Lord, Help Me

"Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me."  Matthew 15:25.  The woman had a daughter that was vexed with a devil.  In her need, she came to Christ.  With that need, she brought a great faith.  Faith and need bring us to Jesus.  We must not come to Christ only with our need.  We must also bring our faith.  Who but Jesus could help her?  Who but Jesus could answer the deep need of her heart?  In our moments of stress, we need Jesus.  In our times of temptation, we need Jesus.  We all travel through valleys.  We all feel the pressure of life.  We all have someone who is dear unto us that needs help.  Jesus can and will help us.  Jesus can relieve the pain that we feel.  Jesus can lift the burden that we bear.  Only Jesus can fill the void of emptiness that we all experience.  This woman sought mercy from Jesus.  It is mercy that we seek.  Mercy flows from the wellspring of God's love.  Jesus will not turn away from the faith that seeks His help.  Despite the fact that His disciples wanted Him to send her away and that He had come only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, His heart was captured by her faith.  In our need with our faith, let us worship Him as we cry for help.

Daily I Cry

"Be merciful unto me, O Lord: for I cry unto thee daily."  Psalm 86:3.  We desire mercy from the Lord.  We are weak and lowly creatures.  We are unable to stand alone.  Daily we must engage in the battle against the world in which we live.  We have an enemy that desires our demise.  We encounter worries and troubles along our path.  Our journey sees difficulties.  We are not equipped to endure all that we face.  We need help from the God who created us.  We ask God for mercy so that we might be able to stand and overcome.  Without the mercy of God, the world will overcome us.  When we fall, we need His mercy to lift us.  When we stumble, we need His mercy to catch us.  When we sin, we need His mercy to forgive us.  Without mercy from God, we are helpless.  And so, we cry for mercy.  Let us not utter the cry of distress or surrender.  Let us not cry in discouragement or lonliness.  Let us cry unto God for mercy.  He will hear and help.  God comes to the aid of those who cry unto Him.  Cry daily.  Cry daily for we need mercy daily.

The Kiss Of Righteousness And Peace

"Surely his salvation is nigh them that fear him; that glory may dwell in our land.  Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other."  Psalm 85:9-10.  God's salvation comes to those who fear Him.  The saved bring glory to the land.  Sin mars and brings a reproach, but the fear of God gives dignity to any society of people.  Salvation comes through God's mercy.  If God were only angry at transgression, He would destroy completely.  However, God is a God of mercy and truth.  Therefore, salvation has come.  Truth reveals God's mercy.  To fear God is to obey His truth.  Mercy is shown.  God offered His righteousness to those who would fear Him.  If God only destroyed, He would not be righteous.  There must be an offer of salvation.  When one accepts God's righteousness through obedience to His truth, peace comes.  We are at peace with God when we know God's salvation.  There is no peace without the righteousness of God.  Peace is the benefit of God's righteousness.  Salvation is to those who fear God because of divine mercy that is shown.  God's righteous act to redeem humanity through Jesus Christ as revealed in the truth of Scripture flows the soul with peace.  Indeed, the glory of God dwells in the land.

Submit And Resist

"Submit yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you."  James 4:7.  This present land is a place of choice.  We must choose between God and the devil.  One cannot serve both.  As one submits to God, he is able to resist the devil.  God gives strength to resist the devil.  As one submits to God, he is endowed with power that can do anything.  There is no limit to what God is capable of performing.  The devil's power cannot cope with the power of God.  The devil does not have enough weapons in his arsenal to defeat God.  The devil roams the land looking for souls to deceive.  He must be resisted.  Did not our Lord resist him?  And did not the devil depart from him?  And so it is with us.  As we say no to the devil, the devil will flee, but he may return.  Victory in one battle does not ensure that the war is over.  The devil does not give up easily.  Be strong in God.  Seek strength from above.  Submit to the law and power of God, and do not serve the devil.  Hope, comfort, and peace come from God.  The devil only gives death.  Submit and resist.

Dead With Him

"It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall live with him."  II Timothy 2:11.  All of God's sayings are faithful.  His word is always reliable.  We must die with Christ.  He died so that we might die with Him.  When we are buried in baptism, we die with Christ.  We die to sin.  We die to the world.  We die to self.  After Jesus died, He arose and lives again.  So when we die, we are raised so that we might live with Him.  We live in His forgiveness.  We live in His fellowship.  We live in His perfection.  Christ brought life through death.  One must die so that he might live.  Choosing to die is choosing to live.  Living with Christ now brings life with Christ forever.  Our conception in Jesus Christ is through death.  This death brings a life that never ends.  God's faithful saying is that when we die in Christ, we truly begin to live.  Life now and life eternal.  Those who die with Christ only die once.  When we die with Christ, the grave will be unable to hold us.  Truly this is a faithful saying: death erupts in life.

Is Christ Divided?

"Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were you baptized in the name of Paul?"  I Corinthians 1:13.  Christ brings unity between God and man.  Christ was crucified for us.  We are baptized in the name of Christ.  We are to follow Christ.  We are to honor Christ.  We do not follow men.  We do not wear the name of men.  To follow men and wear the name of men is to bring division.  We must not adhere to men and their teachings.  We must hear the teachings of Christ.  Such brings unity, and this is the will of God.  Christ is superior to all and His teachings bring us together into the fellowship of God.  The voice of men changes, and the voice of God never changes.  The word of men contains error, and the word of God is only truth.  Men cannot save us.  Only Christ can redeem us.  Christ speaks only one will, and that will is from God.  There is only one cross that will grant the  remission of sin unto sinful men.  Only baptism into Christ brings us into Christ, and provides access to all spiritual blessings that come from God.  Do not follow the foolish words of humans.  The word of men brings an eternal curse.

A Deadly Alliance

"Now Jehoshaphat had riches and honour in abundance, and joined affinity with Ahab."  II Chronicles 18:1.  The prophets of Ahab told him to go to Ramoth-gilead and God would give them victory.  Jehoshaphat wanted the Lord's prophet to speak.  Ahab did not want to hear what the Lord's prophet would speak.  Those who want to hear God need to shun those who do not wish to hear the Lord's word.  God's people are to separate themselves from those who do not seek the way of righteousness.  The Lord had to deliver Jehoshaphat from the battle.  Ahab was killed.  The situation could have proven deadly to Jehoshaphat were it not for the deliverance of God.  When we choose to make an alliance with evil, we place ourselves in a dangerous situation.  Evil is a powerful influence.  It has the power to overcome us.  One who wanted to hear God joined in alliance with one who did not wish to hear God.  Such an alliance can lead us in the wrong direction.  It can interfere with our perspective, and can cause us to make wrong decisions.  Any involvement with evil can cause deadly harm.  Let us always be in affinity with God, and never with the wicked.