Month: May 2020

Isaiah 41: 10 “Fear not, for I am with you: be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Oh how most of us need to get the above words of God down in our very soul, for God always delivers His promises, when we disbelievingly claim them.  “FEAR NOT FOR I AM WITH YOU.”  God hears everything we say.  He wants the best for us, and aches for us to give Him our heart and allegiance, which means, time, the mind, desires, money, concerns and troubles; summed up, my all, trusting that He is there looking out for each individual, because He has promised to do so, along with guiding, providing for our every need.  His promised love and care, includes helping each to accomplish what is best for them.  By letting it sink into the belief system, each person can truly believe He will. “Strengthen you, yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand,”

We need have no doubt about it; He is the Infinite, ALL POWERFUL GOD, Who is absolute righteous, mercy and love.

Please forgive us Lord, for times of unbelief and lack of faith, as we ask You to be our ALL and All, today and every day.

1 Peter 3:8 “Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another, love as brothers, be tender hearted, be courteous.”

To be always compassionate and to love as brothers and sisters, can be a challenge to some of us, who are sinful, hard hearted and self-focused.   Though to be always compassionate and loving to others is my intention, it is not always what I deliver, what about you?

As I read the Holy Bible, God over and over promises to fill those who ask, with His love through Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  I am so glad I have help available to be a nicer, loving person.  I ask the Lord to go with me each day, and to be imbued with His Spirit.  I ask often through the day because we are told to ask often, for we are in new need all through the day.  I also pray that I centre on beholding the perfect life of Jesus.  In so doing, we will have our mind taken off our challenges, and onto Christ and how He lived and treated other people on earth, when severely challenged on all sides, daily.   Jesus does open my eyes to what He wants me to do for others and the compassion I can give, so through Him my love will spill out.

I pray that Jesus will continue to grow my comprehension for His great love of we who live upon earth.  That is why He came to earth, to live out the principles of God, make disciples, and in the end forever pay the price for our sins, in sacrificial death.  Such love and sacrifice is divine!

Jesus has paid the price for all our sins, and is always inviting us to repent and confess our sins, so we can be forgiven and then realizing our weaknesses, make request for His strength, to live a life that  loves Him and all people as He does.  Proverbs 3:27 “Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in the power of your hand to do so.”

Praises to our wonderful God above, from whom all blessings flow.  Hallelujah!

Ezekiel 3:10, 17 “Moreover He (God) said to me: ‘Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears.  Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me.”

Ezekiel was faithful in listening to God and doing as He asked for the wicked and wayward Israelite’s.  He was given the commission of not only watching out for their safety, but warning the people of the consequences for disobedience and wrongdoing.

Even though we live in different times, as I hear His words, God has called us to be no less vigilant and faithful, in watching out for people and warning them of the eternal cost for disobedience and deaf ears to the messages and warnings in God’s Holy Word.  I believe He wants me to be faithful and Bible informed; as well as not slack off in what He asks us to do for others, which will bless us personally.

God wishes that we ‘keep our garments clean’ so to speak.  It is then we can be His witness and He can work through us for others.  It is always a temptation and distraction to follow our own pursuits and desires, thus allowing the focus to be on worldly thoughts and doings.  Jesus tells us it is only by focusing upon scripture and the life of Jesus, that we are safe from planned wrong doing and overriding selfishness.  Jesus invites each to come to Him in repentance and confession of our sins each day and throughout the day.   Along with the forgiveness God freely gives, comes His strength to face the day and stay close to Him.  So close that He comes and abides with us, as we abide in Him. It is then we become a channel of light seen clearly because it is reflects the light of Jesus.

No matter what happens around us and to us, God promises to be near with His support.  Isaiah 58: 11 “The Lord will guide us continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden.  And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.” In these dark and troubled times, when people are not sure what to believe and do, there is an urgency to warn them as did Ezekiel,  God’s message is to repent and come back to Him, lest it is too late to do so, and the God predicted last day events are upon us.

Let us each listen to God and enjoy His love, and hope of eternal life with Him forever.

Matthew 18:19, 20”Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.  For where two or three are gathered in My name, I am there in the midst of them.”

It is encouraging knowing that Jesus is with all who are in agreement and worshiping Him, whether it is at church, prayer meeting, singing and praise, study etc., in or out of a building.  Many of us have been isolating at home, through the weeks, and are unable to go and meet physically at church, during the Covid19 Pandemic.

Our gatherings of two or three will be especially blessed, when we give praise to God for His goodness and instead of giving voice to our woes and the actions of others, lest it be to lift them up in prayer.  Give us instead a sense of our unworthiness and spiritual needs, along with an appreciation of God as our King, coming to Him in love and awe, with gratitude, as well as reverence.  It is by praying that we will be totally emptied of our self-focus and desires.  We now long to be near Jesus and become more like Him in our character and doings.  Jesus invites us to follow Him and become more enlightened, shedding His light about us.

That’s how the diverse and self–focused disciples became through the Pentecost experience.  Such an experience is not denied us, if we pray much and put aside our differences, as the disciples.  Then after 10 intense days of seeking God and His will; the Holy Spirit descended with power upon the disciples of Jesus, as promised.

Today Jesus wants us to be filled with the Holy Spirit, whether worshiping with hundreds or with two or three.  His words still guide us, Luke 11: 13”If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

I thank God for hearing and answering our prayers, according to His spoken will.  John 16:24 “Until now you have asked nothing in My name.  Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.”

James 4:8 “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.  Cleanse you’re your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded”

It is so good that God promises to never leave us to our own devices.  He is close at hand, even when we do not stay close.  This is so, even though He could never condone sin.  He can only love us no matter our condition and practices, knowing all the while what I could be ‘in Him’.  Spiritual and relationship treasures await us when we ask Jesus into our heart and remain for ever faithful to Him.  There are hundreds of stories and testimonies from those who have placed Jesus first in their lives in love and obedience and then find that God keeps His word and we can indeed stand on all the promises in the Bible.

We cannot forget the last half of the above text, that tells us to get rid of unrighteousness.  It is not possible to hang onto sinful practices, and still believe we are a true Christian.  When anyone has a purposefully double minded heart, God still cares about us, but the relationship with God on our side suffers.  We can only have one person in control of each life; God or Satan.  So many times people trip themselves up, by trying to have a ‘foot in both camps’, all the while meaning to do the right thing and stay close to God.  Satan the arch tempter may have us indulging in an attractive or ‘darling sin’ based on self-orientation or self-interest. No matter how good our works, we are basically sinful, and it is only the self-sacrificing lovely Jesus who can save us from ourselves and sin.  James 4:7 “Therefore submit to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”

Ephesians 6: 10, 11 “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might, put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”

Thank You Jesus for Your love and faithfulness, unto eternal salvation.