Mirrors

Posted on August 17, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

Today, you are a vessel that God wants to use. You are. You are someone who God has created, who He loves, who He desires to walk beside and love, who He desires to forgive, redeem, and use for amazing things.

There’s not a single thing in your life that God doesn’t want to use for His glory. Even your failures. Even the things that you have done wrong; even your mistakes. God will use those too. Listen to what it says today in Psalm 106: 4-8:

4 Remember me, O LORD, with the favor you have
for your people,
and visit me with your saving help;
5 That I may see the prosperity of your elect
and be glad with the gladness of your people,
that I may glory with your inheritance.
6 We have sinned as our forebears did;
we have done wrong and dealt wickedly.
7 In Egypt they did not consider your marvelous works,
nor remember the abundance of your love;
they defied the Most High at the Red Sea.
8 But he saved them for his Name’s sake,
to make his power known.

Psalm 106 is one of those Psalms that recounts all the things that God has done and all the ways that God has done it. it is one of those powerful passages that shows how over and over again, God desires to save His people. But why?

So many reasons. He loves them (and us). But it isn’t just He loves them (and us) but He is love. He is grace. He is peace. He is God. But we see in verse 8 one of the reasons that He shows grace. And it shows how He will use even our failings.

He saved them (and us) to make His power know.

When He gives us grace, when He uses us, when great things are accomplished through us, all the credit, all the glory, it goes back to God.

A perfect God uses the imperfect people to accomplish His mission of grace. Wow! So in spite of all that we’ve ever done, He still wants to use us to change the world. And when someone as imperfect as me, or you, or any of us, is used, it has to be because God is awesome! Even our mistakes and our faults, they can’t stop God’s amazing grace.

Today, there’s not a part of your story that God can’t, and won’t use. Even those mistakes.

When He uses us in some powerful, good is accomplished, and He gets the glory. We are just mirrors, reflecting His light and His grace.

Today, as those who have been shown grace, may we show grace to others. And may God receive the glory through it all!

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Who Do You Trust?

Posted on August 10, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

I was reading one of the Psalms, Psalm 146 today, and these words just leapt off the page at me. Listen to what it says in verses 3-9:

3 Do not put your trust in princes,
in mortals, in whom there is no help.
4 When their breath departs, they return to the earth;
on that very day their plans perish.
5 Happy are those whose help is the God of Jacob,
whose hope is in the Lord their God,
6 who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them;
who keeps faith forever;
7 who executes justice for the oppressed;
who gives food to the hungry.
The Lord sets the prisoners free;
8 the Lord opens the eyes of the blind.
The Lord lifts up those who are bowed down;
the Lord loves the righteous.
9 The Lord watches over the strangers;
he upholds the orphan and the widow,
but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.

We have two contrasting visions in this Psalm.

First we are told this – do not put your trust in princes. Don’t put your ultimate trust in humans, no matter who they are. No matter if they are princes. Or preachers. Or teachers. Or leaders. Or whoever. No matter how great they may be. Now matter how perfect they may seem. No matter how much you admire them.

Remember what it says in verse 4. Their breath will fail. The body will return to the earth. The mortality rate is 100%. All of us will reach that end. Me, you, all of us. All of us are imperfect. All of us will get it wrong. All of us will fail at some point.

Even the best of us.

But the Lord, He sets the prisoner free. He opens the eyes of the blind. He lifts up the orphans. He upholds the window. He made heaven and earth. He set the sea in place.

He is God. Mortals will fail. God will not.

Today, remember that. God will not fail you. Who do you trust today? Where is your trust? In mortals? In humans? Even in the best, even the princes, they will draw their last breath one day.

But God is eternal, all-powerful, all-knowing, great and strong, mighty to save. He is worthy of all our praise, our worship, all our very lives.

Today, who do we trust?

May we place our hope and faith in all areas of our lives in our God. In Him, we can truly trust.

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In the Morning

Posted on July 29, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

Sometimes we are in a storm that we feel will never get better. Sometimes the waves seem too high, the troubles seem too deep, the worries seem too much.

Sometimes there is weeping. And we feel like the weeping will never end. It will never get better. It will never stop. It will never change. But know this. It will. The weeping will not last forever. The troubles will not stay forever. The pain will not stay forever.

Listen to what we are told today in Psalm 30: 4-5:

4 Sing praises to the Lord, O you his faithful ones,
and give thanks to his holy name.
5 For his anger is but for a moment;
his favor is for a lifetime.
Weeping may linger for the night,
but joy comes with the morning.

Weeping may come in the night. But joy will come in the morning. It will get better. It will.

The darkness will not last forever. When we are in the middle of it, we may think that it will never end. We may think that it will never get better. But it will.

You may be in pain now. You may be in trouble now. You may be in the middle of a storm now. Your tears may not stop now.

We all know that feeling. We’ve all been there. It hurts. And not much makes it feel better in that moment. No matter what you may be going through, you may feel like it will never get better.

