Tag: Comfort

Such Comfort and Assurance – Homeward Bound!

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My post from Sunday, the 3rd Sunday of Lent, was about our eternal home. This is something promised to us by Christ. Today’s scripture adds details that are significant to each of us as we look forward to our home in heaven with Christ. Revelation 21:3-4.

 “And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place  of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”

Promises: God promises that one day we will live with Him and those things that have caused us tears like pain and death will no longer exist.

I can’t imagine living a world where pain and sorrow do not exist. There would be no more death, accidents, disease, anger, hatred, wars, greed, envy, evil, or selfish ambition. Wow! That will certainly be a place to look forward to, however, that is not the most important feature of this new home. It will be a place where we live in constant communion with God. We get a glimpse of this when we read the Genesis account of the Garden of Eden. There Adam and Eve walked with God, talked and lived in perfect harmony with Him. Our finite minds cannot even grasp a world without evil, but God promises it will come in His time. I hope that knowing a bit about our eternal home will bring a smile to your lips and hope to your heart. Be encouraged today as you ponder what God had in store for our future with Him.

What we know from these verses: God desires that I be with Him and He with me, God has a future planned where I will be with Him eternally, God knows the things in my life that cause me tears and suffering, sin causes pain in our lives and our home with Him will be a ‘sin free’ enviornment!

Lenten Reflections: What excites you the most about your future home in heaven? How can you know for sure you are going there? (Faith in Jesus is required- John 3:16, 1 John 1:9, John 11:25.)

We need to trust God for the future and walk believing in His Word. God keeps His promises and will deliver us to our heavenly home. Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, I can be assured of a heavenly home that will be a joyous place with Him!

Linda

Related Verses: Leviticus 26:11-12, Isaiah 25:8, Ezekiel 37:27-28, 2 Corinthians 6:16, Revelation 7:17.

Feeling desperate? “Come to me,”-God

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Do you ever feel that nobody cares what is happening to you or will take time to listens to your emotional distress? Do you feel there is no one to help you in your time of need? All of us feel that way from time to time in varying degrees, but what do you do about it??? The Bible gives us hope as God promises to be that someone for each of us. David wrote in Psalm 34 about just those feelings and knew where to turn for help, comfort and understanding.

Psalm 34:17-18 When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears
    and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
    and saves the crushed in spirit.

Promise: God promises to hear our cries for help, deliver us from troubles, comfort us when we are brokenhearted and revive us when our spirits are crushed.

I take great comfort in this promise as it is rooted in God’s love. His love can find us and bring restoration. God desires to help those who love Him and He is committed to us. He wants to deliver us, as many times we are caught in the consequences of our own sins. I have experienced God’s deliverance in these times by a lessening of the severity of the consequences. I recognized His hand in my life and the circumstances and thanked Him for His help. It did not take away the consequence, but showed me how much worse it could have been without His help. When I have needed comfort, I have been overwhelmed by the way God uses others to come alongside me and put an arm around me or provide me exactly what I need. We may think we are alone, but God uses others in our lives to do His work. I need to keep that in mind when I feel nudged to help a brother or sister, call or write a note. The Holy Spirit is within us and can minister to others through us. When my spirits have been crushed, God has lifted and pointed me in a new direction. It was not instantaneous but little by little He revived and renewed me. I claim His promise from Joel 2:25a “I will restore to you the years  that the swarming locust has eaten,” I have definitely felt His restorative powers in my life. It is not the same as it was before I was crushed but new and different- restored! Praise God! Experiencing God’s love in these tangible ways deepens and confirms our faith. I confirms how much He loves and cares for us.

What we can know from these verses: God is accessible- He hears and listens, God is merciful and tenderhearted, God cares about me and my troubles, God can and does uplift and restore.

Lenten Reflection: Where have I felt God’s comfort, help or restoration in my life that I need to thank Him for His expressions of love towards me? Who is God nudging me to minister to in His name?

