Image: Courtesy of The Jewish Museum “Job and His Three Friends,” by 19th-century French painter Jacques Joseph (James) Tissot.
We have different enemies in our lives at different times in our lives. Some might be people who hate us. Some might be situations like sickness or even death. Some might be financial pressures. Some might be bullying and facing threats from toxic people. We have different challenges in our lives.
But God hears our cries. He hears us when we call out to the Lord. God can come to our rescue not necessarily to slay our enemies. Although at times, that might seems to make most sense to us. It’s like a snap of our fingers and our enemies or difficult situations just disappear, never to be seen again. Would be nice. Ideal isn’t it.
Sometimes, God can help us to begin seeing our situation in a different light. David prayed, “Teach me your way, O Lord.” There is always something we can learn from when there is no reason for our bad things.
Seeing things in a different light can sometimes help us see into God’s mind. We don’t know if there is God’s will in our difficulties. At the time, there might be no good reasons for our troubles. Sometimes, it’s just pure tragedy and things just don’t make any sense. And what we lose can be permanent and will never be restored. Sometimes, we get through it all and come out better. Each person’s situation ends up different.
When there isn’t any reason for all the things that happen in our lives, in the end, God can shape us through these things. God can teach us through it all. God wants us all to remain faithful to him wherever we are.
I’ve been deceived into trusting in my own strengths. We need to seek God and humble ourselves under a Sovereign God. When we are in those anxious moments, and I’ve had my share of them, I need to come to repentance, to come to the realization of my own sin of self-reliance. I’ve hit my head against a brick wall many times. I can be stubborn, yes, stubborn.
God’s word through his Holy Spirit reminds me of the cross and of Jesus’ redemption for the forgiveness of my sins, he renews my confidence to continue trusting in God and his Son Jesus. His grace is sufficient and his power to turn us from ourselves is what saves us. Our victory is not of our own but it is of God.
The Church is the body of Christ. We also need each other. We need one another to walk with each other. It’s a big help when others can help carry our burdens. This is what the body of Christ can do to help one another.
We need our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, and family and friends to support us. Some people in this world have no one. No support whatsoever, and that’s tragic. The church on earth is made up of human beings who are weak. We are limited. And even we as followers of Christ, we ourselves will fail others who need us.
At times in our lives when we feel that no one is there for us and we are left all alone, it’s easy to lose hope. We think and believe that no one cares, maybe no one even knows about the trouble we’re in. We feel we’ve been forgotten about.
King David said in Psalm 27:9, “Your face, Lord, do I seek. Do not hide your face from me. Do no turn your servant away in anger; do not cast me off, do not forsake me, O God of my salvation.” Psalm 27 shows the honesty in David’s heart. He felt abandoned, forgotten, perhaps doubted himself to the point of thinking he should just end it.
When we are in our most desperate moments and have no more solutions, we tend to think up solutions. Problem solving is good. But when our own problem solving isn’t really in line with God’s will, we can easily get ourselves into a bigger mess. We resort to our own human solutions and these might involve hurting others and creating more problems, even bigger problems.
When we are overwhelmed and see no way out of our desperate situation, we feel like we are going crazy. Some turn to distractions to get our minds off their desperate situation. Some turn to alcohol, drugs, pornography, even shopping buying things they don’t have money for. Turning to these things don’t actually solve the problem. They usually compound the problems and make it worse.
Sometimes, the last thing people turn to is God. But when we do turn to God, he calls us to put our trust and confidence in the Lord. But if we realize that our human solutions are in need and we humble ourselves and pray, God in His sovereignty can intervene miraculously in our lives and in the lives of others to bring a God-centred solution.
I’ve heard some people say they no longer believe in God. They say they’ve lost faith. Well, people can lose faith in other people, or lose faith in themselves. If their belief in God depends on their faith in people, well then, people will be sure to fail you.
So what gives? Should be pin our hopes and faith in people or in God alone? I’d rather pin my hope on God alone; but how does one have faith?
Hebrews 11:1 says, “Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
In order for us to believe by faith, God reveals himself to us, but not necessarily in ways that are visible to the naked eye. Sometimes, as Christians, we get told that we must simply believe what’s on the written page of the bible. But we also need to realize that the reason why we should believe is because God has revealed something to us personally. God’s revelation is what gives us our source of hope.