It will. Listen to God’s Word this morning. It will. Weeping may linger for the night.

But Joy comes in the morning.

Today, if you are in the night of your tears, hold on. Morning is coming. It is. Morning is coming. And joys comes then.

Hold tight to God. He will not let you go. And His joy will come.

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While the Nations Rage

Posted on April 13, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

Each day with the readings that I use for these reflections, there are Psalms that are suggested for that day. Today, one of the Psalms that is given is one of my absolute favorites. Psalm 2. Listen to what this great Psalm says:

Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth set themselves,
and the rulers take counsel together,
against the Lord and against his Anointed, saying,
“Let us burst their bonds apart
and cast away their cords from us.”
He who sits in the heavens laughs;

That’s not the whole of it, just part. But that is just such a powerful image. Why do the nations rage? They plot and scheme. There is so much chaos, so much trouble, so many things going on here in the world that stress us, that worry us, that cause us such great concern.

And the Lord in heaven laughs. All the stress and worry and chaos of this world are nothing to Him.

Let me say that again – all the stress and worry and chaos of this world are nothing to our God.

Nothing. Nothing at all.

Relax. Rest. It’s ok. Seriously. It’s all ok. The stress of culture. Of the world. Of this moment. All the things that are you worried about. It’s ok.

The stress of the personal. The things you are dealing with in your own life. In your family. In all this. It’s ok. Really.

God has this. He really does. He has it. This nothing to Him. All the things that turn the world upside down, the Lord laughs. While the nations rage, the Lord has it.

Rest in Him today. He has it. Rest in Him.

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52 Weeks (Week 6)

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

Today in our week 6 of 52 Weeks, 52 Verses, we learn the rest of Psalm 121. Look at that! Over the course of these last four weeks, we’ve learned a Psalm. Memorizing the Bible is a process, something that is not done overnight, but something done consistently, with prayer, reflection, and study.

Today, listen to the end of Psalm 121, verse 7-8:

7 The Lord will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
8 The Lord will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and forevermore.

The Lord will keep us. Think about that for a second. Our security, our hope, our peace, it doesn’t come from human hands or human elements. But from the Lord God of Hosts. Thing about that. Take this passage seriously. Meditate upon it. Think upon it. Focus upon it.

The Lord is your keeper. He will keep you from all evil. He will keep your going and your coming. Now, and forever.

Don’t worry. Don’t stress. Don’t fret. Don’t be overwhelmed.

The Lord is your keeper.

Rest in the knowledge. Rest in that promise today.

52 Weeks (Week Three)

Posted on January 19, 2015 by Andy Stoddard

At Asbury this year, we are taking part our in 52 Weeks, 52 Verses challenge. Each week of the year, we are memorizing a different Bible verse. As we learn the Bible together as a church this year, I know, we know that God will bring us closer to Himself and show us more and more of who He is.

I heard a preacher say recently, if we don’t know God’s known will (the Bible) then we will never know His unknown will. If we want to know what God wants for us, calls us to, we need to listen and learn His word!

The passage for this week is the first of three weeks that we will spend memorizing Psalm 121. This week is verses 1-2:

1 I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From where does my help come?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

This is a Psalm that the people would sing as they went up to Jerusalem. Jerusalem is on the top of a mountain, so no matter where you came from, north or south, you when “up” to Jerusalem.

So, we lift up our eyes to the hills, from where our help comes. Up the hills reminds of God, because God was associated with the temple and Jerusalem.

And our help comes from God, who made heaven and earth.

We look up. And looking up, we are reminded that God is our help. God is our savior. God is our strength. God is our hope.

Today, look up. Look up. Your help comes from God. The maker of Heaven and Earth.

Look up. And you will find your help in God, no matter where you are!

The People of His Pasture

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

I love to read the Psalms. They are some of my favorite parts of the Bible. They speak so much to us, they are full of such beauty, such hope, such peace, such life.

I really love the Psalms. I love to read them, I love to meditate upon them, I love their gentle reminder of who God is, and who we are.

Today, one of our readings is from one of the Psalms that I feel like I read the most in my life. Listen to Psalm 95: 3-7:

For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods. In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

It starts off talking about who God is, how He is the greatest; there is no one above Him, no one greater than Him.

He is the highest. He is the strongest. He is God. He is. He is bigger than whatever we face, stronger than our doubts, wiser than our foes. He is God. You can trust in Him. That’s a great reminder.

But the part of the Psalm that I really love is the end. I love what it says, we are the people of pasture, the sheep of His hand.

We are God’s. We belong to Him. He has marked us, He has claimed us. We are His. No matter who in the world claims you, know this. God does. He is proud of you. He loves you. He desires you. He takes pride in you.

No matter what. No matter what has happened. No matter what goes on. No matter what lays in your past, your present, or your future.

You are His. You are people of His pasture. You are sheep of His hand.

No matter what. You are His. Never forget that.

