Tag: Be Doers of the Word!

Becoming More Like Christ; Comfort and Encourage: God Shows Through Our Experiences. 2 Corinthians 1:3-7

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 Amplified Bible

3 Blessed [gratefully praised and adored] be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts and encourages us in every trouble so that we will be able to comfort and encourage those who are in any kind of trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5 For just as Christ’s sufferings are ours in abundance [as they overflow to His followers], so also our comfort [our reassurance, our encouragement, our consolation] is abundant through Christ [it is truly more than enough to endure what we must]. 6 But if we are troubled and distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; or if we are comforted and encouraged, it is for your comfort, which works [in you] when you patiently endure the same sufferings which we [a]experience. 7  And our [b]hope for you [our confident expectation of good for you] is firmly grounded [assured and unshaken], since we know that just as you share as partners in our sufferings, so also you share as partners in our comfort.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Come! Listen! Let Me Tell You What My Savior Has Done For Me.
Psalm 66:16-20 The Message

16-20 All believers, come here and listen,
    let me tell you what God did for me.
I called out to him with my mouth,
    my tongue shaped the sounds of music.
If I had been cozy with evil,
    the Lord would never have listened.
But he most surely did listen,
    he came on the double when he heard my prayer.
Blessed be God: he didn’t turn a deaf ear,
    he stayed with me, loyal in his love.

The writer of Psalm 66  wants to tell us his “GOD story” when he says, “Come and hear, all you who fear God; let me tell you what he has done for me.”

The psalmist does not want to talk about his accomplishments or achievements.

The Psalmist wants to talk about what God has done for him throughout his life.

His life had not been easy.

He had been tested and refined like silver.

He had experienced many burdens.

But through it all God had been with him and by listening to his cries for help,

God had led him, guided him, directed him to “a place of abundance.”

Like the Psalmist, each and every one of us has a strikingly similar story to tell.

All of us can bear great witness to the weight of burdens we have had to carry.

All of us can testify to hardships in our lives—but also to the one irrefutable fact that God, and God alone, has always been there and always acted on our behalf.

We must make sure we tell our story.

We must make sure you tell about God’s presence in our life and about his amazing grace in the midst of our much diverse and various degrees of trials.

We must wake sure we tell, re-tell it to our children and our grandchildren.

Someone once said to me,

“If something were to ever happen to you, I am sure I would not know anything about any legitimate kind of relationship to God or His Son or the Holy Spirit.”

Don’t let that happen to you.

Start contemplating your story.

Start writing or telling your story today!

A story which begins with (Song by Bill & Gloria Gaither and Ladye Love Smith)

Days are filled with sorrow
Days are filled with sorrow and care
Hearts are lonely and drear
Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Jesus is very near

Troubled soul, the Savior can see
Every heartache and tear
Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Jesus is very near

and ends with ….

A repetition of this guided affirmation of faith in our Savior Jesus Christ ….

Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Calvary, Calvary
Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Jesus is very near

Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Calvary, Calvary
Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Jesus is very near

Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Calvary, Calvary
Burdens are lifted at Calvary
Jesus is very near

Let Us Now Lift Up Our Hearts Unto Calvary Because Jesus is Very Near

I want us to imagine that we are each standing at the end of a long hallway.

The hallway represents the entirety of our life so far on earth.

To begin with, look down to your feet, where you are standing is todays date; all the way down at the far distant other end of the hallway is the day of your birth.

Now, just begin walking – please do not run, skip or jog or sprint or fast walk, Neither get on your skateboards, roller blades or roller skates or your bicycles.

Leave your car keys, your truck keys, your mini-van, your hybrid or EV car keys.

You are not driving anywhere – you are only and just walking with Savior Jesus.

Go outside of self and stretch your legs a bit, start working that heart muscle.

As you begin walking down the hallway heading back in your life, I want you to take notice of all of the notice various and diverse sizes of pictures on the wall.

These pictures are all of the “events” from your life; it’s like a photo album of your entire life which someone has taken the time to paint or print and hang.

Some are large framed pictures; they are the most significant experiences you have had so far.

Some are good; some are bad; some are happy; some are sad.

As you steadily walk down this hallway of your life, I want you to take a long and considered look at the content and context of all of these large pictures.

What significant events from your life do you see that stand out?

Is there a wedding?

The successful purchase of your first home?

The Birth of your first child?

Are there family vacations or sporting events pictured on the walls?

Is there an achievement like a high school or college diploma or an award?

Is there a significant milestone depicted – high professional achievements?

Is there a significant milestone depicted – your long awaited retirement?

Are there spiritual experiences like your coming to faith in Christ or a time God miraculously entered into your sub-conscience, especially touched your life?

Are there significantly painful experiences—a divorce, the death of someone you really loved, a failure, a betrayal, abuse, alcoholism, a difficult to care for child which leads to a hardcore challenging, difficult marriage, a significantly threatening health diagnosis, an over abundance of “no money,” an addiction?

Take some time now to walk beyond all of that, walk all the way to the end of this hallway of your, notice “self-portraits” in all these significant experiences in your life… contemplate, take notice of all the ones named “my aloneness.”

[NOW TAKE SOME QUALITY TIME WITH GOD IN SILENT REFLECTION].

As I pray, for you like the Psalmist did, I plead with you to realize that all these experiences have actually shaped who you are today, whether you like it or not.

I pray for you to realize there is no time for self-blame, or blame God, He didn’t cause all of these hard things to happen, but did allow them to happen to you.

What GOD wants to do with us, within us, is to use all of these experiences–Good and Bad–to grow us spiritually and mold us into the likeness of our Lord and Savior Jesus and to shape us for the unique purposes He has for our lives.

His intent is not to cause us any harm (1 John 4:7-12 The Message)

God Is Love

7-10 My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God. Everyone who loves is born of God and experiences a relationship with God. The person who refuses to love doesn’t know the first thing about God, because God is love—so you can’t know him if you don’t love. This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so we might live through him. This is the kind of love we are talking about—not that we once upon a time loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they’ve done to our relationship with God.

11-12 My dear, dear friends, if God loved us like this, we certainly ought to love each other. No one has seen God, ever. But if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love!

By the unmeasurable enormity of this love He expressed through Calvary,

He does not intend nor want even one of our life experiences to be wasted.

