Oh, that men would praise [and confess to] the Lord for His goodness and loving-kindness and His wonderful works to the children of men!
For He has broken the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron apart.
Psalms 107:15-16
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Break Through The Chains
May 31, 2014 by
Break through the chains in my life
O Lord, my soul desire is to serve You
Protector
May 30, 2014 by
So thank God for His marvelous love,
for His miracle mercy to the children He loves;
He shattered the heavy jailhouse doors,
He snapped the prison bars like matchsticks!
Psalms107:15-16 (The Message)
God is our Protector. When you review the Bible and history there are many times He rescued His people from certain extinction. I have heard many people say they do not like history, but we need to know what was, to know how to prevent it from happening again or to know the signs to watch for.
When we search for miracles in God’s Word we read about Joseph. I recall that God used Joseph’s life as a foreshadowing of His Son Jesus coming to Earth, living among mankind, performing miracles and, while fulfilling God’s purposes, forgiving those who had wronged him. How many of us can say that we have done that? As Joseph forgave his brothers, God forgives us.
As we move forward in the Scriptures, we read where God used Moses to bring out the Hebrew people from Egypt into the Promised Land after the Egyptians endured the ten plagues. After the people were let go then they were led through the desert and came up to the Red Sea, where God performed yet another miracle in parting the Red Sea. Let us not stop there, because the entire exodus from Egypt was a miracle in that no one starved, no one died (unless they angered God), no one grew thirsty, and their clothes never wore out. God protected them in miraculous ways they would never have considered.
Moving forward a few hundred years, let’s go into the New Testament and meet the disciples in the Book of Acts as written by Luke. In Acts we see where the Holy Spirit empowers each person to carry out God’s purposes. Not by using tricks, but by the Spirit of the Living God.
In today’s times, we have seen men like Billy Graham share the Word of God in a miraculous way. Through the recordings of his early messages Mr. Graham is reaching more people than ever before imagined. Television, when used correctly, is a powerful tool for the spreading of the Gospel of Christ to the nations and the world. With Mr. Graham’s outreach, it has allowed other ministries to reach out further than ever anticipated to peoples who would not have had the opportunity to hear the Gospel.
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Father, give us the tools we need to spread Your Word to the nations. Empower us to train the next generation of missionaries to take the Gospel to those still living in dark places. We look forward to serving You and we thank You for Your protection from the beginning of time…from then to the end of time. Please bless our kids and empower them to carry Your Word to the nations. In Jesus’ name, we pray, Amen.
Breaking Free
May 29, 2014 by
Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love
and His wonderful deeds for men, for He breaks down gates of bronze
and cuts through bars of iron.
Psalms 107:15-16
Have you ever been by an iron mill when they are melting iron? If you have ever seen the movie “Rudy” then you at least have an idea about what goes on in the mill. They are melting the iron down so that it can be used in the production of goods. Have you ever been to one of those old- timey craft fairs where the blacksmith is working with some type of iron (or other metal)? He beats the metal into something like a horseshoe or sword—just something that can be used for the good of mankind.
Now imagine an old junk yard. This junk yard is full of old cars and trucks and just about anything else made of metal that you can think of. Everything is starting to rust and break down. There are people out there who go to these junkyards and get parts to keep cars and machinery running. They use old parts from this rusting junk pile to make something, not exactly new, but to keep it running.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come:
The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17
God does the same with us when we accept Jesus as our Savior. He breaks us out of the iron restraints of sin and washes us clean. He breaks us out of the iron hold of the world and Satan, and He purifies us. God breaks down our old spirit and molds us into a new spirit that is worthy of His glory. The old is thrown away, and God begins to mold us into how He wants us to be—pretty much like an ironworker working to make iron usable.
We are a new creation. We are no longer rusting or going bad. God has broken us out from an iron-clad prison that was holding us back from glorifying Him. We are no longer prisoners of sin. Because God loves us unfailingly, He does not leave us to rot in our sin. He stays with us—pushing and pulling us out through the broken prison bars. He never leaves us, and He works with us to accomplish the goals He sets before us.
