STANDING SOMEWHERE

IN THE SHADOWS

I am reminded of a dark dark day.  There is no sunshine, no shadows.  The wind is howling, and the storm is coming.  And then I think of people who are standing in shadows in their lives.  Their world is dark like a thick cloud has surrounded them.  Are you in that situation, my friend?  There is no light on your pathway?

I am reminded of what it would be like to drive at night on a dark, lonely road.  You can hardly see the way ahead of you, curves ahead and a cliff on one side.  That is what life is like sometimes in our lives.  We can’t see the end from the beginning of our trials, and they seem to go on and on.  And there is loneliness, and we feel like there is not a person in the world who understands our fears and frustrations.  We may feel like no one really cares.  Or we may actually be alone in this world. 

Maybe you have lost a dear loved one, a cherished mate.  And you walked together in this life for many years, now you face the years alone.  Maybe you had a promising position in your job, and suddenly you were terminated, and you just feel like a cloud of doom has fallen over you.  There could be any number of reasons we walk through these dark places, places of shadow.  And as I think these thoughts, the Lord reminds me of an old chorus we used to sing many years ago.  It goes like this:

Standing somewhere in the shadows

You’ll find Jesus,

He’s the one who always cares

And understands.

Standing somewhere in the shadows

You’ll find Jesus,

And you will know Him

By the nail prints in His hands.

There is Jesus standing in the shadow of your grief.  There is Jesus standing in the shadows of your loneliness.  There is Jesus standing in the shadows your past mistakes and your fear of the future.

Whatever you are going through this day, just look and there He is clearly standing in the midst of your situation.  And when Jesus comes into the midst of your sorrow, your pain, your rejection, your hurts, He brings His compassion and His love to you.  He is the God of all comfort, Praise the Lord!  And He understands, as He has been there ahead of you, He has walked that path.  When Jesus walked this earth, He was rejected by the very people He came to save.  He was rejected by His own friends, who deserted Him in His darkest hour.

“For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are,  yet without sin.  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need” Hebrews 4:15, 16.

There He is my friend, waiting in the shadows of your life.  Look there ahead through the fog of your despair, the clouds of doubt and fear, look ahead by faith, you will see Him waiting with arms outstretched.  For when you find Him in the shadows of your life, He brings light to your darkness.  “Life itself was in Him, and this life gives life to everyone.  The light shines through the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” (John 1:4-5).

And how will you know Him?  You will know Him by the nail prints in His hands. He has been to the cross of suffering, pierced for our sin.  And it is at the cross that we find healing and redemption for all our needs.

TURN YOUR EYES UPON JESUS

O Soul, are you weary and troubled?

No light in the darkness you see?

There’s light for a look at the Savior,

And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth

Will grow strangely dim

In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting

He passed, and we follow Him there;

Over us sin no more hath dominion –

For more than conquerors we are!

His word shall not fail you – He promised;

Believe Him and all will be well:

Then go to a world that is dying,

His perfect salvation to tell!

Helen Howarth Lemmel (1864-1961)

God bless you, my friends, may the Lord of Glory be that light in your darkness right now, in the Name of Jesus!

Pastor Sharon Besler



FEAR NOT, I AM WITH YOU!

We are living in troubled times.  Men’s hearts are failing them for fear.  Are you living in fear today, my friend?  Do you have a crushing fear that you can’t seem to let go?  Are you fearful of circumstances that come into our lives such as financial problems?  What if I lose my home, my employment?  How can I take care of my children?  And the fears could go on and on.  Are you fearful of the future? 

“The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?  The LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?  When the wicked came against me to eat up my flesh, my enemies and my foes, they stumbled and fell.  Tho an army may encamp against me, my heart shall not fear; though war may rise against me, in this I will be confident” Psalm 27:1-3

He is my Light and my salvation and He is the strength of my life.  And even if you feel like an army is besieging you, you can be confident that no matter what happens in the world around you, in this nation and in our own life, you can say with David “whom shall I fear.”