Revelation is not an objective thing; it is something that actually happens in your life. Revelation is a concrete knowledge of God. It’s not just an abstract thought. And this is initiated by the sovereign God. So what every Christian needs is a revelation from God.
To believe in God requires that God must reveal something real and personal to us. It must be something that we know for certain. Then, it’s faith.
How does faith start? Faith is started through God’s word of promise, faith will rise up, and grow in strength, then faith becomes something you believe in…like it grabs a hold of something.
Example: It’s like when there’s nothing to grab hold of, it’s like grabbing empty air. Faith also needs something of substance to grab hold of. That something is God’s personal revelation to us, to you and I. In order for God’s promise to be real, God must reveal his words of promise to each of us personally. So that you will have something substantial to grab a hold of and believe. Pray that the Holy Spirit would give us faith to believe in God’s words of Promise.
We already live in world where society is filled with confusion, death, sickness, war, and harsher realities of this world. Walt Disney created a make-believe world where children can escape these realities for a few brief moments. It’s a fantasy world where children can dream of a place in their lives where there is peace, love, and happiness.
Mr. Walt Disney was a Christian man. He grew up in a Congregationalist church. His father, Mr Elias Disney, was an ardent believer of Christ and faithfully attended church every Sunday. He even named his son after his pastor, Reverend Walter Parr; thus we have “Walter Disney.” (See link on the history of his religious upbringing below).
Walt Disney said, “I believe firmly in the efficacy of religion, in its powerful influence on a person’s whole life. It helps immeasurably to meet the storms and stress of life and keep you attuned to the Divine inspiration. Without inspiration, we would perish.”
Today, we still need new Walt Disneys in our world. We need dreamers who can dream dreams to give people inspiration and hope. Christianity has given people the fruits of the Spirit where we see a small taste of heaven on earth. Mr. Walter Disney was able to inculcate his dreams. He shared his gifts through a creative world of books and films.
Society largely trusted and valued the vision of Walt Disney. If Mr. Walter Disney could see what has happened to Disney today, he might be very surprised. The innocence of a kid’s world has been taken over by some of vain imaginings of its new influencers. Disney has changed the way boys and girls are addressed, or rather, not addressed. They’re saying we should no longer call boys and girls “boys and girls” because it might cause some confusion about who they are. You’d think that boys would prefer to be called “boys,” and girls, “girls.”
Many families do not agree with this woke ideology–and neither do many Disney employees. Families have been betrayed by the new woke ideology. It has seeped into even how children are addressed in Disney. Even classical liberals and Democrats believe they’ve gone too far.
When one loses society’s confidence, then you’ve lost. Today, Disney is in danger of losing it all. If Walter Disney and his father were alive today, they would not approve of all this wokeness. He would be sad seeing how this corporation has plummeted from his original intent and visionary inspiration.
Parents once had the confidence in the creation of Mr. Walt Disney, but its new influencers have betrayed Disney. The credibility Mr. Walter Disney had built-up through previous decades has now depreciated. Today’s new Disney has failed in its fiduciary duties to uphold Walt’s vision and values.
In our world where there is war, starvation, sickness and death, we still desperately need inspiration from God our Divine Creator. We need vision because “where there is no vision, the people perish” (Proverbs 29:18). This verse is talking about keeping instructions. It continues, “…but happy is he who keeps the law.” The instructions laid out in scripture are still good for us as people. If we neglect what God has given humanity, then we’ve “cast off restraint” or “run wild” (ESV, NLT). We need to stay on a path that has been instructed by nature, and nature’s God. Taking woke ideology to the extreme is something like “casting off restraint” or “running wild.”
A world so encharmed with wholesomeness, love, peace, and happiness has been overtaken by new influencers who have bought into woke ideology. It needs a new leadership to turn this ship around and return to its original intent and vision.
Mary Magdalene, Mary mother of James (and possibly other women) had come to the tomb of their teacher and friend.
The earth shook and rumbled with an awesome force. Something great was about to happen.
A holy being suddenly appeared.
Surprise!
This strong and mighty angel was bursting with bright light and illuminated the atmosphere. Its robe radiated with pure white light. This was one of God’s holy angels sent to assist in God’s work.
The angel began to roll the stone away, uncovering the tomb.
