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God Is Our Comforter

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.  2 Corinthians 1:3,4

Times of transition and tragedy are not reserved for a few unfortunates.  All of us have experienced unsettled or broken times in our lives.  Even the path to discipleship has pain along the way.  But our pain is not purposeless.  God, who is rich in compassion and steadfast in sovereignty, uses all of our experiences, including the difficult ones, for growth, healing, and ministry.

In hard times, we have a Comforter.  God comforts us in our trials with His presence, reminding us that we are not alone.  He strengthens us with His peace, giving us hope toward a greater purpose.  Whether we suffer the loss of a loved one, financial collapse, injustice, persecution, or some other difficulty, we can look to God as our Comforter.  Our personal experiences of pain, when massaged in the comfort of God’s grace, often become our greatest platform for ministry.  God brings us through our pain so we can encourage others who experience similar trials.  The comfort He gives us in our own times of need becomes a powerful testimony for someone else.  Allowing the Spirit of God to work in you during seasons of difficulty produces a greater work through you, ministering to others in their pain.

God comforts us because of His love toward us.  Hard times help us see who He is – the most faithful Friend who comforts us in the midst of trials.  In turn, we can show others that kind of comfort and testify to God’s faithfulness to see them through.  Know that you are not alone!  Experience God’s grace in the difficult times so you can share His grace with others.  Even in pain, discipleship involves learning and growing, so you can help others do the same!

God, I thank You for Your peace, comfort, and extravagant love.  You have brought me through incredible trials.  I would have never made it apart from You.  Help me see You in the midst of present pain and past scars.  Use me to bring Your love and peace to others who face their own hurts.  I exist for Your pleasure, to bring You glory.  May the experiences of Your faithfulness in my life be used to help others find You in their pain.  Open my eyes to see opportunities to comfort others in their troubles.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Dr. Richard Mark Lee, McKinney, TX

Vertical Reality is designed for your student to encounter and get a better glimpse of God. There will be an awesome band and incredible speaker, fun and challenging games, and most importantly, relational small group discussions! 

Had the opportunity to spend some time with a small group of high school teens this weekend.  So blessed to see God working in the relationships with those kids and their small group leaders.  Awesome!

The Reward of Sharing

May He who supplies seed to the sower, and bread for food, supply and multiply the seed you have sown and increase the fruits of your righteousness, while you are enriched in everything for all liberality, which causes thanksgiving through us to God.  2 Corinthians 9:10, 11

Giving is the very essence of God.  It is His nature.  As John 3:16 tells us, “god so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”  As we grow in Christ, His nature should become our nature.  We move from impulse giving to obedient giving, then to supernatural giving.  We are not to give based on what we think we can afford, but as God leads us to give.  Remember this: we will never be the kind of givers we should be until we understand that we are simply stewards of God’s possessions.  We don’t own it; we simply oversee it.

Paul notes five attitudes of supernatural givers in 2 Corinthians 9.  They give generously (v.6).  It’s not about how much you can keep, but how much you can give.  They give prayerfully (“let each one give as he purposes in his heart,” v.7), cheerfully (“God loves a cheerful giver,” v.7), and faithfully (vv.8-12).  As God leads us to give, we know by faith that He will take care of us.  Nowhere in the Bible is there a command for us to give without a promise of return.  If we are giving to glorify God, we can expect a return, one that is greater than the gift.  Again and again we find evidence of this in Scripture: Proverbs 3:9, 10; Proverbs 11:24. 25; Luke 6:38; Philippians 4:15-19.  Therefore, we should always give to receive, so that we will have the ability to give even more.  Finally, a godly giver gives sacrificially (vv. 12-15).  To give God’s way, we must be willing to give up things.  But whatever we give up for the cause of Christ will come back in so many different ways.  Always remember, He can and He will.  You will never out-give God. 

Dear Lord, give me the heart to be a good steward.  Help me remember that You are my supply.  All that I could ever need, You can provide!  Help me be faithful and trustworthy.  May the way I live and share with others be a true testimony to the love of Jesus.  It’s in His name I pray.  Amen

Dr. Rob Zinn, Highland, CA

The Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.  He also had seven sons and three daughters.  Job 42: 12, 13

As you read the last chapter of the Book of Job, you are captivated by three main thoughts.  First, you see transformation in Job’s character, from one who tries to justify himself to one who sees the glory of God and repents in dust and ashes (Job 42:6).  He comes forth with genuine faith that is like gold “tested by fire” (1 Peter 1:7).  Second, there is vindication of Job before his friends, as God calls him “My servant” (Job 42:7, 8) and calls on Job to pray for them.  Finally, there is restoration to Job of all his former prosperity and indeed far more.  The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had beforehand (v.10); Job is vindicated and rewarded.  Because this is a real account of God’s dealings with a man, its meaning is profound.  Remember, the story of Job is a divinely intended object lesson through which we are meant to apprehend certain great truths pertaining to the trials of the godly.

Whatever we go through is for our good and God’s glory.  Our spiritual growth does not come when everything is going well, but in times of testing when we must turn our eyes on God and trust Him for the results.  Sometimes what we go through is for our own growth; sometimes we shed tears to water someone else’s garden.  Always know that there is a reason, and the Lord will bring us through.  We will be better and stronger because of it.  This world is not our home, but in Christ we are rich, and one day we will be with Him forever!  Remember, after Job’s trial, God gave him twice as much materially as he had beforehand.  He gave him the same amount of children, and there were already sever sons and daughters waiting for him in heaven.  God is good and he knows what you need – keep the faith!

Dear Lord, You have given me far more than I deserve to have.  You have blessed me with Your love, grace, presence, and salvation.  Help me realize how very rich I am in Christ, and help me be thankful for all I have.  Lord, help me focus on the truths that one day I will be with You and that today I am called to be Your servant who brings glory to Your name.   In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

Doctor Rob Zinn, Highlands, CA

Just Wait and See 

“...Things which eye has not seen”

Isaiah 64:4

This world is often a very harsh place, sometimes barely survivable. In ancient times whole civilizations were crushed, a family in the wrong place at the wrong time only seeking to survive in relative peace could be wiped out by war or famine or disease or criminality. So widespread and typical, it was impossible for ancient man to imagine anything different. But God's people, Israel, received promises from God. If they would be faithful, their lives here would be so much more pleasant. God would bless them. Famines would cease in the land; they would be protected from their enemies; their crops and herds and flocks would be productive. When the nation was faithful, God kept His promise and blessed them and prospered them. Many of the Psalms written during these prosperous times speak of the blessings they enjoyed for the times they remained faithful. 

You know what God told them? In effect, He told them that they “had not seen anything yet!” This promise was meant to build anticipation and excitement. As wonderful as God's blessings had been, they were nothing compared to what was to come. They might have wondered, having been blessed with land, health, food, and security from their enemies, “But what more could one want?” 

Since The Beginning of the World 

Yes, God had blessed the nation, but the people had forsaken Him. So now, during the days of Isaiah, the Lord had withdrawn from His people. Theirs had become a truly “god-forsaken land” and there seemed to be nothing but destruction on the horizon. Their cities and even the temple where God had once been worshipped now lay in ruins (Isaiah 64:10,11). 

Yes, there had been periods of righteousness in the past, but the righteousness of the nation in the past did nothing for the people of Isaiah's day (Isaiah 64:6,7) . One who would compromise and try to serve both God and idols might as well not call upon God at all because He will not hear. 

Israel and Judah had turned to immorality and idolatry. But it was only Jehovah that had actually done something for the people. The idols had not. So why turn to them (Isaiah 64:3-5)? 

It is hard to believe that a nation would forsake a God that had actually done these things for them. Why? Would people really do such a thing? Perhaps we could ask the same question of our own generation. We have been a blessed nation founded upon principles that are righteous by believers in God. And yet, we are forsaking the very God of whom our founders wrote insisting it was He who gave us rights and liberty and prayed to Him daily. 

