Tag Archives: Trust in God

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Forever, And Right Now

He is the God of Yesterday, Today, and Forever

PREVIEW: The testimony of history is that the Lord alone is a great and gracious God. Therefore, we should always cast our lot with him, for in the long run, he always wins, and so do his people. When in doubt, put faith in the God of history rather than fear in the difficulty of today and the uncertainty of tomorrow. God is the God of forever! However, most of us, while we might appreciate the importance of history, are more focused on what is facing us today. And the question that always arises for us is if God is great and gracious for us today. And the answer to that concern is a resounding yes.

The testimony of history is that God alone is great and gracious. Therefore, we should always cast our lot with him, for in the long run, he always wins—and so will we.-Ray Noah

MY JOURNEY OF WORSHIP // Psalm 68:19,35

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens….You, God, are awesome in your sanctuary; the God of Israel gives power and strength to his people. Praise be to God.

Honestly, it took me a while to “get” this psalm. Not only did I have to read it through a couple of times, but once I was within the psalm, I had to stop and restart several more times just to figure out what David was trying to say. I now have greater sympathy for those of you who are daily readers of this blog.

My conclusion: This is a great psalm! David is tracing the glorious history of God and his people from their mighty and miraculous deliverance from Egyptian slavery to the enthronement of God’s presence in the sanctuary in Jerusalem. And, in case you didn’t know, that history covers several hundred years—years of ups and downs. But through it all, God always cared for his people, and at the end of the day, led them inexorably toward a preordained victorious conclusion.

The testimony of history, then, is that the Lord alone is a great and gracious God. Therefore, we should always cast our lot with him, for in the long run, he always wins, and so do his people. When in doubt, put faith in the God of history rather than fear in the difficulty of today and the uncertainty of tomorrow. God is the God of forever!

Most of us, however, though we might appreciate the importance of history, are more focused on what is facing us today. And the question that always arises is if God is great and gracious for me today. And the answer to that concern is yes. That is why, after praising God for his mighty and miraculous work throughout Israel’s history, David then says, “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.” He is not only the God of forever, but he is also the God of right now.

You see, history is simply a series of daily experiences. String enough daily events together, and you’ve got history. God’s historical track record is comprised of revelations of his mighty and miraculous character as well as demonstrations of his great and gracious work in the daily lives of people like you and me. And since God is always true to his character, since he is always faithful to his covenant, you can trust that he will bear your needs today and lead you inexorably to a foreordained victorious conclusion, too.

So, what is the takeaway from this psalm? Simply this: How God proved himself to his people, Israel, he will prove himself to you today. He has the history to back that claim up.

He is the God of forever, and of right now!

My Offering of Worship: Are you concerned about things you are facing today or worried about what may happen tomorrow? Since God is faithful, why don’t you declare, “You are the God who never changes, the victorious One who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

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Don’t Lose Your Sparkle

And How to Get It Back If You Have

PREVIEW: Do you ever wonder why there are some people whose eyes just always seem to sparkle? Is it because they have such a naturally sunny disposition? Is it because things are continually going their way? Is it because they are just so much better at life that they outshine the average person? What is it about these sparkly people? Well, it could be any or all of the above factors contribute to their winsome approach to the world. But I would venture to guess that these folks have also developed the ability to practice hopefulness in the midst of all the negative stuff that might send a less hopeful person into the tank. My friend, put your hope in the promises of God.

“The #1 contributing factor that leads people to quit in life—in relationships, in vocation, in spiritual matters—is the failure to practice hope. Friend, choose daily to put hope in God’s promises.” —Ray Noah

A Journey of Worship // Psalm 13:3

Turn and answer me, O Lord my God! Restore the sparkle to my eyes, or I will die.

Do you ever wonder why there are some people whose eyes just always seem to sparkle? Is it because they have such a naturally sunny disposition? Is it because things are continually going their way? Is it because they are just so much better at life that they outshine the average person? What is it about these sparkly people?

Well, it could be any or all of the above factors contribute to their winsome approach to the world. But I would venture to guess that these folks have also developed the ability to practice hopefulness in the midst of all the negative stuff that might send a less hopeful person into the tank.

Aaron Beck, a leading marriage researcher, found the number one belief that kills marriages is that a spouse will never change. Once that belief set in, there was the loss of motivation, surrender of perseverance, and simply giving up. Here’s the thing: Underneath the failure to endure and quitting on the relationship, there was a loss of hope.

