10. Keep the Focus on Christ  

January 17, 2014 




Genesis 49:23-24 

" the archers bitterly attacked him, shot at him, and harassed him severely, yet his bow unmoved; his arms were made agile" 




Archers makes me think of war and bitterness makes me think of revenge. There was a "war" that was taking place to get back at him, him being Joseph you find out if you go back just a couple verses. Archers shoot bow and arrow and you see that these people that were bitterly attacking him actually were  able to take shots at him. What I notice is that it does not say they shot him but they shot at him leaving me to believe they never successfully got him. They harassed him most likely verbally, severely. I think of a severe thunderstorm, it means a violent or strong thunderstorm which leaves me to believe the harassment was almost too much to bear. Joseph shot bow and arrow as well and it says here that he never shot at the archers. His bow never moved yet his hands were made strong and quick. 




If you look back over the life of Joseph you see who the archers were. The archers were his brothers and pharaoh's wife who had him thrown into prison. The archers could have also been those that he interrupted dreams for who so quickly forgot all about him. Many people came up against Joseph and he suffered because of it. People were shooting arrows at him but he never let it discourage him to a point of losing faith in God. He could have sat in prison and grumbled and complained and not take advantage of the opportunity God gave him to become someone. He could have pitied himself and never moved on from the pain and hurt and rejection he received from even his own brothers. Because he was human he probably had his days that were hard and he felt discouraged but he always went back to God and God gave him the strength he needed to press on and not sit in self pity. 




Life isn't always fair and things have happened that have caused me to ask God "why me?". When I look at Joseph's life, his certainly wasn't fair but he trusted God even when it probably didn't make sense. There was a time when I sat in my own self pity and God wasn't able to use me because I was so concerned with me and why something bad would happen to me. I couldn't hear God's clear voice for me to apply for IGNITE, I didn't understand why I was leaving Millersville university to go work. I had me at my focus and I allowed life experiences to completely discourage me. What God had in store for my life he could not reveal to me until I allowed him to be my focus and to receive comfort from him. Joseph rested in Christ and took every bad situation as the plan God has for his life even though it was not how he was probably expecting his life to look. Me and everyone can learn so much from the life of Joseph as we see him become strong by dying to self and allowing God to lead him no matter what struggles he may face on the way. Even when we don't understand the struggles we must always keep our focus on Christ so that we can hear his voice and receive the comfort we need from him. 

12. Comforter 

January 13, 2
Hebrews 2:18 

"For because he himself has suffered when tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." 

This verse really struck me yesterday while sitting in church listening to Pastor preach on psalm 91. It was the indirect statements he made that lead me to remember this verse. It was a verse I needed to hear again as I was struggling with homesickness yesterday morning.

When I read this verse and the verse before, I am brought to realize the realness of how human, yet God, Jesus is. He was the propitiation for our sins as it says in verse 17 yet in verse 18 we read that he suffered when tempted. Fully man, fully God. Hebrews 4:15 says, "for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses  but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are". God understands when we are tempted and feel so weak. He understands the difficulty of constantly being tempted to sin. He understands what we go through each day because he lived on this very earth for 33 years. He can comfort us because he has endured it.  He sent us the Holy Spirit as a helper but I believe the Word of a God and the very life of Jesus that we can read about in the Word is a comfort in its self. Jesus never sinned but he was certainly tempted to.  We see clearly Jesus being tempted when he went to the wilderness and fasted. Jesus was physically weak and satan took that opportunity to use his weakness against him. I will probably never fast for 40 days and feel that type of physical weakness but I can name times when I have felt mentally weak or spiritually weak and have allowed satan to take advantage of my weakness. 

