spiritualsnippets.com

Seeing life's events in the light of God's Word.

Aug 28

When God Brings You To It

by Brenda Poulos

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I Kings 17:2-4  “Then the word of the Lord came to Elijah:  “Leave here, turn eastward and hide in the Kerith Ravine, east of the Jordan. You will drink from the brook, and I have directed the ravens to supply you with food there.”

 

I was talking with a friend about a move to another state that she believes God is calling her to make. She will be living in a community of people who, for the most part, do not speak English.

When I remarked that a move there could be a problem since she does not know how to speak any foreign languages, she quoted a familiar saying. “When God brings you to it, He will see you through it.”

She is right. God will take care of us when we follow His leading. I love this verse from I Kings because it gives such a beautiful picture of birds, sent by God, to feed Elijah as he sits by a crystal babbling brook. I imagine the peace he feels as God’s promise comes to pass.

We all have heard of people whose needs—financial and otherwise—have been more than adequately supplied by God. They may have not been fed by a raven, but perhaps God urged a friend to supply a meal, cut someone’s lawn when they were recuperating from surgery, or write a check to cover an electric bill.

Maybe you, yourself, have given money to a homeless person or missionary at God’s leading, then experienced the joy of an unexpected check in the mail for the exact amount you need to pay your mortgage payment!

Whatever the call God makes on your life, it is such a blessing to be used to fulfill His purposes.

His Word tells us that He will supply all of our needs according to His riches in Glory.

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Aug 21

Turning Darkness Into Light

by Brenda Poulos

Psalm 18:28- “You, Lord, keep my lamp burning; my God turns my darkness into light.”

 

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Tomorrow many of us will be witness to a solar eclipse.

This hasn’t happened since 1979, so it is a big deal. People from other countries are even traveling to the United States to be part of it all.

The total eclipse will last for as long as a couple of minutes in several places.

Total darkness.

Devoid of light.

We know it will just be a short time before the light will again be restored and we will go on about our daily routine.

Many times, the Bible uses the term darkness to refer to times in our lives that are filled with sadness.

In movies, gloomy skies are often a sign of impending doom. The villain in stories is often portrayed as sinister by describing his dark eyes.

Troubled individuals often describe their lives as “dark.”

But, the psalmist in the verse above says that Jesus is able to turn sadness in to joy and bring light into the darkest of lives. He is able to bring hope where there was none.

His word says that Jesus is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.

As you watch the eclipse, there will be a heart throbbing moment when the light once more begins to appear. It will get greater and greater until the sun—the light of day—will once more rule the heavens.

The Son of God, who spoke the divisions of darkness and light into their very existence and “called the darkness night and the light day” wants to rule in our hearts. He wants preeminence in our thoughts and lives.

Pure, blameless, perfect…light.

Jesus—The Light of the World.

 

 

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Aug 13

The Healing

by Brenda Poulos

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Luke 4:5-7   “The devil led him up to a high place and showed him in an instant all the kingdoms of the world. And he said to him, “I will give you all their authority and splendor; it has been given to me, and I can give it to anyone I want to. If you worship me, it will all be yours.”

 

I read a horrific story about a young man who was desperate to save his dying child. He had spent all of his money, borrowed from his mortgage, and sold all of his belongings in order to pay for the boy’s medical treatments.

Now, at the end of his resources and without another hope, he had an idea. He would bargain with Satan. He would offer to give his own soul to the devil if only his son’s life would be spared.

One day, he told his plan to an older man in the hospital waiting room. That man was able to share the scripture from Luke with the distraught father. He told him that in Jesus there is life. That all things were given to Him by God. That all authority is His, to the glory of the Father.

He convinced the young man that although Satan often tempted people with money, position, or power, the very idea that Satan had any authority to give these things was all lies. The older man persuaded the young father to put the life of his boy in the hands of the great healer—the author of life.

Just as Jesus wasn’t fooled by Satan’s offer of power and authority as they stood atop a mountain in Jerusalem, neither was the young father in this story.

Sadly, the little boy in this story did die. However, the young father’s faith was not shaken because he understood that his child was now with Jesus and that he would see him again one day.

He realized that it was he, himself, that had experienced healing—the healing of his own soul.

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Aug 6

Jesus, Others, and You

by Brenda Poulos

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Romans 12:10- “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”

 

A young man, appearing to be in his early twenties, sat on a wooden crate on a street corner in Bellingham. He strummed his guitar and crooned a song about love. The point of the song was that one could not completely love another, unless he first learned to love himself.

A handful of young people clapped to the beat, nodding to each other in agreement.

I’d heard the song before. In fact, there have been quite a number written which echo that same theme. I shook my head as I continued to walk down the street.

When I was a child, I learned the song, “J.O.Y.” in Sunday School. It’s a simple song with an enduring message: true joy can only be found when we live by the biblical principal of putting Jesus, first. That is followed by loving others; and finally by putting ourselves last.

In the world we live in today, this world of I Phones and I Pads—this life filled with television commercials enticing us to buy whatever looks good to our eyes—it’s hard for us to comprehend that true joy and peace are only achieved by acting in a way which is contrary to our love of self.

But, that’s just what Jesus asks us to do. Because, like the song says, putting Him first in our lives, followed by love for others is the way to a “peace that passes understanding.”

Jesus, Others,—and You.

 

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