Skip to main content

Saturday... He has the upper hand.


Saturday... He has the upper hand.

As I read in Psalms 74, Isaiah 14 and Hebrews 12 this morning I came to the conclusion that no matter what is happening around us, God has the upper hand. 

In the last two verses of Hebrews 12, verses 28 & 29 (NLT) says, "Since we are receiving a Kingdom that is unshakable, let us be thankful and please God with holy fear and awe. For our God is a devouring fire."  He has the upper hand. He really does. He knows what he is doing. He has been through this before.

The writer stars this chapter in verse 1 by saying, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us." They know that God has the upper hand but they also know what will hold us back and they know what we need to do. 

Verse 2 says, "We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God's throne." Then verse 3 says, "Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people, then you won't become weary and give up." 

In Jesus' humanness he had times that I'm sure he wanted to give up but he also knew his Father and that he has the upper hand. Yes the agony of the cross was happening but just around the corner there was the resurrection and a "place of honor beside God's throne."

Yes, "Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people, then you won't become weary and give up." Jesus knew that his Father had the upper hand.

Two verses in Hebrews 11 are important for us to see. Verse 1 says, "Faith shows the reality of what we hope for; it is the evidence of things we cannot see." And we need to remember what verse 6 says, "And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him."

Remember, God has the upper hand. Yes, yes! #todaysbeginning

   

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit?

Nehemiah 6:16b (NLT), "They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Tuesday... I wonder what would happen if we didn't take the credit? Over in the Old Testament in the book of Nehemiah it tells of a major task that through the leadership of Nehemiah was accomplished. The walls of Jerusalem had been torn down and God had laid it on Nehemiah to build those walls back up. It was definitely an almost impossible task but Nehemiah 6:15-16 says, "So on October 2 the wall was finished - just fifty-two days after we had begun. When our enemies and the surrounding nations heard about it, they were frightened and humiliated. They realized this work had been done with the help of our God." Now, we so many times want to take credit for doing the impossible. It would make such a difference for us. But I wonder what would happen through us if God got the credit? Psalm 96 tells us what we are to do. Verses 2-3 says, "Sing to the LORD; praise his name. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Thursday... Maybe we need this word today.

Psalm 57:1b (NIRV), "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Thursday... Maybe we need this word today. There are words in life that give us confidence no matter what we are facing. Now we have to believe them in order for them to have an impact. David wrote Psalm 57 while he was in a cave hiding from Saul who wanted to kill him and he says in the last part of verse 1, "There I will stay." It was a safe place and Saul didn't know that he was there. But he doesn't stop there. With confidence he said, "There I will stay until." And until is definitely a word of faith and confidence. "There I will stay until the danger is gone." Do we need that today? Let me give you the whole verse. In verse 1 David says, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." And that is a great place to start in times of trouble. Maybe that is what we need to pray today, "Have mercy on me, God. Have mercy on me." It is so great to have someone...
Post a Comment
Read more

Tuesday... We just have trouble listening.

1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." Tuesday... We just have trouble listening. Over in Jeremiah 25:4 (NLT) it says, "Again and again the LORD has sent you his servants, the prophets, but you have not listened or even paid attention." And Jeremiah went on to tell what was going to happen. There will be consequences if we do not listen to what God says through his Word. Now the Apostle Paul over in 1 Corinthians was having a problem with some professed Christ followers who were having trouble at listening. And we too can have problems at listening. We can think that being a Christ follower means we do a lot of finger pointing and we give up on people who don't do what we say. We can even do that in our families. But Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NLT), "Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance." In verse ...
Post a Comment
Read more