With a very God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit specific long term intention:

Romans 8:28-30 Amplified Bible

28 And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. 29 For those whom He foreknew [and loved and chose beforehand], He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son [and ultimately share in His complete sanctification], so that He would be the firstborn [the most beloved and honored] among many believers.  30 And those whom He predestined, He also called; and those whom He called, He also justified [declared free of the guilt of sin]; and those whom He justified, He also glorified [raising them to a heavenly dignity].

God takes every single one of our life experiences—whether positive or painful, intentional or accidental, known or unknown, avoided or not, caused by you or by someone else, to shape all His Children for His unique calling in their lives.

Romans 8:28-30 may be, for some of us, the most personal verses in the Bible:

We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.

Your life experience and my own are one of the most overlooked ways that God uses to mold, shape, and transform us for the way He wants each of us to serve Him and others in this world, to edify, that is, to build up, His Kingdom alone.

The Bible says that God is working in every experience you have—our mistakes, our decisions, our successes and failures, our education or lack thereof, all of our different jobs, relationships, our lack of relationships, our unemployment, our disabilities, our marriages, our health issues, our finances—you name it.

God is working in every single thing in our lives—even in and through our own continued and continuous bent to our sins–to accomplish His purpose for you.

What Is The “God Specific” Purpose For Which God Is Even Now Working In Every Single Thing In Our life?

He is always working for the good in our lives.

Reverend Rick Warren puts it this way:

God can take the mess in our lives and bring a message out of it.

He can take the tests in our lives and create a testimony out of it.

He can take any crisis and show all of our Savior Jesus Christ through them.

GOD does not, never will, waste any experience any one of His Children have.

Moses murdered a man and had to flee into the wilderness between Egypt and Israel to save his life.

Some 40 years later God came to him in the vision of a burning bush and said, Moses, I have chosen you to go back down to Egypt to set my people free from slavery and guide and lead them through the wilderness to the Promised Land.

Moses knew the wilderness; he had lived there, learned its ways for 40 years.

Likewise, as Moses did, that through God, not our wits, God wants to use the wildernesses of our lives to help guide others, to find God’s way for their lives.

Joseph, his father Jacob’s favorite, was conspired against, thrown down a well and eventually sold to merchants into slavery by his hyper jealous brothers.

He ended up a slave and a prisoner in Egypt, but God gifted him and made a way for him to become the Prime Minister of Egypt and second only to the Pharaoh.

When famine threatened the very existence of God’s people, God used Joseph to plant, grow, harvest, store, manage the supply the grain that His people needed.

And when his brothers came to him starving, Joseph said to them: You intended to harm me, but God long intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the housing, settling and feeding, ultimately the saving of many lives.

But notice carefully God does not just do this for everybody.

God works His good for those who love Him and follow His plan.

The promise of Romans 8:28 is not for everybody.

God does not work His good in our lives when we don’t love Him or we turn our backs on Him.

It’s not that God turns His back on those who don’t follow His plan for their lives – God loves everybody, but He cannot help and use those who close their hearts, souls, minds, strengths and lives to Him and His plan for their lives.

One of the most common ways God uses our life experiences for good is to help others – to empathize, give comfort and encouragement while God works.

God can and does take each and everyone of our experiences, especially the painful ones, and turns them around, transforming them in a positive way.

Who better to help someone who is struggling than another person who has gone through the same struggle?

2 Corinthians 1:4 says, God, through Christ at Calvary, comforts and encourages us in all of our troubles so we can then, in turn, comfort and encourage others.

From Calvary then, when others are troubled, we will be able to reciprocate, to give them the same comfort and encouragement from Calvary God has given us.

Our troubles can become the very ministry God will use to help other people.

That uniquely painful experience in your life that you keep locked in the inner recesses of your soul could become your singularly unique, greatest ministry.

God has used the failures and hurtful experiences of my own life more than anything else to mold, shape and transform me exclusively for His purposes.

Those bad life experiences of my have helped me grow uniquely, spiritually.

Truthfully, in the good and happy times of my life, I have usually just coasted spiritually, taking God’s grace for granted that He will always, forever be there.

I have to see, from the long shadow extending outward from Calvary, and into eternity, God does not want me to allow my experiences to count for nothing.

I have to become the better person, through Christ, God needs me to become.

Now, it is my relationship with God which continues to keep me looking more forward versus more backwards, instead, a day at a time – Sweet Savior Jesus.

He was my Best Forever friend, much better than a brother I never had.

I was so “at ease, more comforted, more encouraged” with my Sweet Savior Jesus, stark comparison to the “disease of sin” I was struggling to recover from.

He truly brought wholeness to my life, an indescribable joy and immeasurable degrees of comfort that will always and forever be etched deep in my memory.

In His time on earth; Jesus had completed God’s mission for His life; and there is no doubt God touched uncountable many lives through him.

Through Calvary, by my walk to Calvary, My Sweet Savior Jesus helped me to see how life is supposed to be lived—in tune with my GOD and the Holy Spirit.

He helped me to find God and my family, the church to which my wife and I go.

On more than one occasion, the Bible says that God chooses to use weaker vessels to do His work so that He may get the glory.

In 2 Corinthians 12:9, God says: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”

Paul responds: “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

God can help people more through their weakness than we can through our strengths.

That’s why we need each other; it’s why we need the supportive fellowship of the church.

You can learn from others who have gone or who are going through the same struggles you are.

Perfection, if we could achieve it, would help nobody.

What experiences have we had to confront in our own lives which GOD could use to help comfort and encourage others?

“I Thirst” and then “It is Finished”

John 19:28-30 Amplified Bible

28 After this, Jesus, knowing that all was now finished, said in fulfillment of the Scripture, “I am thirsty.” 29 A jar full of [a]sour wine was placed there; so they put a sponge soaked in the sour wine on [a branch of] hyssop and held it to His mouth. 30 When Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and [voluntarily] [b]gave up His spirit.

At Golgotha, the Place of the Skull, At Calvary, the death of the perfect Son of God was the darkest moment in world history, but look back at the portraits in the length and breadth and width of your hallway at how God used Jesus’ death.

Jesus’ death atoned for every single one our sins and everybody else’s sins and made for each of us an unobstructed way back to God, into heaven when we die.

Out of Christ’s crucifixion, God brought to all mankind the ultimate comfort and encouragement – God brought salvation for all who trust and follow Jesus.

This is our hope in Jesus Christ!

On that first Easter Sunday two millennia ago, God brought life out of death.

Jesus Christ died, three days later he arose from the dead and is now a living presence among us right now— forgiving us, delivering us, shaping us, guiding us, loving us, living in and among us and wanting to use us for His purposes.

God can use all your life experiences, good and bad, to shape you for His unique calling in your life—if forego any resistance to any, all change, if we let Him.

Hebrews 3:12-16 Amplified Bible

The Peril of Unbelief

12 Take care, brothers and sisters, that there not be in any one of you a wicked, unbelieving [a]heart [which refuses to trust and rely on the Lord, a heart] that turns away from the living God. 13 But continually encourage one another every day, as long as it is called “Today” [and there is an opportunity], so that none of you will be hardened [into settled rebellion] by the deceitfulness of sin [its cleverness, delusive glamour, and sophistication]. 14 For we [believers] have become partakers of Christ [sharing in all that the Messiah has for us], if only we hold firm our newborn confidence [which originally led us to Him] until the end, 15 while it is said,

“Today [while there is still opportunity] if you hear His voice,
Do not harden your heart, as when they provoked Me [in the rebellion in the desert at Meribah].”

16 For who were they who heard and yet provoked Him [with rebellious acts]? Was it not all those who came out of Egypt led by Moses?

“Today, while there is still opportunity, if we WILL hear His voice …”

“Do not harden your hearts again and again, with further acts of open rebellion …”

God’s Call and Invitation to each and everyone of us through Mount Calvary:

God has 3 callings in the lives of each and everyone of His Children:

(1) He calls you to salvation and a new life in Jesus Christ;

(2) He calls you to be an active part of His church;

(3) He calls you to serve Him and comfort and encourage others in the unique way He has gifted and shaped you.

Encouraging one another is an important part of our daily walk with Christ.

Comforting one another is an important part of our daily walk with Christ.

We live in a world corrupted by unbelief, sin, and, at times, persecution.

How can we stay firm in our faith?

Scripture gives us this recipe:

Comfort, Love, Encourage, and Daily Pray for one another.

In God’s grace, the Holy Spirit uses these acts of mutual and shared comfort, care and encouragement to guide us, see us, through the most trying of times.

When fellow believers are struggling, be quick to extend your helpful, sharing hand.

Be graceful and be generous.

Be gentle and be merciful as unto the Lord.

Be comforting and be encouraging.

Offer words of comfort and prayer, as well as tangible acts of help, encourage people around you, and be surprised by how much you are encouraged yourself!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Would you pray this prayer with me?

Almighty God and my Everlasting Father, Lord of my life, I offer back my life to You. Everything I’ve been through, Lord, use it for Your glory. Jesus, I give You my all. In your name I pray and commit myself to Your continuing work in this world. Lead, Guide and Direct my Steps back towards Calvary from whence comes my Savior. That I may be a comfort as I was comforted, I may be an encourager as I was encouraged. For indeed, there is no other name under heaven through which mankind is saved.

Adeste Fideles! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Are The Disciples Asking Themselves: How Can We Know and Can We Trust God Will Keep Us in His Perfect Peace? John 20:19-23, Isaiah 26:1-4

John 20:19-23 Amplified Bible

Jesus among His Disciples

19 So when it was evening on that same day, the first day of the week, though the disciples were [meeting] behind barred doors for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them, and said, “[a]Peace to you.” 20 After He said this, He showed them His hands and His side. When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with great joy. 21 Then Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you; as the Father has sent Me, I also send you [as My representatives].” 22 And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of anyone they are forgiven [because of their faith]; if you retain the sins of anyone, they are retained [and remain unforgiven because of their unbelief].”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

In those moments of the death and resurrection, behind those barred doors of the Upper Room, can we even begin to imagine those disciples’ state of mind?

Many of Jesus’ followers had scattered for fear of their lives, and his closest disciples were hiding behind closed doors in fear of the religious authorities.

Their much beloved Rabbi (“Teacher”) had been crucified and then buried.

They had walked with Him for three long years and witnessed much, they had believed in him as the Messiah (the “Anointed One”), their promised deliverer.

Now, “cast off” doubts came rushing in – had it all been “too good to be true”?

Sure, they had just heard Mary’s highly excited message that Jesus had risen.

Peter and John had run to see the now-empty tomb, but that wasn’t even close to being the same thing as what Mary had experienced – seeing “Jesus IS alive!”

Was Mary mistaken?

Was it all “wishful thinking?”

Standing at the tomb in the dark, in her indescribable, immeasurable grief, had she only imagined seeing Jesus, through tear stained eyes, in an empty garden?

Did she see only what her impossibly desperate state of mind needed, wanted, to see, that she might find the only means of coping with the unbelievability?

Had others taken the body?

And Mary could not “handle the gravity” nor implications of, that possibility?

Where was her Rabbi that believed in her when no one else had dared to believe?

Bad news can be so easily believable!

Good news can seem so easily unbelievable!

Crucified and buried men don’t roll away unmovable stones, walk out of graves!

Were they being asked to believe: “impossible” witness and testimony of Mary?

Jesus didn’t keep his disciples waiting long.

That evening, “Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you!’”

He stood before them, and then He spoke these words to them.

He showed them his wounds.

He greeted them with a familiar blessing, “Peace Be With You.”

Jesus gave them the peace and presence they had been missing.

And they were overjoyed.

Things had not been the way they were supposed to be, but now they were!

Today we too celebrate that God is with us!

God’s Peace is With Us!

Christ has risen!

He is alive, and he lives in us! Hallelujah!

Peace is possible!

But, how can we know such a magnitude of God’s Peace through Christ is real?

I cannot claim any similar experience as those disciples in the Upper Room.

I do not know if anyone outside of those disciples in the Upper Room can claim the Resurrected Jesus just appeared to them in their homes or anywhere else?

So we read the post resurrection texts from the Gospels of Luke and John and because I believe in the Word of God for His Children, I “accept” their efforts.

But still, there are the questions being asked by everyone of this moment such a sequence of events are wholly, miraculously unique to the Christian experience.

How about our giving God, through Christ Jesus the benefits, prayers of doubts?

How about our confidence in the Word of God regarding “God’s Perfect Peace?”

How about our confidence in ourselves such a magnitude of Peace is achievable?

You know, actually believing more in the promises of God than the promises of our enemies rust laden promises which we grow fat on, we obsessively feed on?

