Where Does Your Help Come From?

Dr. Mike Bible Life Questions

 

“From where does my help come? My help comes from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.” Psalms 121:1-2 ESV.

 

psalm 121

The last time you found yourself in trouble, who did you first turn to? Was it your parents? your spouse? the police? Whatever the reply, you have found your answer.

I always shake my head whenever people in a movie find themselves in a crisis mode and the reply is “all we can do now is pray.” The vast majority of the time it comes after all the actors have done what they can to solve a problem without a solution. It portrays hoping in God as there last feeble attempt instead of their first viable option.

When we become aware of God moving in our life is a good time to seize the moment. He wants to have a relationship with us. He is closer to us than we even realize. There is nothing that can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:39). Not our sins, nor our ignorance, nor our unbelief. He loves us unconditionally.

In a time of trouble, call out to Him. Let Him prove to you that He cares. He may not answer your prayer the way you want or expect, but He will answer it in a way that will glorify Him and be best in the long run for everyone involved(John 14:13).

What we eventually find over a lifetime of walking with our Maker is that He Cares more than we realize. In a time of trouble, He wants us to come to him. He wants to take the moment to develop a more intimate relationship with us. Yes, He works through various means. In most cases, these means are the people who will best help you in your current situation.

You may have contacted these people yourself without His assistance. However, when you allow God to lead in the situation, you can be assured that the best people for your circumstance will be there to walk with you through the trouble. God knows their heart and skills. We are His creation and He always does Good Work. And He gives people the opportunity to partner with Him in His plans.

Through these types of emergency situations, the opportunity to build a relationship of trust with our heavenly Father is being presented to you. The short term impact may not be what we like or want or prefer. However, the end result of walking in-hand with Him via the crisis is a mutual trustful marriage between the Creator of the universe and you. What help can be greater than that?

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Executive Director & Founder
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

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What Must You Do To Inherent Eternal Life?

Dr. Mike Bible Life Questions , ,
And a ruler asked him, “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Luke 18:18 ESV.

ruler 2

This question came from a rich ruler who sought the answer from Jesus. Jesus in His usually manner went right to the ruler’s heart. He started by stating five of the Ten Commandments which relate to human relationship. The ruler replied that he has kept these from his youth. Then Jesus threw the zinger at him. Jesus knew that the one major area of the ruler’s life that came between God and him was his wealth. Therefore, Jesus told him there was one thing he lacked. Too sell his possessions and follow him.

Many Bible teachers emphasize the first part of Jesus’ reply rather than the last part. The emphasis they place is on the wealth rather than on Jesus. Many Christians even today struggle with the answer. What Jesus stated and repeated later is that man doesn’t have the capacity within himself apart of God to do anything that earns him eternal life.

Jesus recognized the idol of wealth in the rich ruler’s heart. He offered him the opportunity to join him right then and there. Yet the decision to sell everything was more than he could do. Like many of us, we come to the place where we realize we can’t do what only God can do. We do not have the sole capacity to do anything to earn eternal life.

Only the Triune God can change a person’s heart. When the Holy Spirit resides and moves within a person’s life, transformation occurs. Only God can replace a stony, hard heart with a soft, pliable one. That is why Jesus stated shortly thereafter that what is impossible for man is possible with God.

We all have idols in our lives. Typically idols are good things in life. However, we make them the ultimate thing. And when they become the ultimate thing, they replace God’s position in our life. That is what makes an idol. Wealth, family, career, education, and food are all good things. However, when they become the most important treasure of our heart, then God is being replaced by a forgery. God knows that we are wired and operate fully human when He is the center of our life. When something else takes that place, we suffer and never experience the rich relationship with Him and others. This is what Jesus saw in the rich ruler.

Jesus gave the rich ruler the opportunity to follow Him. Whether the rich ruler eventually came to follow Jesus or not, we are not told. However, Scripture does reveal to us today that eternal life is God’s gift to us for those who believe in Jesus Christ (1 John 5:11).

So if you haven’t done business with your Maker, maybe today is a good time to look into the life of Jesus and learn what He has to say about your life now and for all eternity.

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Executive Director & Founder
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Encourage your Friends…Share Today’s Message!

Where Are You?

Dr. Mike Bible Life Questions ,
“But the LORD God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” Genesis 3:9 ESV.

where are you4

Right after Adam and Eve rebelled against God, they hid. Now the Lord God could have easily disappeared from their lives. He could have easily justified their outcome as abnormal behavior and immediately eliminated them from the face of the earth. Wouldn’t it have been easier to start over again rather than play out the current scenario?

Yet God, always in control of every situation, let the events unfold as they did. We learn early that God allows many of our decisions to play out. He is not fearful of our choices. He knows that whatever we decide He is capable of bringing out the end result that he desires. There may be hiccups, bumps, and delays along the way, but the end will be His divine plan. The only real question is whether or not we will participate with him in the process.

Notice that Adam and Eve hid, not God. When we sin, God doesn’t hide from us. On the contrary. He is always there. Sin simply blinds us from God. Sin produces a silent wall of fear that prevents us from seeing God as He is. We see it here with Adam and Eve. We see it throughout Scriptures. We see it in our own life.

God knows our makeup. Jesus changed everything. He is the reason for the season. He came and experienced life in the flesh, but without sin. He knows temptation. He knows the evil that lurks in man’s heart. He also knows the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. He made everything possible for you and I to enjoy life the way Creator God designed it to be.

So how about you? Where are you in relationship with Jesus Christ? Are you still hiding from the best friend you will ever have? Are you ashamed of His Lordship? Or do you simply feel spiritually naked? Or are you confused about who and what Jesus Christ means to the world and to you personally?

No matter where you are in life, Jesus wants you to know how excellent His Kingdom (government) is compared to anything you have ever seen or known or dream about. When you acknowledge his role as Savior and Lord, you begin the process of transformation. It is a process that makes Jesus come more alive in your life as you quit rebelling against the King of Kings.

Before one can recite the alphabet to the letter “Z”, one must know where one needs to begin. Unless told otherwise, we normally start at the beginning with the letter “A.” How about you? Where are you in your relationship with Jesus Christ? Do you need to start at “A” or somewhere else? No matter where you are, He is closer to you than you will ever realize. The real question though is where are you?

Rooting For You in Christ!

Dr. Mike

Executive Director & Founder
Marketplace Bible Institute
& Resource Center, Inc
Author of e-Books:
 *  Great Business Emulates a Good God
 *  Be Radical…Follow Christ!
 *  Simply The Messenger
 *  Unequally Married

Encourage your Friends…Share Today’s Message!