security Archives - Marissa Henley

Nothing Can Separate You {No Matter What Monday}

October 8, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

A few weeks ago, I asked my daughter what she learned at Bible study as we made our way through the dark parking lot to our car. Her answer surprised me: “We learned how God kept parting all the water for the Israelites.”

If you spent much time in Sunday school as a kid, you probably saw the parting of the Red Sea on a felt board at some point. As the Egyptian army with their horses and chariots came barreling after them, the recently-freed Israelites huddled on the shore of the sea, waiting to see what God would do.

Forty years later, those who had crossed the Red Sea on dry ground had died in the wilderness. The next generation stood on the banks of the Jordan River as it rushed past them at floodstage. On the other side lay the long-awaited Promised Land. Once again, God proved that nothing can separate His children from His unfailing love, His perfect plans, and His gracious salvation. (Check out Joshua 3 to read more.)

The God who won’t let anything stand in the way of showing His love to His children is still the same today:

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)

In these verses, Paul gives us a comprehensive list of all the circumstances and powers that can’t separate us from God’s love. And in case he missed anything, he adds these powerful words: “nor anything else in all creation.” That pretty much covers it, wouldn’t you say?

Do you ever feel like a roaring river or a foreboding sea is keeping you from what God has promised? The hard circumstances we face can separate us from comfort, from happiness, from friends – maybe even separate us by death from someone we love and miss. But no matter how hard things get, our suffering will never be able to separate us from God’s love for us in Christ.

No matter what you face this week, nothing in all creation can separate you from God’s love in Christ Jesus.

God is For You. {No Matter What Monday}

September 10, 2018 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Do you ever feel like it’s you against the world?

You vs. The slow driver in front of you when you’re already running late.

You vs. The disobedience of the little people in your house.

You vs. The co-worker who undermines your work at every step.

You vs. The hurtful consequences of your sin or the sin of others.

You vs. The fallenness of our world manifested in heartache, illness, and death.

Who or what is your nemesis this week? Take a minute and fill in the blank. This week, it feels like you vs. _____________________.

Then draw your hope and courage from Romans 8:31:

“What then can we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

In this verse, Paul proclaims that God is for us. It’s a bold claim—but it’s also the logical response to all “these things” he’s written in the verses just before. He just finished saying that there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That God works all things for the good of those who are called according to His purpose. That God foreknew us, predestined us, called us, justified us, and glorified us by His grace. (See Rom. 8:1-30.)

If all this is true (and so much more!), we come to this conclusion: God is for us. And if God, the sovereign and powerful Creator and Sustainer of all that exists—if that God is for us, then who can be against us?

The answer is no one and nothing. People and circumstances threaten us and may appear to win, but the truth is that no one can successfully come against those who are in Christ. We are safely held by Him.

God takes what others intend for evil and use it for good in our lives, to sanctify us, refine us, and conform us to the image of His Son. (Gen. 50:20, Rom. 8:29.) Your children’s misbehavior, your co-worker’s schemes, your struggles with temptation, that driver in front of you, this fallen world—whatever your nemesis is this week—none of these can separate you from God’s love or from His plans for you (Rom. 8:38-39, Job 42:2).

No matter what you face this week, God is for you.

Trust the Faithful Creator to Perfectly Guard Your Soul {No Matter What Monday}

August 21, 2017 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Confession time: I am a control freak. This admission is no big surprise to those who know me! One annoying side effect of my control-freak condition is that I stink at delegating. I love the idea of it—I’d like you to do some of the work. But in the back of my mind, I’m wondering if you’ll do a good job. Will you get busy and forget? Will you hand it off to someone else? Will I need to fix your mistakes?

But what if you were perfect? What if you could show me a flawless record of always doing exactly what you said you would do? What if I knew you would excel in every task I handed you? If I believed these things were true, I’d trust you with anything!

We’ve been looking at God’s faithfulness for the past two weeks. This week’s Scripture tells us that we can trust our faithful God with the most important task—the security of our souls.

“Therefore let those who suffer according to God’s will entrust their souls to a faithful Creator while doing good.” (1 Peter 4:19)

In this passage, Peter is encouraging his readers to persevere through persecution. He tells them there’s something for them to do, and there’s something for them to leave in God’s hands.

It’s God’s job to guard our souls. We don’t need to fear persecution, suffering, or even death – because our faithful Creator can be trusted with the eternal care of our souls. The One who made us has also redeemed us and will guard our souls. Because He is faithful, He can be trusted to do so perfectly and completely.

While we delegate our soul-security to our faithful Creator, we are to do good works, even in hard times. It seems like a tall order! But when the responsibility for protecting ourselves is given to the Lord, we can focus on living out our faith in the midst of suffering.

No matter what you face this week, you can entrust your soul to your faithful Creator.

The Mommy Action Figure

November 21, 2007 by Marissa Leave a Comment

Last night at BSF, our teaching leader was lecturing on Matthew 8. In that chapter, we see a man with leprosy, a Gentile military leader, and Peter’s mother-in-law all taking action that demonstrates their faith in Jesus. Our leader gave an illustration about a new line of religious action figures (including a talking Jesus doll) that will be sold at Wal-mart. (Click here for the news story.) She talked about the fact that if our lives have been changed by God, if we have been saved by grace through faith in Christ, our actions will prove that we have put our faith in Jesus as our Redeemer. In the second half of Matthew 8, we see that Jesus is the Ruler of the universe–over nature and demons–and that our faith in action should reflect this truth as well.

At the end of the lecture, she asked us, “If they made an action figure out of you, what would it look like? What would it say and do?” Would my action figure reflect my hope in Jesus as my Redeemer and the Ruler of the universe? Or would it reflect my desire to glorify myself and hang on tightly to my rule over my life (and the lives of as many other people as possible)??

The mental image that comes to mind when I think about an action figure of myself is not a pretty one. She would be dressed in sweats but never actually make it to the gym. She would be loud, speaking mostly in commands and exasperated rebukes. When you pulled the string in her back, you would hear, “Give that back to your brother! Stop whining! Do you need to go potty?? Go get in the car RIGHT NOW–we’re late!!!” She would run around a lot and run out of battery power frequently. And by the time the Daddy action figure got home from work, her head has exploded and you have to glue her ears back on so she can listen to how his day was. She would come with a SwifferVac (my new favorite toy!), laundry basket, and diaper bag sold separately.

I’m trying to be funny, but it was seriously a great question to get me thinking about how my actions reflect where I’m placing my hope. Is my hope in my stuff, my home, my financial security, my husband’s job, and how well my kids turn out in the eyes of the world? Am I busy about the work of all of those things? Or is my hope in Jesus alone as my Redeemer and the Ruler over all aspects of my life? Am I busy about the work that He gives me which has eternal value? Is my effort as a wife, mom and homemaker seeking to glorify myself by having nice things and a family that looks happy from the outside? Or am I seeking to glorify God alone by humbly serving my husband and children and preaching the Gospel to them with my words and actions? As always, these are some tough and very convicting questions.

And please, don’t buy my kids a talking Jesus doll for Christmas.