I Am The LORD Who Helps

"I am the one who helps you, declares the LORD." Isaiah 41:14

This morning let us hear the Lord Jesus speaking to each one of us: I will help you.

It is but a small thing for Me, your God, to help you. Consider what I have done already. What! Not help you? Why, I bought you with My blood. What! Not help you? I have died for you; and if I have done the greater, will I not do the less? Help you! It is the least thing I will ever do for you; I have done more, and will do more.

Before the world began I chose you. I made the covenant for you. I laid aside My glory and became a man for you; I gave up My life for you; and if I did all this, I will surely help you now. In helping you, I am giving you what I have bought for you already. If you had need of a thousand times as much help, I would give it to you; you require little compared with what I am ready to give. It is much for you to need, and perhaps difficult for you to ask, but it is nothing for me to bestow. Help you? Fear not! Here you stand at the door of My all-sufficiency. I will help you. It is my heart’s desire to help you.

O my soul, is this not enough? Do you need more strength than the omnipotence of Jehovah? Do you want more wisdom than exists in the Father, more love than displays itself in the Son, or more power than is manifest in the influences of the Spirit? Bring here your empty pitcher, bring here your empty heart and spirit! Surely this well shall fill it. Hurry, gather up your wants, and bring them here--your emptiness, your woes, your needs. Behold, this river of God is full for your supply; what else can you desire?

Go forth, my soul, in confidence, in faith, in obedience, in trust. The Eternal God is your helper!

Fear not, I am with you, oh, be not dismayed! I am your God, and will still give you aid. 

(Encouragement from the pens of Charles Spurgeon, Alistair Begg and Connie Grosse)

A Letter From Your Heavenly Father On Mercy

"Blessed are the merciful for they shall receive mercy." Matthew 5:7

My blessed children,

Do you know that I love you with an everlasting Love and that my love does not keep score? I am so rich in MERCY because of my great love for you.

Today and always, I want all of you, therefore, to come boldly unto the throne of grace, that you may obtain MERCY, and find grace to help you in the time of your need. These BE-attitudes that I have given you are undeserved and unexpected, and well...a little outrageous.

You see, My GRACE is immeasurable. My MERCY is inexhaustible and My PEACE is inexpressible. If that isn't enough to keep you, I have more for you. I have NEW MERCIES for you EVERY MORNING.

I am ready to forgive you because I am a good GOD and abundant in MERCY to all those who call upon Me. Because you are MY chosen ones, holy and beloved, clothe yourselves with heartfelt mercy, with kindness, humility, meekness and patience. Bear with one another; forgive whatever grievances you have against one another. Forgive as I have forgiven you. My forgiveness will keep you from evil.

My Dear one, let MERCY and truth never forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart so you find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and men.

My MERCY differs from My Grace. My Grace gives to you what you don't deserve and my MERCIES, well..., I do not give to you what you do deserve.

Oh, you who are Mine, who are called by Me, imitate Me. Therefore, as dearly loved children, practice one of my most meaningful, manifested, unmeasurable attributes - MERCY.

Who is a God like ME, pardoning your iniquity and overlooking transgressions for the remnant of MY heritage? I cannot retain my anger forever, because, you see my child, I delight in MERCY. Now go and learn what this means: I desire MERCY, not sacrifice. For I have not come to call the righteous but sinners.

My apostle Paul was shown mercy because he acted in ignorance and unbelief. Your salvation is the act of MY mercies, and because of My Son, Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead, great MERCY has given you a new birth into a living hope, as my apostle Peter found out!

Now that you have ears to hear and eyes to see what My Spirit will have you do, I want you to fall in love with MERCY. My child, I have also shown you to seek justice, love MERCY and to walk humbly with your God. I want you to demonstrate Mercy and compassion to one another. I want you to respond to Mercy as the "Good Samaritan" did. Help one another, love one another as I have loved you.

Put Mercy on every day. Clothe yourselves in and with compassion. Minister to others with MERCY. The MERCY you have received has equipped you for ministry. Go out and minister to others and remember - always default to MERCY when you are representing ME. My Mercy always, always, always triumphs over judgement. I AM WHO I AM. I AM A MERCIFUL GOD.

Loved one, because the blood was sprinkled for you on the MERCY seat so I could meet with you there, My Son, Jesus, has now poured out His pure, sacrificial blood for you, once and for all to make atonement for your sin and salvation. My kind MERCY poured out for you in the face of unkindness. It's my kindness that leads to your repentance so we could have a right relationship with one another. I am your GOD who is so rich in MERCY, wisdom, knowledge and blessings, ready to give freely, because of my great love for you.

Remember: FAITH plus LOVE equals MERCY

I FORGIVE YOU FOREVER.
I HAVE CALLED YOU BY NAME AND YOU ARE MINE FOREVER.
MY GRACE AND MERCY ARE FOREVER.
LOVE IS THE GREATEST and FOREVER.

I LOVE you, My child,
Your Heavenly Father

Thoughts of God from The Holy Bible as compiled by Peggy Carson

Editors Note: Today is the beginning of the traditional season known as Lent. There are forty days until we celebrate Holy Week, the seven day period commemorating Jesus' entry into Jerusalem through the Crucifixion to that most glorious day of celebration, Resurrection Sunday. We hope this letter will help you remember who God is and how much He loves you.

Let Me Show You My Monkey Dance

To trap a monkey, you put some peanuts inside the trap. The monkey grabs the nuts, but his hand gets caught in the snare. The snare is in fact nothing but a hole which is wide enough to let his hand out, provided he would let the nuts go. By letting the nuts go, the hand would not be double fold, and his hand can come out. But the monkey will not let go and is trapped.

Shall I do my monkey impressions for you?  Or, perhaps you've seen it already.

There are many things we hold on to that keep us from moving forward. No matter how hard we try, we hang on to things (aka peanuts) that are not profitable for us. Some of the things that keep us entrapped are unrealistic expectations, unhealthy relationships, and anything we hold onto because we have placed unnatural value on them. We even hold on to things like anger, unforgiveness or regret. These three will keep us from moving forward, they steal peace and can ruin relationships.

"Hold everything in your hands lightly, otherwise it hurts when God pries your fingers open." Corrie Ten Boom

The gospels tell of a meeting between Jesus and a young man who asked Jesus what he had to do to gain eternal life. Jesus told him he had to keep the commandments, to which the young man answered he had kept all of them.

"Jesus said to him, 'If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.' When the young man heard this he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions."   Matthew 19:21-22

Please don’t misunderstand the point of this encounter – for this man it was his possessions that kept him from following God, but it could’ve very well been worldly knowledge, power, a job, a relationship. God plus anything else is unnecessary. The Lord wants us to trust in Him alone.

Is there something in your life that you are stubbornly holding onto with hands gripped tight? Are you holding onto something that Jesus is telling you to release because it’s not God's will for you? Confusion, uncertainty, fear, doubt, debt (financially or morally) become foreign concepts when you live within the safety of God’s will for your life. 

No one is as miserable as the poor person who maintains the appearance of wealth.
Charles H Spurgeon

Like the young man in the scriptures, I thought where I lived was important. My job description defined me. Nice clothes and beautiful things were also important. There was no substance in me or in the things I made that wasn't important. I was always looking, searching and, therefore, empty. But, unlike the rich young ruler who let his possessions rule him, I decided to follow my Savior. 

In following Jesus, I learned that who I am, where I live and what I wear all comes from above. He strips away the unnecessary. God has had to pry my fingers open on many occasions! And yes, it hurts, and yes, sometimes it took more than once as I grabbed things back, but ultimately He taught me to `let go and let God’

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2

Let go of what you are holding onto that does not profit or prosper you. Be freed and renewed by the love of God through Christ Jesus. Find your value in Jesus because, Child of God, He gave His life for yours and that makes you intrinsically valuable. He alone gives you wealth beyond measure, assurance of a future and eternal life. One day all of our earthly possessions will burn because in the Kingdom of Heaven earthly things have no worth.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.    Galatians 5:1

by Eve Montano

 

Hunger and Thirst After Righteousness

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Matthew 5:6

I hadn't thought about her for a while, but God reminded me of a sweet dental patient I knew for years. Lee H. was one of those magnetic personalities....warm and funny....strong and optimistic....kind and full of Southern grit. Her spirit was bold and bright, but her body was greatly damaged from childhood polio. Although her arms were almost completely useless to her, she kept her mouth immaculate. She would press her electric toothbrush to the counter with her left arm--the one she could control a bit. Then she would sit in a chair and move her mouth around the brush until she finished.

Before she died, she suffered greatly with post-polio symptoms. She was on many medications that dried her mouth out at night. She wore a CPAP mask for oxygen which also caused dryness. Most mornings, she would wake up with her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth and her cheeks totally dry. Nothing in her mouth would move.

