He Makes a Way

When temptation roars

When its shadow tries to overtake me

When my thoughts sound like rattlesnakes

I have been given the choice 

To flee from Satan’s dream for me

I can resist his venomous tongue

I can speak the word of God

Like Jesus when He was tempted

I can run free over the mountains

Victory is mine when I turn to Jesus

Halleluiah, I am no longer under the evil one’s spell

Freedom is the gift of grace my Father offers

I can dance for joy

Spin and shout

The Deliverer has set me free!

It is not a sin to be tempted

Not a sin to feel temptation’s weight

If I fall, Christ is there to lift me

If I stand, He is there to say, “Well done.”

Glory to God, He makes a way out of every temptation

Prospering Where You Are

For the plans I have for you are plans to prosper you and not to harm you.  Jeremiah 29:11

This is a wonderful and well known verse in the book of Jeremiah.  It was spoken by the prophet to the exiles of Jerusalem, who were taken to Babylon.  The context of the verse shows that the Lord wanted them to prosper in a foreign land without leaving the country.  

When things get tough, our natural response is to want to escape.  The Lord desired the Israelites to prosper where they were even though Babylon was not their true home.  In fact God told them to pray for the land that it would be blessed.  The logic was that if Babylon was blessed they would be blessed also.  The Lord through Jeremiah told God’s people to marry and have sons and daughters and have their daughters marry as well.  God promised to one day bring them back to their land, but that time was not at hand.  

In our fast-paced world, we have a tendency to always want to know the new thing that God is doing.  We want the breakthrough, we want the ultimate blessing, but sometimes God wants us to prosper where we are.  We have to learn to be content even in the midst of contrary circumstances.

The Israelites did not want to live in a foreign land, but they made the best of it.  We are to bloom where we are planted.  In God’s timing, we will possess the land of promise.