Protection, Reflection, and Self-Care
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; He knows those who take refuge in Him. Nahum 1:7
Have you wholeheartedly taken refuge in God beyond just uttered words from human lips? Tongue and cheek service was rejected by Jesus in Luke 6:46, with Jesus asking why call Him Lord, Lord, and do not do the things that He commands. Matthew 6:33 informs humankind to seek FIRST the Kingdom of God and all its righteousness and all these things will be added to those that obey Him. Scripture says that humankind must seek the Kingdom and His righteousness first, requiring our submission to God which is also how we are able to resist the devil that he will flee from us during our temptations according to James 4:7. God knows those who take shelter in Him but is the true attitude toward God and service one that it has been our convenience to run back and forth from the shelter to the storm and wonder why we get wet when we leave His protection (see 1 John 1:2-10)? Cast your burden on the Lord, and he will sustain you; He will never permit the righteous to be moved. Psalm 55:22
When the storms of life, the various trials, and tribulations that Christians foretold that they must go through are blowing me around and I find my needs and wants unmet, do I wonder why I am being forsaken as a Child of God? Psalms 23:1 says the Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want. Now the Lord is faithful which means He is trustworthy-In humility and self-reflection of our own walk with Christ guided by the Scriptures, do we take the necessary time to question if our heart is right with God? Do we wisely consider that there may be a need to repent of something or do I lean to my own thoughts and assume others are always the cause of my suffering, while still being wet from the storm? Reconcile for a moment still being wet from the storm and God is faithful, in all His goodness and all that entails for those of faith that diligently seek Him.
The Faith requires that we daily ask if we are walking with or against Christ as stated in 2 Corinthians 13:5-10. While in the faith, do I take the time to pray to God and ask Him how I have maybe offended Him or others unknowingly, do I ask the Lord to allow me to forgive others from my heart, or even how I could be of better service to Him? Does my day-to-day lifestyle keep me from allowing my light to shine because of worldly obstacles that I have yet to remove or have allowed back into my life after I committed to walking in a newness of life to God (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-21)? Have I allowed old appetite to include old close friends to deceive me that I have forgotten that God says evil companionships corrupt good morals in 1 Corinthians 15:33, but I feel that they do not corrupt me or am I so unguarded that I have no worries with carnal relationships at all? In self-examination as a Christian, do you ever wonder if the Lord is still my Shepherd? God is faithful, He sustains and will never permit the righteous to be moved but He also does desire and require that all humankind come to repentance according to 2 Peter 3:9.
Damon Long
