{"id":2300,"date":"2015-08-20T17:43:10","date_gmt":"2015-08-20T23:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=2300"},"modified":"2015-08-20T17:43:10","modified_gmt":"2015-08-20T23:43:10","slug":"the-reliable-source-of-help","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/?p=2300","title":{"rendered":"The Reliable Source of Help"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After a busy day yesterday, more of a normal day today. I had a morning Chiropractor appointment and the took care of some office work before heading to the pool in the afternoon. I am continuing to work on my full recovery.<\/p>\n<p><strong>BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY&#8230;<\/strong> <em>&#8220;<span id=\"en-NCV-15508\" class=\"text Ps-105-3\">Be glad that you are his;<\/span><span class=\"indent-1\"> <span class=\"text Ps-105-3\">let those who seek the <span class=\"small-caps\">Lord<\/span> be happy.<\/span><\/span><span id=\"en-NCV-15509\" class=\"text Ps-105-4\"> Depend on the <span class=\"small-caps\">Lord<\/span> and his strength;<\/span><span class=\"indent-1\"> <span class=\"text Ps-105-4\">always go to him for help.<\/span><\/span><\/em><span id=\"en-NCV-15510\" class=\"text Ps-105-5\"><em> Remember the miracles he has done&#8230;&#8221;<\/em> Psa. 105:3-5 NCV<\/span><\/p>\n<p>God chose Abraham and from Abraham He created a nation. A nation that would know Him and His provision and protection and receive the blessings of what He promised. We this emphasized at the end of Psalm 105 after a recounting of all the ways the Lord provided for His people.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;<span id=\"en-NCV-15548\" class=\"text Ps-105-43\">So God brought his people out with joy,<\/span><span class=\"indent-1\"> <span class=\"text Ps-105-43\">his chosen ones with singing.<\/span><\/span><span id=\"en-NCV-15549\" class=\"text Ps-105-44\"> He gave them lands of other nations,<\/span><span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"indent-1-breaks\">\u00a0 <\/span><span class=\"text Ps-105-44\">so they received what others had worked for.<\/span><\/span><span id=\"en-NCV-15550\" class=\"text Ps-105-45\"> This was so they would keep his orders<\/span><span class=\"indent-1\"> <span class=\"text Ps-105-45\">and obey his teachings.&#8221;<\/span><\/span> <\/em>(Psa.105:43-45)<\/p>\n<p>However, God&#8217;s people were quick to forget what the Lord had done. They did not fully obey the Lord and they became ensnared by the idols and false gods of other nations. As I read the verses above from Psalm 105, I recall Psalm 121:1\u00a0 <em>&#8220;<span class=\"chapter-3\"><span class=\"text Ps-121-1\">I look up to the hills,<\/span><\/span><span class=\"indent-1\"> <span class=\"text Ps-121-1\">but where does my help come from?&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/em><span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"text Ps-121-1\"> What we are to remember is that our help does not come from <em>&#8220;the hills&#8221;<\/em> dotted with the shrines of idols. Our help comes from the Lord.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">Because the Lord is a reliable and sure source of help, it is a cause for joy.<\/span><\/strong> The psalmist says, <em>&#8220;be glad you are his, let those who seek the Lord be happy&#8230;&#8221; <\/em>There is no reason to be anxious or discouraged when the Lord is your source of help.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">We can trust the Lord and the strength He provides<\/span><\/strong>. Psalm 125:1 says, <em>&#8220;<span class=\"chapter-3\"><span class=\"text Ps-125-1\">Those who trust the <span class=\"small-caps\">Lord<\/span> are like Mount Zion,<\/span><\/span><span class=\"indent-1\"> <span class=\"text Ps-125-1\">which sits unmoved forever.&#8221;<\/span><\/span><\/em><span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"text Ps-125-1\"> The Lord is faithful and will not fail as we put our trust in Him. <em>&#8220;He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.<\/em><span class=\"p\"><em>&#8220;<\/em> (Isa. 40:29)<br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">There is no source of help like the Lord<\/span><\/strong>. <em>&#8220;&#8230;always go to Him for help.&#8221; <\/em>This short phrase has two points of emphasis. One is to <em>&#8220;always <strong>go<\/strong> to Him for help.&#8221; <\/em>The Lord does not become weary with our seeking His help. That is why Jesus said, <em>&#8220;ask and keep on asking, seek and keep on seeking&#8230;&#8221;<\/em> (Matt. 7:7) The second point of emphasis is to <em>&#8220;always go to <strong>Him<\/strong> for help.&#8221; <\/em>At times people in their desperation will be tempted to seek help from all kinds of sources, natural and spiritual. While the Lord uses modern medicine it is not to replace for seeking the Lord. Also, other sources of <em>&#8220;spiritual&#8221;<\/em> help can prove to be traps that bring confusion.<\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">The Lord has a good track record<\/span><\/strong>. <em>&#8220;Remember the miracles He has done.&#8221; <\/em>In many of the Psalms we see a recounting of the works and wonders of the Lord. Often times we suffer from a short memory when it comes to the help the Lord has provided. It is important to not only review what the Lord has done as recorded in the Bible, but also our own lives and in the lives of those we know. As we do the Lord&#8217;s actions in the past encourages our faith in the present.<\/p>\n<p>I am thankful for the confidence that comes in times of trial and testing when we know we belong to the Lord and that He is a sure and dependable source of help. When we grasp this we can lift our hearts in gratitude and praise to the Lord.<\/p>\n<p><em><span class=\"chapter-3\"><span class=\"text Ps-105-1\">&#8220;Give thanks to the <span class=\"small-caps\">Lord<\/span> and pray to him..<\/span><\/span><span class=\"indent-1\"><span class=\"text Ps-105-1\">.<\/span><\/span><span id=\"en-NCV-15507\" class=\"text Ps-105-2\">Sing to him; sing praises to him.<\/span><\/em><span class=\"indent-1\"> <span class=\"text Ps-105-2\"><em>Tell about all his miracles&#8230;Praise the Lord.&#8221;<\/em>\u00a0<\/span><\/span> (Psalm 105:1,2,45)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a busy day yesterday, more of a normal day today. I had a morning Chiropractor appointment and the took care of some office work before heading to the pool in the afternoon. I am continuing to work on my full recovery. BIBLE VERSE FOR TODAY&#8230; &#8220;Be glad that you are his; let those who [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2300","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2300","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2300"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2300\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2301,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2300\/revisions\/2301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2300"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2300"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kensummers.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2300"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}