sproul clarifies that the meaning for this metaphor is multifaceted and that it “. . . tells us of the Lord’s stable, unchanging nature (Deuteronomy 32:4)” as well as “His strength and ability to safeguard His people, much as stone fortifications provide an excellent refuge from the elements and other dangers.” https://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/rock-ages/.

And Father, six days after starting this piece of writing, I see another truth: we are to trust You like You said so because doing so strengthens us. Phew! I need strengthening today, Lord, especially so thank You for fresh insight today. That is related to the thought that just as meditating continually on Your Word has made big changes in the character of my mind so will keeping my mind on You make me stronger. That is so encouraging, Lord. You really do know just how to encourage us and You know when we need it most. You are such a loving and good Father, Lord. Thank You for loving us like You do, with such understanding and such tender mercies!”

So, dear friend, in conclusion, when considering the whole chain of thought in Isaiah 26:3-4, I see that because our God is our Defender and our impenetrable place of refuge, He will surely guard us and keep us in complete and constant peace IF we keep our minds fixed on Him AND trust in Him, in the full, original meaning of those words. That is a guarantee from God, who cannot lie (Numbers 23:19, 1 Samuel 15:29) and whose promises are always yes.

“For no matter how many promises God has made, they are “Yes” in Christ. And so through him the “Amen” is spoken by us to the glory of God” (2 Corinthians 1:20, NIV).

Our Rock of Ages. Writing this has made me more aware of the fact that it is God who does the work here. Certainly, I have to “try” my best, but the bottom line, the reason we are to keep our minds fixed on Him and fully trust Him is because He will defend and protect us. That takes the emphasis off me and my fickle frailties as I visualize seeking refuge from a storm in the hollow of a huge mountain, as Augustus Toplady, writer of that great hymn “Rock of Ages” actually did.

The fiercest wind, snow or rain cannot penetrate into the cleft of a great mountain. That mountain, and that small, sheltered place within the side of the mountain, will be untouched by any storm. The mountain, and that small hollowed out place, stand firm. All I have to do is choose to walk into that place and stay there.

Rain through Bedroom Window As a native Floridian, I know the snug feeling of being safe inside while hurricane force wind howls and rain flings itself against buildings. In the storms of my life and each ordinary day of my life, I can let my mind be battered and pounded, or I can choose to step into peace, into the everlasting, almighty, merciful, and ever-loving arms of my Heavenly Father, as I fix my mind on Him and trust (lean, rely, and hope confidently in) Him. And in doing that, I can know He will give me strength for whatever I need. It will be His strength, not my own weak strength, and it will make His strength complete. (2 Corinthians 12:9)

And, I am thinking it must give God a special joy when we turn to Him with trusting hearts and let Him take care of us and bear our burdens, just like a loving parent is gratified when they can carry a tired child and snuggle them close in their loving arms. Oh, my Father! Let it ever be so! Amen.

Father Carrying Children

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