Tag: God’s faithfulness

Got Hope in 2020? Anchor it in God’s Steadfast Love.

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Hope-in-Gods-Steadfast-LoveAs we look at hope in scripture we see survival hope, hope in His Word and today I see hope in His steadfast love.  God’s love is an anchor for our soul and His love surrounds us 24/7.  Knowing God loves us- gives us Hope, knowing God is trustworthy and faithful gives us Hope that is secure in that love.  John 3:16 reminds us that God’s love is what motivated Him to come after us, free us and send Jesus to suffer and die to redeem us for all eternity.  “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.   This love, eternal and sacrificial is ours so that we may have Hope.

In the Psalms David captures this love hope and puts it into words we can cling to:  Psalm 33:18 “But the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love,”    Psalm 33:22  ” May your unfailing love be with us, Lord,  even as we put our hope in you.”   Psalm 147:11 “The Lord delights in those who fear him,  who put their hope in his unfailing love.”     We see in these verses hope comes from knowing God’s unfailing love because we revere, worship and adore Him.   Hope comes when we put our trust in God, and God is pleased or delighted by our reverence and fear.  We know that God is love, and the proof of His love is His sending Jesus to save us.  “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”1 John 4:10

psalm33 22Meditate on God’s steadfast love today and consider how that love gives you HOPE:  1 Chronicles 16:34 “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;  for his steadfast love endures forever!”    Psalm 13:5 “But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.” Psalm 33:22 “Let your unfailing love surround us, Lord, for our hope is in you alone.

Begin 2020 with Hope rooted in God’s Steadfast Love,

Linda

Find Hope for Living in 2020

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The Bible assures us of  Hope in various ways.   As I mentioned first we have survival hope, that is filled with God’s promises, mercy, care and  love.  It is continual hope that never quits and demand our praise because of its consistency and unendingness.  Psalm 71:14 “But I will hope continually  and will praise you yet more and more.”

psalm 119 114Today let’s look at the Hope we have in Scripture.  Psalm 119:114 “You are my hiding place and my shield;  I hope in your word.”   Psalm 119:147 “I rise before dawn and cry for help;  I hope in your words.”   Psalm 130:5 “I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,  and in his word I hope;”   The psalmist knows that God protects him,  as He says so in His Word.  He know that in all of life’s circumstances when he calls to God for help, he knows God will answer as He says so in His Word.  He also knows that timing belongs to God and that as he waits he has hope because of God’s faithfulness in His Word.

Do you have Hope because of the assurances God gives in His Word?  For this to be true, you have to open the Bible daily and feast upon His Word.  You have to hunger to know Him more fully and rely upon His Word.  Make it a priority this New Year to join a group that studies God’s Word each week.  Perhaps your local church has such a group, if so join and make it a priority.  Perhaps you need another place to study, look up the following organizations and see if there are classes meeting in your city.  Both groups have studies for men, women and children.  These are both Bible base interdenominational, internationally available studies that systematically delve into God’s Word seeking to know Him more fully and to apply scripture to life. Bible Study Fellowship and Community Bible Study classes are both found world wide!  Look up you city, country and see if a class is close to you.  https://www.bsfinternational.org/  and  https://www.communitybiblestudy.org/

Your Word -my hopeDelve into God’s Word in 2020 and discover HOPE for living.

Linda

 

2020 A New Year, A New Decade- How will you survive?

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2020 Happy New YearYesterday I was in the look back mode,  but today January 1, 2020 I am looking forward.  Each year I have a habit of choosing a word to guide my year.  Last year God gave me the word Trust and Wow! did I see that word week after week.  I learned to lean upon God and trust Him in new, painful, scary and exciting situations.  It was amazing how Trust kept coming up again and again, reminding me of who I am and where my Trust needs to be placed.

