Several days ago, after having been at the State Fair which happens to take place in our little town of Puyallup. My wife, daughter Ashley and myself had the adventure of watching the thrilling rides, many exhibits of housewares, crafts, 4H and DECA, etc. Although it was very crowded and people had “Fair Fever” I challenged myself to participate in this annual event. My wife and daughter made sure to grab a scone and a carmel apple which are a few of the traditions associated with with Fair Food.  It was a sunny afternoon and always seems to close out the events of summer for us.

Later that evening, I fell backward in our living room while playing “footsie” with my other daughter’s dog, Rudy. Falling is dangerous enough but without having the strength in my arms to break my fall things went from a bad-to-worse senario. At the moment I knew I was going down, everything seemed to play out in my mind in slow motion. Obviously, I know how to break a fall using my hands, but in my present condition this typical reflex could not happen. I had to just trust God (Ps 94:18) and allow my body to fall where it may. Even my wife who saw me from the kitchen and ran to help, could not reach me fast enough. Amazingly, I landed on my bottom and the back of the brace protected my head from serious injury. Ps 91:9-12 assures “Because you have made the Lord your refuge, and the Most High your dwelling place, There shall no evil befall you, nor any plague or calamity come near your tent. For He will give His angels [a special] charge over you to accompany and defend and preserve you in all your ways [of obedience and service].They shall bear you up on their hands, lest you dash your foot against a stone. You shall tread upon the lion and adder; the young lion and the serpent shall you trample underfoot.” If we make the Lord our refuge and the Most High our dwelling place then God promises to take care of us and keep us from evil. He will send angels to look after us; to defend, preserve and bear us up. As we go forward walking “in Christ” we are faced with many trials, adversities and set backs. We may fall at times, we may get bruised, battered or beaten by life, but we do not have to live in that pain and we don’t have to stay down. We gird ourselves up, press on and take comfort knowing that God is looking out for us and always causing us to triumpth. We especially need this assurance for our worst situations. God calls the weak, the lame, and the downtrodden to Himself, those that recognize their need for a Saviour. They may be the ones who cannot defend, protect or save themselves, but they are the ones that God will use to confound the world so that no flesh can glory in His presence (1Co 1:29).

Perhaps you have had a time where God has spoken to you a vision, promise or comfort. We are able to perceive that He is active in our lives, as we acknowledge Him in our ways. Sometimes the Holy Spirit  speaks very loudly in our spirits for our situations but most times it is the still small voice that guides us. I urge you to trust Him in the ways He has spoken to you, it will always be consistent with his Word and His character. …to give you an expectation and a hope…lest you despair and say there is no God.

His Word is living, Jesus was the Word made flesh, He spoke His Word and the world came into existence but He also reveals His Word to us by revelation and applicability. It applies to us; we can live through Him! As His Word abides in you and you abide in Him, you can have a responsive relationship with an active, living God who cares for you. Place your hope in Him.

Last night at 1:30 in the morning my lungs began to fill with phlegm that I was not able to clear. Usually my bi-pap ventilator is strong enough to force air into my lungs so that I can breathe without the mucus interference. When I realized that I could not clear my lungs and my breathing was becoming more labored I knew that it was time to get my wife’s attention. Since I have a mask that goes directly over my mouth, I cannot talk and express my needs to Glennis, so we have developed another means of communication through my foot. I first get her attention by kicking over an object on a night stand, and then I spell out words in the air with my foot. Well, I needed attention right now, so I spelled OFF with my foot and Glennis removed the mask. By then I could barely breathe or talk but managed to let her know that I needed to lean forward to cough. This didn’t work so I choked out, “get my brace” which she did. The custom neck brace allows me to stand and walk without assistance. It also helps me to clear my lungs of mucus by allowing me to lean forward and let gravity help drain the mucus.

After about 5 minutes of very shallow breathing and being unable to drain my lungs even with my brace, I couldn’t inhale to get a breath. The mucus had plugged my airway and I started to black out. Right then Glennis put her hand on my chest and declared a bible promise that God had given to me in Psalms 118:17 “I shall not die, but live and declare the works of God.” And immediately my airway opened. I slowly was able to wheeze into my lungs air and began to breathe again. I walked around the house with my wife speaking words of life over me. When I sat down the mucus had worked its way out from blockage and into my throat where I was able to cough it up to where Glennis could suction it out of my mouth.  I was now free again to breathe! To make sure everything had been completely cleared we used the “Cough Assist” machine along with intermittent suctioning for a continued 10-15 minutes  Over an hour had elapsed before we settled back to sleep. I hadn’t been dealing with a cold and hadn’t changed my diet or the time I ate; this episode came out of nowhere, simply because of my being in a relaxed state and the pooling of mucus. Here in the peacefulness of the night, things turned critical, to the point of not being able to respirate.

I thank God He rescued me in the night, watching over me with His great care and that He continues to give me His mercies every morning. He gives me strength each day (and night); He hears our cry and delivers us from destruction. Invest the Word of God into your life and God will refresh His Word back to your remembrance for you to apply to your situation with HIS authority. You can depend on his promises even in your worst estate, when it seems like all hope is gone and you cannot possibly persevere. These are times that God will demonstrate His great love to you.   “…for all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.”  2 COR 1:20 All the promises of God are given to us but remain with Him because He has to fulfill them. God’s promises are the links that reveal His thoughts toward us through His actions. When we begin to discover God’s promises to us and the authority that is behind them, we will, without hesitation, confess them in our darkest hour, because He is The One who keeps us and never sleeps or slumbers. 

