Tag: save us

31.z. “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God”

 

Matthew 8:23  And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

 Matthew 6:30    But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

 Matthew 14:30-31     But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.”  Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

 Matthew 16:8    But Jesus, aware of this, said, “O you of little faith, why are you discussing among yourselves the fact that you have no bread?

 Mark 4:40    He said to them, “Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith?”

 Isaiah 41:10-14   fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

 Jesus rebuked their fear and unbelief, not their request or waking Him. We shouldn’t think that Jesus was in a bad mood from being awakened. He was upset at their fear, because fear and unbelief go together. When we trust God as we should trust Him, there is little room left for fear.

“He does not chide them for disturbing him with their prayers, but for disturbing themselves with their fears.” (Henry)

They actually had many reasons to have faith, even great faith. They had just seen Jesus do significant miracles, showing great power and authority. They had seen an example of great faith with the centurion who trusted Jesus to heal his servant. They had Jesus with them in the boat. And, they saw Jesus sleep; His peace should have given them peace.

When faith is only strongest in the calm winds of life and fails in the stormy winds of life, what good does it do for that person? What example does it set for those who see your faith failing in the stormy winds of life? What does is say about that person’s faith? I think our faith grows as we: 

  • Spend time in God’s Word and we meditate on it
  • Grow in our understanding, knowledge, and wisdom of God
  • Desire and seek with all our hearts, minds, and souls to honor and glorify Jesus Christ in all we say, think, and do.
  • Desire and seek to be led and allow ourselves to be led by the Holy Spirit
  • Not only know, but Believe that God is all-powerful, all-present, and all-knowing
  • Believe that all things work together for good of those who are His believers, followers, trusters, obeyers

Oh God, help not my belief but my unbelief.

1.d. But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1 Chronicles 16:35  “Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather and deliver us from among the nations, that we may give thanks to your holy name and glory in your praise. Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting!” Then all the people said, “Amen!” and praised the Lord.

Psalms 105:45    that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the LORD!

Psalms 79:9-10    Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for your name’s sake!

Psalms 105:45    that they might keep his statutes and observe his laws. Praise the LORD!

1 Peter 2:9     But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

1 Chronicles 16:9-10    Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!  Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!

A chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that WE, YOU, I, may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called US, ME, YOU out of darkness into His marvelous light.  We are to be set aside and conform to His word.  We are to meditate on His word.  We are to proclaim His word.  We are to rejoice in His word.  We are to obey His word.  We are to listen to His word.  We are to give thanks for His word.  We are to trust His word.  His word is Jesus Christ and in Him, we find salvation and deliverance for our souls.  We have much to praise Jesus Christ for but none more worthy than His love demonstrated in being a willing sacrifice for our/my sin.  He did this while I was yet a sinner and when the time was right, and my heart was softened, and I was aware of my sin and His redemption, and He called me to Himself, and I asked for forgiveness, repented and turned away from my self-centered sinful ways, and trusted in His redeeming blood, for this is the reason for eternal hope, everlasting joy, and Jesus honoring, and obeying lives.

166. and you shall know that I am the LORD.

1 Kings 20:13   And behold, a prophet came near to Ahab king of Israel and said, “Thus says the Lord, Have you seen all this great multitude? Behold, I will give it into your hand this day, and you shall know that I am the Lord.”

Exodus 14:18    And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”

Exodus 16:12    “I have heard the grumbling of the people of Israel. Say to them, ‘At twilight you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread. Then you shall know that I am the LORD your God.’”

Isaiah 37:20     So now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD.”

Ezekiel 6:7   And the slain shall fall in your midst, and you shall know that I am the LORD.

Joel 3:17    “So you shall know that I am the LORD your God,

Malachi 1:11     For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations,

Psalms 46:10    “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!”

God has done many wonders and signs and miracles to show those doubting that He is LORD.  He does this to remove doubt and give the people hope in who God is.  He does this to strengthen those He is helping and to weaken those He is not.  He is God, creator of all we see and much more we can not.  Out of all of His creation, He has chosen mankind.  He has chosen to redeem them through His Son Jesus Christ and the sacrifice He paid on the cross for the sins of all who would believe.

