Author: ronda

Psalm 118:5-7

I called to the LORD in distress; the LORD answered me and put me in a spacious place. The LORD is for me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? With the LORD as my helper, I will look in triumph on those who hate me.

The distress mentioned in this verse carries the idea of constraint, constriction, or lack of room. I’m sure most of us at one time or another have felt confined or backed into a corner where we were in danger of attack or could not move forward in life. The writer of this psalm felt constrained by enemies and called out to God for deliverance.

You have an enemy who does not want to see you progress. If you reach your full potential in God, the enemy suffers damage and cannot impose his own agenda because the Kingdom of God is multiplied by your growth. Therefore, he will certainly seek to contain you, restrict you, or paralyze you from moving forward. In those times, the best thing you can do is to cry out to God in your distress. He will move you to a spacious place, where you can grow and be effective for His kingdom.

With God as your helper, you can accomplish what He has called you to do. Helper here means “strong companion.” When you feel you have no more strength to continue, lean upon the strength of your strong companion who is there to help you and keep your land spacious for growth.

God’s plan is for you to triumph. You must believe His word for you more than you fear the enemy’s threats against you. Praise God for the good things He has for you, and speak forth what He has placed in your heart. Look at the wide, open space before you, and move forward. The best way to drown the threatening screams of the enemy is to move forward in praise. Speak loving admiration toward your strong companion, and experience the glory of triumph. God is for you and not against you. You have no reason to fear but plenty of reasons to rejoice.

Have a blessed day!

2 Timothy 2:19

Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, having this inscription:

The Lord knows those who are His, and

Everyone who names the name of the Lord must turn away from unrighteousness.

God loves us and accepts us just as we are, but He does not intend to leave us in our sinful conditions. He is in the business of transforming us into the image of Christ, and unless a person is being transformed, the evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit is not in him. Therefore, those who give their lives to Christ will be ever in the process of looking more like Him and turning from unrighteousness.

Unrighteousness is more than just blatant sin. It can be anything that deters us from experiencing the fullness of God if our life. There is nothing wrong, for example, in watching a ballgame. If God has instructed us, however, to go to church or to engage in another activity at that same time, we are unrighteous in watching the ballgame if we do so anyway. If we remain in our comfort zones, rather than launching out into the deep where we don’t know what will happen, we engage in unrighteousness by choosing security over faith. If we are to live in the fullness of God, we must be willing to follow wherever He leads.

Dare to follow God and turn away from anything unrighteous He may reveal to you today. God has much in store for you that you can experience only as you continue to be transformed into the image of Christ. He didn’t create a comfortable spot for you to just sit and do nothing. Be willing to respond to those nudges of the Holy Spirit, and follow wherever He leads. What you find on your journey will be worth the risk.

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 69:13

But as for me, LORD, my prayer to you is for a time of favor. In Your abundant, faithful love, God, answer me with Your sure salvation.

David is the author of this psalm, and he appealed to the faithful, loving character of God to deliver him from his troubles. He consistently proclaimed the character of God and trusts in who he knew God to be. Because God is good, He expected to see God’s goodness in his life again.

David spoke statements of trust. He still believed in God, even when his faith was under assault by the enemy. He reminded himself of God’s care for him in the past, and as he reflected upon God’s faithfulness, it strengthened his faith to believe in his time of trial.

The enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, and the thing he wants most is our faith. Faith is what pleases God and ushers in His blessing. Faith is the substance of things unseen, and without faith it is impossible to please God. Therefore, the Devil gains victory and steals our blessings by attacking our faith and causing doubt in times of trouble. A stubborn faith develops when we remember God’s faithfulness and rely upon the goodness of His character to see us through difficulty and help us endure difficult times, which come to test our faith.

If life seems to be falling apart, start remembering God’s faithfulness to you in times past. Write down the blessings you have, and post reminders of answered prayer. Concentrate on His goodness, and rest assured He will continue to be good to you because that is His character. Refuse to let the Devil convince you God is no longer with you, is punishing you, or doesn’t care about your situation. God is for you, He has promised to never leave you, and He is working all things together for your good and His glory. You are His, and He is jealous for you. He will send a time of favor and assure you of His sure salvation.

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 136:1

Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good. His love is eternal.

Regardless of what your circumstances may look like, God is good, and He loves you passionately. Never let the Devil convince you otherwise, as he most certainly will try to do. God is for you and not against you. He will never turn His back on you, and He is always with you, even when you can’t see Him or sense His presence. While He may work silently, His work in your life will always be powerful and effective.

The Message Bible gives a wonderful translation of this verse:

Thank GOD! He deserves your thanks. His love never quits.

At times, I am tempted to quit, as I’m sure you are, as well. I’m so very thankful that God’s love never quits. He never gives up on us! We are His relentless pursuit, and for that He deserves all our thanks and our praise!

Just take time to thank God today. Thank Him for His goodness and for the fact that His love just never quits. Thank Him for working in places you couldn’t see and at times you were unaware. A thankful heart is a blessed heart and a heart at peace. Nothing aggravates the Devil more! Let thankfulness yield its sword in your life this day, and may God bless all you do.

Have a blessed day!

Zechariah 7:10

Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the stranger or the poor, and do not plot evil in your hearts against one another.

God warned Israel to follow His ways and not further their own causes at the expense of others. This verse reflects that warning, but Israel would not listen. Instead, they hardened their hearts and did what they wanted to do. As a result, God allowed them to go into captivity, and when they cried out for help, He would not listen to their cries because they had refused to listen to His. Simply put, God responds to us if and when we respond to Him.

Sometimes we may have to endure hardship or abuse from others so they incur the wrath of God. While we may want to fight back, doing so will only implicate us further. When those placed in power over us wrong us for their own benefit or as a result of their own insecurity, God holds them responsible. To deliberately cause harm to someone we are commanded to protect, nurture, and develop brings grave consequences, and God will not let it go unaddressed! He fights for those who cannot fight for themselves and stands with those who have no standing.

Consider the following verses:

Proverbs 15:25

The LORD destroys the house of the proud, but He protects the widow’s territory.

Psalm 68:5

A Father to the fatherless and a Champion (Defender) of widows is God in His holy dwelling.

Psalm 37: 8-13

Refrain from anger and give up your rage; do not be agitated – it can only bring harm. For evildoers will be destroyed, but those who put their hope in the LORD will inherit the land. A little while, and the wicked will be no more; though you look for him, he will not be there. But the humble will inherit the land and will enjoy abundant prosperity. The wicked schemes against the righteous and gnashes his teeth at him. The Lord laughs at him because He sees that his day is coming.

Dear one, God fights for you! No weapon formed against you will prosper, and God will personally see that you succeed in what He has called you to do if you are completely submitted to Him. Let the wicked have their way; God will have their hide! Nothing the wicked can offer you is as great as what God has planned for you! Take your hurt to Him, and trust His plan for you. Humbling yourself guarantees your inheritance. As Psalm 37:4 instructs, take delight in the LORD, and He will give you your heart’s desires. HE HAS NOT FORGOTTEN YOU!

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 108:5-6

God, be exalted above the heavens; let Your glory be over the whole earth. Save with Your right hand and answer me so that those You love may be rescued.

The whole earth is hungering and thirsting to see the glory of God revealed. We must lift Him high and look above the storms and trials of life to see His handiwork. He is most certainly actively involved in our lives, and we need to sense His presence in all we do. Regardless of how we may feel or what threat lies before us, He is faithful, and His love endures forever.

The psalmist pleads with God to save with His right hand and rescue those He loves. Romans 8:34 explains that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father. Only He has the power to save and to rescue. When the world comes crushing in on us, our hope rests at the right hand of the Father, where all power and authority has been given to overcome sin, death, and the grave. Hallelujah!

Do you feel you need to be rescued? You have a Savior. His name is Jesus. People will disappoint you, but God is still at work in your life, and your Savior is still mighty to save. Look to Him, call out to Him, and place your hope in the One who died for you. He who overcame sin, death, and the grave will overcome your struggles, too.

Have a blessed day!

Mark 6:4

Then Jesus said to them, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown among his relatives, and in his household.”

When Jesus taught with authority in the synagogue, His own family members were offended. After all, to them, He was just Joseph and Mary’s boy. What made Him think He was an authority in the Scriptures? He was one of them and nothing more, so they could not receive from Him the truth to increase their faith. They were looking for something more – someone different.

Quite often, those closest to us have the most trouble receiving truth from us because of familiarity. When we long for something more, something different, we have trouble believing our answer may be right in our own home, family, community, neighborhood, or church. We resist the familiar because it sounds dull to us, when Jesus is often right where we are.

Jesus did not rebuke or lash out at those closest to Him. He simply continued in His ministry and went to those who would receive Him. He still loved His own family, but it would take more to reach them. When those closest to you will not listen to you or accept the gospel, you can still stand in the gap and pray for someone to reach them where they are. God still loves them. Your role in reaching them has just changed from preacher/teacher to intercessor, so pray with all your might.

Verse 5 tells us that Jesus could do no miracles there because of their familiarity with Him. There is always some facet of Jesus that we need to discover. When we become so comfortable with what we know about Jesus that we don’t have a hunger to know more, we forfeit the possibility of a miracle.  Remain in awe of Him, and keep yourself open to His wonder, His awe, and His glory.

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 106:44-45

When He heard their cry, He took note of their distress, remembered His covenant with them, and relented according to the abundance of His faithful love.

Israel had gotten themselves into a mess because of their sin, and God allowed their sin to take them into captivity. Most often, His commands are a warning sign against the consequences of evil, and we tend to consider them suggestions, rather than commands. Even though their trouble was of their own making, God still heard their cry, considered their distress, and delivered them because of His great love for them.