Why God is Patient

Posted on September 10, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Ever wonder why God is so patient with us sometimes? I mean, God can be really patient. We can make the same mistakes over and over again.

We can go looking for trouble sometimes, or better said, lots of times.

We can fall, every day of our lives. We can be so frustrated and disgusted by our failings and yet each time, each time we go to God for forgiveness, each time, He forgives us.

Do you ever just wonder why? Why does He show us that compassion and that mercy? Why does He show us grace after grace after grace?

Listen to what it says today in Psalm 103: 10-14

He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.
As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.

God shows us such mercy because He remembers. He remembers who He is. And He remembers who we are.

He remembers that He is loving Father. He remembers that He loves us. That we are His. That He is God, not a man. That He is a God, who has promised compassion to those that fear and love Him.

He remembers not that He loves us but that He IS love. He remembers not that He shows us mercy, but He IS mercy. He remembers who He is.

And He remembers who we are. I love that last verse. He remembers our frame. He remembers that we are dust. We are made of dust, and we shall return to dust. He knows that we are weak. We are frail. We are fallen. We are human.

He remembers who we are. We will make mistakes. We aren’t perfect. We will blow it. He remembers our frame. He remembers that we are dust.

He remembers that He made us. And He remembers that He loves us.

Why is God patient? He remembers.

When You are Scared

Posted on September 4, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

Last night at Bible Study, we were talking about ISIL and other things in the world that can really make most worried.

Someone said; I was watching the news the other day, and I said, that’s your problem! Don’t watch the news. Turn it off. It will drive you crazy!

I was joking, sort of. But we went on to talk about crazy things can look in this world and but part of the reason is that 20 years ago, there weren’t a million 24 hour a day news stations looking for stories to fill up the space with.

So, today everything is breaking news. Everything is blast across our screens. Everything is HUGE. And it can really terrify us if we allow it. We can feel like things are getting out of control.

So, what do we do? We stop. We breathe. And we remember. God’s got this. We are faithful in the task that God has given us today. And we remember that God’s got this.

He does. Remember truth. Listen to the words of Psalm 4: 6-8 this morning:

There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!” You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace, I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety.

In peace, he will lie down and sleep. For God makes us dwell in safety.

God makes us dwell in safety. Not our own might or power, not our own security. Not our own plans.

God. He watches over us. He leads us. He restores us. He guides us.

So, when we get scared, when we get worried, when we watch too much TV and get too bombarded by the stuff of this world, remember who lets us sleep in safety.

Remember who gives us peace and protection.

Remember who holds us, in difficult times in life.

Remember.

In God, we rise, and we sleep in safety. In Him, we have no fear.

Storms

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Andy Stoddard

It’s been a tough few days here in the south, and yesterday was really tough here in Mississippi. One of the things that happens when you have served all over the state is you know people everywhere. So, I heard about Tupelo and I thought of friends at The Orchard and FUMC. I then saw pictures of St. Luke, where I went to meetings at all time and was stunned.

Then, I hear about Louisville, and the hospital being destroyed. I text a friend to check on him, and find out he’s busy, moving nursing home residents into his church’s gym after their nursing home was badly damaged.

Then, we hear of Brandon and Pearl, and Holly and I have family there; lots of friends. So, we are texting and calling. Trying to find out what is going on.

And here in Petal, and at Asbury, this all cuts close to home as it was this time last year we were recovering from tornadoes that destroyed so much of our town and left so many without homes.

Storms come into our lives, both “weather” related, as well as storms of sickness or addiction or tragedy. Storms come. Today I was reading from the book of Psalms, and listen to what it says in Psalm 57: 1-3:

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me,
for in you my soul takes refuge;
in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge,
till the storms of destruction pass by.
I cry out to God Most High,
to God who fulfills his purpose for me.
He will send from heaven and save me;
he will put to shame him who tramples on me.
God will send out his steadfast love and his faithfulness!

In the midst of the storm, sometimes we just have to take refuge in God and just hold on. Hold on tight to Him. Trust in Him. Rely on Him. In the storm, in the darkness, in the fear, in all of it, just hold on.

The destruction will pass. The storm will pass. God will send His love and faithfulness.

He will.

And, sometimes, we are the way that He sends it. God will send help from heaven to help those in the storms to help. Maybe, just maybe, that help is from you and me. We can give or we can give. We can pray. We can serve. We can call/text. We can support.

We can do so much.

So, today, to those of us in the midst of the storm, take refuge in God. He will protect you in the shelter of His wings.

And to those of us that have made it through the storms, maybe our job it to be that help from heaven. Today, how can you help someone in the storms (either the literal storms of yesterday, or the storms that swirl around us daily).

How can we help today? How can we be salt and light today? In our day today; may that be our mission.

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Tag Archives: Psalms

Mirrors

Who Do You Trust?

In the Morning

While the Nations Rage

52 Weeks (Week 6)

52 Weeks (Week Three)

The People of His Pasture

Why God is Patient

When You are Scared

Storms