How Can We Know God Will Keep Us in Perfect Peace?

Isaiah 26:1-4 Amplified Bible

Song of Trust in God’s Protection

26 In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah:

“We have a strong city;
He sets up salvation as walls and ramparts.
2 
“Open the gates, that the righteous nation may enter,
The one that [a]remains faithful and trustworthy.
3 
“You will keep in [b]perfect and constant peace the one whose mind is steadfast [that is, committed and focused on You—in both [c]inclination and character],
Because he trusts and takes refuge in You [with hope and confident expectation].
4 
“Trust [confidently] in the Lord forever [He is your fortress, your shield, your banner],
For the Lord God is an everlasting Rock [the Rock of Ages].

Peace is possible even in our stressful, troubled world.

In Isaiah 26:3, the Bible promises that God and God alone “will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.”

Here’s what it means to do that, so you can experience peace in any situation.

What Does ‘He Will Keep in Perfect Peace’ Mean?

Everyone who chooses to keep their minds steadfast because they trust in God can count on experiencing perfect peace while they do so, according to this verse.

That means you can enjoy a state of perfect peace as long as you focus your mind from beyond your circumstances to God, and trust him to help you no matter what.

As a result of choosing to trust God, you welcome God’s peace into your mind.

Some people chase after peace of mind from worldly achievements, such as through the wanton pursuit health and wealth and wellness.

Good circumstances may help you enjoy a temporary feeling of peace.

However, only God can actually provide complete and lasting peace.

God, who alone is perfect, is the only reliable source of peace.

Thankfully, God is willing to give that perfect peace to everyone who decides to trust him to provide it.

Trusting God involves being at peace with God through Jesus Christ since Jesus made it possible for all humanity to have relationships with God. 

Ephesians 2:14 says about Jesus: “For he himself is our peace” and Ephesians 2:17-18 points out that, “He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.”

When we have that close connection to God, we can experience peace even during the most challenging circumstances, because “We know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

John Gills Commentary puts it this way:

“this peace is true, real, and solid; in which sense the word “perfect” is used, in opposition to a false and imaginary one; and it will end in perfect peace in heaven: moreover, the word “perfect” is not in the Hebrew text, it is there “peace, peace”; which is doubled to denote the certainty of it, the enjoyment of it, and the constancy and continuance of it; and as expressive of all sorts of peace, which God grants unto his people, and keeps for them, and them in; as peace with God and peace with men, peace outward and peace inward, peace here and peace hereafter; and particularly it denotes the abundance of peace that believers will have in the kingdom of Christ in the latter day.”

What Is the Context and Background of Isaiah 26:3?

Isaiah 26:3 is part of a song of praise in which the biblical prophet Isaiah celebrates God’s trustworthiness to provide all that people need, including their ultimate need: salvation.

Isaiah sings about how Israel will be judged for their sins yet also restored by God, in his mercy. Isaiah predicts that God will save people from their sins.

Although people may sometimes be faithless toward God, God will always be faithful to his people, Isaiah emphasizes.

God is willing to redeem and restore, and his perfect peace enters the souls of all who decide they have worn out their trust in the world to just trust in Him.

So, Isaiah urges readers to trust in God.

He writes that it is “because they trust” in God that God “will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast”.

The very next verse after Isaiah 26:3 emphasizes trust: “Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal” (Isaiah 26:4).

How Can We Be Sure That We Will Be Kept in Perfect Peace?

We can be sure that God will keep us in perfect peace.

The Holy Spirit will renew our minds whenever we ask for help doing what’s necessary to be at peace: focusing on God and trusting him. 

Romans 12:2 urges us all:

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his pleasing and perfect will.”

The Spirit will help us access the perfect peace that God offers us.

Jesus promises in John 14:26-27:

“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

Peace is one of the nine “fruit of the Spirit” listed in Galatians 5:22-23.

As you invite the Holy Spirit to renew your mind, you can count on the Spirit’s help to do what Isaiah 26:3 calls you to do: trust in God with a steadfast mind.

A powerful way to pursue peace is to pursue wonder because experiencing wonder expands your awareness of God’s work in your life, and that gives you the assurance you need to trust God and be at peace.

And it can be a wonderful way for anyone to seek the perfect peace that only comes from God.

Here’s how it works:

Visualize Jesus on the cross, visualize the specific things that are troubling you.

Then see yourself walking toward Jesus and laying those things down at the foot of the cross for him to take care of for you.

Through a brief prayer, ask Jesus for help with every specific thing you’ve left there for him.

Entrust it all to his care.

See yourself walk away afterward, with your mind and heart open to receiving peace from Jesus.

Prayer ushers peace into your heart and mind,

according to Philippians 4:6-7, which says:

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Characteristics of God’s Perfect Peace

We can be confident that the perfect peace God gives us will last.

The temporary peace of mind we may find from good circumstances in our lives can relieve some stress and anxiety for a while.

However, the peace that God gives isn’t limited to certain times or tied to specific circumstances.

The perfect peace of God is much more than simply the absence of stress and anxiety; it’s a deep and abiding knowledge of being loved and cared for by God no matter what.

Although that peace is beyond our understanding, it will guard our hearts and minds, promises Philippians 4:7: “And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Psalm 139 describes how near God’s Spirit is to us at all times and in all places.

Verses 7-10 point out:

“Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.”

We can be sure that we’re never out of the Holy Spirit’s reach.

So, we’re always able to access the perfect peace that God offers us through his Spirit.

After celebrating God’s sovereignty over all circumstances in life, the psalmist ends with a plea for God to renews his mind:

“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

That can be our prayer in any situation.

When we pray to experience God’s peace through a steadfast mind that is focused on him, we can count on that happening.

The Holy Spirit will strengthen our faith by renewing our minds, and peace will come to us as a result.

“Since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ” Romans 5:1 explains.

When you follow the advice of Isaiah 26:3, you can be confident that you’ll experience perfect peace from God.

Simply pray and ask the Holy Spirit to renew your mind whenever you need help centering your focus on God.

The Spirit may direct your attention to a wondrous sign of God’s work in your life, or simply quiet your mind.

In the process, perfect peace will flow into your soul!

Perhaps that is why John added the words of John 20:22 to this narrative:

John 20:22 Amplified Bible

22 And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Words of Purpose!

The first words Jesus spoke to his frightened disciples after his resurrection were words of reassurance: “Peace be with you!”

