fortress

Fervent Day 8 When All Seems Lost

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Ephesians 1
Psalm 71
1 Peter 1:3-9
Psalm 31

Fervent, Day 8

Y’all 2020 was THE most trying year. Everyone, including myself, has been looking for a ray of hope in these troubling and difficult times. The coronavirus, racial unrest, political divisiveness, financial problems, isolation, and on and on the list goes. So many distressing and depressing issues to deal with every single day. How do we endure what seems to threaten our very survival?

We press into hope, that’s how.
But in the dark valley, how do we find the hope we need?

One word.
Jesus.
Jesus is our hope.

Psalm 71 tells us Jesus is our rock, refuge, fortress, deliverer and confidence. It says He is our hope, Who is always available. Don’t miss that. Jesus, our hope, is always available. I have some really reliable friends I can lean on, but I wouldn’t expect them to fulfill those roles, because it’s too much to ask of any human.

Here’s the good news. We don’t even need to ask it of Jesus.
He just is those things . . . all the time.

Jesus is also our anchor. We know this from Hebrews 6:19, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” Anchor for my soul. Yes, please. Because Jesus is our anchor, our rock, and our deliverer, we never need to be uncertain. He is firm and secure; therefore, when we place our hope in Him, we are secure.

Recently, I was furloughed for four months and then laid off. It got a little scary when the bank account got really low. Or when a bill came and we weren’t sure how to handle it. But every time I started to feel like I was on shaky ground, I remembered Jesus is “far above every ruler and authority, power and dominion, and every title given” (Ephesians 1:21), so this situation was a piece of cake for Him. My job was to continue to hope and trust in Him. And every single time, He provided. There were gift cards, unexpected checks, surprise grocery drops-offs, and even job leads. We never went without.

Do you see what happened? I did not agree with my scary feelings. Instead, I agreed with what I knew to be true of God. A couple of years ago, I studied Ephesians and was particularly drawn to Ephesians 1. While this chapter says a lot about us, it shares even more about God. For instance, God chose us “before the foundation of the world” to “be adopted [. . .] through Jesus Christ for himself” (Ephesians 1:4-5).

As His children, we receive redemption, an inheritance, wisdom, understanding, and the seal of the Holy Spirit. He “has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens in Christ.”

This is the God to Whom we pray.
This is the God we should trust more than any human advice, feeling, or methodology. We can pray with confidence, with hope, because Jesus is able to provide.

But what does that look like in our everyday prayers? Because, let’s be honest. Saying we should pray with confident hope is easier than actually doing it.

We can look at Psalm 31 as a model. David starts out telling God of his despair, while simultaneously declaring his trust in God. Then, in verse 19, David starts to praise.

He tells of the goodness God has stored up for those who fear the Lord.
He tells of God’s protection, faithful love, and ever-attentive ear to His children.
And he ends with some advice I think we all need to heed.
“Be strong, and let your heart be courageous, all you who put your hope in the Lord” (Psalm 31:24). So that’s our “old school” example. And it’s a good one.

Now let me share a personal prayer. I think it’s a good one, too.

God, I know You’re in control and that’s a good thing. But God, sometimes it just doesn’t feel good to me. Today while I was planning a celebration dinner for Rick, he walked in and said he didn’t pass the test, because his mind went blank. This means no new job for him. Back to the job that keeps causing health issues. And I struggle to not demand an explanation from You. 

I don’t know Your plan. But I do know You and Your character. So even though right now this looks like a defeat, I know it’s not. Because You love us, I trust You have something else in mind. Help us to be open to whatever that is. Help us to be prepared for whatever it is. And while we wait, help us trust not in what we see, but in what we know about You. I love You, Lord. Thank You for loving me, us, always. Amen

Friends, our God is for us. Our hope is never lost when we place it in Him and His plans for us. By the way, my husband got a retest two weeks later and passed.

Jesus . . . He Only Provides Everything.

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Focus Day 5 Steady Foundation

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Isaiah 28:16-17
Matthew 7:24-27
James 2:14-26
Proverbs 3

Focus, Day 5

I’ll never forget the day we realized our home’s foundation was compromised.
We’d only lived there six months, but we had big plans for our first home. With the current living space only having two bedrooms, my husband made remodeling plans to finish the basement, effectively doubling the size of our home.

