A Saturday of Life

What does Saturday make you think of? I usually say a day off, end of the workweek, a time to go out and enjoy life. Maybe even a day to party.
But I was listening to a sermon on Good Friday by author & Pastor Max Lucado and he talked about looking at Saturday in a different way. He said not to overlook the Saturday after Jesus was crucified. Many of us jump right to the Resurrection Sunday, which is an awesome day, but what about what was happening or not looking like anything was happening on Saturday. A time of waiting when Heaven seemed to be silent. Silence as the disciples scattered, devastated by the death of Jesus and all hope seemed to be gone.

It got me to thinking about waiting. If you think about it, we spend most of our life waiting, waiting for big things, like:

• Waiting for the right person to marry
• Waiting to buy a house
• Waiting to have children
• Waiting for the perfect job or to get promoted
• Waiting for test results can be a big & scary thing to wait for

Some smaller things we wait for could be and we wait on a daily basis for most of these:

• Waiting in line, at the checkout, at the bank, at the movies, at the drive thru
• Waiting in traffic or at a light
• Waiting for others to speak and then we can respond
• Waiting at an appointment
• Waiting for the commercial to finish to get back to our favorite show
• Waiting for our dog to do his business so we can go back inside
• Waiting for the coffee to brew
• Wait, wait, wait

We are not very patient at waiting it seems. We want things fast.
Society has changed much over the last few years, it seems we can have things in our hands or done for us faster & faster.

Quick meals via the microwave and now instapot, Meals delivered to our door with a few clicks online, online banking where we can take a picture of a check and it is quickly deposited into our account, fast internet to connect and have a group chat, Skype or other video chats, or look up information, self-diagnose or order products, We have overnight delivery of mail because we need it now! We don’t like to wait.

God tells us we need to know how to wait. But how do we act while we wait? How do we react when God isn’t answering our prayers, when we have asked & asked, even pleaded, knocked & knocked, yet Heaven is silent? When the wait is stealing our joy for today.

Are you in a time of your life where you are waiting? Waiting for this COVID-19 virus to be over, waiting for test results, waiting to go back to work, waiting for the children to go back to school, waiting for money to come in, waiting for a phone call from a loved one, waiting to see & hold your loved ones again.

Waiting can make us weary, like maybe life will never be back to normal or what is was. To be honest, this day number whatever of self-quarantine was leading me to a slump.
How can I encourage you if I am discouraged? The answer is to look to God for my strength. I sometimes want to rush God to get Him to fix areas of my life. I can get anxious when He is not working in ways that I want Him to or ways that I can see or in my time frame. Is He working?

I was recently working on a Bible study and these verses on waiting came up at the perfect time in my life. I needed this encouragement from the LORD today.
“In the morning, O LORD, you hear my voice; In the morning I lay my requests before you and WAIT in expectation.” (Ps. 5:3)                                                                            He hears our voice and we should be waiting expectantly for how He answers!

“We WAIT in hope for the LORD; he is our help and our shield.” (ps. 33:20)                        We wait in hope that He will help us and protect us.

“WAIT for the LORD and keep his way. He will exalt you to inherit the land.” (Ps. 37:34) We shall receive all that He promises if we wait and follow His ways.

“I will WAIT for you, O LORD; you will answer, O LORD my God.” (Ps. 38:15)                     We can wait without getting anxious.

“They that WAIT upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.” (Isa. 40:31, KJV)
We can wait without getting weary, even though time seems to drag as we wait. He will give us strength. We can run and continue with our life, continue with His plan for us while we wait for answers.
Through everything God is working. He is working all things out according to His purpose. Think back to Good Friday and that Saturday in between, after Jesus died on the cross, Mary waited, Peter waited, James & John waited, the rest of the disciples waited, perhaps even all of creation waited. They did not know that Sunday was coming!

They waited through Friday and that hopelessness dragged into Saturday, but on Sunday morning Jesus rose from the dead! He did what He said He would do! God was still very much at work between Friday & Sunday! I am thankful for the reminder. I am in a Saturday of life right now, maybe you are too…waiting, waiting…most of the world can probably say they are waiting with the Corona virus and the shutdown of life as we know it…we don’t know what is going to happen, what the future holds but God does.

