Timely Words!

Unfailing!


Two are better than one;…for if they fall, the one will lift up his
fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth…and a
threefold cord is not quickly broken. (Ecc. 4:9-12)

According to Ecclesiastes, being single has its disadvantages! As a rule – two people can accomplish more than one and people who are real friends share a bond that a single person just does not have.

Two or more people who have a bond can help each other in difficult times. They have a sense of community and responsibility for each other. We are told in Ecclesiastes that the bond can be like an entwined rope that has three cords. It is virtually impossible for anyone to pull apart strong ropes. Likewise, it is difficult for an outsider to break established relationships that people have formed. People need to be involved in close and unfailing relationships with others!

God did not design people to be alone. Even in marriage – the Bible does not prohibit people from being single – but often encourages a marital bond. The Genesis account is that it is not good for man be alone, but they are to seek out wives (Gen. 2:18, Prov. 18:22), enjoy their mates (Prov. 5:18-19), and increase family relationships (Psalms 127:3-5).

There are many people who are alone and just live for themselves. They work hard, never have time for any one, and store up finances without regard for others (Ecc. 4:8). They often become greedy and leave everything they have to no one. What a shame! People like this don’t understand deep friendships with others or just choose not to engage themselves in any meaningful relationships.

The body of Christ is a bond and God often brings lonely, rejected people into His body of believers to become a part of His family (Psalms 68:6). Friendships with brothers and sisters in the body of Christ can become unfailing because people can mature in the oneness relationship with God and His Son, Jesus Christ, and the relationship we have with Christ and His church.

There are a lot of relationships that fail, but love is like a strong rope; it is unfailing!

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Worried About Lost Donkeys, and Stumbling on a Kingdom!


“Don’t worry about the donkeys you lost three days ago.
They’ve already been found. But who are all of the people
of Israel longing for? You and your father’s whole family!”
(I Samuel 9:20, NIV)

donkey on grass lawn

 

We all have misplaced and even lost things that we treasure. Everybody should be able to identify with the cycle and anxiety of mentally backtracking, trying to recall where we lasted placed something.

There are people in the Bible we can identify with, who have lost things, too. There was a character in the Old Testament whose name was Saul.  He was from Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin. He seemed to be an average citizen who one day was sent on an assignment by his father to locate some of their donkeys who had ran away (I Sam. 9:1-27). The father was troubled by this lost (9:5). The family did a diligent search and Saul and his servant travelled to many areas, no doubt, spending days in the process. They came upon a prophet by the name of Samuel who had knowledge that the donkeys had been found. This must have taken a load off these two exhausted travelers! It’s is such a blessing when we find what we have lost!

While finding their donkeys seemed like a time for rejoicing, there is a greater blessing to this whole account in the book of I Samuel. The prophet further shared with Saul that God had called him to be king over all Israel! We see a perplexed man who was at a loss about a lowly animal, yet he was about to step into the greatest blessing he could not even have imagined!

It’s amazing how God can have some greater plan for a man or woman who, at present, is perplexed, and so unsure about loss. God has a way of showing us our future even when our present seems bleak. Saul’s mind was toward one of the lowest animals God had created and yet God’s mind was to give this man authority to oversee the kingdom of Israel! The scripture has declared that the people we read about in the Old Testament, such as Moses and David, in some unique way, are not complete without us (Heb. 11:39-40). It also states in verse 40: “God having provided some better thing for us”. Whatever the loss we may feel today, it is safe to say that God has some better thing for us tomorrow!

Here is a song about uncertain times and anxiety
when we are at a loss. Please click the link below:

Didn’t I Walk on Water

 

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Engaged for One Another!


Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan,
and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days,
night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and
so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law:
and if I perish, I perish.
(Esther 4:16)

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Esther the queen was warned by her uncle that the position she held as queen would not exempt her from escaping the same fate that was planned for her people, the Jews. It’s hard to say what thoughts she entertained at this initial announcement that Haman had planned genocide for her people (Esther 4:14).

