Tag Archives: fear

God’s Got Your Back

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Got Your Back

Today’s Devotion: Deuteronomy 10

I remember a song we used to sing in Sunday School class when I was a young girl. It went like this, “King of Kings and Lord of Lord’s, Glory! Halleluiah.”

Verse 17 reminded me of that song, “For the LORD your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality and accepts no bribes.”

Sometimes I read the bible and I’m looking for something that is tangible and applicable; where I can close the book and walk away with a verse or a thought that I can immediately apply to face life. Other times, like today, God seems to stop me in my tracks and provides me with one big, broad reminder and truth – He is God.

That’s what Deuteronomy 10 speaks to me; He is God of everything. Especially over those little gods like ice cream, i phones, money, jobs, hobbies, collections, children, husbands, etc… He is also the Lord over all the lords in our world like presidents, pastors, princes and kings, teachers or any other authority figure we may esteem to be our leaders. Verse 17 reminds me that He is a great God; mighty and awesome. That in itself is great, mighty and awesome.

Just for perspective today… meditate on that. “King of all kings and Lord of all lords.” When we take a pause and recognize just how magnificent He is we don’t need to worry, fear, be anxious, doubt, be depressed, care what others think, limit ourselves, cower, avoid, withdraw or retaliate.  God is the “Big Man”, He’s got your back.

Bridging The Gap

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Bridge to Cross

Today’s Devotion: Numbers 32

“Why do we need to go there when it’s just fine right here?” Is essentially what the Ruebenites and the Gadites were asking Moses in verse 5, “If we have found favor in your eyes,” they said, “Let this land be given to your servants as our possession. Do not make us cross the Jordan.”

Crossing over into the unknown when our current surroundings seem to be “just fine” is one of the things that I believe prevents Christians from truly experiencing the goodness and abundance that God has for us. People stay in abusive relationships, tolerate mean bosses, put up with dead-end jobs or settle for “this is good enough.”

Lies, lies, lies!

Just like the elderly tribe members, they were very sincere in asking Moses if they could build their lives on this side of the Jordan. After all, it was adequate. But that’s not what God wanted for them. He had them wandering in the wilderness for 40 years and just short of the goal they figured the had come far enough. Sure it may have been nice, but what was holding them back?

Was it complacency? Why go on, they’re just fine right there? (Amos 6:1 Woe to you who are complacent!)

Were they lazy? It’s too much work to cross the Jordan, it’s easier just to stay put? (Hebrews 6:12 We don’t want you to become lazy.)

We’re they selfish? Did they think there wouldn’t be enough for them so they should just take what they can get while the gettin’s good? (James 3:16 Where you have envy and selfish ambition you will find disorder and every evil practice.)

Were they greedy? They wanted first pick because they wanted to be guaranteed to get their fair share? (Proverbs 28:25 The greedy stir up conflict).

Were they scared? What if they let go of this land to find the land on the other side wasn’t as good and now they left this beautiful livestock worthy place? (1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love).

So let’s turn this application to you and me? Are we complacent, lazy, selfish, greedy, scared? What is holding us back from having what God has planned for us. Are we so caught up in our circumstances that we can’t see the possibilities for our lives and how to get there.

Wherever you are at and whatever you are doing, it takes faith to get beyond where you are. Let’s not be like the Ruebenities and Gadites and bargain with God that where we are is sufficient. He has a bigger and better plan, but we need to follow His Will and be obedient to His calling so He can take us where He wants us and has plans for us to go.

My Size, God Size

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sizeup

Today’s Devotion: Numbers 13

They say I’m petite. I find myself looking up when talking to other people. Sometimes, standing amongst a crowd can be very intimidating because it becomes even more obvious that I am significantly shorter and that’s both with or without heels.

Does size matter? I’ve been in martial arts long enough to know that I will never win a fight with strength. Perhaps its my size or perhaps its my gender, but even when I was in the best shape of my life, I never took for granted that most people, just in mere size, were stronger than me. I most certainly recognize that the fight I have the best chance of winning is to not be in the fight at all.

So here we have the Iraelities, spying on the land that they were told, by God, that they would conquer. Instead of trusting God, they size up the enemy and become intimidated. Verse  33, “We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”

Grasshoppers? That’s the best they can do? Describe themselves as poor, helpless grasshoppers? Talk about losing a fight before you ever step into the ring!

What problems do we face in our lives that seem “too big?” Our minds are a battlefield and the older I get, the more I am convinced that the mind will take the easy way out or assume the worst most often. This survival tactic then leads us to one conclusion – avoidance.

Sure, that can be wisdom as a result of having done things the hard way before or had bad things happen when we had the best of intentions, but this is really not where God wants us when it comes to faith. He wants us to do what is right, not just take the easy road, and He wants us to trust in Him because through Him all things are possible. (Matthew 19:26).

As we continue to read though the books of the Old Testament, we will continue to see how man is weak and God is strong. If we depend on Him, trust in Him and obey Him – life will be much more fulfilling and we’d get to our goals expeditiously. Instead, we avoid [perceived] challenges, let the enemy intimidate us, and delay God’s goodness that He has planned for us. Next time we see a situation that appears to be too big, too hard or too overwhelming – let that be our Que to know that we don’t have to do it alone – God will get it done.