LIVING IN THE ARMS OF JESUS
Nahum 1:7,8 The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him, but with an overwhelming flood he will make an end of Nineveh; he will pursue his foes into darkness.
It is good to know our Lord and God is such a good God. There is nothing bad or evil about him. All that Satan is God is not. Satan, the powers of darkness and the evil of this world may try to make us think that there is nothing wrong with them and it is all God’s fault that we have troubles of all kinds, but they are all liers. The Bible even says that Satan is the father of lies. We can trust in the Lord. The Lord is another name for the Heavenly Father, the Son Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. God will discipline us like any good father will. He does it so we will have a happier life. It is not the discipline that makes us happy, but rather the fruit of the discipline. Once his discipline does its work then we will be less likely to do those thing that will only bring sorrow to us and to others. If we don’t steal, we will not experience guilt, cause others sorrow or experience punishment and shame. God would never discipline us if we only did what was right. God never tempts us to do what is wrong or certainly not sin. God will test us to see what our free will brings about, but never tempt us to sin. This is another reason why we should use the keys of Jesus’ Kingdom every day. We should ask the Heavenly Father to keep us from temptation, the powers of darkness and the evil of this world. (what we bind on earth will be bound in heaven) And we should pray that the Heavenly Father will help us to have a good day, a happy day and enjoyable day. (what we lose on earth will be loosed in heaven) We should ask him to be with us, and help us to feel his presence and enjoy him. We should look for him to move in our life and interact with him during our day.
Jesus loves us so much. He considers us to be his Bride. It is his joy and pleasure to bless us. All he asks us is to trust, obey and of course love him. Unfortunately Christians have troubles like the rest of the world. But we can count on the Lord to help us in those times. He will be a refuge for us as we go to him and hunker down in his protection and provision. Whether it is a spiritual or physical attack on us the Lord is more than able to help us. Sometimes it a matter of taking the trouble away, and other times helping us to get through the trouble. Either way the Lord will not forsake us. He is not afraid of Satan, the powers of darkness or the evil of this world all at once. There is no power greater than the Lord. The Bible tells us the Heavenly Father has placed everything under his feet. Satan, the powers of darkness and the evil of this world could not conquer him when he came to earth and they never will. As long as we trust in him we have nothing to fear. Jesus is the lover of our souls and he will never leave us or forsake us.
Our only danger comes when we wander off from him. This can come in many different ways, at any time in a Christian’s life or levels of maturity. We wouldn’t think that it would be possible or likely for a mature Christian to wander off from the Lord but this can be one of the most dangerous times. When we are new Christians and really know so very little about the Bible or the Lord, we have a tendence to be like a little child hanging on tight to their parents leg in a crowd of people. As we grow in the number of years as a Christian we can become disenchanted because of the pastor, demands put on us or even policies of the church or denomination. We take our eyes off of Jesus and put our attention on these things and start to get itchy feet, moving from church to church and findly just coming to the notion that we don't need the church to be a Christian any way. We miss more and more worship time and start focusing on more and more of me time. Before we know what has happened, our passion and hope in Jesus has almost disappeared from our life. It wasn’t a set decision, but rather a drifting away. We see this very thing happen in many marriages that end in divorce for no real apparent reason. We would think that with maturity we would be less likely to wander off from the Lord. Sadly this has even happened to many pastors. With the increase of knowledge we often start looking to ourself where we first looked to Jesus for the help. It is not that we have become arrogant regarding needing Jesus help, but it is more like the little child that no longer wants or allows their parent to tie their shoes. How many of us have heard this from our child only to see them struggle to get it tied correctly.
While this may not be of much significance regarding shoelaces, it can be a big thing in the spiritual since. One of the biggest things that most mature Christians fail to recognize is the glory. When we do it who must get the glory? We do! But you may be thinking, “I don’t give myself the glory.” We may not give ourselves the glory outwardly, but we are not able to give it to Jesus either. Just as the little child doesn’t tell themselves thanks for tieing their own shoes, they can not thank their parents either. We rob God of the glory when we no longer are dependant on him. It is so easy for the mature pastor that has preached hundreds of sermons to start writing one out due to experience and knowledge. Where once they cried out for a message to bring, now with maturity or longevity comes the cry, “I can do this!” But where is the anointing, the guidance, the insight that the people needed to hear? They needed to hear from God, not their pastor!
But it doesn’t have to even be a pastor regarding drifting away from the Lord in maturity. It can happen to the Sunday School, the musicians, secretaries, the person in the pew. With maturity can often come the attitude of “I can take over now. I don’t need to bother you any more.” As a pastor I have had people tell me that I didn’t need to pray for them, because the matter was too small to bother Jesus with. Was it ever too much of a bother to help your child tie their shoes or your aging parent with fingers full of arthritis? Never! It was more of a hurt to see them struggle to do it themselves when you wanted to bless them with help. So it is with the Lord! God is a good and wonderful God. He will never change. The only reason he will not help us is when we refuse to ask him. After all James 4:2 tells us that we have not because we ask not. We wander off, because we want too. God will always respect our free will. He will never stop doing this. Our ability to love him requires us to have a free will, and he desires our love more than anything we can give him. I don’t know about you, but I would just as soon stay in my Shepherds arms!
Prayer: Lord Jesus, thank you for loving us so much, and wanting to help us with all our needs. You are the mighty fortress that we can run to. Please help us to never leave your loving arms. We ask this in your holy name.