An  Invitation into a Relationship 

The most important issue you will ever face in your life pertains to where you will spend eternity. You may wonder how to get to heaven, have your sins forgiven and receive everlasting life. You may have been raised in the church, are a good person and believe in God. You may assume that acceptance by God is based on your own works and effort. What does the Bible say?

– God loves us and does not want any to perish.

“For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.” Jn 3:16

– Because of sin; we are separated from God. 

“But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear.” Isaiah 59:2

“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Rom 3:23

– God wants us to be brought back into a right relationship with Him. For this reason, Jesus paid the penalty for our sin when He died upon the Cross.

“But God shows and clearly proves His [own] love for us by the fact that while we were still sinners, Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) died for us. Therefore, since we are now justified (acquitted, made righteous, and brought into right   relationship with God) by Christ’s blood, how much more [certain is it that] we shall be saved by Him from the indignation and wrath of God.” (Rom 5:8-9)

– Heaven is a free gift, you cannot earn or deserve it. 

 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Rom 6:23

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the  gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” Eph 2:8-9

– We receive God’s gift of eternal life by accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. 

“Because if you acknowledge and confess with your lips that Jesus is Lord and in your heart believe (adhere to, trust in, and rely on the truth) that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart a person believes (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Christ) and so is justified (declared righteous, acceptable to God), and with the mouth he confesses (declares openly and speaks out freely his faith) and confirms [his] salvation.”  Rom 10:9-10

YOU CAN RECEIVE GOD’S FREE GIFT OF ETERNAL LIFE RIGHT NOW.  I encourage you to agree with God’s Word and express your faith toward God by praying the following prayer: “Dear God, I come to You and acknowledge that I am a sinner. I need Your mercy and forgiveness. I turn to You now, and I repent of my sins. I believe that Your Son, Jesus, came to this earth and died on the Cross for my sins. I believe that You rose from the dead so that I could receive forgiveness and the gift of eternal life. I accept you, Jesus, as my Savior, and I confess You now as my Lord. Thank you for taking away my sins, for making me Your child, and for placing me in right standing with you. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.” 

Now that you have received Jesus into your life as Lord and Savior, get a Bible and start to read about Him. The Bible is God’s love letter to you. I would suggest starting first by reading the Gospel of John. Next, ask the Holy Spirit to lead you to a place where you can worship and grow in God’s love and His Word with other believers. 

“This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God,

  that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Luke 22:32 But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren.

1 John 5:3-5 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. vs4 This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world?  Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

Matthew 9:29 Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you. 

Matthew 8:13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go your way; and as you have believed, so let it be done for you.” And his servant was healed that same hour.

Matthew 15:28 Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.

Mark 9:23 Jesus said to him, “If you can believe,  all things are possible to him who believes.” John 6:29 Jesus answered and said to them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.”Gal 2:20-21 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain. 

Gal 3:1-7 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth,before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?  This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh?  Have you suffered so many things in vain—if indeed it was in vain?  Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—  just as Abraham “believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.”  Therefore know that only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham.

Phil 3:9-14 …and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 1:7  So that [the genuineness] of your faith may be tested, [your faith] which is infinitely more precious than the perishable gold which is tested and purified by fire. [This proving of your faith is intended] to redound to [your] praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One) is revealed.

Isaiah 41:10
So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 53:4-5
Surely he took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed.

Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.  

Psalm 118:17
I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done.

Proverbs 4:20-23
My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.

Proverbs 18:14 The spirit of a man will sustain him in sickness,  But who can bear a broken spirit?

Psalm 27:13  I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living.

Psalm 142:5  I cried out to You, O LORD:I said, “You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living.

Romans 8:11
And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.

Philippians 4:6-7
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

II Timothy 1:7
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

Hebrews 10:23
Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.

Hebrews 10:35
So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded.

I John 3:21-22
Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.

III John 2
Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.  

Revelation 12:11
They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

 1 NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for,  being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses].  2For by [faith–trust and holy fervor born of faith] the men of old had divine testimony borne to them and obtained a good report .                                                                                                                                                                                                  

6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him…

32 And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: 33 who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, 34 quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. 35 Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. 36 Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. 37 They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. 39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.                                                                                                                         

vs.13 For the promise that he would be the heir of the world was not to Abraham or to his seed through the law, but through the righteousness of faith. 14 For if those who are of the law are heirs, faith is made void and the promise made of no effect, 15 because the law brings about wrath; for where there is no law there is no transgression.vs 16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 (as it is written, “I have made you a father of many nations”  18) in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, “So shall your descendants be.” 19 And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah’s womb. 20 He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform. 22 And therefore “it was accounted to him for righteousness.”23 Now it was not written for his sake alone that it was imputed to him, 24 but also for us. It shall be imputed to us who believe in Him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead.  Chap 5:1 Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. 3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.