Life does not spare anyone from loss, sorrow, and pain. So when we’re in the middle of trials, it’s difficult to take our eyes off the sadness and onto God. But here in Lamentations, Jeremiah voices his grief and suffering, yet he reminds himself that God’s great love and compassion never fail…and thus there is hope.
Tag: god s love
I Corinthians 12:12 ” The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body.”
“No one will miss me…nobody will even realize I’m not in Church.” The enemy does it all the time – convincing us that we don’t count, that we aren’t important enough, or that no one will even notice if we’re not in Church. But if someone took your brain, or your heart, or your lungs you’d notice real quick! Just like the human body, the Church is composed of many working parts, each with a specific task, but all working together for the common good of the body. No one part can function separately from the body…it will die. Never allow the enemy to persuade you that you aren’t important, or that your presence in Church is insignificant…you are very needed within that Body of Believers for it to function well.
Acts 26: 16 ” Now get up and stand to your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of Me and what I will show you.”
Jesus was speaking to Saul, but He could well be speaking to any of us. “Get up out of the gutter I’ve found you in and stand to your feet. You’ve been called out of the muck and the mire to follow Me. My plan for you in this journey will be a lifetime of Me revealing Myself to you…of you experiencing revelations and being changed by them.”
Daniel 1:6-7 “Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The chief official gave them new names: to Daniel, the name Belteshazzar; to Hananiah, Shadrach; to Mishael, Meshach; and to Azariah, Abednego.”
Daniel’s Hebrew name meant – God is judge, while Hananiah’s meant – the Lord is gracious. For Azariah his name meant – the Lord is my help, and Mishael’s was – who is like God? Their new names incorporated Babylonian foreign gods and thus contradicted and maligned who they really were. We all get labeled by the world…we’re fat, or old, ugly, or dumb. But that’s not who we are inside, and any negative label doesn’t have to define us. For the Lord has given you a special name…precious child of God. So anytime the world hits you with a cruel label…remember your name.
Luke 21:34 ” Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.”
Dissipation…such an interesting word to be used here. It’s disgust and self-loathing, not to mention the hang-over from too much alcohol consumption. When our lives revolve around partying …it starts to take a toll on us physically and emotionally. We think we’re having fun…but are we? None us know the day we will die, and thinking that we’ll get right with God when we’re older and have sown our wild oats may never happen.
I Corinthians 1:10 ” I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.”
There is nothing sadder than a Church that is divided and then splits…it’s a no win situation for everyone. Family and friends are forced to take sides they don’t want to…words are taken out of context…feelings get hurt. The very first thing we must do when Church gossip and problems are getting out of hand is to recognize it as a ploy of the enemy. A divided Church is a weakened Church, is a dying Church. We need to agree in a Spirit of unity to work through conflicts and attitudes in an open, respectful fashion. The Church Body can become healthy again when it is united in mind and sentiment.
Daniel 6: 19-20 ” At the first light of dawn, the King got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God , whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?’ “
King Darius had spent a sleepless night after being tricked by his administrators and satraps into throwing Daniel into the lions’ den. The King had tried to rescue Daniel, but his decree stood and couldn’t be repealed. So here he was at first light, yelling for a response from Daniel. Did the King really imagine that Daniel had survived the night…was he hoping beyond hope…or had Daniel’s trust in God been so very evident that King Darius actually believed it was possible?
I John 4:16 ” God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.”
God is love. The agape kind of unconditional love that says regardless of how many times I mess up, He’ll still love me. The agape kind of love that caused God to send His only Son to earth to die in my place for my sins. The agape kind of love, that if the Holy Spirit is in me, I will emulate it also.
Job 12:13 ” To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are His.”
Elsewhere in Job it says, “His wisdom is profound, His power is vast.” (Job 9:4) God is the very personification of wisdom…He is the source of all understanding and ability. In Him is all power, might and strength. Who is greater than our God?
Romans 15:1 We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.”
As we grow in our Christian faith, things that tempted us early on no longer entice us… for we have grown in wisdom and godliness. So when you see a new Christian struggling, remember where you were as a baby Christian, and as I Thess. 5:14 says, “Help the weak, be patient with everyone.” God brought them to you to encourage not to condemn.
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