The Power In Four little Words

 “The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said . . .” 

Matthew 28: 5-6 (NIV)

    I am amazed at the significance that four little words can have in our lives. Let me give you some examples:

  "The toilet is overflowing.”   (“Where is the plunger?”)

“My mother-in-law is early.” (“The house is trashed!”)

“You have been fired.”       (“I have no job.”)

   But perhaps the most significant, most important four words that have ever been spoken, I believe, are these: “Just as He said.”

   In Matthew 28, we are told that after the Sabbath, two women went to the tomb where the body of Jesus had been placed after He was crucified. They needed to prepare Jesus’ body for permanent burial.

   However, when the women arrived, they found an angel sitting on the stone that had previously been rolled in front of the tomb opening. In verses 5 and 6, we read, “The angel said to the women,  “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said . . .”

   If we can’t believe Jesus, if we can’t take Him at His Word - “just as He said” - then there is no need for the Bible. Forget Scripture, forget the promises, forget forgiveness and grace, and certainly forget resurrection and salvation. 

   But, if we DO believe those four little words with such a powerful meaning, then nothing prevents us from believing every other promise He has made in His Word.

Promises like this: Isaiah 41:13 (NIV):  “For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” Or the promise in Hebrews 13:5 that “. . .  Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.”

   And one of my favorite promises in Scripture: “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” Hebrews 8:12 (NIV)

   The choice is ours: take God at His Word or rely on our earthly wisdom. I choose four little words that promise Truth in everything He says.  What about you?

   Father, I do not understand everything that is in your Word, but I believe you and trust you with my life every minute of every day. Keep my focus on you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up . . .

Reflect

• Is God’s Word also God’s Truth in your life?

• Do you find that you sometimes doubt whether God really means what He says to you in His Word?

Apply

• Keep a daily journal of the Lord’s promises to you.

• Begin each entry with “Just as He said . . .” and then write down His promise.

Power

• Matthew 28: 5-6 (NIV) “The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said…”

• Proverbs 30:5-6 (NIV) “Every word of God is flawless; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him. Do not add to his words, or he will rebuke you and prove you a liar.”

• John 17:17 (NIV) “Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth.”

Don't Ignore the Weeds

 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?” Matthew 13:27 (NIV)

    I finally decided to spend two long, hot afternoons pulling huge weeds out of the landscaping in my backyard a few years ago. The job was completed, but not without some negative outcomes, including sunburned shoulders, a sore back, and about two million (more or less) chigger bites. To be honest, I had not really given much thought to my backyard plants and shrubs for a long time. 

    Now, the landscaping in the front yard was a totally different story. I spent hours almost every day making it look attractive. Mowing and trimming, and weed eating and watering and mulching and planting new flowers and shrubs and, yes, pulling weeds were always on the agenda.

    Why the difference in the attention that I gave each yard? It’s simple. The front yard – the one that I spent so much time on to make it attractive – is the yard closest to the street. It’s the yard everyone sees when they drive by. No one sees the backyard but me.

    But you know what? The very same weeds that tried to creep up in my front yard were also sneaking into my landscaping in the backyard. I knew that. It’s just that since no one saw them, I didn’t think they were that important.

    Isn’t that how it is with sin? The “big” sins – the ones people can see – are the ones we declare we would never allow in our lives. For example, we would never murder someone. And yet, we read in I John that when we allow the hate weed to grow in our hearts, we have murdered. (I John 3:15)

   And what about adultery? We state loudly that we would never commit that sin, but if we allow lust to shove its roots into our hearts, that’s exactly what we have done. (Matthew 5:28). No one sees those weeds in the “backyard,” but they are there. 

    So how do I keep them out of my heart? The answer is clear: I have to be digging into God’s Word. Not every so often, on an afternoon. But every day. Why? Because when I am NOT in the Word, I allow weeds to sprout up in my heart. And since I am unable to identify them for what they are, I may either fail to spot them or simply ignore them until they have multiplied and spread from the backyard to the front yard of my life. 

    Not only that, but the good seed that has been sown? The compassion and mercy and grace and forgiveness and love that the Lord has given me? It is “choked out” and wilts and dies when the weeds are allowed to grow. 

    Take a deep look into your heart. What are you growing? You may be like me: It’s time to dig in the Word and do some weeding in my life. 

    Father, show me in your Word what weeds I need to pull out of my heart to be more like you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. 

R.A.P. it up . . . 

Reflect

• Can you identify sins in your heart that you have allowed to grow?

• What is your reason for allowing them to grow?

Apply

• Memorize Matthew 13:27 and write it in your journal daily.

• At the end of each day, make a list of the “weeds” that you allowed in your heart and replace them with God’s words of truth.

Power

• Matthew 13:27 (NIV) “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?” 

• Psalm 119:11 (NIV) “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” 

• Proverbs 28:13 (NIV) “He who conceals his sins does not prosper, but whoever confesses and renounces them finds mercy.”

The Tattoo Artist

 “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” Isaiah 49:15-16 NIV

   Several years ago, when my husband and I were at a farm sale, I happened to notice tattoos on the arm of a man who was there. I’ve seen different tattoo designs before, but never like his. There were 4  names inked down his left arm, one under the other: Betty, Susan, Amy, and Nancy. But it was hard to read them because across each name was a tattooed black line. 

    So I struck up a conversation with the man and asked him if he would mind explaining what his unusual tattoos meant. He pointed to the first one and said, “Well, Betty was my first girlfriend, but she cheated on me when I was in the service. And then Susan was my first wife, but we just didn’t get along, ya know.” He told me about the last two names, but I don’t remember why they didn’t work out. I just had to ask: “So the line you had tattooed across each one?” He shrugged and said, “I don’t care about them anymore, so I just got rid of them that way. I don’t even think about their names on my arm.”

    Immediately, I thought of Isaiah 49:15-16. “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” 

    I love it for so many reasons. Immediately, I can see that it is the first recorded tattoo in the Bible. God’s tattoo of our names on the palms of his hands! Then my eyes are drawn to the word “engraved.” Not written in pencil, which can be erased, or ink, which can fade. There is no line drawn through our names to show that we have done something to cause Him to never care about or think of us again. But engraved by the God of the Universe because He loves us that much. 

    Do you feel forgotten? Unloved? Alone? Perhaps it seems like no one truly understands your heartache and pain, and you have nowhere to turn. Never forget that God has your very name engraved on His hands for a reason: to let you know that He will never leave you or forget you, and He loves you more than you can ever imagine. There is proof of the love the Eternal Tattoo Artist has for us - engraved on His hands. 

  

     Father, thank you for loving me so much that you would find a way to show me you will never leave me or forget me. I love you. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

 

R.A.P. it up . . . 

Reflect

• Have you ever felt like you were completely alone and no one cared about you and what you were going through?

• Where did you turn to first for help, and why?

Apply

• Memorize Isaiah 49:15-16 for those times when you are struggling with something in your life.

• Write this Scripture on the palm of your hand during your prayer time for a week, and praise the Lord and thank Him for never forgetting your name.

Power

• Isaiah 49:15-16 NIV “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” 

• Psalm 56:8 (NIV) “Record my lament; list my tears on your scroll - are they not in your record?”

• Hebrews 4:16 (NIV) “Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” 

Angels Ride the Subway

 “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and

to bring you to the place I have prepared.” Exodus 23:20 (NIV)

    He didn’t look like an angel to me, at least not like any angel I had pictured. He had long dark dreadlocks curling almost to his waist and a red and black bandana tied at the back of his head. His sleeveless jacket was woven with what appeared to be strands of yarn in purple, red, yellow, and green. His jeans were thin denim, frayed at the bottom.

    I hadn’t even noticed him at first, sitting right next to me. My stress level was a 12 on a 10 scale as I watched the young woman in the next row alternate between leaning back in her seat and then slumping forward, her arms hugging her chest, her eyes closed.

    We had been at the Passion Conference in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta when she became quite ill, and since I was the nurse with the group, I volunteered to get her back to the hotel. There was only one problem, and it was a huge one.

    I was not blessed with any sense of direction when I was created. None. I get lost in closets and small bathrooms. Every way I turn is north. Always. And she and I were on the MARTA – the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority – trying to get back to the airport to catch a shuttle to our hotel. Directionally challenged. On the subway. In a strange city. Mercy.

