It depends on who's looking

Friends,

Here in the United States, Christians are increasingly the targets of scorn and ridicule. While we are as yet spared from the suffering and martyrdom that we see occurring in other countries, our beliefs and moral codes are frequently attacked as bigotry. And yet, this is to be expected. Our Lord reminds us of this ...

Psalm 22:6-8 [NKJV]
But I am a worm, and no man;
A reproach of men, and despised by the people.
All those who see Me ridicule Me;
They shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying,
“He trusted in the LORD, let Him rescue Him;
Let Him deliver Him, since He delights in Him!”

When the world looks at you and me, they see Jesus. And when the world sees Jesus in us, they will hate us. Christ told us to expect this. And He gave us His example of how we are to respond:

Psalm 22:9
But You are He who took Me out of the womb;
You made Me trust while on My mother’s breasts.

Jesus responded by recognizing that, while the world looks at Him as a merely a worm, their point-of-view is irrelevant. The only perspective that matters is the One held by the Father. When He counts us as righteous, then all is good... no matter what happens around us.

Be encouraged, Jose

Looking for ...

Friends,

Have you ever been walking down a street when the aroma of busy kitchen came across you? It smells so good! You look in every direction, excitedly searching for the source of that appetizing scent. You may have just eaten, but you suddenly seem hungry. And even the most stoic of men cannot hide that look of longing and anticipation in their eyes.

Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters,
As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress,
So our eyes look to the LORD our God,
Until He has mercy on us.
Psalm 123:2 [NKJV]

Now we can look and look and look, but normally the chef will not feed us just because we are looking and looking and looking!

But the LORD is different. Indeed, He is unique among all things! When we look for Him, He gives us everything. He gives us all of Himself. He holds nothing back.

Seek the LORD today. You will find His mercy. You will find His love. You will find His patience. You fill find ... Him!

Be encouraged, Jose

Free from death

Friends,

Christ has defeated death, and we who are in Christ are the beneficiaries of that victory.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.” So Moses made a bronze serpent, and put it on a pole; and so it was, if a serpent had bitten anyone, when he looked at the bronze serpent, he lived.
Numbers 21:8-9 [NKJV]

Those who have studied scripture will see that the bronze serpent is a representation of Christ enduring the judgment on our behalf. It is lifted high, as Christ was at Calvary, and all who look upon it are protected from death. Notice, however, that they still get bitten.

Sisters and brothers, we live in a fallen world (in case you had forgotten!). The enemy seeks every day to attack the sons of God through any and all means available. At times, we will feel the sting of injury because of our own stumbling. At other times it will be the result of the ever-present spiritual warfare that is raging around us. Either way, it hurts. Either way, it is quite unpleasant.

Either way, we look to Christ for our survival, our revival our confidence and our salvation.

Be encouraged, Jose