“Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is there anything too difficult for Me?”
– Jeremiah 32:27
Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy.
Psalm 107:2
Several years ago, I had the honor of speaking at the Westerville Area Resource Ministry’s (W.A.R.M.) annual Prayer breakfast. I was asked to simply, “Share your story.” The room was brimming with pastors and ministry leaders, as well as the mayor of Westerville. I was keenly aware that my only qualification to speak to the crowd before me was the Lord Jesus Christ and what He had so graciously accomplished in my life. No diplomas on the wall or letters after my name. So, with knees shaking but a heart bursting with gratitude, I stepped up and shared with authenticity, my story of His redemption, for a wretch like me.
My prayer was to do that in such a way that those much more “qualified” than I would be moved to worship the One who gave His life for each of us. To recognize that the ground is level at the foot of the Cross (to borrow from Billy Graham). That included those whose story is nothing like mine or those whose story paralleled my own. We are all in need of The Savior, Jesus Christ.
I am sharing this 20 min video with you today, because today, May 14th, marks the day I gave my life to Christ, 45 years ago.
It’s my continued prayer that the Holy Spirit uses it to to encourage those who are praying for someone who is far from Christ (can you say, hot-impossible-mess?) or if you yourself are that hot-impossible-mess. He is more than able to redeem and restore. Anyone. Never stop praying.
[Urged on] by faith the people crossed the Red Sea as [though] on dry land…
Because of faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encompassed for seven days [by the Israelites].
Others had to suffer the trial of mocking and scourging and even chains and imprisonment. They were stoned to death; they were lured with tempting offers [to renounce their faith].
And all of these…won divine approval by [means of] their faith…
Hebrews 11:29a-30, 36-37,39a AMPC
Sometimes, our faith in the Lord and His Word parts the Red Sea of impossible situations. Sometimes our faith in Him causes the Stone Wall of adversity to crumble at our feet. Talk about mountain-top, arms lifted in praise and worship outcomes! I like that kind of faith outcome, don’t you? And if I’m honest, that’s what I expect as an outcome of faith. Isn’t that the point of faith? To change our circumstances? Maybe.
Recently, while reading the New Testament book of Hebrews, I stopped in my mental tracks as I read and reread chapter eleven. My eyes lingered on the almost too-familiar verses in this “hall of fame” chapter on Biblical faith giants. I could almost hear the STOP, and REWIND sound effects in my mind as my fingers traced the words. Tucked into this list of faith-walkers were others, whose faith outcome included words like “suffer” and “trials” and “imprisonment.” Holding those verses up to the light and talking to the Author of those words, I asked how this could be. Is it possible that authentic, Biblical faith can produce such an outcome?
Yes. It seems that sometimes, faith in God and His Word don’t necessarily lead to miraculous intervention. But instead to an ever-deepening trust (faith) in Him, regardless of the outcome. A level of trust that looks the vilest circumstance directly in the eye and still says, “Lord, I trust You. I have no idea how this will end, but I know You are faithful and worthy of my trust. You have promised to cause all things to work together for good for those who love You and are called according to Your purpose.”
Over the years, I have faced seas that did not part, and walls that did not miraculously come down. I bet you have too. Yet, it was during those bitter-sweet times that I experienced the presence of God unlike any other. Rather than my circumstances changing, He chose to change me, and draw me into a closer relationship with Him out of sheer necessity. Have you found that true in your life?
It’s in those dark moments that we have a choice to make – will we hold Him tight, even as the tears fall, and choose to trust Him? The famed preacher, C.H. Spurgeon once said, “To trust God in the light is nothing – to trust Him in the dark, that is faith.” Is there is a circumstance casting a shadow of darkness over you, or someone you love? Even if through tears, will you choose to trust Him? Whatever the outcome? No matter what it looks like, He has a plan and purpose for all He allows to graze your life.
To trust God in the light is nothing – to trust Him in the dark, that is faith.
C.H. Spurgeon
Father,though my heart longs for a miracle, I love You more than any desired outcome. Help me rest in Your faithful goodness, even as I continue to pray in simple faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus
Click here to purchase a hard copy or download a FREE pdf of the devotional,Stony Paths learning to trust Him as we walk the Stony Paths of real life.
You may also purchase Stony Paths, learning to Trust Him as we walk the StonyPaths of real life, by visiting Lulu Publishing or Amazon.
Though it’s totally unscripted and not at all polished, I pray you hear real life thoughts on God’s Word and how to authentically apply it to our lives.
