HOPE AND JOY!

HOPE!

YOU ARE GOD…and I am not!

What a great, encouraging passage for this Monday morning. What a great way to begin a busy week! Read expectantly!

“You made me; you created me. Now give me the sense to follow your commands. May all who fear you find in me a cause for joy, for I have put my hope in your word.”
Psalm 119:73-74, NLT

Read this again…think about it. Then rejoice!

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Dear Heavenly Father, As we begin another work week, may your joy in us overflow and spill out on others. May they see You in us. Our hope is in You and what You tell us through Your Word. May we have the good sense to behave like we say we believe, for we know others who are seeking hope and joy, watch us in all circumstances to see how we will respond. Yes, you are God and we are not. Apart from you, we are not much. With You our joy is complete and eternal. Help us.
In Jesus Name, Amen

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EUREKA! STRIKE IT RICH!

The “Forty-niners” gave up everything to go to California to dig for the precious gold that would change their lives forever…or so they thought. Many went hungry. Those who found the gold were so excited that they scream it from the hills, causing the robbers to come, kill and take it all away. Those who were quiet about it, were soon “found out” and they had to keep watch day and night for fear their treasure would be taken away. When they died, did their precious gold go with them?

What is your treasure? What is it that you seek most? Where is your “gold”? What is it that you would put your life in jeopardy, no matter what people said about you? What is your focus? I think about all this as I read the Psalmist next prayer as he talks with God…

“You are good, and the source of good; train me in your goodness. The godless spread lies about me, but I focus my attention on what you are saying; They’re bland as a bucket of land, while I dance to the tune of your revelation. My troubles turned out all for the best–they forced me to learn from your textbook. Truth from your mouth means more to me than striking it rich in a gold mine.” Psalm 119:68-72, Msg

A better question…WHO is your treasure…your gold?

And Jesus said, “Don’t hoard treasure down here where it gets eaten by moths and corroded by rust or–worse!–stolen by burglars. Stockpile treasure in heaven, where it’s safe from moth and rust and burglars. It’s obvious, isn’t it? The place where your treasure is, is the place you will most want to be, and end up being.” Matthew 6:21, Msg

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WHERE is your “fortune” found?    

Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for teaching and convicting us to always evaluate what we are “storing up” and where we are focused. Our desire is You. I want to dance to the tune of Your revelation! You are the gold we seek. Your word is worth more than millions in gold and silver and is more precious to me each day as I read and try to follow what you say. Thank you!
In Jesus Name, Amen!

 
 
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EMBRACE THE GRACE!

EMBRACE THE GRACE!.

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EMBRACE THE GRACE!

“You have done many good things for me, LORD, just as you promised. I believe in your commands; now teach me good judgment and knowledge. I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word.” Psalm 119:65-67, NLT

How many times do our minds, the “control centers” of our behaviors, wander. I immediately recall the phrase, “Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it…” from the old hymn, “Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing”, that has become popular again, and coupled with “Jesus Paid it All”…because of our need to embrace the grace! His AMAZING grace brings us from lost to found and compels us to love like He loves, once again, as we follow His Word and learn His ways.

Come, Thou Fount of every blessing,
Tune my heart to sing Thy grace;
Streams of mercy, never ceasing,
Call for songs of loudest praise.

Teach me some melodious sonnet,
Sung by flaming tongues above.
Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
Mount of Thy redeeming love.

O to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be!
Let Thy goodness, like a fetter,
Bind my wandering heart to Thee.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.

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Dear Heavenly Father,
Thank you for your amazing grace that covers our messy lives and makes all things beautiful again. In Jesus Name, Amen

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LIKE CHRIST!

LIKE CHRIST!.

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LIKE CHRIST!

As we read the conclusion of another “paragraph” of the Psalmist, all I can picture is Jesus Christ! I see HIM being “hemmed in”, with seemingly no way out of his situation.

“The wicked hemmed me in–there was no way out–but not for a minute did I forget your plan for me.” Psalm 119:61, Msg

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What a perfect example of complete focus on His mission and God’s plan to redeem us! “Not for a minute” did HE forget THE PLAN for us to be saved from our sins.

“I get up in the middle of the night to thank you; your decisions are so right, so true–I can’t wait till morning!”
Psalm 119:62 Msg

After the Passover meal, on the night Jesus was betrayed, he did not sleep, he passionately prayed until his sweat became drops of blood…”Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.” And an angel came to give him strength…When we are awakened in the night from stress or worry…PRAY! Maybe God is trying to get your attention in the still of the night without the noise of the day to give you focus and remind you of HIS will for you. Turn those worries into prayer and leave it there! (Preaching to myself!) It works for those of us who have trouble sleeping through the night.

“I’m a friend and companion of all who fear you, of those committed to living by your rules. Your love, Yahweh, fills the earth! Train me to live by your counsel.” 
Psalm 119:63-64, Msg

BE a friend for your brothers and sisters, one who won’t let them down in times of crisis and who will lift them up when troubles come, in prayer and action as God directs. Laugh with them when they are happy. Cry with them with they are sad. Go as far as you can to be and do what pleases God for them.

