Unafraid and Unashamed

"You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;" Psalm 23:5a (NAS)

This spring we had a baby goat who was rejected by her dam.  Any time the doeling would try to nurse, the doe would kick her, stomp on her, run away, ram her, scoop her up with her horns and throw her across the yard, or bite onto her tail and toss her aside.  We had to bottle feed the kid several times a day for weeks.  Ironically, sometimes the mother goat would try to get a drink from the bottle herself, and I would end up shoving her away so I could feed her baby.  It occurred to me that I was preparing a table for this little goat in the presence of her enemy.

When we were planning to leave for a weekend and asking a friend to take care of the animals while we were gone, I was trying to describe which of the baby goats was the one who needed the bottle.  I realized I didn't need to, because she herself knew who she was.  While the other goats were wary of people, she would come running.  Unafraid and unashamed.

"Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."  Hebrews 4:16 (NAS)

Do you know who you are?  Do you know Whose you are?  Do you know Who provides for you?  He already knows you're in need.  Don't hide from Him, run to Him, like that little hungry doeling.  And she didn't care one bit what the other animals thought.

Did You Get Your Answer?

"But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind."  James 1:6 (NAS)

You prayed the Lord would bring you a friend.  Have you considered that this person who challenges you and keeps trying to hang out might be the one God sent?  Don't miss out on a friendship that could sharpen you because you expected a fun pal.

You prayed that your absentee parent would develop into the guardian you wished for.  Nothing has changed in that relationship, but did you take advantage of the mentor who became available step into that role?  God won't change you parents without their permission, but He will provide who you need.

You prayed for deliverance from anxiety, insomnia, and depression.  Did you take the opportunity to stop drinking coffee, caffeinated soda pop, energy drinks, and alcohol?  God provided you with first steps.

You prayed for a positive change in the desperate life of someone you love.  When the change began to happen, did you sabotage or support?  Prepare yourself because you're going to have to change with them.

You prayed to be genuinely loved and accepted.  When you were, did you receive it with an open heart or a suspicious one?  Or worse, did you despise it and push it away because you felt undeserving or because it seemed too good to be true?

"And Jesus answered saying to them, 'Have faith in God.  Truly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, "Be taken up and cast into the sea," and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that it will happen, it will be granted him.  Therefore I say to you, all things for which you pray and ask, believe that you have received them, and they will be granted you.'"  Mark 11:22-24 (NAS)

God always hears us when we pray.  His answers are sometimes yes, sometimes no, and sometimes later.  Are you expecting a yes?  Are you prepared for a yes?  When you get what you ask for, will you recognize it?

Tried Everything But Nothing Worked

"Unless the Lord builds the house,

They labor in vain who build it;

Unless the Lord guards the city,

The watchman keeps awake in vain."  Psalm 127:1 (NAS)

You've read self-help books, gone to counseling, tried medication, visited with doctors, experimented with marijuana, medicated with alcohol.  You've exercised, altered your diet, found another job, moved somewhere else, experienced new places, changed up routines, learned new activities, pursued alternative relationships.  You've meditated, prayed to God, read your Bible, joined a religious group, gone to church, listened to different music.

No change.

Why?

"Commit your way to the Lord,

Trust also in Him, and He will do it."  Psalm 37:5 (NAS)

Did you dabble in Christianity, or did you commit your way to the Lord?  He will only change what you give Him.

No Excuses

"God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  God blessed them; and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"  Genesis 1:27-28 (NAS)

We tend to ask why, if there really is a benevolent God, bad things still happen.  The common answer is, we live in a fallen world, but the elephant in the room is standing there in Genesis 1: God put us in charge and we haven't done a very good job.  We were built to be the bosses and instead we're wandering around trying to find someone to take the lead and/or the blame.

Jesus already secured our victory, which means we are not subject to fear, sin, worry, depression, anxiety, addiction, trauma, abuse, or anything else we use as an excuse not to learn, heal, grow, change, engage, inspire, encourage, move forward, and be productive.

"No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us."  Romans 8:37 (NIV)

Take the victory God already handed to you, and go learn, heal, grow, change, engage, inspire, encourage, move forward, and be productive.  LIVE.

Strength and Courage, Part 31

We tend to avoid the book of Revelation, partly because it sounds scary, partly because it's difficult to decipher, and partly because when you're just looking for basic everyday instructions on living right, it doesn't seem overtly helpful.

If Revelation is frightening, focus on these two verses.

"When I saw Him, I fell at his feet like a dead man,  And He placed His right hand on me, saying, 'Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades'"  Revelation 1:17-18 (NAS)

If you love Jesus, you have nothing to fear from Him, and because He trumps all, you have nothing to fear from anyone else either.

"Do not fear what you are about to suffer.  Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days.  Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life."  Revelation 2:10 (NAS)

Self explanatory.  Go, be bold and victorious.