He Watches

Psalm 121 NLT

I look up to the mountains - does my help come from there?
My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth!

He will not let you stumble; the one who watches over you will not slumber. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never slumbers or sleeps.

The Lord himself watches over you!
The Lord stands beside you as your protective shade.
The sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon at night.

The Lord keeps you from all harm and watches over your life.
The Lord keeps watch over you as you come and go,
both now and forever.

Prayer:

Father, 

          You are our Protector, whom shall we fear? Remind us to always keep our eyes on You, the Author and FINISHER of our faith. Knowing You watch over us gives us peace that passes understanding even in the middle of every storm and trial. Keep us ever mindful of this Truth, both now and forever. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

For All These, We Praise

Psalm 144 NLT

Praise be to the Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war, my fingers for battle. He is my loving God and my fortress, my stronghold and my deliverer, my shield, in whom I take refuge, who subdues peoples under me.

Lord, what are human beings that you care for them, mere mortals that you think of them? They are like a breath; their days are like a fleeting shadow.

Part your heavens, Lord, and come down; touch the mountains, so that they smoke. Send forth lightning and scatter the enemy; shoot your arrows and rout them. Reach down your hand from on high; deliver me and rescue me from the mighty waters, from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.

I will sing a new song to you, my God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you, to the One who gives victory to kings, who delivers his servant David.

From the deadly sword deliver me; rescue me from the hands of foreigners whose mouths are full of lies, whose right hands are deceitful.

Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace. Our barns will be filled with every kind of provision. Our sheep will increase by thousands, by tens of thousands in our fields; our oxen will draw heavy loads. There will be no breaching of walls, no going into captivity, no cry of distress in our streets.

Blessed is the people of whom this is true; blessed is the people whose God is the Lord.

Prayer:

Father, 

           Yes, blessed are we for You are our Lord God Almighty! We pray Your Word from the psalms, we will praise You, Lord, with all our heart; we will praise Your name for Your unfailing love and Your faithfulness. When we call on Your Name, You answer.

       May all the kings of the earth praise You, Lord! May they sing of Your ways for Your glory is great. Though You are exalted, You look kindly on the lowly; You see us from afar. Though we walk in the midst of trouble, You preserve our lives. With Your right hand, You save us. Your love, Lord, endures forever - do not abandon the works of Your hands. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Without Sin

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:8-9 NIV

Who's kidding who? We'd all like to be without sin, but the Truth is we are not. Romans 3:23 tells us, For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard [emphasis mine]. Reading in James yesterday, chapter 2 tells us even if we keep the whole law and only offend in one point, we're guilty of all. 

What hope do we have of making Heaven? Romans 7:25a, Thank God! The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord. Only Jesus. Our righteousness is as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6), but Jesus was and is the sinless, spotless Lamb, the Perfect Sacrifice to free us from the guilt of sin. It's His righteousness that purifies us. Colossians 1:21-22 NLT declares This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault. Only Jesus...

Prayer:

Father,

          Are there even words we can utter that could possibly express the magnitude of our gratefulness to You? It is so difficult to grasp the full weight of Your love and grace and mercy toward us. Thank You for Your plan of salvation for all of mankind! Keep us ever mindful of the great price that was paid so we could be brought into right-standing with You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Playing Favorites

Playing favorites is always a bad thing; you can do great harm in seemingly harmless ways.

Proverbs 28:21 The Message

We all have favorite things, right? Coffee, restaurant, snack, favorite pair of jeans... no harm, no foul. But do we have favorite people? Does everyone around us know who they are? 

Playing favorites is never a good thing when it comes to people. Favoritism is always at the expense of others - whether at work or in the home. Cain and Abel, Jacob and Esau carried down to the next generation, Joseph and his coat of many colors... All the doors that were opened in that family line to hatred, envy, deceitfulness, and pride. The truth is it's a sin. Yes, sin! 

