Be Encouraged; God is in Control: Psalm 37:1-40; Proverbs 29:25

 Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. Trust in the Lord, and do good, so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed (1,3). The fear of man bringeth a snare: but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe.

 

Yesterday, I provided the entire number of Psalm 37 with the hope that all who read and would meditate on each verse because each verse encourages what the Lord will do in protecting His people. The question you may ask, then why write about it again today? Well, the answer is (a) obeying the Lord, and (b) to provide further encouraging insights that are designed to help us through these troublesome times. 

 

That said, let me begin with verse one, which tells us not to be caught up in what the evildoers and the workers of iniquity are doing. Why not? Because God is in control and at His appointed time, these evildoers and workers of corruption will be swept away by the wind like the husk from corn grain. In other words, these people who are operating on Satan's orders will cease to exist.

From talking to so many people, this dark cloud of evil hanging over this country and world is causing anxiety, worry, sleepless nights that, in many cases, manifest themselves in physical and emotional harm. This is not good for any of us.

 

Therefore, I encourage all to (a) give our worries and anxieties to the Lord in prayer. Ask Him to comfort our minds, take away to worry, and give us His peace that the world cannot understand; neither can the world give us lasting peace. (b) Take God at His word and give our problems to Him. He is willing and able to handle every situation (Psalm 55:22; 1 Peter 5:7). As my mother would always say, "God is no shorter than His word" trust Him. Her other saying was, "every road has an end." We are traveling a road of uncertainty, but "this too shall pass." Yes, our weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5). (c) Then ask ourselves why I fear man when he is only going as far as God is allowing him to go. Remember Job, when Satan had to get permission from God to inflict harm on Job, and God told Satan what he could and could not do to Job; well, this is no different. There is a message in this dark cloud of ramped up evil being played out before our eyes. (d) We are to put our trust in God, who can take lives and souls. Lastly, (e) there is safety in God, for He is our true protector (Psalm 91).

 

Allow me to close by saying we are all God's creation. He loves us all. It is God who can change the hearts and minds of men. He is our refuge, our strength, our help, and our deliverer. We are to hate the evil, but love the person and pray that God touches the evildoers' hearts and minds. Focus on God and watch Him work.

 

Comments are welcome.

White3285@sbcglobal.net
http://theshepherdministries.org
www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com
https://willie-writing.blogspot.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUya5OrWPvzru4dpaTF80KQ

 

Righteous versus Unrighteous: Psalm 1:1-6

 Walk in the law of God and be blessed. In Christ, there is eternal life whereas out of Christ there is eternal separation from God our creator, and sustainer.

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

2But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

3And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

4The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

5Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

6For the LORD knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

“Follow peace with all men”: Hebrews 12:14

  

Follow peace with all men, and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord:

 

I am making a clarion call for a prayer asking God for peace, love, and tolerance. I make this request because there are too much hatred and violence being played out daily. There appears to be a dark cloud of evil hanging over our country, and this storm cloud of hatred must move.

 

All humanity was created in God's image and likeness, and we all breathe the same air. That said, we are all Americans in this country, and we must learn to live together in love, peace, and compassion. All of the hatred is not who we are as a country. Yes, there has always been violence in this country, but not to the magnitude that it is now. I constantly ask myself why and what or where did we as a country go wrong? Have we left God out of our lives and replaced Him with Satan? I may not have the answers, but I do know that prayer changes things. When we come together in sincere prayer, God moves on our behalf. There has to be a healing of this nation (2 Chronicles 7:14).

 

The God in us is much bigger than the god of this world; that said, all Americans will come together to move the hatred and violence and restore it with love, peace, and harmony.

 

Sing Praises to God: Nehemiah 9:6 NIV

 You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.

It is good to praise God for who He is and what He has done and continues to do in the lives of humanity. Why do we worship God? We praise Him because it is He, and He alone created the heavens and the earth. We praise God because all of His creations obey His commands. We praise God because all of humanity is created in the image and likeness of God. Breathing the breath of life into the man he became a living soul. We praise God because all believers have His Spirit, the Holy Spirit living inside of us.

We praise God because He is a shelter in the time of a storm. We praise Him because He is faithful to His promise of never to leave nor forsake His own.

We praise God because of His love, grace, and mercy. His mercy is in the form of Jesus Christ, who took our unrighteousness and gave us His righteousness. In doing so, all who believe in Jesus and accept Him as our personal Savior have eternal life.

I (we) join the heavenly multitude in singing praises to the Almighty God, who is supreme above all other gods and is worthy of all praises, glory, and honor.

Lord, we praise You. We love You and glorify Your holy name.

