UNBOUND
AND UNHARMED
BREAD
25 He
said, “Look! I see four men walking around in the fire, unbound and unharmed,
and the fourth looks like a son of the gods.” 26 Nebuchadnezzar then approached
the opening of the blazing furnace and shouted, “Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego, servants of the Most High God, come out! Come here!” So Shadrach,
Meshach and Abednego came out of the fire, 27 and the satraps, prefects,
governors and royal advisers crowded around them. They saw that the fire had
not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were
not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them. Daniel 3:25-27 (NIV)
1 He who
dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will
say of the Lord, "He is my
refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust." 3 Surely he will save you from
the fowler's snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his
feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be
your shield and rampart. Psalms 91:1-4
(NIV)
17 Now
the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17 (NIV)
1 It is
for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let
yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Galatians 5:1 (NIV)
28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of
those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed
to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 30 And those he predestined, he also called; those he called,
he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. 31 What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for
us, who can be against us? 32 He who did
not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along
with him, graciously give us all things? 33 Who will
bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died--more than
that, who was raised to life--is at the right hand of God and is also
interceding for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble
or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is
written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep
to be slaughtered.” 37 No, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither
angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our
Lord. Romans 8:28-39 (NIV)
I
lift up my eyes to the hills-- where does my help come from? 2 My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. 3 He will not let your foot
slip-- he who watches over you will not slumber; 4 indeed, he who watches over
Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord
watches over you-- the Lord is
your shade at your right hand; 6 the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by
night. 7 The Lord will keep you from all harm-- he
will watch over your life; 8 the Lord will
watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. Psalms 121:1-8 (NIV)
BUTTER
“If the worst things work for good to a believer, what shall
the best things? Nothing hurts the
godly…all things…shall co-operate for their good, that their crosses shall be
turned into blessings.” Puritan Thomas
Watson
“Heaven will work
backwards and turn even…agony into a glory.” C.S. Lewis
“When suffering floods us — the question that often
rises is WHY? Why would a loving God
allow this crisis, this grief, this heartbreak, this suffering? Why does suffering happen in a world held by
a Wounded God? And when suffering surrounds, the Wounded
God with the nail scars, He does not ask us to deny it, or turn a blind eye to
it, or beautify it. He ask us to hold space for it, to collect it, to gather
it, like the questioning mystery of manna, and cup it in hand and believe that
something in the suffering offers sustenance for the soul. In every
hard thing that happens — God is happening to work a million things for good. The Wounded God does not say, ‘Do not fear, I
will give you all the answers.’ He does
not say, ‘Do not fear, I will take away all your pain.’ He does not say, ‘Do not fear, I will do
whatever you all think.’ The Wounded God who is the one High, Almighty
Wise God, who says it like a wide open embrace:
‘Do not fear — for I am here.’ What
if instead of wanting good things for us — we wanted a good God with us? The problem of evil is answered by the
presence of Emmanuel: God is with us. There
are always arms under you carrying you, there are always hands carved with your
name holding yours, there is always a waiting embrace Who is your safe place. You will never be abandoned — because He will never
abandon you, Love will never abandon you, Hope will never abandon you, Grace
will never abandon you. With-ness
breaks brokenness and He who is with you is larger than any suffering around you.” Ann Voskamp
“What we feed our
minds and hearts on will determine whether we live a life of faith or a life of
fear. …The more time we spend with God and His Word, the more our faith
develops and our fear diminishes….Faith in God conquers fear every time. The
God who has redeemed us and cares for us is trustworthy. Our Creator God will
never abandon us, and He has our best interests at heart. ‘God is our refuge
and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear,
though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging’ (Psalm
46:1-3).” Michael
Youssef
“Satan
woos us with pleasantness to seek our bondage (as if self wasn’t enough) and
then bites us with guilt and shame.
Indeed, his desire is to entice us towards a conduct that would ruin
us. He is our enemy not our friend. God, on the other hand, lovingly woos us from
“the jaws of distress” - which is every form of sin and captivity holding us
tightly, to seek our freedom. Christ
came to set us free. We are not to be
yoked again to slavery. Make no mistake
about it – sin harm’s. Indeed, it is a
death sentence. Satan wants us to
believe that God is holding out on us, that He does not have our best interest
at heart while all the while, through the blood of Jesus, all God seeks to hold
out on us is death and destruction.” BHY
I have direct access to the throne of grace through Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4:14-16
I am free from condemnation. Romans 8:1-2
I am assured that God works for my good in all circumstances. Romans 8:28
I am free from any condemnation brought against me and I cannot be separated from the love of God. Romans 8:31-39
I am confident that God will complete the good work He started in me. Philippians 1:6
I have not been given a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7”
Ann Voskamp
“God has a multitude of reasons for allowing our troubling situations. Perhaps He is working on some of the people in our lives. Maybe He is working out His timing to reap the maximum harvest when His solution comes in the end. Or He could be proving a point to His enemy about His glory, as He did with Job – and your reaction is the key. Maybe He is even working on us – our character flaws, personality issues, or spiritual growth. Unpruned trees bear less fruit, so He must shape us differently. But we’re surprised – and angry – when His pruning hand is not as gentle as we’d like. The question we need to settle in our hearts is whether we believe God is good. It isn’t hard to hold such a belief when His blessings seem bountiful. But the blessing of hardship? We wonder where His favor has gone. We grow distant, resentful, and bitter over the harshness of His loving hand. Like a child who has just been spanked – or simply told ‘no’ – we pout. God just doesn’t seem fair.” Chris Tiegreen
“Be strong! We are not here to play, to dream, to drift, We have hard work to do and loads to lift; Shun not the struggle. Face it. ‘Tis God’s gift. Be strong!” Maltbie D. Babcock
“All disquiet of mind ariseth from our own lusts and unmortified tempers, which make the bosom like a troubled sea. And no settled calm shall we find till we have a single eye to God’s glory, and can count ourselves worthy of no good. Then we may draw comfort out of trouble, and learn to praise the Lord, both for what he giveth, and for what he taketh away; being sure that all things are working for our good, and tending to God’s glory, which he knows best how to promote; and that nothing but sin can make us unhappy and miserable.” K. H. Von Bogatzky
“That
one’s sorrows are actually working for the faithful believer is predicated upon
the faith that the unseen is the ultimate and supreme reality and that the
present and visible are only relative and ephemeral…..‘Our light affliction,’
properly accepted, is actually creating or producing for us an ‘eternal weight
of glory’ far beyond all proportion to the pain of the affliction. Therefore it should be cherished and not
wasted by resistance and rebellion.”
Paul E. Billheimer
HEART SAVOR
·
God desires
for His children to be unbound and unharmed.
·
All
things His loving hand allows in the life of His child – all things – work together
for the good of the beloved.
·
Christ came
to set me free from the bondage and slavery of sin. I am not to be yoked again to it.