Related verses: 1 John 5:14-15, Psalm 103:8, Nahum 1:7, Joel 2:25, Isaiah 40:30-31, Psalm 90:1-2.

May you take strength from this promise in Psalm knowing God truly cares for you and will uphold and restore you if you will turn to Him. The key here is we have to humble ourselves and turn to Him for help. Because Christ died on the cross and rose again, we can come to Him in confidence knowing He will be there for us!
Linda

Choices- Life with Peace or Death?

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The Lord has Isaiah end his book of prophecy with both a glimpse of reprieve and hope for believers and the reality of judgement and eternal punishment for unbelievers. Throughout the book the Lord has been reaching out to believers to follow Him. In verse 2 God declares who He is and what he desires of each believer. “Has not my hand made all these things,
    and so they came into being?”
declares the Lord. “These are the ones I look on with favor:
    those who are humble and contrite in spirit,
    and who tremble at my word. Do you believe that God is the creator of all things? If so, do you weigh His power and seek to humble yourself before Him? Are you sorry for you sins, remorseful and contrite seeking to follow His plans for you in His Word? Plainly do you believe in Who He is and if so are you willing to humble yourself before Him?

God promises peace, comfort, joy and judgement on evil for all those who believe and follow Him. vs12-13 “For this is what the Lord says: “I will extend peace to her like a river,
    and the wealth of nations like a flooding stream;
you will nurse and be carried on her arm
    and dandled on her knees.
13 As a mother comforts her child,
    so will I comfort you;
    and you will be comforted over Jerusalem.”

vs. 14 “When you see this, your heart will rejoice
    and you will flourish like grass;
the hand of the Lord will be made known to his servants,
    but his fury will be shown to his foes.” vs 16 “For with fire and with his sword
    the Lord will execute judgment on all people,
    and many will be those slain by the Lord.”

Isaiah does not water his message down so that people like it better. He lays it out for us clearly that God desires our obedience and humility and our rewards will be great. The alternative is grim and filled with pain and desolation.

Jesus gave this message too in Matthew 11:18 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” In Him is rest and peace but apart from Him you have nothing. John 15:5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” James 1:15 “Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” Sin leads to death when one is apart from Christ. Hear his plea and come to Him. He has rest for all of us. Because He created us with a free will, the choice is yours. Which will you choose- life in Christ or not?

Linda

Precious Promises from our Savior

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Isaiah 61 is a chapter filled with encouragement from the coming Messiah. The believers could read it and be filled with hope at his coming. We can read it and know that He is real and the things He promises will come to pass providing a future filled with love, protection, fulfillment and justice. In verses 1-3 we see a picture of what Jesus did for us and continues to do for us through faith in Him.

“The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me,
    for the Lord has anointed me Jesus preached to the poor in spirit-
    to bring good news to the poor. the good news of salvation.
He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted
    and to proclaim that captives will be released Faith in Jesus brings comfort and freedom
    and prisoners will be freed. from the bondage of sin.
2 He has sent me to tell those who mourn
    that the time of the Lord’s favor has come, Jesus brings comfort to those who
    and with it, the day of God’s anger against their enemies. mourn over their sins.
 To all who mourn in Israel,
    he will give a crown of beauty for ashes, Sorrow of sin will be turned to gladness in Christ.
a joyous blessing instead of mourning,
    festive praise instead of despair.
In their righteousness, they will be like great oaks Through Jesus’ righteousness we will
    that the Lord has planted for his own glory. mature and bring Him glory.

As the chapter continues, Messiah promises hope: verses 3,7 use the word instead of____

 3 instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor. 7 Instead of your shame
    you will receive a double portion,
and instead of disgrace
    you will rejoice in your inheritance.
And so you will inherit a double portion in your land,
    and everlasting joy will be yours.

