Hope – Go Be Radiant

Set My Feet Upon the Rock

July 8, 2023suzieinglis

Has there ever been a time in your life or that of a loved one when you were in a really difficult situation? Maybe a time when you felt not just down, but down and out? You felt hopeless? Your circumstances were weighing you down to the point where you just couldn’t see beyond them? You couldn’t see a way out? Maybe you were bogged down with fears and worries, anxieties.

We’re going to look at a Psalm written by David that describes that kind of scenario. I find that the Psalms are a helpful and comforting place to go when you are feeling strong emotions and need to be reminded that God understands and that He hears you.

Psalm 40:1-2 reads:

I waited patiently for the Lord;
    he turned to me and heard my cry.
²He lifted me out of the slimy (horrible) pit,
    out of the mud and mire;
he set my feet on a rock
    and gave me a firm place to stand.

Barnes notes on the Bible defines a “pit” as “… a cistern; a prison; a dungeon; a grave…It may refer to any calamity – or to trouble…”

When we look at the word describing the pit, “Horrible” – “means ‘noise, uproar, tumult, as of waters; of a crowd of men; of war. Then it seems to be used in the sense of ‘desolation’ or ‘destruction,’ as applicable to the grave.”

If we were to put these ideas together, we could say perhaps that it’s “…a cavern, deep and dark, where the waters roar…” It is also rendered “a lake of misery.” “It is a deep and horrid cavern, where there is no hope of being rescued, or where it would seem that there would be certain destruction.”

Pretty dark imagery, right? Certain destruction doesn’t really invoke feelings of hope, does it?

The bottom of the “pit” is not solid. There is no rock on which to stand. It’s all mud and mire. You can picture it, can’t you? Dark. Thick. Heavy. If you were in that pit, would you feel the unrest of not having anything firm on which to stand?

We see an example of this with the prophet, Jeremiah in Jer. 38:6.

“So they took Jeremiah and put him into the cistern of Malkijah, the king’s son, which was in the courtyard of the guard. They lowered Jeremiah by ropes into the cistern; it had no water in it, only mud, and Jeremiah sank down into the mud.”

In the psalm, David says, “I waited patiently…” which, though difficult, is exactly what God would have us do. However, that doesn’t mean that David was inactive while he waited. He didn’t just slump down, wallow in his misery and surrender. He cried out to the Lord and trusted that the Lord would rescue him.

What was the Lord’s response?

“…he turned to me and heard my cry.” God hears the cries of His people. He hears your cries.

David then describes being lifted out of the thick, miry, mud. Where is he lifted to? A rock.

“…he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” When you think about a rock, it’s the opposite of mud. It’s solid, strong, stable, secure…just like the Lord.

Ps. 18:2
“The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”

Ps. 62:7
My salvation and my honor depend on God; he is my mighty rock, my refuge.

Barnes notes on the Bible elaborate on what took place when the Lord set David’s feet on a rock and gave him a firm place to stand.

“And established my goings – Or, fixed my steps. That is, he enabled me to walk as on solid ground; he conducted me along safely, where there was no danger of descending to the pit again or sinking in the mire.”

So even though it looked like there was no way out, like certain destruction – seemingly hopeless, no possibility of rescue, God stepped in. He lifted the Psalmist out (that’s praise-worthy in and of itself) and then God set his feet on solid ground.

I wonder if we could liken this a bit to a wilderness rescue scenario. Imagine a hiker becomes injured and is unable to get himself out of the mountains. The rescue helicopter comes and lifts him out. There is relief in that alone…but there is more to do. The helicopter gets him to a place where he can heal and move on with his life. Isn’t that what God does for us?

See my blog post, The Path We’re On.

Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary wraps up our Psalm this way:

“Doubts and fears about the eternal state, are a horrible pit and miry clay, and have been so to many a dear child of God… The psalmist waited patiently; he continued believing, hoping, and praying. This is applicable to Christ. His agony, in the garden and on the cross, was a horrible pit and miry clay. But those that wait patiently for God do not wait in vain.”

“Christ is the Rock on which a poor soul can alone stand fast. Where God has given steadfast hope, he expects there should be a steady, regular walk and conduct. God filled the psalmist with joy, as well as peace in believing.”

The next time you find yourself in a “pit”, let me encourage you to wait patiently, remember God knows where you are, He understands, and He hears you. Look to Him, pray to Him. Trust and believe that He has all the power to lift you out and set your feet on the Rock.

With this in mind, let us go be radiant this week.

Beyond the Cross

April 7, 2023April 7, 2023suzieinglis

Today is Good Friday and it seems unfitting to call a day when Jesus was crucified on a cross after being severely beaten, “Good.” What Jesus experienced that day and what led up to it, epitomizes the concept of suffering, which we rarely, if ever, label as good. However, when we zoom out and see what God does after Jesus’ death on the cross, our perspective changes, doesn’t it?