As a child of God, and when times of fear come, when circumstances cause you to tremble, remember that He is with you. “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear what man can do to me?” Hebrews 13:5-6.  In the midst of fear He tells you that He is always with you and will walk with you through life’s problems.

Also in the midst of fearful times, He says “I Am Your God!”  He is saying that “you belong to me, dear child, and nothing is impossible with me.  There is nothing that you and I can’t handle together every day, because you are my child and I love you.”  And it is so wonderful to know that it is not only the big things in our lives that God handles, but He takes care of the small insignificant details of our lives. We can just ask Him all day long to handle every problem that may arise, and you will be amazed at the little surprises that He will bring into our lives.

In all our fearful times and life’s problems, He promises to “help” us.  “God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble.  Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give away and mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging” Psalm 46:1-3.  Even though we may see great earthquakes and hear of great hurricanes, with wind and waves roaring, He still is in control and calms our fears.  What a wonderful God we serve!

In Isaiah 41:13 we read:  “For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’”

I heard a beautiful teaching on hands.  Do you know that there are over 2,000 examples of hands in the Bible?  Look at your hands.  Do you know that is each hand there are twenty bones?  Your hands are special and God’s hands are special.

Have you recently looked at a newborn baby’s hands?  They are so precious and so perfectly formed with tiny little fingers and fingernails.  And I love to hold the hands of the elderly, sometimes so soft, but so worn and lined with the years of hard labor.

We see the hands of God in this chapter of Isaiah, taking hold of our hands and telling us not to fear.  He is like our earthly fathers who would take our hand as a little child and tell us not to fear, I’m here.  I love the promise in Isaiah 49:16 and it bears repeating again to remind us of His tender love and His precious hands.  “See , I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.”

Every time He looks at His hands he sees you written there.  I visited a dear elderly man and reminded him of this promise, and he continually looked down at His hands, and he said, “But that is millions of people.” And I reminded him that he was there too!  God had his name written there.  When I left his home he was still looking at his hands.  We are safe from all the fears of this life and the terror that may come upon this world, safe in His hands!

Then there are the beautiful hands of Jesus, His healing hands.  We remember how He touched the blind eyes, the lame, the withered hand and He is still healing today and healing His people with His precious hands.  And I am reminded that His hands are nail scarred.  For He loved us so much that he took those nails for our sins upon that cross, our Precious Lord!

I want to remind you that all of us face fear at some time in our walk with the Lord, but He wants to remind us today that we are special.  He is with us and never leaves us.  He is our God and He comes along side of us to help us and to strengthen us in all our days and all our ways.  And when He comes along side of us, we don’t have to fear the things coming on us or on this world.  All the torments of fears and anxieties have to leave when He is near, and then He brings peace to our fearful and troubled hearts.

In His Name,

Pastor Sharon Besler



MY CONTINUED PRAYER

ADVENTURE WITH MY LORD

GIVING HIM MY REQUESTS AND

THANKSGIVING



 Again, as we look at the world around us, and in our nation, we see a world in turmoil.  We see great needs in people’s lives. People need the Lord.  People need healing, physically and spiritually.  People need peace.  And we all have great needs in our own lives, and a great need to be in prayer.  God is calling His Church to prayer, and He is calling each one of us to prayer, to pray for our nation,for our missionaries, for our Pastors and for our churches, and for the salvation of souls.

P - PRAISE AND WORSHIP, A – ACKNOWLEDGING, R- REQUESTS, T - THANKSGIVING.

In this section of your PRAYER ADVENTURE, you will be encouraged to offer up your prayer requests to “Throne of Grace.”  “Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” Hebrews 5:16

We are a needy people, and we know others who have great needs.  And our Lord invites us to come to Him with those needs.  I would encourage you to keep a prayer list in a journal or notebook, as the Lord brings needs to your attention.  Then as you see the Lord begin to answer your prayer, you can make a note there that that prayer has been answered.  Praise the Lord!  It seems in this day and time my prayer list keeps getting longer and longer. 