Then he quickly gave them a renewed sense of purpose: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.”

With those words, Jesus was passing his mission on to his followers.

Perhaps you’ve seen a relay race in which one runner comes up behind the next and passes off the baton.

That’s what Jesus was doing here.

He was passing off the baton to his followers and saying, “Go! Finish the race!

Carry on the mission I began!

I ran the first leg; now you run the next.

Just as God the Father sent me into the world, now I am sending you into the world! Go!” (See John 17:18.)

18 Just as You commissioned and sent Me into the world, I also have commissioned  and sent them (believers) into the world.

Later, Jesus would remind his disciples again of that mission:

“Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20).

With whom can you and I share this good news of God’s Ultimate Peace today?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Dear Lord, Help me daily to remember you are indeed Lord of my life. You have the right to rule all that I think, believe and do. When I allow my mind to run to places that destroy my peace, remind me these are unauthorized thoughts. You do not want me to dwell on thoughts and emotions that contribute to unreasonable fears. I know my mind will remain in perfect peace as I fix my thoughts on you; so Lord Jesus, let your peace rule in my heart. Remind me of the peace I have in the shadow of Your Cross and in your family, and I pray the Holy Spirit to teach me how to be thankful for those circumstances that cause me to run to you, focus on you, and abide in you. I never need to live with fearful, anxious thoughts. Truth is, you alone are in control!

Adeste Fidelis! Laeti Triumphantes! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Tune My Ears, God! I Will Choose to Listen and Believe the Voice of Truth. John 10:1-5

John 10:1-5 Amplified Bible

Parable of the Good Shepherd

10 “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, he who does not enter by the door into the sheepfold, but climbs up from some other place [on the stone wall], that one is a thief and a robber. 2 But he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep [the protector and provider]. 3 The [a]doorkeeper opens [the gate] for this man, and the sheep hear his voice and pay attention to it. And [knowing that they listen] he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out [to pasture]. 4 When he has brought all his own sheep outside, he walks on ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice and recognize his call. 5 They will never follow a stranger, but will run away from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

Whose Voice Are We Following?

Internet, iPad, iPod—the “I”s certainly have it today!

At home and at work we call on Siri, we talk into our phones, we sit or stand or lie down in our living rooms or dining rooms, of kitchens or even bathrooms.

We will talk into our television remotes and search for a particular favorite channel or programming station, for whatever it is they call entertainment.

We call out to some voice identified only as Siri and ask her or tell her to call up some random search parameter – a recipe, or a song or list of vacation spots or whatever happens to land into our wandering randomized thought processes.

And in an instant a disconnected computer voice from our phones or Alexa chimes in with “okay, this is what I found…!” and we are on our way to read whatever information was “found” in less time it took to type this sentence.

At the beach, in the department store, on the college campus, everywhere people have “earbuds” wireless listening devices planted deep in their ears.

While both technology and music are gifts of God, I hope we also take time to listen to the springtime chatter of robins or to the hoot cry of a Barn Owl.

What we hear and what and who we listen to makes a difference in our lives.

What information we hear, and who we hear it from, will end up profoundly influencing our thought processes and will inevitably guide our actions, into how we respond to a particular life altering, life transforming circumstance.

How we make decisions, how we judge what is morally and ethically right and wrong, how we interpret whether what we see and hear is truth or a deception.

People will tell us anything to sell their products and increase their profits and their bank accounts, to sell us a bill of goods which ultimately has little value.

Do you read or listen to, or hear the lyrics of the songs your children listen to?

Do you take any quality time with your children to discuss their song choices?

Together, do you come to a place where you can share your thoughts with them, they can share their thoughts with you – come unto an “acceptable boundary?”

Do you know what they are hearing and how it impacts what both of you have both come to be known as “morally and ethically right versus wrong” truth?

Jesus is the good shepherd.

Jesus is the Way and the Truth and the Life. (John 14:6)

He laid down his life for us on the Good Friday cross.

If we are to follow Jesus and avoid impostors, we must recognize his voice clearly and quickly in every situation we encounter.

To do that, we ought to be considering counseling others away from technology and spending more time studying, hearing, listening, to his Word in the Bible.

Spending quality devotional time with the children (whatever their ages are).

Talking about current events, their impacts on what is understood to be true.

There are words spoken through whatever social media medium which are worded with the intent of moving their version of truth into our forefronts.

“Words of someone else’s truth” specifically spoken, specifically manipulated, of what someone else desperately wants us to unequivocally believe as gospel.

Differentiating between the voice of someone else’s truth and God’s truth?

What possible difference could it make, what possible influence could it have to one life knowing what the difference is between the world’s truth and God’s?

Love Letter to my Ears, “Whose Truth Guides Us?”

John 10:1-5 The Message

He Calls His Sheep by Name

10 1-5 “Let me set this before you as plainly as I can. If a person climbs over or through the fence of a sheep pen instead of going through the gate, you know he’s up to no good—a sheep rustler! The shepherd walks right up to the gate. The gatekeeper opens the gate to him and the sheep recognize his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he gets them all out, he leads them and they follow because they are familiar with his voice. They won’t follow a stranger’s voice but will scatter because they aren’t used to the sound of it.”

When I became a new Christian, hearing and knowing God’s voice and differentiating from the world were the things I struggled the most with.

How could I know whether I was hearing from God when I didn’t know His voice?

How could I be sure the Lord was speaking to me while reading Scripture, listening to a sermon, or going to Sunday school or a Bible study lesson?

I was so afraid of missing God’s instructions, warning, and encouragement that I often found myself paralyzed by raging questions of faith, my truth and doubt.

Sorting through what I had “known and believed” was truth and what the Word of God, the often complicated “Parable” teachings of Jesus and Paul was tough.

Unraveling and un-weaving of the mess I made of my own interpretation of the word truth along the long, winding and hardened concourse of my life – was a complex time of hardcore self introspection, challenging my life against God’s.

As I began studying the Bible, I learned how God’s voice matched the Scriptures.

Thus, if I wanted to know what God had to say on a particular topic, I had to devote considerable time to studying, to know what the Bible said on that topic.

If I heard a voice and was unsure whether or not that voice was the Lord’s, the Bible through Holy Spirit, would work with me to confirm whether it was Him.

I have learned the hard and soft way God’s voice will never contradict the Bible.

