Are You Next?

Posted by Christy

Has God been preparing you for a time when you will be called upon to deliver God's people? Many are enslaved to sin. Has He placed you here to be a deliverer? Pray that you will have the same Spirit as Joshua, Caleb, and Othniel.

But when they cried out to the Lord, He raised up for them a deliverer, Othniel son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother, who saved them.” Judges 3:9

Have you ever heard of a man named Othniel? Probably not. He was Caleb’s nephew. When the people of Israel went into the Promised Land, they were victorious through the courageous efforts of Joshua and Caleb. As this generation grew older, a new generation began to emerge. Israel again fell into sin by worshiping idols and once more they were enslaved by their enemies. However, the people again cried out to the Lord and God heard them.

Whenever God’s people cry out to the Lord, He hears them. When they are truly repentant, He responds. He responds by rising up those whom He has prepared for such a time. Every soldier looks forward to the day he can use the training he has received. God had been preparing a nephew for such a time as this. He had the same Spirit as his uncle, Caleb.

The Spirit of the Lord came upon him, so that he became Israel’s judge and went to war. The Lord gave Cushan-Rishathaim king of Aram into the hands of Othniel, who overpowered him.

Has God been preparing you for a time when you will be called upon to deliver God’s people? Many are enslaved to sin. Has He placed you here to be a deliverer? Pray that you will have the same Spirit as Joshua, Caleb, and Othniel.

O Hillman

God, Thank You

Posted by Christy

Grateful

A Person

Posted by Christy

Brick by brick, the tower grew higher and higher. And so did their pride. They wanted to be famous, and safe. They wanted to be “the ones” to do this thing with their own hands. They were quite pleased with themselves. “The ones”.

“Look at this mega church I built”. “Look at this ministry I built”. “The bigger, the better because people will see me and how close I am to Jesus”.

Sound familiar?

Yeah….

You see, God wasn’t pleased with them. He could see what they were doing. They were trying to live life without Him. That doesn’t make us happy, or safe, or ANYTHING.

Living life like that only destroys us. God loves us too much to let that happen. So, He’ll interfere. He’ll stop things. Plans get halted. We get annoyed, but we need to just see that God is saving us from ourselves.

God knows.

God knows that however high we reach, however hard we try, we can never get back to Heaven by ourselves. We are not saved by our works (Ephesians 2:8-10)

We don’t need a staircase; we need a Rescuer. The way back to Heaven isn’t a staircase, it’s a Person.

We can never reach up to Heaven, so Heaven came down to us Jesus.

Jesus. Jesus. Jesus.

It’s all about Jesus.

Today’s thought: I cannot save myself, this situation, or this person. I need Jesus.

See: Genesis 11

Mighty To Save: Unleashed

Posted by Christy

The Lord your God is with you, he is mighty to save (Zephaniah 3:17a)

My family had a Jack Russell named Eddy. He was such an interesting dog. He traveled with us leading worship and speaking so much that whenever he saw that big white trailer being loaded with instruments, he’d go ahead and jump in the truck ready to go on the road. He loved the youth groups. And they loved him so much that they would have me sign his name along with my name when giving autographs!

Before we could start taking him on the road with us, we had to get him trained to walk with a leash. Training went smoothly. One day we noticed that he had gotten so used to the lifestyle of walking with the leash on, that even when he didn’t have it on he would follow closely and never leave our side. It was hilarious how he would move along with every move we made when he didn’t need to.

Because he assumed he was leashed, he was acting as though he was caught and couldn’t move in the freedom he had

The enemy tries that with us. He gives the allusion that we’re caught with no way out. Like Eddy, we get used to the lies and the lifestyle and walk like leashed dogs…..following his movement.

Turn to him in all the authority the name Jesus stands on and declare NO MORE!

Jesus came and paid the price and broke those chains!

Victory and freedom are yours

He is with you

HE is mighty

HE is mighty to save

Rescued…

Posted by Christy

If you’ve ever been in a city during rush hour traveling down 5 lanes of traffic, you know the busyness of it. Everyone in a hurry to get where they’re headed so they go…and they go FAST.

It was on a day like this, at just that time of day, that I was traveling home from work. Suddenly, right in the middle of that 5 lanes of busy, rush hour traffic, my vehicle just stops. Dead. In the middle of those 5 lanes. No puttering to stop. Just stops with no engine running. Stopped dead. As I look in my rearview mirror and see that 18 wheeler and all those vehicles headed right at me, I yell….”Jesus, no!”

“When they call on Me, I will answer; I will be with them in time of trouble. I will rescue and honor them” Psalm 91:15

It wasn’t a rhetorical using-of-His-name-in-a-sentence type usage (which I can’t, stand by the way). I was literally talking to my Savior, needing Him to save me in the physical realm this time. As if there was a bubble around me, the vehicles started parting. That 18 wheeler got close enough for me to see the panic on his face as he yanked hard and fast on his steering wheel to the left to pass by. My Lord saved me that day. My vehicle finally started and I went on my way, calling my hubby to praise the Lord with him.

There are days when we wake up and look around to say, “How in the world did I get HERE, and how did things get THIS way???” Call out that name: JESUS….the sweetest name I know. Don’t try to clean things up before you do, like some people do just before the housekeeper comes, or when company is coming. He says, come as you are, mess and all. You are tired of the mess, of the juggling, of the hiding, and the keeping of the secrets….

“Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest” Matthew 11:28

Pray:
Dear Lord, thank You for meeting me just where I am, mess and all. Thank You that You rescue us….over and over again. Your love never fails. Your love endures forever. There’s power in Your name. Lord, I call on your name right now. I need You. I thank You……

Photo credit: tomtom.com