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ConfidencecovenantsEasterFinding strengthsafe and secure in ChristWhen in trouble

Safe from the Storm

by Esther Griggs
written by Esther Griggs

During a storm we look for shelter, a place of protection and warmth. We button down the hatches. In Noah’s day, a storm was coming. Because Noah walked with God, he knew of its coming, and also how to prepare for it. Those around him were too distracted by day to day events. They had no refuge when the storm hit.

No matter who we are or where we live, there are storms coming our way. The story of Noah is for our instruction. God offers a place of safety to those who trust Him. He offers the invitation, provides protection, and delivers His children.

The Invitation

In Genesis 7:1, God speaks to Noah. “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.” In Matthew 11:28, Jesus also extends an invitation. “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Both invitations call us to safety and require a response.

Protection

As Noah did, we find our protection in our response to God. “You are my hiding place,” says the Psalmist. “I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” Jesus said, “Follow Me.” He also said, “I am the way, the truth and the life: No one comes to the Father except through Me.” John records additional words of Jesus, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make our home with him.”

Deliverance

God delivered Noah, and his family, from the flood. He delivers us because Jesus died and rose from the grave.

Paul received severe persecution as he obeyed God’s word yet hear his words, “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me. … I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion. And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom.”

Peter tells us He will deliver us out of temptation. In Proverbs we read that deliverance is of the LORD.

Jesus says, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, … to preach deliverance to the captives.”

Hear these words from “Master the Tempest is Raging.”

“Whether the wrath of the storm-tossed sea, or demons, or men, or whatever it be, No water can swallow the ship where lies, the master of ocean and earth and sky They all shall sweetly obey Thy will Peace, Peace, be still.”

The story of Noah and his ark symbolizes the safety we find in the Christ of the Easter story. Jesus went into the ultimate storm, defeated the enemy, and rose from the dead, bringing the gift of eternal life for all who put their trust in Him. God is a place of safety to any who believe in Him. He offers the invitation. provides protection and delivers His children, in this life, and the one to come.

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Christ's ReturnFinding strengthFollowers of JesusLife in ChristSufferingWhen in trouble

Having Troubles?

by Esther Griggs
written by Esther Griggs

Peter wrote to the pilgrims regarding their great heavenly inheritance and of their being kept by God’s power. There was much to rejoice in. However, in writing of this gracious salvation, he addressed the issue of having troubles. From his words, we learn further of salvation, about the trials which grieve us, and their ultimate purpose.

Salvation

First we learn of salvation. Peter tells his readers that salvation from God causes them great rejoicing. Though they have never seen Jesus, they believe and it has brought them a joy that cannot be expressed. They rejoice with a joy that is full of glory and are receiving the result of their faith. It is a salvation received by faith and ultimately revealed at the end of time when Jesus is revealed.

Trials

Next we learn of trials. In all the wonders of salvation, there is something else. Peter wrote that If it was necessary, and only for a little while, grievous troubles would come. Jesus and the other disciples also talked of trials. Jesus talked about having joy amid persecution because of the great reward in heaven, Paul wrote that trials were temporary and working for us something which far exceeded any trouble on earth. James also says to count it all joy when encountering trials for he wrote that they work patience in the believer. Though grievous they have purpose.

Purpose

What purpose could our troubles have other than to make life miserable? They do have purpose. Have you wondered about the reality of your faith? Before your peers, before your own soul, before God, is your faith genuine? Troubles, like refineries to gold, remove the impurities of our faith. Peter wrote that a person’s faith is far more valuable than gold. Gold will pass away, but our faith, tested by the troubles we face, prepare us for the day Jesus is revealed. When Jesus returns, our faith, tested and tried through the refinery of trouble, will bring praise, honour, and glory to God the Father. Even though we cannot see Him, we love Him, believe in Him and rejoice in the salvation of our souls.

From these words we learned further of salvation, about the trials which grieve us, and receiving the end of our faith, the salvation of our souls at the revealing of the Lord Jesus.

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safe and secure in ChristWhen in trouble

Jesus Shows Up

by Esther Griggs
written by Esther Griggs

Matthew, Mark and John record the story of the disciple’s encounter with Jesus on the stormy sea. Over the centuries of Christendom, the saints have found the truths of the story to remind us that we can rest secure in Christ Jesus. We need these comforting stories. They remind us that challenging times come, difficulties threaten our security, but in them Jesus shows up.

“It is I; Do not be afraid.”

Challenging Times

After feeding the crowd of about 5,000, the Jews, their stomachs full, want to make Jesus their king. Jesus, however sends the disciples on their way, and withdraws to pray. Meanwhile, the disciples travelled across the sea, and experienced their deepest fears.

We also can relate to stormy times. Stories of broken families, lost finances, ill health and various trials surround us. Barbs of fear taunt us. Challenging times confront us. Our security is threatened.

