Tag: comfort

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Psalms Devotionals 2

Jesus rules

Jesus rules

I have installed my king
on Zion, my holy mountain.”

I will declare the Lord’s decree.
He said to me, “You are my Son;
today I have become your Father. (Psalm 2:6-7)

Those are comforting words to me when I think about this crazy world.

Jesus rules.

The Jewish and Roman rulers who crucified him couldn’t change that fact. (Acts 4:25-28)

Satan most certainly couldn’t. (Revelation 12)

No one and nothing can ever take Jesus off of his throne.

And the day will come when God puts everything under his feet. (Psalm 2:8-9, Hebrews 1:5-13)

So whenever I’m feeling unsettled by all the evil I see on the news, or whenever I’m feeling anxious about things in my own life, I choose to hold on to this one truth:

Jesus rules. And he is good.

Blessed are all who take refuge in him. (Psalm 2:12, ESV)

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Genesis Devotions

The God who sees and comforts

Genesis

It’s always amazing to me how I can read something in the Bible over and over and never really notice its significance.

I’ve read this passage hundreds of times before, but today, this verse stuck out at me:

Now Isaac was returning from Beer-lahai-roi, for he was living in the Negev region. (62)

A pretty inconspicuous verse, right?

But that name “Beer-lahoi-roi” rang a bell with me. And I suddenly realized that it was the same place where God had met Hagar years earlier when she had been running away from Sarah. (Genesis 16)

And after her encounter with God, she called him, “El-roi”, “The God who sees me.” The name “Beer-lahoi-roi” means “the well of the Living One who sees me.”

Perhaps as Isaac was wandering out there, he was praying, “God, you were with Hagar when she was pregnant with my brother Ishmael. You saw her when she was hurting. Will you now be with me in my hurt? My mother has died. And right now, I am feeling incredibly lonely.”

And God was. In his gracious provision and impeccable timing, God brought Rebekah to Isaac. It says at the end of this chapter,

And Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah and took Rebekah to be his wife. Isaac loved her, and he was comforted after his mother’s death. (67)

Christmas season is usually a happy time. But it can also be a hard time for many people, especially if you have lost someone you loved this year.

But remember that God is “El-roi”, the God who sees you.

And remember that Jesus is “Immanuel,” God with us.

So if you’re struggling right now, turn to him.

God is the Father of mercies, and the God of all comfort who comforts us in all our affliction (2 Corinthians 1:3-4).

And through whatever pain you may be feeling, his Son is right there by your side.

For a child will be born for us,
a son will be given to us,
and the government will be on his shoulders.

He will be named
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. (Isaiah 9:6)

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2 Corinthians

Seeing beyond ourselves

2 Corinthians

As I was rereading 2 Corinthians 1:6-7, it struck me that Paul was truly following the pattern of Christ.

If Christ had merely been concerned about his own comfort, he would never have come to earth.

He would never have been born in a stable. He would never have lived in a poor carpenter’s house. He would never have gone days at a time without a place to lay his head. He most certainly would never have gone to the cross.

But he did. Why?

For our comfort and salvation.

We were miserable because of all the sin and evil in this world. More, we were headed for destruction. And because Christ saw all of that, he gave up the comfort of his life in heaven and allowed himself to become afflicted for us.

Paul saw Christ’s example, and he followed it.

For the sake of the Corinthians and all those he was serving, he was willing to go through shipwrecks, imprisonment, times of hunger and want, and persecution.

Why? Because he saw beyond his own comfort. And he saw the utter hurt and need of these people he was ministering to.

Even when Paul experienced comfort, his focus wasn’t completely on himself.

Rather, he saw it as being an encouragement to the Corinthians. That they would see that Paul’s troubles, hard though they were, were nevertheless temporary. That he found relief and God’s joy.

And so as they went through their own trials, they would have hope that just as Paul had found God’s comfort in his life, they would eventually find comfort as well.

With that hope, it would then give them the courage to endure any troubles that they suffered through.

It can be so easy to be self-centered. To, as I said yesterday, live like a sponge simply soaking up God’s love and to just live a comfortable life.

But God calls us to see beyond ourselves. To follow Christ’s example and be willing to give up our comforts, and even be willing to suffer that others may be saved.