Jesus told us about God’s love and John, his beloved disciple writes pages and pages about it. It all boils down to:

LOVE GOD. LOVE OTHERS.

Dear Heavenly Father, The Psalmist was writing about Jesus wasn’t he? We have learned from your Word a valuable lesson about Your love and will. Thank you for the encouraging words! Your will and plan are greater than what any wickedness can do to us. Where You guide, You will provide the ways and means to accomplish Your work in and through us. Thank you for loving us this much and more! Continue to train me and counsel me.
In Jesus Name, Amen

 
 
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PONDERING…

PONDERING….

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PONDERING…

“I pondered the direction of my life, and I turned to follow your statutes. I will hurry, without lingering, to obey your commands.” Psalm 119:59-60, NLT

“When I took a long, careful look at your ways, I got my feet back on the trail you blazed. I was up at once, didn’t drag my feet, was quick to follow your orders.” Psalm 119:59-60, Msg

As the Psalmist considers his options for life, he draws closer to His Creator and God. Without delay, at a “crossroads” in life, he chooses the “road less traveled”, the path of obedience because of his love for God and his extreme desire to put a smile on God’s face. 

I am reminded of a hymn that my grandpa led the congregation to sing at every baptism service in my childhood. We could always count on him singing his beloved hymn. The joy on his face told us how much he loved the words and the message. He wanted those being baptized to show they loved Christ, that the next step was to learn to LIVE IT. My Grandpa Lacquement could have written this passage of the Psalmist because he was my example growing up in obedience to Christ. Makes me smile to remember his life this morning. 

My prayer is that I will make my Lord smile as I go about my day today with my heart, mind and soul singing…

“Trust and Obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey”

Why? Because of the peace, encouragement and pure love obedience brings to our lives to first love God with all our hearts, minds and souls…then to love others in the same way God loves us. If we anchor these two commandments into our lives we will help to change, affect, transform our world!!

And I’m singing…

When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way!
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.
Refrain:
Trust and obey, for there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Not a shadow can rise, not a cloud in the skies,
But His smile quickly drives it away;
Not a doubt or a fear, not a sigh or a tear,
Can abide while we trust and obey.

Not a burden we bear, not a sorrow we share,
But our toil He doth richly repay;
Not a grief or a loss, not a frown or a cross,
But is blessed if we trust and obey.

But we never can prove the delights of His love
Until all on the altar we lay;
For the favor He shows, for the joy He bestows,
Are for them who will trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet we will sit at His feet,
Or we’ll walk by His side in the way;
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go;
Never fear, only trust and obey.

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Dear Heavenly Father, Thank you for Your Word that speaks LIFE to us today. In Jesus Name, Amen!

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BE ENCOURAGED!

BE ENCOURAGED!.

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BE ENCOURAGED!

BE ENCOURAGED! YOU ARE FORGIVEN!

“If I say I’m sorry, I’ll just keep doing the same thing over and over anyway.” The logic of a child who needs to repent of wrong doing. “I just keep messing up.” says a child trying to figure out how to stop doing what he/she gets in trouble doing. “How many times can I say I’m sorry?” Then tears.

As the teacher, my heart went out to this little one who was trying to be good, but his human will got the best of him most times. He felt like a failure. Extreme thinking as a child made him think he could never be perfect, so why try? Why say I’m sorry for the same thing.

The door is now open to express just how much God loves us and shows His powerful mercy and grace to us with his forgiveness for His imperfect children. Apparently this was a problem even in Jesus day with the question posed to him by one of his “boys”…”How many times must I forgive a person?” Peter was asking Jesus, is there a limit to forgiveness? Jesus said, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.…meaning there is no limit to God’s mercy and grace. Therefore, there is no limit to our forgiving our brothers and sisters!

Are WE caught up in childish thinking? Are we thinking, Lord, I have messed up so many times therefore I feel unforgivable?
Be encouraged! His mercy is NEW and FRESH every day, like the dew on the grass! Get up, be forgiven and walk in the Word again. Pray…”Give us THIS new day a fresh start with new mercies because You are God and we are not. You are faithful and forgiving. I look to You for mercy and grace. Thank you, Lord.”

He knows we are not perfect. He knows we are trying because He knows our hearts. So forgive yourself and move on. Stop asking for forgiveness for the same sin of yesterday that you already asked, because He doesn’t know what you are talking about…He forgives so completely, He doesn’t remember yesterday’s sins. But we do. Yesterday reminds us to learn from our mistakes and “Go, and sin no more!” Sigh of relief. 

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“Lord, you are mine! I promise to obey your words! With all my heart I want your blessings, Be merciful just as you promised.” Psalm 119:57-58, NLT In Jesus Name, Amen.

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