Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Proverbs 3:5
When things do not make sense and seem to be all out of wack, we can be confident that God is about to do something.
Come what may God is in charge and He has everything under control.
We sometimes need to spend less time trying to figure out what is going on, and trust the Lord that everything will be alright.
Relax, trust God.
Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
2 Corinthians 3:17
Many years ago, I was a very conservative Christian, with many ideas of what was right and what was wrong and very vocal regarding these.
However, as time went on, I was frequently persuaded that some of my views were wrong and I modified my words and actions to reflect these views. I became much more merciful in my view of mankind's shortcomings.
This change came as a surprise to some of my friends, one of whom said to me, "I am surprised that you being so conservative, have some views that are so liberal."
My answer was, "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty."
May we all be sensitive to the direction of the Spirit of the Lord and know when to change direction.
For God is not a God of confusion but of peace….
1 Corinthians 14:33
There are people who try to distract from the truth of the Gospel with confusion. They distort the Word of God for their own purposes. They may make the free gift of salvation through Jesus into something which requires a cash payment, and like wise for the blessings of God.
In all this we need to take warning that any time anyone distorts the Word of God or adds to it, that it is not from God but from the corrupt hearts of men or women.
The truth of the Gospel and God's promises bring peace.
Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Isaiah 43:18-19
Sometimes we are weighted down by our past experiences and this keeps us from doing new things. A failure is a failure and is not a life sentence. Just the same as a success, does not mean we stop working to do what God has called us to do.
God has big plans for us. Even if we think something is insignificant, if it furthers the work of the Gospel and reveals the mercy of God, it is a big deal.
God wants us to stop looking backward and start looking forward and to Him for new things that He is calling us to do.
Look forward for what God has planned for you.
Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.
2 Timothy 2:4
Several years ago, I attended a small rural church and one Sunday, one of the visitors was a minister from another denomination. The pastor seeing him in the congregation, greeted him and asked him if he would like to give the sermon. The man nodded and came forward. He took a piece of paper from his pocket and in my opinion proceeded to give a good sermon. It was relevant, had some humor and was encouraging.
How could that be? I think that was because he took this scripture to heart - to be ready in season and out of season.
We may not be called on to preach, but everyday we have opportunities to share the love of Christ with others. To be ready we can equip ourselves with some tools - like the Roman's Road to Salvation, and scriptures that speak of the love of God for everyone. Doing this we can bring hope and mercy to the world.
Be ready in season and out.
Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.
Romans 12:16
A few years ago, my husband and I were looking for a church to attend. At several of the churches we visited, we were invisible. No one came up and introduced themselves, no one asked us to stay for coffee and cookies after church and no one called us to say they hoped we would come back again. We were not one time visitors, but several times visitors, all with no response. We signed the attendance list in the pew and we gave our offering in a check, yet we were invisible.
Why did no one respond?
I think perhaps because the regular attenders had a club mentality, that is they viewed the church as a club for members, and they were members and we were not. Although we enjoyed the worship services, after a few weeks, we went somewhere else.
The church is not a club; it is an association of real people with real needs. I might add, that this applies to other groups to which we belong and which might not be too welcoming to visitors.
Let’s try to be a little friendlier.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit.
Galatians 5:25.
Wow! All this is ours for the taking! Just think how peaceful our homes would be if we just strive for the fruits of the Spirit in our families. And, should this spill out into the world, we might overwhelm our enemies with God’s love.
…Do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
Romans 2:4
God operates from love to show everyone His kindness and tolerance and patience so that we, being dense when it comes to spiritual things, will come to understand that He is working in our best interests both in terms of earthly matters and in terms of our coming to know Him.
We can become callous and not appreciate that people who receive second chances in realm of earthly matters by earthly judges or bosses or family members are not receiving this mercy just from humans but from God who invests Himself in changing human hearts.
God is the God of second and third and fourth chances because as long as we have breath in our bodies we have the option of asking God’s Son, Jesus, to be our Lord, Master and Savior.
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched.
Isaiah 43:2
Don't you just love it when people are going through tough times and people tell them to "suck it up?" As if, by some great cosmic event, ignoring their problems will some how lead to people finding a way out.
I realize that sometimes when you get something going you have to roll with it, but at the same time I realize that no matter what is happening in our lives, God is caring for us and is with us.
God promises when we walk through the fire, He is with us, and His promises are true.
But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene — walk!”
Acts 3:6
Did you ever think you should say something and then not speak? Well, when we are confronted by people who have problems or issues and we don’t have a clue what we can say to help them, we can take a hint from Peter. We can say, “Can I pray with you?” Or if we are not that bold, then we can say, “I hear what you are saying, and I will pray for you in this difficult time.”
We can bring the love of Christ to many people, just by being willing to offer what we have – faith in God, that no matter what He is looking after all of us.
For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as propitiation by His blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in His divine forbearance He had passed over former sins. It was to show His righteousness at the present time, so that He might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.
Romans 3:23-26
We know and God knows that we are not perfect. As hard as we try and as much as we would like to believe that we are perfect, perfect is not attainable for us.