Quite often, we feel as if we deserve the trouble we’ve caused and look to our own strength to overcome it. We may even look at others and think they deserve their consequences. While this may be true, God still has compassion on us. He knows we can’t overcome the enemy with our own strength, so He hears our cry and delivers us from our own failures. Instead of losing hope, we should always cry out to Him, assured of His faithful love for us as our heavenly Father. Despite the old saying, when we get ourselves into certain messes, we can’t always get ourselves out. In those times, however, we have an opportunity to admit our fault, repent, and seek God with all our heart. When we do, He hears our cry and goes to work on our behalf. He truly is a Father to us.

God has established a covenant of grace with us through Jesus Christ, who bore our sins on the cross. Because of what He has already done, we can turn to God and cry out for help. Never let hopelessness rule in your life; we always have hope in Him and can come before the throne of mercy with full confidence of God’s love for us. Don’t shrink back in shame when you can cry out for mercy and be delivered! Your heavenly Father hears your cry and considers your distress. Because He is faithful, you can overcome your own worst enemy – yourself.

Have a blessed day!

2 Chronicles 18:28-29

Then the king of Israel and Judah’s King Jehoshaphat went up to Ramoth-gilead. But the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “I will disguise myself and go into battle, but you wear your royal attire.” So the king of Israel disguised himself, and they went into battle.

Oh, the foolishness depicted in just two verses! After inquiring of the LORD through Micaiah the prophet, Ahab received word that he would not survive if he tried to take Ramoth-gilead from the king of Aram. Ahab tried to avoid Yaweh’s warning by disguising himself. He must have feared Micaiah’s prophetic word was true, but he thought he could outsmart God. I feel like I’m reading a biblical version of Dumb and Dumber because what Jehoshaphat did was, perhaps more foolish than what Ahab tried to do. After inquiring of the LORD and hearing the prophetic word of defeat in battle, Jehoshaphat marched right into battle with Ahab, making himself the prime target for attack by wearing his kingly robe. Can you sense trouble brewing? Let’s look further.

Verses 30-32

Now the king of Aram had ordered his chariot commanders, “Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel.” When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they shouted, “He must be the king of Israel!” So they turned to attack him, but Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him. God drew them away from him. When the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel, they turned back from pursuing him.

Aram’s army had been ordered to attack only the king. The strategy was to kill the king, and the soldiers would flee in fear. Jehoshaphat in his kingly robe had a big bullseye on his back, so the enemy went after him. Fortunately, Jehoshaphat reverted back to his old custom of crying out to God for help.

Take a moment to fully grasp what happened here. After having inquired of the LORD, Jehoshaphat deliberately ignored God’s warning and went into battle with Ahab. He took up an offense that was not his and sided with the wrong party. He even agreed to make himself a target for attack by wearing his kingly attire and allowing Ahab to disguise himself. Jehoshaphat was asking for trouble, and he got it! Even though he deserved the consequences of the attack, he still had enough sense to cry out to God for help. The absolutely amazing and mind-boggling part of this incident is that God helped him!

Underline that sentence in your Bible: Jehoshaphat cried out and the LORD helped him. If someone had ignored my warning and did the exact opposite of what I had instructed, my belief system would say that he got what he deserved. He got himself into this mess, so he can get himself out. I would fail to consider the hundreds of times I didn’t listen to godly counsel, myself, and did the exact opposite of what I knew to be was right.

Many times in my life I have followed the leading of a friend because I didn’t want to cause conflict between us. I’ve gone places I shouldn’t, said things I should not have said, and done things I knew were wrong. To make matters worse, I’ve even persuaded friends to do the wrong things with me. Having desperately needed grace, my first inclination would be to let Jehoshaphat squirm in his own mess. Our great and loving God, however, is not like me. When Jehoshaphat cried out to Him, He rushed to his rescue. Even when our attack is of our own making, we can still cry out to God for help and trust Him to help us!

Note to self: God’s love for me is greater than His aggravation with me. Hallelujah!

Have a blessed day!

Psalm 89:16-17

They rejoice in Your name all day long, and they are called by Your righteousness. For You are their magnificent strength; by Your favor our horn is exalted.

This promise is for you and me, and we can lean on it today. We are called by the righteousness of God’s Son, Jesus Christ. He is our magnificent strength, and He exalts our horn by His favor.

To exalt our horn means that God gives us power and eventual triumph. This power is magnificent and far exceeds any earthly power. When God intervenes on behalf of His people, everyone recognizes the supernatural force at work and knows these are a people favored by Him.

We have this power as a child of God. Through the righteousness of Jesus Christ, we obtain this mighty favor that enables us to triumph in the face of our enemies. Rejoice in the name of Jesus today. His victory over death gives us magnificent strength and favor beyond compare in this world. You are not deserted, forgotten, unworthy, rejected, or ignored. You are highly favored and dearly loved by your Creator, who gives you magnificent strength to overcome, and you are more than victorious through Him who loves you.

Have a blessed day!