Or to paraphrase…Let us not become discouraged. When we become discouraged, it debilitates us and weakens our mind. We become exasperated at the sheer difficulty we face, and that can lead to depression. We shut down…and give up. But giving up is a decision we make…not the Lord’s will for our life.
Tag: nothing is impossible with god
Psalm 119: 130 ” The unfolding of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple.”
After speaking at a Ladies Breakfast yesterday, I reflected on what I had gleaned from the experience. Yes, I learn something every time I speak…for within all the preparation and presentation, the Lord speaks to me also. Insight into God’s word makes the simple wise, and I’m grasping after His truths daily. Insight into His heart is like a rose slowly unfolding its petals…becoming more beautiful and precious every day.
Matthew 5: 38-39 ” You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth. But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.”
Jesus was quoting Leviticus 24:20 where the law stated that as a man had injured someone, so he was to be injured. But then, Jesus turned that law completely upside down by advocating loving your enemy and not repaying evil with evil…of doing good to those who hate you, and turning the cheek.
Psalm 26: 7 ” I go about your alter, O Lord, proclaiming aloud Your praise and telling of all Your wonderful deeds.”
It’s testimony Sunday, and I want to share a miracle that happen this week…especially for those who think miracles don’t happen anymore. My Daughter-In-Law was driving home with two kids, two dogs, and a newly acquired horse…a journey covering three states…when the clutch in the truck started making noise…and then the wet heavy snow began falling, making driving very difficult. After 16 1/2 hours on the road, she safety pulled into their driveway. The next morning, she got into the truck to take it to the Dealership to find the clutch was completely out…the truck wouldn’t move, and had to be towed. How many miles do you think the angels propelled that truck through the blinding snowstorm and held that clutch together so they could get home safely?
Isaiah 25:1 ” O Lord, You are my God; I will exalt You and praise Your name, for in perfect faithfulness You have done marvelous things, things planned long ago.”
The steadfastness and certainty of the Lord can not be more apparent than knowing that what He has planned for us was decided long before this world began. This is shown even more beautifully in Isaiah 14:24, “The Lord Almighty has sworn, ‘Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will stand.’ ” God and His Word does not change…nor will His purpose and plans for your life.
I John 2:16 ” For everything in the world – the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does – comes not from the Father but from the world.”
The corrupt nature of man hasn’t change one bit from when this scripture was written to today…or for that matter…from when Adam and Eve disobeyed God in the Garden of Eden. Man’s means and manners on the most part involve fulfilling and satisfying those sinful needs and pleasures that can never be fully appeased. Proverbs 27:20 tells us that our eyes are never satisfied. The world is always searching for the next new thing…the next new entertainment …the next new indulgence…never to be satisfied by the status quo. There is only one thing that can fully satisfy that longing and that is a relationship with the living Jesus.
Hebrews 2:1 ” We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.”
Slipping off the right path can happen so slowly and insidiously that we aren’t really aware of it until something drastic happens. We compromise a little here…we give in a little there…and before we know it – we’ve wandered far from where the Lord wants us. That’s why it’s so important to be ever vigilant…ever on guard for things that will cause us to jeopardize our faith.
Genesis 4:9 ” Then the Lord said to Cain, ‘Where is your brother Abel?’ ‘I don’t know,’ he replied. ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’ “
From the first time that question was uttered by Cain, to today, we must all be accountable to God for our fellow-man. If we see someone flailing in the water…we help. If we see someone drowning in sin…we need to go to their aid as well. We can never become an island unto ourselves…for God commands us to love and protect one another, just as He loves and protects us.
Psalm 88: 2-3 ” May my prayer come before You; turn Your ear to my cry. For my soul is full of trouble and my life draws near the grave.”
There comes a time in everyone’s life when anguish, grief and heartache takes over our body. We truly feel that we are approaching death…the pain is that intense. But we can’t allow the pain to overwhelm and consume us…rather, we need to allow the Lord and others to help pull us from the abyss…until the darkness subsides.
Lamentations 3: 55-57 ” I called on Your name, O Lord, from the depths of the pit. You heard my plea: ‘Do not close Your ears to my cry for relief.’ You came near when I called You, and You said, ‘Do not fear.’ “
I sit… shrouded by the darkest depths of the mire, for I know Lord, I am living with the despair of bad choices I have made…and choices I had no control over. So I cry out to You for deliverance, for I believe that You will not only hear, but also draw close and comfort me. Because I put my trust in You… I know I can face all my fears.
Safetypinlove 