God Is...

Psalm 68: 19-20
“Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burden, The God who is our salvation. God is to us a God of deliverances; And to GOD the Lord belong escapes from death.”

I could not keep from having theses verses stand out to me in my daily reading this morning. I do not at all want to take the verses out of context since God is speaking of himself in relation to what he has done on Mount Sinai for the Israelites in relation to their enemies. But these verses not only speak to the Israelites and their experience at Mount Sinai, but they also speak to us today as the same character of God that was revealed in the Old Testament is also revealed in the New Testament.

God does daily bear my burden and he himself says so in Matthew 11:28-30. Christ states: “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” The Lord knows I have been weary and heavy-laden with self-imposed work for myself. He knows that I needed to be reminded today that he is with me and he is the one who can give me rest both physically, but more importantly spiritually. He is the one who enabled me to wake up earlier this morning just so that I could meet with him before my household arose.

But that is not all these verses spoke to me. God is the God of my salvation. I have been studying in Romans with my ladies bible study class on Sunday mornings and God clearly lays out the gospel message and to what it contains in Romans 1:3-4. Paul writes that he is “set apart for the gospel (verse1) and it is a gospel that pertains to “His [God’s] Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the dead, according to the spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord.” God is my salvation because he sent his one and only son-Jesus Christ (John 3:16) who was fully God and because Jesus was born of the flesh as a descendant of David which made him fully man at the same time. Whereas I do not fully comprehend how Christ is fully God and fully Man, Jesus is!!

Not only that, but God is my God of deliverances (Psalm 68:20) through the power of the resurrection from the dead (Romans 1:4). It is only because Christ died and ROSE from the dead that enables him to have the power to escape death and to enable others to do the same. I believe the Lord laid this on my heart this morning as I was thinking of my sister’s friend’s little seven-year old boy who is going through chemotherapy because of cancer which was confirmed as a Stage 3 Wilms tumor. Their story is one that has brought glory and honor to the Lord as well as minister to many around them. In my own family, my children have seen the power of prayer for a little boy that they have only played with a couple of times and barely remember it. However, they have been able to see the special impact their prayers are having for Little Joe and his family. My prayer this morning is for Little Joe and his family to remember that God is a God of salvation as well as a God of deliverances. Escapes from death belong to the Lord. May the power of God be shed upon Little Joe and may God daily bear the burden that this little boy is bearing. Lord, I ask that Little Joe and his family not become weary, but will lay their burden at your feet and that you will over shadow them with your rest. In Jesus Name, Amen. (If you want more information and updates about how to pray for Little Joe, please visit http://kevinandlizturner.blogspot.com)