This year God has given me the word Hope.  I have always loved writing and talking about the hope I have in Christ, but I feel His Hope will reach into all corners of my life.   So I thought it wise to spend a few weeks looking into HOPE and seeing how hope is described in God’s Word.  The verse I found to start with is Psalm 71:14 as it seemed to capture the hope I feel right now as I begin this new year. “But I will hope continually
and will praise you yet more and more.”  Psalm 71 was written by King David in his old age.  He reflects upon God, his dependence upon Him and God’s continuing faithfulness.  David resolves to continue praising God just as he has done since his youth. “For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O Lord, from my youth.”  Psalm 71:5

May my accusers be put to shame and consumed;
    with scorn and disgrace may they be covered
    who seek my hurt.
14 But I will hope continually
    and will praise you yet more and more.
15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts,
    of your deeds of salvation all the day,
    for their number is past my knowledge.  Psalm 71:13-15

David knows the ‘world’ will come against him, yet he knows God will deal with them.  He has his hope placed in God and will praise Him.  No matter what as he knows God is sovereign and in control of all things, people, and places.  He vows to continue to proclaim what God has done for him.

psalm-71-14-quote-lgThis is a challenge as we face a New Year.  We know for certain that things will come against us-as they always do.  What we know, like David, is that God is faithful and will stand with us.  We need to trust in His sovereignty and mercy and cling to Him in HOPE.  That is my answer to, How will I survive in 2020?  I will cling to Him in HOPE knowing with absolute faith that God is faithful, loving and merciful.  He will be gracious to me as I place my HOPE in Him.

Looking forward to 2020 with HOPE,

Linda

Never doubting their guiding God, Jesus and family return

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Herod the Great died in about 4 B.C. so an angel appeared to Joseph again and gave them the directions they were waiting in Egypt to hear.  

Return to NazarethMatthew 2:19-23:  But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.”

History proved Joseph’s fears to be real and God’s direction faithful as Herod Archelaus  was an incredibly cruel and tyrannical.  He was deposed after 10 years and the Roman’s took over with governors appointed by the emperor.

Joseph followed God’s direction and settled in Galilee in the town of Nazareth.   God was an amazing Guide throughout Joseph’s journey’s.  From leaving Nazareth to travel to Bethlehem with pregnant Mary for the census to Egypt and back to Nazareth,  God led the way.  God was their guide.  God God-is-our-guide-videoleads us in the way we should go.  His Word teaches us how we are to live and think.  Because God gives His children the Holy spirit, they recognize His voice and follow Him.  We can trust God to lead us in the right way.  Without God’s guidance, we would stumble and fall like people in darkness.  Jesus is our guiding light so we can walk with God where He leads us with confidence and assurance.

Just as God was their Guide, He can be our guide in life too.  We just need to listen for His voice, John 10:3, “The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.”  We can be confident that God will guide and lead us.  Here are a few verses to reassure you can trust Him as your guide:

Psalm 23:2-3 He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. 3 He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.   

Psalm 31:3  “For you are my rock and my fortress; and for your name’s sake you lead me and guide me;”

Psalm 32:8  “I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;  I will counsel you with my eye upon you.”

Psalm 48:14 “that this is God, our God forever and ever.     He will guide us forever”

ps-23-2-3_origMay you follow His leading each day,  knowing that God is faithful and trustworthy.  He will guide you, just as He did Joseph and Mary.

Linda

Promise fulfilled! Simeon sees His Lord, Jesus the Christ

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fulfilled in ChristJesus said, “ Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” Luke 24:44  Jesus came and lived the perfectly sinless life which meant that He made all the right sacrifices at holy days, was circumcised, and followed all the Jewish customs and laws.  In addition, all that was prophesied about Him, all the work He came to accomplish was Yes in Christ.  Today’s story continues in Luke 2:21-25 “And at the end of eight days, when he was circumcised, he was called Jesus, the name given by the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”) 24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the Law of the Lord, “a pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons.”   These actions are what we would expect from Mary and Joseph as they would want to observe all the right customs that were required by the Law of Moses with their new child.