If that’s ever going to happen, though, we need the eyes of Jesus. Eyes that see the utter hurt and need of the people around us. Eyes that drove Jesus to the cross.

Do you have those eyes?

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2 Corinthians

Called to be a channel, not a sponge

Channel of blessing

One of the great things about being a Christian is the blessings that God pours out in our lives. And one of those blessings is the comfort that he gives us as we go through trials.

But it’s so easy for us as Christians to simply become sponges. We simply soak in the love of God and the comfort that he provides in our lives.

But while we do need those times of soaking in his love and comfort, God does not want us to merely be sponges. Rather, he desires that we be channels of his blessing to those around us.

Paul writes,

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, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4)

Note that one of the main reasons God comforts us is so that we can take the comfort we have received and pass it on to the people who are hurting around us.

I like how the HCSB puts verse 5.

For as the sufferings of Christ overflow to us, so through Christ our comfort also overflows. (2 Corinthians 1:5)

Christ’s sufferings, in a sense, overflowed out of his cup and into ours. Not in the sense, of course, that we have to suffer for our own sins. Jesus has already paid our debt completely.

But now for his sake, we are sometimes called to suffer. Sometimes we are persecuted. Sometimes we go through trials.

But God uses all these things not only to spread his kingdom, but to shape us into the people that he wants us to become.

As Peter said,

These [trials] have come so that your faith–of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire–may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. (1 Peter 1:7)

But as much as his sufferings may spill over into our lives, so much more does his comfort spill over into our lives. Not only that, Jesus overflows our cup with his comfort.

Why not just fill us to the brim? So that his comfort might spill into the lives of those around us who are hurting too.

So often though, people just like to soak in that love and comfort they have received, and never see the needs around them.

But if we’ll just take a look around, we’ll be able to see people going through the same things we went through. And God calls us to give them the hope of our experience. To reach out to them and say, “I understand. I’ve been there. God will see you through.”

And to pour out God’s love and comfort into them.

How about you? Are you merely a sponge, soaking in all you can from God?

Or are you also a channel through whom God can pour his out blessings to those around you?

Categories
2 Corinthians

Comfort in the midst of trial

God of comfort

This is probably one of my favorite passages in scripture. Paul writes,

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, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. (2 Corinthians 1:3-5)

Sometimes, we wonder through our trials and sufferings if God really cares. If he really does love us. But here Paul calls God the Father of compassion.

I like the ESV which translates it “the Father of mercies.”

In other words, when God sees us, he’s not indifferent to us. Rather, he looks upon us with compassion and mercy.

I think about Jesus when he saw the people of Israel hurting and in need. Time and again, the gospels tell us that he looked upon them with compassion. And in this, he was a perfect reflection of his Father.

More, Paul tells us that he is the God of all comfort. So not only does he feel compassion for us, but he reaches down to touch us.

I think of the time that Jesus dealt with a leper that came to him one day (Matthew 8). Not only did Jesus look upon him with compassion, but he actually reached out and touched him.

This man probably hadn’t experienced human touch for years because others had feared catching his disease. But in Jesus’ touch, the man found comfort and healing.

And though sufferings may abound in our lives now, God’s comfort will abound toward us even more (verse 5, ESV).

Paul spoke from experience. He himself went through intense suffering, more than he could handle on his own.

I have heard and actually taught many times that God will never let us go through more than we can handle. But as I reflect on this passage, it seems to me that while this is a true statement, it’s incomplete.

God often does let us go through more than we can handle…in our own strength. He stretches us beyond what we can handle to our breaking point. Why?

Paul tells us,

But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. (2 Corinthians 1:9)

In other words, God will put us in these situations to teach us that we can’t make it through this life alone. But if we rely on him, he is the God who is so powerful he can raise the dead.

And in the hopelessness of our situation, by his grace, he can pull us out and give us new hope and life.

As God would tell Paul later,

My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.

(2 Corinthians 12:9)

And as we go through these trials and ultimately look back on them, we’ll see that God was there all along. Then as we face future trials, we can have hope knowing that the same God that delivered us before will deliver us again.

Paul learned this, saying with confidence,

He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us. (2 Corinthians 1:10)

How about you? Are you going through trials that you can’t see an end to? Are you feeling stretched beyond the breaking point?