You may not have time to pray for all of your prayer requests at one time, but the Lord will bring them to your remembrance at the time they are needed, and He will lead you to pray for them.  Don’t forget to forget to ask God to direct and bless you own day as you live for Him.

HERE ARE SOME PROMISES TO ENCOURAGE YOUR FAITH!

 (Mark 11:24)  “What things so ever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them     and you shall have them.”

(Matthew 21:22)  “And all things whatsoever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive.”

(Psalm37:4) “Delight thyself also in the Lord: and He shall give thee the desires of thy heart.”

(John 15:7) “If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it will be done unto you.”

(John 16:24) “Until now you have not asked for anything in My name.  Ask and you shall receive and your joy shall be complete.” (NIV)

HERE ARE SOME TRUTHS TO ACCOMPLISH RESULTS!

There is an incredible secret, when it is known and followed that will bring amazing answers to prayer.  It was given by Jesus Himself.  He said in (John 14:13), “Whatsoever ye shall ask in My name that will I do.”  Here is the key!  It is more than just ending your prayers with the words in Jesus’ Name. Rather it is to know and understand all that is included in His Wonderful Name.

Jesus taught His disciples, when you pray, (Matthew 6:9), say:  “Our Father which art in Heaven hallowed be thy name.”  It means to hallow (make holy) the use of His name and all that it implies whenever you pray.  Prayer should be addressed to the Father, and His name hallowed and made known, presented before the Father.  Jesus Christ, Himself, has given you the authority to use His name and all that it implies whenever you pray.  All that is included in His name should be used in prayer because His name has all the authority and power of Heaven in it when used correctly and knowingly.

(Psalm 9:10) “And they that KNOW (and understand) thy name will put their trust in Thee.”

(Psalm 91:14-15) “I will set him on high (place of authority) because he hath known (and understood) my name.  He shall call upon me and I will answer him.”

(Psalm 34:3: “O magnify the Lord with me and let us exalt (or use in prayer) His name together.”

This is the secret key to answered prayer:  Learning to use the many names of Jesus, in all their power, as they may apply to various needs in your life. There are over 200 names of Jesus, found in the Bible and any or all of them may be used in your prayers.  Many only use the name, “Jesus,” but His other names should be used in your prayers as well and applied to any special need you might have.

When you fail:  Pray, “Our Father in the name of Jesus, my Advocate, My Great High Priest, I…

When in sorrow:  Pray, “Our Father, in the name of Jesus, the God of All Comfort, The Balm of Gilead, I come…”

When you are sick:  Pray, “Our Father, in the name of Jesus, the Great Physician, the Lord who healeth me, I come…”

When your faith is weak:  Pray, “Our Father, in the name of Jesus, the Author and Finisher of my Faith, My Resting Place, He who is Faithful and True, I come…”

When you feel defeated:  Pray, “Our Father, in the name of Jesus, my Strong Tower, my Hiding Place, I come…”

HERE ARE A FEW OTHER NAMES OF JESUS YOU CAN USE!

He is the Altogether Lovely One:     (Song of Solomon 5:16)

He is the Beginning and the End:    (Revelation 1:18)

He is our Counselor, Mighty God:    (Isaiah 9:6)

He is our Deliverer:                           (Romans 11:26)

He is the Father of Mercies:              (2 Corinthians 1:3)

He is the God of all Grace:               (I Peter 5:10)

He is He that Liveth:                         (Revelation 1:18)

He is the King of Glory:                    (Psalm 24:10)

He is the Lord of All:                         (Acts 10:36)

He is the Hope for His People:          (Joel 3:16)

He is My Helper:                                (Hebrews 13:6)

He is the Upholder of All things:     (Hebrews 1:3)

And the last section of your PRAYER ADVENTURE is your thanksgiving to your Lord for the wonderful things He has done in your life.  Thank Him for health, strength and other benefits.  Thank Him for freedom, family, food, shelter, clothes and every other kind of blessing His love provides you.  The list is almost endless.  Enjoy the thrill of compiling your own list of all these benefits which your Lord has sent into your heart and life, and add to it daily.