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Dear Heavenly Father: Thank You for Your wonderful and unfailing love. Thank You for breaking us out from the chains of sin. You have made us new and set goals in front of us that will make us more like You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Freedom
May 28, 2014 by
For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
2 Corinthians 3:17
Freedom isn’t something most of us have to worry about. Frankly, it’s a privilege that is easy to take for granted. Simple freedoms like the ability to worship whom we please…freedom to aspire to do as we please…freedom to make choices like where we will eat, work, live…freedom to choose who we will or will not associate with…freedom to pick what kind of car you will drive. Given some of these freedoms may take a little work, but they ARE possible.
Let them praise the Lord for His great love
and for the wonderful things He has done for them.
For He broke down their prison gates of bronze;
He cut apart their bars of iron.
Psalms 107:15-16
The Lord isn’t a fan of us being bound! In Matthew 8 and 9 alone, Jesus
- healed the leper,
- healed the centurion’s servant,
- healed Peter’s mother-in-law,
- healed many demon-possessed,
- calmed the storm,
- raised a dead girl,
- healed a sick woman,
- healed the blind,
- healed the mute.
Jesus came to give us a rich and satisfying life (John 10:10). Please don’t be mistaken though! This applies to your mental and spiritual life just as much as it does your physical, tangible life.
The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
for the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to proclaim
that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.
Isaiah 61:1
We can take heartache, fear, guilt, doubt, struggles, addictions, condemnation, shame, mistakes, questions and any type of burden you can think of to the Lord! Trust him and do as He says in regards to the matter…and behold! The new creation He makes. God can make anything useful for His purpose if we will only give it to Him. Emotions tend to hinder our willingness to believe this truth, but our God is a God of newness. He can make new that which was old and clean that which was dirty.
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Thank You, Lord for making me free. Thank You for taking that which I feel is untouchable and making it into something beautiful and useful. May I never take for granted the freedoms You have provided and may I never sit bound and crippled by the schemes of the enemy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
A Rare Love
May 27, 2014 by
Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love
and His wonderful deeds for mankind,
for He breaks down gates of bronze
and cuts through bars of iron.
Psalms 107:15-16
Unfailing love. I think that this is a concept that is difficult for most to understand because we don’t typically see it in action…at least not from our peers, friends, and not even from our families. It seems that failing love sometimes better defines the type of emotion shared in relationships, not at any fault of our own. But there is only One who can truly say they have unfailing love for others—and that is Christ. Because this can be such a rarity, the importance of acknowledging this love must be understood. Our Heavenly Father shows us this unfailing love daily, hourly, with each breath we take. Charles Lowery spoke at our church today and he reminded us that Christ has unfailing love for us even when we fail, even when we are less than we should be.
This verse proceeds to speak of iron and bronze. Both metals are known for their strength, and use in battle. Iron is known to be heavy, and known for its great strength and its hardness. Bronze is used in the creation of weapons. Both are unbendable by human hands. Both act as barriers and hurdles that without Christ we would never be able to overcome.
“…for He breaks down gates of bronze and cuts through bars of iron.”
When I think of these gates and bars, I don’t see them in their literal forms. Rather, I see the struggles we face on a daily basis. I see our trials and tribulations. I see Christ in our lives breaking the chains of iron and bronze that bind us—depression, illness, hatred, bitterness, and so much more. His unfailing love carries us through these gates and bars. And He asks that in return, we give thanks. And that we acknowledge the numerous things He does for us. This can be done in so many ways, such as a gratitude journal, a song, or sharing our testimony.
My challenge for you this week is to think of the ways you can give thanks, and share what He has done for you.
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Let’s Pray: Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for Your wondrous works because without You we would be smothered by the iron and bronze that imprison us. You ask so little from us in return. Thank You Father, for Your unfailing love that helps us live each moment of our lives; a love that is there even in our most undeserving of times. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.
