Surrounded, Sealed, and Safe

"The greatest want of the world is the want of men - men who will not be bought or sold; men who in their inmost souls are true and honest; men who do not fear to call sin by its right name; men whose conscience is as true to duty as the needle to the pole; men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall." (Ellen G. White) Men who will stand, not just in their own might and ferociousness, but who will stand in the power and strong might of the one true God of the Universe. We don't stand against sin without the full armor of God. We don't need armor unless there is an enemy and I want to assure you we face a very real enemy - out to devour our souls and take us down to hell. He doesn't need to make heaven fall to get us to fall into hell's gates - he just needs to distract us into complacency to do that!

The one thing I want from God, the thing I seek most of all, is the privilege of meditating in his Temple, living in his presence every day of my life, delighting in his incomparable perfections and glory. There I’ll be when troubles come. He will hide me. He will set me on a high rock out of reach of all my enemies. Then I will bring him sacrifices and sing his praises with much joy. (Psalm 27:4-6)

It is a privilege to live in the presence of the Most Holy God. An unearned, and sometimes even an 'unacknowledged' standing we enjoy because of the finished work of Christ on the cross all those years ago. If you have an 'advantage' and don't use it, of what value is that advantage? For example, if there are two of you in the car and you have the advantage of using the carpool lane in the morning or evening traffic, but you never merge over into that lane, of what good was that 'advantage'? If we have the privilege of voting our conscience, but never use it, of what advantage is the privilege of living free? Advantage is only of value when it is accepted and used as it should be.

As a child of the living God, we are given the privilege (advantage) of living in his presence EVERY DAY of our lives - not just Sunday mornings! Start the day with him, get his Word into your heart early in the day, and see what a difference that 'advantage' brings throughout the day. The thing I seek most...what would that be today? Would we be able to answer the thing we seek most is the presence of God, or our social media feed, our games, or our newscasts? If we want God 'first' in our lives, we have to give him 'first place' in our day. It seems simplistic to have to say this but trust me on this one - choose him first and you will see that social media differently!

How do we stand in the power and might of the Lord? We are found enveloped (surrounded, sealed, and safe) in the presence of God as those troubles come. Notice that troubles come - they are certain in our lives. Therefore, we need to know how to stand in his strength and wisdom when they do come. Where will you be found when today's troubles come? If you have started this day with Christ, I daresay you will be 'closed up, safe, and secure' against each and every attack your enemy may bring! Just sayin!

Is this the on-ramp?

Henry Ward Beecher reminds us, "We should not judge people by their peak of excellence; but by the distance they have traveled from the point where they started." A thing we often forget is that every journey requires a starting point. We sometimes get all caught up in the journey and forget from whence we came. We see the 'finish line', but completely disregard we had to cross the 'starting line' to even be on our way to the 'finish'. 

But He knows the course I have traveled. And I believe that were He to prove me, I would come out purer than gold from the fire. My foot has been securely set in His tracks; I have kept to His course of life without swerving; I have not departed from the commands of His lips; I have valued everything He says more than all else. (Job 23:10-12)

I have not always traveled in a straight course - veering on occasion into places where complacency take me without even noticing. I have resumed my course on occasion without much effort, but at others I have found the effort it takes to resume when I have stopped is harder than I want it to be. Think about the last time you got away from a healthy eating plan. Now, think about how hard it was those first couple of weeks to get back on it. The 'starting' is hard, but the 'starting again' is even harder. Why?

It may be because we equate having to start again to failure. We didn't keep going, so we think we failed. The starting line never moved - neither did the finish line. We just got off-course a little and all we need to do is re-enter the path! My foot isn't always securely on the course he would desire me to take, but he knows the course I am traveling. Is it that he didn't 'keep me' from complacency? No, it is that I chose complacency because it was easier! 

How do we re-enter when we have drifted from course? Well, I think it is requires us to realize where we started to begin with, then where we will start again, and where that finish line lies. We look to where we started because it reminds us we really did come a good ways before we veered off-course. We look at where we will re-enter the course because it is a milestone (a marker) of where we chose again to 'enter into' obedience. We look to the finish line because it helps us remain 'forward focused'.

God knows your course as well as he knows mine. He has prepared for us to re-enter the course exactly where we veered from it in the first place. The thing we need to remember is that we take the first step back onto that course! He doesn't take it for us. Yes, he is right there to help us back up, giving us the wherewithal to actually move again, but we take the first step back onto the course! Let's not forget where we started, but let us also not expect 'excellence' every step of the way. We get distracted on occasion and need to remember God's grace is enough for us to re-enter right where we left off. Just sayin!

I see what you are doing now!

We all have had weeks we'd like to put behind us. Some days are just better than others! In the passage of time, there are moments we'd like to "erase" from our memory, while there are also those others we hope to hold onto forever and ever. When things are just not going well for us, how do we handle it? What is our response to the chaos, disappointment, frustration, or fear? When you have one of those "EVERYTHING's falling apart on me!" kind of days or weeks, how do you get up to do another? To be totally transparent here, we all have those days when we are just good and ready for this chapter of our life to be closed and a new one to be written!

Everything's falling apart on me, God; put me together again with your Word. Festoon me with your finest sayings, God; teach me your holy rules. My life is as close as my own hands, but I don't forget what you have revealed. The wicked do their best to throw me off track, but I don't swerve an inch from your course. (Psalm 119:107-110)

In "rough patches" of life, we often cry out for deliverance long before we cry out for God to teach us a lesson in the rough place! We want our "comfort" restored, but we don't see there is a lesson in every season. "Put me together again with your Word." Rather than pray for deliverance maybe we should be praying for sustenance - sustaining power! Whenever I have one of my grandsons over to help with a project, it makes the project go a little easier for me. In the end, I am not only grateful for their assistance, I am delighted with the end results! Their presence actually made it easier for me to endure all the hard work that went into the project!

God works this way sometimes. He comes along, placing the pieces of our lives together in keeping with the principles of his Word, making his Word come alive in the process. In the "watching and participation" in what he is fashioning in our lives through the revelation of his Word, we "see" the pieces of life take form. In the end, we realize the results of the "work" occurring as there is this passage of time. Unfortunately, most of us don't like to wait for that passage of time and find ourselves struggling with things because we are in the moments where the lessons are being learned.

At the end of the day, God rejoices in our praise, delights in our reaching, and relishes our "I love you's". The day will deal us stuff that we don't want to face - but when we look to the one who knows how to put all the pieces together, undertaking his work carefully each step of the way, we do more than "make it through". We are "sustained" - upheld and strengthened! We are supported, born up, and kept going until the final work is done within us! Don't take your eyes off the one doing the building in your life - mirror his steps. In the end, you will finish well! Just sayin!