Security Threatened

When their security was threatened, all the trust the disciples placed in their skills as fishermen and the structure of their boat was tested. Would the winds tear it apart? They feared flailing about in the tempestuous sea as their end.

We also rely on our schedules and routines. We depend on the people around us. Our reliance on certain doctrines and ways of thinking have brought us this far. Nevertheless, storms disrupt all these things. A loved one gets ill or dies, new and strange ideas, or an unexpected economic shift cause us to tremble. Where can we turn in times of turmoil?

Jesus Shows Up

In times of turmoil we need Jesus. When Jesus saw His disciples in trouble, He chose not to stop the wind. Instead He let them experience the storm. Then He gave it perspective. His word to them? “It is I; do not be afraid.” He showed up in the storm. This Man who had fed the crowd, claimed to be God’s Son, healed the Nobleman’s son, and the man at the pool of Bethsaida, could He could rescue them? Did He have power even above the reality of their deepest fears? How about our own lives? Do we believe He can rescue us? Can He lead us into all truth? Will He show up when we need Him the most? Believer, He showed up and through the ages by His Spirit, He shows up. Hear His word to your heart today, “It is I; Do not be afraid.”

This story reminds us that challenging times come, difficulties threaten our security, but in them Jesus shows up.

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Bible reflectionBiblical HistoryMankindWhen in trouble

Break the Cycle

by Esther Griggs
written by Esther Griggs

The Cycle

In Nehemiah’s day and throughout the Old Testament the writers describe a predominate cycle of behaviour. It goes like this. Once the people feel safe they begin to forget God and look to the customs of the people’s around them. Then they become dissatisfied. In their dissatisfaction they rebel and turn from God. As time goes on, their rebellion subjects them to the oppression of their enemies. Once they grow tired of the oppression they cry out to God. He then hears and answers them. Again they are in the safety for which they long and the cycle begins again. As we look to the prayer written in Nehemiah 9 we learn of the vicious cycle, the character of God, the character of man and consider how to break the cycle.

The Character of God

God through the great deliverance from Egypt, and many experiences in the wilderness revealed His character to the Hebrews. They knew He alone had ultimate authority. They also learned He was the creator and sustainer of life who was worshipped by the Hosts of heaven. From their knowledge of the history of Abraham they learned that God relates to people, brings them out, gives them a new name, tests their hearts, makes covenants with them and keeps His promises. He also hears the cries of His people and does powerful works on their behalf. God had revealed Himself as their guide, their provider and the One who gave them purpose.

They further learned who God was from their rebellion. He was a listener and always ready to pardon. He demonstrated to them that He was gracious, merciful, slow to anger, abundant in kindness and one who never forsakes His own. Even when they made an inanimate object and declared it as their deliverer, He did not leave them. He continued to guide them, and provide for them. They lacked nothing. Their shoes did not wear out and their feet did not swell. He never gave up on them, ever.

The Character of Man

In contrast to the Great God, the character of mankind is manifested. We are prone to pride and stiff necks. We don’t listen to God but instead disobey His directives. We have short memories and forgot God and all He has done for us. Instead we harden our hearts and rebel against Him choosing our own way. We cast His laws behind our backs and kill the prophets who try to remind us of who God is, thereby removing ourselves from the care and protection of Almighty God. However we always find ourselves in trouble and know to call on God. Then we renew our commitments and start over again.

Break the Cycle

It happened all throughout the Old Testament. In Romans 6 the apostle Paul tells us the Hebrews had great zeal for God but it wasn’t from knowledge. They were ignorant of His righteousness. They sought their own righteousness rather than God’s. God’s character did not change nor did the character of mankind. They needed further revelation.

The Old Testament system proved ineffective and the writer of Hebrews tells us they did not continue in God’s covenant and God disregarded them. The law did not work. God therefore, opened another door. He ended the law by sending the ultimate revelation of God, Jesus Christ. Christ Jesus by His death and resurrection took all the sins of mankind to the cross. Our righteousness is as dirty rags. We can try as hard as we want. For righteousness is not performance based. We could never measure up to God’s perfect requirements. Rather, Jesus becomes our righteousness. When we believe that Jesus took all our sins, our missing the mark of God’s perfect requirements, we become righteous in Him. God must be everything. He is also Christ Jesus our righteousness. Break the cycle. Praise God!

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    Bible reflectionBiblical HistoryWhen in trouble

    Look and live

    by Esther Griggs
    written by Esther Griggs

    Delivering the children of Israel from Eygpt after 400 years of slavery was apparently the easy part. Getting them out of the wilderness was much harder. In fact, some died there in the wilderness, never knowing the full promises of God. God, however, did not leave them alone. He, as a loving father worked with them over and over when they came into trouble. Here is one of those stories.

