Intended For Good

I was reading Acts 28 yesterday about the experience Paul had after they became ship wrecked on the island of Malta. Having nearly drown once their ship became grounded and they swam to shore, Paul was making a fire to warm them all. As he was gathering wood a viper came out and fastened itself to Paul’s hand. When the natives saw this happen they believed Paul was a murderer and though he survived the ship wreck, justice was taking place for surely he would die from the viper’s bite. But Paul just shook the viper off and went on with making the fire. When Paul’s hand didn’t swell, and he didn’t die as they expected, they changed their minds and considered him a god.

I am festinated with this story because it reminds me of Jesus’ last words to the disciples right before He ascended back into heaven…

And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. 16 He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. 17 And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; 18 they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.” Mark 16:15-18

Paul was doing just as Jesus said, he was going into all the world and preaching the Gospel, and he was experiencing the signs Jesus said would follow those who believed.

The men from the ship were welcomed to stay and after they were there for three days Paul found there was a leading man on the island who was sick with recurring fever and dysentery. Paul went to pray for him, laid his hands on him and he was healed. Once the people of the island saw this they brought the rest who had diseases to be healed by Paul.

After three months it was time for the men to set sail and when they left the people of the island supplied them with everything they needed.

I am reminded that life will have ship wrecks along the way. I will find myself about to drown, with waves rolling over me. There will be snakes that fasten themselves to me to cause fear and hopelessness. But as Paul had a word from God that he would be brought before Caesar, he believed he would live through all that came to him. Paul chose to not give into fear, but rather to trust he would make it to shore, and to shake off what was meant to kill him. Ship weeks and vipers have the power to bring fear that paralyses so that I will not carry out the calling God has for me. But on the other side of ship wreck and vipers there are those who need to know the power and love of God for healing and salvation.

Oh, Lord, may I choose to fear you above all that comes my way…trusting you will get me safe to shore and shake off all the evil that tries to attach to me, for I believe there are miracles on the other side that will bring You much glory and praise!

ONELIFE

This one word has captured my attention, challenged my thoughts, and wants to change my actions.

Our family had an incredibly heartbreaking loss last week as my daughter-in-love passed on to be with her Heavenly Father. She was a perfectly healthy 32 year old who was about to give birth to their first son, when they discovered she had permpartum cardiomyopathy. The doctors performed an emergency C-Section and Rhythm was born perfectly healthy. However, Courtney’s heart continued to weaken, and despite all the medical efforts to strengthen her heart, she lost the battle of life here on earth.

While we were staying with my son and brand new grandson after the loss of Courtney we stayed in an Air B & B. The car in the driveway had ONELIFE on the license plate and every evening and every morning I saw this word. It went deep into my mind and down into my soul.

As I also celebrated a rather significant birthday while staying there the Lord put on my mind…”I have given you a gift, the gift of ONELIFE.”

When I “heard” that, in light of everything else I was experiencing that week, I realized the it was God’s way of reminding me that I don’t know the number of my days. I began to think of how I take my life for granted, and am I really living fully in the ways God has for me?

 

It’s that bird feeding time of year again. I always enjoy watching the birds that come to the feeder…so many different kinds with unique colors, sizes, even personalities! This morning I am reading through Isaiah 58 and I came to verse 10, “And if you give yourself to the hungry…” I paused and asked God what it looks like to feed the hungry. Not that I don’t have any idea of what that is, but if God is asking me to feed the hungry I want to know some specifics about who are the hungry around me, what are they hungry for, and how am I to feed them?

Hunger is defined as: “A strong desire or craving for.” So I realize that we all hunger for more than just food. As physical beings we hunger for food to nourish and sustain us. But we are not only physical beings. God tells us that we are made in the image of God and that makes everyone a spiritual being as well. It is the spirit within that hungers for spiritual food. The physical food that feeds the body we all are very aware of and make sure we eat of every day. But our spirit is often left hungry without us even being aware. The spirit within those who don’t know God through faith in Jesus is hungry to be filled with the Holy Spirit who God gives to everyone who believes in Him. There is a hunger that only the truth of God’s love can satisfy. Once we know God and become a child of God the Holy Spirit lives within our spirit and fills us with all the fullness of God. That fullness of God can be evidenced by the fruit of the Spirit in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

And so when God calls me to, “give yourself to the hungry,” He must expect what I have available that which will satisfy the hunger of those around me. So I realize that as God has blessed me with physical food I can be generous to give others the food they crave and desire, And as God has filled me with the fruit of His Holy Spirit I can be generous to feed others with His love, joy peace…  There are hungry people all around believing their hunger will be satisfied with the things of this world, only to be left craving and desiring more. While their physical bodies are being fed their spiritual body is starving. I realize that by having the fruit of the Spirit within me I can feed others with the love, joy, peace…they crave and desire. It is through sharing this fruit with others that they taste and see that God is good! And when they have a taste of God’s love and goodness they find He is the only One who truly satisfies their hunger!