The Bible tells us in Proverbs 13:12 that “hope deferred makes the heart sick.” But when hope is practiced, whether in marriage specifically or life in general, there is tremendous motivation not only for growth and change but for that winsome radiance to dominate our personality in a way that both elevates our moods and is consistently visible to those we are around.

That is why we must choose daily to put our hope in the promises of God.

That’s what David did. He practiced hope. In the first two verses of this six-verse psalm, David focused on the overwhelmingly bad things in his life that were dragging him down. But in the last two verses, his focus has shifted to the overwhelming mercy and grace of God — and it changed everything. What did David do to pull off that turnaround?

  1. He prayed. David went to God, pouring out his complaint: “How long, Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I wrestle with my thoughts and day after day have sorrow in my heart? How long will my enemy triumph over me?” (vv. 1-2)
  2. He made a bold request: “Look on me and answer, Lord my God. Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death, and my enemy will say, ‘I have overcome him,’ and my foes will rejoice when I fall.” (vv. 3-4)
  3. He put on hope. He went back into the memory banks of his experience with God and recalled that God had never failed him — not even once — and since God had been faithful in David’s past, it only made sense to trust him in the present: “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.” (v. 5)
  4. He praised. David began to sing of God’s constant goodness and never-ending love: “I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.” (v. 6)

David practiced hope — and before knew it, the sparkle had returned to his eyes.

Hebrews 6:19 says of the practice of hope: “We have this hope as an anchor of the soul, firm and secure.”

And when we practice, too, hope — praying, reflecting, singing — we can expect the sparkle to return to our eyes. As Romans 5:5 says, “hope does not disappoint us.”

My Offering of Worship: If at the moment worrisome circumstances have you feeling down, David’s psalm has provided a recipe for doing the most powerful thing you can do to turn any situation around for your good. He prayed, he asked boldly, he praised, and he put on hope. Try that if you are going through a rough patch, and see if the sparkle doesn’t return to your eyes.

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What Else Could He Do?

Let Jesus’s Death and Resurrection Settle the Issue of Your Confidence in God

UNSHAKEABLE: The grand prize in the cosmic conflict between God and Satan is you! And that battle is most fiercely waged on the field of your trust in the goodness and sovereignty of God. And whoever lays claim to your confidence will command your emotions, capture your thoughts, color your behavior, and very likely, control your destiny — in this life, for sure, and very possibly, in the next. One of the most potent weapons Satan unleashes in the fight is to get you to doubt God’s love and sufficiency. But why would you ever doubt God’s care and competence and unstoppable love when he didn’t even spare his own Son for you? Let Jesus’s death and resurrection settle the issue of your trust and confidence in God.

whoever lays claim to your confidence will command your emotions, capture your thoughts, color your behavior, and very likely, control your destiny — in this life, for sure, and very possibly, in the next. —Ray Noah

Unshakeable Living // Romans 8:32, 35

Since God did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all — won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?

The great thinker C.S. Lewis made a profound observation:

There is no neutral ground in the universe: every square inch, every split second is claimed by God and counterclaimed by Satan.

From what I understand of God’s Word, Lewis was right. And the grand prize in this cosmic conflict is you! The battle is most fiercely waged on the field of your trust in the goodness and sovereignty of God. And whoever lays claim to your confidence will command your emotions, capture your thoughts, color your behavior, and very likely, control your destiny—in this life, for sure, and very possibly, in the next.

One of the most potent weapons Satan unleashes in the fight is to get you to doubt God’s love and sufficiency. If Satan can get you to question God’s commitment to you, to go wobbly on your steadfast belief in God’s care for you and waver in your belief in God’s competence to perfect everything that concerns you, you will live in something far less than the abundance that God desires for you. (John 10:10)

But why would you ever doubt God’s care and competence? How could you ever doubt His unconditional, immeasurable love for you? How could you be anything less than confident in His power to perfect His flawless plan in your life, no matter what your circumstances might be at the moment? What more could He do to prove to you that He’s got you covered?

If God didn’t spare His very own Son from death; if He allowed Jesus to hang for six torturous hours on the cross, receiving the wrath that was rightly meant for you, what more could He do to demonstrate beyond any shadow of doubt His all-sufficient grace and more than enough provision for you? I would submit to you that nothing will convince you if that doesn’t!

