Fear God: Psalm 27:1-14

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to enquire in His temple.

Living in today's society will cause many to become fearful or experience anxieties; based on our scripture texts the only thing and one to fear is the Lord. This is because His sovereign powers being supreme above all other gods.

The fear that believers are to have of God is one of reverence, honor and respect. That said, having a reverential fear of God is because He has the ability to destroy body and soul. God protects His people as He hides them in the secret of His tabernacle under the shadow of His wings (Psalm 91: 1-4 paraphrased).

Evil men try to instill human fear into others; take heart man can only destroy the body. Let's be reassured of God's awesome protective powers as follows "when the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell" (Psalm 27:2)

Fear only God because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world (1 John 4:4).

A Cry For God's Help: Psalm 130:1-9

 Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord.  Lord, hear my voice: let thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?

There are times in our lives when we cry out to God for help and we cry from the depths of our soul as we plead to God for His help. It is during these times that we wonder if God is listening to our cry. Rest assures that God hears our cries and is attentive to our needs.

God is faithful to His promise to supply all our needs regardless of the need. God has kept His promises and will continue to do so. God is a compassionate and caring God who made provision for all our needs.  God knew that there would be times when we would cry out to Him. God asks us to cast all our cares upon Him (1 Peter 5:7). He would not have made such request if He weren't keep His promise.

Another school of thought is that the Psalmist asks if God would remember all our iniquities; who would stand? All would fall short of God's righteousness; thank God He is a forgiving God. Verses 7 and 8 assure us of God's mercy and His redemption.

In our cry for help there is an assured hope.

     

Knitted Together In Love:Colossians 2:2

That their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the mystery of God and of the Father, and of Christ;

Paul is addressing the believers in the Colossian church which was in Colosse expressing to then how they are knitted together in love and all are linked through God's Spirit. The true church resides in the hearts of all believers which is ruled by the Spirit of God-the Holy Spirit. All believers assemble themselves together in the local church to worship and praise God in love. We are to praise Him for who He is and what He has done and continues to do in the lives of mankind and especially believers.

There should be no dissension among God's people just as there is no dissension in the Godhead as each member of the Godhead operates coequally in the lives of mankind. The Godhead operates in love and unity; therefore, Christians are encouraged to do likewise.

Christ is the head of the church and in the lives of all believers, which makes all believers knitted together in love. Therefore, comfort your hearts and let love rule, because Christ's love conquered all.

Isn't love a wonderful thing? It provided salvation when nothing else could. Love! Love and then love some more.

Giving Thanks In The Midst of Trials:

Psalm 92: 1-4

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High: To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound. For thou, Lord, hast made me glad through thy work: I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

I felt led to encourage all that whatever trials and tribulations we may be experiencing there are still reasons to give thanks unto the Lord, and some are: He woke up this morning; we have activity of our limbs; we clothed in our right minds and most of all He have blessed us with our basic need. These are praise worthy blessings.

Living in a fallen world we are beset by evil and all manner of sinful deeds; what believers are to do is to keep our eyes focused on Jesus our Lord and Savior. Christ is our true proctor who covers His children with His feather and under His wings shall we trust and as we stand on the truth of God's Word it will be our shield and buckler (Psalm 92:4).

God is our all in all; therefore, focus on Him and rest in the safety of His arms.

Comments are welcomed.

Author's contacts:

white3285@sbcglobal.net

http://willie-writing.blogspot.com

www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com

                   

 

God’s provisional care

Genesis 45:5; Psalm 23:1; Philippians 4:19

With all of the grim news that is flooding the air ways these days, I felt compelled to remind us all of God’s provisional care. After God created the heavens and earth He did not abandon His world to run on its own, rather He remains actively involved in His people’s lives and care. Neither can God be looked upon as some masterful watch maker who winds up his clock and leaves it until it runs down; instead our heavenly father tenderly cares for our every need.

If we look at the term provisional it means that God cares for everything that He created which includes humanity both saved and unsaved. With that being said, then in spite of our current economical situation and the distressing news there is hope in knowing that the God of all creation is going to see us through these tough times. Reflect with me for a moment when Jesus reminded us in Matthews 6:26-30 that the “lilies of the fields toils not’, or the birds in the air worry about where they will get their food and the balance of nature remains intact. Are we (mankind) less that plants and animals? I think not!  Allow me to direct our attention to some scriptures for reassurances that God is going to supply all our needs “according to His riches in glory which is by Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19). Also note Psalm 23:1 which states “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” This means that whatever man’s needs are He will supply, but we must trust God to supply our needs. Psalms 104 and 145 testify of God’s goodness in providing for His creations. However, in our humaneness when our lives are not operating as a well oiled machine, we tend to worry or become anxious about the situation, but God asks us to cast “all of our cares upon Him” (1 Peter 5:7).

In God’s divine wisdom He knew that there were going to be times when humanity would experience suffering, but this is not to say that things are out of God’s control, He allows suffering under His permissive will and there could be numerous reasons for man’s suffering. Sometimes these experiences raise questions about the reality of evil and its place in God’s plan as it has no place in His plan. Several months ago I wrote an article title “How do we heal our land?”(2 Chronicles 7:14), and it appeared in the Informer magazine and is on my website, as it dealt with four things man must to do then God will do three. God is asking His people to (a) humble themselves, (b) pray, (c) seek, and (d) turn, then God is going to (a) hear, (b) forgive, and (d) heal.

Many times God allows suffering is to carry out His will and or to accomplish His redemptive purposes. With that being said, the crises we are facing there is a lesson to be learned and recognize God as the true source of our blessing.

God is going to see us through these crises because of His love and provisional care.

Comments are welcomed.

Author's contacts:

white3285@sbcglobal.net

http://willie-writing.blogspot.com

www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com