God is faithfulLuke 2:25-37 tells us what happened when they came to the temple to present Jesus to the Lord.   As you read, consider our Faithful God.  God knows and loves each  of His own. He will do all He has promised: caring for us, making us strong, forgiving, making us new, protecting and purifying us.  From the beginning God had a plan to restore the world, break the power of sin and reveal His plan to us. We know God is faithful because He sent His Son  to the cross to keep His promise.  He is faithful to himself and His Word.  We can trust Him to keep all His promises.   Here is what happened when they got to the temple:

SimeonNow there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, 28 he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said,

29 “Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace,
    according to your word;
30 for my eyes have seen your salvation
31     that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples,
32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
    and for glory to your people Israel.”

33 And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed 35 (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.”

How gracious and faithful God was to keep His promise to Simeon that he would not die until He had seen his Savior.  God also confirmed from the beginning that Jesus came to be a light to all- Jew and Gentile.  He also revealed that Jesus would be rejected and it would hurt both Jesus and Mary to the very core of their being.

We-Enjoyed-The-BlessingHow do you see Faithful God work in your own life?  Do you see His caring for you in life’s circumstances, building you up and making you stronger in faith through the trials you face each day, forgiving your sins,  protecting you in body and soul and cleansing you when you confess your sins?   Look today for the faithful hand of God in your life.   You will be amazed and blessed!

Linda

Have you known the blessings of Obedience?

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Luke 1:57-66 tell of the arrival of baby John to his mother Elizabeth and mute Zachariah, his father.  The angel Gabriel had pronounce God’s judgement upon Zachariah for his unbelief in Luke 1:19-20,  when he had questioned God’s ability to create new life within Elizabeth’s aged, barren body.   “Now the time came for Elizabeth to give birth, and she bore a son. 58 And her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown great mercy to her, and they rejoiced with her. 59 And on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child. And they would have called him Zechariah after his John namefather, 60 but his mother answered, “No; he shall be called John.” 61 And they said to her, “None of your relatives is called by this name.” 62 And they made signs to his father, inquiring what he wanted him to be called. 63 And he asked for a writing tablet and wrote, “His name is John.” And they all wondered. 64 And immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, blessing God. 65 And fear came on all their neighbors. And all these things were talked about through all the hill country of Judea, 66 and all who heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, “What then will this child be?” For the hand of the Lord was with him.

obedienceThis story shows how Elizabeth and Zachariah learned obedience and followed through doing exactly as God directed in naming their child.  When they had demonstrated this faith and obedience, the temporary judgment was lifted and Zachariah was able to speak.  Not surprisingly, his first words were words of praise to Almighty God for the miracles God had performed in their lives.

God is present in this very story, from the lifting of the curse of muteness upon Zachariah to the birth of a healthy boy in Elizabeth’s old age.  Even the neighbor’s recognized God’s mercy towards her and the joy she evidently showed at being a mother.  God is always faithful, keeping all His promises.  He is a promise keeping God.  In the Old Testament book of 1 Kings 8:56 we find, “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant.”   None of God’s promises failed nor will they ever fail.  2 Corinthians 1:20 gives a similar message from our promise keeping God, “ For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.”  Peter gives the usefulness of all God’s promises to us in 2 Peter 1:3-4 “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”   God has been and always will be a promise keeping faithful God. His promises provide us access to His divine nature and aid us in escaping the corruption of the sinful world we live in. 

GodkeepspromisesThank you God for being 100% faithful and keeping all your promises to us.  We can rely upon your nature and know you will do what you say in your Word forever.

Linda

May Thanksgiving be on your lips today!

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happy-thanksgivingAs you gather around your Thanksgiving table today, let praise and thanks lead your discussion.  David expressed it this way in Psalm 107:21-22 :                                                     Let them praise the Lord for his great love
    and for the wonderful things he has done for them.
22 Let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving
    and sing joyfully about his glorious acts.

What praises do you have for the Lord today?  Can you tell of things He has done for you this year?  As you tell your family, offer your words in thanksgiving to God for His gracious provision, help, love, care and guidance.  All we have we owe to Him as He is the provider of all things.  If things look dark today, place your hope and trust in Him remembering His promise in Jeremiah 29:11, “ For I know the plans I have for thanksgiving tableyou,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”   God is good and has good things planned for you just as He promised.

Have a day filled with thanksgiving and praise!

