God is Available

¹⁴ Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 

¹⁵ For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. 

¹⁶ Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

-Hebrews 4:14-16 (NIV)

God is available to us.  We do not have to await a mediator in the form of a priest or anyone else.  Jesus serves as our "great high priest" who "did not sin." He is our mediator, seated at the right hand of the throne of God and advocating for us before God.  

Then the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. 

- Mark 15:38 (NKJV)

He makes our access to God available to us.  The work of Jesus upon the cross brought about the torn veil that led to the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctuary of the temple where access to God was limited to those of the priestly order.  That was destroyed and torn in two by the sacrifice of Jesus.  We, as believers through His shed blood, now have access to God.

Take some time and spend it with God, meditating on the sacrifice of Jesus.

Read my article Finding Time to Spend with God Daily. 

Help in Times of Trouble

God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

-Psalm 46:1

We are to look to God for our strength.  He is to serve as our supplier.  He is to provide us all that we need, especially when we find ourselves in the midst of trouble.  Finding ourselves in such deplorable conditions and circumstances, we should look with hope to the Lord.  We should earnestly seek Him in such times as these, hoping for the best from the Lord.

The LORD is a refuge for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. - Psalm 9:9

You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor, but the LORD is their refuge. - Psalm 14:6

Free me from the trap that is set for me, for you are my refuge. - Psalm 31:4

My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge. - Psalm 62:7

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge. - Psalm 62:8

The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. - Psalm 145:18

God can step in and stand in for us.  He did it at Calvary at our greatest point of need.  The sin that could not be taken away by any work on our part was cast away on the cross.  The bounty due for the countless transgressions against God were far outweighing any offerings placed upon the altar of sacrifice, but the Lord provided Himself an offering in our stead.  He provided the Lamb of God, slain from the foundation of the earth.

We were troubled and God made His very presence known among us.  He took the form of man.  He became less to do more, never losing His deity but refraining from resisting the fulfilment of prophecy.  As the God-man, the Lord offered us help when we most needed it.  He continues to do so now, even with His blood continually covering us.

Who is Your Gomer?

And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms...- Hosea 1:1

Then the Lord said to me, “Go and love your wife again, even though she commits adultery with another lover. This will illustrate that the Lord still loves Israel, even though the people have turned to other gods and love to worship them."- Hosea 3:1 (NLT)

God utilized the prophet as an object lesson for others to see.  He put Hosea's entire life on display for all others to view him.  He did so and Hosea's life stands out from the lives of other Old Testament prophets in a special way.  Hosea was used by God to show God's tattered relationship with Israel.

It wasn't bad enough that Isaiah's prophecy referred to Israel as a harlot.  It wasn't enough for Ezekiel to eat the scroll or go to a valley and view dry bones.  Surely, it was not enough for Jeremiah to lament after being the weeping prophet who said he would no longer preach the message that the Lord had for him to share with others.  No, God used Hosea differently.  He used his children and his wife, Gomer, to display that God who is perfect and pure was in love with a woman who turned out to be a prostitute- Israel.

So who is your Gomer? Who is God calling on you to seek, to reach and help? Who is your Gomer?

Find out who God is calling on you to reach with His message.  See who God is calling on you to go out of your way and reclaim for Him.  Let God use you.

The Message of the Messiah

"Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us." - 1 Corinthians 5:7 

The message of the Messiah comes from Old Testament prophecies.  The biblical books of Joel and Micah contain messianic prophecies.  Psalm 22 is a messianic psalm.  The prophecies of the Old Testament are fulfilled through the promised deliverer born in Bethlehem, the city of David.

Isaiah is probably the one prophet who offers insights into the coming of the Messiah that most Jews clung to during the days of Jesus Christ.  He wrote of the tribes of Israel turning from God as harlots of idolatry.  His chapter on the suffering Savior depicts the man of sorrows who was bruised for our iniquities.

Numerous books explain salvation for the unsaved to understand.  C.H. Spurgeon's personal salvation story in My Conversion offers a great look at entering into Christ's rest.   Max Lucado wrote He Chose Nails and 3:16.  Additionally, Andrrew Murray's Absolute Surrender conveys the message well, too.

From Eden to Egypt Day 45

But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy, and gave him favour in the sight of the keeper of the prison.- Genesis 39:21 (KJV)

Down times can the very times where we need to know that the Lord is a "very present help."  Illness, unemployment, family strife, divorce and a slew of other issues can plague us day by day.  At times, we can feel abandoned. 

That's not what God wants us to feel.  He does not desire for us to be His forsaken children.  He redeemed us for the price of His only begotten Son.  Let us not live like those who are without hope as Paul shared with fellow believers through his epistles.  We are children of God as promised through His Son.

Joseph was in the pit, then in Potiphar's house, and then in prison.  God never left him alone and forsaken.  He showed him mercy.  He even gave him favor in the sight of others.  God could have left it at mercy and that would have been a big deal, but He even gave the young man favor.

The next time that you feel down.  Look around and see what God has provided for you.  Think clearly about what God has taken you through, ups and downs, valleys and mountains.  Let your heart be content with all that God has already done for you.