Are the flood waters up to your neck?

Hebrews 11:1
Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.

Is your faith based on what you see? Maybe you want to have faith that God can deliver you from your financial problems but the bills keep coming and your faith continues to take a hit. You see the stack of bills and no end in sight and you continue to wonder why you are not out of the woods yet.

Today's verse helps us in this department. When we have more confidence in the hope that God brings us rather than the evidence in front of us, we have a powerful ally in faith.

I look at it this way, there is a fine line between faith and denial and that is why people have a lot of problems with faith. Denial is disconnecting oneself from reality. The reality is that by ourselves, we can be stuck in a quagmire of problems. If we tell ourselves that we have no problem, yet we are in the midst of trouble, we are in denial.

The difference with faith is that you realize that you are in trouble and own up to the fact that you need God to get you out of it and you begin to believe God's hand will reach down to rescue you. So even though you are not experiencing the rescue, your hope and confidence in God sustains you.

I think a perfect picture of what I'm talking about is found in Psalm 69 where David says "Save me, O God, for the flood waters are up to my neck." Have you felt that way before?

David goes on to say: "Deeper and deeper I sink into the mire;  I can't find a foothold.   I am in deep water, and the floods overwhelm me. I am exhausted from crying for help; my throat is parched.   My eyes are swollen with weeping, waiting for my God to help me."

David is at the point of utter despair and he has three choices; he can give up, he can get into denial or he can have faith.

So he gets real in his conversation with God: "O God, you know how foolish I am; my sins cannot be hidden from you." That should be our first step in activating faith, be real with God!

In the Psalm David explains how people think he is a fool but he declares his faith clearly: "But I keep praying to you, Lord, hoping this time you will show me favor. In your unfailing love, O God, answer my prayer with your sure salvation.

If you feel your faith faltering today, I encourage you to read Psalm 69 in its entirety. Its one of my favorites because it reveals how much faith David had in God despite serious troubles.

I look back in my life and every time I've held unto my own strength to get through problems I've just created more problems. The minute I let go and believe God can and will help, the flood waters begin to recede and I can finally enjoy life the way God meant for me to enjoy it!

Are the flood waters up to your neck? Have faith!

Do not hinder them, instead, help them!

Matthew 19:14
Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these."

In those days, people weren't very tolerant of children (sometimes, the same can be said for today!) It reminds me of my time in Germany. I didn't see a lot of Germans taking their kids out to dinner. In fact, whenever I took my kids out to a restaurant I would get a lot of stares. The kids' laughter would somehow make them more irritated.

In this verse, Jesus was speaking to his disciples because they seem to be irritated at the children and they were trying to keep the children from "bothering" Jesus.

You see the disciples dismissed the children's laughter and energy as a bother and Jesus puts them in their place. "Let the children come to me..." I'm sure that wasn't a soft spoken command! I can see Jesus' face with a righteous anger directed at those who would rob children of their innocence and genuine love for God.

Think about your life and the children around you. Have you ever had a callous moment when you felt kids were bothering you? Or the reverse, think of a time, an encounter with a child where you felt the presence of God in their cute little eyes?

There is no doubt in my mind that children hold a very special place in God's heart. Yet why is the world so hell bent against them. Just in my lifetime being a child has changed so much. The kids today think they live in freedom but they have no idea.

I remember freedoms I had as a child that don't exist today. My friends and I roamed the city of Orlando hours, free to ride our bikes everywhere for miles with no fear. Parents didn't need to check with us, no cell phones, freedom. Today, our children must have cell phones and check with us on every hour!

Despite all that, the kids in the United States have it very easy. Every morning, over 25,000 children around the world don't wake up. They die of a needless death due to malnutrition, sickness or senseless violence. Do we even care? We go on about our daily business, the rat race. Yet Jesus says "let the children come to me" and we are increasingly oblivious to the fact that these children around the world are denied access to their Lord and Savior!

What can we do about it? Years ago I learned of a ministry called Compassion International. They are committed to releasing children from poverty in Jesus' name, one child at a time. Now our family's life is forever changed because we sponsor children which would otherwise be forgotten and kept away from Jesus.

I invite you to do something to help children in this world. I invite you to look at Compassion as a possible way to do what Jesus did in revealing his heart for the children that were being kept away from him. It is an easy thing to do but a great blessing on the child as well as you. I urge you to go to www.sponsorachildforjesus.com today!

Your next 24 hours

Colossians 2:9-10
In Christ, all the fullness of the Deity lives bodily form, and you have been given fullness in Christ, who is the head over every power and authority.

I think most people (specially "Christians") have either never read this verse, don't understand it, or flat out, don't believe it.

Think of your last 24 hours. Have you lived it in full agreement with this verse? What would your next 24 hours look like if you do?

When a wave of worry and anxiety come into your mind, if you really believed this verse, how would that change your attitude? How about when someone offends you, how will you respond "in Christ"?

This verse is a power packed punch to the Christian life. You either live a miserable work based life full of condemnation, guilt and worry because of your thoughts of worthlessness or you live "in Christ" knowing that the FULL power of God is within you.

So I ask again, if you truly start to believe this verse, will the next 24 hours of your life look any different?

Old stinky pair of sweats...

James 1:21
Get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Ever notice how little clothing marathon runners wear? Baggy shorts, sweat pants, large shirts, all these things would be a great hinderance to a marathon runner.

So in the marathon of our lives, are we dressed right? Our verse today gives us the dress code. What are we wearing today as we walk out the door? Is it clothing fit for the marathon or will we be dragged down by that old stinky pair of sweats?

So when was the last time you gave up?

2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.

How many times do we think God is slow at delivering what we need? Or better said, delivering what we want? I would say quite often.

But if we are honest with ourselves, we know the truth. And the truth as shown in today's verse is that God is much more patient with us than we are with him.

We ask him for things we want, yet when we hear his prompting, we often don't listen. Then we wonder why he doesn't deliver what we want, when we want it.

Keep in mind that he is just no matter what we do. But we are often the ones who keep ourselves from the things we want because we try to get them in our own strength and through our own ways. We try it without Him, the one who can do all things and deliver everything we need according to his riches in glory.

The bottom line: God will let us try it our on way. He patiently awaits for us to finaly give up and let him be the one to deliver. But as long as we want to do it on our own, he is faithful and will let us wallow in the mud if that's what we want. Eventualy, we realize the futility of not letting him do the work and then he is quick to respond to our need and do his wonderful work in us.

So when was the last time you gave up?