HOLD TIGHT!

Deuteronomy 11:22 NLT Be careful to obey all these commands I am giving you. Show love to the Lord your God by walking in his ways and holding tightly to him.

Have you ever been on a fairground ride which was hair raising? If so, you’ll know it feels like you have to hang on for dear life!😊 You’re tossed this way and that, the G force makes your face go out of shape and you feel the exhilaration of the speed and thrill of the ride, but you have to hang on tight!😊

Our verse today talks about holding on tightly to our God. When the fairground ride of life is tossing us to and fro, or when the enemy forces are coming against us, God wants us to know the thrill and exhilaration of knowing our God is holding us securely and safely, no matter what’s going on around us! When we hold tightly to Him we won’t be thrown off course.😊

Can I ask what we’re holding tightly to today? Are we holding tightly to the Lord our God? Maybe we’re holding tightly to our bank balance, or to our loved ones, or maybe we’re holding tightly to our jobs or to the security and comforts of home?

All of those things are good and go to make up the fabric of our lives but our verse shows us God doesn’t want us to hold on to any of them more tightly than we are holding on to Him!😊

Scripture tells us to never forget God is our bedrock, He is our security, our Saviour, our Provider, our everything, not our family or finances or anything else.

We know every good thing we have has come to us because of God’s goodness and generosity, so let’s show our love to the Lord our God this week by walking in His ways and holding very tightly to Him every day, knowing He has us safe in the palm of His hand.😊Amen.

BRING YOUR SUITCASE

1 Peter 5:7 AMP casting all your cares [all your anxieties, all your worries, and all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares about you [with deepest affection, and watches over you very carefully].

I have a friend who texted me the following after reading one of the Blogs last week…

“I've felt weighed down with lots of things recently, and the Lord reminded me last night of a picture He gave me  a while ago. 

I'm trying to push a big boulder up a hill, but it's too heavy and I can't do it so it rolls back down to the bottom again. So I try again and down it comes again. Then I realise every time I try it feels heavier, not bcos it is heavier but I’m getting more tired and weaker. I've got to stop trying and lay it all down and let him take care of them. What a relief!🥵

I just wish I could remember to leave them there and stop trying again! He carried all our weaknesses and it was our sorrows that weighed him down Isaiah 53v4. But we still keep trying to carry them. Will I ever learn!”

My friend gave permission to share her testimony because there are times we may all feel like we’re pushing that boulder up a hill! Sometimes it’s a case of casting the care back on to the Lord every two minutes because we keep going back and lifting it up again!

Our God is the burden bearer, Jesus has indeed finished the work at the Cross and it included taking every weight, every anxious thought, every moment of weariness and fatigue, everything that pulls us down or makes us sad. Whatever is causing us grief or distress, Jesus has already taken it on to Himself but He is waiting for us to release it to Him.😊

Why not let today be the day you bring every bit of it to Him and let Him take it away? Not just one thing, but all of it! Why not put it all in one big suitcase and put it all at the foot of the Cross and leave it there?

‘You can throw the whole weight of your anxieties upon him, for you are his personal concern.’ (J B Phillips Translation)

The invitation is always there, but He doesn’t force us, so as we go into this special Easter week, let’s choose to do something about it. Give Him all our cares and anxieties and let Him exchange them for His peace of mind and His joy, knowing He is far more able to deal with them than we are.😊 Amen.

Photo by Mark Olsen on Unsplash