Excitement was in the air until the day he walked upstairs, level in hand, and delivered the news: the cinder block walls were bowed in.
It wasn’t noticeable at first…
But a level doesn’t lie.
In the initial building process, wise steps hadn’t been taken to ensure a secure foundation. There was no way to move forward with our construction when we couldn’t trust the foundation. It would take four years of research, planning, praying, and consulting to find an affordable way to secure our home’s foundation.

A Sure Foundation
Praise God He is nothing like mankind! Proverbs 3:19 tells us, “The Lord founded the earth by wisdom, and established the heavens by understanding.” God, by nature, is all-wise, all-knowing and has no need to be taught, but is Himself the teacher. The source of wisdom and understanding is God.

Job 28:26 says, “the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom, to turn away from evil is understanding”.  Likewise, Proverbs 1:7 teaches, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: fools despise wisdom and discipline.”

Most would agree that wisdom is a good thing to be acquired and evil should be avoided.  But who says which is which?
And what does fearing the Lord have to do with this?

Who is Wise?
Jesus tells us in Matthew 7:24-27, “Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain fell, the rivers rose, and the winds blew and pounded that house. Yet it didn’t collapse, because its foundation was on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and doesn’t act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. The rain fell, the rivers rose, the winds blew and pounded that house, and it collapsed. It collapsed with a great crash.”

Did you catch that? Jesus teaches it is a wise person who “acts on” His words. Obedience lays an unshakeable foundation bringing protection, care, and endurance.  Conversely, a foolish person will not act upon or obey the words of Christ; this decision is like building his home on shifting sand, completely vulnerable to destruction and will eventually washed away by storms.

Obedience matters.
It matters as much as a strong foundation matters for your home.  It matters so much that Jesus equates wisdom with obedience and foolishness with disobedience.  His Word defines what is straight and what is crooked (Isaiah 28:17).

This doesn’t mean we obey to receive a gold star, a badge, or a self-righteous rock.
OUR righteous deeds are actually like polluted garments (Isaiah 64:6).
Obedience does mean wisdom is only found in listening to, following and obeying the words of Jesus.  The way of Jesus is the rock. The Psalmist knew this well, “For God alone, Oh my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. On God rests my salvation and my glory; my mighty rock, my refuge is God.” (Psalm 62:5-7)

Our Foundation Shows
James 2:14-26 gives us another angle on what it looks like in real life when our foundation is Jesus Christ.
Verse 14 says, “What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone claims to have faith but does not have works? Can such faith save him?”
Verse 17 continues, “faith, if it doesn’t have works, is dead by itself.”
Additionally, verse 18 continues, “You see that faith was active together with his [Abraham’s] works, and by works, faith was made complete”.

Is James saying we must work for our salvation?
Is he contradicting Paul’s words in Ephesians 2:8-9?  By no means! The order of things matters and we must use Scripture to interpret Scripture, (a plug for proper hermeneutics!).  In Paul’s writings he helps us understand the only perfect, wise, secure foundation is God Himself, His Word, and His way through Jesus Christ.
This means the moment of justification for a person is an absolute free gift from God.

James then helps us understand how, if that free gift has been planted within our hearts by God (Colossians 2:13), it will show itself as our foundation with lives resting squarely upon Jesus.  What will that look like?  Our actions will be in line with the rock of the words of Christ, and not on the shifting sand of our own desires, sin and unbelief.

To be clear, our lives here on earth will never perfectly reflect the glory of Jesus Christ. We will still sin, fail, and stumble. This is not a perfection game, but a remembering discipline (Proverbs 3:1-4).  When I forget my foundation, I start building a side-hustle castle on the sand of my own desires, which God graciously allows to be swept away reminding me of who I really am in Him.

For our daily remembering, it’s important to ask questions like:
To whom and what am I listening?
With what am I filling my mind?

The answer to those questions will answer these:
How will I prioritize my life?
How will I make decisions?
How will I love today?

When the words of Christ as our foundation, we will walk in wisdom and understanding and we will be hungry to take in His wisdom.  We will choose to obey Him, trusting He is, and always will be, our sturdy rock in an ever-tumultuous sea.

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Awaken Day 11 Victorious Wonder

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Psalm 91
Psalm 90:12
Psalm 94:12-23

Awaken, Day 11

Have you ever wanted to be Wonder Woman: battling injustice and deflecting bullets with the best of them? Some days I feel like I successfully wage war with my surroundings and come out victorious. Other days I feel like I have simply turned into a “wondering woman.”