Note Isaiah 64:4 again: “For from days of old they have not heard or perceived by ear, Nor has the eye seen a God besides You, Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him.” 

God is unique. There is no replacement. Not for nations and not for individuals, and not for you. Human ears have not heard and human eyes have not seen any other God who will “act in behalf of one who waits on Him”. 

But We Have Seen God Who Will Act In Behalf of Those That Love Him 

Though it is not an exact quote of what Isaiah had written seven centuries before, Paul uses Isaiah's words to say something similar; specifically that we have a God who acts in behalf of those who love Him. 

“But just as it is written, 'Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.'“ (1 Corinthians 2:9) 

We find at least two important truths as we compare the context of these two passages; Isaiah 64:4 and 1 Corinthians 2:9. 

First, notice the two parallel phrases “from days of old” and “before the ages” (1 Corinthians 2:7). This “mystery” is not something that remains a mystery. Isaiah knew that unlike idols, the living God intervenes, so that was not a mystery. The “mystery” part was exactly how God would intervene to take away sins… theirs and ours (Isaiah 64:5b; 9; 12). Could the people of Isaiah's have possibly fathomed what God would do through Jesus at the cross? But now, through the gospel, we do know these things which never entered their hearts (1 

Corinthians 2:10-13; Colossians 1:25-28). 

Second, note the two phrases “Who acts in behalf of the one who waits for Him” and “All that God has prepared for those who love Him”. The one who “waits” for God is parallel to those “who love Him”. Our ability to endure life, survive and even prosper with joy and peace, growing in our faith (waiting for the Lord - not giving up) is depended in part on how much we love God and appreciate His grace and blessings. If you really love someone, your loyalty to them will have no limits! Besides that, we know what God has prepared for those that love Him. Paul 

“waited for the Lord” (2 Timothy 4:7) and Paul loved the Lord (2 Timothy 4:8). Human ears have not heard and human eyes have not seen any other God who will 

“act in behalf of one who waits on Him”. 

Conclusion 

There is a sense in which we have yet to see eternity's place for the faithful. We see it by faith; we know certain aspects of it by revelation, but it is still outside of our experience at this time. There are characteristics and attributes of the eternal state which are described for us in terms we can relate to. One of my favorites is found here: (Revelation 21:1-4). 

And yet, I understand that this is a vision of heavenly scenes which employ symbols of another realm or state of existence. Things that flesh and blood cannot inherit. Things we probably cannot imagine. In that way, perhaps we can take the words that Paul once used concerning the mystery of the gospel and still say, applying them to heaven: 'Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, And which have not entered the heart of man, All that God has prepared for those who love Him.'“ *

* By Jon W. Quinn

From Expository Files 18.10; October 2011  

Dear Lord Father, I just come to You with open ears, eyes, and heart, praising You for Your faithfulness and direction.  In a world that is so impatient, You help us find the strength in Your promises.  Help me to put aside my selfish desires and impatience and to walk in Your light according to Your schedule and not mine.  I ask for these blessing in the glorious name of Your Son, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.  James 1:12

heads When we endure testing & hardships we must keep our up.  We must remember that God knows what we are going through & He will take care of us!

Lord, help me trust You no matter what comes at me today.   In Jesus’ name I pray, amen!

How Should I Respond to Failure?

Joshua said, “Alas, Lord God, why have You brought this people over the Jordan at all – to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us?  Oh, that we had been content, and dwelt on the other side of the Jordon!”  Joshua 7:7

Have you ever considered that some of the greatest lessons in life come through difficult times, when you’ve failed?  Reality did not meet your expectations in some arena of life – a business venture, a church activity, a relationship.  Perhaps learning to deal with that failure, and gaining wisdom and strength in the process, was a success in itself.  In our modern, success-oriented society, failure is not accepted or allowed in the minds of most people.  Yet some of the greatest success stories in history grew out of failure.

