Second Stage Ministries

“...where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord.... Psalm 121:1-2 NIV Self-control is hard isn’t it? I often find myself self-control problems have a lot to do with my temper. I would like to say that I have gotten better with matter, but that would be a lie. When I think about this I am often reminded of Moses and one of his bouts with anger. In the book of Numbers, we once again see Israel has their complaining shoes on again and they are stuck in the past - again. They just can’t seem to get their head out of Egypt. “Why did you bring the Lord’s community into this wilderness, that we and our livestock should die here? Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to this terrible place? It has no grain or figs, grapevines or pomegranates. And there is no water to drink!” - Numbers 20:4-5 NIV So Moses not knowing what to do any more with these people (this is probably his hands up moment) goes to God for some direction. Good choice. This is what God t

“...where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord.... Psalm 121:1-2 NIV When I think about gentleness and the example that Jesus gave us - I think of Jesus and the children and how He welcomed them with love and gentleness. “Then people brought little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked them. Jesus said, ‘ Let the little children come to me , and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’ When he had placed his hands on them, he went on from there.” - Matthew 19:13-15 NIV Now I know what Jesus was saying here, but that is not what I am after in this post. I am after the how Jesus did what He did. When Jesus addressed the disciples who had been all over the people and the children about leaving Jesus alone - He addresses them with a sternness in His voice. He was pretty much telling them to cool it and take a breath. I picture, Jesus then welcomed the childr

“...where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord.... Psalm 121:1-2 NIV God’s faithfulness. Do you see it in your life? Do you see where God is right there with you and has never left your side? Sometimes, I will admit, I lose sight of it and wonder where God is and why He left me hanging. Why He’s not there when I need him the most? I sometimes get like Israel. When Israel got in trouble they often whined and blamed God for their misfortune. But if could be honest they sometimes put themselves in the predicaments they were often in. But right from the start - right after He took them out of Egypt - God showed His faithfulness to them. When I need to remember that God is faithful, I am reminded of this part of their journey. After being freed from slavery and Egypt, on the other said of the Red Sea, the people of Israel began to complain about their situation. “In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said

“I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth..... fixing our eyes on Jesus..." Psalm 121:1-2  + Hebrews 12:2  NIV Sometimes you just can’t plan for things. Sometimes it’s awesome the way things work out. When God gave me this “Eyes Up” series idea - I had no idea what He it as up to. The only thing that I knew is that God dropped this thought into my brain and it was my choice to use it or not. The verses that this series is based on - Psalm 121:1-2 and Hebrews 12:2 - had been on my mind for a month or so. I wanted to write a post on Psalm 121:1-2. But as I got to dwelling on the verses and really thinking about them - God slowly began to reveal not just a single post, but instead a series of posts looking at some things in life that we truly need help with because we can’t do them right without God. So I started mapping out the series and the different things that we could look to

“...where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord.... Psalm 121:1-2 NIV As we continue in this series of posts, we are to kindness and I believe that this is one of the easiest to see in Jesus and find help. Jesus didn’t care who it was, what had done, what they were doing, or where they had come from. Jesus was kind - period. Jesus modeled the ultimate kindness. We see this throughout His ministry. Here a few examples: In John 4, we see Jesus go through Samaria in order to meet the woman at the well. The woman goes to the well to draw water. She's going at a time when she could be alone and away from people. She has been outcasted by the people of the town because of the mistakes that she has made in the past. So you can imagine her surprise when she gets to the well and finds Jesus sitting there. But she gets something different from Jesus that she had not gotten in a while - kindness, compassion and love. Jesus does bring forth her mistakes but He d