Hopefully, if you are in any way doubting God right now — about your past, your future, your sins, your hurts, your circumstances, your finances, your relationships, your place in God’s kingdom — this will be a powerful reminder to reject doubt and recommit yourself at the very core of what you believe to this inalterable truth: God loves you and has an incredible plan for your life! Period.

Get Rooted: Re-read Romans 8:1-39, then memorize Romans 8:32, “Since God did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all—won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?” Meditate on how this verse is to be understood in light of your sinful past (Romans 8:1), your moral weaknesses (Romans 8:5-13), your spiritual identity (Romans 8:14-17), your circumstances, past and present (Romans 8:28), and Satan’s attempts to separate you from God’s love (Romans 8:38-39).

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2023–A Recipe for Personal Peace and Stability

God Holds Tomorrow in His Capable Hands

Synopsis: Who knows what tomorrow will hold? Who knows what is in store for us in 2023? Who knows how things will turn out in this volatile world in the coming months? Who knows? Only God! That’s why we need to fiercely lean into him for today, for tomorrow, and for 2023, expressing our utter dependence on his good purposes being fulfilled in our lives and recognizing his sovereign control over each second of our existence. The Psalmist David understood that people who live under the daily threat of death like he did tend to get that reality better than those of us who live relatively safe, carefree, and easy lives. We tend to slide into the false notion that a pain-free, worry-free, tragedy-free life is our divine right. Not David! He got it right when he wrote, “Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” (Psalm 139:16) So, as scary as tomorrow might seem, take courage, because as a Christ-follower, the sun will come out tomorrow—God will make sure of it!

A Recipe for Personal Peace and Stability - Ray Noah

Moments With God // Psalm 139:16

Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Who knows what will happen tomorrow? Just ask any family whose lives were displayed on the late-night news last evening—whose peace and tranquility was unexpectedly interrupted by some sort of disaster: a car accident coming home from work, a random act of violence outside the restaurant, a massive layoff at the company that no one saw coming, the sudden bacterial infection resistant to all known forms of medication that attacked their child without warning. None of them got up that morning expecting anything close to that would happen during the day that lay ahead.

Who knows what tomorrow will hold? Only God! That’s why we need to fiercely lean into him for this day, expressing our utter dependence on his good purposes being fulfilled in our lives and recognizing his sovereign control over each second of our existence. The Psalmist David understood that people who live under the daily threat of death like he did tend to get that reality better than those of us who live relatively safe, carefree, and easy lives. We tend to slide into the false notion that a pain-free, worry-free, tragedy-free life is our divine right.

Not David! He got it right when he wrote in Psalm 139:16,

Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Only God knows how many days you have and what will happen in each of those days. Only he knows the exact number of your days, and you will not live a day longer nor die a day sooner than what he already has planned for you. That is why it is not wise to get too far ahead of God in your thoughts about tomorrow. Now, obviously, this is not about wise planning and preparation. That is certainly taught throughout the Bible, and a great deal of emphasis is placed on that throughout the Bible. Yet even when wise planning has been followed, Solomon warned in Proverbs 27:1,

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.”

In the New Testament, James offered this wise counsel:

I have a word for you who brashly announce, “Today—at the latest, tomorrow—we’re off to such and such a city for the year. We’re going to start a business and make a lot of money.” You don’t know the first thing about tomorrow. You’re nothing but a wisp of fog, catching a brief bit of sun before disappearing. Instead, make it a habit to say, “If the Master wills it and we’re still alive, we’ll do this or that.” (James 4:13-15, MSG)

What both of these wise men from the Old and New Testament, respectively, are calling for is living with an attitude of gratitude for each and every breath we take, expressing humble dependence on the Almighty for each and every second of our existence, and submitting each and every ounce of our energy today, and if he graciously gives us tomorrow, to use for his good purposes.

When we live that way, we can sing with confidence, “The sun will come out tomorrow.” Maybe that will mean the blazing sunshine of yet another day here on Planet Earth, but if not, the joy of unending days where there is no need for the sun since the indescribable glory of the shining presence of God himself will render our current source of light and heat meaningless.

So, as scary as that might seem, take courage because, as a Christ-follower, the sun will come out tomorrow.

Read and meditate on Psalm 90, and memorize verse 12: “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” Then early and often, quote it to yourself and others!

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The One Thing You Will Never Regret

Put Your Confidence in God

SYNOPSIS: Whenever you step forward in faith, God will do the rest: rivers will part, dry land will appear, walls will fall, enemies will flee, the sun will stand still, and the Land of Promise will become your Land of Possession. You will never regret putting your trust in the Lord.

