Always With Us

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.

Isaiah 43:2

 

God Heals The Brokenhearted

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Psalm 147:3

 

Angels On Duty

For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways….

Psalm 91:11

 

Lean On God

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths.

Proverbs 3:5-6

 

Take Flight

Those who wait upon the Lord will renew their strength. They will mount up with wings like eagles. They will run and not grow tired. They will walk and not become weary.

Isaiah 40:31

 

God Is There

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High

Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress,

My God in whom I trust!”

For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper

And from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with His pinions,

And under His wings you may seek refuge;

His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark.

Psalm 91:1-4

 

Not An Obstacle Course

So then each one of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather determine this—not to put an obstacle or stumbling block in a brother’s way.

Romans 14:12-13

 

Sometimes We Are Uncomfortable

Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. But resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your brethren who are in the world.

After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself, perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.

To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen.

1 Peter 5:8-11

 

Give Them The Treatment

Treat others the same way you want them to treat you.

Luke 6:31

 

Adjust Me

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

Colossians 3:15

Don’t you hate it when you are restless and agitated about something over which you have no control? Flopping around in bed at night, with a brain full of stuff that you can’t resolve and then facing the day with a less than pleasant attitude is not the way it is supposed to be. The next time this happens rather than getting all bent out of shape, try doing an attitude and gratitude adjustment.

When we trust in God, it means that we trust God to take care of all our problems. All we have to do is pray and surrender our problems to God, and feel the rush of His peace fill our hearts, and then be thankful.

 

Just Because It Is Legal, Does Not Mean It Is Right

Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led around by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And He ate nothing during those days, and when they had ended, He became hungry.

And the devil said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, tell this stone to become bread.”

And Jesus answered him, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone.”’

Luke 4:1-4

Jesus was tempted just like us. The devil is a sneaky fellow who will try to make something that is wrong look right or even something that is legal, but that we morally oppose, into something we feel obligated to do to appease others or perhaps make our own lives easier.

Jesus’ answer to the devil’s suggestion that He turn the stone into bread was from Deuteronomy 8:3, “He humbled you and let you be hungry, and fed you manna which you did not know, that He might make you understand that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.”

The laws and social customs of men change, the Word of God never changes.

 

Watch Your Steps

Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.

Matthew 7:13-14

 

Fathers' Day

Hear, my son, your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teachings.

Proverbs 1:8

Happy Fathers’ Day.

 

Keep Your Feet On Holy Ground

Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.

Galatians 6:1

This is good advice for us when we try to help another Christian straighten out his or her life. While we are busy trying to straighten out another, we might get tangled in the same sin.

What Paul is talking about is not going too far in our rescue attempts. If we have a brother or sister in the Lord who has a gambling problem, we should not go to the casino with them to check it out; ditto for going to the bar with a problem drinker or shopping with a shoplifter. We might find ourselves yielding to temptation or the long arm of the law might find us guilty by association, in either case it is not a good place to be if you are trying to live a Christ like life.

When throwing a lifeline to a sinking Christian, keep your feet on holy ground.

 

Looking For God?

Seek the Lord while He may be found;

Call upon Him while He is near.

Let the wicked forsake his way

And the unrighteous man his thoughts;

And let him return to the Lord,

And He will have compassion on him,

And to Our God,

For He will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 55:6-7

 

Do What is Right, And Roll With It

For it is better, if God should will it so, that you should suffer for doing what is right rather than for doing what is wrong.

1 Peter 3:17

 

Encourage One Another

But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.

For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our assurance firm until the end….

Hebrews 3:13-14

 

The Fault Finders

“For John the Baptist has come eating no bread and drinking no wine, and you say, ‘He has a demon!’ The Son of Man has come eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Behold, a gluttonous man and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners!’ Yet wisdom is vindicated by all her children.”

Luke 7:33-35

When Jesus said this He was pointing out that those who want to find fault will find fault no matter what people do. John the Baptist and Jesus did nothing wrong, yet the Pharisees, who were religious leaders, and the lawyers faulted them both.

That is the way things go sometimes. We are busy doing the right thing, and the critics are busy finding fault with what we are doing.

 

Give Mercy

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives.

Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them.

The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now the Law of Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?”

They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.

When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?”

She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

John 8:1-11

May we be as merciful as Jesus.

Total Makeover

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 13:2

When God gives us a total makeover it is more than a haircut or a new lipstick color. It starts on the inside and flows out from our hearts and lips. We can no longer stand idly by and watch suffering or injustice because our hearts are changed and when we see people in need we reach out with kind words and care.

Get your total make over and be transformed. Ask Jesus to be your Lord, Master and Savior.

 

Sing For Joy

It is good to give thanks to the Lord

And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High;

To declare Your loving-kindness in the morning

And Your faithfulness by night,

With the ten-stringed lute and with the harp,

With resounding music upon the lyre.

For You, O Lord, have made me glad by what You have done,

I will sing for joy for the works of Your hands.

Psalms 92:1-4

Keep Running The Race

Therefore since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus….

Hebrews 12:1-2

 

We Have Hope

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it men of old gained approval. …

By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.

Hebrews 11:1-2, 31

 

Live In Peace

Finally, brethren, rejoice, be made complete, be comforted, be like-minded, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

2 Corinthians 13:11

 

The Truth Is The Truth

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.  By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.  

You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world.

They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.

We are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us.  By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

1 John 4:1-6
 

The Right Answer

A gentle answer turns away wrath,

but a harsh word stirs up anger.

The tongue of the wise makes knowledge acceptable,

but the mouth of the fool spouts folly.

Proverbs 15:1-2

Not What We Thought

For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord.

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways

And My thoughts than your thoughts.

Isaiah 55:8-9