Trust Me, Child

Dearest Child,

I know the plans I have for you. Plans that are for your good, not your harm. Trust in Me with all your heart and acknowledge me for I know the path of them.

You worry about tomorrow, when today has enough to worry about. I hold you in My hand. I am the One who strengthens you. With Me, you shall walk and not grow weary; run and not grow weak. All I ask for, dearest, is trust.

Look to Me, for I am the One who keeps you safe. No one - not even the Devil himself - will be able to pluck you from My hand. I created the universe, dear one. Put the stars in the sky and I know them by name. I care for the birds and the plants. Are you not so much more wonderfully and fearfully made?

I brought the Children of Israel from the desert, Jonah from the whale, and my own Son from the grave. Your troubles, they are not so scary to Me. Simply trust Me child. I shall not let you go.

I'll walk with you through the mountain tops of life, down the valley of the shadow of death and through everything in between. I will never leave you nor forsake you. Everything will work out for your good. Everything. But only if you trust in Me.

It will be hard. But trust Me, My child. It will be worth it.

Love,

Your Heavenly Father.

The Weight of Our Words

"I hate you!" 

"You're such an idiot!" 

"Go to hell!" 

Our words cause damage. Once spoken they can never ever be taken back. I've posted about this before but I didn't realize how hard that can be in our culture to live out!

I've recently started working in a secular work setting and let me tell you, it’s rough. The cussing – whether the speaker meant to use the word or if it was a simple slip – is enough to drive me nuts! Every time someone at work cusses, I have to ask God to take it out of my head so I’m not tempted to use those awful, vulgar words.

Now, I know some ‘Christians’ who have no problem with cussing. But let me ask you … is swearing and other vulgar language biblical? Does the Bible even speak about our words?

I’m glad you asked! J

In church this Sunday, the pastor was talking about the fact that we are royalty! And as such, the things we speak need to reflect that that we are royalty. God is our King and he has set over us a royal law.

Ephesians 4:29  “Let NO corrupting talk come out of your mouth, but only such as is good for building up, as fits he occasion, that it may give GRACE to those who hear.” (Emphasis added)

Now, some of you may be arguing with me, “Well, sometimes a swear word gets my point across better than another word.”

Oh really? But does it give grace to those who hear it? NO! NO, NO, NO! It doesn’t!

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

Dictionary.com’s definition of conformed is “to act in accordance or harmony; comply”. So the Bible says that we are to not be in harmony with this world. We are, however, to be transformed. The definition of transformed is “to change in form, appearance, or structure; metamorphose.” We are to be changed into the image of God.

So in short what this verse is saying is that God’s thoughts should become our own. We are to think about what is good, acceptable and perfect. What is perfect in this world? NOTHING! N-O-T-H-I-N-G! The only good, acceptable and perfect thing is God and his words.

Another verse in the Bible that deals with our words and action is another verse from Ephesians. Ephesians 4:31-32 reads “Let all bitterness and wrath be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” (Emphasis added)

So … if we are claiming to be Christians, our mindset should be that of Christ’s. If we are thinking the way he thought, then our reactions to rude, uncaring people won’t be to cuss them out, or say rude, hasty things. Instead it’ll be to show them love. Jesus’ love.

Proverbs 15:1- 2 “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commands knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.”

Let our actions and words speak of our royal heritage. That we are, in fact, sons and daughters of the King of Kings! 

"Look At Me, Son."

So I was watching The Hobbit: The Battle of Five Armies last night with my sister. And I was struck by a scene in a new way when I watched it.

It’s the scene where Bard, standing on top of the shattered bell tower, strikes is broken bow on each side and levels the black arrow at Smaug’s chest. The arrow is resting on his son’s shoulder. Bain can sense the great evil that is stalking ever near him and his father. I bet his heart is running rampant and he wasn’t everything to turn and watch. But when Bard calmly states, “Look at me, son. Just look at me,” Bain obeys.

For those of you how’ve seen the movie, and for those of you who haven’t, I find this scene so inspiring to my Christian faith. How, you ask? Well let me take it piece by piece.

To start, the Dragon Smaug is symbolic to the devil to me. He is ever stalking us, trying to bring us down with a puff of is fire. We, like Bain, are stuck atop a tower, sitting ducks so to speak. There is no way we could ever take down this beast. (If you’ve seen the movie, then recall Bain laying on is back, petrified with fear because he almost fell to his death.)  

Bard, on the other hand is our Heavenly Father. He is the only one who can defeat this monster. He is the one with the “black arrow” of Salvation (I rather think white arrow is a more fitting term). He knows that the Devil can never stand against him. And he is all lined up, willing to help us.

If we let him.

See, Jesus is standing there continually telling us to “Look at me, Son. Keep your eyes on me.” And we have a choice whether we are going to obey.

Now, we could say “No, Jesus. I’ve got this!” and turn, only to be struck by the petrifying truth that we are in no way a match for this beast. Or we, like Bain, can nod our head, even though the fear is so great, and keep our eyes on Jesus. It is only through doing this that we can conquer our demons. It’s only through Jesus that we can be saved.

Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV “...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith…”

Psalm 16:8 NIV “I keep my eyes always on the Lord. With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.”

Proverbs 4:25, NLT “Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.”