God Is For Us! by Jack Hayford

God Is For Us! by Jack Hayford



God is for us, loved one!

Those words are His—found in abundance in His Holy Word. They are found in verses so clear, so Self-expressive of our Father's love, so totally supportive and so fully committed to us that there is no mistaking His intent that we firmly grasp the idea. The reason? Because doubts and fears too easily and constantly beset us.

We are all tempted at times to wonder: Is God's mind tuned to my heart-cry...my need? Is His eye focused on me now...on my present situation? Will God's hand reach my way...to cover me—in time? But His Word answers these questions for us. When we cry out, "What shall we say to these things?" His Word thunders in response: "If God be for us, who can be against us!" (Romans 8:31).

What kinds of "things" does this cover? What are the situations where we can expect we will find, "God is for us"? Here's just the beginning of a list:

He is for us when we are going through hard times.

"When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God...Since you were precious in My sight, you have been honored, and I have loved you..." (Isaiah 43:2-4)

He is for us when we feel others have forgotten or forsaken us.

"Can a woman forget her nursing child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Surely they may forget, yet I will not forget you. See, I have inscribed you on the palms of my hands..." (Isaiah 49:15-16)

I have been young, and now am old; yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his descendants begging bread... (Psalm 37:25)

For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." So we may boldly say: "The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5-6)

He is for us when physical or material needs press around us.

"I am the Lord who heals you..." (Exodus 15:26)

"For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds..." (Jeremiah 30:17)
"I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely, for My anger has turned away..." (Hosea 14:4)

...[Since He] did not spare His own Son...shall He not with Him freely give us all things? (Romans 8:32)

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know [and]... whoever calls upon the Name of the Lord shall be saved. (Jeremiah 33:3; Joel 2:32)

There is not a moment when we are out of God's mind, His gaze, or His touch. And there is not a moment when He is ever, ever anything less than completely for us!

Hear it once for all: He has made an eternal vow to His own, saying, "The mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed," says the Lord, who has mercy on you (Isaiah 54:10).

Let each of us settle it in our souls. What we read is what He wants us to declare: God is for us! So say it—then say it again.

Then let us move into our days, serving Him because He loves us—not working for Him in hope we might earn His love. Shout it with all your heart! Everybody deserves to know...God is for us!

Love & Friendship

A story is told about a soldier who was finally coming home after having fought in two tours of duty.

He called his parents from San Francisco. “Mom and Dad, I’m coming home, but I’ve got a favor to ask. I have a friend I’d like to bring with me.” “Sure,” they replied, “we’d love to meet him.” “There’s something you should know the son continued, “he was hurt pretty badly in the fighting. He stepped on a land mined and lost an arm and a leg. He has nowhere else to go, and I want him to come live with us.” “I’m sorry to hear that, son. Maybe we can help him find somewhere to live.”

“No, Mom and Dad, I want him to live with us.” “Son,” said the father, “you don’t know what you’re asking. Someone with such a handicap would be a terrible burden on us. We have our own lives to live, and we can’t let something like this interfere with our lives. I think you should just come home and forget about this guy. He’ll find a way to live on his own.” At that point, the son hung up the phone. The parents heard nothing more from him.

A few days later, however, they received a call from the San Francisco police. Their son had died after falling from a building, they were told. The police believed it was suicide. The grief-stricken parents flew to San Francisco and were taken to the city morgue to identify the body of their son. They recognized him, but to their horror they also discovered something they didn’t know, their son had only one arm and one leg.

The parents in this story are like many of us. We find it easy to love those who are good-looking or fun to have around, but we don’t like people who inconvenience us or make us feel uncomfortable. We would rather stay away from people who aren’t as healthy, beautiful, or smart as we are.

Thankfully, there’s someone who won’t treat us that way. Someone who loves us with an unconditional love that welcomes us into the forever family, regardless of how messed up we are.

Tonight, before you go to sleep for the night, say a prayer that God will give you the strength you need to accept people as they are, and to help us all be more understanding of those who are different from us!!!

There’s a miracle called -Friendship- that dwells in the heart. You don’t know how it happens or when it gets started. But you know the special lift It always brings and you realize that Friendship Is God’s most precious gift!

Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us.

Are You in Trouble (Afflicted)?

James 5:13-16
13 Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.
14 Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.
15 And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven.
16 Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

James spoke about the persecution of believers by the ungodly rich. He had admonished them to patiently endure this suffering. Now he is giving them practical ways to do that. If you are afflicted, pray. Don't pray against your persecutors but pray for them. Get into the presence of the Lord, and you will find fullness of joy and pleasures beyond your persecution (Ps 16:11).