We are those who have been physically hard-hit by a current virus. Some have even lost their fight. We have heard some testimonies of others who are recovering. It is God’s mercy that there are some around us who, like Esther, have not had to grapple with this sentence and deep “shadow of death”. Those who contracted this virus face extreme mental and physical challenges. Imagine a similar account of the Jews in Esther’s day, knowing that they would be executed in a matter of days! There was great mourning and many laid prostrate in sack cloth and ashes (Esther 4:3). There was fasting, weeping, and wailing! Although Esther seemingly was not affected by what her fellow-Jews were facing (because her identity, as a Jew, was hidden), she still did the right thing by interceding for her people before the king. She approached the king and ask for mercy for those she loved. She could have lost her life by approaching him and eventually revealing to him that she was a Jew, as well.

Esther is an example to us. Those who have not been physically challenged with what is infecting others still have a responsibility to not only be concerned, but to be engaged! Like Esther, we owe it to those around us to intercede on their behalf with seasons of fasting and continual prayer. These are the times when those who feel secure in their homes are to become engaged! Mordecai told Esther, in so many words, that a palace and shelter would not save her. (She had to be engaged!) Only God has the option of saving us and those we know. Pray for those you know who are suffering severely. Also, fast for those you know who are suffering severely. Get out of places of comfort and, if physically possible, prostrate yourself before God! Cry out for those who need your voice!

Remember them that are in bonds, as bound with
them; and them which suffer adversity, as being
yourselves also in the body. (Heb. 13:3)

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one
for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent
prayer of a righteous man availeth much. (James 5:16)

Pray for us: for we trust we have a good conscience,
in all things willing to live honestly. (Heb. 13:18)

I thank my God, making mention
of thee always in my prayers. (Phl. 1:4)

But withal prepare me also a lodging: for I trust that
through your prayers I shall be given unto you. (Phl. 1:22)

But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and
when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. (Luke 22:32)

And when he [Peter] had considered the thing,
he came to the house of Mary the mother of John,
whose surname was Mark; where many were
gathered together praying [for him.] (Acts 12:12)

For I know that this shall turn to my salvation through
your prayer, and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. (Phl. 1:19)

 

Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word
of the Lord may have free course, and be
glorified, even as it is with you. (II Thes. 3:1)

 

 

 

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The Ravens are Coming!


“You will drink water from the brook.
I have ordered some ravens to feed you there.”

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Most people will agree that ravens are ugly mysterious birds that we often associate with evil or the dark side! We don’t seem to know much about them, but researchers tells us that they are highly intelligent creatures. We understand that they can reason on the level of dolphins and chimps.

God’s prophet Elijah had an unexpected relationship with ravens. He came to evil king Ahab and told him God was punishing him, along with Israel, for their evil deeds! Elijah told Ahab that, according to his word, there would be no rain and all Israel would suffer as a result. Elijah walked away from that meeting and, as promised, Israel suffered for years while looking everywhere for water! We see Elijah was not exempt from the draught! How would he survive and where would he get water and food? God knew exactly where he was and his dire need, and commanded ravens to feed him and had a brook to supply him water! God sustains His people! God, in His mercy, is even sustaining the whole world (Ps. 145:16)! There’s coming a time when He will withhold His sustenance from the masses of people because of their rejection of Him (Rev. 18:8).

We have to understand that the people in the Bible are no different than us. God simply supplies the needs of those who trust in Him. He fed 5,000 people who had no means. He even clothed Adam and Eve when their eyes were opened concerning their nakedness. We who live by faith, believe that the ravens are near, and somehow God will keep us alive. Many generations have experienced diseases and famines. We just have to know our biblical history. Egypt experienced great famine, and God’s people, as well as the world, were delivered from it under Joseph’s leadership. The Lord sent pestilence in Israel during the reign of king David and 70,000 died in a short time (II Sam. 24:15). There was pestilence in the time of the prophet Amos. The new testament church at Jerusalem suffered famine. We also read that the psalmist had experience enough to write to us from his day: Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. (Ps. 33:8-9). What a mighty God we serve!

If you have God’s Spirit abiding in you, and you believe in God, let the words in this article comfort you. (Suddenly, inspired biblical words you read should have more impact.) Let’s believe the words of king David, that great leader:  “I have been young, and now I am old, and I have never seen the righteous forsaken, nor his offspring begging bread.”

 

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