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© All Rights Reserved August 21, 2020

Faith and Patience: 1 Samuel 13:8-14; Job

 My heart is heavy with concern for our nation as it is moving forward in reopening many establishments, and the results are many are testing positive for the virus.

This lack of patience is having dire consequences with a constant rise in Covid-19 cases and deaths. This lack of patience and no faith in science, our leaders are putting all Americans at-risk and a prolonged economic disaster.

A major university was forced to close because many of its students tested positive for the virus. It is believed that many other colleges and universities will follow the same pattern. As our k-12 schools prepare to reopen, this question comes to mind, how safe are the schools for the children, teachers, and support staff? There are too many unknowns to take unnecessary chances with people’s lives.

I get the fact that there is a need for income to continue, but while the government is providing funds, provide enough to see families and businesses through this pandemic until it is safe to reopen the country, and for those frontline workers reward them with hazard pay.

Health, safety, and the well-being of our citizens must be first and foremost on the minds of our leaders. I encourage our leaders and decision-makers to reframe from Saul-like patience. Saul was too impatient to wait until the Prophet Samuel arrived to pronounce his blessing upon the task that was at hand (vv13-14); instead have Job’s patience, who was rewarded with more than what he lost because of his faith and patience. America will reopen stronger than before. Patience is a virtue.

Join me tonight on Zoom for a further discussion on Faith and patience.

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/78664946855?pwd=RkRlMVZIQjljVWlOMTNXaW5tYWF3QT09.

Meeting ID: 786 6494 6855

Passcode: 4EhzRf

 

Meeting ID: 786 6494 6855

Passcode: 4EhzRf

Comments are welcome.

White3285@sbcglobal.net

https://willie-writing.blotspot.com

http://theshepherdministries.org

www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUya5OrWPvzru4dpaTF80KQ

God's Watchful Eye

 Under the all-seeing eyes of God.

For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and His ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. But the Lord turns His face against those who do evil (1 Peter 3:12).

God First: Matthew 6:33

But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

Our scripture text asks us to put God first by seeking the kingdom of God, and all else will be added unto us. In doing, we are humbling ourselves before our sovereign God and His righteousness. God is true to His promise to supply all of our needs according to His righteousness through His Son Jesus Christ (Philippians 4:16). God is true to His word, and there is no failure in Him.

Another school of thought on seeking the kingdom of God first is because earthly things are going to pass away, whereas heavenly things are eternal just as God is. Through our scripture text, God is trying to refocus our attention on Him and His righteousness, and He will add our earthly things. God’s provisional care is unmatched with anything we may attempt to provide. Therefore, cast all of your cares upon Him (Psalm 55:22), and leave our worries behind. We cannot solve the problem; only God can.

Comments are welcome.

White3285@sbcglobal.net
http://theshepherdministries.org
www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com
https://willie-writing.blogspot.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUya5OrWPvzru4dpaTF80KQ

 

The trying of Your Faith and Patience: James 1:3; Galatians 6:9

Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap if we faint not.

I begin this message with this question, what do you do when your faith and patience is being tried?  For me, I turn to the scriptures where I find solace, and then I go to God in prayer, asking Him to take the reins of the situation.  I recommend seeking God in prayer and reading and meditating on the scriptures.

There are many reasons why our faith and patience are tried, and sometimes they tested beyond our limits. What does the scripture say in this situation? Ecclesiastes 7:8 says, Better is the end of a thing than the beginning thereof: and the patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit. What is means is that even though something may begin by being troublesome, but we if endure until the end, then victory is sweet because the results of accomplishing the assigned task are our goal. Proverbs 15:18 states the A wrathful man stirreth up strife: but he that is slow to anger appeases strife. This tells me that hate and anger and even jealousy can come from different angles, but what we must do is recognize that this is the work of Satan. We must take a deep breath as we give the situation to the Lord and ask God for His peace during this faith-testing and patience trying process, and let Him work out the situation.

Let us walk in the Spirit of the Lord because, in this life, we will encounter trials that will try our patience. We can and will complete the task/journey if we take the Lord with us.

 

Scriptures of Encouragement

Psalm 46:1 God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Isaiah 49:13 Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted His people and will have compassion on His afflicted. Deuteronomy 31:8 It is the LORD who goes before you.

Think on These Things: 1 John 4:7; Matthew 22:39

Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God, and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God. And the second is like, unto it, thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

I am writing asking us to think on love and ask ourselves why is there so much hate in the world when God is love? Being that hate is a sin and sin tends to puff itself up to appear larger than what it is giving many the false narrative that the world is being overcome by hate. Could it be that Satan knows that his time is nearing the end and he is trying to win the battle against God? All these people spewing hate have no God in them, or their god is one of hate?