If the voice you’re hearing is encouraging you to take Scripture out of context to make it fit your situation, the voice is not of God and the truth is not of God too.

We can grow, we can mature to learn and discern God’s voice by studying the Holy Scriptures, praying, and asking and pleading with our Savior to teach us.

God invites us (not forces us) to ask and answer the question on all our minds:

In this time when our available resources are stretched nigh to invisibility;

Isaiah 55:1-5 The Message

Buy Without Money

55 1-5 “Hey there! All who are thirsty,
    come to the water!
Are you penniless?
    Come anyway—buy and eat!
Come, buy your drinks, buy wine and milk.
    Buy without money—everything’s free!
Why do you spend your money on junk food,
    your hard-earned cash on cotton candy?
Listen to me, listen well: Eat only the best,
    fill yourself with only the finest.
Pay attention, come close now,
    listen carefully to my life-giving, life-nourishing words.
I’m making a lasting covenant commitment with you,
    the same that I made with David: sure, solid, enduring love.
I set him up as a witness to the nations,
    made him a prince and leader of the nations,
And now I’m doing it to you:
    You’ll summon nations you’ve never heard of,
and nations who’ve never heard of you
    will come running to you
Because of me, your God,
    because The Holy of Israel has honored you.”

Jesus, the good shepherd, says, “Listen, listen to me … that you may live.”

Those who have ears, let them truthfully hear and let them truthfully live!

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Precious Holy Spirit, I come to you today asking for guidance. I feel lost and overwhelmed, and I need your help in finding my way. Please open my eyes and heart to the direction you want me to take. Help me to make wise decisions that will lead me closer to your path for my life. Give me the strength and courage to persevere when times are difficult. Lead me with your truth and love, so that I may live a life that brings glory to your name. Thank you for your guidance and protection. Amen.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Hearing God’s Voice? 1 Samuel 3:1-10

1 Samuel 3:1-10 English Standard Version

The Lord Calls Samuel

3 Now the boy Samuel was ministering to the Lord in the presence of Eli. And the word of the Lord was rare in those days; there was no frequent vision.

2 At that time Eli, whose eyesight had begun to grow dim so that he could not see, was lying down in his own place. 3 The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was.

4 Then the Lord called Samuel, and he said, “Here I am!” 5 and ran to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call; lie down again.” So he went and lay down.

6 And the Lord called again, “Samuel!” and Samuel arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” But he said, “I did not call, my son; lie down again.” 7 Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him.

8 And the Lord called Samuel again the third time. And he arose and went to Eli and said, “Here I am, for you called me.” Then Eli perceived that the Lord was calling the boy. 9 Therefore Eli said to Samuel, “Go, lie down, and if he calls you, you shall say, ‘Speak, Lord, for your servant hears.’” So Samuel went and lay down in his place.

10 And the Lord came and stood, calling as at other times, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel said, “Speak, for your servant hears.”

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Hearing the voice of God is something that everyone, Christian or not, wants to experience.

Although we all want to hear God, actually doing it, for most of us, is sort of a mysterious process.

We often don’t know how to hear God consistently, if at all.

Yet hearing and understanding what God is saying is critical for our spiritual development.

As we look at people in the Bible who heard from God, Samuel was one of the best.

The story of Samuel is found in 1 Samuel 3:1-10.

Samuel, who was just a boy, was living and serving the priest in the temple.

We are told that, “the word of the LORD was rare in those days” (v.1 ESV).

Not many people were hearing the voice of God.

Yet this rare young man was about to experience something people in the land of Israel had not seen nor had heard for quite some time; Samuel was about to clearly and succinctly hear his name called from the LORD three times.

As we look at this story about Samuel, we can discern there are six steps which can take some of the mystery out of clearly, succinctly hearing the voice of God:

1. Position Yourself Close to God

Samuel set his bed up in the temple, “where the ark of God was” (v.3 ESV).

Samuel had never heard God speak before.

Samuel did not know what to expect, but what he did know was that if he hung around the temple, God would eventually show up.

Through Bible Study, personal devotions, times of fellowship, and regular church attendance, are we now putting ourselves in a place where God is?

2. Find a Place of Regular Service to God

In v.1 it says, “Samuel was ministering to the LORD in the presence of Eli” (ESV).

If we want to hear the voice of God, we have to be doing the things of God.

If we’re not serving, don’t wonder why we are not hearing the voice of God.

3. Listen for God’s voice

Eli was “lying down in his usual place” (v.2 NIV), too set in his own ways, too set, too accepting in the past lack, the rarity of revelation, too preoccupied with his own, son’s interests, his own physical and spiritual limitations to hear God.

When God began speaking, he was not used to listening.

He too easily accepted the unchangeable; the precious rarity of God’s voice.

Status Quo was the Status Quo …

Who before him had taught and mentored him on how to listen for God?

Many times to hear what God is saying we have to slow down and take time to get close to God.

We have to put aside our interests and lean in to hear what God is saying.

How close was Eli to God?

How accepting was Eli that even at his current season and stage and condition of life, he could still get closer to God – “teaching an old soul new ‘God’ truths?

How accepting are we ourselves, in our current seasons, stages and conditions of life, that we too can still get closer to God – “teaching us new ‘God’ truths?

4. When God Calls, Respond Eagerly

When we hear our parents calling to us, we look to respond eagerly.

When we hear our spouses calling to us, we look to respond eagerly.

When we hear our children calling to us, we look to respond eagerly.

When Samuel first heard his name called, even in the middle of the night he got out of his bed, rushed to Eli’s bedside to inquire of Eli: “why have you called?”

This repeated itself three times until Eli finally realized it was truly God calling.

When Samuel heard, recognized the voice of the Lord he was immediately up and moving (v.4) and declaring – “Speak Lord, for Your Servant is Listening!”

If we want to hear the voice of God, we need to be not just ready to put ourselves into action eager to do what He tells us – we need to be obedient enough to do it!

James 1:17-22 English Standard Version

17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.[a]  18 Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of truth, that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures.

Hearing and Doing the Word

19 Know this, my beloved brothers: let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; 20 for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore put away all filthiness and rampant wickedness and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.

22 But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.

5. When God Speaks, Obey Him

Starting in this passage and throughout the rest of his life, Samuel consistently obeyed the Lord.

No matter what God told him, Samuel did it.

From that point on, “the LORD was with him and let none of his words fall to the ground” (1 Samuel 3:19 ESV).