So as I sit here looking out at the birds eating from the bird feeder I’m reminded that I am a “feeder” filled with the fruit of the Holy Spirit, and pray that I may give myself to the hungry so they will know the love, joy, peace…of God and be fully satisfied!

Reading through the story of David and Goliath I was reminded of the difference of perspective and how the object of faith determines the outcome. Goliath had faith in himself and David had faith in God.

This is what it says of Goliath…

4″And a champion went out from the camp of the Philistines, named Goliath, from Gath, whose height was six cubits and a span. 5 He had a bronze helmet on his head, and he was armed with a coat of mail, and the weight of the coat was five thousand shekels of bronze. 6 And he had bronze armor on his legs and a bronze javelin between his shoulders. 7 Now the staff of his spear was like a weaver’s beam, and his iron spearhead weighed six hundred shekels; and a shield-bearer went before him. 8 Then he stood and cried out to the armies of Israel, and said to them, “Why have you come out to line up for battle? Am I not a Philistine, and you the servants of Saul? Choose a man for yourselves, and let him come down to me. 9 If he is able to fight with me and kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail against him and kill him, then you shall be our servants and serve us.” 10 And the Philistine said, “I defy the armies of Israel this day; give me a man, that we may fight together.” 11 When Saul and all Israel heard these words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly afraid.

Goliath came out each morning for 40 days and taunted the army of Israel. He boasted of his strength and it caused all the men of the army of God to become paralyzed by fear and not one was willing to fight the giant.

Then David, a young shepherd boy, came into the camp of the Israelite army. David had been tending his father’s sheep when his father asked him to go and check own how the battle was going and to deliver some supplies for his brothers.

David arrived just as Goliath was taunting the Israelite army. David chose not to consider his outward appearance but rather looked at his heart. For Goliath’s heart was evil and meant to destroy the people of God.

This evil was what David wanted to destroy before it destroyed the people of God.

While his brothers thought David was proud and insolent, and King Saul considered him unable to go against Goliath because he was an inexperienced youth, David had another perspective of who he was…

34 But David said to Saul, “Your servant used to keep his father’s sheep, and when a lion or a bear came and took a lamb out of the flock, 35 I went out after it and struck it, and delivered the lamb from its mouth; and when it arose against me, I caught it by its beard, and struck and killed it. 36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.” 37 Moreover David said, “The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.”

David saw himself as one who was capable of accomplishing great things by the power of God.

The armor King Saul offered him as protection didn’t feel right, he wasn’t used to wearing it, and so David went out to face Goliath with only a staff, five smooth stones in a pouch, and a sling.

42 And when the Philistine looked about and saw David, he disdained him; for he was only a youth, ruddy and good-looking. 43 So the Philistine said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come to me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. 44 And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field!”

45 Then David said to the Philistine, “You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. 46 This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you. And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. 47 Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear; for the battle is the Lord’s, and He will give you into our hands.”

Goliath was confident in his own strength, his experience, and in his armor. He looked at David and considered his outward appearance and made assumptions based on what he saw.

David was confident in the name of the Lord who had delivered him from the lion and the bear. He looked at Goliath and though he saw Goliath’s sword, spear, and javelin, he didn’t allow his own inability or weakness to bring him fear. David relied on God who doesn’t save by sword or spear, but by His power and might.

48 So it was, when the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, that David hurried and ran toward the army to meet the Philistine. 49 Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth. 50 So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and a stone, and struck the Philistine and killed him. But there was no sword in the hand of David. 51 Therefore David ran and stood over the Philistine, took his sword and drew it out of its sheath and killed him, and cut off his head with it.

Confidence in God alone gives supernatural power to destroy the evil that is about to destroy you.

 

6“Is this not the fast that I have chosen:
To loose the bonds of wickedness,
To undo the heavy burdens,
To let the oppressed go free,
And that you break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry,
And that you bring to your house the poor who are cast out;
When you see the naked, that you cover him,
And not hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then your light shall break forth like the morning,
Your healing shall spring forth speedily,
And your righteousness shall go before you;
The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer;
You shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
“If you take away the yoke from your midst,
The pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 If you extend your soul to the hungry
And satisfy the afflicted soul,
Then your light shall dawn in the darkness,
And your darkness shall be as the noonday.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
And satisfy your soul in drought,
And strengthen your bones;
You shall be like a watered garden,
And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.
12 Those from among you
Shall build the old waste places;
You shall raise up the foundations of many generations;And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach,
The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

Isaiah 58:6-12