8-24-2016

Good Morning All!!          

       Psalm 3:3; “But you, O Lord, are a shield that surrounds me.  You are my glory.  You hold my head high”.

      This is the end of a little doublet by David when he was under attack by King Saul.  The first part of this doublet is very telling. “O Lord, look how my enemies have increased.  Many are attacking me. Many are saying about me, “Even with God on his side, he won’t be victorious.”  Maybe as you read this, you are thinking “I don’t have any foes; no one is trying to kill me.”  We all have foes.  They may not be flesh and blood but we all have foes.

    You might be the kid who thinks “no one likes me;” “nobody cares whether I live or die.”  Maybe you the person fighting against alcohol or drugs and just can’t win.  Maybe the hours at your job have been cut back or maybe it is even gone.  Maybe every time you talk to your spouse it is only a fight.  We all have foes.  We all have enemies and they attack us without mercy; these foes even tell us that we can’t win even with God on our side.  Our foes seek to destroy; they seek to rip us apart and then toss us aside.  We all have foes; they attack with vengeance.

    Yet David points to the truth of battling our foes.  Jesus is our shield and he surrounds us with his love.  Through his mercy, he guards us and gives us his love and his Holy Spirit.  He leads us to see that often our foes are our own making; cause by the devil lying to us.  God gives us the grace to trust his promise and to see the pain that the devil causes us to experience.  Do you feel lonely because you want everyone to like you?  Do you struggle with addictions of any sort?  Are you trying to fill a void in your life that is always empty?  Do you argue all the time because you are only seeing things from your side?  All these pains are real but they are often exasperated by the deceit of the devil. 

    God gives us hope and the certainty of his comfort.  This hope comes from the Holy Spirit and this comfort comes through his children here on earth.  He uses us, his family, to be the arms and hands to share this comfort and love.  When the foes attack and you need a shoulder to cry on, God uses the members of his Church to bring you comfort.  He uses your family and friends to bring you his peace.  God is our shield; he holds our head up and gives us hope.  He gives us life.  The empty cross and the empty tomb are the guarantee that this promise is kept.

    The only way to defeat our foes is to trust in God’s faithfulness and his power to save us.  Trust in God and his promise of forgiveness.  Cling tight to the promise.

    Dear Father, our foes are many and we cannot win on our own.  We need you Father to defend us and to send us a Savior.  Give us the courage to cling to you and to your promise of hope and salvation.  Keep us in your loving arms while guarding us from the devil’s arrows.  Father, we know that there are those who need your extra mercy as their foes battle them; use us to bring them your everlasting peace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret