"Hold On—Help Is On The Way"

18, June 2017

"Hold On—Help Is On The Way"

‘The hair of his head began to grow again.’ Judges 16:22 NKJV

When we think of Samson we usually think about his failures—the steamy story of him and Delilah. It’s true that Samson lost everything: his hair, his strength, his sight, his position, his family, and his reputation. The mightiest man Israel had ever seen was now in a Philistine dungeon: blinded, humiliated, grinding corn like an ox—a laughing stock.  But it’s not over until God says it’s over!  At his lowest point Samson cried out to God for mercy, and got it.  ‘The hair of his head began to grow again'.  His hair, which was the secret of his strength, was restored.  And as a result his greatest moments in ministry were his last ones!

Today he is mentioned with honor in Hebrews chapter eleven, alongside the other heroes of faith (see Hebrews 11:32). God’s promise is:  ‘Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength' (Isaiah 40:31 NKJV).  You may be hurting right now, but be patient, help is on the way.  You prayed, ‘Lord, I’ve fallen and I can’t get up'. Hold on, God is coming to your aid.  He’s coming to deliver you and set you free.  He’s going to bring you out, set you free from captivity, and restore you.

In the Old Testament when Job the patriarch was battling boils, bankruptcy and bereavement, he said, ‘All the days of my hard service I will wait, till my change comes' (Job 14:14 NKJV).  God restored Job and gave him back twice as much as he lost.  And He wants to do the same for you.  So hold on—help is on the way!

"Let Go Of Your Past"

06, June 2017

"Let Go Of Your Past"

‘Do not call to mind the … past.  Behold, I will do something new.’ Isaiah 43:18–19 NIV

Comedian Jerry Lewis joked that his best wedding gift was a film of the ceremony—because when things got really bad in his marriage he could go into a room by himself, run the film backwards, and walk out a free man!  We smile, but you can’t go back and rewrite history any more than you can unscramble an egg.  When you dwell on the past it’s always at the expense of the future, but when you learn from the past it has the potential to make your future better.

Whenever you find yourself saying, ‘If I knew then what I know now,’ remind yourself that unless you grow you’ll be saying the same thing ten or twenty years from now.  You say, ‘If only I’d been willing to forgive a close friend instead of doling out punishment, maybe I could have kept our friendship together and built an even greater relationship'. Maybe you struggle with the memory of an abortion, wondering about the child who might have been and the joy he or she might have brought. Perhaps you’re a good person who did a bad thing and ended up with a criminal record; now you’re saying, ‘If only …’

Well, here’s what God says:

(1) ‘Your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.’ (1 John 2:12 NLT)

(2) ‘I … will blot out your sins for My own sake and will never think of them again.’ (Isaiah 43:25 NLT)

(3) ‘Do not call to mind the former things, or ponder things of the past. Behold, I will do something new, now it will spring forth …’ The word for you today is: let go of your past.