“I will always be patient with you. I will always be kind to you. I will never be jealous of your other friends. Even though I am the only son of my father, I will never put on airs with you. I will never be snobbish. I will never be rude to you. I will not befriend you to get what I can; I will not easily be moved to anger with you. I will not brood when you disappoint me. I will not rejoice when you do wrong things, but I will rejoice when you are true to yourself. There is no limit to my forgiveness of your faults, to my trust in you, to my hope in you, to my power to endure all the trials of friendship with you.”

—Jesus Christ

those who wait in the LORD
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.

Jesus took . . . them up on a high mountain apart by themselves . . . —Mark 9:2
We have all experienced times of exaltation on the mountain, when we have seen things from God’s perspective and have wanted to stay there. But God will never allow us to stay there. The true test of our spiritual life is in exhibiting the power to descend from the mountain. If we only have the power to go up, something is wrong. It is a wonderful thing to be on the mountain with God, but a person only gets there so that he may later go down and lift up the demon-possessed people in the valley (see Mark 9:14-18 ). We are not made for the mountains, for sunrises, or for the other beautiful attractions in life— those are simply intended to be moments of inspiration. We are made for the valley and the ordinary things of life, and that is where we have to prove our stamina and strength. Yet our spiritual selfishness always wants repeated moments on the mountain. We feel that we could talk and live like perfect angels, if we could only stay on the mountaintop. Those times of exaltation are exceptional and they have their meaning in our life with God, but we must beware to prevent our spiritual selfishness from wanting to make them the only time.
We are inclined to think that everything that happens is to be turned into useful teaching. In actual fact, it is to be turned into something even better than teaching, namely, character. The mountaintop is not meant to teach us anything, it is meant to make us something. There is a terrible trap in always asking, “What’s the use of this experience?” We can never measure spiritual matters in that way. The moments on the mountaintop are rare moments, and they are meant for something in God’s purpose.

Now You pull me near You
When we’re close, I fear You
Still I’m afraid to tell You, all that I’ve done
Are You done forgiving?
Oh can You look past my pretending?
Lord, I’m so tired of defending, what I’ve become
What have I become?

I hear You say,
“My love is over. It’s underneath.
It’s inside. It’s in between.
The times you doubt Me, when you can’t feel.
The times that you question, ‘Is this for real? ‘
The times you’re broken.
The times that you mend.
The times that you hate Me, and the times that you bend.
Well, My love is over, it’s underneath.
It’s inside, it’s in between.
These times you’re healing, and when your heart breaks.
The times that you feel like you’re falling from grace.
The times you’re hurting.
The times that you heal.
The times you go hungry, and are tempted to steal.
The times of confusion, in chaos and pain.
I’m there in your sorrow, under the weight of your shame.
I’m there through your heartache.
I’m there in the storm.
My love I will keep you, by My pow’r alone.
I don’t care where you fall, where you have been.
I’ll never forsake you, My love never ends.
It never ends.

When we give our lives to Christ. We are a new creation, old things have passed away, and new things have come. But. it is a fight between our new self, and our old self. that is our flesh. our sinful nature. our old self. and the spirit, that is our new self. Every morning when you and i wake up ,we are at war. Sometimes we fail to take that seriously. spiritual warfare. we live in the midst of a real personal battle that we must fight. We must recognize our enemy. you can read, in Ephesians 6:10-18 it tells us, about putting on the full armor of God. we have to understand who we are fighting. When we give our lives to Christ. We are a new creation, old things have passed away, and new things have come. But. it is a fight between our new self, and our old self. that is our flesh. our sinful nature. our old self. and the spirit, that is our new self. Every morning when you and i wake up ,we are at war. sometimes we fail to take that seriously. spiritual warfare. we live in the midst of a real personal battle that we must fight. We must recognize our enemy. you can read, in Ephesians 6:10-18 it tells us, about putting on the full armor of God. we have to understand who we are fighting.

His objection is to get us to doubt scriptural truth. He wants us to be distracted by worldly pursuits rather than focus on the things of God. if we get to the point of spiritual disability,, we become useless ,defeated soldiers of the Kingdom
We must be properly dressed for the battle. Ephesians 6:11 put on the full armor of God. He means exactly what he says. We must put on every single of that gear. Intentionally meticulously, and consistently. If we step onto the battle field unprotected we make and easy target for Satan to attack us.
We must choose to put on the helmet of Salvation, in order to protect our mind. To only think thoughts of God’s. The battle begins in our minds. The conflict may slip into emotions, and actions later, but it always behinds with out thoughts. Therefore our mind must be protected.
We must choose to put on the breastplate of righteousness, to guard our emotions. to feel only what God feels. And to not let yourself react out of your emotions. But respond based on the truth we know in our mind. This is important because too many people are led through life by their fear, anxiety temptations or other negative influences. if you allow your feelings to carry you wherever they lead, you will be utterly defeated.
We need to strap on the belt of truth. we must choose to fasten on truth so that we can stay centered on His Word. We must live in the truth. walk in the truth, and testify in the truth.
We must then put on the sandals of peace. That wherever we go today, that we would be peacemakers. that our footprints would be evidence of the tranquility we carry in the Holy Sprit. Roman soldiers sandals had long spiked embedded in the soles to enable them to plant their feet firmly in the ground. with the sandals of peace we can boldly anchor our feet in the bedrock of Jesus Christ.
We must choose to take up the shield of faith. No matter what the enemy troughs at us. no matter the trials and temptations that may come we can stand safely behind the massive protection of faith. Faith is a mighty force that makes the difference between success and failure, between victory and bitter defeat.
We must, lift high the sword of the Spirit, His Holy Word. This cuts so deeply to bring about conviction and repentance. Scripture is our only weapon, it is both defensive and offensive. it enables us to defect the blows of the enemy and it pierces the hears of sinful men.
How do you put on the armor? by faith. Even though you cant see physically see the gear. you can trust that God will indeed wrap you completely in His power and His presence as you go you each day into a dark world.
If any piece is missing as we step onto our spiritual battlefield. Satan will surely attack that weak, un protected area. this is why it to put on thee FULL armor of God.