The guards on duty that day, who were tasked to guard the tomb of the crucified Jesus, were now trembling in shock. Being completely overwhelmed, they sat in disbelief and amazement by what they had just witnessed. They had never seen such a powerful display of power from heaven.
Surprise!
God’s holy angel told the women there’s no reason to fear. It said, “Jesus is no longer here. He’s come back to life. Come inside the tomb. Check it out. Take a look for yourselves.”
Surprise!
The angel told them, “You’ve seen where his body had once laid. He’s alive. Now, go and tell Jesus’ disciples that he has resurrected from death. Jesus is no longer dead. He is now alive.”
Overwhelmed with joy and excitement, they made their way to Galilee.
As these two women approached Jesus,Jesus appeared and said to them:
“Hey it’s me! Surprise!
Good morning. What a great morning it is this day.
You must be in shock, I know, but there’s no need to fear.
Check me out. It’s really me, your’s truly, Jesus of Nazareth, your old friend. Touch me yourself. Feel that I am indeed real. I have skin and bones. I have nail marks on me. I’m not just a ghost or an apparition.
They looked at Jesus. Surprised and bewildered.
They touched his two ankles, his feet and felt that his body was real indeed.
He was not a ghost or apparition. He was real indeed.
Then they worshiped Jesus.
What a great surprise for these women this day. Almost too much of a surprise to take in. Almost too unbelievable if they hadn’t seen him for themselves.
Jesus then told the women, “Go now, and tell my brothers to start heading up to Galilee. I will meet up with them there.”
So off they went to inform the disciples of this great news.
Indeed, it was a great day, filled with big big surprises.
What’s good about Good Friday? It commemorates the day when Jesus was crucified on the cross. During the days of the Roman Empire, crucifixion was the method of death penalty. Criminals were flogged and then crucified on a cross. It was a very painful way to die. They would die slowly of asphyxiation. It was more painful than the electric chair, the gas chamber, or the guillotine.
Knowing this, the cross then actually represented a symbol of shame and guilt. Only criminals died by crucifixion. Jesus was not given a fair trial. He was sent to his death. It was unfair and unjustified. The cross is symbol of torture, shame and guilt. It is also now a religious symbol. We carry it with a sense of pride because there’s a very important message behind the cross.
All though we deserve death and the punishment of hell, we will receive something much better. By placing our faith in Jesus, our lives and our souls are destined belong to God for eternity. We have been made a part of God’s holy family. God has rescued us from hell, and invited us into his holy family. We now belong to God. Yes, we belong to the loving and compassionate heart of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That truly makes it a good Friday.
Our sins were left to die on that cross, never to be remembered again by our heavenly Father. God would prove to the world that He has the power to forgive sins and to resurrect Jesus and his followers from the dead. That special day would on the third day which we commemorate as Easter or Resurrection Sunday.
I heard about the southern border crisis (U.S.-Mexico). It’s bad–really bad. I just saw this video on Rumble by vlogger Savannah Hernandez (good job on this vid and going out there to get the scoop directly!) Her You…tube channel got banned for speaking the truth. We should support vloggers like her because she speaks the truth. Censorship is never a good thing. Anyway…
It’s already up a million crossings a year. Unbelievable! The Biden Administration and Democratic left are denying this migrant crisis exists and they’re treating this like it doesn’t exist.
If this were happening in any other country, it would be front page headlines. Shows the extent in how the propagandist woke-legacy media has been corrupted by globalist heads.
If the economy is already bad and inflation is already at record highs, imagine what illegal immigation is going to do the American economy.
Back in January 2019 when I blogged about this before here, I thought 250,000-360,000 was bad, now it’s already over 1,000,000.
How can this be? How is this even possible?
Local residents in border towns are at risk of having violent run-ins with illegal aliens. They are in need of money, food, and shelter. If they can’t get what they need, there’s potential of them raising havoc in peaceful communities.
As I stated in my previous post on the border wall, I am not against immigration. My parents immigrated legally. I am a child of immigrants. But I am realistic about the risks inherent in illegal immigration. I believe immigration must always be done legally and systematically because immigrants need jobs. Citizens also need stability. I know I’m not alone on this.
May we pray for peace and security in the lives of naturalized citizens living in border towns. May we also pray for peace and security in the lives of illegal migrants. May God’s will be done in their lives. I do not know what that will hold for them.
liberty culture 