Look around you…all you see is under the rule and reign of the Lord. Everything is firmly under His control…nothing ever happens without God allowing it first. We praise you Lord for your magnificent and just sovereignty over the earth!
Author: kezha1
A Christian mother, grandmother, and retired nurse living in Illinois. Called into a ministry of encouraging others to find their ultimate plan and purpose in life through Christ.
A reason for hope…
I can still hear the Cardiologist’s voice telling my husband that he had less than three months to live…” You need to go home and put your affairs in order.” He said. These kind of words will force you one direction or the other…either it plummets you into sadness, anxiety, and depression, or it sends you running to the Lord seeking peace and healing. I must confess that for the first weeks, my life was on hold…waiting. But as the weeks became months, I realized that God had done a mighty miracle before my very eyes. Now, sixteen years later, this once doomed man celebrates his birthday, keenly aware that but for God, this would not be happening.
Hebrews 13:5-6 ” …because God has said, ‘Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.’ So we say with confidence, ‘ The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.’ “
If God, Himself, has told us that He will absolutely never abandon us…why, oh why, don’t we believe Him? Rather, we allow fear and apprehension to creep into our minds – clouding over His Words. It’s at that moment that we need to stop…take a deep spiritual breath…remembering what He’s promised…and then proceed boldly forward holding on to His Word.
Galatians 2:1 ” Fourteen years later I went up again to Jerusalrm.”
Saul, or Paul as he was later known had gone to Jerusalem to met the disciples just after his conversion…but only Peter and James would see him.
We catch the vision God has for us, and we know we’re called…at that moment, all we want is instant gratification and recognition. But God has different plans. Equipping and preparation are necessary before any journey, and while we may think we’re ready…the Lord may not. So don’t strain and complain about the preparing…for it also is part of the calling.
Joel 1:4 ” What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten; what the great locusts have left the young locusts have eaten; what the young locusts have left other locusts have eaten.”
Problems, sorrow, and illness are compounded one on top of another. We feel consumed by all our pain and suffering. Looking around, all we can see is barrenness, and our stark life stripped of everything good. But the Lord’s promise for us during this very trying time can be found farther in Joel when God states,”I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten.” He will reimburse you for every tear you have shed, and every moment of sorrow you have experienced.
Isaiah 51:6 ” Lift up your eyes to the heavens, look at the earth beneath; the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment and its inhabitants die like flies. But My salvation will last forever, My righteousness will never fail.”
All things as we know it will end someday, but the Almighty Lord is without beginning or end. His deliverance of us from the guilt and punishment of sin will always stand firm…His Word is eternal and everlasting…the Lord will always remain.
Luke 24:45 ” Then He opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures.”
The Disciples had been listening to Jesus teach for three years, but much of it had gone in one ear and out the other. So now in an instant, Jesus had taken all those puzzles pieces, arranged them properly, and created in their minds a perfect picture of just who He really was and why He had come. In a flash, they could comprehend the correlation between the Holy Scriptures and the life, death, and resurrection of their Lord and Savior, Jesus.
Judges 18:6 ” Go in peace. Your journey has the Lord’s approval.”
Fear of the unknown is the most debilitating emotion we own. But if the Lord is in the journey, you have no reason to be anxious. He will never send you where He has not gone ahead to prepare the path. He will never say, “Go!” haphazardly, or without thought, for His ways are perfect. So, go in peace. Your journey has the Lord’s approval.
Acts 1:14 ” They all joined together constantly in prayer.”
Corporate prayer…a shared raising of voices together as a group. This joined assembly of Believers not only strengthens those participating individually, but shows us as a group just how powerful we can be when joined together in prayer. Jesus Himself said in Matthew 18:20, ” For where two or three come together in My name, there am I with them.” There is mighty power from on high when we gather together to pray.
Luke 18:1 ” Then Jesus told His disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.”
Jesus was a cheerleader, rallying His team…encouraging them to never lose heart when praying. We humans pray for a moment, and then become discouraged when God doesn’t answer immediately. The Lord wants us to be steadfast in our prayers…not giving in to defeat, and never giving up hope.
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