God RAISED Jesus from the dead!

Romans 4 tells us:

^23 “The words ‘it was credited to him’ were written not for him alone, ²⁴but also for us, to whom God will credit righteousness—for us who believe in him who raised Jesus our Lord from the dead. ²⁵He was delivered over to death for our sins and was raised to life for our justification.”

Did you notice what verse 25 does? It gives a reason for Jesus’ death AND a different reason for His resurrection. His death was for our sins, however, His resurrection was for our justification.

Romans 5:1 gives us some additional insight, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,…”

What justifies us? Faith. Faith in what? In the resurrection!
According to the bible

It’s easy to believe that someone died but believing that someone was raised from death to life – that’s hard. Remember “Doubting Thomas?” He didn’t doubt Jesus died, he doubted that He was raised from the dead. See John 20:24-29.

Believing Jesus was raised from the dead requires faith – faith that the One who created the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them, raised Jesus from the dead. This is the faith that was, and still should be, proclaimed.

Paul, in Romans 10, explains the message of faith that he and his companions proclaim:

⁸… “The word is near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart,”^[d] that is, the message concerning faith that we proclaim: ⁹If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved. ¹¹As Scripture says, “Anyone who believes in him will never be put to shame.”^[e]

Not only does Paul speak of these things but notice what Peter does as he begins to preach the Gospel. Acts 1:21-22 stresses the need for finding someone to replace Judas, the betrayer, to “become a witness” of Jesus’ resurrection. There is no indication in the Bible that every apostle saw Jesus die on the cross, in fact, only John is mentioned by name. However, we do know that all of them saw Jesus after God raised Him from the dead.

^21 “Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, ²²beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

Acts 10:39-43 emphasizes what we just read in Acts 1.

³⁹“We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, ⁴⁰but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. ⁴¹He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. ⁴²He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead.”

So as we think about “Good Friday,” let us remember that Jesus was crucified for our sins but He was raised for our justification. If Jesus had not been raised from the dead, the apostle Paul writes that we would still be dead in our sins.

1 Cor. 15:17, ^“And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins.”

Let us rejoice that our faith is NOT futile, that we are NOT still in our sins, for us who believe, because God raised Jesus from the dead and it is no longer we who live, but Christ in us!

Let us go be radiant, reflecting this truth as we celebrate Easter this Sunday. Wishing you a very joyful Easter!

Breathe Life

April 16, 2022suzieinglis

If you’ve had a rough day, a tough week or a less than stellar year thus far, would you allow me to gently turn your eyes to a reason we can celebrate? Three words will help us get there. Ready? They are: He is Risen! Three days after Jesus’ death on the cross, God raised Jesus from the dead! What a reason to rejoice! While it doesn’t change any difficult circumstances in our lives right now, it does give us an encouraging eternal perspective and reminds us of the hope we have in Jesus.

We see this hope in the earliest portions of Genesis in the creation account. The Creation Museum, a place I had the pleasure of experiencing on my recent visit to Kentucky, stays true to its name and has displays, exhibits, short films and more, taking its visitors back in time to the days of the beginning of the world.

Genesis 2:7 tells us, “⁷Then the Lord God formed a man^[^a^] from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.”

It was the Lord God who literally breathed life into Adam. Think about that for a minute. Our God is a giver of life, and not just a temporary life on this earth. His desire is for something far greater. He desires for us to have eternal life with Him in heaven. He sent His one and only Son to bring that to fruition.

John 6:33-35 says, “³³For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
³⁴“Sir,” they said, “always give us this bread.”
³⁵Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

Jesus gives life to the world! In a time when our world is in distress, we know that those who believe in Jesus have hope.

John 10:10 reminds us, “¹⁰The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” Jesus desires abundant life for us and He tells us how to get it. He says in verse 9, “I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved…” He reiterates this same idea in John 14:6, “⁶Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

We are given, by God, a way to experience eternal life. In the days of Noah, there was one way to be saved. There was one door on the Ark and those who entered it were saved from the destruction of the flood. Today, that door is Jesus.

Just before Jesus was arrested, in John 17:2-3, he looked to heaven and prayed,

“Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. ²For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. ³Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.”

The only TRUE God, who breathed life into Adam, is the same God who raised Jesus and brought Him back to life after 3 days!

If you, or someone you know has not yet looked to Jesus, be encouraged by what Jesus says in John 6:40: “⁴⁰For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day.”

Look to the Son and believe! He will breathe new life, eternal life, into you.

If you have already looked to the Son and believed, may you radiate His glory in your everyday life.

Let us go be radiant as we remember our Risen Savior and the LIFE He has given us. Happy Easter my friends.