Tag Archives: comfort

Refuge and Strength – Psalm 71:1-16

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1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1 (NIV)

When things go wrong who do we turn to?  In the past friends could have let us down, our work and colleagues could have let us down, even people at church.  When people attack us, again who do we turn to?  In lifes stresses and strains, who can we turn to for strength, for rest, for relaxation, for sanctuary, for protection, for comfort, for wisdom, for everything we need to move on and conquer any issue.

Our help comes from the Lord:

 1 I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?

 2 My help comes from the LORD,
the Maker of heaven and earth.

Psalm 121: 1-2 (NIV)

God truly is our refuge and strength.  With Him on our side, we can meet and exceed all the demands in life.  After all he is the Creator God who made all things!  In this fast paced life, we can often forget to seek the Lords help in situations, and we can complete yet another day without stopping for a moment

and asking for His help, without focusing on Him and the Word for refuge, strength, guidance and comfort.

When the going is tough, we should seek Him in his Word (the Bible), in prayer and in Fellowship.

Footprints – Isaiah 46:1-11

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4 Even to your old age and gray hairs
I am he, I am he who will sustain you.
I have made you and I will carry you;
I will sustain you and I will rescue you.

This reminds me of the “Footprint’s in the Sand” poem. In brief a man walks with the Lord on the beach. Looking at the footprints he notices that during the hard times in his life, there are only one set of footprints. He asks the Lord, “where where you during those times”. And the Lord answered, “I was with you, they are my footprints as I carried you!”

What an amazing Father God we have.

We often forget in the hard times in life that we can turn to our loving Father in heaven, for comfort and strength. He will litteraly carry us and support us through the tough times as well as enjoy our good times with us!

There have been 2 deaths in our family over the past couple of weeks, so times have been sad. The whole time however, God has surrounded our family with loving Christians offering help, support and comfort.

He has also provided many comforting words from the Bible to help us come to terms with recent events!

He is true to His word, and just as He is with us during these hard times, comforting and strengthening us, and just as he promised the House of Jacob all those hundreds of years ago, He WILL also do the same for you. Reach out to your Father who will carry you when you can go on no more.

Comfort Zone – 2 Timothy 1:6-12

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The day we become a Christian we are given the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom, strength, courage and power as well as many other Godly traits to enable us to live out the rest of our earthly lives for Him.  Without the Holy Spirit, we would be doomed to failure, as we would essentially be “going it alone”, under our own strength!  That is why the Lord blesses us with his Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is with us throughout the good times and the bad, he never leaves us or forsakes us.  Therefore when there is a difficult situation at work, I know I can lean on Him, and when I go into meetings to discuss issues, I am not alone, but accompanied by the creator God.  God is all powerful, greater than anything, incomparable!  I don’t care how many people are against you, God can not be outnumbered!

Seeing as, therefore, His Spirit is with us throughout the good or bad, we really need to ensure we apply this to areas of ministry and fellowship.  We have been asked to make disciples of all nations, therefore lets not sit back!  Lets step out of our comfort zones!  Lets do things we would normally shy from!  For example I am now challenging myself to give portions of word in small church meeting groups.  I struggle with the fear that I am going to say something wrong, or that I will have misunderstood something, however, I should not let those fears stop me!

If we were to avoid situations that cause fear or apprehension, not only would we not achieve anything for the Lord, but we would also have no life!  Yes, life would be rather dull!  Satan likes to trick us into staying firmly on the fence.  He does not want us leading those Christian lives, and doing those great things for Jesus!  Don’t listen to his excuses, as you are not alone!  You have the creator God on your side.  The Holy Spirit gives you power to be able to do his will.

What’s your comfort zone?  Take a few minutes to work it out… then take your first step out of it!  Make that call, and book

that meeting, write that book, speak to that person, minister to that friend, whatever is on your heart offer it to the Lord in prayer, and with his blessing, go for it.

When In Need – Psalm 12

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Often when there is a situation I am struggling to cope with, and or have run out of ideas on how to proceed, I often still forget to submit it to prayer.  We have an awesome living God whom is with us every second of every day and night, so me shouldn’t try “going it alone” all the time.

King David in this Psalm saw the evil of the world around him and cried out to the Lord.  What is reasuring is that the Lord answered, and promised protection for the weak.  What a wonderful example of the Lord responding to prayer.  So when in need, don’t forget to “cry out” to our Saviour God for help, and wisdom.

What also amazes me about this Psalm is the clear quotes of what the Lord says.  Its a reminder that in prayer, be is a desperate cry or just a day to day prayer we are making to grow in the Lord, we often forget to stop and listen.  When I pray I tend to babble through a list of requests, I get side tracked with things I forgot

to mention, and by the time I hit the Amen, I am off doing the next task in my to do list!

David very clearly got a verbal answer from God, and so can we.  Take the time when you pray to pause, and listen.  The Lord can and will speak to you, give you answers and help.  On the rare occasions I do remember to shut up and listen, (and I must remember to do it more), I very often am given great pearls of wisdom, or comforting words.

So when in need don’t forget to cry out to the Lord for help.  But also whenever you pray don’t forget to listen!

No More Tears – Revelation 21:1-7

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I got quite excited when I read this.  The devotional today focuses on how it is comforting it can be to have a Christian Brother of Sister with us during times of trouble who will love and support us.  The same applies to a close family member whom would do the same.  This is inspired by the verse:

Revelation 21:4 – He will wipe every tear from their eyes.

When we become Christians we become his children, and he becomes our father.  I often forget that his is our loving father, and can sometimes view the Lord as a distant friend whom I speak to now and again.  Because of that I dont always benefit from the fact he is my loving father who wants to share everything with me, and give me comfort when I need it, and laugh with me when things are good!  As in my previous readings I am challenged to continue to seek to know him better through these daily readings and through prayer and I

pray that you reading this would also feel challenged.

As in past readings and devotionals it really emphasises the need to not try and tackle things by ourselves.  As a human being, I have many many flaws and completely lack the strength and wisdom to be able to deal properly with man awkward situations, to resist temptations, to live for him, however He, like in this passage where he comes down to earth and makes all things new, will come down to us, and be with us.  He makes our hearts a new, and fills us with strength and wisdom to bear anything that is thrown at us.

Its not by any good deed that we have done, but by grace.

My Rock and My Fortress – Psalm 31:1-8

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This Psalm is a prayer for

help.  The writer is asking God for strength, comfort and wisdom (Psalm 31:3).  Looking back at my own life, there have been so many times when I have been scared, lacked the wisdom to deal with an awkward situation or lacked the strength to see something through to the end.  Of course each time, I was “going it alone” and relying on myself to get through the day.

All it takes is a simple prayer, opening your heart to God and asking for his strength comfort and wisdom and you are no longer alone.  There is no situation in this Universe that the Lord cannot provide his Love for.

As in the latter verses, I must also remember to praise God for this time and the many other times that he has been with me through the good and the bad (Psalm 31:7-8).