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Encouragement and Hope
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| Everyone gets discourage about something in life that is not working out the way they hoped. We worry about our children making it safely through teenage years. There are so many wrong paths they might take and ruin their life. What is a parent to do? This was not King David problem, but he was discouraged and wrote, "I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living." (Ps. 27:13) There are so many problems in the world that soon as we get one thing under control something else breaks down. None of us have as many troubles as Job did, yet he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD." I hope we all will be faithful to trust the Lord even as Job and David did when all our "toys" or loved ones who are taken from us. Psalm 27 closes with this admonition: "Wait for the LORD; Be strong and let your heart take courage; Yes, wait for the LORD." We can encourage ourself in the Lord like David did. | ||
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A Precious Thing
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| It is a precious thing when my heart is fixed and trusting in God; through the mercy of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ. My heart is resting, O my Savior, in Thy loving care. My trust is ever stayed on Thee; O hear my earnest prayer that ever faithful I may be, and ever do Thy will. O grant this in Thy mercy still, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen This is an old poem set to music by Johann Friedrich Peter. It expresses my heart's desire to be stayed upon the Lord Jesus Christ. Make it your prayer too. | ||
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Three things
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| We know: Jesus is the Son of God sent into the world to pay our sin debt and by faith in His life and death for us we are forgiven. We know: the Holy Spirit lives in us and helps us understand the Scripture. We know: our inner conscious is opened and we have received the same Holy Spirit who lived in and guided Jesus while He walked on earth in His human body. Because Holy Spirit lives in us we "can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." So if you feel prompted to take action remember what Mary, the mother of Jesus, told the servants at the wedding when the supply of wine ran out. She said, "Whatever He says to you, do it." The Lord speaks to us through the Scripture and inner promptings. Always make sure the "promptings" are scriptural. He would never tell us to do something that goes against the written Word. | ||
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Guidance
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| Our basic guidance comes from the Scripture, the Bible. As we read and think about (meditate) on what it says we will know the will of God for living life here and now, and how to be sure we will spend eternity in heaven. We also receive wise counsel from mature Christians who know the Scriptures. Jesus could have lived and done all His miracles in His own power for when He was born into a human body He was still God the Son. But He laid aside His personal power and depended upon the Father. Jesus said, "Without me you can do nothing." When I first became aware of this verse I though, yes, I can. I can do a lot of things. Then I considered Jesus words again and realize that I couldn't even breath unless He supplied oxygen and healthy lungs to take in good air and exhale bad! That is how helpless we are. He gives us human life and eternal life so we can live with Him forever in heaven. Now, "ain't-uh that Good News!" as the old spiritual says. | ||
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Jesus loves me! even me!
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| Do you remember singing the little song "Jesus Loves me"? The reason we know He loves us is "the Bible tells me so." It is God's Word and He preserved the writings of the prophets and kings in Old Testament times and the writing of the Apostles of Jesus Christ in New Testament times so that we could know Him and understand how much He loves the world. His love is not a general good will but specific love for every person on earth. God loves you! In fact He loves you and me so much He made the way for us to come to Him. Our problem that separates us from God is we are all sinners. Everyone knows they make mistakes and deliberately do wrong things just because we want to. "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." We have a guilty conscious because we are guilty. This is why God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die in our place. Knowing this not enough. We must confess our sins to Father God and ask Him to forgive us on the basis that Jesus died for our sins. Then we pray, "Thank you Jesus that you died for all my sins. Please come into my heart, forgive me and live here in my heart with me so you can help me do what is right in Father's eyes." Once in an art class I made a clay figure of a clown. I was very proud of my work and still have it. One day I looked at it and realized how people could make a figure by carving it of wood or clay and admire their handiwork so much they decided there was something supernatural about it. Maybe the parents warned their children not to touch it or play with it. Gradually they may have decided it was their god. There was an idol maker I read about who looked at his hands and thought, "My hands have made these gods so my hands are more important that the things I make. I will seek the God who made my hands." It wasn't long before a missionary brought the true gospel to him and he trusted in the living God. God is real and He is present right where you are. Invited Him into your heart. Confess you sins as soon as you are aware that you have "done it again." That is repeated an action you swore you would never do again. We all fail and the Lord will not be surprised when we confess. Simply admit your sin and claim the blood of Jesus that covers all our sins. Then give thanks and praise. | ||
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