Always there

For you have been my hope,

O Sovereign Lord,

my confidence since my youth.

From birth I have relied on you;

you brought me forth from my mother’s womb.                               Psalm 71.5, 6

God was at the very start of my life. He brought me forth at birth. I’m quite sure He was with me even before then:

         For you created my inmost being;

         you knit me together in my mother’s womb. (Psalm 139.13)

God worked in the very heart of my being. He ensured my birth, and He has been with me ever since. For much of my earlier life I was unaware of God’s presence with me. Indeed, even in present times I can “forget” that He’s there. But this does not change the reality. He is there. He is here, right now. As I sit quietly and pen these words, I know He’s with me. He’s looking on. He’s leading, as I allow Him. He’s protecting – and I’m so grateful for this.

This is the reality, and I sense that a large part of my mission in Him is to convey this reality to others. God, the Almighty, my loving heavenly Father, wants me to live in Him and with Him. For this He created me.

Life is a journey, and it is not always the most comfortable or enjoyable journey. My Lord Jesus came to this earth and made a human journey through life. There were times when His journey was extremely uncomfortable. And the end of His life was excruciatingly painful in the extreme.

My Lord Jesus knows about hardship and suffering. He experienced, He endured, and He overcame. Today He walks with me. I see Him alongside of me every step of the way. And He can help me to overcome when the going gets tough. He knows the way through when, often, I do not. I trust Him. I know I can rely on Him, and I do so.

Yes, God is my hope. Each day I hope in Him to get me through. I look to Jesus to journey with me through the day. I seek the leading and the guidance of God in what I do. I pray for His protection over me at all times. I rejoice that I am a much-loved child of God. I am ever grateful that He is there for me.

Almighty God, Most Precious Father,

I thank You that You are there and have always been there. Please forgive me those times when I seem to forget You. I confess and repent of those times when I disappoint You. I seek Your forgiveness and Your restoration of me into Your will and Your way.

Please lead me through the day ahead. Let me live, gloriously, to Your praise and honour.             Amen.

Sustained

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Saviour, who daily bears our burdens.

                                                                                                                Psalm 68.19

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall.                                                                                                                 Psalm 55.22

Even to your old age and grey hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you.

I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

                                                                                                                Isa. 46.4

There is a harmony between these verses, which is not unusual in God’s Word where we find much consistency. As with other things that He says, what He reveals here we need to receive, to take deeply into our beings, to remember and hold to at all times.

God repeatedly says He will sustain me. There are various meanings attaching to “sustain”. I particularly note: to provide for; to keep from falling or sinking, to prop; to affirm the validity of.

Let me start with the last of these. I am a child of God. God affirms this. I am a much valued child of God. He provides for me; He keeps me from falling. He is more than a prop, much more. God will daily bear my burdens. He encourages me to cast my cares onto Him. How can I refuse to do this?

God is all I need. He is always there for me, and ever ready to take my cares and release me from burdens. I have long since seen Jesus as my constant travelling companion. I look to my Lord. He has made me; He says He will rescue me, carry me, and sustain me. How very blessed I am!

Lord God,

I come to you. I embrace the fullness of Your Word to me today. I cast my cares on You, and I leave them with You.

As I quietly share my cares and concerns, I ask You to take them. I need to allow You to have Your way – in who I am and in what I do, indeed in everything that makes up my life.

Lord, show my Your way. Lead me clearly and firmly in that way. I look to You. I expect Your direction, Your affirmation, Your enabling and Your protection.

I rejoice in the wonder of walking with You. Let us journey together through today. I pray for mutual enjoyment, for good and Godly achievements, for a growing and deepening intimacy, and for a constant realisation of the reality of living with You, and in You.                      I thank You, Lord.                Amen.

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Identification

“But so that we may not offend them, go to the lake and throw out your line. Take the first fish you catch; open its mouth and you will find a four-drachma coin. Take it and give it to them for my tax and yours.”                                                         Matt.  17.27

An insight that I get from today’s reading is that Jesus did not exclude Himself. And how true this is! He experienced everything that we are likely to experience. Everything, that is, except that He did not give in to sin. He was tempted, perhaps as much if not more than any of us. But He did not succumb. Through His experiences He is able to identify with each and every one of us.

Furthermore, I note that He includes Peter in His actions. He offers the four-drachma coin for my tax and yours.

By this I feel He’s saying to me that I must be ready to identify with others. I am subject to the same fundamentals and aspects of life that others experience. I will not be able to help others, as He wishes me to if I cannot connect with where they are at or what they do. I do not have to partake in all that happens to others, but I need to recognise the issues and the details of their struggles. Jesus does this. He is familiar with all the frailties and common ailments of humanity. He is aware, and this enables Him to minister appropriately.

Lord Jesus,

May I be sensitive to the things that are common in assailing people and seeking to afflict them. May I see and understand as You did when You walked this earth.

You looked on people with compassion. You understood their plight, and You ministered to them from the best possible position. May I follow you in this? Show me Your ways. Help me to see the lost and suffering as You see them. Lead me in any ministry You wish me to undertake. I pray that I may come to know them and reach out to them as You would.

I ask this in Your precious, loving name.          Amen.

Son of God

There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.                                                              Matt. 17.2

The three disciples, Peter, James and John, saw Jesus in His glory. This was not Jesus Christ the human teacher and rabbi. This was truly the Son of God in His glorified state.

As He is presented in this state, the voice out of the cloud speaks forth, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him! (v 5)

Jesus is many things and it is possible, at different times, to see and receive Him in perhaps one of His many roles. But He is  - predominantly and permanently – the glorified Son of God. This simple fact permeates the whole of our relationship with Him. We have been invited, and are drawn into, intimacy with the Son of God Himself. I may receive Jesus variously as Redeemer, Friend, Advocate, Companion, Protector, even Lover. But I need to remember that in any, and every, presentation I am connecting with God Himself. I feel small, and also free, at large, and limitless. I know the truth of Jesus’ statement, “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” (John 8.36)

I am free to embrace Jesus in so many ways. And He Himself is the author of my freedom. Hallelujah!

May I cherish this freedom and be ever open to His ongoing guidance.

Lord Jesus,

I thank You. Oh how I thank You for setting me free and drawing me into this wonderful relationship with Almighty God.

I am Yours, Lord and, like Jesus, I look to the Father in all that I do. I wish to do only those things I see the Father do. I desire to live my life after the pattern set by my Lord Jesus, which was to fulfil the Father’s will in all things.

I release myself to You and ask for Your guidance as I move forward. Place me, grow me, and use me as You will, that I may please and delight You in all things. I ask this in Jesus’ name.             Amen.