For the Choir Director - according to...

 Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, And to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen. 

Jude 24-25 NKJV

• Matthew 5:1-3
  Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them. He said: “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
• Psalm 73:26
  My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
• John 11:25-26
  Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
• 1 Corinthians 15:42-44
  So will it be with the resurrection of the dead. The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; and it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.
• 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
• 2 Corinthians 5:8
  We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.
• Romans 14:8
  If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.
• John 14:27
  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.
• Psalm 48:14
  For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.
• Isaiah 57:1-2
  The righteous perish, and no one takes it to heart; the devout are taken away, and no one understands that the righteous are taken away to be spared from evil. Those who walk uprightly enter into peace; they find rest as they lie in death.
• Isaiah 41:10
  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.
• 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
  who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
• Genesis 24:67
  Then Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and he took Rebekah, and she became his wife, and he loved her; thus Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.
• Lamentations 3:31-32
  For the Lord will not reject forever, For if He causes grief, Then He will have compassion According to His abundant lovingkindness.
• John 16:22
  “Therefore you too have grief now; but I will see you again, and your heart will rejoice, and no one will take your joy away from you.
• Psalm 9:9
  The LORD also will be a stronghold for the oppressed, A stronghold in times of trouble;
• Psalm 46:1
  God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.
• Isaiah 57:1-2
  The righteous man perishes, and no one lays it to heart; devout men are taken away, while no one understands. For the righteous man is taken away from calamity; he enters into peace; they rest in their beds who walk in their uprightness.
• 1 Corinthians 15:55
  “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
• Revelation 14:13
  Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
• John 14:1-2
  “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?
• 1 John 3:2
  2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
• Romans 8:18
  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
• Luke 20:36
  For they cannot die anymore, because they are equal to angels and are sons of God, being sons of the resurrection.

Prayer:

Father,

          Thank You for Your Word. Help us to hide it deep in our hearts! In Jesus' Name we pray.

What?

8 Has his unfailing love vanished forever?
Has his promise failed for all time?
9 Has God forgotten to be merciful?
Has he in anger withheld his compassion?
Psalm 77:8-9 NIV

Following her recent trip to Israel, my friend, Hope, sent me a book titled Footprints, Scripture with Reflections inspired by the poem of the same name. I just want to share something from it that has spoken to me today.

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When faced with bewildering circumstances, we are tempted to ask "Why?". But a better question to ask is "What?... What do You have in mind now, Lord?"

Hosea 6:3 NIV
3 Let us acknowledge the Lord;
let us press on to acknowledge him.
As surely as the sun rises,
he will appear;
he will come to us like the winter rains,
like the spring rains that water the earth.

Psalm 55:22 NIV
22 Cast your cares on the Lord
and he will sustain you;
he will never let
the righteous be shaken.

Jeremiah 33:3 NIV
3 ‘Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.’

Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts,
neither are your ways my ways,”
declares the Lord.
9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts than your thoughts."

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Prayer:

Father, 

           We certainly don't always understand, but Your Word assures us that You are faithful and trustworthy and full of grace and mercy. We pray believing according to Your Word in Proverbs 3:5-6, that we will trust in You Lord with all our heart, and lean not on our own understanding; In all our ways we will acknowledge You, and You shall direct our paths. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

*+ Why?

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. 
For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8-10 NLT

I don't think I know anyone who hasn't questioned God at one time or another. 'Why?' seems to be the most common question we have for Him, and the one that seems to be most often left unanswered. However, I have noticed the longer one follows the Lord, the more the 'Why?' is to try to understand or make sense of a situation, and less of a confrontational 'How dare you' attitude. 

Today, I attended a 'See You Later' Celebration of Life for a 15-month-old little boy named Elisha. Nobody wants to do that...ever. As difficult as it was, I can't imagine going through something like this without God. Thankfully, Elisha's parents, grandparents and great-grandparents are all Christians and their faith beautifully reflected God's glory and grace today. 

Most amazing to me were the testimonies of how this baby's short 15 months changed the lives of those who interacted with him. How - because of his condition - they had to reach deep for ways to connect and communicate with him. How they found new depths of their own character that they never knew existed. And their words today profoundly affected those gathered to honor and support the family. I look forward to hearing the after stories of how lifestyles and choices were changed forever by what folks heard this day about a 15-month-old little superhero named Elisha. 

There were lots of tears, but there was also laughter. There was tangible pain, but there was also hope and confidence that this truly was a 'See You Later' event. 

We may never know the answer to any of the times we have asked 'Why?'. After all, we have never 'commanded the morning to appear and caused the dawn to rise in the east' or 'made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness' or any of those other marvelous things listed in the last few chapters of Job, but we do know the One who did.

Prayer:

Father,
         Jesus told us in His famed Sermon on the Mount, Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Comfort as only You can, Father. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen.