That's Comforting

Do you ever have those days when you feel like you just need a big hug?  I would guess since you are a human being you probably do.  Even if you're not a "hugger" I bet you feel that need to be held, comforted, embraced....yes even hugged.  I think it is human nature. 

2 Corinthians 1 Paul writes in verse 3 "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles..."  Isn't that beautiful.  Our God is the God of all comfort.  His arms are open wide with a big bear hug just waiting for you. 

Feeling sad?  Feeling depressed?  Stressed out?  Financial problems?  God knows and understands what is going on in your life and he is compassionate toward you, and provides comfort for you.  Talk to him and let him know how you hurt and then allow him to comfort you.  Too many times we do not allow Him to comfort us.  He is waiting, just let Him.

In the rest of that verse Paul writes "...so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God."  Throughout the day we all come across people who need comforting.  Keep your eyes open today and find the courage and compassion to comfort those around you.  God comforts us so we can comfort others.  Maybe it's a hug, a smile, a letter, a Facebook message, a gift....you will know what you need to do.  We just have to do it. 

Find comfort this day in Christ and His great compassion.  In the words of a dear friend "God's got this boo!"

Be To Our God

Revelation 7:9 "After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count .... standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb....and they cried out in a loud voice:  'Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.'"  Revelation 7:11-12 "...They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying: 'Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!"  

WHAT A SCENE! And to think that those who have given their life to Christ and have therefore become children of God will be joining in this eternal praise and worship.  WOW.  Indeed the Lamb, Jesus Christ, is worthy of our eternal praise.  We will join with the angels and all creation and sing Worthy is the Lamb; and we do not have to wait.  Eternity begins the day you accept Christ as your Savior, and you become a new creation.  Today is my 35th birthday, but my Eternal Birthday happened 16 years ago when I was 19.  Since then I have seen more and more how worthy Christ is of our praise.  My Eternity began that day.

Psalm 103 begins "Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.  Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits - who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."  I will let you read the rest - and trust me it is worth taking the time to read it. 

Christ indeed is worthy of our praise.  Our praise through song on Sunday mornings for sure, but much more than that.  If all eternity sings praises to Him, let us begin praising Christ with "our inmost being".  Let our lives be lives of worship.  As my friend Brett constantly reminds me, our lives must be lives of worship and that we are to go to church worshiping....not to worship.  Does that mean you go through Wal-Mart singing?  Probably not, that might freak some people out, including me.  But it does mean that our lives look like Jesus Christ, and the joy of the Lord is seen all over us.  As C.S. Lewis said, Jesus came to give men life and spread it to others like a "good infection." 

Is Christ worthy?  You can count on it.  Psalm 103:22 "Praise the Lord, all his works everywhere in his dominion.  Praise the Lord, O my soul." Let us begin now.

Here's a little Old School Worship Music to go with the Scripture:  Crystal Lewis

Confidence

After you achieve something or accomplish something, do you feel stronger?  Do you feel more competent?  Do you feel more ready and able to take on the next challenge?  I would bet you do.  Most of us feed off of success, or if not success, at least the knowledge that you can be successful.

In World War II, war raged on in the British and French colonies of North Africa, as the Nazi War Machine was attempting to conquer the oil fields of the African continent.  The British fought bravely but with no success against the brutality of the Germany Army.  That was until the Battle of El Alamein.  In this famous battle the British finally got a much needed victory against Hitler's forces.  Following the battle British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave one his most famous (and one of my favorite) quotes:  "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."   What a great day this was for the allies; and from this battle the British pushed forward against the Germans and eventually recaptured all of North Africa.  After the war, Churchill wrote: "Before Alamein we never had a victory. After Alamein, we never had a defeat."  Isn't it amazing what you can do when you know you can win. 

If you're anything like me (and for your sake I hope you're not) you probably have fought many battles with temptation.  It is quite possible that you have lost these battles time and again.  Be reminded and be encouraged that you can have success against sin.  1 Corinthians 10:13 says "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man.  And God is faithful;  he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear.  But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."  Temptation can be overcome.  Sin can be defeated.  Colossians 2:13-15  ^"When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.  And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross."  

God, through the Holy Spirit, provides us a way out of temptation.  Christ defeated sin;  we are no longer slaves.  Find confidence in knowing that you, through the power of the Holy Spirit, can resist temptation and defeat the sin that plagues you.  And one day you will look back and say "Praise be to God".