True salvation and strength comes from returning, repentance, and trusting in God, rather than in our own human efforts… a turning to God for our inner peace and strength. Exodus 14:14 tells us that the Lord will fight for us as the Divine Warrior and so we can rest… trusting fully that, “The fruit of righteousness will be peace, the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence forever.” (Isaiah 32:17)
Month: June 2025
Philippians 3:12 ” But I press on to take hold of that what for which Christ Jesus took hold of me.”
As a Christian, we should be continually striving for spiritual growth and the pursuit of a deeper relationship with Christ. For a Christlike life isn’t a moment to achieve, but a goal to pursue. So when God places a call on our life, we need to realize that we’re not here to work for God because we’ve been chosen, but because God has “laid hold of” us. Understand then, that we are firmly within His grip of calling that doesn’t allow doubt, fear, misgivings, uncertainty, or anxiety…nor are we to turn aside to the right or to the left on a whim. (Deuteronomy 5:32) For our responsibility is reaching daily for the goal set before us.
James 5:7-8 ” Be patient, then, brothers, until the Lord’s coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop and how patient he is for the Autumn and Spring rains. You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near.”
No one is more at the mercy of the elements like a farmer. They work the soil, plant the seed, and then wait for the rain. It takes patience, spiritual growth, and maturity to give your entire livelihood into the Lord’s hands for safe keeping…but farmers do it year in and year out. And so today, I honor my favorite farmer, my dad, who went home to be with the Lord this morning.
Jeremiah 29:10 ” This is what the Lord says: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill My gracious promise to bring you back to this place.”
Chapter 29 in Jeremiah tells of the Jewish exiles in Babylon refusing to believe Jeremiah’s earlier Word from the Lord (Jeremiah 25:11), that they would be banished from Jerusalem for seventy long years. It also didn’t help that there were among them false teachers deceiving them with lies they wanted to hear. (Jeremiah29:27-31) Thus, the exiles were living like they were just on a short vacation, and that they’d soon be leaving Babylon to go home. Many times, we too can get a notion in our head of how God should be working…rejecting His plans for ours…His Will for our selfish desires. But in the end, God is sovereign, so as Jeremiah told the exiles, accept God’s Will and live accordingly.
Philippians 4:13 ” I can do everything through Him Who gives me strength.”
In many of Paul’s letters in the New Testament we see his reliance on Christ’s strength and power, not his. In II Corinthians 12:9, he describes his “thorn in the flesh” and how the Lord reminded him that, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” In both Ephesians 3:16 and Colossians 1:11 he writes about being strengthened with power through the Holy Spirit…giving him endurance, patience, and joy. And in II Timothy 4:17, he encourages the young Timothy that he can depend on the Lord to stand by him and strengthen him in times of adversity. So despite anything happening today, I can confidently say that I know where my help and strength comes from…it comes from the Lord. (Psalm 121:1-2)
Ephesians 6:19 ” Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the Gospel…”
This letter was probably written during Paul’s imprisonment in Rome, but even this couldn’t curtail him from boldly declaring God’s unfolding of Divine things called the “mystery” of His Will. But with this letter, Paul wanted to demystify the before withheld truth that God’s Will is all about uniting all things in heaven and on earth in Christ…a uniting of Jew and Gentile…reconciling them through the Cross of Christ… within the Body of Christ called the Church.
Ecclesiastes 1:18 ” For with much wisdom comes much sorrow; the more knowledge, the more grief.”
Our wisdom can only at times add to the frustration of living here in a very broken world. We’d love to, but we cannot escape pain, suffering, and loss. In I Peter 2:19, we read that it’s commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering. So then as a Believer, our attitude towards pain, suffering and loss shouldn’t be that we want it all to be prevented, but rather we need to ask God to protect us…that we would remain what He has created us to be despite what we’re going through. Or as we see in John 12:27-28, Jesus praying to His Father not to save Him from the hour, but out of the hour.
Ephesians 1:3 ” Praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us in heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.”
Paul begins this verse with praise and thanksgiving in an expansion of God’s Divine purpose that he wrote about in Romans 8:28-30. Paul’s praise goes first to the Father Who elects (Ephesians 1:4-6, the Son Who redeems (Ephesians 1:7-12), and the Holy Spirit Who seals (Ephesians 1:13-14)… which is the Gospel Message in a nutshell. And thus, we are then blessed with a incomprehensible bounty of both Divine favor and grace…all because of Christ’s victory over death and the grave… all praise and honor be to Him!
Psalm 73:26 ” My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and portion forever.”
Our physical strength can be consumed by exhaustion, distress, and affliction. (Psalm 31:10) But we need not lose heart, for Psalm 18:1 tells us that the Lord is our strength…our refuge, our rock, and our fortress. And in Him, the living God, we can cry out…knowing He hears us. (Psalm 84:2)
Romans 15:24 ” On my journey…”
For each one of us, our journey through life is unique. For some, their path is straight and for the most part unhindered…while for others, theirs’s is wrought with pain and suffering. But also each one of us, at one time or another, have ached to change the journey of some loved one. But we know only God can change the wayward path someone is on and make it straight. However, we can pray the Psalms, asking God to make the way straight before them in repentance and obedience, (Psalm 5:8, Psalm 27:11, Psalm 107:7) For God shows His steadfast love when He leads His people by the straight way, so we can have confidence not only in Him, but in our prayers…knowing everyone’s journey is a path of safety as long as we’re obedient to His Will.
Safetypinlove 