So hold on—Sunday is coming!

Do not Fear

“Fear not for I am with you; Be not dismayed for I am your God. I will strengthen you. Yes, I will help you. I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10

A great verse in times that challenge us…most recently with the corona virus concerns but also all the other troubles you & I have going on in our lives. This verse is so much more than just a great verse to speak. It is a truth we can anchor ourselves to and hold on. As a child of God, He has promised us, His children, to help us, to hold us up and has given a command for us to not live in fear. He wants us to trust Him, no matter what is going on.

We have an enemy in this world, his name is Satan and he has an army of demons (fallen angels) that are forever causing trickery, confusion & chaos. He is of the darkness. He deals in crooked paths, lies and death. He wants you & I to live in fear & anxiety. He wants us to turn our focus from God onto himself. He wants to be god of our lives.

If you do not call Jesus Christ Lord & Savior of your life, then Satan has full authority over you and you are in bondage.

But do not fear. The second you ask Jesus Christ into your life, the enemy no longer has control. You have been set free! You belong to God and He will help you. The problems in life may not all go away but you can receive strength & peace amid the problems. You also receive a forever home in heaven!

“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace…” 1 Corinthians 14:33 (NKJV)

“This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.” 1 John 1:5 (NKJV)

JESUS says in John 14:6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the father except through Me.” (NKJV)

So very different from what Satan has to offer…he deals in crooked paths, lies and death. They may seem good at first, but like an apple left out in the sun, it soon becomes rotten. Jesus gave His very life to set us free.

“So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” John 8:36 (NIV)

You may not agree with or understand this information. I do not speak on my authority but on the truth of God’s Word. Search the Scriptures for yourself. Don’t live your life in fear for one more minute. If you want to know more about how to become a child of God, here are some verses that will help you understand the why & how:

First, admit that you are a sinner, that you have done wrong things, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Romans 3:23 (NIV)

Ask for forgiveness. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (ESV)

Next, you must believe in Jesus as your Savior. He was innocent, yet He died on the cross in your place to pay your sin debt and give you eternal life. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one & only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NIV)

Next, believe in Him, become adopted into His family. “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John1:12 (NIV)
Confess that He is Lord of your life. “Because you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9 (ESV)

Lastly, choose to follow Him daily.” Then he [Jesus] said to them all: “whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23 (NIV)
If your heart is ready to invite Him into your life, all it takes is a sincere prayer like this:

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, I have done wrong things and I ask You to forgive me. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart and life. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. Amen

If you prayed this prayer for the first time, let me be the first to welcome you into God’s family! I would love to hear from you, email me at AnchoredInHim7@gmail.com. I encourage you to find a Bible preaching church and share your decision. Walk together with other believers and find encouragement on your journey!

Calm in the Chaos

In these times of uncertainty, we can remain calm.

I know that we need to take this virus seriously and be cautious. I am not in any way belittling the effects this can have on the health of any of us, especially those with a compromised immune system…but we do NOT need to panic or be fearful.

We can react in two ways:

• A) We can listen to the media hype and join the chaos & confusion OR
• B) We can look to God, adjust our sight off of the confusion, leave the feelings of fear, panic and uncertainty and TRUST God—with God there is PEACE, CALMNESS and REFUGE.

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14:33 (ESV), “For God is not a God of confusion but one of peace…”

We can make a difference to those around us, a much greater difference than we realize…by our attitude, by our action or lack of action.

In Experiencing God, a Bible study by Henry Blackaby…on page 159 of the workbook, it says, ““No one can sum up all God is able to accomplish through one solitary life that is wholly yielded, adjusted and obedient to Him!”

Our faith is most clearly demonstrated by our actions.

Let me ask you a question…with all this Corona virus concerns going on…what are you DOING? How are you reacting? A or B?

We have the opportunity now more than ever to be aligned with God, to be obedient, to be alert to the needs around us, especially to the elders of our population, to be the hands & feet of Jesus…to be the voice of calm in the chaos, to be the helping hand in all the grasping & pushing.

I choose option B. Let us work together… look to God, adjust our sight, leave the feelings of fear, panic and uncertainty and trust God—Let us offer His LOVE, His KINDNESS, His COMPASSION…the HOPE of Him to those around us.