In addition to these promises God says in verse 8, “For I, the Lord, love justice;
    I hate robbery and wrongdoing.
In my faithfulness I will reward my people
    and make an everlasting covenant with them.“

What do these verse teach us about God? He loves us and desires to provide for us abundantly. He desires to turn sorrow into gladness. He desires go give us a double portion and provide us with everlasting joy! God loves justice and will be eternally faithful to us who love and trust in Him. What a marvelous God in which we can put our faith and trust! We are so blessed.

Isaiah 61:10 concludes this chapter and is the perfect response to God’s blessed provision for us. I delight greatly in the Lord;
    my soul rejoices in my God.
For he has clothed me with garments of salvation
    and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness,
as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,
    and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

May your heart be filled with His glorious promises.

Linda

Choices-when you Know you’re wrong! Can you live with it?

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What do you do when you know you’ve done wrong? You can deny it. You can wallow and continue doing wrong. You can stop doing wrong and turn over a new leaf, so to speak, on you own. OR You can stop, repent- be sorry for your wrong doing- and turn from doing what is wrong, seeking God’s help to go in a new way away. In Isaiah 57, God is confronting the people of Israel through the prophet Isaiah. In verses 1-13, Isaiah points out their sins towards God. They were worshiping other gods as they made offerings to stone idols, put up pagan symbols in their homes, and burned incense to the wicked god Molech. God questions the Israelites and asks, who will you turn to when you are in trouble? Your collection of idols will not answer and no help will be found in them. God ends this confrontation with challenge and hope. Isaiah 57:11-13 “Are you afraid of these idols?
    Do they terrify you?
Is that why you have lied to me
    and forgotten me and my words?
Is it because of my long silence
    that you no longer fear me?
12 Now I will expose your so-called good deeds.
    None of them will help you.
13 Let’s see if your idols can save you
    when you cry to them for help.
Why, a puff of wind can knock them down!
    If you just breathe on them, they fall over!
But whoever trusts in me will inherit the land
    and possess my holy mountain.”

What are you doing now or have done in the past that God is confronting you about it? Where are you putting your hope and trust? Are you placing your hope in man-made things or people instead of God? God says the idols you so hopefully worship and put your trust in can be knocked over by the wind, they will not answer you or support you when you ask for help. God alone promises help and restoration with an inheritance!

I love God’s promise in Isaiah 57:15 “The high and lofty one who lives in eternity,    the Holy One, says this:
“I live in the high and holy place
    with those whose spirits are contrite and humble.
I restore the crushed spirit of the humble
    and revive the courage of those with repentant hearts.” God says He dwells with the one who is contrite in spirit and humble. Contrite is an old-fashioned word that means one who shows sincere remorse, and has a sense of guilt and desires atonement. God seeks those who have a repentant heart and desire to turn to Him for help. He promises restoration and revived courage to live rightly. In verse 19 He promises peace, “I will comfort those who mourn,
19     bringing words of praise to their lips.
May they have abundant peace, both near and far,”
    says the Lord, who heals them.”

Restoration, peace and healing are to be found with God! Praise God! In Him we will find hope and forgiveness. If we do not make the choice to come to Him with a contrite and humble heart, verse 20-21 tell of the consequences that await us. “But those who still reject me are like the restless sea,
    which is never still
    but continually churns up mud and dirt.
21 There is no peace for the wicked,”
    says my God.“

Again, I ask, what do you do when you know you’ve done wrong? The Isarelites who turned back to God and recieved His forgiveness that was filled with grace, mercy and hope. Those who did not turn back to God were rejected and found no peace. Consider the power of repentance and the cost of being unrepentant. Which will you choose?

Linda

God Loves and Cares for Us!

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Chapter 40 of Isaiah begins the portion of scripture beloved by believers because God reveals his plan of redemption in Christ and shows His great love and mercy for His people. They had sinned greatly against God and yet, God loved them. John 3:16 shows the true heart of God “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Throughout this 40th Chapter God reveals more and more about His character so we can know and trust Him more fully.

Here are some verses that show God cares for His people!

Isaiah 40:1 “Comfort, comfort my people,  says your God.” God is a God of comfort and desires that we live our lives comforting those who are in need. Jesus said in Matthew 27:37-39 “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Paul also wrote in 2 Corinthians 13:3-5 as he described our God, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.

Isaiah 40:2 “Speak tenderly to Jerusalem,
    and proclaim to her
that her hard service has been completed,
    that her sin has been paid for,
that she has received from the Lord’s hand
    double for all her sins.” In spite of the coming hardships and trials in captivity, God promises to forgive their sins. He will redeem them and bring them back to Jerusalem. He will speak tenderly to them and proclaims them forgiven.

Isaiah 40:11 “He tends his flock like a shepherd:
    He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
    he gently leads those that have young.” God here is portraying himself as a shepherd to His people. He cares for them, carries or holds them close to His heart. How tender is this picture of our God. Jesus portrayed himself as a shepherd to help explain the unique relationship He has with us as a believer. John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” John 10:14  “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” John 10:27 “My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” Jesus is our perfect shepherd.

Isaiah 40:29 “He gives strength to the weary
    and increases the power of the weak.” God says He will give us His strength when we get weary or tired and in our weakness He will make us strong. In 2 Corinthians 12:9 Paul proclaims Christ’s power in his weaknesses . “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. Our strength comes from Christ and His indwelling Holy Spirt. Romans 8:37-38 “ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,” In Christ we can be sustained and let Him fill our weaknesses with His strength.

May these verses from Isaiah 40 help you to see the depth of God’s love for YOU!

Linda

On the Road with Jesus, He gives exactly what you need when you need it!

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As we celebrated on Easter morning, Jesus did not stay in the tomb but rose from the dead. He has Risen INDEED! After his resurrection, he appeared many times to individuals, small groups and to as many as 500 at once. He was alive in their midst as He talked, ate and shared himself with believers confirming his life and assuring them of his victory over death. As we move along the road towards his ascension and return to heaven 40 days after his resurrection, we will come face to face with Jesus’ divinity and power over death. Join me on this journey as I look at each of the appearances over the next 40 days.

One of my favorite post-resurrection appearances is the encounter of the two on the Road to Emmaus.  Overcome with grief because of Jesus’ death and disbelief over what the women said about seeing Him alive,  these two followers of Christ were walking along the Emmaus Road discussing all these recent events and reports.  Jesus joined them on their journey without disclosing his identity.  As they walked they were surprised that he did not know about all the events that had just occurred in Jerusalem. They told him of their hope that Jesus had been the long awaited Messiah.  “ Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. 26 Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?” 27 Then Jesus took them through the writings of Moses and all the prophets, explaining from all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.”  Luke 24:25-27

Wouldn’t you have loved to have been there and listened to Jesus explain all about Himself?  A little later in the story when they were sitting down to eat, Jesus gave thanks, broke the bread and began to give it to them.  Right then, their eyes were opened  and they recognized Jesus.  He then disappeared from their presence.  Even though it was late they quickly returned to Jerusalem to tell the disciples about their encounter with the risen Lord Jesus.

Jesus came to these two when they were filled with grief, despair and confusion, and He cleared up their thinking, encouraged and enlivened them.  Can you remember a time when Jesus came to you in prayer or through the actions or words of another believer to give you hope and encouragement?  Jesus promises that He will be with us wherever we go.  Just like these two, we need to look and recognize His presence with us and the hope that He brings.

I pray that my Lenten Blogs have brought you hope and encouragement these past 6 weeks.  I have been mightily blessed by being with you and in the scriptures each day.  I am still pondering the magnitude of Christ’s sacrifice and all the truths gleaned from the selected ‘put on’ passages. I pray you will bask in the hope of the empty tomb knowing He has Risen, He has Risen Indeed!