Linda

Enduring praise, is that what is on your lips today?

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Being a primary teacher for years, I love choral response readings.  All the kids are chiming in together, listening to one another and speaking as one voice.  Psalm 136 was used as a liturgy of praise.  Let’s look at the first 3 verses.

psalm 136 1Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
2 Give thanks to the God of gods,
    for his steadfast love endures forever.
3 Give thanks to the Lord of lords,
    for his steadfast love endures forever;

I love this repetition of reason for our complete trust in God, His steadfast love endures forever.  What else in all creation endures forever?  God alone is eternal.  Therefore, we need to thank Him for His goodness and love, and that He is the Almighty God, above all other gods.  He alone is to be our LORD.

I would encourage you today to repeat these lines with a sincere, prayer-filled heart and mind and see if it doesn’t bring His love right into your life.  You can depend upon His steadfast love, no matter what.  His enduring steadfast love is worthy of our thanks and praise.

Have a blessed day,

Linda

Worry won’t change anything-Seek Peace!

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philippians 4 6Philippians 4:6-7 is a familiar portion of scripture that brings great comfort to believers.  Here are Paul’s words in the New Living Translation.  “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Paul exhorted the Philippian believers, as well as us, to leave all our worries and concerns with Jesus in prayer.  We are to tell God what we need and then thank  Him for things we know God has done and provided for us in the past.  How will that help with our worrying?  Reviewing in our mind all the blessings God has given makes us realize that what we have is His and He has caused all things in our lives to work together for 8-28good.  Perhaps we cannot see it right now,  but we have to trust His promise in Romans 8:28 “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.”   Reviewing the circumstances of our lives, the ups and downs, the narrow escapes, the blessings of each day, the miracles done on our behalf causes us to thank God.  Knowing He has provided in the past and will in the future gives us hope and creates thanksgiving in our hearts.  The end result is what Paul proclaimed- PEACE!  The peace Jesus brings in such situations is all from Him, it is encompassing and beyond description.

Are you worried, frustrated, consumed with grief or depression?  Turn to God in prayer with thanks in your heart, think about God and all He has done for you,  and you will find peace.  If your circumstances are difficult and you struggle to find earthly thanks then turn your thanks to God for your spiritual blessings.  You are loved by God, saved, have a home in heaven, are a saint and loved child of God, you are redeemed and freed from the penalty of sin…..  Your spiritual blessings are eternal and no one or nothing here can change or corrupt them.  Give thanks and His peace will come upon you.

thank you godHave a blessed day filled with Thanks to Him.

Linda

I AM… the Alpha and the Omega

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Revelation 1 8Jesus used this phrase to identify himself three times in the New Testament book of Revelation.  As John opens his revelation about Jesus Christ,  Jesus appears returning in the clouds and says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”  Revelation 1:8  Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet and would signify the beginning of all things and the end of all things.  The designation of ‘who is and who was and who is to come’ tells us Jesus was with God in the beginning of creation and will be with us in the future.  He is the Almighty God.  He is all knowing (omniscient), ever present (omnipresent) and all powerful (omnipotent).  Only God is all these and He began all creation and will be there at the end.

revelation 21 6At then end of Revelation, these words appear again in John’s vision.  After the description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21:6 “He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life.”    Jesus, himself, will see to the creation of heaven and the new city of Jerusalem.  In that city the water of life will be given freely to all who dwell there.   What a glorious promise for us about our future home.

revelation 22 13Lastly, Jesus reveals to John that He will be returning soon in Revelation 22:12-13 ““Look, I am coming soon! My reward is with me, and I will give to each person according to what they have done. 13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”   Here Jesus specifically says He was there at the  the of beginning of creation and He will be there at the end of times.

What a powerful God we serve that from the beginning of time and creation to the end He will be unchanging and faithful.  Hebrews 13:8 tell us “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”   He created all things and will see them through to the end of all time. He is unchanging in His character and purposes so we can rely upon Hebrews 10 23Him.   I love Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.”  We can cling to the promises in God’s Word that He is unchanging and faithful.  He will see to us in the future just as He has done in the past.  Praise God!

Linda