Take Thomas Edison, who invented the light bulb, Historians estimate that Edison tried thousands of wires until he found one that would glow for a long time.  Each time Edison failed with using one kind of wire, he learned what would not work.  Each failure left him with a better understanding of what might work.  Finally, after numerous failures, Edison found success.

Throughout Scripture, we see that our heavenly Father uses failure to teach spiritual lessons.  Sometimes, as He did with the Israelites, He uses failure to reveal sin in our lives.  Other times, the Lord uses failure to teach us that we cannot do anything without Him, or that He has a better plan for our lives.  Through all of these experiences, the Lord teaches us to trust Him completely.

It is encouraging to know that God never allows an experience - success or failure – to come into our lives without using it to change us into the image of His Son. *

Heavenly Father, failure is so hard to accept and even more difficult to experience.  Forgive me, Lord, for having resentment and bitterness when things do not go as I plan.  Help me see Your hand at work in my life in all situations.  Use these times, Lord to mold me into the character of Your Son, Jesus Christ.  Amen.

* Phil Waldrep, Trinity, AL

Finding Confidence in God

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness.  Lamentations 3:22, 23

God will not let you go.  Though you may find yourself in the middle of a storm of your own making.  He will not turn His back on you.  Though you may find yourself experiencing the consequences of your sin, you will still be loved.  Because of His “mercies” and “compassions,” you can be confident that He loves you and will continue to provide for you and take care of you.

You may run.  He will run after you.  You may hide.  He will find you.  You may turn on Him.  He will not turn on you.  Your heavenly Father is relentless in His love for you.  Although He will discipline you, you will not be “consumed.”  He will not let you go.

Paul said it this way in 2 Timothy 2:13: “If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.”  Because our God is so faithful – and also because we can be so faithless – today you and I have a chance to respond to the amazing love of God.  Every morning is a chance to give back.  I can’t help but think that since His mercies are new every morning, our praise should be as well.

Think about it.  Every morning, without fail, a fresh supply of God’s mercy is made available to us.  It’s an all-you-can-eat buffet.  Many have tried to exhaust it (including me!), only to discover that it is inexhaustible.  It seems to me that partake and partake, but rarely give thanks.  Why don’t we that God right now for His steadfast love and mercy? *

Great Father, thank You for being so faithful to someone so faithless.  May my gratitude be as fresh as Your mercy.  I don’t want to pray the same old stale prayers I’ve always prayed.  Instead, I want to learn to speak to You each day with a renewed appreciation for who You are.  Great is Your faithfulness!  Amen.  

*Jerry Walls, Warner Robins, GA

Why Doesn’t God Answer My Prayers?

You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures.  James 4:3

If you’ve been a Christian for any amount of time, you’ve probably asked at some point, “Why doesn’t God answer my prayers?”  If you’ve ever felt that way, you are not alone.  In fact, the Bible is filled with accounts of people who questioned God’s silence.

The thought of God not answering your prayers may bother you, but I believe there are often specific reasons why God is silent.  Sometimes it’s because of our own sinful choices.  The most obvious obstacle that could prevent my prayers from being heard is my own disobedience.  The psalmist made this very clear when he wrote, “If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear” (Psalm 66:18).

There are also times when God is silent because our prayers are selfish or trivial.  He may not answer simply because our prayers aren’t very good ones.  James warned against these kinds of prayers when he wrote, “You ask and do not receive, because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures” (James 4:3).

Of course, sometimes God is silent for reasons we’ll never know.  It’s in those instances that we must wait, trust, and believe.  

However, with all that said, I think that God’s question for us might be, “Why don’t you pray more?”  After all, God is far more justified in complaining about our absence than we are in complaining about His! *

Heavenly Father, please help me learn how to pray.  May I be more concerned about Your will than my own.  I know You truly know best.  Help me to trust You as I pray!  Amen.

*Jerry Walls, Warner Robins, GA

How Can I Overcome Anxiety?