Linda

Holy Week, Wednesday, A Day for Resting

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It would seem that the gospel’s are silent on the whereabouts of Jesus on this day of Holy Week.  Perhaps he remained in Bethany with Mary, Martha and Lazarus, taking a needed day of rest.  Tomorrow will be a trying day with the Last Supper, Gethsemane, His arrest, beating and trials by night leading to crucifixion on Friday.  Jesus knew what was coming and how his human body would need strength for tomorrow so He rested.  Even though He was God, He felt all the pain and fatigue of a man when He was within His earthly body.  So He needed rest today.

What do you need today? Here are a couple of scriptures for you to mediate on to encourage and strengthen you.  David knew his need for the Lord and relied upon Him each day. Here are two examples: 

 Psalm 138:7-8a 7 Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
    you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
    and your right hand delivers me.
8 The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
    your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.

Psalm 37:3-6 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him, and he will act.
6 He will bring forth your righteousness as the light,
    and your justice as the noonday.  

Jesus knew the Psalms of King David and perhaps He drew strength and comfort from these words too.  He knew God had a purpose for him to complete and that He needed to trust His heavenly Father and rest in Him. Let David’s words bring you peace and rest today as you walk trusting in Jesus..

Because Christ died on the cross and rose from the dead, I can call upon Him for strength and rest in His ability to give me all that I need.

Linda

Advent…Gloriously Completed in Jesus’ Arrival

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Merry Christmas! I found this Christmas Blessing while blogging this year and really loved the sentiments it contained. May you know the blessings of Peace that Jesus brings, 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.” May you see your Hope in Him, 1 Peter 3:15 “but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,” May you feel the Sprit of His Love, 1 John 3:23 “And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.” May you have the Comfort of Faith in Jesus, 2 Corinthians 1:3 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort.”

All of these gifts complete the circle of our Advent Wreath as we lit the Christ candle on Christmas Eve proclaiming His birth. May you find Love, Comfort, Hope and Peace in Jesus. May you rejoice in the arrival of Jesus and claim the JOY God has for you.

Linda

Soulful Joy

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What is so special about the Joy we find in the Lord? First of all we know that joy is brought to us through the Holy Spirit. Galatians 5:22-23 gives a list of the ‘fruits’ of the Spirit, those things that come to us as a believer when we accept Jesus as Savior and His Holy Spirit comes to dwell within us. As we grow as a believer, His Spirit manifests Himself within us in these ways. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.” How do others or even you yourself know you are a believer? These fruits should be evident in your life along with growth in godly character which I like to call growing more and more like Jesus. Theologically it is a process known as sanctification. This is the Holy Spirit’s work within us, growing us in holiness to be like Jesus. A good question to ask yourself is, what ‘fruits’ am I seeing in my life? Is my character changing as I seek to walk closer to the Savior? Am I more kind, loving, understanding, or do I hunger after God’s Word, seek other believers in fellowship, spend time in prayer, enjoy Christian music, or seek to be a peacemaker? All of these would be signs of growth in the sanctification process and the work of the Holy Spirit within you.

But back to Joy, scripture describes several kinds of joy that I will delve into in coming blogs. The first kind I want to talk about I call soulful joy. Joy that emanates from within your soul because you are loved and cared for by God. Here are some passages that describe this kind of joy:

Psalm 5:11 “But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
    let them ever sing for joy,
and spread your protection over them,
    that those who love your name may exult in you.

Psalm 63:5-8 “My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food,
    and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips,
6 when I remember you upon my bed,
    and meditate on you in the watches of the night;
7 for you have been my help,
    and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.
8 My soul clings to you;
    your right hand upholds me.

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.

Jude 1:24-25 “Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

May you recognize soulful joy in your life and bask in the light of His love for you. May thoughts of God’s love, protection and comfort bring joy to your soul and peace from within from His Holy Spirit today.

Linda