Did I turn off my curling iron?
Did I leave myself enough travel time or will I be late?
Am I investing my time where I am should be?
I feel like I am failing in one are of my life. Am I failing in all of them?

It is in the moments where I start to question everything as well as in the moments that I believe I have it all together that I realize my focus is solidly on where my feet are standing rather than on the One who created both my feet and the earth beneath them.

While I agree that looking where you are stepping in the natural is a good plan. This helps avoid the dips in the road or the rogue Lego piece in the middle of the night. However, in my spiritual life, my balance starts to falter when I take my eyes off the Lord and focus them on the steps in front of me.
I’ve discovered that I cannot be more interested in where I am going
than I am in the One who has planned my steps.

It is in those times of misaligned focus that I discover I have run ahead of the Lord or lagged behind Him, ironically increasing the travel time rather than speeding it up!

The problem is not in wanting to know where the Lord is leading.
The issue is when I want to know the why or the where MORE than I want to know Him. Psalm 90:12 challenges me to slow down and listen to the One who is wisdom.

It is in those moments where I have learned to be still and know that He is God that I have most profoundly heard His heart and direction for my life.
There, hidden away with Him,  I have most understood what being a Wonder Woman in my life really looks like.

Today the words of Psalm 91 (especially in the amplified version) weave their way into my heart and strengthen my backbone of faith. They challenge me to raise my head in confidence in the Lord and the truth of His Word.
His words are alive and active.
I’m not simply eavesdropping on a conversation between the author and the Lord captured so many years ago. These recorded words hold truth for us and resonate with everyday life.

“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High
shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty
[Whose power no foe can withstand].
I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God;
on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I [confidently] trust!”
Psalm 91:1-2 AMPC

This is not the stance of a cowering female,
nor is it the stance of an overly confident one.
The balance lies in knowing the Lord and my role in our relationship.
He has me. He will keep me stable. He will be my Refuge. He will be my Fortress.
My job is to stay within His presence and lean on, rely on, and CONFIDENTLY trust in Him.
All of those things take great strength to do, so any thoughts of Christianity being for the weak have long since left my mind.

Psalm 91 begins with the declarations that I seek to live out in my life, declarations that empower and encourage me.
Psalm 91 ends with declarations the Lord makes in return.
These too bring empowerment and encouragement, especially when I read them with my name in them.

“Because he (insert your name here) has set his love upon Me,
therefore will I deliver him: I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness-trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never].
He shall call upon Me and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.
With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16 AMPC
These are the things He will do.

In the midst of those precious gifts, He invites us to know and understand His name: His mercy, love, kindness, and His faithfulness.
My emotions and feelings my shift from day to day (or let’s be honest, sometimes moment to moment) causing me to ride the roller coaster of Wonder Woman to wondering woman, but the Lord is constant, stable, and solid.

With my focus on Him and my heart settled in Him,
no circumstances of the day negate the promises the Lord has made nor can they destroy the guaranteed victory awaiting us in heaven.

Until that day arrives, I choose to both rest in Him and rise up for His glory.
Dear sister, His is victorious.
And because He is, so are you.
Dwell in the shadow of His wings and set your love upon Him.
Wonder in that!

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Worship III, Day 8 Fight Song

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Read His Words Before Ours!

Psalm 46
Matthew 4:1-11
Ephesians 6:10-18
I Corinthians 12

Worship III, Day 8

Music is an amazing gift from God!
It universally allows every human being to praise God in their native language.  Many hymns we sing today were written in a different language, such as “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” 
Originally written in German by the well-known theologian, Martin Luther, this hymn is the most widely translated around the world. 

I remember singing this hymn growing up and I still sing it today.  As a child, I didn’t understand many of the big words such as “bulwark” and “Sabaoth” or Old English words like “abideth” and “doth”. Now as an adult, these powerful words hold deep meaning.

The history behind the hymn makes the words even more remarkable. 
Set against the contentious backdrop of the Protestant Reformation, this hymn was written around 1527-1529.  Martin Luther had posted his Ninety-Five Theses approximately 10 years before he penned this hymn. Luther bravely stood up to the Roman Catholic belief system with Scriptural truth. Had he not done this, we ourselves may have been lost!

“A Mighty Fortress is our God’” has been called “The Battle Hymn of the Reformation.”
Over time, it has become the anthem of the Christian faith. 

