Strength in the Lord

“But David strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” 1 Samuel 30:6

It seemed like Pandora’s box was opened for David. All the bad things were happening at once. As David and his men had nowhere to go and they were rejected by the Philistines.

One day the Amalekites invaded while David and his men were gone. The Amalekites raided the place and burned everything. That wasn’t enough for them so they took everyone that were there, women and children as captives. Imagine how David and his men must have felt when they returned. Their temporary residences were burnt down and all the families were missing.

The men were so shocked and all they could do was to blame everything upon David. They were so mad that they eventually wanted to kill David by stoning him. I wonder how I would have reacted if I were David. How would I handle such a situation? How would I do if Pandora’s box had been opened in my life today? How would we manage our lives?

This is what David did. He “strengthened himself in the Lord his God.” Then he asked the priest to bring the ephod so that he could inquire of the Lord. Wow! That teaches us a lot. We can from David here. This is what we need today. We need to strengthen ourselves in the Lord our God today. As we do so, we need to inquire of God. Many of us make the mistake of reaching out to God as the last and final option. But God needs to be our number one. Let us learn to be like David today.

Faith by EGW

As I was about to write this week’s devotional message, a close pastor friend of mine texted me: “Dude, I am eating up this devotional message.” And he sent me a link of the following message written by Ellen White. I was blessed as I read them and I decided I wanted to share this with you rather than my devotional this week. So here it goes:

Faith

     The just shall live by his faith. Hab. 2:4  

     On one occasion, when meditating concerning the future, he said, "I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me." Graciously the Lord answered him: "Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. . . . The just shall live by his faith."  

     The faith that strengthened Habakkuk and all the holy and the just in those days of deep trial was the same faith that sustains God's people today. In the darkest hours, under circumstances the most forbidding, the Christian believer may keep his soul stayed upon the source of all light and power. Day by day, through faith in God, his hope and courage may be renewed. "The just shall live by his faith." In the service of God there need be no despondency, no wavering, no fear. The Lord will more than fulfill the highest expectations of those who put their trust in Him. He will give them the wisdom their varied necessities demand. . . .  

     We must cherish and cultivate the faith of which prophets and apostles have testified--the faith that lays hold on the promises of God and waits for deliverance in His appointed time and way. The sure word of prophecy will meet its final fulfillment in the glorious Advent of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, as King of kings and Lord of lords. The time of waiting may seem long, the soul may be oppressed by discouraging circumstances, many in whom confidence has been placed may fall by the way; but with the prophet who endeavored to encourage Judah in a time of unparalleled apostasy, let us confidently declare, "The Lord is in His holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before Him." Let us ever hold in remembrance the cheering message, "The vision is yet for an appointed time . . . : though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. . . . The just shall live by his faith."

From My Life Today - Page 59

http://www.whiteestate.org/devotional/mlt/02_20.asp

Identity Theft

“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect. See, I have told you beforehand.” Matthew 24:23-25

Have you ever been a victim of identity theft? Identity theft is a serious crime that is very common around us today. It can be as serious as one person impersonating another person. It can be your credit card number being stolen and someone else using it. Identity theft comes in numerous forms.

I have been a victim of identity theft a few times. A few weeks ago, I got this text from my credit card company, “Fraud alert! $29.99 was spent in California. If this was you press 1 for ‘Yes.’ If this wasn’t you press 2 for ‘No.’” What the credit card company does is they monitor your account activities. When they notice an unusual transaction, something that looks out the norm, they will deny the transaction and notify me of it right away. Well, I didn’t spend that money. And I was nowhere close to California as I was in my district that day! I called up the company and spoke with the ‘Fraud’ team. To prevent further issues from the identity thief, they suspended my account right away and sent me a new credit card the following day. This all happened because somewhere my credit card number was exposed and the thief tried to use my card number to make a purchase. That wasn’t me, it was a fake me. The card company found out because the system was able to read my spending habits, where I live, and such information(it’s kind of scary when you think about how you are being monitored).

The Bible warns us about false christs and false teachings in the end-times, which is the time we are now living in. Identity theft is what the Enemy is doing today and we must be aware of it. It may even sneak among us in the form of truth. The best way to prevent this form of identity theft in the end-times is to be faithful to the Word of God. Just as the card company had been monitoring me, thus being able to figure out unusual spending, we must also carefully study His Word so that we can know what is genuine or not.

Open our eyes

“So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, ‘What do you want Me to do for you?’ They said to Him, ‘Lord, that our eyes may be opened.’ So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him.” Matthew 20:32-34

Few weeks ago, a video went viral online. Some of you might have seen it already. It was a video of a baby getting to see her mother for the first time. Louise suffers from albinism. It’s a condition that affects melanin, the pigment that colors skin, hair, and eyes. It is told that people with albinism can suffer with eyesight problems and sensitivity to light. And Louise’s mother uploaded this video when Louise finally got to wear this special pair of eye glasses for the first time.

When Louise put on the glasses for the first time, she was able to clearly see this  someone in front of her. When she recognized the voice of her mother and that this voice came from this someone in front of her, Louise’s face glowed with joy!

I wonder if the passage above should be our experience. That story is not just a miracle story where Jesus heals the blind men to see. It can be a spiritual application asking Jesus to open our eyes to really see Jesus. Often times, the sinfulness of this world darkens our eyes making it difficult for us to see Jesus. We must ask Jesus, “Lord, that our eyes may be opened.”

It is wonderful to note that these men followed Jesus as soon as they were healed. This can be our experience as well.

Nearer, My God, to Thee — BYU Vocal Point feat. BYU Men's Chorus