Whatever the answer is, let us think on these things; God is love and all who is of God is love also. We love one another as ourselves in obedience to the second commandment. We are commanded to love one another by Jesus Christ Himself. There is more love in the world than it is hate; therefore, believers, let us continue in love and manifesting the love of God and His righteousness. We are the lit candles of this world shining bright the light, the truth, and the love of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Let us not forget these things: (1) God is in control; the battle is His as He has never lost a battle. (2) God knew these days were coming that His warriors would be engaged in spiritual warfare; therefore, He dressed us for the battle (Ephesians 6:10-18). Included in our war gear is faith, the gospel of peace, the helmet of salvation, truth, the breastplate of righteousness, and the sword of the Spirit, praying as we go. Lastly, know this that the God in us is much bigger than the god of this world; therefore, sin, hate and all unrighteousness has no-win because the God of the universe will bring forth justice and His righteousness will prevail.

Know this, love trumps hate.

Comments are welcome.

White3285@sbcglobal.net
http://theshepherdministries.org
www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com
https://willie-writing.blogspot.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUya5OrWPvzru4dpaTF80KQ

 

 

The Power of the Holy Spirit: Acts 1:8

But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

If these questions were asked, who is the Holy Spirit? What is His purpose in our Lives? The Holy Spirit is God in the third person of the Godhead. The Holy Spirit is seen during creation as the spirit that was hovering over the earth.  The Holy Spirit has always been here from the beginning of time.

The Holy Spirit lives in every believer. Every believer’s body is the temple of God. He cannot and will not reside in an unholy place. His purpose is to lead, teach, and guide all believers as we navigate this heavenly journey. He is that still small voice that speaks the consciousness of our minds.

The Holy Spirit also gives us the power to boldly witness Christ in hostile places. We are to begin our witnessing in our Jerusalem, then to Judea, Samaria, and even in the entire world. God, the Holy Spirit gives all believers the ability and boldness to witness the saving power of Christ even during every crisis.

Yield control to the power of the Holy Spirit and tell the world about a risen Savior-Jesus Christ.

Comments are welcome.

White3285@sbcglobal.net
http://theshepherdministries.org
www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com
https://willie-writing.blogspot.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUya5OrWPvzru4dpaTF80KQ

Praise and Trust

A message of praise and trust in the Lord. Psalm 34:1-4 states, I will bless the Lord at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the Lord: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together. I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears.

Regardless of the situation, God is worthy to be praised and He is trustworthy; therefore, put your trust in the Lord. He will bring you through.

Confidence in the Lord: Psalm 27:1-3

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? ² When the wicked, even mine enemies and my foes, came upon me to eat up my flesh, they stumbled and fell. ³ Though an host should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident.

Today’s message is one encouraging us to have confidence in the Lord because of who He is and His sovereign powers. We fear only God and we be careful of evil men.

If the question was raised, why must we have confidence in the Lord whom we cannot see, but man we do see? We are to have confidence in the Lord because He has proven Himself to be trustworthy and faithful to His promises. We have confidence in the Lord because He is the creator and sustainer of all, which includes all human evil and good men. Evil men are under God’s control and in God’s time He will bring evil men deeds to an end; therefore, trust God and never doubt Him. When God says, I will take care of you, trust Him. Cast all of our cares upon Him, and leave them with Him (Psalm 55:22, 1 Peter 5:7). More importantly, God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

Fear only God, and trust Him for your deliverance.

 Comments are welcomed.

White3285@sbcglobal.net
http://theshepherdministries.org
www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com
https://willie-writing.blogspot.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUya5OrWPvzru4dpaTF80KQ

Hope in God: Psalm 130.5; Psalm 39:7

I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, And in His word I do hope. And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope [is] in thee.

I received Psalm 130:5 from my nephew as we share our spiritual cup of coffee each morning, I felt the need to share with others and ask that you please share. The more we share God’s Word it too will spread faster than this coronavirus.

Another point to sharing God’s word is true, uplifting, and soothing because it is nourishment to our souls. Also, God’s Word provides us with hope as we navigate the troubles waters of life. We are experiencing a turbulent storm, but have hope in God as He is true to His promise of being with us and will bring us through any storm.

Thanks for reading, sharing and your comments.

Contacts:

Contacts:

White3285@sbcglobal.net

http://theshepherdministries.org

www.goodshepherdwritingandpublishing.com

https://willie-writing.blogspot.com

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUya5OrWPvzru4dpaTF80KQ

Good Neighbors

Being a good neighbor, we edify one another. Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

Thank God

Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ (Ephesians 5:20). Sometimes it is good to tell God thank You. We have petitioned Him and He answered; now just thank Him.