God's Wisdom In A Nutshell

Hello,

Today I would like to talk to you about the promises God offers us in the Bible. If you are anything like me, before I entered a nondenominational church I never knew anything about the beautiful promises the Lord offers us.

Thankfully, and yes I mean thankfully, I went through a “tornado” in my life and my denominational church wasn’t helpful. I couldn’t get to God through the depth of rules, traditions and enactments. I was searching for more. I had recently met a Christian friend who led me to her non- denominational church and encouraged me to read the Bible. That was 17 years ago and I have never looked back.

As I studied the Bible day in and day out for peace and comfort during the worst years of my life (and still today) I discovered amazing promises that resonated with my soul- words that I knew were absolutely the bottom line Truth about life. They were promises from our Lord, encouraging us to turn towards Him, and by following His teachings we would receive His promises of help and guidance for every aspect of life. Here is an example of a promise from the Lord relevant for this pandemic:

“You must serve only the LORD your God. If you do, I will bless you with food and water, and I will protect you from illness.”(Exodus 23:25)

Like any good parent, the Lord won’t give a disobedient child the same privileges that He gives to an obedient child -and we are all children in God’s eyes. He would like us to live by His teachings and principles so that we can receive the promises He offers us- promises of help to overcome anything that comes against us, be it a health issue, a financial issue, a life issue- anything! Living life for the Lord- we can overcome everything and live a life victorious over our problems.

But many people, even long term Christians, still struggle with issues or simply do not believe in the supernatural power of the Lord. Perhaps it is because they haven’t learned that we fight every battle on our knees using Scripture and the powerful name of Jesus.

Knowing and memorizing Scripture is our weapon when the devil fights against us with an illness, financial issue, depression, anxiety, or any other unfortunate circumstance.

Jesus was tempted after He fasted for forty days- the Devil came to Jesus when He was tired, weak and very much in need of food and water. Jesus fought off the evil temptation using Scripture.

Matthew 4:2-10 (NIV)

“After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.”Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written:

“‘He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.”

So we see in these verses that Jesus used Scripture to block Satan’s power over Him. We also see that Satan used Scripture incorrectly in order to try to lure Jesus. These two points are highly important. We need to understand Scripture so that we do not take verses out of context and believe things that are not true.  And we need to use Scripture to fight against health issues, financial issues, family issues, temptations- everything! Jesus also gives us a panic button- His name. When you don’t know what to say when you are depressed, tempted, or in a frightening situation, just say “Jesus” it is amazing the sudden comfort you will feel.

The Word of God and the name of Jesus are powerful weapons against destructive thoughts as well as situations beyond our control- like this pandemic. I encourage you to memorize a verse of Scripture this week – Psalm 23 is an excellent start.

There is also a wonderful Christian song called “Just Say Jesus” by 7th Time Down-the lyrics remind us to call out to Jesus in our time of urgent need.

All my best,

Lisa