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.

Psalm 95: 6-7 ” Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care.”

We are the sheep under the watchful eye of the Good Shepherd.  Ever protected and cared for, we need not wander away from His ever present safety and security.  Thank you Lord for being such  a good Father.

I Corinthians 13:12 ” Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

Who can understand God?  Who can comprehend His ways or grasp His greatness?  What we perceive now falls so pathetically far from what we’ll then realize…when we’re face to face.

Isaiah 61:11 ” For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden cause seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.”

Just as the warming soil causes things to germinate and bud, so the Lord causes His power to be shown before all the earth…His honor and glory on grand display for all to see.  For as the mystery of life is unveiled each Spring…God’s goodness and majesty is made evident  the world over.

Proverbs 25:28 ” Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control. “

When a city has no defenses…the enemy can come in – invading and conquering without opposition.  When we allow our inner self to act out without restraint…the enemy comes in also.  He comes in to overpower our dignity and flaunt our volatility.  He holds captive our discretion and boasts of our instability.

Psalm 63:1 ” O God, You are my God, earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for You, my body longs for You, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”

David wrote this Psalm while in the desert…and sometimes we travel through our own desert.  Those periods of dryness, when everything seems empty, parched and withered…those times when God seems so far away.   But be encouraged…God’s showers are coming!  Showers of blessings flowing down and filling your soul with living water.  Your emptiness will be filled, and because of those abundant blessings,  new life will spring forth from within.

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.

Isaiah 30:15 ” This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: ‘In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.’ “

God really does know best, and always has our best interest in mind.  But we  sometimes think we know better.  Exodus 14:14 is an excellent example of what the Lord is trying to tell us in the verse…”The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”  Our strength is derived from hope and obedience, not sheer force and brute determination.

Ecclesiastes 1:2 ” ‘Meaningless! Meaningless!’ says the Teacher. ‘Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless!’ “

King Solomon had spent his life searching after the pleasures of this world.  And as he became older and wiser, he realized that he was just chasing after fleeting fantasies.  There is and will never be peace and joy in the pursuit of the empty things of this world.  All temporal things will disappear in a cloud of smoke… for they are empty and futile in the view of eternal life.

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.