Little Chats With God

Archive for the ‘Spiritual Warfare’ Category

Why are you depressed, O my soul? Why so troubled within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Saviour and my God.

Psalm 42:11Psalm 42:11
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11 Why are you in despair, my soul? Why are you disturbed within me? Hope in God! For I shall still praise him, The saving help of my countenance, and my God.

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Lord, I love it that Your Word is so honest. It doesn’t pretend that everyone who served You was up all the time. It records the down times, as well.

By the sound of this, the Psalmist was pretty down when he wrote it. He had been cut off from worship in the Temple, and feels as though You have cut him off. What’s more, he had to deal with the taunts of those who saw his predicament as a sign that You didn’t even exist, and that his faith in You was both unfounded and stupid.

All he could do was remember “the good old days”, and how he had delighted in being in Your presence.

I know where he was coming from. Lord, it’s really horrible when You go silent. There are times when Your presence seems to have retreated to the farthest corner of the universe, and my prayers don’t seem to even get as high as the ceiling. I beat myself up, trying to find what sin I have committed that has excluded me from Your presence. I feel forsaken, and I don’t understand why. At those times, I really understand this psalm.

Yet even in the midst of it, the psalmist sees something else. He gives himself this pep talk, reminding himself that You are still his God and Saviour. It’s like he’s saying to himself, “Even if you can see nothing, even if you can feel nothing, even if you can understand nothing, reach out by faith and take hold of the truth you know.”

Lord, my preference would be never to have to go through those dry times. But if I must go through them, help me, like the Psalmist, to continue to put my hope in You.

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This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
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5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

WP-Bible plugin)in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9Colossians 2:9
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9 For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,

WP-Bible plugin)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11
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9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name; ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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 Nothing can hinder the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few. 1 Sam 14:61 Sam 14:6
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6 Jonathan said to the young man who bore his armor, Come, and let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised: it may be that Yahweh will work for us; for there is no restraint to Yahweh to save by many or by few.

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Lord, this episode had to be one of the craziest schemes of all time. Two blokes, Johnathan and his armor bearer, decide to take on a whole detachment of Philistine warriors. Not only that, but they warn them that they’re coming. What’s more, they have to climb up hand-and-foot to get there. Their only possible advantage – at least in the natural – was that the Philistines were probably too busy rolling around on the ground laughing at the whole idea to be able to defend themselves.

Yet, Lord, it seems that throughout Your Word, You like to make the point that one plus You is a majority. I think of Gideon’s army, which You deliberately reduced from 32,000rom 32,000
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Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja! Štetje svetopisemskih vrstic se za?ne z ¹! Vrstica ⁰ ne obstaja!

WP-Bible plugin to just 300, specifically to demonstrate that victory doesn’t come from human numbers, strength or ability, but only from You.

And, in the New Testament, I think of the little band of 120, empowered by Your Spirit on the day of Pentecost, who went on to “turn the world upside down.”

Lord, in my own life it often feels like I’m fighting on a dozen fronts at once. Sometimes I feel totally outnumbered. Yet, Lord, when I look at those things in the light of these Scriptures, one thing becomes obvious – no matter how big and daunting the things that come against me might be, as long as I am in Your will, You are with me – and we are the majority.

Stretching my vision to the bigger picture, I think of all the things that come against Your Kingdom – false religions, militant atheism, spiraling immorality, rampant injustice, endemic materialism. Sometimes they all seem so big, we wonder how we can ever effectively stand against them. Help us – help me – to remember that You always win, no matter how many are on Your side.

This blog is © copyright Lynn Fowler.

There is one God, and one mediator between God and people, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:51 Timothy 2:5
English: World English Bible - WEB
5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus,

WP-Bible plugin)in Whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells in bodily form (Colossians 2:9Colossians 2:9
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 For in him all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily,

WP-Bible plugin)and Whom God the Father has exalted to the highest place, giving Him the Name which is above every name, that at the Name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11Philippians 2:9-11
English: World English Bible - WEB
9 Therefore God also highly exalted him, and gave to him the name which is above every name; ¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, those on earth, and those under the earth, ¹¹ and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

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“When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, ‘The Lord is with you, mighty warrior’.” Judges 6:12Judges 6:12
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12 The angel of Yahweh appeared to him, and said to him, Yahweh is with you, you mighty man of valor.

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Every time I read this verse, Lord, I have a picture of Gideon jumping up, spinning around in fear to see which of his enemies has discovered him in the wine press, then turning back to the angel in stark disbelief and saying, “Who? Me? You’re kidding!”

Certainly by all our human criteria, Gideon far better fitted the description “mighty worrier” than “mighty warrior.” All that You had done for Your people in the past had become to him nothing more than a bunch of nice stories. He had never tasted Your power for himself, and he had gotten to the point where he was not at all sure that You even cared for Your people, let alone for him personally. He saw himself as nothing, and acted accordingly. No doubt all his countrymen – to say nothing of his enemies – saw him exactly the same way as he did.

What amazes me, though, Lord, is that You saw something entirely different. You looked at this snivelling, pathetic creature, hiding in a wine press to thresh his wheat so that his enemies wouldn’t take it from him, not even entertaining the idea of fighting back against them, and You saw a warrior. I’m with Gideon, Lord: You gotta be kidding!

Of course, history proved that Gideon and I were wrong, and You were right (surprise, surprise!). Gideon did indeed go on to be all that You said he was, and to deliver his people from the oppression of their enemies.

But it makes me think about myself, Lord. There have been so many times when I have said things like, “I can’t do this” or “I can’t go on any further.” With all my being I have wanted You to either ease the situation or, for preference, lift me right out of it, but You haven’t done so. Could it be that, just as You saw a mighty warrior in Gideon the mighty worrier, You see something in me that is bigger, stronger and braver than anything I can see?

Lord, help me to see myself as You see me, and to live according to Your vision of me rather than my own.

“If you have raced with men on foot and they have worn you out, how can you compete with horses?” Jeremiah 12:5Jeremiah 12:5
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5 If you have run with the footmen, and they have wearied you, then how can you contend with horses? and though in a land of peace you are secure, yet how will you do in the pride of the Jordan?

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It’s been one of those days, Lord: just one problem after another. A government department giving us the run around, a bill that was considerably more than expected, people who haven’t done what they were supposed to – You know the sort of thing, Lord. It’s frustrating. It’s tiring. It’s draining. And sometimes I just wish they’d all go away and annoy each other, instead of annoying me.

Maybe I’m just getting crotchety as I get older, Lord. I never did suffer fools gladly, but now I’d prefer not to suffer them at all. Why is it that sometimes life feels like swimming through treacle?

Then, Lord, I read about some of Your people who live in countries where they are persecuted for their faith. Ones who have been thrown in jail for many years just for believing in You. Ones who have had their homes and churches burned. Ones who have been tortured and even killed just because they were Christians.

These aren’t the saints of old who lived in the days of the Roman persecution. They are people living today. Some of them are younger than my kids. Some are even as young as my grandkids. They endure incredible pain, suffering and degradation because of their faith in You.

Yet here am I grizzling about government red tape and human inefficiency. My problems are minuscule compared with theirs. It’s just like You said to Jeremiah, Lord – it’s like I’m competing against men on foot, and they are wearing me out, but I should be able to run against horses.

But right now, Lord, forget the horses. For today, just give me the strength to keep in front of the blokes on foot!