When God says He will be exalted for some it will be a very blessed, holy, joyous event of coming into eternity with God.  For others, it will not be so.  God will be exalted but in their case He will be the judge and knowing their heart and intents throughout their lifetime, and how they rejected Jesus Christ by not believing there was a need for forgiveness or His sacrifice, they will come into eternity being cast into outer darkness, the lake of fire, hell where they will be in torment forever and ever.  Every person’s heart will at some point in their life be softened by God to the point they will see the need for forgiveness and that it can be realized through Jesus Christ, but they reject it time after time and choose to live as though it doesn’t matter, or that they can wait until another time, or that they were in a weakened mental state and now that they have their senses all of this talk of “Sin” and “Need of Forgiveness” and “Jesus” was because of that weakened state of mind and now that they are stronger they can see the foolishness of it.  At the end of the day they reject it flat out or continue to postpone the choice to confess, repent, and be regenerated (born again).

When you read of those who died unexpectedly from wrecks to sickness their ages would indicate that time shorted them in an untimely death.   I always wonder what it must be like for those to have heard the Gospel (Good News) of Jesus Christ and now see the ramification of their choice.  Are they in torment or in paradise?  I am sure if we could ask those in torment why didn’t you choose to believe they would either say I thought it foolishness or that they thought they had more time.  That is why scripture says the day of salvation is NOW, not tomorrow, not when life slows down, not when I have more time, ……..

God demonstrated “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.  For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

Death waits for no man.  The day of salvation is now and if you would turn your heart to Jesus, confess with your mouth and believe with your heart and repent from your past ways of living you will be saved.  You will begin a new life with Jesus Christ that will last forever and though death may come at what seems an untimely time the outcome for eternity is secure.

“Where is their God?”

Psalms 115:2  Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?”

Psalms 42:3     My tears have been my food day and night, while they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

Exodus 32:12     Why should the Egyptians say, ‘With evil intent did he bring them out, to kill them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth’? Turn from your burning anger and relent from this disaster against your people.

Numbers 14:15-16     Now if you kill this people as one man, then the nations who have heard your fame will say,  ‘It is because the LORD was not able to bring this people into the land that he swore to give to them that he has killed them in the wilderness.’

2 Kings 19:10-19     “Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah: ‘Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.  Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, devoting them to destruction. And shall you be delivered?  Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my fathers destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar?  Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?’”  Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD.  And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: “O LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.  Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.  Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands  and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed.  So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”

People on the sidelines mock and challenge God.  They look for reasons to prove He does not exist or able or capable to intercede in the affairs of man.  Those who’s hear, mind, and soul desire to know, honor, serve, follow and obey, continually see the hand of God at work in their lives.  He speaks into their life.  He guides their thoughts and leads them through a journey of faith filled action.  Our strength is in the LORD.  He is my Hope and my salvation.  He alone is God and is able to do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine.  Through His word we find peace and encouragement for each day.

Followed Me fully

Psalms 90:16  Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

Psalms 44:1    O God, we have heard with our ears, our fathers have told us, what deeds you performed in their days, in the days of old:

Numbers 14:22     none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice,  shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it.  But my servant Caleb, because he has a different spirit and has followed me fully, I will bring into the land into which he went, and his descendants shall possess it.

Habakkuk 3:2     O LORD, I have heard the report of you, and your work, O LORD, do I fear. In the midst of the years revive it; in the midst of the years make it known; in wrath remember mercy.

Joshua 4:22     then you shall let your children know, ‘Israel passed over this Jordan on dry ground.’  For the LORD your God dried up the waters of the Jordan for you until you passed over, as the LORD your God did to the Red Sea, which he dried up for us until we passed over,  so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the hand of the LORD is mighty, that you may fear the LORD your God forever.”

Joshua 23:14     “And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed.

Psalms 68:28     Summon your power, O God, the power, O God, by which you have worked for us.

Psalms 27:4     One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.

Psalms 110:3     Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power, in holy garments; from the womb of the morning, the dew of your youth will be yours.

Psalms 118:25     Save us, we pray, O LORD! O LORD, we pray, give us success!

Job 22:28    You will decide on a matter, and it will be established for you, and light will shine on your ways.

Proverbs 16:3    Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

1 Corinthians 3:7     So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.

Isaiah 26:12     O LORD, you will ordain peace for us, for you have indeed done for us all our works.