She came up with an ingenious plan to deal with that problem. She lay in bed and began to dream of strawberries, her favorite food! Juicy, sweet, perfectly ripe strawberries became her focus. Before long, those thoughts began to affect her salivary glands. Slowly, moisture started to flow in her parched and depleted mouth. Her craving for sweet strawberries had the desired result of life in her mouth.

After thinking about Lee's situation and her solution, I realized there were two "take-aways" that fit this Beatitude:

FIRST:  WHAT WE SET OUR MINDS ON WHEN WE'RE HUNGRY AND THIRSTY DETERMINES THE OUTCOME

Lee could have bemoaned her situation, but she set her mind on strawberries. We need to set our minds on Christ.

"I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt; open your mouth wide and I will fill it." Psalm 81:10

The Beatitudes were given near the beginning of Jesus' ministry. Toward the end of His ministry, Jesus instituted Communion. He knew we were great at wandering and forgetting, so He reminded the disciples, "Do this in remembrance of Me." We set our minds and hearts on Jesus, our Righteousness. We taste and see that the Lord is good. The Bread of Life and our Living Water satisfies us. We may come to Him depleted and dry as dust, but Jesus brings us life.

SECOND:  THE INTENSITY OF OUR HUNGER & THIRST FOR GOD WILL AFFECT THE OUTCOME

As we are told to hunger and thirst for righteousness, Jesus shows us we must be "starving after righteousness." JN Darby has a great quote about hungering. He says,

"To be hungry is not enough. I must be really starving to know what is God's heart toward me. When the Prodigal Son was hungry he went to feed on the husks of the pigs, but when he was starving he went to his father."

We learn we cannot be satisfied eating pig slop. We must become empty and restless in our chasing after second-bests. We must be craving and yearning for the righteousness only Jesus can give. We must be poor in spirit and mourning over our "dry as dust" condition. Our spiritual stomachs are God-shaped and only He can fill us and leave us satisfied.

Warren Wiersbe, in "Heirs of the King," says,

"Whatever you need, says Jesus, I AM. Man's name is "I AM NOT"; we just don't have what it takes to make it alone. But God's name is I AM, and His mighty resources are available to us."

"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." 2 Corinthians 5:21

by Peggy Farina

The Silent Roof

"... love bears all things ..." I Corinthians 13:7

The word 'bear' means to endure, suffer with. It also means to cover, conceal. 'Bear' comes from the Greek word 'stege' which means to roof over, or figuratively, to cover with silence (to endure patiently), (for-)bear, suffer.

Love covers. I love that about love! True love, God-love, covers ALL my sins. It hides them, it turns away its face from them just as much today as it did that day on Calvary Hill when the Father turned away from the sin laid upon His Son. In that "deep" of God's love, His grace concealed and buried them.

It grieves my heart to think what a keen eye I have to spot the sins of others. It's sad and shameful to think how clever I can be at pointing them out, as though this empowers me in some twisted way. Forgive me, Father, please. 

This 'love' in 1 Corinthians 13 we know to be 'agape' in the Greek. It is also the word 'charity' in the KJV.

When I think of the word 'charity' I think of the word 'need'. 

I need love. You could say I am a bona fide charity case! I need God to cover me, to put a roof over me and protect me. Not so I can keep sinning in the privacy of my own self or avoid accountability for my sin. Of course not! If this is how I read the verse, as to cover or put up with willful sinning, then I'm way off track. 

But, what is my heart's response when I discover sin in myself ... in others?
What do I do with it? 
Do I ask God to protect? ... bring change? ... cleanse? 
Do I choose to endure? 

I need ALL of those in ALL things. I ought to want the same charity for others. 

Consider the tabloids. Gossip magazines publish sin and print it for profit (whether true, half true or untrue) to entertain masses. The headlines receive a lot of attention when they speak of "juicy" details; and so does the enemy.

So, I ask myself: Am I a deadly tabloid to expose others' sins, faults and weaknesses, or am I a living testimony of love, covering all things in love, through prayer, through enduring? 

Lord of Love, Christ of Charity, forgive me for the times I've exposed someone for attack instead of choosing to shelter them from Satan's storm.  Help me to desire for others the same covering You graciously give me. Help me to be Your help to them in time of need. Help me to love the way You love. 
Amen

The centurion replied, "Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed." Matthew 8:8

by Dana Lange