Remember that God does care and he hasn’t abandoned you.

So let us not rely on ourselves, but lean on his strength and power. And by his grace he will bring you through.

Categories
Psalms

The word that brings freedom and comfort

Psalms

The love that the writer has for God’s word really strikes me as I go through this psalm.

So many people take God’s word as something that binds.  Namely, something that takes away our freedom to enjoy life.  “Do this, don’t do that.”

But the psalmist doesn’t see things that way at all.  Why not?  I think it flows from his concept of God.  What was his concept of God?  We see it in verse 41.

May your unfailing love come to me, O LORD, your salvation according to your promise. (Psalm 119:41)

And again in verse 64,

The earth is filled with your love, O LORD. (Psalm 119:64)

In other words, he saw God as someone who truly loved him, and was looking out for his best.  As a God who was his salvation in a hostile and broken world.

As a result, when he looked at the laws of God, he didn’t see a God who was trying to be a killjoy.  Rather he saw a God who wanted him to find true life.

So he wrote in verse 45,

I will walk about in freedom, for I have sought out your precepts. (Psalm 119:45)

Notice that to the psalmist, the law of God did not bind, but actually brought freedom.  Why?  Because when we live life the way God designed it to be lived, we find that we can actually live it to its fullest.

At home, I’m using Windows 8.  I must admit, there are a lot of things on there that I never use.  Part of it is I just don’t want to take the time to look up what everything is.  I’ve got the basics, but nothing else.

I suppose one of these days, for example, I should figure out how to use the cloud application.

I’m not using Windows 8 to its fullest because I haven’t studied the manual.  If I did, I’d probably find easier ways to do things, and my life would be a lot easier because I’d be using it the way it was designed.

I don’t have a Smart Phone (or i-phone) for that matter, but I know many people who are the same way with their phones as I am with Windows 8.  They’re missing out on a lot of the functions, because they don’t take the time to read the manual.

The Bible is the manual to life. It shows us how God designed us to live.  And when we live according to the manual, far from finding ourselves bound up, we find freedom and life.

God’s word also brings comfort when life becomes hard.  It brings comfort because besides showing us the way to life, it shows us God’s promises to those who love him.  And so as we go through this broken world, we can have hope.

The psalmist wrote,

Remember your word to your servant, for you have given me hope.  My comfort in my suffering is this:  Your promise preserves my life. (Psalm 119:49-50)

One of my favorite verses is John 14:1-3 where Jesus told his disciples this:

Do not let your hearts be troubled.  Trust in God; trust also in me.  In my Father’s house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you.

I am going there to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.

When his disciples went through persecution, and even death, how much must those promises of Jesus have brought them comfort.  And they can bring us comfort too.

The key underlying all of this is this:  Do you believe God is good?  Do you believe that he’s looking out for your best?

If you do, his word will bring you freedom and comfort.  If you don’t, you’ll have trouble understanding the psalmist’s passion for God’s word that you see in this passage and throughout the whole psalm.

How do you see God?

Categories
Job

When friends mourn

Job

In the book of Job, we see three of his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar.  When they heard about Job’s troubles, they decided together to go and visit him.  And when they saw the state he was in, it says,

They began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.  Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights.

No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.  (Job 2:12-13)

Although there are a lot of negative things we can say about his friends throughout the book of Job, one thing we can say is that they truly cared about him.

And in the first few days they were with him, they did the best thing they could.  They shut up and just stayed with him.

When they got in trouble was when they started opening their mouths and started spouting off their “wisdom” to him.

I think there’s something to be said about that.  When our friends are mourning because of the troubles they are going through, most times, they don’t need our words of advice.  They don’t need our “wisdom.”  More than anything else, they just need us to be there and to listen.

Sometimes they will say stupid things in their pain and anguish.  Sometimes they may even question God and his wisdom.

But for the most part, they don’t need us to condemn them or criticize them for voicing their pain.  They just need us to be there to understand them and to sympathize with them.

And if we’ll just do that, showing God’s love to them by just being there and understanding them, they’ll usually come around, and recognize God’s presence and love through us.