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
- Isaiah 7:14

I cannot imagine how excited the Jews were when they heard that the redeemer, the savior was finally here on earth. After all, they had been waiting their whole lives for this moment, waiting for the almighty Son of God to come and free them from their captors.

I also cannot imagine the confusion, when 30 years later this almighty king remained “powerless” against the ruling government, and instead of leading a rebellion, taught peace and co-existence (Luke 20:25). Instead of praising the pharisees, and appointing them to high positions in His kingdom, He condemned their actions (Matthew 3:7), and taught what real love was… sacrifice (John 15:13).

And finally, I cannot imagine the disappointment, when this almighty King died at the hands of the very kingdoms He was to rule over. It seemed that after all the promises God had made to the Jewish people, that none of them would be coming true. Then all of a sudden, 3 days later, the king that they had killed was back! (Acts 10:40)

I think that we can learn a very valuable lesson from the Jews of Jesus’ time. The first is that we often look at the promises of God, and ask ourselves how we would fulfill them… then we expect God to act the same way, and often in a way that ends up praising us and not Him (just as the pharisees). Even more often, when these promises are not fulfilled the way we expect, we often start to question God, asking if He really cares about us, or even if He is capable of keeping His promises. Just like the Jews of Jesus’ time, we end up disappointed and discouraged, before God has finished showing us His plan (Jeremiah 29:11).

I remember a time like this in my life, where after I became depressed I wondered why God was letting me feel this way. I remember my own pride interferring as I removed myself from Him more and more, until I thought I was completely isolated. I remember wondering what was going to happen, and doubting that I would ever get over my depression… I guess like many of the Jews of Jesus’ time, I started to give up hope. But that’s when the fireworks started, when God showered blessing after blessing on me. And now, the pain and suffering I felt before, is nothing more than a memory of how faithful God is, and that He does keep His promises (Hebrews 10:23).

Instead of fulfilling the prophecies and expectations of the Jews of Jesus’ time, God instead freed them from a much bigger captor, their sin. Instead of giving them a wonderful life on earth for a short time, He gave them the gift of eternal life through His Son Jesus (John 3:16). And instead of saving a few, God gave His Son to save the world (Colossians 3:11).

We have an amazing God, one who not only keeps His promises, but has greater plans than we can even imagine. A God who doesn’t do things our way, but will do them the right way (1 Corinthians 13:12). A God who, no matter the situation, you can rely on to get you through. Just like the Jews of Jesus’ time, we may not always understand what is going on, or why God seems to be “failing” in keeping His promises, but we can know that in the end, He will not only keep His promise, but amaze us in how He did it (Romans 8:28). After all, this was how I met my fiancee… by God working in a different way than I expected.

Everyone faces many trials; however, these trials are not in vain. God uses them to do a work in us, developing us into mature Christians.

In James 1:2-4, we are told, Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. In other words, God uses the tough times in life to sharpen us, making us mature and complete Christians.

Furthermore, God will not permit you to remain in the same trials all of your life; in His proper timing He will deliver you. Psalm 34:17 says, The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.

So don’t run from your trials, because the testing of your faith develops you into a mature and complete Christian.

Psalm 23

¹ The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.

² He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters,

³ he restores my soul.
He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name’s sake.

⁴ Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death, ^[a]
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me
in the presence of my enemies.
You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows.

⁶ Surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD
forever.

Matthew 6:31-33
31 So do not worry, saying, What shall we eat or What shall we drink or What shall we wear? 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
(NIV Bible)

One of the biggest causes of stress in our lives is the pressure we put on ourselves for daily provision. We work hard to provide for the necessities of life and can be anxious about our future. Will there be a recession? Will I still have a job? What about the mortgage? All of these questions are valid, but Jesus tells us that we don’t have to worry about all these things, because our Father in heaven knows what we need and wants to provide for us.

All we have to do is become like little children, seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness trusting that Father will care for us as He promised. My children have never worried about the mortgage. As teenagers, they are only now beginning to understand the dynamics of our household budget. They have trusted that there will always be food on the table, a bed to sleep in, and clothes to wear. They have confidence that their parents will provide all of their needs and more.

They do not need to carry these kind of responsibilities on their shoulders because that is their parents’ job. God wants us to become very little, so He can be very big in our lives. We don’t have to worry and strive about what we are going to eat, what we are going to wear, and where we are going to sleep. We have a Heavenly Father who has promised to look after all the details of our life. If He cares for the sparrows, who neither sow or reap or store into barns, how much more will He look after His own children!

NeedToBreath

Bring all of your troubles come lay ‘em down
All you sinners
And the weak at heart
All you helpless
On the boulevards
Wherever you are now
Whatever evil you’ve found

Bring all of your troubles
And come lay ‘em down
We’re all tied to the same old failings
Finding shelter in things we know
We’re all dirty like corrupted small towns