2 Thessalonians 2:16     Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace,  comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word.

2 Thessalonians 3:1    Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you,
But only God who gives growth.  We wonder why some or all of what we do seems purposeless and without life meaning and satisfaction.  It is time to learn from Him and seek him like given in this scripture “One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life,”  Everyday the choice we get to make concerning serving Him is given to us.  We get this choice and should we make the right choice we find peace, hope, love, power, courage, strength, comfort, joy and life with fulfilling purpose.  If we make the choice to follow self and the world we void all of this.  We may find these in short term bursts but they do not last and they certainly do not fulfill.  Do you want to see growth in what your purpose is this side of eternity?  Seek and desire God.  Choose to honor, serve, follow and obey Him.  How can we lose sight of what Jesus Christ freely did to redeem us from a path to eternal hell?  He allowed Himself to be beaten, whipped, nailed to the cross, mocked, spit upon and stabbed with a spear.  He could have stopped any of this happening at just a single word.  He chose to redeem.  He chose to call to Himself a people who come to Him with desire to humbly serve Him.  What manner of people ought we to be in light of the great sacrifice paid?  How should we live?  Seek and desire Jesus Christ in and through your life.  Be kind, generous, loving, giving, humble, hopeful, joyful, and never forgetting the redeeming price that was paid for your salvation.  Follow Him fully.

They know

“But the LORD of hosts is exalted in justice, and the Holy God shows himself holy in righteousness.”

“the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called.”

Psalms 83:18  that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.

Psalms 9:16    The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.  

1 Kings 18:37    Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”

2 Kings 19:19    So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”

Jeremiah 16:21    “Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the LORD.”

Ezekiel 30:19     Thus I will execute judgments on Egypt. Then they will know that I am the LORD.”

Ezekiel 38:23    So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

Isaiah 42:8    I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

Daniel 4:25     that you shall be driven from among men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. You shall be made to eat grass like an ox, and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven, and seven periods of time shall pass over you, till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.

“I am the Lord”, “I will make Myself known”, “I will show My greatness and holiness”, “I will execute judgment”, “I will make them know My power and might,” are all actions God has taken to turn the hearts of man from themselves to Him alone.  When God is our refuge, strength, and hope we rely on His holiness, greatness, power, might, grace, mercy and love.  The safest place of refuge is in Him alone.  The safest path to be on is the one on which He is leading you.  The strongest you will ever be is when you rely on His strength.  The most courageous actions you will ever take are those directed and guided by Him.  When we rely on, cling to, and trust in Him we find peace that passes all understanding, strength we did not have, hope beyond our circumstances, light in the darkness, and wisdom beyond our understanding.

Shame and disgrace

 

Psalms 83:16  Fill their faces with shame, that they may seek your name, O LORD. Let them be put to shame and dismayed forever; let them perish in disgrace,  that they may know that you alone, whose name is the LORD, are the Most High over all the earth.

Psalms 9:19    Arise, O LORD! Let not man prevail; let the nations be judged before you!  Put them in fear, O LORD! Let the nations know that they are but men!

Psalms 9:16    The LORD has made himself known; he has executed judgment; the wicked are snared in the work of their own hands.

2 Kings 19:19    So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”

Jeremiah 16:21    “Therefore, behold, I will make them know, this once I will make them know my power and my might, and they shall know that my name is the LORD.”

Ezekiel 38:23    So I will show my greatness and my holiness and make myself known in the eyes of many nations. Then they will know that I am the LORD.

Isaiah 42:8    I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.

Daniel 4:25    till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.

These scriptures are directed at those who deny God, His power, might, glory, and holiness.  At some point there will be awareness and shame as they stand before God and see with their eyes and know with their mind.   In this denial judgement and destruction waits.  It is an obvious end for those who reject God.  However believers need to be mindful that God is not to be something of second thought or insurance policy in time of need.  What good does it profit anyone of us to have a form of godliness in our lives but not have any substance.  When scripture speaks of God’s love it is in depth and width both being endless / forever / steadfast.  When it speaks of His power it is in unlimited power / strength / might.  This is the God who is worthy of all praise, glory, and honor.  Serve Him more fully each day.  Learn of Him more fully each day.  Honor Him more fully each day. Listen to whispers of His voice leading more fully each day.  And obey His leading more fully each day.