Tag: God

In Uncertain Times Turn to the Lord for Rescue

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” (Ps 124:8)

God is the One who created all things. He is the One we should turn to for help. In Acts 12, God is the One who helps Peter. Wrongfully imprisoned and held until the feast of Unleavened Bread was over, Herod was going to have Peter killed at the pleasure of the Jews.

Peter, guarded by several squads of soldiers, found his way out of prison and out of the city. Peter’s did not fight his way out of the prison. Nor did a band of soldiers enter the prison and rescue him from the mighty Roman’s. An angel of the Lord rescued Peter. The angel rescued him without drawing any blood. The chains holding Peter literally feel off. They walked back the guards, and the iron gate leading into the city opened on its own accord. Peter escaped by the help of the Lord!

God is our help in present troubles. He has the power to help us. He is the Creator of heaven and earth. He literally fashioned the sun, moon, and stars in place. He molded the planet we call home. We were made in His image. Our Lord is our help.

Sometimes God rescues and restores in miraculous ways. Other times He does it in the ordinary. At times, He doesn’t rescue at all. In the same episode in Acts, James was killed while Peter was rescued. James’ death doesn’t point to an impotent or slumbering God. God accomplishes what He desires when He desires. We must remember God’s will doesn’t always match our will. He was done using James but not Peter. While James passed on from this world, he entered a greater world where he is able to see the Lord face to face.

In uncertain times, don’t turn to man to rescue you. Turn to the Lord. Trust in His will. He has a plan. His plan will not be thwarted. He will accomplish that which He has purposed. We should glory in God’s rescue as well as His use of us to accomplish His purposes.

Glory be to God!

God’s Word Provides Hope

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.” (Ps 119:130)

I am struck by the Psalmist continued reference to God’s Word. It is that which gives light in today’s passage. It imparts understanding.

God’s Word illumines the darkness. It guides us as we walk through a world that lives in the domain of darkness. But we have God’s Word which provides safe passage through the darkness. It informs us in how we are to live and act.

As well as God’s Words helps us to understand who God is, who we are, and why the world is so messed up. It, however, doesn’t leave us in hopelessness. God’s Word also points us to the answer to the messed up situation in which we find ourselves. It points to the Messiah. The Savior who was planned before the foundation of the world to rescue a lost and dying world from darkness.

Turn to God’s Word today and every day thereafter. It should be what we pick up when we are seeking answers, guidance, and hope.

God, help us delight in your Word

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things; and give me life in your ways.” (Ps 119:37)

The Psalmist asks the Lord to turn him from those things that are worthless. The things that will not bring joy, satisfaction, and life. Those things that are contrary to God’s will. In place of worthless things, he asks that God would give him life, which is found in God’s ways.

As you read through the remainder of the section, you realize God’s ways are found in God’s Word. His ways are found in His law (Ps 19:34). They are found in His commandments (Ps 19:35). They are found in His rules (Ps 19:39) and his precepts (Ps 19:40). While each of these words have nuanced meanings, they all essentially point back to God’s Word. It is His Word that provides life as we live according to his law, commandments, rules, precepts, teaching, and wisdom found therein. It is no wonder the psalmist says that he delights in God’s Word (Ps 19:35).

We should delight in God’s Word as well. And our prayer, our ask of God should be for Him to help us turn from those things that are worthless to life which is found in His ways.

Spend some time this morning asking the Lord to help you delight in His Word.

Through the difficulties of life, do you believe the Lord is there?

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn Devotionals, UncategorizedLeave a comment

Let those who fear the LORD say, “His steadfast love endures forever.” – Psalm 118:4

God is a God of steadfast love. We can trust the Lord day in and day out. Because the Lord walks with us, carries us even, we can rejoice in the valley as well as on the mountain tops.

The Lord cares for those who are His. As the psalmist says in verse 27,

“The Lord is God, and he has made his light to shine upon us.” – Ps 118:27a

Do you believe the Lord is shining on you day in and day out? Through the difficulties of life, do you believe the Lord is there? Do you believe the Lord is in the valley just as He is on the mountain top?

Our God is a God of steadfast love. He never leaves us despite the position in which we find ourselves. God is always there.

In Luke 12:22 Jesus provides these words of comfort to the anxious when He says,

And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. – Luke 12:22

God knows our needs. He will provide for our needs. As we daily depend on Him to provide, we grow in our understanding of and in our trust and dependence on God. Life is not about us amassing so much wealth that we can live comfortable lives (see Luke 12:13-21). If God gives us with wealth and the ability to live without worry of money, that is a blessing. But a comfortable life is should not be our goal. That is the American dream, not God’s will for our life. Sometimes we must live uncomfortably, if we even know what that is as middle class Americans, to grow in our trust of God’s provision, care, and steadfast love.

Our God is a God of persistent love. When we recognize God’s persistent love and presence is our life through His day to day provision, we can and will give thanks to the Lord. We can say that He is good. We should praise and worship Him despite our circumstances.

A righteous life stems from a righteous heart

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

“Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, who greatly delights in his commandments!”

(Psalm 112:1)

God’s promise for us in Psalm 112 reveals that those who fear the Lord, who live in reverent awe of God, seeking to align their life with God’s will receive blessing from God.

The remainder of the Psalm goes on to highlight what it looks like to live as one who delights in God’s commandments, as one who is upright.

  • They are not greedy but generous (5a)
  • They are not unfair or unjust. Rather they deal justly in all their affairs (5b)
  • Bad news does not move them. Rather they continue to trust in the Lord (7).
  • They are not afraid of their enemy, instead they continue to trust in the Lord to vindicate (8).
  • They freely give to the poor, seeking to care for the marginalized and disadvantaged in the city (9).
  • They are able to give of their wealth and resources because they trust the Lord to provide for their needs, viewing their resources as those given by God whom they are to steward and use to meet the needs of the community in which God has placed them (9).

The psalms ends with a word about the wicked, who doesn’t desire the Lord’s commandments and thus is angry when he observes the righteous in action. The difference between the two characters is not external action but an internal desire. Those who fear God live a life aligned with God’s will and those who disdain God reject the will of the Lord.

The point being we can’t manufacture righteous actions. They do not spring forth from a heart that rejects the Lord. Our heart, our desires, our affections must first be given to God. Only if we have turned to the Lord can we truly live a righteous life. To say it another way, a righteous life cannot spring forth from a wicked well. The well must first be made righteous.

We cannot make ourselves righteous (Rom 3:9-20). Only the Lord can change our heart from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh that desires to live under His rule.

Ezekiel writes,

“And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God.”

(Ezekiel 11:19-20)

Has the Lord changed your heart? Do you desire His rule? Are you living a righteous live in the power of the Holy Spirit or are you trying to live for God in your own power and strength?

If you are seeking God in your own power, it is most likely because you want something from Him or the community in which you live. You don’t want God for God. You are using God to meet your own desires. The righteous don’t use God. They are satisfied with God alone.

It is never too late

On By Dr. Casey LewisIn DevotionalsLeave a comment

He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the LORD was God.

2 Chronicles 33:13

It is never too late to turn to the Lord. Manasseh was one of the most wicked kings in Judah. He reversed the reforms of his father Hezekiah, leading the people away from the Lord and to worship false gods.

The Lord humbled Manasseh. From captivity in Babylon, Manasseh prayed to the Lord and the Lord forgave him. He actually did more than forgive him. He brought him back to Judah restoring Manasseh’s reign as king. Manasseh then led the people to worship and follow God.

It is never too late to turn to the Lord in repentance and belief. He is the one true God who provides salvation to those who humble themselves by recognizing they can’t save themselves. Only through Jesus can we experience a reconciled relationship with the Lord and accomplish our God given purpose — to bring God glory.