(1 Thessalonians 5:18), “In everything give thanks for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”

(Psalm 118:29) “O give thanks unto the Lord; for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever.”

So as I have presented this PRAYER ADVENTURE: P.A.R.T., I pray you will continue to walk in a deeper relationship with your Lord, and blessings on your life as you learn more and more about His love and plan for your life.

Pastor Sharon Besler

MY CONTINUED”PART” IN PRAYER

ACKNOWLEDGING

MY SIN

In this second section of your PRAYER ADVENTURE,  I am reminding you of the acronym “PART.”  I pray that you will be continually blessed as you seek the Lord in Praise and Worship of our Wonderful Lord  as we come to a new step in prayer.

  P - PRAISE AND WORSHIP, A - ACKNOWLEDGING, R- REQUESTS, T - THANKSGIVING.

This portion of your PRAYER ADVENTURE is designed to help you in one of the more difficult areas of our Christian life.  This is because we are often filled with self-pride and it becomes uncomfortable to have to admit to any wrong, either to ourselves or to God.  Yet God has said in His Word in (Psalm 66:18) “If I regard iniquity (hold sin unconfessed) in my heart, the Lord will not hear me.”

Thus all wrong must be confessed and made right for our prayers to be answered.  Thus it becomes absolutely essential that we admit to God our short comings, our failures, and our sins, so that God will forgive and cleanse our heart.

Confession involved three things:  Agreeing that you have sinned and be specific, remembering that Christ’s death on the cross paid the penalty for that sin.  Repentance – turning away from that sin, and changing our attitudes about that sin.  Repentance is to turn and go the other way, or to run away from that sin.

Don’t be afraid to say “Lord, I blew it!”  May I suggest that you use this section and write out your failures before the Lord in a journal or notebook. You might want to abbreviate those things you do not want anyone else to know about.  The important thing is to be honest with God and yourself.  You will be amazed how tender your heart will become toward God when everything has been made absolutely right between you and Him.  Although this is a humbling experience, it can be most rewarding and beneficial to you and to your spiritual life and growth. 

In prayer ask the Holy Spirit to reveal any sins in your life.  List those things in your journal or notebook.  Confess those things to the Lord.  Write 1 John 1:9 across those sins, and thank God for complete deliverance.

Here is a verse to help you:

(Psalm 32:5)  “I said, I will confess my transgressions to the Lord and You forgave the iniquity of my sin.”

As you grow in the Lord in this area of your life, you will be able to ask God to search even deeper into the inner chambers of your heart.  As you do you will find tremendous blessing and help as you study this area in the Word of God. You will find verses that will be of additional value and help in developing your Christian life, as well as your prayer life.  You will find yourself becoming more and more like the Lord you love.  And that is what is really important.  What a thrill!

HERE ARE SOME VERSES TO HELP YOU GET STARTED!

(Psalm 51:10) “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

(Psalm 44:12) “Shall not God search this out?   For He knoweth the secrets of the heart.”

(I John 2:1), “My little children, these things write I unto you, that you sin not.  And if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.”

(Psalm 130:3 “If thou Lord, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?  But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.”

(Psalm 119:11) “Thy Word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee.”

May God bless you this week as you continue in your PRAYER ADVENTURE, and may the Holy Spirit lead you and guide you in this important area of your walk with the Lord.

Pastor Sharon Besler

MY PRAYER ADVENTURE

WITH MY GOD

As we look at the world around us, and in our nation, we see a world in turmoil.  We see great needs in people’s lives. People need the Lord.  People need healing, physically and spiritually.  People need peace.  And we all have great needs in our own lives, and a great need to be in prayer.  God is calling His Church to prayer, and He is calling each one of us to prayer, to pray for our nation, for our missionaries, for our Pastors and for our churches, and for the salvation of souls.

And as a Christian, have you ever wished for a more meaningful prayer life and a closer walk with the Lord?  If so, this PRAYER ADVENTURE is for you!

