I have heard people comment on how the “God of the Old Testament” is so harsh in the way he sends judgments and allows His people to undergo severe suffering. But, isn’t the fact that God does do this only reveal more of the mercy and the love that God has for his people? He is bringing them back to Himself through the judgments; He is forcing them to trust in him through the suffering! Although it is so hard to see sometimes, all the hardships we go through and all of trials we face are such gifts from God. God, in his mercy is showing us that our joy is not found in earthly things; he is forcing us to look to HIM for our support and trust completely in HIM for EVERYTHING. THAT is Love!!! He is reminding us that what is seen in temporary, and therefore cannot be trusted. He is calling us to fix our eyes on the eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:18 - So we fix our eyes not on what is seen but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

And because we fix our eyes on the eternal, we can go out boldly and do what God has called us to do. Our reputation may be ruined, but that doesn’t matter…it’s temporary; we may lose those we love…but we still have Jesus; Our earthly bodies can be beaten and torn apart…but even our bodies are only temporary vessels in which we are serving God. No matter what we go through, we can rejoice because we are suffering for the name of Jesus!! Our circumstances may seem horrible, but even that cannot take away the Joy that we have in knowing and serving Christ! We can have Joy through EVERYTHING because our eyes our fixed on Jesus!!

God, whatever it takes keep me on the narrow path, keep my eyes fixed on the eternal, on the Glory of Jesus Christ. Do not let me put my trust in anything but you, do not let me find my happiness or joy in anything but you! Whatever it takes…don’t let me stray! I would rather be striped of everything that I have on earth, absolutely everything, if that what it takes to take my trust off of material things and put it in the only eternal God. Jesus, do not let me walk away from you!

Depend on Jesus

Psalm 124

If the LORD had not been on our side-

let Israel say-

if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us,

when their anger flared against us,

they would have swallowed us alive;

the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us,

the raging waters would have swept us away.

Praise be to the LORD,

who has not let us be torn by their teeth.

We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare;

the snare has been broken, and we have escaped.

Our help is in the name of the LORD,

the Maker of heaven and earth.

We are nothing without Jesus. We can not stand on our own; we would be devoured. It is only by the Grace of God that we can stand firm; it is only by the strength that God gives us that we can endure. If we try to do it on our own, we will fail. If we no longer let God be our strength we will be swallowed up. We need to be in a state of compete dependence on God. He is our fortress; he is our Rock; He is our deliverer. It is in him that we trust.

Cling only to Jesus

Psalm 135:15-18 “ The idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men. They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but they cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths. Those who make them will be like them, and so will all who trust in them.”

Those who make idols and trust in them will become blinded just as the idols are blinded and will become deaf just as the idols themselves are deaf.

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There are a lot of big name pastors out there, and, naturally, people look up to them. It is soooo important, though, that in our minds we do not turn these pastors into an all-knowing, always-right being; putting our complete trust in them and accepting every word that comes out of their mouth without a second thought. These pastors are MEN, no matter how big of a church they have, no matter how good of a reputation they have, no matter how good they are with words…We CAN NOT put our trust in them. We put our trust in God, and in God alone. Even if a pastor seems to have the spiritual gift of teaching and prophesy, and seems to always preach the truth…he is still a man. And we do not put our trust in man. This is not to say that we shouldn’t listen to them; we should, and many times God works through men to bring us closer to him. However, we need to be holding up everything we hear to the word of God. Our priority should be the Bible, and that is where the majority of our time should be spent.

If, at any point, we begin to put men’s teaching above the teaching of the bible, then we are creating for ourselves an idol. And as Psalm 135 says, when make for ourselves idols and put our trust in them we become blinded. When we idolize pastors or leaders we become susceptible to any falsehood that may be creeping in. We become blind to any wrong teaching that may be going on because we have rooted ourselves in man’s word rather than God’s word. This is SO Dangerous, and that is why we NEED to be clinging to God’s Word as the only absolute truth. Because if we are not, it will be so easy for us to be deceived.

In contrast to this in John 8:31-32, Jesus says that, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.” So when we make for ourselves idols, we become blinded to the truth, but when we put Jesus as our priority and follow his teachings, our eyes become opened to the truth. Let us cling only to Jesus and his word and let no man take His place in our lives so that our eyes and ears be open to the truth of the Gospel and to the instruction of the Holy Spirit. As 1 John 5:21 says, “Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.”