Martin Luther staked his life upon the certainty of Scripture.
This hymn reflects those deep roots in God’s Word and His character. 

A Fortress
A heavily protected, impenetrable building
Psalm 18:2

A Bulwark
A defensive wall or barricade
Psalm 27:5

Our Helper
Never leaving us alone to fend for ourselves.
Deuteronomy 31:8

The Right Man on our Side
None could save us, but the Almighty God wrapped in human flesh, willing to exchange His righteousness for our filthy rags of sin.
Hebrew 2:17

Our Sabaoth
The Host of Heaven or Commander of Armies
James 5:4

A mighty Fortress is our God,
A Bulwark never failing;
Our Helper He amid the flood
Of mortal ills prevailing:
For still our ancient foe
Doth seek to work us woe;
His craft and power are great,
And, armed with cruel hate,
On earth is not his equal.

Struggles? Battles? Enemies? Brokenness?
Did we in our own strength confide,
Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side,
The Man of God’s own choosing:
Dost ask who that may be?
Christ Jesus, it is He;
Lord Sabaoth His Name,
From age to age the same,
And He must win the battle.

Verse 3 reminds us of anchoring truth despite these realities.
Truths rooted in Ephesians 6:10-18 which describe our daily battle.

Did you know there is a war going on?
A war not with flesh and blood, but with the powers of darkness. 
A war where the Enemy “threatens to undo us”
It may be easy to say we are at war, but are we actually fighting in the war? 

Luther’s song rings victoriously with truth:
We will not fear, for God hath willed
His truth to triumph through us:
The Prince of Darkness grim,
We tremble not for him;
His rage we can endure,
For lo! his doom is sure,
One little word shall fell him.

I know in my personal life, I could easily say “Sure, I fight the Devil”, but truthfully,
I slip into fighting myself, which is what the Devil wants. 
I also fight God, which is also what the Devil wants.
To fight God and myself, I don’t need many weapons. 
Just a few negative thoughts and some misguided theology and I’m set. 

The war against Satan needs real weapons. 
Weapons we can’t attain on our own.
God provides His own armor for us in the fight against the Devil. 
He doesn’t send us to the battle alone, nor does He send us without protection. 
The question is, are we really taking up the armor of God and USING it? 
God wouldn’t have given us this armor if we didn’t need it.
Take some time today to inspect the armor He provides (Ephesians 13-15)
and decide if you’re choosing to wear it,
or if you’re fighting un-armed.

“One little word shall fell him.” 
Luther’s final line of the third stanza reverberates with truth:
It doesn’t take much to get Satan to leave us alone.

Just the name of Jesus.
For at His name alone do all other powers concede. (Philippians 2:10)

In Matthew 4:1-11 we see the Devil lead Jesus into the wilderness, tempting Him to throw away Who He is and His purpose.
Verse 11 says, “Then the Devil left Him”. 
What did Jesus do to get the devil to flee? 
He used Scripture, the “belt of Truth” and the “Sword of the Spirit”.
He used the Armor of God!

That word above all earthly powers,
No thanks to them, abideth;
The Spirit and the gifts are ours
Through Him who with us sideth:
Let goods and kindred go,
This mortal life also;
The body they may kill:
God’s truth abideth still,
His Kingdom is forever.

“The Spirit and the gifts are ours”
Luther concludes his battle hymn with truths echoed in I Corinthians 12, which speak of the gifts God gives to His children.  Do you know your Spiritual gifts? Each gift from God is special and is meant to be used for His glory in specific ways as you live out your everyday life.
How have you used your gifts this week? 
The neighbor who can’t get out much, could you run to the store for them? 
The child who needs a hug, would you give them one? 
The family who is grieving a loved one, would you send them a card or make a meal?

This battle we are in,
it’s conquered by truth, love, and the Name of Jesus Christ by which we are saved.
The truth of God’s Word.
The love He gives us to share with others.
And the testimony of His name, by which every knee will bow, even the Enemy’s!
Be encouraged by Luther’s “Battle Hymn”, Sisters, and make it your own!

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Embracing God’s fullness in our lives is rooted in scripture and memorizing His word is vital to our continued growth and depth with Jesus. Tap and hold from your mobile device to download this week’s verse and make it your phone’s lockscreen!

Thanks for joining us today as we journeyed into Worship III Week Two! Don’t miss out on the discussion below – we’d love to hear your thoughts!

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in Worship III!