For us, probably the quickest way to turn off God’s voice is to disobey him.

6. Read and Study the Word of God

After God spoke to him in this passage, the Bible tells us,

“The LORD continued to appear at Shiloh, and there He revealed Himself to Samuel through His Word” (1 Samuel 3:21 NIV).

If you want to hear from God, you have to know what the Bible says.

God is speaking.

God wonders to what extent we are genuinely listening.

God wonders to what extent we are genuinely hearing Him.

He wants to give you wisdom to lead your family, at your job, in your church, and in every area of life.

The questions we have to be asking ourselves is not whether God is speaking, but whether or not we are hearing Him, and whether or not we are listening?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Savior Jesus, Giver of boundless peace and wisdom, I so easily get distracted when I’m trying to focus and hear your Holy Spirit. Help me to quiet my mind in the middle of my busy life. Help me to pause and to make space to listen to the most important voice of all. Empower me to be a good listener to the gentle whispers of your Spirit. Help me follow the example of Jesus, who would slip away in the evening or the early morning to be alone with you. Teach me to listen, to hear and to abide in you. Amen.

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Serving God and Blessing Neighbors, Should be a Family Affair. Psalm 128

Psalm 128 Amplified Bible

Blessedness of the Fear of the Lord.

A Song of [a]Ascents.

128 Blessed [happy and sheltered by God’s favor] is everyone who fears the Lord [and worships Him with obedience],
Who walks in His ways and lives according to His commandments.
2 
For you shall eat the fruit of [the labor of] your hands,
You will be happy and blessed and it will be well with you.
3 
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
Within the innermost part of your house;
Your children will be like olive plants
Around your table.
4 
Behold, for so shall the man be blessed and divinely favored
Who fears the Lord [and worships Him with obedience].

5 
May the Lord bless you from Zion [His holy mountain],
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life;
6 
Indeed, may you see your [family perpetuated in your] children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel!

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Psalm 128 tells us, “Blessed are all who fear the Lord.”

And then it uses the picture of an ideal family to teach us about that blessing.

The ideal family in Psalm 128 is similar to the ideal man in Psalm 1, the ideal wife in Proverbs 31, and ideal love as described in 1 Corinthians 13.

We sometimes read these passages and are tempted to say, “Get real!

That’s not the way life is.”

Well, perhaps nowadays that is stating a more contemporary truth, it may not be the way life is, but these passages tell us it is the way life can be – with God!

In other words these passages of the ideal man, the ideal wife, the ideal family with the ideal children and with the ideal love are not meant to discourage us as being unachievable, unrealistic, but rather to inspire us to greater possibilities.

And so Psalm 128 paints the picture of a happy home and presents the home as the center of God’s blessing.

Who doesn’t want a happy home?

Happy and God-fearing, God Loving, God Serving, Neighbor Serving Homes and Serving communities too are, according to Psalm 128 an essential part of edifying, building up God’s kingdom right where we are, here on our earth.

So let’s get into the Psalm now.

Psalm 128 breaks into two main parts.

The first part is a statement of blessing.

The second part is a prayer of blessing.

I. Blessed are all who fear the Lord (1-4)

Psalm 128:1-4 English Standard Version

Blessed Is Everyone Who Fears the Lord

A Song of Ascents.

128 Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
    who walks in his ways!
2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands;
    you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you.

3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine
    within your house;
your children will be like olive shoots
    around your table.
4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed
    who fears the Lord.

Let’s take a look at the statement of blessing first in verses 1-4:

“Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways.

2 You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.

3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.

4 Thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord.” (Psalm 128:1)

The psalmist begins by stating the theme of the psalm: “Blessed are all who fear the Lord.”

To fear the Lord does not mean to be afraid of God so we run away from him.

Rather it means to be in awe of God’s majesty so that you approach him with great reverence and respect.

It means you take God seriously, and you put him first in your life.

After stating the theme, the psalmist then further defines it: those who fear the Lord are those who walk in God’s ways.

In other words a right attitude towards God leads to right actions in your life. Jesus said something similar in John 14:21:

“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.” (John 14:21)

God has laid out his ways for us in his Word.

Do you and I want to understand how life works?

Then we read the instructions!

God has laid it all out for you in His Word.

John Phillips calls this the center and the circumference.

First put God at the center of our life.

That’s the fear of the Lord.

And then let God’s law mark the circumference of our life.

Let God’s Word mark the limits of what we will and will not do.

And if you do that, if you put God at the center of our life and make his law the circumference of our life, then God will take care of everything else in between.

You and I will be blessed by God in all that you and I do.

The word blessed means happy.

In fact in the Hebrew the word is in the plural, so you could even translate it, “Happy, happy!” True happiness, Real happiness in life is found only in those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

As Charles Spurgeon says: “We must reverence the ever-blessed God before we can be blessed ourselves.”

This blessing from God is not for everyone, but only for a certain subset of people: those who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

However, although God’s blessing is not for everyone, it is for everyone within that subset.

“Blessed are all who fear the Lord.”

There are no exceptions here.

If you will fear God in your life and walk in his ways, you will be blessed.

Psalm 128 gives us the example of a father and husband in the following verses, but verse one tells us up front that this psalm applies to us all who fear the Lord.

So whether you are male or female, married or single, with or without children, know this blessed truth – blessed are all who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

We find this truth confirmed for us in other Scriptures as well.

For example compare the opening verses of two other wisdom psalms:

Psalm 1 and Psalm 119.

Psalm 1 says: “Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” (Psalm 1:1-3)

Psalm 119 says: “Blessed are they whose ways are blameless, who walk according to the law of the Lord. Blessed are they who keep his statutes and seek him with all their heart.” (Psalm 119:1-2)

“Blessed are all who fear the Lord, who walk in his ways”

This is the foundation on which to build a family life that is blessed by God.

A. God will bless your work.

And then Psalm 128 goes on to share specific examples of the ways God will bless you as you fear him and walk in his ways.

First of all, God will bless your work and your service.

Look at verse 2: “You will eat the fruit of your labor; blessings and prosperity will be yours.” (Psalm 128:2)

This does not necessarily mean we will become wealthy or rich, but rather we will find fulfillment in our work and that our work will provide for our needs.

God’s promise to bless our work is especially striking when we recall God put a curse upon human work and labor after Adam and Eve sinned back in Genesis.