    She motioned for me to lean over, and I heard her whisper, “You know how to get us back, right Nurse Nancy?” I smiled confidently and said, “Of course I do. We are going to be fine.” She leaned back and closed her eyes, and I leaned back to find the young man next to me half-smiling. “You don’t know where you’re going, do you.” he stated quietly, not as a question, but as fact. 

    “Uh, no. No, I don’t. But she is really sick, and I have to get her back to our hotel” I told him as I silently prayed “Lord, help us! You know I have no sense of direction! Please get us back!” 

     Two minutes later, the subway slowed to a stop, and I felt panic begin to take over. Do we get off here? Do we ride further? What are we going to do? Suddenly I noticed that the young man had gotten up from his seat and was standing at the door, ready to leave.

    But two other things also caught my eye: one, that he was very tall, and two, that he was motioning with his head that we were at our first stop. I grabbed the young lady with me and put my arm around her as I whispered, “Come on. This is where we get off,” with a confidence that I absolutely did not feel. We stepped out of the subway and into swarms of people trying to get around us to the seats we had just exited.

    For a second time, I felt panic begin to creep into my body when I noticed the young man glance back at me and once again nod his head as he walked around a corner. “This way,” I told her, but stopped as I rounded the corner and realized there were four possible directions to go in, and I had no idea which was the one for us.  

    “Lord!” I cried out in my heart and looked to my left. There at the top of a flight of stairs was a beautiful sight: a very tall young man with dark dreadlocks standing still on the first step, as the rush of people flowed around either side of him. And he was looking at me. 

    One more nod, and I could not help the grin as I mouthed “Thank you” and helped the young woman with me as we followed him down the stairs to the next level in the subway. 

“Wait right here,” I told her. “I want to thank the man who helped us.” But as I turned around, he was nowhere to be seen. Nowhere. A very tall young man with dark dreadlocks, a red and black bandana on his head, and a colorful jacket had completely disappeared in a matter of seconds. 

    I turned back to the young woman and said, “He’s gone! How could he have disappeared like that? He was so tall. I couldn’t have missed him!” We both looked at each other. “An angel. He must have been an angel,” I told her. She nodded. “God took care of us.” But we were not home yet. 

    This new level in the subway posed new problems. Which way to go now? The crowd of  a few minutes earlier was gone and we were left standing with only a woman and her baby in a stroller.

    “You got us this far, Lord. Which way now? Which way?” I prayed. My answer came in the form of a very tiny lady in a blue shirt and slacks who suddenly appeared in front of me. “Where you goin’ Honey?” she asked. “We are trying to get back to the airport,” I told her. “My friend here is sick, and I need to find the right subway car to get her there.”

    Her smile was huge as she instructed me, “You stay right here, facin’ this way,” she replied. “Don’t move ‘cause this car that’s comin’ is gonna take you to the airport. You stand in this spot you are in now, and the doors will open right in front of you.”

    “We are almost there!” I smiled excitedly at the young woman as I turned with an “Oh, thank….” But the tiny lady in the blue shirt who had helped us was gone. We looked  around everywhere for her, but she, too, had disappeared in seconds.

    Would you believe that the subway car opened its doors directly in front of us? Yes, it did. And we were able to get back to the airport, to a shuttle, and to the hotel to begin healing about 15 minutes later.

    I have no plans to go back to Atlanta and the Georgia Dome anytime in the future. But one thing I do know: if I ever ride the MARTA again, God will provide angels on the subway to get me home.

    Father, you are amazing. Being lost is always so hard for me. Thank you for sending help just when I needed it. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

R.A.P. it up

Reflect

• Have you ever been in a situation where you panicked because you were “lost” as to what to do, and received help from a stranger?

• When you are faced with a hard situation, what do you do first? Pray or panic?

Apply

• The next time you are confronted with a problem with seemingly no solution, ask the Lord to send help to you and watch as He is faithful.

• Do not forget to thank Him for answering your prayer.

Power 

• Exodus 23:20 (NIV) “See, I am sending an angel ahead of you to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place I have prepared.”

• Psalm 91:11-12 (NIV) “For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.”

• Luke 4:10 (NIV) “For it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you to guard you carefully . . .”