Look Upward for Help

Scripture Reading: Psalm 121

Focus Verses: Psalm 121:1-3  "I look up to the mountains, does my help come from there?  My help comes from the Lord, who makes heaven and earth!  He will not let you stumble, the one who watches over you will not slumber."

Do you look to the mountains for your help?  Some Bible teachers believe the psalmist was actually referring to idols that were built on the mountains.  People throughout history have made for themselves gods and idols.  A true believer can look at the mountains and remember the ancestors who would look to gods for rains and know that this was not truth.  They know they have the very Creator of those mountains as a friend because of Jesus and our decision to follow Him.   We have been reminded that the best help doesn't come from those idols on the mountains,  but help comes from the one who made the mountains, Creator God.   We only strive to walk with God, know God and talk with God.

Our life can be full of busyness, sickness or trials of life, but this is to bring us close to God.  Sometimes we tend to look to different people, governments, things or places in this world for help.  But real help can only come from the Lord, the One who made us.  He is never tired or too busy to help us.  In fact, He wants us to come to Him for help.  If we have truly been born again into God's family, this is our privilege as one of God's children.  Let us pray: "God show me if I've been looking for help in the wrong places, and help me look only to You for help and guidance, in Jesus name, amen."

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Be Watchful, But Busy

 Be Watchful, But Busy

Scripture Reading: 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Focus Verses: 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17  "For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven with a commanding shout, with the call of the archangel, and with the trumpet call of God.  First, all the Christians who have died will rise from their graves.  Then, together with them, we who are still alive and remain on the earth will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air and remain with Him forever."

Did you know that Jesus is coming back to this earth one day?  He's coming back to take us to heaven, but only those who are His children.  The Bible teaches that the rapture of the church is the next big event on God's timeline.  Jesus could come back at any time.  I am looking forward to that event.  But I'm not just sitting waiting.  We should be busy telling others about this big event, so that as many people as possible will be with us in heaven.

The Bible says in Ephesians 2:4-7  That God is looking forward to us getting to heaven, because He want to show us grace, kindness and how much He loves us.  I hope you are watching for His return, but I also hope you are busy tell others of this great promise of Jesus' return.

Bobby Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

Praying or Sleeping

 Focus scripture Mark 14:32-41

Focus verse: Psalm 48:8 "But each day the Lord pours his unfailing love upon me, and through each night I sing his songs, praying to God who gives me life."
 
Jesus knew the events that were to come. He knew he was to be arrested, beaten, mocked, subjected to public humiliation and be nailed on the cross. In all these, he decided he would remain humble in prayers for only God’s will to happen. He knew the importance of combined prayers, so he took three of his disciples to go with him that they would watch and pray with him. He instructed them to sit and watch in prayers with him as he drew himself a little distance. Luke 22:44, records that the Lord’s anguish overwhelmed him so that his sweat fell on the ground like blood.

One thing that catches attention in this passage is how the three disciples failed to pray with Jesus at that hard and painful moment of His life. It’s quite hard to imagine that in one night Jesus had to wake them three times but still not even one of them stayed awake. The Lord was in deep sorrow and needed prayers from people that he had loved and served. Though he felt deserted in this anguish but he wanted the company and prayers from friends.

Our personal challenges can make us feel like we are deserted by everyone. We can find ourselves in situations of sorrow. Our tears have always needed somebody to stand with us in encouragement. Our marriages have suffered wounds so that we see nothing pleasant in them and need prayers of healing. We have been badly affected by sicknesses so that we feel like we are losing hope. Yes, we have to admit that this is the life of a Christian, but there is hope in prayer!

We often tell friends to stand with us in prayers. Sometimes we remind them about the need to pray with us more and more. We admit to pray, but surely have you been praying? Some will find themselves so tired in the physical so that they forget to pray. Did you ever receive a prayer request from a trusted friend, or relative or anyone who needed our prayers? Did we ever accept that we would pray with them? What have we done since they reminded us to continue praying for them? How often do we pray for those who need our prayers?

Equally, those who are in problems must not stop praying because they have told friends to pray with them. Jesus did not stop even when he found the disciples sleeping instead of praying. Yes, we need to have trusted friends who can faithfully pray with us. Jesus had some, do you have one?

Eliazar Wambo
Bethesda Faith Ministries & Director of Repairer Christian School

 

Originally posted in August 2014

Who Do You Worship?

Who Do You Worship?

Scripture Reading: 1 John 5:18-21

Focus Verse: 1 John 5:21 “Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.”

Everybody on earth worships something or someone.  Even the atheist (who says there is no God) worships things or even self.  Whatever is most important to you is what you worship. Think about that for a moment.  What is most important to you?  What can you absolutely not live without?  Some people may say “I cannot live without my job.”  Some may say “I cannot live without my money.”  Some may say “I cannot live without my children, or my wife.”  There are a lot of people in this world that would say “they consider themselves the most important”, therefore they worship themselves.  