The Journey // Focus: Joshua 5:1

When all the Amorite kings …and all the Canaanite kings…heard how the Lord had dried up the Jordan River so the people of Israel could cross, they lost heart and were paralyzed with fear because of them.

Contrast this to the story in Numbers 13-14 when the 12 spies returned from surveying Canaan. Ten of them brought a negative report, and it was the people of Israel who lost heart and were paralyzed with fear.

But the ten spies said, “We can’t attack those people; they’re way stronger than we are.” They spread scary rumors among the People of Israel. They said, “We scouted out the land from one end to the other—it’s a land that swallows people whole. Everybody we saw was huge. Why, we even saw the Nephilim giants (the Anak giants come from the Nephilim). Alongside them we felt like grasshoppers. And they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers.” The whole community was in an uproar, wailing all night long. All the People of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The entire community was in on it: “Why didn’t we die in Egypt? Or in this wilderness? Why has God brought us to this country to kill us? Our wives and children are about to become plunder. Why don’t we just head back to Egypt? And right now!” Soon they were all saying it to one another: “Let’s pick a new leader; let’s head back to Egypt.” (Numbers 13:31-14:4, MSG)

What a lost opportunity—if only they had remained faithful to God and confident in his call, the same story that the Israelites experienced in Joshua 5 would have been theirs. That same race of giants, the Nephilim, that made the Israelites feel like grasshoppers were now the ones who were feeling small:

Their hearts sank; the courage drained out of them just thinking about the People of Israel. (Joshua 5:1, MSG)

Joshua 5 could have occurred forty years earlier and the people Moses led out of Egypt would have entered their Promised Land. Instead, they forfeited the promises of God for death in the wilderness because of fear and disobedience. Untold numbers of people died over four decades with the most disheartening words in the library of human language on their lips: if only. What might have been had they just trusted the God who had led them.

Fortunately, the next generation learned a very difficult lesson at their parent’s expense. They witnessed the unbelief of their fathers and mothers, and the harsh consequences of shrinking back in fear, and they determined that while there might be other sins, that particular one would not be theirs. They stepped forward in faith, and behold, God did the rest: rivers parted, dry land appeared, walls fell, enemies fled, the sun stood still, and the Land of Promise became the Land of Possession.

No one has ever regretted trusting God. Obedience to the call of the Lord has never left a person disappointed. No one who has followed God has ever been abandoned by God. No one who stepped out to put God’s promises to the test has ever died with “what might have been if I had just NOT trusted God so much” on their lips. As the prophet said in Jeremiah 17:7-8,

But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
They will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.”

Trust God completely, and you will live a full life of no regrets!

Going Deeper: Trust God! Whatever is before you today, walk into it with confidence. If you are obeying God, he is not only with you, he is before you.

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I Am a Friend of God

It Takes Faith and Hope

Is it even within the realm of possibility for a human being to be known as a friend of God—by God? Yep! Abraham attained the lofty status of God’s friend, and Romans 4:24 says you can, too: “But it’s not just Abraham; it’s also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless.” (MSG)

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 25: 7-8

Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and died at a good old age, an old man and full of years; and he was gathered to his people.

Reading the story of Abraham in Genesis can lead to only one conclusion: This man was a true hero of the faith! Here’s a guy who was saved by faith even before there was a Bible or the Law or Christ’s death and resurrection or a community of faith. God appeared to Abraham one day—we’re not even sure if he’d had any previous interaction with God or if this was simply an out-of-the-blue encounter—and Abraham said, “Okay God—I’m on board. What’s next?” Abraham then went on a life-long journey with God in which he became known as a friend of God—a pretty cool designation, I’d say—the genetic father of God’s people, the Jews, and the spiritual father of all who believe in God’s Son, Jesus Christ:

His faith and his actions worked together. His actions made his faith complete. And so it happened just as the Scriptures say: “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” He was even called the friend of God. (James 2:23)

So the promise is received by faith. It is given as a free gift. And we are all certain to receive it, whether or not we live according to the law of Moses, if we have faith like Abraham’s. For Abraham is the father of all who believe. That is what the Scriptures mean when God told him, “I have made you the father of many nations.” This happened because Abraham believed in the God who brings the dead back to life and who creates new things out of nothing. (Romans 4:16-17)

