We may still go through difficult times and stressful challenges, but as long as we trust God and choose to do things his way ... as long as we keep our eyes on Jesus and not on the waves pounding against us ... as long as we truly believe that he loves us, that he has forgiven us, and that all things will work together for good, we will continue to experience his peace. Jehovah-Shalom, the Lord is peace.

El Qanna, the jealous God, longs for each of us to put Him first in our lives. He desires to be your priority, not because of His need for attention or ego, but because He knows what is best for you. 

I invite you to join me as we allow Jehovah Rapha to examine our hearts. Are you and I more like the Israelites than we care to admit? When God doesn’t work in our lives in the way that we think He should, do we grow bitter? Do we begin to plan ways that we can make things happen through our own efforts? When God’s timing is different than we had hoped, do we harbor resentment against Him? How often do we look at people in our lives who do not seem to have the same struggles that we have and pose the question, “What did I do to make God mad at me? I am as good as they are.”

Both physical and spiritual battles have raged across human history, with conflicts touching everyone who has ever lived. And the name El Gibbor, “Mighty God,” points to the day when all of God’s enemies, physical and spiritual, will be vanquished and all of creation will bow at the feet of Jesus, the “Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Can you think of any greater comfort and confidence as we engage in the battles of our daily lives?

God is not interested in you and me looking like everyone else in the world. He expects us to look, sound, and act differently than those who are not Christians. He expects us to be a sanctified or ‘set apart’ people.

Lord God, Strong and Faithful, Three in One. God is faithful. He is strong and true and is likened to a rock that provides a sure foundation for our lives. If you feel adrift today, take some time to focus on the strength and faithfulness of God and let it inspire your faithfulness to Him today.

Our heavenly Father has some characteristics that our earthly fathers can never provide. Our heavenly Father is perfect. Our heavenly Father is all-powerful, present in all places at all times, and all-knowing. Our heavenly Father never changes.

Perhaps His provision will only come when you step out in obedience and worship like Abraham did. Repeatedly in the Bible, we see this concept hold true. Provision from Jehovah Jireh follows obedience from his children. 

Our master is master of the universe, of the people in it, and of their destiny. He is master of our earthly masters. He is master of our situa-tions, master of our trials and our joys. He is the master master!

For Moses and the Israelites, their first battle on the way to the promised land showed that God was their banner. He called his people to rally to him. The Lord went before his people, protecting them and triumphing over their enemies.

The great confidence which believers have in God is this,: "If the Lord is our  shepherd, our feeder, we may conclude we shall not want any thing that is really necessary and good for us”.

But, in the midst of his desperation, David pauses to confess his trust and joy in God. He sings to celebrate God's goodness. How is this possible? First, David thinks back to times when God has rescued him in the past (13:5). He remembers that God has been good to him (13:6). These memories give David confidence to believe that God will rescue him yet again.

From Job we learn that true worship is not reliant upon circumstances.  In fact, a sacrifice of praise (Hebrews 13:15) is surely very precious in God’s view.

To worship God in spirit and in truth, then, is to declare that God is worthy of our reverence. We do this both through our emotional core and in light of reality. We worship God based on the truth of who He is, the truth of who we are, the truth of what God does, and the truth of what is going on in our world. We do it with a heart inclined toward God and in submission to Him. We worship God when our attitudes, actions, and words declare that He is worthy of our praise. 
 

God does not show favoritism; yet, it is important to be sufficiently prepared for this ascension. There are dangers awaiting those who ascend! It is not only the difficulty of going up which the soul usually tries to avoid and seek to be exempt of. There are more dangers than just this. The enemy stands to guard the entrances of the mountain that lead

Here, we see another form for the fellowship with God. At this level, there is no need for our usual techniques of worship like singing, dancing, crying out, repenting, thanking, praising, etc. All these take place at the foot of the mountain (first level) and shape our worship for a period of time as a first stage in worship. However, when we ascend upwards, we see God and we eat with Him!

In this first level, the worship according to the flesh and the worship of the spirit are probably intermingled. At this level we are still in the valley, at the foot of the mountain; the world is still near us as we have not yet been completely separated from it. If we do not pay attention to this and start to ascend upwards, we will be tempted to backslide from God. We all know that after this worship at the foot of the mountain, the people backslid and worshiped the calf –a kind of worship which they had seen in Egypt in the days of their slavery.

The greatest sin, then, is directing that adoration elsewhere; not only because it insults God, but also because it insulates our hearts from the delight we were created to revel in. To fail at worship is the greatest failure a human is capable of with the gravest and most immediate of consequences.

In each of us is an ability to engage the supernatural. This engagement with heaven allows us to receive and display the divine nature of God. It also enlightens us to hear, feel and see the ineffable wonder that is God.

True worship, in other words, is defined by the priority we place on who God is in our lives and where God is on our list of priorities. True worship is a matter of the heart expressed through a lifestyle of holiness.