Paul puts it this way,

Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.  (Romans 12:15)

So when people around us are struggling through loss and pain, let us use our mouths much less, and use our ears and arms of comfort much more.

Categories
Nahum

A certain judgment

Ninevah

I sometimes wonder when I’m ever going to finish 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. I seriously have just a handful of chapters to finish with these two books, but these prophets keep getting in the way. 🙂

I suppose the Israelites felt the same way. The prophets kept getting in the way of the people’s sinful way of life, and so the people probably just wished they would shut up.

In this case, however, the Israelites probably took great comfort in this book. In fact, Nahum’s very name means “comfort” or “consolation.”

And in this book, Nahum predicts the fall of Israel’s oppressors, the Assyrians, namely their capital city of Nineveh.

As we’ve already read in Jonah, God had been about to judge the Ninevites for their sin.

Initially, they had humbled themselves and repented. But they soon reverted to their old ways, and God was once again about to bring judgment upon them.

This time, however, there would be no repentance, and judgment did come.

It’s not exactly clear when this prophecy was written.

It was probably written sometime between the reign of Manasseh and his grandson Josiah. So putting the prophecy here is a bit arbitrary.

But anyway, the book starts with portraying God as a God of wrath, a picture people commonly associate with the “God of the Old Testament” (as if he were different from the God of the New Testament).

Nahum writes,

The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord takes vengeance and is filled with wrath.

The Lord takes vengeance on his foes and maintains his wrath against his enemies. (Nahum 1:2)

“Sounds pretty wrathful to me, Bruce,” you may say.

True, but it also says in verse 3 that “the Lord is slow to anger.”

And that was very true for Nineveh. God was quick to spare the Ninevites when they repented earlier. And he gave them much more time after they started sinning again to repent.

If this book was written in the time of Manasseh, they had at least 50 years, and if it was written in the time of Josiah, they may have had as many as 30 years to repent.

And yet they didn’t, despite God’s warning that,

The Lord will not leave the guilty unpunished. (Nahum 1:3)

Ultimately that’s the whole of this book. To those who put their trust in him and follow him,

The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him. (Nahum 1:7)

But of Nineveh, Nahum says,

He will make an end of Nineveh; he will pursue his foes into darkness. (Nahum 1:8)

And again,

It is decreed that the city be exiled and carried away. Its slave girls moan like doves and beat upon their breasts. Nineveh is like a pool, and its water is draining away.

“Stop! Stop!” they cry, but no one turns back.

Plunder the silver! Plunder the gold! The supply is endless, the wealth from all its treasures!

She is pillaged, plundered, stripped! Hearts melt, knees give way, bodies tremble, every face grows pale. (Nahum 2:7–10)

Why was God doing this? He makes it very clear in chapter 3.

Woe to the city of blood, full of lies, full of plunder, never without victims!

The crack of whips, the clatter of wheels, galloping horses and jolting chariots! Charging cavalry, flashing swords and glittering spears!

Many casualties, piles of dead, bodies without number, people stumbling over the corpses—all because of the wanton lust of a harlot, alluring, the mistress of sorceries, who enslaved nations by her prostitution and peoples by her witchcraft. (Nahum 3:1–4)

For years the Ninevites had preyed on other nations, killing many and plundering their cities out of their lust for power and wealth.

Not only that, they had prostituted themselves to false gods and taught other nations to do the same.

So God said,

I am against you…I will pelt you with filth, I will treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle.

All who see you will flee from you and say, ‘Nineveh is in ruins—who will mourn for her?’

Where can I find anyone to comfort you?” (Nahum 3:5–7)

Because of their atrocities, no one would ever mourn Nineveh. Nahum concludes by saying,

Nothing can heal your wound; your injury is fatal.

Everyone who hears the news about you claps his hands at your fall, for who has not felt your endless cruelty? (Nahum 3:19)

What can we take from this?

Judgment is certain.

God is a God of patience and mercy. He waits far longer than I would for people to repent. He takes no pleasure in seeing people die.

But the time will come when God’s patience runs out, and then judgment will come.

It came for the Ninevites, and it will come for each one of us.

The writer of Hebrews said,

Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment. (Hebrews 9:27)

The question you need to ask yourself is: “Are you ready?”