GOD IS OUR LAMP, OUR SHIELD, OUR FORTRESS

2 Samuel 22:29-33 AMPC

For You, O Lord, are my Lamp; 

the Lord lightens my darkness.

For by You I run through a troop; 

by my God I leap over a wall.

As for God, His way is perfect; 

the word of the Lord is tried. 

He is a Shield to all those who trust 

and take refuge in Him.

For who is God but the Lord? 

And who is a Rock except our God?

God is my strong Fortress; 

He guides the blameless in His way 

and sets him free.

These verses are part of David’s song when the Lord delivered him from his enemies and as I read about the Lord being our Lamp I remembered one of our lamps broke the other day and we had to buy another one. We all need light!

There is only one source of true light for us and it’s not the media, or self help gurus, but the Living God, Jesus Himself, the Light of the world and His Word. I love the fact David makes God personal - he says God is my lamp, my light. He’s yours too!😊

Now we may not feel like leaping over walls or overcoming armies but nevertheless, whatever we have to face or overcome God says we can do it each day with His help and His strength, because He gives us His ability, His courage to overcome the obstacles we have to deal with. With God we can!

v. 31 says God is our Shield and Psalm 5:12 reminds us that God surrounds us with His love and favour like a shield. When we go out into our day we need to know that, and see it in our mind’s eye so we don’t feel vulnerable, but protected and invincible! 

We need to remember to say God is my strong fortress, it’s personal, and we’re in Him and He is in us wherever we go. It’s only when we forget it, or don’t believe it, that fear has a way in and makes us wobbly! But before we go out the door remember we are assigned powerful angels to protect us on all sides and the enemy is beneath our feet, so fear won’t gain a foothold.😊

And don’t forget we are blameless in God’s sight because Jesus has given us His righteousness so God guides us on our way and whatever has tied us down, or bound us up He sets us free from it.

We are so blessed so let’s release our praise for our awe inspiring God with all our hearts today.😊 In Jesus name. Amen.

Photo by Ingmar on Unsplash

SURPRISE VISITOR

John 2:7-8 NLT Jesus told the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” When the jars had been filled,  he said, “Now dip some out, and take it to the master of ceremonies.” So the servants followed his instructions..

In our front porch we had hung a small straw bird house which was only meant for decoration. Lo and behold, we noticed the roof had been pulled up all askew and the hole had been filled in with twigs and leaves! 

Sure enough we peeked inside and there was a nest! It turns out our local robin has rented our bird house for the season and we think there’s only one fledgling in there as his little open beak pops up when he hears our voices. What an unexpected and lovely surprise!😊

God loves to surprise us and we see it when Jesus was at the wedding in Cana of Galilee when he surprised everyone by turning water into wine - gallons of it, not just a bottle or two, but more than they dreamed! 

Or the time when Peter and the disciples had been out fishing all night with no success, they were dog tired but Jesus said to cast the nets out again, and surprise, surprise they had an overload catch of fish! More than enough! Jesus showed them, when we do as He says, He will bring more blessing than we thought possible! Is He telling you to cast out your net again?😊 (Ephesians 3:20)

The heart of God is to surprise us with the little things as well as the big things, to put a smile on our faces with a little nest, to lift our spirits with unexpected blessings. It’s part of His amazing grace, His goodness towards us. 

1 Corinthians 2:9 NLT That is what the Scriptures mean when they say, “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”

We know God has unimagined blessings for us in the hereafter, but they are also for the here and now as the wedding guests and the fishermen testified. 

It may be the joy of a robin’s nest or an unexpected family visit from across the world, but whatever it is, God is in it all, and He will surprise you too and show you His great kindness because He loves you.😊

Have a blessed weekend.x😊

                                                                      Photo by Allan Cox on Unsplash