Because prayer is the KEY to the Christian life, because God’s Word commands every Christian to pray; and because most of us need all the help we can get; this PRAYER ADVENTURE is provided as a helpful tool.  It is designed especially to help you develop a deeper and more meaningful prayer life and a closer walk with your Lord.  The suggestions given are only a guide and a basis on which you can build and enlarge our Christian experience.

To help you in your prayer life, I am going to introduce to you an acronym called “PART.”  This is a PRAYER ADVENTURE to meet God on a regular basis, and I pray that this will be an aid to you in your walk with the Lord. 

P - PRAISE AND WORSHIP

A - ACKNOWLEDGING

R - REQUESTS

                T - THANKSGIVING.

I will be covering the section on Praise and Worship to get you started , and will continue in succeeding weeks.  God’s “PART” in this adventure will be to meet with you, to speak to you through His Word and to hear your every prayer.  He has promised to reveal Himself to you and to answer your prayers according to His will.  You will find your faith growing.  Your prayer life will be increasing and your spiritual growth increasing and expanding far beyond anything you can ever imagine.

 “Whoso offereth praise glorifies me”

(Psalm 50:23)

This portion of your PRAYER ADVENTURE is devoted to helping you to praise and worship your Lord as part of your prayer time.  Spending a portion of time in praise and worship will begin to overwhelm you with a wonderful sense of God’s unfailing love and goodness.  Your prayer time can be as long or as short as you feel comfortable. However, you are encouraged to spend at least some of your prayer time in praise to God for WHO He is, rather than just for WHAT He gives you. Think of all the things that represent Who He is.  You can write them out as heartfelt praise to Christ your King of kings.

Here are some suggestions to help you get started.  Begin by telling the Lord how much you love Him.  Praise Him for His enduring love and faithfulness; His awesome Majesty; His perfect Holiness; His invincible Might; His Power and His tender Mercies.  Praise Him for being your Savior, your Redeemer,  your King of kings and Lord of Glory and His other characteristics as you discover them in your Bible.

Here are a few names of God to help you get started:

He is El Shaddai, “God Almighty” – (Genesis 17:1, Genesis 35:11, Genesis  43:14) Praise Him for being your All Sufficient One.  He is everything you need.

He is Jehovah Rophi, “The God Who Heals” – (Exodus 15:26, Exodus 23:25), Praise Him for being your healer, whether you have physical, spiritual or emotional needs, He is there for you. 

He is Jehovah Jireh, “The God Who Provides” – (Genesis 22:14) Praise Him for being your provider, remember Philippians 4:19:  “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” 

He is Jehovah Shalom, “The God of Peace” – (Judges 6:24) Are you troubled today?  Praise Him for being your peace!  The world cannot give you peace, but Jesus promises:  “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you.  Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  John 14:27

These are just a few of His Wonderful Names or attributes, and you can use in your praise and worship for whatever is going on in your life at the moment. 

You were created primarily to PRAISE GOD!  The Lord longs for your praises, not just for Himself, but that through your worship and praise He can bless you.  He deserves our praise, of course, but He also delights in having us provide the right worship and praise atmosphere by which He can come down and meet us in blessing, to touch and refresh our lives.  Such praise is definitely for our benefit as well as for His honor and glory. 

The more you worship and praise the God of Glory, the more like Him you will become.  What a tremendous privilege is ours to enter the Throne Room of Heaven and to lift our hearts in praise and worship to our Lord.

“Give unto the LORD the glory due unto His Name,

And worship the LORD in the beauty of Holiness.”

(Psalm 29:2)

There are many other wonderful verses in the Bible that challenge our hearts to offer praise to God.  Watch for them as you spend time in His Word, especially in the Psalms.  For example in Psalm 150, you will be encouraged to praise the Lord thirteen different times.  Your heart will gradually overflow with adoration to our Lord Jesus Christ, as you become more and more proficient in praise to God. 

May God bless you as you enter this PRAYER ADVENTURE with Him.

Pastor Sharon