If we are merry (Greek: cheerful), sing psalms. This is great instruction. And we should not just sing psalms only when we are cheerful, but we should sing psalms when we are discouraged to cheer ourselves up. A merry heart does good like a medicine (Pr 17:22).

They had doctors in James' day. Yet James didn't tell the believers to call for the doctor or those who practiced holistic medicine; he told them to call for the elders of the church and get prayer, and the prayer of faith would heal the sick. This is very contrary to the normal practice of the average church today. If believers in the typical church today asked their elders to pray for them, most elders of the church would ask them what the doctor says about their sickness or would send them to a doctor. This is not what this scripture is instructing us to do.

This is not to say that it's sin to go to a doctor. If it hadn't been for doctors, all the Christians would have died because they certainly haven't been trusting God for healing. But this is saying that the first line of defense against sickness is the prayer of faith. Believing God for our healing shouldn't be something we do as the last resort or only in combination with what the doctor can do. We ought to turn to the Lord first.

When asked, the elders of the church should anoint the sick with oil in the name of the Lord and pray over the sick person. As revealed in the next verse, if this is done in faith, the Lord will heal the sick and forgive any sin that may have occasioned the sickness.

The oil that we anoint the sick with is symbolic. It symbolized the power of the Holy Spirit. It had no healing power. The power to heal the sick is our faith in the finished work of Christ.

Prayer doesn't save the sick; it's the prayer of faith that saves the sick. Prayer without faith isn't true prayer.

The Greek word "SOZO," which was translated "save" here, is related to the same Greek word that was translated "salvation" hundreds of times in the N.T. (Mt 8:17). The fact that this verse substitutes "infirmities" and "sicknesses" for the words "sorrows" and "griefs" in Isa 53:4 makes it clear that when Isaiah said "with his stripes we are healed" (Isa 53:5), he was speaking of the physical healing of our bodies. Jesus provided for physical healing as well as forgiveness of sins. The very word "save" (Greek - "SOZO") is translated "made whole" in reference to physical healing in Mt 9:22, Mr 5:34, and Lu 8:48. Jas 5:15 says the prayer of faith shall save (Greek - "SOZO") the sick. Many scriptures mention the healing of our bodies in conjunction with the forgiveness of our sins (Ps 103:3, Isa 53:4-6, and 1Pe 2:24). Healing is a part of our salvation, just as much as the forgiveness of our sins. This shows that biblical salvation isn't limited to forgiveness of sins but includes physical healing.

The mention of forgiveness along with healing suggests that sins can be an inroad of sickness into our lives. Jesus made this same connection in ( Joh 5:14). Jesus showed that sin causes the tragedies that come into our lives. Although it isn't always our personal sins that bring these problems (Joh 9:1-3), the sin of someone is always at the root of the problem. (Example: Herod killed the infants (Mt 2:16). The infants and their parents didn't occasion this by anything that they did. It was the fear that raged in the heart of Herod that caused this mass murder.)

When it is our own personal sins that are involved, these "worse things" come upon us for two reasons. (1) It's the judgment of God upon sin (Le 26:15-16; De 28:61; Ps 66:18, 107:17-18; Isa 13:11, 59:2, 64:7; Ro 2:8, and 6:23), or (2) it is Satan and his forces freed to work in our lives because of sin (Pr 5:22; Joh 8:34, 10:10; Ro 6:16; 2Ti 2:26; 1Pe 5:8; and 2Pe 2:19). Problems, diseases, etc. are never God blessing us (De 28:1-14 contrasted with 28:15-68) or God's method of correction (Joh 15:3 and 2Ti 3:16).

As born-again, New Testament believers, we will not come under this punitive judgment of God (Na 1:2; Ro 5:9; 1Th 1:10, and 5:9). Jesus bore that judgment so we wouldn't have to (Isa 53:4-6, 11; Ro 5:8-10; 1Co 15:3; and Ga 3:13). Therefore, the reason sin is still damaging to us as New Testament believers is that it looses Satan to work in our lives (Ro 6:16).

Jas 5:15 makes a link between sin and sickness (Joh 5:14 as mentioned above). Now this verse is telling us how to disconnect that link. We confess our sins one to another. This isn't encouraging what some do when they confess to a priest. No man has any power to forgive our sins but God only (Mr 2:7 and Lu 5:21). Jesus is the only mediator between God and man (1Ti 2:5). This is just saying we need to humble ourselves and admit our faults and turn from them. This is what true repentance is. But those who refuse to humble themselves but persist in their sins block their own healing.

Are you in trouble, are you sick? Disconnect the link, pray, humble yourself by confessing and repenting (turning from sin to righteousness in Christ), and you shall be saved (healed).