 

2 Timothy 3:1-3 says,  “In the last days there will be very difficult times. For people will love only themselves and their money.  They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful.  They will consider nothing sacred.  They will be unloving and unforgiving, they will slander others and have no self-control.  They will be cruel and hate what is good.”  I believe we are living in the days these verses are talking about.  I see these things all around me.

Let me ask you another question.  What is going to get you to heaven one day?  Is your job, or your money going to get you to heaven?   Are your children going to get you to heaven one day?  For those that are in a right relationship with God, there is only one answer to the question “what is most important to you?"  The answer is God, Amen.  There may be a lot of things and people who are important in our lives, but God should be the most important.  Jesus said in John 15:5 “without me you can do nothing.”  So, then, without God you can’t even take your next breath.  Even as Christians, we need to be careful to keep God as most important in our lives.  He is the only One we should be worshiping.

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries

"Therefore You are great, O Lord God. For there is none like You, nor is there any God besides You, according to all that we have heard with our ears."  2 Samuel 7:22

 

God Comforts in Sorrow

Bible Reading: Psalm 91

Focus verse: “But You, God, see the trouble of the afflicted; You consider their grief and take it in hand. The victims commit themselves to You; You are the helper of the fatherless.” Psalm 10:14

I am writing this devotion in honor of my friends in Kenya experiencing the loss of a sister.  Life is difficult when a loved one dies.

There is shock and disbelief.  There is loss and sorrow.  How do you move from that sorrow and mourning into a place of accepting life without the one who died?  When you face sorrow, seek the face of God because he sees your trouble and affliction.  Psalm 91:15 says, "He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble;"

Psalm 91:2 says, "I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”  God is your refuge.  God cares and will hold you in His hand and care for you.  It takes time, but God will heal the sorrow as we trust Him.  He will turn our hearts and we begin to see a glimpse of hope among moments of sadness.  He will nurture the hope in your heart and through faith, it will grow into joy, once again. 

Friends can comfort, but God heals the heart.

~Page Johnson
Interlocking Ministries

In loving memory of Happiness "Asupi", the sister of Harriet Otieno

Inspect Your Life

Inspect Your Life

Scripture Reading:  2 Corinthians 13:1-10

Focus Verse: 2 Corinthians 13:5  “Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine.  Test yourselves.  Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you, if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.

My son Caleb started a new job a few years ago.  He does inspections on new home construction.  A new home may have many different inspections, but Caleb’s inspection deals with how air tight the building is.  So the inspection is checking to see if there is air leaking around the doors and windows.  The builder of the house does all the work to build, and then these different inspections are done to ensure that the work was done right.  Then when the house passes all the different inspections the new owner of the home has peace of mind that the house is in good shape to live in.  

What if someone did an inspection of your Christian life?  Would you pass the test?  You see the house could have a nice fresh coat of paint on the outside, but what if an inspection of the foundation was made and it failed the test.  The problem may not be visible because the problem might be below the ground level and the house could fall one day.  If an inspection was done on the foundation of your Christian life would you pass the test of faith.  Although I have determined that my faith is in the one true God, some days the fruit of my faith isn't producing the way it could.  Maybe you have a nice fresh coat of paint on the outside of your Christian life, but you know the foundation has some cracks that are causing problems.  Maybe your faith has been weakened with doubt.  In Matthew 7:24-27 Jesus talks about a wise man who built his house on the rock, and a foolish man who built on the sand. You know the story, the foolish man suffered loss.  God can help you when the storms of life come.  God can help you strengthen your faith through scriptures and prayer when your eyes are on Him.  Let’s all inspect our lives and see if we need to make some repairs and improvements in our relationship with God. 

 

Sometimes Caleb needs to go back and do a retest after a house has failed an inspection.  I’m thankful we serve a God that gives second chances and that he gives us the opportunity to know Him, our firm foundation.

Bobby Johnson

Spreading The Gospel

Scripture Reading: Matthew 28:16-20

Focus Verse: Matthew 28:19  “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.”

Ten years ago Interlocking Ministries (based in the US) along with Bethesda Faith Ministries (based in Kenya) began holding Christian camps for the students in Western Kenya near Lake Victoria.  We never could have imagined how God would use these camps to touch so many lives.  Over these past ten years we have seen God reach over 20,000 Kenyan students who attended the camps.  Thousands of these students have trusted Christ for salvation and made commitments to True Love Says Wait, a sexual purity program.

Many years ago God told me to take the Gospel to Kenya.  So I got on an airplane and I went because I remembered the verse in the Bible that says “go and make disciples of all the nations.”  Maybe you are not able to get on an airplane and go half way around the world to tell someone about Jesus, but we have neighbors who need to hear.  We all work with other people that need to hear.  We all buy products from other people that need to hear.  As I write this devotion God has expanded the camps in Kenya to a new area on the island of Rusinga in Lake Victoria.  There are 500 students in Christian camps there this week.  This is all part of what Jesus told us to do 2,000 years ago.  Take the Gospel to every nation and make disciples.  We will do this until God calls us home to heaven.  It is not because we are smart or clever, but it is God who is powerful and doing the work in the hearts of people.  

 

Will you join us in spreading the Gospel?

Bobby Johnson

Interlocking Ministries