Have you ever felt like the Lord isn’t present or doesn’t care about your situation? Perhaps you’re on the verge of feeling hopeless? It can be easy to lose sight of the mission you’re on with Christ when life gets hard. How do you strive for Him when it feels like He isn’t for you?

As a fun and easy post for the kick-off to summer holidays, I thought we could give this a try using Psalm 46:10. It’ll be a great way to memorize a verse and meditate on it without taking up too much of your time. I’ll first lay it out the way I mean and allow you to think about the meaning. Then I’ll do it again and add my own thoughts to each line afterwards. Enjoy!

Fear can be a silent creeper that works its way into your mind and heart. It slowly takes control over your thoughts and becomes your idol.

Elisha was a prophet that walked hand-in-hand with the Lord. If God told him to go left, he went left. He listened for the Lord’s voice. This is clearly stated by the Aramean soldier who told the king that Elisha knew what he whispered in his bedroom. Was Elisha a supernatural being? No. He didn’t have any power in himself. The Lord put the words in Elisha’s ears since God is all-knowing. Elisha listened well and was eager to respond. He studied the Scriptures which allowed him to recognize the voice of God. He leaned into Yahweh, giving greater room for the Spirit to work mightily within him. Then when the miraculous encounters took place, it was a natural extension of what Elisha had been experiencing with the Lord already.

The Spirit’s encounters are miraculous and very important but do they overshadow the desire for a deeper relationship with Jesus and you? How do the two work together and what can you do to appropriately appreciate both?

The Lord guarantees us that He will be with us, will never leave us, and is our ever-present help. So why do we worry that necessary things won’t get done when they need to? Do you ever feel that way? You’ve got a deadline at work and the pressure is mounting to get it finished, but things aren’t coming together? Or, is your schedule full of important responsibilities with little room to budge?

I want to do something different today. I’ve posted the passage from 1 Chronicles 16:8-36 for you to read through. I’ve given a list of the Lord’s characteristics and then a list of ways for you to respond from what is written here. I think it’s important sometimes to pause and just marvel at who the Lord is and how you can respond in worship.

The Lord gives us exciting opportunities to stretch our faith and trust in Him. Sometimes they are exciting and others gives our nerves a good kick of adrenaline. Either way, it’s up to us to accept the opportunity and explore His lessons and blessings on the other side.

The lesson the Lord has been teaching me lately almost seems contradictory in my mind, yet He’s been confirming it to me. The lesson is – I need to have more fun.

Discipline is never an easy subject to talk about. There are so many differing opinions on what is the proper way to do it. It doesn’t feel good to give it or receive it. The world is moving further away from discipline because they only see how it has been abused, rather than been used to correct, edify, and teach.