I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on.  Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them.  Are you not of more value than they?  Matthew 6:25, 26

It seems that we are constantly seeing another report or study documenting the fact that we are worrying ourselves to death.  The use of drugs to deal with worry and depression keeps growing dramatically.  Everyone seems to be on “something” to deal with the anxieties of life.  The world continues to turn up the pressure.  It may be work, finances, marriage, kids, parents, health, emotional problems, or any of a host of other issues.  Everyone has something happening in his or her life that no one else seems to understand.

Do you have something in your life about which you would say, “Not even God can do something about this.”  Maybe you wouldn’t actually say that, but you are living that way.  We have let the world inflate the power of our circumstances and shrink the power of God.  That is not the way God meant it to be.  We have let the world convince us there is a ceiling on what God can do.  It is as if we think He has a power limit He cannot go beyond.  Today’s scripture says God gave special attention to the birds of the air and the flowers of the field.  Certainly He can deal with the situations faced by the ones He has created in His own image, the ones for whom He made this world!

Worry is all about where you put your attention.  Are you putting it on the things of this world, or the plan God has for your life?  When you put Him first, your anxiety will begin to lessen dramatically.  There is nothing you will face today that the Lord cannot handle.  You are only a manager of what He has given you.  He will always make the right decision. *

Lord Jesus, today I give You control of every part of my life.  When I try to take control and do it my way, I pray that You will remind me that Your plan is always better than mine.  I know that I need to spend my time seeking Your guidance rather than trying to do things according to my desires.  Help me to see that success is not getting my way, but making sure that I live according to Your will.  Amen.

*Mike Hamlet, Spartanburg, SC

How Can I Praise God When Life Doesn’t Go Well?

Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord.  Lamentations 3:40

The Lord does not promise us that everything in life is going to go our way.  In fact, in James 1 we are told to “Count it all joy when you fall into various trials” (v.2).  The scripture teaches us that these trials can come at us from all directions.  But the testing of our faith produces “patience” (v.3).  When things do not go well, we are given the opportunity to learn to be patient and steadfast in our faith.  James says that as a result, we can “be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing” (v.4).  This is a phrase that describes the believer who has a mature faith.  When we face the trials in life, it gives us the ability to “grow up” in our faith.  God allows us to experience difficulties because God’s purpose is not that we would just be happy, but that we might be conformed to the image of His Son.  Receiving that honor is certainly a reason for praise!

Another reason is that the Lord gives us the opportunity to be involved in the great works He is doing.  As a part of the body of Christ, we have a chance to touch the world as we share the light of the gospel and to help carry out God’s will on earth.  This gives us a real sense of purpose.  We must constantly be seeking to bring our lives in line with His will, considering what might need to change every day.  When we live in such a way, the fact that things don’t always go so well pales in comparison to what God is doing in and through us! *

Lord, I praise You today not because of what has happened or what will happen, but because You are God and You loved me so much You sent Your Son to die on the Cross for my sin.  When I get caught up in what is going on around me, I pray that I will be reminded of what You have done for me.  Help me evaluate everything in my life on the basis of what will bring glory to You.  May I always be in the process of turning to You.  Amen.

*Mike Hamlet, Spartanburg, SC 

Can I Really Trust that God Will Provide What I Need?

Do not be like them.  Four your Father know the things you have need of before you ask Him.  Matthew 6:8

If you have driven to the gas station or been to the grocery store lately, you may have felt a little uneasy.  The twenty-first century has unfolded as a time of war, bad weather, and gloomy economic conditions.  When the stock market lost seven trillion dollars in one week a few years ago, Christian author Phillip Yancey was asked how to pray during a bad economy.  Yancey gave a multilayered response, but it started with the advice to cry, “Help!”  There is nothing wrong with that advice.  God loves simple desperation in prayer.  But we can also have some confidence when we pray.

Jesus reminds us in Matthew 6:8 that even in tough times, including periods of unemployment or a national recession, God never forgets what we need.  The first teaching in the New Testament on the subject of prayer includes this assurance that while God expects us to pray, we never need to worry about Him understanding our request.  He knows “before you ask Him.”

