{"id":21404,"date":"2017-06-02T00:10:49","date_gmt":"2017-06-02T07:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lccredding.com\/lcc\/?p=10929"},"modified":"2017-06-02T00:10:49","modified_gmt":"2017-06-02T07:10:49","slug":"june-2-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/2017\/06\/02\/june-2-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"June 2, 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u201cGod is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.\u201d<\/em> Psalm 46:1<\/span><\/p>\n

A Present Help<\/span><\/strong><\/h2>\n

Recently I endured a painful rebuff from someone I love dearly. I never dreamed it could happen. This person is such a bright spot in my life, bringing laughter, joy, and fun with every visit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Because others were nearby, I stuffed it deeply lest I should burst out in tears and ruin everyone else\u2019s day, while bringing unwanted pity from them, and, worse, perhaps prompting someone else to step in and fix a problem that isn\u2019t theirs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I went to bed in anguish of spirit, but immediately the Lord ministered the truth to my heart. \u201cPursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord; looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled\u2026\u201d<\/em> (Hebrews 12:14-15). Right then, I knew what I was called to do. Pursue peace with this person; pursue holiness; live fully in the grace of God; don\u2019t allow the root of bitterness that causes trouble and defiles us all.<\/span><\/p>\n

Then forgiveness came to mind. \u201c\u2026bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do\u201d<\/em> (Colossians 3:13). I forgave this person immediately. I knew that if I didn\u2019t, I would have far more to deal with than the provocation. In fact, I would be in sin. \u201cTherefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin\u201d<\/em> (James 4:17).<\/span><\/p>\n

Then I remembered the enemy of my soul. I fought against him all night as I awoke again and again, rehearsing hurtful words, grief washing over my soul. Each time, what came to me was, \u201cSet your mind on things above, not on things on the earth\u201d<\/em> (Colossians 3:2). I began to purposefully turn my mind away from the hurt and toward the peace and love of the Good Shepherd, toward His many promises, toward all the good He has done for me in the past.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies, Who satisfies your mouth with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle\u2019s\u201d<\/em> (Psalm 103:2-5). Instead of the hurt done to me, this is what I rehearsed in my mind.<\/span><\/p>\n

Satan did not give up easily, but with every attack of his came a corresponding Word from the Lord, reminiscent of when Jesus was led into the wilderness and tempted by the devil. I had the real sense of being \u201cfought for,\u201d as if it wasn\u2019t me fighting but my Warrior King, Jesus, the very Word of God. \u201cAnd take\u2026 the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God\u2026\u201d<\/em> (Ephesians 6:17b).<\/span><\/p>\n

Store up the rich Word of God in your heart and mind. It will come to you in time of trouble.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cJesus, thank You for making Your Word come alive at the just the right moment. We pray with all gratitude. Amen.\u201d<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cGod is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.\u201d Psalm 46:1 A Present Help Recently I endured […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21404","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-women"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p92wjD-5ze","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21404","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21404"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21404\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21404"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21404"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lccredding.org\/church\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21404"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}