But our lack of perfection does not keep us from God, but rather opens up the possibility for us to know the forgiveness of God. It is by our acceptance of our shortcomings and the acceptance of the Jesus who came and died for our sins that we are made perfect in God's sight.
Jesus is waiting to bring you to God. Acknowledge your shortcomings and ask Him into your heart today.
But as for you, brethren, do not grow weary of doing good.
2 Thessalonians 3:13
When we are tired of working our prayer is: Lord, revive me!
Our work is more than making widgets or pouring coffee or crunching numbers, our work is taking the Gospel to the world. We do this by ministering to those around us through kindness, consideration and overlooking that which is annoying.
Jesus didn’t sit down on the job and neither should we.
Get revived and get busy doing good.
But Jonah rose up to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. So he went down to Joppa, found a ship which was going to Tarshish, paid the fare and went down into it to go with them to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.
The Lord hurled a great wind on the sea and there was a great storm on the sea so that the ship was about to break up.
Then the sailors became afraid and every man cried to his god, and they threw the cargo which was in the ship into the sea to lighten it for them. But Jonah had gone down below into the hold of the ship, lain down and fallen sound asleep.
So the captain approached him and said, “How is it that you are sleeping? Get up, call on your god. Perhaps your god will be concerned about us so that we will not perish.”
Jonah 1:3-6
Jonah was running away from God. The captain and the crew did not know this. They believed that there were many different gods and that in to get things done; they needed to appeal to the right god. Since it was still storming they knew that they had not appealed to the right god.
Jonah was the only man on board who was not yelling to a god, and therefore, the captain thought perhaps that Jonah’s God was the right God.
In the end, Jonah was thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish. But the other story is that “Then those men feared the Lord greatly….”
When we encounter people who have huge problems, our first instinct may be to run away from them. A more merciful course of action is to say: "I don't know what you should do, but I will pray with you." Prayer calms and comforts, and heals the brokenhearted. Prayer changes things and people like the sailors who were with Jonah.
Spare a prayer for someone in need. It may be all it takes to bring a soul to Jesus.
This is the message we have heard from Him and announced to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth; but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
1 John 1:5-10
This is the answer to those who believe that being a good person will get people into heaven. No one is good enough because we all sin. Therefore, our only hope for eternal life is to confess our sins to Jesus, ask His forgiveness and accept Him as our Savior. When we are forgiven by Jesus we are cleansed of all our sins and are heaven ready.
There is no shortcut to heaven because the way out of darkness is lit up for all to see.
He raises up the poor from the dust; He lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honor. For the pillars of the earth are the Lord's, and on them He has set the world.
1 Samuel 2:8
How can it be that some people who are born having nothing going for them, can accomplish great things for God?
The secret is the power of God which does more in our lives than we can even imagine. When we think we will give up and quit, just then something happens to change our minds and inspire us to continue with the work God has given us to do.
Remember, God set the world, and He set you.
For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name, that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power through His Spirit in the inner man, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:14-19
God’s loves us more than we can comprehend. His love overwhelms us and wraps us in the comfort of His presence. We cannot escape His all-encompassing love for us.
God even loves those who deny His existence. God sent us His Son, Jesus, because He wants everyone to experience His great love.
All God requires is that we acknowledge that Jesus is His Son and to invite Him to be our Lord, Master and Savior.
Be filled up with all the fullness of God.
The steadfast of mind You will keep in perfect peace,
Because he trusts You.
Trust in the Lord forever,
For in God the Lord, we have an everlasting Rock.
Isaiah 26:3-4
Who can we trust? How do we maintain our faith in God when things are not looking so good to us? We believe God; yet, we are plagued by uneasiness.
We cannot control what others do or the choices they make which seem contrary to all rational thinking or at least to our thinking. We can be eaten alive physically and spiritually by things we cannot control but we don’t have to be.
We trust God to manage the affairs of the world, our families, our friends, and our lives. We can confidently take our concerns to God, release our worries to Him and watch what God will do.
In God we must trust.
Do not fear, for I am with you; do not anxiously look about you, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, surely I will help you, surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10
Sometimes our fears are unfounded. We approach a new experience worried that it will no not be good for us. Yet, because God is with us, what we fear often does not come to pass.
When we took our four year old grand-daughter to church for the first time and we left her in her classroom, she looked scared and had tears in her eyes. An hour later when we came back to pick her up, she was happy. She had six church bucks to spend at the candy store, and said, “I got to sing and dance and praise Jesus.”
May your fears turn into an opportunity to sing and dance and praise Jesus.
Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death.
For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Romans 8:1-4
It is easy to point out people’s flaws and a standard remark by unbelievers about the shortcomings of Christians is, “Well, that’s not very Christian.”
True somethings could be judged as “not very Christian,” but the whole concept of forgiveness by God has to do with us being imperfect and Him being perfect, and that is the message we can deliver to those who know nothing about being a Christian.
Asking Jesus to be our Savior does not make us perfect, it makes us forgiven and better people. Jesus came not because we are perfect, but because it is impossible for us to be perfect, and every one of us needs a Savior so that we can move beyond our sins and into fellowship with God.
Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10.
When we face the unknown, it is only natural that we have some fear. But God promises us that He is right there with us to encourage us and strengthen us. God holds on to us.Now, pray, prepare and be confident in God’s promises.
If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.
Romans 12:18
While we are fighting the good fight, sometimes people will not leave us alone. It is hard to maintain peace with people who take joy in wreaking havoc in other people’s lives. Yet, this is what the Apostle Paul advocates because if we can continue doing right in the face of those who seek to disrupt us, we will accomplish far more than if we waste time arguing.
Further, I think Paul was thinking about Christians responding in a way that would give their antagonists a minimum of ammunition to use against them. If we cannot be at peace, we can take a little time to choose the words we use to address our antagonists. The last thing we want is our antagonists bragging about making us swear.
Squeaky clean words leave no slimy residue.
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.
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.
"Be on your guard! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times saying, ”I repent,” forgive Him."
Luke 17:3-4
When Jesus said this, He was addressing our bent toward holding a grudges.
Grudges do nothing to resolve problems and everything to stop us from doing the things we should be doing because while we are stewing, we are not productive for God. Consider this, if we are wronged by someone and they apologized to us, but we refuse to let go of our hurt and anger and disappointment, then how are we to minister to that person or to anyone else for that matter because anger is all consuming?
And, that is why God totally forgives us and forgets our sins. He is more interested in fellowship with us than settling an old score.
Therefore, Jesus does not tell us to do anything that God is not already doing one hundred times a day for us. So, let us get over it and get on with serving the Lord.
Be forgiven and forgive.
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present day.
Titus 2:11-12
We are “to live sensibly, righteously and godly” lives, but the question remains: How do we learn to do this?
The Bible is our handbook for life. It is filled with information and instructs us how to live godly lives.
So, no matter what our lives are like or what we have done, we can come to God and asked Jesus to be our Lord, Master and Savior and commence to live a new lives, cleansed of sin and filled with God’s love. And, by reading the Bible we can learn how to be all God wants us to be.
Take the first step: Ask Jesus to be your Lord, Master and Savior. Then dive into the Bible and see what God can do for you.
Jesus said, “Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them; otherwise you have no reward with your Father who is in heaven.
So when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that they may be honored by men. Truly I say to you, they have their reward in full.
But when you give to the poor, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving will be in secret; and your Father who sees what is done in secret will reward you.”
Matthew 6:1-4
We are called to be charitable and to help those who have needs. Sometimes, people will make a big deal out of making a donation and will be rewarded for it.
But, to me, the best giving is when I give and no one knows that I gave. It may be a donation to the food pantry or to a back to school event. We can give to those in need in personal way by sending them a gift card to use as they need. Use your imagination and see what good you can do.
Remember, we work not for earthly rewards, but for heavenly rewards.
My lips shall shout for joy when I sing praises unto You; And my soul, which You have redeemed.
Psalm 71:23
Sometimes we think we don't have anything to be thankful for because nothing seems to be going right in our lives. But, I think if we dig deep we all can find at least one thing to thank God for every day.
Think about that. There is power in praising God and giving thanks. It opens us up to feeling better about life and others.
So, shout for joy.
Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:22-23
Jesus invites us to change. Yes, change may bring us a certain amount of pain, but we need to decide whether it hurts more to stay as we are or to change.
The new self, created in the likeness of God, brings relief and rest to us. We are no longer chased by our wayward deeds, but are comforted in the righteousness and holiness that comes from serving the living God.
Put on your new self and be renewed.
It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance that Jesus Christ came to into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.
Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life.
1 Timothy 1:15-16
The Apostle Paul is speaking honestly when he declares that he was “foremost of all” sinners. Paul was a religious man, whose religious beliefs led him to do horrible things. Yet, when God called Paul, he was transformed into one of the greatest leaders of the Christian Church. Jesus did what religion could not do; Jesus changed Paul’s heart. And, even at that, Paul still struggled with sin.
We slip. We fall. We stumble. We bumble along trying to do the right thing and sometimes we fail. We may condemn ourselves and others may condemn us, but God is patient, always forgiving and caring for us.
Take courage, we are forgiven and God is patiently working on us.
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
Some days we don’t feel like doing everything that we know we should do. We can get bogged down watching what other people are or are not doing, and think, “Well, they seem to be doing alright. Why should I have to follow all the Mickey Mouse rules?” The truth is we don’t have to do anything, but we want to do things that bring honor to Christ.
So, follow the Mickey Mouse rules and maybe make up a few new ones for yourself.
We are not trying to look good to others, we are honoring our commitment to Christ. And, in doing so, opening doors to minister to those around us.
Many are the sorrows of the wicked,
But he who trusts in the Lord, loving kindness shall surround him.
Be glad in the Lord and rejoice you righteous ones;
And shout for joy, all you who are upright in heart.
Psalm 32:10-11
God’s loving kindness is more than sympathy; it is comfort and affection for us. And, that is something to shout about.
