Where is God? - Louie Giglio

Hillsong - Turn your eyes upon Jesus (HD with lyrics) (Best Worship Song...

Putting an "X" Through Anxiety

God’s Got Your Back

By Louie Giglio

The problem for those who battle anxiety is there isn’t a physical weapon big enough to defend us from every fear we face in life. But, thankfully, we have a Shepherd who has pledged to defend us.

Every shepherd in the time of David had a rod, a formidable staff carved out of the center of the lower part of a tree trunk. With that rod the shepherd could fight off the lion, the cougar, the wolf, or the bear. With the staff it would guide the sheep, but with the rod it would pulverize anything that tried to snatch one away.

To put an “X” through your anxiety you are going to have to see Jesus as your defender. So often when we feel under attack, vulnerable or stressed we look for someone who will take up our cause no matter what. Someone, as we say, who has our back!

Some time ago when I was coming through a challenging season I traveled to speak at a conference in another country. Before the session started a large group of leaders and conference organizers gathered for prayer in an upstairs room behind the stage.

Afterward, a woman approached me with a word of encouragement. I had never met her before and she knew nothing about my personal life. But her words shot through me that night. She said, “I just wanted to encourage you...I sense someone’s trying to trip you up, but God’s got your back.”

What she didn’t know was that I was spending a lot of sleepless nights trying to watch my back.

I don’t need to know your situation to pass that encouragement on to you. I don’t know for sure what you’re afraid of right now, but I want to remind you, God’s got your back.

As a child of God in Christ, God Almighty has your back.

No evil plan, attack, or fear can stand up to your Shepherd, Jesus. And even while you are sleeping, He watches over you. He doesn’t just send you into the dark valley, he leads you through it with a rod in one hand and a staff in the other.

Call out to Jesus right now and thank him for promising to protect your life. Tell Him you are depending on Him to guard your life and those you care about. Because He is with you, you can close your eyes at night and know that He is watching every side, every angle. In fact, He sees your circumstances coming before you do. He protects you in ways you don't even realize. 

Jesus is for you. He loves you. And He’s got your back.

                                                

Are You Ready to Accept the Atoning Death of Christ?

What do we have to do?

The New Testament makes it clear that we have to do something to accept the gift that God offers. This is an act of faith. John writes that ‘God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life’ (John 3:16).

Believing involves an act of faith, based on all that we know about Jesus. It is not blind faith. It is putting our trust in a Person. In some ways, it is like the step of faith taken by a bride or a bridegroom when they say, ‘I will’ on their wedding day.

The way people take this step of faith varies enormously, but I want to describe one way in which you can take this step of faith right now. It can be summarized by three very simple words:

‘Sorry’

You have to ask God to forgive you for all the things you have done wrong and turn from everything which you know is wrong in your life. This is what the Bible means by ‘repentance.’

‘Thank you’

We believe that Jesus died for us on the cross. You need to thank him for dying for you and for the offer of his free gift of forgiveness, freedom and his Spirit.

‘Please’

God never forces his way into our lives. You need to accept his gift and invite him to come and live within you by his Spirit.

If you would like to have a relationship with God and you are ready to say these three things, then here is a very simple prayer which you can pray and which will be the start of that relationship:

Lord Jesus Christ,

I am sorry for the things I have done wrong in my life (take a few moments to ask his forgiveness for anything particular that is on your conscience). Please forgive me. I now turn from everything which I know is wrong.

Thank you that you died on the cross for me so that I could be forgiven and set free.

Thank you that you offer me forgiveness and the gift of your Spirit. I now receive that gift.

Please come into my life by your Holy Spirit to be with me forever.

Thank you, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Are You Willing to Be Unseen in Quarantine to Realize God Sees You?

Alyssa Roat

I’ve received more phone calls from friends these past two weeks than in the past two months. My extroverted friends are, quite frankly, not okay.

All over the world, people are quarantined in their homes. Suddenly, it has become painfully obvious just how many people we interact with on an average day—and how few people that many of us get to interact with now.

Some are forced to keep working even through the pandemic: doctors, nurses, emergency response, grocery store workers, stockers, those in the food industry. These “essential” workers show their bravery every day.

However, for the rest of us, most of us are stuck working—or not working—at home.

For those of us at home, we may feel isolated, unseen, lonely. Especially for those already dealing with anxiety or depression, this loneliness can feel overwhelming.

However, perhaps there is something we can learn. When you are alone, with no one to see you, there is One who is always there.

God Always Sees You

In the Bible, shepherds are used for many parables and illustrations. The life of a shepherd could be lonely. Shepherds took the sheep wherever they needed to graze and were often gone for long stretches alone in the hills, keeping an eye out for threatening predators or dangers for the not-particularly-bright sheep.

David, before he was a king, was a shepherd. Many of the psalms reflect this. While Saul, the current king, was worrying about his own popularity, David was pondering the things of the Lord.

Psalm 139, though probably written after David was a shepherd, demonstrates David’s grasp of God’s faithfulness. Consider Psalm 139:7-12:

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

For years, David knew that he was destined to be king. But because of the wrath of King Saul, he was forced to hide in hills and caves like an outlaw. David knew what it was like to be unseen by man, to feel unappreciated.

But he knew God was with Him.

Whether shepherd or king, CEO or unemployed...God sees and values you, even if it seems like no one else does.

Continued, here.

25 Resurrection Scriptures to Celebrate: He Has Risen, He IS Risen!

The very purpose of this Easter weekend reminds us, no matter what we face today, what we’ve been through, or what uncertainties tomorrow may hold, Christ is risen and is our Hope. He conquered death, He makes all things new.