The first thing I notice in these verses is that it is THE LORD who does the work. He is the One active on our behalf. The Lord sets free. The Lord opens blind eyes and The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down. Verse 8 wraps it up with this beautiful sidenote – the Lord loves the righteous. (Of course, the only righteous ones are those who are cloaked in the righteousness of Christ.)
Though you may, or may not be, behind the steel bars of a physical cell, each of us can be prisoners of our past, or regret, or addiction or bitterness, or loneliness.
While we may not be physically blind, are there not moments (or years?) when we are blinded by grief or unforgiveness or emotional ache, or blinded to our own need for the Savior?
And who among us has not been, at some point, bowed down by the trials of life? Or as one translation puts it, “weighed down” beneath the load of real life? This is the snippet that caught my attention as I read and reread it this morning. In my mind’s eye, imagining a heavy load, literally bowing the back of a person struggling to simply put one foot in front of the other. And it is to you I want to speak.
Probably because I have walked many miles with heavy loads, I am most drawn to those bowed down by the weight of life. Some loads I have needlessly put on my own back; other loads have been placed there by someone else’s choices. Regardless of how the load came to be, the answer is the same. I must. You must. Look to the Lord God to enable us to *carry it. He Himself will bear the weight, as we walk in trusting obedience to Him. Not that He will remove the burdens of life, but that He Himself will carry us… and our burdens. Lifting the weight of it from our tired shoulders. Because He loves us. Simply astounding.
The sweetest prayers God ever hears are the groans and sighs of those who have no hope in anything but his love.” – Charles Spurgeon
Father, I confess there are times when the weight of the load of life seems more than I can bear. It’s then that You remind me that, apart from You, it is more than I can bear. Cause me to quickly release the weight and rest in Your sovereign care. Come what may. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.
*There are some weights that He intends us to throw off, rather than carry. We need to seek His wisdom, through His Word and prayer, to know the difference.
Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus
“Upholds”
סוֹמֵ֣ךְ (sō·w·mêḵ) Verb Strong’s 5564: To prop, to lean upon, take hold of
Below is a link to a short video from the Eyewitness Bible series regarding the Saturday after Jesus was crucified. It brings to life what we’ve read in the pages of our Bibles.
God’s blessings on you as we contemplate what the Lord Jesus Christ endured on our behalf.
“Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” – Hebrews 12:2
Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding. In all your ways know, recognize, and acknowledge Him, and He will direct and make straight and plain your paths.
Proverbs 3:5-6
While the following true story is now a distant memory for me, its probing question is just as valid. Will I trust God and His Word more than my own insight and understanding? Will I allow my “feelings” or “felt experiences” to trump God’s inerrant Word (the Bible)?
Will you?
Not being very familiar with the freeway and how to navigate from one part of our city to the other, I asked my husband for directions on how to get from a friend’s home to our church. Hanging up the phone and assured that I understood his directions, I confidently merged onto the freeway. However, it only took a few moments before my heart began racing as I thought, “This doesn’t look right, I think I’m going the wrong way!” Quickly and with a bit of panic, I tried to recall his exact words. I was sure I heard him right, my question now became, did he speak correctly!? I reminded myself that if I needed to, I could just turn around (which I definitely considered!). But, knowing that my husband is literally a living, breathing GPS, I trusted that although I appeared to be going in the wrong direction, he knew what he was talking about. I could trust his directions, even when it appeared wrong. Minutes later, I could see the outline of familiar buildings and knew I was headed in the right direction. Whew!
There will be times when we must make the same, step-out-in-faith, choice to trust the Lord and the Truth of His Word, even though our senses are screaming otherwise. (Reminder, His instructions will never contradict His written Word). He who declares the end from the beginning, is the same One who Has promised to lead us and guide us with His eye upon us. Sitting enthroned above all, His perspective is without flaw.
Let’s trust Him, take Him at His word and relax in His everlasting arms. He will guide us safely to the destination He has chosen for us. We can trust His “directions.”
God’s Word is truer than anything you think, feel or see. – Linda Dillow
My Lord Jesus, enable me to not only listen for Your still-small-voice-directions, but also to trust what I hear! As I read Your Word and listen to Your Spirit, grant me the ability to trust You rather than my fickle feelings or human reasoning. You are worthy of my trust. I love You Lord! In Jesus’ name, amen.
Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus
If you have never acknowledged that you are lost in your sins, now is the time. Today is the day. Tell the Lord that you admit you are a sinner and by the power only He can provide, you are willing to turn from them to Him. Accept His offer of payment for your sins and receive Him as your Savior today. He loves you so… If you prayed this prayer, or would like to talk to someone, please click here for more info or call 1-888-Need-Him.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O LORD, You know it all. PSALM 139:2-4 NASB
Are you old enough to remember the ol’ song… “Noooobody knoooows the trouble I’ve seen…” Not exactly a pick-me-upper is it? Worse than being a depressingly, feel-sorry-for-me tune, it’s a lie from the enemy of our soul.
The Bible tells us that the Lord God knows exactly how we feel. In fact, the original Hebrew word used for understand includes the word feel. So we could read the above verse this way, “You feel my thoughts.” Digest that for a moment, beloved. He feels your thoughts. I need a Kleenex just thinking about that truth.
The enemy wants us to sink in the emotional pit of despair and isolation as he whispers the vicious lie, “No one cares about you, no one understands or knows how you feel. You are all alone in this.” Que the violin. He has us right where he wants us. But wait just a minute. Before we nod our heads in agreement and give in to despair – What does God’s Word say? Though we walk throughvalleys, He promises to walk with us. Though we walk through fires, He promises they will not destroy us. And whatever our pain, He feels it with us.
I wish I could promise that He removes all our difficulties or keeps adversity from ever grazing our life, but we both know that’s not true. What I can promise is this – whatever your circumstance, whatever your pain, you are not alone. Someone does know how you feel. Someone is feeling the pain right along with you. And that Someone is the Lord Jesus Christ.
Beloved, He knows your path. (Job 23:10) He knows your unspoken pain. He is with you every step of the way.
If you’ll let Me, I’ll use your trials to make you into someone I can use in the lives of others to show them that no matter where they’ve been, no matter how deep the hole, no matter how painful the trial, there’s hope.
– Kay Arthur
Father, You know exactly how I feel, even when I can’t articulate my thoughts, You feel them with me. Teach me to rest in the Truth of Your Word, more than my feelings. Thank you, precious Lord!In Jesus’ name, Amen
No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the LORD. – Isaiah 54:17
Though it’s totally unscripted and not at all polished, I pray you hear real life thoughts on God’s Word and how to authentically apply it to our lives.
I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. My soul boasts in the LORD; let the oppressed hear and rejoice. Magnify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together.
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!
Psalm 34:1-3, 8 BSB
Let us not grow weary or become discouraged in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap, if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 AMP
I love the classic hymn, “Standing on the Promises.” In fact, I have an old combo CD and cassette player in my van (no laughing), where I regularly play the song on repeat, belting out the tune with gusto. Never for an audience of course, my voice is not for the faint of heart. Standing on the promises is a succinct way of saying, “I see this Scripture, Lord. This promise in Your Word and I stand on the truth of it. With all that I am, I trust You and Your Word. Come what may.”
But I’ll let you in on a secret, sometimes (okay, often) I sing the song w/o faith or feeling. Singing instead, to praise and proclaim my trust despite what surrounds me or my lack of feeling. I know He’s good and He’s faithful to His Word. Period. So, I belt it out.
You see, standing on the promises is so very easy to say and so very hard to do. When we look a crisis full in the face. When we are confronted with the raw reality of our fears… When our worst-case-scenario actually happens. When all our prayed-for and hoped-for expectations are ripped to shreds. That’s when we discover if we’ve been “standing on the promises” or if our faith has been all talk and no Rock.
Any of us can have faith and toss out a cutsie scripture reference when the bank account is full, the family is well and life is running along smoothly. Right? Who requires faith for that? Faith is needed in the testing hour, not the resting hour. When everything appears contrary to His promises. Is that where you are? That’s okay. I’ve been there more times than I can count. Truthfully, there are a couple “promise tests” tests confronting me even as I type these words. They are opportunities to take Him at His word and trust Him, no matter the circumstance. As a follower of Christ, If He allows it, He has promised to bring good from it.
If today finds you with a few promise tests of your own, I am so sorry. Allow me to encourage you to read His Word and while you’re at it, belt out “Standing on the Promises, of Christ My King…” A newer song that was borne from walking this out in real-life is titled, Faithfully, by TobyMac. In rawness, he sings of re-learning to trust and stand on the Word, after the tragic death of his son.
Heavenly Father, sometimes the trials of real life are all I can see … all I can feel. It’s at those times and in those moments that I am tempted to forget the Truth of Your Word and Your utter faithfulness. Cause me to praise You even as I wait for You to work Your perfect will in me and in my life. In Jesus’ mighty name I pray, Amen.
Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus
To purchase a hard copy of the devotional, Stony Paths or Shelter from the Storm visit the products page or visit Lulu Publishing. It may also be purchased on Amazon.
Learning to trust Him as we walk along Stony Paths – $14.99 A gritty devotional that confronts the hot-mess reality of life while landing on the bedrock of the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Word.
Shelter from the Storm – 101 Messages of Authentic Hope for Difficult Times, $14.99 will remind readers that they are not alone and there is hope. Authentic hope. Not by ignoring the reality of pain but by viewing it through the lens of God’s great faithfulness.
“And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12
One of my all-time heroes is Nazi concentration camp survivor, Corrie ten Boom. When speaking to audiences, she often used the acronym, K.I.S.S., Keep It Simple Stupid. That’s what I hope to do with this short, Gospel 101 presentation. We don’t have to understand theology or be able to explain creation or the Greek and Hebrew syntax. What I have written are the basics for having a real relationship with the One Who created you. I pray that He opens our eyes and ears to hear His voice and receive His free gift. If we seek Him, He’s promised to be found by us.
According to God’s Word, the Bible, man is not basically, good, rather we are all born with an inherited sin nature. No amount of good works or effort on our part can change the fact that we are sinners by nature. It’s not just what we do, it’s who we are.
God can’t look at sin, which is a bummer since we are all sinners. “He is Light and in Him is no darkness.” Like turning a light on in a room, darkness simply ceases to exist when the light comes on. Because God can’t look at sin, as Jesus puts it, we will all go to hell once we die (it is our default destination, not heaven).
But, and this is a game-changer, because He loves us, He chose to make a way for us to become new, sin-removed creations. He did this by coming to earth in the form of The sinless Man, Christ Jesus. Paying the full price for the entire sin debt of all humanity, so that anyone who chooses to accept this gift may receive the free gift of eternal life. This process is called being born again.
Jesus also tells us that there is no other way to The Father. In other words, while exclusive in that He is the only way, it is available to all who call upon Him.
So, to Keep it Simple – We admit we are sinners, willingly turn from our sin, tell Him we humbly receive His payment for our sin debt (past, present and future) and accept His free gift of eternal life. He then grants us the right to become children of God. Our spirit which was dead (which literally means separated) is now brought to life.
Things like reading the Bible, talking to God (prayer) or doing “good works” will naturally flow from a heart that has been forgiven. These good deeds don’t save us or even keep us saved, they are simply a reflection of what has happened inside us. As His Word says, “He who has been forgiven much loves much. And if you love Me, you will obey Me.”
As with any family, you resemble those you’re related to. In this case though, rather than those brown eyes or the big Italian nose (but I digress), the longer we are His child, the more we begin to “resemble” Him and His other children. This process is called by the Bible word, sanctification.Which is a life-long process.
One last important point. We are free to choose or reject this amazing-grace offer. It’s not forced on anyone (what kind of gift is forcefully given?). There is no other offer on the table. No other way to God’s home, the place we call heaven. According to His Word, no other so-call god or religion or set of good works, or sincere intentions can earn us a place in His home. And, as we all know, the stats are 10 out of 10 people when it comes to death. We all have an expiration date. A shelf life. And this offer extends only till that point. Now is the time to make a decision. We aren’t promised tomorrow. “Today is the day of salvation.”
Sample prayer:
God, I admit I am a sinner, by birth and by choice. I repent (turn away) from my sin and turn to You. I receive the free gift of eternal life purchased by the Blood of the Lord Jesus. I accept Him as my Lord and Savior, this day. With the help of Your Holy Spirit, help me to live a life that honors You. In Jesus, name, Amen.
Written by Becky White for the Lord Jesus
Some of the Scriptural references used:
Jeremiah 29:13, Deuteronomy 4:29 , Isaiah 55:6, Acts 17:27, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:12, Habakkuk 1:13, Isaiah 59:2, John 3:18, John 3:16, John 14:6, Isaiah 7:14, Romans 6:23, 1 John 1:9, Acts 3:19, John 1:12-13, John 14:15, Luke 7:47, Romans 8:29, Philippians 2:11-13, 2 Corinthians 6:2, Hebrews 9:7, Romans 3:20, Galatians 2:16, Hebrews 10:4-10, Isaiah 53:5, Luke 13:3, 2 Corinthians 5:21
Devotions for Difficult Days 