Yesterday I was weak, it was a mixture of all weakness and satan got in my head. I no longer wanted to be in Kenya for I felt like my job was finished here and I just wanted to go home and see my family again. I sat and told God everything that was on my heart and allowed him to hear everything I had to say but thought for sure he did not understand. How could he comfort me? He pointed me to this verse then during the Sunday worship service and began to remind me how when Jesus came to earth as a baby, he left his Father. He left his Father not for 7 months but for 33 years. Then the question came in my mind, "do you think Jesus missed his Father?" I would assume yes. He has the same emotions we have and has endured the same temptations so why would he not miss his family? God really spoke to me through this verse and just asked me to rest in his arms because he understands what it is like to miss parents. He understands what it is like to leave his home for a long period of time all because God has called him there. It amazes me every time something new is revealed to me about Jesus and that fact that he not only can comfort us in our temptation but also in the little things in life. What an amazing God we serve!  

Week 10 
1 Corinthians 15:21-22
"For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive."




It's usually during planning for kids club that verses really strike me. My verse this past week that I spent a lot of time thinking on came to me while planning once again. We were preparing to give the Gospel to the children in 9 points and I came across this verse in 1 Corinthians. Bare with me as I try to put onto paper what the Lord revealed to me through this verse. 




If you look at the verses leading up to these two I pulled out, you read about the resurrection of Jesus. Paul says that if God did not raise Christ from the dead then our hope is in vain for the dead are dead as Christ is dead. But he goes on to say that it is true that Christ was risen from the dead. Now in verse 21 we see him compare Adam and Jesus. Man, we know to be referencing Adam, brought death into the world. Man sinned and now the earth is cursed and perfection can be no more. He also says man, we know to be referencing Jesus, brought life back to the dead. He repeats himself in verse 22 making me believe it is a very important idea for me to understand. Man brought death and now all are dead but man, Jesus Christ, brought life and resurrection for the dead. 




So why it is so important that Paul felt the need to say it twice? It stood out to me that it was man and it was man. God created the world perfectly and with only perfection in the world. He had a perfect relationship with Adam and Eve and life in the garden was beautiful I imagine. But satan tempted man and man fell for the lies that he fed them as it is so easy today for me and many others to believe the lies that satan tells us. Man sinned and now death was in the air. They could no longer have the perfect relationship with God because something came in between them. Sin. Death. So for many years the people had to make blood sacrifices to cover their sins. The people deserved death but God allowed for an animal to die in their place but it had to be repeated time and time again. Think about if you had to kill an animal every time you went to the Lord for forgiveness. I would certainly be discouraged and poor. But just as man brought death into the world, man brought life into the world. Jesus was born as a baby and all over people knew of his birth. Yet he was born in a stable, his father was no great ruler but a carpenter. His life on earth began in humility and ended in humility as he became the one time sacrifice for all our sins. He was man just like you and me. We can read in Hebrews 2:18 that Jesus was tempted just like we are. We can see in the Gospels that Jesus cried and Jesus was angry. He endure the same emotions as a human yet never sinned. Because he was perfect he was able to pay the debt that we owed and rise back to life three days later defeating death and giving us all a choice to have life. Adam and Eve were man. Jesus was man. As man brought death into the world so also man brought life, but it wasn't just any man, it was the Son of God. 

These verses were such a great reminder to me that Jesus was human, he shared in the same stuff I feel. He understands my hurt and he understands my joy. He understands my tears and he understands my frustrations. Why should I not take everything to him who gives me life? Why should I not go before the Lord with all my emotions? What keeps me from sharing everything with him? Do you share every one of your emotions with him? He understands better then any person on this earth. He knows how to comfort you. He died for you! Do you not think that he would care to know your feelings? Today, I will go before the Lord with all my feelings and let him comfort me instead of pushing them beside as if he doesn't care. 

Why Worry? 

Week 8 

1 Corinthians 14:3 

"On the other hand, the one who prophecies speaks to people for their upbuilding and encouragement and consolation." 

"On the other hand" causes me to want to look back at the previous verses to see what is being contrasted. I see Paul tells the people to desire prophecy as a spiritual gift above talking in tongues and explains that speaking in tongues is the person talking to God. We see here that the one who prophecies speaks to people. The prophet though is not just telling the future but speaks to the people about the future in a way that encourages them and gives them hope. 