James discusses it at length in chapter 2, beginning in verse 1 NLT, My dear brothers and sisters, how can you claim to have faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ if you favor some people over others? Verse 9a, the same chapter declares, But if you favor some people over others, you are committing a sin. Romans 2:11 tells us there is no favoritism with God. And we are to be like Him.

Prayer:

Father,

           Forgive us our sins of looking on the outward appearance of mankind and judging one better than the other, instead of seeing their hearts. Help us to undo any damage that may have been done along the way. Help us to see as You see and to love as You love. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Our Source of Hope

You are my refuge and my shield; your word is my source of hope.
Psalm 119:114 NLT

What do we have within ourselves to offer those who are without hope? Unless we have a store of God's Word hidden in our hearts, we don't have much.

There are many life situations that can steal our hope if we let them. During the holiday season, the number one reason is the loss of loved ones, followed by financial stresses and unrealistic expectations. Chronic pain with no foreseeable hope of relief can also lead to hopelessness... which then leads to depression and loneliness - which in reality is caused by a separation from God which in turn can cause a separation of relationships with those around us. 

And it's not walking away from God entirely, it's walking away from His Word - our source of hope. Billy Graham wrote: "True hope comes by trusting God even when circumstances are difficult. One way to know whether you're trusting God is whether you're obeying His Word. Trust produces obedience, which produces hope, which results in joy and peace; and that is the power of the Holy Spirit." [emphasis mine]

Hope does NOT mean we have everything, (Romans 8:23-24), but that we trust God to provide what we need - that which He promised. And how will we know what He has promised if we don't know His Word? Hope again. God IS faithful.

Prayer:

Father,

           Forgive us for losing sight of Your precious promises. Birth in us a fresh desire to know more of You, more of Your Word. We pray as Paul prayed that You - the Source of our hope - would fill us completely with joy and peace because we trust in You. And that we will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Managing Stress - by request

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
1st Peter 5:7 NIV

Recently, I received an email about stress management. It was one I had seen before, but this particular version had been modified from the one I had read previously. It started with an illustration. You may have seen it before, too.

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.
The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on...”

I immediately thought of our text for today. Of course, the secular world has all kinds of suggestions on how to make it better, and I thought about doing a comparison of the original suggestions to see how many of them were based on Scripture, but I thought I’d just rather do this.

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters. He restoreth my soul...Psalm 23:2-3 KJV

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” Matthew 11:28-30 NLT

Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows… Isaiah 53:4a NKJV

The chastisement for our peace was upon Him… Isaiah 53:5c NKJV

The syllabus for our stress management course is called The Bible… Pay close attention to what is written in red.

Prayer:

Father,
          We pray according to Your Word in Psalm 25, Show us the right path, O Lord; point out the road for us to follow. Lead us by Your truth and teach us, for You are the God who saves us. All day long we put our hope in You. Remember, O Lord, Your compassion and unfailing love, which You have shown from long ages past. Do not remember the rebellious sins of our youth. Remember us in the light of Your unfailing love, for You are merciful, O Lord. In Jesus’ Name we pray. Amen

Make It Clear

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power, Your Majesty. But even if he doesn’t, we want to make it clear to you, Your Majesty, that we will never serve your gods or worship the gold statue you have set up.”
Daniel 3:16-18 NLT

They were captives in Babylon - subject to the king, his edicts, ego, and anger. However, their faith was in only One - God Almighty, the great Jehovah, King of kings and Lord of lords. Their lives were on the line - bow or burn. 

Adhering to the commandments they had been taught all their lives,  the response of their heart, mind, soul, and strength was immediate, "We will never..."  The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’  At the threat of our lives, will we do the same?

Prayer:

Father, 

           Thank You for Your commandments to us that - when obeyed - give and sustain our lives. Help us to always keep our hearts, minds, souls, and strength aligned to serve and worship only You. Let us not be deceived or lured away by what the world offers. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen