Scripture:

Nahum 1:9

Whatever they plot against the Lord
he will bring to an end;
trouble will not come a second time.

Observation:

Strong Dads

When we are young, we feel the strength of our father; if any was a superman, it was Dad; no one could compare to how strong, how smart, how capable he was.   "My Dad is bigger than your Dad."  We would tell our friends.   He was our protector, and that is what we discover today in our portion: God is a Father to us. He sees everything; nothing escapes Him, and when trouble comes into your life, He is not sitting idle by. This verse reminds us that "He will not let it come a second time."   David said the Lord is my Rock (Psalm 18:2), He is my refuge (Psalm 57:1), Proverbs says His name is a strong tower.   This verse reminds us that we can trust that our struggles, our tears, our cries do not go unheard, and that we are not alone in our situation. 

Application:

Our God-Shot is to trust God in the process, when the answer seems long, or that you have been in the waiting for a time, to know that He is at work; He will withhold the walls that would try to crush you (Exodus 14), with you in the fire (Isaiah 43:2), He is your fourth man in the fire (Daniel 3:25).   It is not that evil days won’t happen, struggles won’t occur the promise here is that will deliver us from the hand of the enemy.

Today, no matter what the attack is:

• Financial
• Emotional
• Physical 
• Health
• Emotional

You can know that the Lord is at work and will not let it devour you but is at work to deliver you from it.  Trust Him in the struggle.

Prayer:

Lord, I pray for those who are in it, in the struggle today, that you would not allow the enemy to strike again, that you would withhold the enemy from their lives, strengthen them, be their refuge, shelter in this time, that they would overcome this and it would not RISE up again, in Jesus' name, Amen!

Scripture:

2 Chronicles 32:7-8

7 “Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. 8 With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.

With Us

The enemy comes to distract, discourage, and destroy our strength to convince us that there is no help.  That is what the King of Assyria did; he came shouting how he had defeated the other nations and how their god could not save them.    But King Hezekiah, like David, did not come in his own strength, but came in the strength of the Lord.   We must recognize that our greatest strength is not ours, our ability, but rather His; it is our being "With Him" that changes everything.   See, when we give the problem to the LORD, we already step into victory; His strength never fails; He never grows weary, never afraid, never weak, always able.   And Hezekiah recognized it: 

• "For there are more with us than with him"
• "With him is an arm of flesh, but with is the Lord our God." 

Who is With Us is What Matters Most

Our God-Shot today is our approach to anything we face, that we would bring it before the Lord, that we would lay it out, that we would seek His presence, His strength, His wisdom, and that we too would not come in our name, our strength, our wisdom, but His and that what we see is that the Battle Now Belongs to Him.

Whatever you are warring against, struggling with this week, turn it over to Him, He has the answer, the power, the fortitude to overcome it.

Father, I pray for those who are in the battlefield this week, that you would strengthen them, that they would see that greater is He who is with them than those who are against them, that they would find the victory in you, in Jesus' name, Amen!

Scripture:

2 Kings 20:9-10

9 Then Isaiah said, “This is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing which He has spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees or go backward ten degrees?” 10 And Hezekiah answered, “It is an easy thing for the shadow to go down ten [a]degrees; no, but let the shadow go backward ten degrees.”

He is ABLE

Our pitfall in prayer sometimes is that we measure our request based on our ability to accomplish; it's not that we don't have faith, but rather that we are not using it.   Here, Hezekiah is not doubting that God can heal him; he just wants some confirmation.   That makes this prayer even more awesome; not only did God hear Hezekiah's cry, His prayer, but He assured Him that it would be done.   

Good news, you and I have access to the same God, with the same power, the same ability to check this out: Turn back Time! To heal what would have been terminal, the God I serve, the one you serve, He is able! 

Our God-Shot today is that we would not limit God by our ability to accomplish what we are facing, or to overcome it, but that we would measure our ask based on the amazing things that God can do.   We may be limited, but He is not; we may not be able to overcome the impossible, but He can.

Don't fall into the prayer-pitfall of your ability but lean on the power of the one "WHO CAN." Do ALL THINGS.

Lord, let our prayers not be limited by our abilities, but may they be powerful to change every situation we face, every need, every wall, every struggle; may they accomplish the impossible in you.  In Jesus' name, Amen!

Scripture:

Isaiah 64:8

But now, O Lord,
You are our Father;
We are the clay, and You our potter;
And all we are the work of Your hand

Today Isaiah paints a picture of God and our relationship to Him.    This portion brings hope as it tells us that God is our Father; like a loving Father, He cares for us.  We are the clay; this should bring us hope, as it tells us that God, as the potter, can work out the things that don't belong in our lives, the imperfections; it means that we are not beyond help, that in God's hands we can be reshaped into the masterpiece we were intended to be.  Because He is the potter, He has the power to transform and shape our lives.   The work of His hand means that even if you thought you didn't have purpose, you do. Every one of us was designed by God with a purpose in mind; we are the work of His hand. 

Father: Shows God cares for His people like a loving parent.

Clay: Means that we can be shaped into the purposes of God.

Potter: He has the power to transform our lives

Work of your hand: Means every person is made with a plan and purpose.

Today's God-Shot is to remember that it is not finished until He is finished with it.   That the Potter is shaping our lives, because we are the work of His hand; He still has a plan and a purpose that He is working out in each of us, and His plans never fail; His purposes will be satisfied; that should give us hope.

Lord, thank you that even in our worst moments, you were still at work in our lives, shaping us, working out the pieces that didn't belong and molding the ones that do; we are the work of your hands. You are carefully and masterfully working them into your purpose. Thank you for this reminder. In Jesus' name, Amen! 

Scripture:

Isaiah 52:7 

How beautiful upon the mountains
Are the feet of him who brings good news,
Who proclaims peace,
Who brings glad tidings of good things,
Who proclaims salvation,
Who says to Zion,
“Your God reigns!”

"Are Your Feet Beautiful?"

When I read this portion I am reminded of what makes beautiful feet.   We would on the surface think delicate, well taken care of, not too big, we have this picture of what they look like.   But this verse speaks of another kind of beauty, the kind that comes from great effort, laboring to get the message, no hill, no hurdle, no wall will keep them from carrying the message, they endure without rest, they labor to bring the "Good News."  

If you have ever seen a ballerina's feet they are worn from the kind of work that their beauty requires, in the ballet shoes they are beauty in perfection, but outside they are evidence of the work that is required to accomplish such beautiful work.

Our God-Shot today is that we should as the messagers of the gospel, labor with all that is within us to carry the message to those who need to hear the good news, to be redeemed, that none should fail to hear it.   We have been called to carry it to the end of the earth.  

So, I ask you "How Beautiful are your Feet?"

Lord, let us not become weary in doing good, carrying your good news, may it be our magnum opus, our life's work, laboring for you and your kingdom, may our feet always be beautiful in Jesus' name, Amen