As we planned for Kids Club this past week,we were looking at different prophecies for the birth of Christ. Now I knew that the prophets foretold the Birth of Christ and that's about where my knowledge ended in prophecies. Someone took us to this verse in 1 Corinthians when it was discussed on how to define prophecy for the children. I knew it was not just the prediction of the future but what more was their? 

After reading this verse I started viewing the prophecies and prophets differently. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Hosea, and Micah were prophets we were looking at for prophesying the birth of Christ. I assume they were laughed at for saying such things as Jesus would be born to a virgin. I think about it for myself and yeah I probably would have thought the guy was crazy. How can a virgin have a child? Yet knowing the purpose of prophecy now, he was only trying to encourage the people. 

Isaiah 7:14 says "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel." Isaiah was a prophet about 700 years before the birth of Christ and something that I noticed in this prophecy is that it says the virgin not a virgin. It could not just be any virgin, God already knew who it was going to be and that could not change. God chose Mary to be used way before she was ever conceived herself. 

This brings a lot of comfort to me. as I hear others talk about their futures and what life will probably look like for them after our time in Kenya I often times become discouraged because I have not a clue. I do not know what my time serving in the church will look like or where I will work or whether I will go back to school. After I pray about it, God reminds me that is still 5 months away so I need not worry about that. After all we are instructed, "Therefore, do not be anions about tomorrow  for tomorrow will be anxious for itself sufficient for the day is it's own troubles." (Matthew 6:34). God knew my future before I was ever conceived. He knew I would spend 6 months in Kenya and he knows what I will once I leave. Why need I worry about my future? God has got everything in his hands. He knows all and will guide me where I am to go. He will reveal to me in his time what my future will look like. All I need to do spend time with him and have an intimate relationship with my Savior. Today I will spend sometime in prayer giving him all my worries and fears about the unknown. 

Week 7 
1 Samuel 17:48 

"When the Philistine arose and came and drew near to meet David, David ran quickly toward the battle line to meet the Philistine."

I  have always loved the story of David and Goliath, but this time as I read the story verse 48 really stood out. I have always imagined that David was standing at a distance from Goliath imagining that the Giant probably could not even touch him. The very first part of this verse says differently though. David had just finished telling the Philistine that he was about to kill him because God was on his side and I'm sure Goliath laughed. Remember David was just a young shepherd boy if you read previously he did not even want to wear the armor they had for him. So here he is with no protection standing in front of a giant. As I read this I'm in matinee this young boy walking up to the battle line on one side and a big gigantic man walking up on the other side laughing and saying to himself, "well this won't take long". But verse 48 says that David RAN to meet Goliath. He didn't have his physical armor on but he had the armor of God on was ready to fight. 

I think about this verse for my own life and ask what is my Philistine? What is a giant in my life that looks scary when I try to face it on my own. The rest of the army was standing behind David scared to leave their camp, scared to face the problem, scared to face the struggle. What made David different? David had complete trust in God. He new he could not fight the Giant on his own, he knew God wasn't asking him to either. In verse 47 David says, "for the battle is the Lord's and he will give you into our hands". That is how I need to few the battles in my own life. God is not asking me to fight alone or to walk alone. He promises to never leave me or forsake me. He is always with me wherever I go, no matter what struggles I encounter. 

A few weeks ago we taught on the armor of God and it reminds me of it again here. If David did not have his armor on, if he would have not been in communication with God and have had a relationship with him, he would have so quickly did as the rest of the army did and hide. Instead, David heard the voice of the Lord and was brought to peace knowing he would not defeat this enemy but God would. God is much stronger then us, he wants to fight the battles for us, but we have to let him. We have to admit that we cannot do it on our own and allow him to take control. 