    They had to go around the land of Edom and the soul of the people became very discouraged or impatient (as some translators put it). As to their pattern, they blamed Moses and started railing on him for bringing them out of Eygpt, so they could die in the wilderness. They complained about no water, no food, and they loathed

    “this worthless bread”

    God never takes kindly to this type of attitude. It is full of anger towards Him, it speaks of poor memory when it comes to His goodness. It is full of disbelief.

    The result was fiery serpents. It spoke to how seriously God saw their disbelief. Those snakes were vicious. The people were bitten and many died.

    It enabled them to see that they had offended God. In humility, they came to Moses and asked that he pray for them.

    Moses prayed. God answered.

    “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole, and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.”

    Moses made a bronze serpent and put it on a pole. It worked.

    The story wasn’t just for them. It was for us too. It echoes down through history. Jesus in a private conversation with a Pharisee named Nicodemus, tells him:

    “As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so, must the Son Of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

    Jesus further states in the weary days before his crucifixion:

    “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”

    Jesus is the answer. In our discouragement, our disbelief, we only need

    Look and Live!

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    Bible reflectionInspirationsWhen in trouble

    Great is Thy Faithfulness

    by Esther Griggs
    written by Esther Griggs

    Students of the Bible don’t jump at the opportunity to study a book like Job or Lamentations. The subjects of pain and suffering are too close for comfort. We don’t want to go there in our thinking. However, great comforts surface in these books. Today I want to take a look at Lamentations. It is a book of unfathomable sorrows, and yet it is a walk of grief leading to triumph. There are truths that can steady and hold us in times of deep pain.

    The first part of the book tells us about being in dark times. Certain realities exist. There are bitter tears in the night. Deep loneliness settles in with a sense of having lost control. Life’s high points of celebration are missing. There is deep loss. Sometimes it is financial due to loss of income or extra expenses. There is blaming of God and an anger towards him. He feels far away and as if a brass ceiling separates us, our prayers echo back unheard. Well-meaning people attempt to cheer the tormented one, based on their own inability to help, by predicting or saying things not based in fact. There is nowhere to turn and we feel boxed in and helpless.

    The author of Lamentations tells us in chapter 2:19 to do the following:

    “Arise, cry out in the night…..Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him.”

    In prayer, you can tell God like it is, as the author describes in Chapter 3:17:

    “You have moved my soul far from peace: I have forgotten prosperity. ”

    We need to take our pain to God, to move it to a place outside of our own soul. We say it as we feel it, as the author puts it in verse 18.

    “And I said, “My strength and my hope have perished from the Lord.”

    Hopeless, exhausted, and crying out to God, something happens! God helps the author to remember: to remember the things he knew, the facts about God.

    It is an act of the mind, a willingness to look on the facts. It is in this process that his hope is restored. What are the facts about God that he remembers? Chapter 3:22-24 gives them to us. They are:

    “Through the Lord’s mercies, we are not consumed”

    “His compassions fail not, they are new every morning:

    Great is your faithfulness.

    “The Lord is my portion.” says my soul.

    “Therefore, I HOPE IN HIM!”

    “The Lord is good to those who wait for him.”

    Then in verse 29, he says that there may still be hope. He is beginning to see it differently.

    In verses 31-33, he is still reminding himself about God.

    “The Lord will not cast off forever”

    “He will show compassion according to the multitude of His mercies.”

    “He does not afflict willingly.”

    or as the margin says

    “from the heart”

    However, he is still wrestling. He still struggles with questions. He comments about his continual weeping before God. His breakthrough takes time before God in prayer. It is in the waiting. At this time, the enemy breaks in and the author’s life is in danger. He believes his life is over. Our spiritual enemy does the same. Like the dark angel he is, his presence brings the smell of sulfur and the feeling of death. Like this author, we again and continually call out to the name of God

    “from the lowest pit.”

    Then as this author states in verse 56;

    “You have heard my voice.”

    and in verse 57;

    “You drew near on the day I called on You, and said

    “DO NOT FEAR”

    Then in verse 58;

    “You have pleaded the case for my soul: you have redeemed my life.”

    Though the struggle remains to the end, he is still remembering, still training himself on the facts about God and in chapter 5:19

    “You O Lord, remain forever. Your throne from generation to generation”

    With prayer and an affirmation in Chapter 5:21, he continues, although in a much better place emotionally than when he began.

    “Turn us back to you, O lord, and we will be restored..”

    Troublesome times come to all of us. We have a God in heaven; our creator, who loves us and is there for us in our time of need. When we come to him, as the author of Lamentations did, He becomes a very present help in our trouble! No struggle is beyond the knowledge of his son Jesus, who in the very form of God, and the Spirit who dwells within his children wrestles through with us. Thank you, Father!

    Grace and peace to you.

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