Recently my wife needed her driver’s license renewed so I went with her to the Department of Public Safety and we waited our turn.  The officer working behind the desk seemed to hate his job.  He frequently answered people’s questions before they could finish asking them.  He must have heard it all a thousand times and his answers never changed.  None of us wanted to be there, but his obvious impatience with everyone didn’t help.

It is true that God, like the DPS officer, knows what we need before we ask, and he has heard every request before.  But unlike the impatient officer, God is “your Father.”  That loving relationship makes all the difference.  So go ahead and ask.  God loves to answer!*

Father, You know every need I have today, and You already know how the needs will be met.  I am trusting You as You minister to me and build my faith in Your constant care for me.  Amen.

*Kie Bowman, Austin, Texas 

How Can I Walk with the Holy Spirit

As you therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding in it with thanksgiving.  Colossians 2:6, 7

Do you have any habits that your family and friends recognize?  I find myself singing the chorus to on particular song almost every day, and it has nearly driven my kids crazy!  If they never here “Over the Rainbow” again, they will be happy.

Habits are those repeated actions that help define our lives.  In the New Testament, the word walk describes the things we do habitually.  In Colossians 2:6, 7 believers are instructed to “walk in Him” as a way of life.  The word walk in verse 6 is a combination of two words in the Greek New Testament meaning literally “to walk around.”  It doesn’t mean we are walking in circles, instead it is a word that describes our “walk of life” or our lifestyle, the things we do again and again. 

Our spiritual lives grow through the discipline of habits and repeated actions, but they need not be dull.  The verb walk is present tense, which suggests that the Spirit-filled believer walks with Him every day.  As a result, the scenery changes along the way.

I am glad we instructed to “walk” and not “run”.  I can walk a lot farther and a lot longer than I can run!  Walking is also the most fundamental and universal mode or human motion and progress.  Not everyone can run or drive or fly, but almost everyone can walk.  Walking in Him is a habit, but it can never be dull because of the company we keep – we are walking in Him!

So our spiritual life has a pace; we walk.  Our spiritual life is about progress because we are walking.  Our spiritual life is a partnership because we walk with Him.  Today, take a walk with Jesus.*

Father, today I will claim every promise for living the spiritual life, promises You have given for my good and for my growth.  By Your Spirit, I surrender to Your authority as Lord of my life, Amen.

*Kie Bowman, Austin, Texas

How Can I Deal with Someone Who Is Angry or Bitter

The heart knows its own bitterness, and a stranger does not share its joy.  Proverbs 14:10

Each day we encounter people who are full of anger and bitterness.  A bitter person is someone who has been hurt, has let that hurt fester within, and consequently hurt others.  Maybe the bitter person you will encounter will be a friend, and stranger, a coworker, a fellow church member, a family member, or perhaps even your spouse.

How can you deal with someone who is angry and bitter?  God’s counsel is Ephesians 4:32 applies here: “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.”  Kindness toward someone who is angry is a Christlike attitude – He responded to cursing with blessing.  Being tenderhearted means being moved with the compassion of Christ toward the bitter person.  Tenderheartedness is praying Christ’s prayer from the Cross, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do” (Luke 23:24).  Forgiving an angry person means that you do not hold their sin against them.  The only basis for these supernatural attitudes and actions is the supernatural grace of God found in Christ alone.  You can only forgive bitter and angry people on the basis of God’s forgiveness of you in Christ. 

When someone who is angry and bitter offends you, you have two options: you can either respond the way you naturally would, with revenge, or respond the way Christ in you would, with forgiveness.*

Father God, many times I ask, “How many times shall I forgive one who sins against me?”  And I can hear Your Son say, “Up to seventy times seven” (Matthew 18:22)  I realize that this is not a matter of mere multiplication; it is a matter of the attitude of my heart.  I pray that You would supernaturally enable me by Your Spirit to be kind to those who are rude to me, tenderhearted to those who are angry at me, and forgiving to those who have wronged me.  I pray in Jesus’s name.  Amen.

*Dr. Michael Lewis, Plant City, Florida