by David Brenneman
"From time, we all feel as if we are in the dungeon - a new low in our lives - and confined by chilling isolation. Maybe that's you today. Maybe you, like Joseph, have been the victim of false accusations or are counting the cost of your determination to obey your Lord, or maybe something entirely different is weighing down your weary soul. No matter what, the Lord knows. He has never been taken by surprise, and He loves you with an everlasting love. His love is steadfast and is not changed by circumstances. He loves you
enough to have walked through the dungeon of death and the terror of hell in order that you need never do so. Take comfort in knowing that, as the prophet Zechariah declared,
"he who touches you touches the apple of [God's] eye" (Zechariah 2:8). Alistair Begg devotional Truth for Life.
In part, right now, physically, I do feel as though this is what a dungeon might be like. Being in between jobs and no health insurance to use, my Physician is the Lord and I await His healing in His due time. Makes for an interesting time.
Outside this physical existence that's troubling me is my exceedingly strong desire to hear Jesus call all of us who are saved in Christ Jesus to come home to forever be with Him. My heart prays both for those in the faith with needs and for the salvation of those whom the Spirit isn't taking from my mind to pray for.
The isolation I have related to from time to time as well. It's not all too often that I find those of kindred spirit to talk about things that weigh on my mind. But God does provide them at the right moments.
Jesus's promise of never leaving us or forsaking us holds a deeper meaning when it's just us and Himself. Jesus reaches out His hands towards those who haven't yet decided to believe Him with just the same fervor.
Within me are battles that the world does, yet does not, know. Within the mind and heart are the locations and places of the battles we fight and or face. As written in an earlier post I have began praying especially for Jesus to knock down the walls and kick in the doors of anyplace in my heart that my sinfulness has kept Him out of.
My Dear Reader...great is His faithfulness. While the poem Footprints is just that a poem...oh can a child of God look at their life and see the fingerprints of God instead.
Joseph's life was that of a normal teenager who was of course a shepherd. He had these dreams that vexed his family. The only reference we have to the second dream that Israel believed these were from God was that it says he pondered them in his heart. He essentially went from bondage to bondage in ever increasing levels. Yet it says clearly that the Lord was with him. He even tells his brothers that while they meant it for evil God meant it for their good.
We are often in mental and possibly physical situations where we feel more than a bit trapped. We can't go back, we really don't want what the present encompasses and we can't picture a future that we've not been permitted to see yet.
My Savior and Lord Jesus Christ has my situation well in hand even though I can't understand it. In this present time many people throughout this world are in the same situation. God is still faithful.
The Scriptures say that He causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. Joseph's life decidedly shows that.
Israel's life decidedly shows that.
Daniel's life decidedly shows that.
David's life decidedly shows that.
I know not when my physical healing will come, but it will.
I know not when my new job will come or what it will be, but Jesus does.
As I have written in my Facebook group "Men of God sharing a Foxhole" there's just times where we need to share what's going on with each other in Christ because we need to know how better to pray for one another.
Nothing about the life of a Believer surprises Jesus. He's fulfilling His word in transforming the lives of those who have placed their faith and trust in Him for salvation. His Spirit is sanctifying people.
He is the Potter we are the clay.
I can see tears filling your eyes
And I know where they're coming from
They're coming from a heart that's broken in two
By what you don't see
The person in the mirror
Doesn't look like the magazine
Oh, but when I look at you it's clear to me that...
I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know it's true
You're a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of God
Never has there been and never again
Will there be another you
Fashioned by God's hand
And perfectly planned
To be just who you are
And what He's been creating
Since the first beat of your heart
Is a living breathing priceless work of art...
I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know it's true
You're a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of God
Just look at you
You're a wonder in the making
Oh, and God's not through, no
In fact, He's just getting started...
I can see the fingerprints of God
When I look at you
I can see the fingerprints of God
And I know it's true
You're a masterpiece
That all creation quietly applauds
And you're covered with the fingerprints of God
- Fingerprints of God
Steven Curtis Chapman
Album: Speechless
(c) 1999
What to do when you don't know what to do? Across all the study Bibles that I read it's plain...keep trusting in God our Savior the one who will never fail. Satan's schemes of deception and lies are going to try their hardest to get our eyes off Jesus. To get us to try to do life on our own and not wait for Jesus. Paul exhorted us to stand firm in the Lord. Don't get ahead of Jesus.
Charley Pride sang a song "Jesus is Your Savior Child" a part of that says:
And she said: "Jesus is your Savior, child, don't ever let Him go
Put your life in His direction, you will reap just what you sow
Praise His name and praise His glory, it was for us that He died
He will lead us into heaven, if we walk by His side."
All NASB Scripture Excerpts used by permission.
New American Standard Bible
(C) 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by the Lockman Foundation.
A corporation not for profit.
La Habra, CA All rights reserved
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