God, my Fortress

Psalm 46:10-11 Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth! The Lord of hosts is with us; The God of Jacob is our refuge.

While meditating on this verse today, I realised one thing, God is our refuge and strength. There is no safe place in this planet with the absence of Him. I could be at the most dangerous place in the planet and still feel safe because of His presence. He alone is my rock and my salvation, He is my fortress, I will never be shaken. There is no safe place without Him. The safest place to be in is in the water where He is, not on the boat where He is not. The safest place to be in is where He is. The safest thing to be found doing what He intends us to do. The context of Psalm 46 is talking about a God who causes wars to cease, breaks through and moves kingdoms at the sound of His voice! It talks about a God who is in the midst of the city of God, helping her just at the break of dawn. It is talking about a strong magnificent all powerful God who is able to do anything by His word. ‘Being still’ talks about a position of surrender of heart to His will and to receive His help rather than to try to do life by ourselves and through our own strength. Truly, it is not by might nor by power, but by His spirit. If God is for us, who can be against us? The Lord of heaven’s armies is by our side. Nothing is impossible for Him. I’d rather rely on the Man sitting on the throne who has the power to create and take away life and our very souls for eternity than an earthly man who can only harm the body in a lifetime. My life and every fiber of my being is in the palms of His hands. I will be still and know that He is God.

Serving His Bride

John 3:29

“He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled”

            This passage spoke to me about the church, the corporate bride of Christ. As a friend of the bridegroom, we are not called to judge, criticize or condemn the bride, but to rejoice with her and serve her. The bridegroom knows more about his bride than a friend does. In that same regard, Christ knows, cares and loves the church (his bride) much more than we could ever love her. As a friend of the bridegroom, my job is not to tell the bridegroom how awful the bride is, but to serve his purpose for her. My job is to rejoice with him and to serve her.

            In this passage, the friend of the bridegroom was John the Baptist himself. His great joy was being privileged, as forerunner, to prepare the people for the heavenly Bridegroom. He contrasted his own role with that of Jesus, asserting the supremacy of Jesus. This talks about the forerunner ministry and how our role is to be a friend of the bridegroom now and make way for the Lord when He returns. Our job is to carry the message that our bridegroom (Jesus) has commanded us to convey in our lifetime, and then rejoice when we hear His voice when He returns for us, making way for Him to come. He must increase and we must decrease. We must realize that it is not about our ministry or capabilities; not even about an a particular organization, church or ministry, but it is all about Him (the bridegroom). When He comes, everything else needs to fade away to make room for Him to take all the glory. We need to learn that humility now as friends of the bridegroom.