God Cares For You

 

Praise the Lord!

For it is good to sing praises to our God;

For it is pleasant and praise is becoming.

The Lord builds up Jerusalem;

He gathers the outcasts of Israel.

He heals the brokenhearted

And binds up their wounds.

He counts the number of the stars;

He gives names to all of them.

Great is our Lord and abundant in strength;

His understanding is infinite.

Psalm 147:1-5

God cares for us. He not only cares about our physical health, He cares about our emotional health.  We should not loose sight of this.

No matter what, God is on our side and at our side to help and heals our broken bodies and our broken hearts.

God's promises are true, and so, are these.  He cares for you.

It Is Not About the Buffet

 

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

Romans 14:17

In the early church there was a lot of disagreement about what Christians should and should not eat.  There were converted Jews who still abstained from pork and there were Gentiles who ate everything.  

What the Apostle Paul told them was it did not matter what they ate or drank because they were redeemed by Jesus and and made right in the sight of God, and God would not judge them based on their diet.

We too can sometimes become encumber by man made rules that will cause us to question our salvation.  Let us be diligent in evaluating whether rules are from God or from man, and so act on them so that we can know the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit dwelling in us. 

Good Medicine

 

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

Proverbs 17:22

How can we be healed of hurt and pain that come from disappointment?  

The answer is not to wallow in our disappointment, but to move on.  We may move slowly and we may have setbacks on our road to recovery, but God is with us every inch of of the way.  He does not want us to suffer, He wants to restore our joy. 

We can trust God because He has everything under control and know that everything will be alright.

May you experience the good medicine of a joyful heart.

 

God Rejoices Over You

 

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; He will quiet you by his love; He will exult over you with loud singing.

Zephaniah 3:17

God promises that He is with us and will save us.  God is glad to know us and His love will quiet our worries and anxious thoughts.  

When God says He will exalt us, He means He will glorify us - that is to offer praise for our faithfulness and our actions.

When everyone and everything indicates that maybe we are not right with God, remember these words - God rejoices over you with gladness.  

One God and Father Who Is Over All

Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all  and through all and in all.

Ephesians 4:1-4

The Apostle Paul had some difficult times in his ministry.  In this case, he was in prison, yet he still wrote words of encouragement to the Ephesians.

Paul reminds us that we are called to be kind and at peace with one another and others.  

And, this possible because we are called by the one God and Father who is over all.  

We are called, let us answer. 

 

 

Strong and Courageous

 

…the Lord spoke to Joshua…

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”

Joshua 1:9

Joshua was as a great warrior for God.  He was a man who we would think was not afraid of anyone or anything.  Yet, here he is being told by God "do not tremble or be dismayed."  How can that be?  

I think the message is that we are all afraid sometimes.  We can be spooked by things, like a mean co-worker at a new job or moving to a new town or an unexpected illness or any number of things that knock us off our game plan and shake our faith. 

God's message for us is that even if we are afraid, we should go do that to which we are called and not wallow in our fear.

Be strong and courageous, because God is with you.   

 

Be Kind

Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Do not judge and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon and you will be pardoned. Give and it will be given to you. They will pour into your lap a good measure—pressed down and shaken together and running over. For by your standard of measured it will be measured to you in return.

Luke 6:36-38

When we show kindness in the face of unkindness or ignore a wrong doing against us, we are setting the stage for God to pour out His blessings on us.

The kingdom of God is not built by harsh judgment and condemnation but by overlooking and forgiveness. We cannot minister those around us if we approach them with the same attitude which they display toward us. The big shock for unbelievers is when they received kindness.

Just as God is merciful to us, we are to be merciful. When we bless those who least deserve it, God blesses us.