I will never forget training in Guatemala when I would so often struggle to write my IBS for the verse that was assigned that day. It became hard and I felt like I wasn't qualified to do that. Discouragement came and something that should have been bringing me closer to God was pulling me away. One day as I sat in frustration I cried out to God and asked, "why cannot I not interpret these scriptures". Immediately, a still small voice said, "have you asked me for help?" Immediately I realized that I was trying to do it on my own. How often I live like that! I can not even get out of bed in the mornings with my own strength, I need God to give me the strength and boldness to do everything I do. I need him to fight for me so that, as David did, I can run to my enemy knowing no giant is to big for God. Today, I will spend sometime in prayer asking God what giants I am trying to fight alone and ask him fight it for me and give me the victory. I will ask him for strength as Satan throws darts my way. 

Week 5 
Ruth 1: 16-17
"But Ruth said, 'do not urge me to leave your or to return from following you. For where you go I will go, and where you lodge I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May The Lord do so to me and more also if anything but death parts me from you'." 

If you look at the previous verses in this chapter you will see that Naomi had a husband and 2 sons. Her husband died and left her a widow. Then her sons married Ruth and Orpah and later her sons died as well leaving her with two daughters-in-law. The three of them started a journey to Moab where they heard there was food since at this time there was a drought in their land. Right before verse 16 Naomi had told Ruth and Orpah that they should stop journeying with her and return back to their home land where they would be able to find a new husband. In my opinion, she told them that staying with her would do them no good since she was old, widowed, and had no sons. Orpah did as Naomi had instructed but Ruth had different plans. 

So now in verse 16 we see that Ruth begins to tell Naomi her vision. It makes me think of what I have heard my mom say ever since my first boyfriend. "You don't just marry the person you marry the whole family" is what she would constantly say. I see from these verses that Ruth truly married the family. Even though her husband died who she was committed to for life, she still was committed to the family, her mother-in-law, once he died. 

Ruth was committed to follow Naomi where ever she went; if she moved to a different land, Ruth would follow. Ruth was committed to live wherever Naomi lived. She was committed to the people that Naomi called her people; she would not do things outside their traditions or be rebellious to their ways. Ruth said that since Naomi served God, she would also serve God and be committed to him. Ruth was even committed to die in the land that Naomi dies in and would also be buried there. But not only did she make this commitment to Naomi, she made a promise with the Lord in the second part of verse 17. 

I could not help but marvel at how committed Ruth was to Naomi as I read this passage today. I'm not married and therefore have no commitment to a husband to keep but am I committed to the Lord as Ruth was committed to Naomi. I think of the song that says, "where you go I'll go, where you stay I'll stay. When you move I'll move, I will follow you." God lead me to Potter's Field IGNITE program and I moved first to Guatemala and now to Kenya as he lead me to these locations. It would be easy to sit back and say yes, I am committed to God like Ruth was to Naomi. But I started thinking a little deeper about my commitment to God. 

When I gave my life to Jesus, I made a lifelong commitment to bring glory to his name in everything I do and say. He expects me to follow him and meet with him. Thinking back to the song and to the scripture for today, I ask the question, "how does this look in my life each day". I followed him to Kenya but my commitment doesn't stop now. Do I go every where he leads me to go each day? Am I sensitive to the Holy Spirit who may be telling me to go talk to a child or an adult that is basically right in front of me? When the Lord places someone on my mind am I committed to stop and pray in that very moment for that person or do I tell him later? How committed am I to the Lord and to do his service each and everyday even if it's not what I thought serving would look like that day? How committed are you to the Lord and doing his service each and everyday even if it's not what you thought serving the Lord was going to look like that day? 

As we read 1 Corinthians 12 yesterday preparing for kids club this Saturday, I was reminded that even if you feel like you are making no difference, you are needed. The body of Christ needs each and every member. So maybe the only service I do one day is praying for people, it seems small but if I am not committed to the Lord, I will not be willing to do that small tasks that in the end can make such a huge difference. Today, I am going to look and be open to the small things that I can do to serve the Lord and have "committed" written on my hand as a reminder to whom I am committed serve.