Obviously, Abraham was a very special man, and the Bible holds him up as an example to emulate for believers like you and me. We all ought to be Abraham-like in the spiritual dimension of our lives. But is that even possible? Is there even the smallest chance that I can develop that same kind of Abraham-like relationship with God? Can I attain a walk with God that will be an Abraham-like example to others? And if it’s possible, then how? Well, it is possible! Paul goes on to say,

But it’s not just Abraham; it’s also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. (Romans 4:24, MSG)

How can we attain friendship with God? I can sum up the “how” in two words: Faith and hope—technically, that’s three words, but work with me! First, you’ve got to make resurrection the foundation of your faith. That’s what Abraham did! Romans 4:17 says, “Abraham believed in the God who brings back the dead to life.” Abraham was a little ahead of his time—like a few thousand years—but he believed in the God of the resurrection. What Paul is referring to here is the story of God’s call to Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac on the altar (you can read the story in Genesis 22), and Abraham’s willingness to actually go through with it. Why would Abraham be willing to do such a thing? Because he had faith in the God of the resurrection—the God who could, and would, raise Isaac back to life again. The truth is, to have that kind of Abraham-like faith, you and I have to have that same Abraham-like trust in the God of the resurrection. If you don’t have a foundational and resolute belief in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, and his promise to resurrect you from the dead, your faith will not only not develop to Abraham-like proportions, it will be meaningless. Paul teaches us in I Corinthians 15:14, “If Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty and your faith is also empty.” In other words, if we have no faith in the God of the resurrection, then I am wasting my energy writing this blog…and you’re wasting your time reading it…and you’ll never come close to living an Abraham-like life of faith. But the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead proves that God is who he said he is and will fulfill what he has promised to do. And the faith you place in the God who resurrects the dead will empower you to live the kind of God-honoring faith that Abraham had. Second, you’ve got to claim resurrection as the basis of your hope. That, too, is what Abraham did. Romans 4:18 tells us that “even when there was no reason for hope, Abraham kept on hoping”…believing in God’s promises that one day he would be the father of many nations when his only son, through whom his lineage would continue, was about to die. In other words, Abraham didn’t let his circumstances dominate his life; he allowed God’s promises to dictate his life. Abraham believed that if Isaac was going to die on the altar, God would raise him to life. That was his hope. I don’t know if you’ve ever thought about this, but the exercise of that kind of hope is arguably the most powerful discipline you can engage as a believer. Count Bismarck said, “Without the hope of [Christian resurrection], this life is not worth the effort of getting dressed in the morning.” He was right! Christian hope is that important, and that powerful. Karl Marx proclaimed that religious hope is the opiate of the people. But Hebrews 6:19 says, “We have this hope as an anchor of the soul, firm and secure.” And Paul writes in Romans 5:5 that this “hope does not disappoint us!” Do you practice hope? I’m not talking about the breezy kind of optimism that Mary Martin sang about in South Pacific when she crooned, “I’m stuck like a dope with a thing called hope.” I’m talking about the exercise of hope that declares that you are choosing to believe in God’s promises, not just in spite of the evidence, but in scorn of the consequences. We’ve been called to practice that kind of hope. Faith, hope and the resurrection…that was Abraham’s secret. I have faith that it will be your secret too…at least I hope so!

Going Deeper: Here is a prayer I would encourage you to offer up right now: “Father Abraham had many sons, and I want to be one of them. I want to offer the same kind of believing faith that led him to follow you without knowing the destination, to obey you when it seemed foolish, and to stare death in the face and express the hope of the resurrection. And I want to be your friend, too! Give me Abraham-like faith!”

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God, Chalk One Up in the Kingdom Win Column Through Me

52 Simple Prayers for 2018

Victorious Christianity isn’t rocket science, is it! It’s actually quite simple: Trust in God + Passionate Supplication = Answered Prayer. Answered Prayer x Answered Prayer = The Victorious Christian Life. When we so order our lives to do the will of God, we have every right—in fact, we have an invitation from God himself—to come before him in bold, expectant prayer, and his promise is to answer us when we call on him. When you string a bunch of those experiences together, you have the makings of an inspiring witness of a life surrendered to and used by God. That’s the kind of life I want to live. How about you?

A Simple Prayer for a Victorious Life:

God, enlarge my capacity to trust, because you answer the prayers of those who honor you with complete confidence. Then, because I have ruthlessly relied on you and because you have powerfully provided for me, may this day be one that can be chalked up in the win column for your kingdom.