He has risen!

He has risen indeed!

He breathes new life, so that we can live…free.

You can try to bury Power, but it won’t stay there. You can try to bury Truth, but it is not dead. You can try to bury Love, but it cannot be contained.

God’s not dead. And we’re not alone. Not ever.

He lives!

May we allow that truth to soak in deep as we read these reminders from God’s Word…

25 Resurrection Scriptures to Celebrate: He is Risen!

“As they entered the tomb, they saw a young man dressed in a white robe sitting on the right side, and they were alarmed. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "You are looking for Jesus the Nazarene, who was crucified. He has risen! He is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples…'” Mark 16:5-7

“He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'” Luke 24:6-7

“He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.” Matt. 28:6

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,” John 11:25

“And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.”  1 Cor. 6:14

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” Romans 6:4-5

Continued, here.

In the Name of Jesus

QUESTION: What does it mean to pray in the name of Jesus?

ANSWER:

Praying in the name of Jesus is not just a magical incantation that is tacked on to the end of prayers. People end their prayers with "in the name of Jesus" without understanding all that it entails. The word "in" is a preposition of position and it carries with it a doctrinal truth that all believers need to know. The book of Ephesians could be called the "position book" and the word "in" brings our position into focus. This doctrinal truth is called our "ascension privilege" and it is our position in Jesus Christ. Therefore, our standing before God rests in Jesus Christ and praying in the name of Jesus is the way our prayers are heard.

In the name of Jesus, is an acknowledgment of the believer's position in Jesus Christ and an understanding that our prayers are heard as we approach the throne of grace. It is in obedience to the command of Jesus, for we cannot pray in our own standing but we pray in His. “God alone made it possible for you to be in Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Christ to be wisdom itself. He is the one who made us acceptable to God. He made us pure and holy, and he gave himself to purchase our freedom” (1 Corinthians 1:30).

Praying in Jesus' name means praying according to God’s will, "And we can be confident that he will listen to us whenever we ask him for anything in line with his will. And if we know he is listening when we make our requests, we can be sure that he will give us what we ask for" (1 John 5:14-15). Praying in Jesus’ name is praying for things that will honor and glorify Jesus.

“You can ask for anything in my name, and I will do it, because the work of the Son brings glory to the Father. Yes, ask anything in my name, and I will do it!” (John 14:13-14).

“I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me because of their testimony” (John 17:20).

“For ‘Anyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved’” (Romans 10:13).

“We are writing to the church of God in Corinth, you who have been called by God to be his own holy people. He made you holy by means of Christ Jesus, just as he did all Christians everywhere--whoever calls upon the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and theirs” (1 Corinthians 1:2).

“And you will always give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Ephesians 5:20).

“And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, all the while giving thanks through him to God the Father” (Colossians 3:17).

“Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14).

“I am writing to you, my dear children, because your sins have been forgiven because of Jesus” (1 John 2:12).

“Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32).

Source

What if Jesus never came to Earth?

Do you ever wonder what it would be like if God never chose to be incarnated in the person of Jesus?

What if He came with power and glory and made Himself visible to every human being on the planet?

Would He be more accepted as the Savior of the world? Would each one of us get down on our knees and worship Him? Would our worship be genuine and out of love or out of fear and compulsion?

Many have had similar thoughts and many have wondered why out of all peoples God chose the Jews to be the physical progenitors of His Son and not some other well known race. After all, the Israelites were known as a stubborn or stiff-necked people and not as “cultured” as some of the Gentile nations.

Why would God choose to enter our dimension in a low key, humble fashion? The answer is hidden in the story of man’s creation and the subsequent fall.

When God created us and placed us in the Garden of Eden, He created mankind in His own image and likeness and with a free will. We were the pinnacle of His creation, beings capable of living in a loving relationship with their Creator. Even though we were made a little lower than the angels, we were also made to have a relationship with God and to love and respect Him with no compulsion and out of choice.

Our disobedience and lack of trust in our Creator led to the Fall of Man and our expulsion from the Garden. Also, we lost our immortality and were thrown into a rough environment and had to work in harsh conditions living as enemies and not as friends of God.

Thankfully, God had a plan. As sin entered our plane of existence through the disobedience of Adam, restoration of our broken relationship with our Creator was to be accomplished through a more perfect Adam through a none other than Jesus Christ the Man.

God’s Son became a man and lived among us as one of us.  He felt our pain and our happiness, our fatigue and our energy, our struggles and our victories but with one exception that he did not break any of God’s laws, he remained sinless.

As a result of this, when Jesus voluntarily sacrificed himself on the cross, he became the new Adam who would settle the score by satisfying God’s Justice through his death thereby providing the whole Adamic race the opportunity to live life abundantly and eternally.

The wages of sin are death and Jesus as the Perfect and Spotless Lamb of God through His own death restored our broken relationship with God. He paid the price so that we can live again; He became our Lord and Savior.

Therefore, God who created us to be loving beings in a relationship with Him, reached out to us to mend our state of brokenness due to our disobedience and in His Son He became the Perfect Sacrificial Lamb and took away the sins of the world.

God had to make a choice regarding the incarnation of His Son and the Jews were the “lucky ones”. However, Jesus showed us how to live in communication with God through the Holy Spirit and died for humanity as a whole and not for any particular race.

Today, if you are thirsty and heavy laden, Jesus is offering His living water so that you may never thirst again and His love and peace which surpass all understanding. Please, make the decision to invite Him into your world as your Lord and Savior and you will not regret it!

John Costouros