Too often in life we work hard but we still don’t seem to be getting anywhere.

Is it because we are not fearing God and walking in his ways?

It is certainly something to consider.

The prophet Haggai in the Old Testament warned the Jews who returned to Jerusalem:

“Give careful thought to your ways. You have planted much, but have harvested little. You eat, but never have enough. You drink, but never have your fill. You put on clothes, but are not warm. You earn wages, only to put them in a purse with holes in it.” (Haggai 1:5-6)

The Jews were working hard but not getting anywhere.

That is the opposite of the blessing God offers to those who fear him and walk in his ways.

God wants you and me to enjoy the fruit of our work.

That was his plan from the start.

We read in Genesis 2:15: “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” (Genesis 2:15)

Before Adam and Eve sinned they worked the garden and knew God’s blessing on their work.

It was good work with good rewards.

Psalm 127 English Standard Version

Unless the Lord Builds the House

A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

127 Unless the Lord builds the house,
    those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
    the watchman stays awake in vain.
2 It is in vain that you rise up early
    and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
    for he gives to his beloved sleep.

3 Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
    the fruit of the womb a reward.
4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior
    are the children[a] of one’s youth.
5 Blessed is the man
    who fills his quiver with them!
He shall not be put to shame
    when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.[b]

Psalm 127, without God work becomes toil.

We will not find true blessing or satisfaction in your work apart from God.

As Ecclesiastes 2 says: “A man can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in his work. This too, I see, is from the hand of God, for without him, who can eat or find enjoyment?” (Ecclesiastes 2:24-25)

B. God will bless your marriage.

So first of all, God will bless your work.

Secondly, he will bless your marriage.

Look at verse 3: “Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house.” (Psalm 128:3a)

This speaks of both fruitfulness and faithfulness.

The vine is a picture of fruitfulness.

Remember God’s initial blessing on Adam and Eve when he first created them? 

Genesis 1:28 says: “God blessed them and said to them, ‘Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.’” (Genesis 1:28)

God’s blessing is related to productivity and fruitfulness.

And this doesn’t just mean bearing children, but it means having a full and productive life.

The picture here is of a beautiful vine that is thriving, flourishing, fruitful and productive.

And then there is faithfulness.

The fact that the vine is “within the house” speaks of faithfulness in marriage.

This is in contrast to the adulterous wife described in Proverbs 7 who is never at home: “She is loud and defiant, her feet never stay at home; now in the street, now in the squares, at every corner she lurks.” (Proverbs 7:11-12)

What’s the sign of a happy marriage? Fruitfulness and faithfulness. Who could ask for anything more?

Marriage is one of God’s great blessings in life. 

Proverbs 18:22 says: “He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.”

(Proverbs 18:22) We could also turn that around and say: “She who finds a husband also finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.”

Marriage is a blessing from God, but God also wants to bless your marriage.

Husbands and wives, how you live your life has a huge impact on whether you will know God’s blessing in your marriage.

Blessed are all who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

C. God will bless your family.

God will bless your work.

God will bless your marriage.

And then thirdly, God will bless your family.

Look at verse 3 again: “Your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.” (Psalm 128:3b)

The olive tree is a basic part of agriculture in Israel.

In the Bible it is also a picture of productivity and blessing.

For example we read in Isaiah 52:8: “But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.” (Isaiah 52:8)

Images of olive shoots around the table is the picture of a mature, established olive tree with young shoots springing up out of the soil all around it.

This was a common sight in Israel.

The olive shoots represent youth and energy and, above all, promise.

When you sit down to eat with your family, your children are the hope and promise of the future sitting around your table. 

Psalm 144:12 offers a similar image when it says:

“Then our sons in their youth will be like well-nurtured plants, and our daughters will be like pillars carved to adorn a palace.” (Psalm 144:12)

The olive is a slow growing tree.

It can take ten to fifteen years before it bears any fruit, but once established the olive tree needs little maintenance or supervision, and it will produce fruit for decades to come.

It’s the same way with your children.

It will take some time before they grow to independence and maturity.

As parents we need to be patient with our children as we raise them in the training and instruction of the Lord.

But all our discipline and training will pay off. 

Proverbs 22:6 tells us: “Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” (Proverbs 22:6)

I love that Psalm 128 uses the image of the table for the family.

The family table or mealtime is especially important for us as families.

It’s where the family gathers together and shares about their day, where stories and experiences and values are passed on.

It seems it’s getting harder and harder for families to get together even for a few meals a week these days.

I would encourage you, no matter what the age of your children, no matter what the makeup of your home, carve out the time in your schedules and make family mealtime a priority in your home.

This first section of Psalm 128 paints a beautiful picture for us.

A godly husband, a faithful wife and eager children full of promise – all this is a great sign of God’s blessing in the home.

Once again, what more can we ask than God’s blessing on us and those we love?

Notice this first section of Psalm 128 highlights God’s blessing on our work, our marriage and our family.

All three of these were God’s provision for us in creation.

All three of these were also cursed by God following our fall into sin.

But now here in Psalm 128 we see God reverse the curse and bring blessing in all three of these areas when you fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

These verses do not mean that God grants marriage and family to all, but rather this is one of ways he blesses the godly.

“Make [God] your home, and He will make your home a happy home.” 

Psalm 128:4 says: “Thus is the man blessed who fears the Lord.” (Psalm 128:4)

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

II. A prayer of blessing for those who fear the Lord (5-6a)

The first part of Psalm 128 is a statement of blessing for those who fear the Lord.

The second part is a prayer of blessing for those who fear the Lord.

Look at verses 5-6 with me now: “May the Lord bless you from Zion all the days of your life. May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem. And may you live to see your children’s children. Peace be upon Israel.” (Psalm 128:5-6)

The first part of Psalm 128 presents God’s blessing as his reward for those who fear him, but this second part reminds us that God’s blessing is not automatic.

We do not earn it from our obedience.

Even God’s rewards are all gifts of his grace.

God’s blessing must be received as a gift from God.

And we receive things by asking for them in prayer.

A. May God bless you all the days of your life.

There are three parts to this prayer of blessing.

First of all, may God bless you all the days of your life.

Verse 5: “May the Lord bless you from Zion all the days of your life.” (Psalm 128:5a)

This is a prayer of blessing not just for a time or a season, but for the duration of your life.

It picks up the language of Psalm 23 which says: “Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” (Psalm 23:6)

God is the source of all blessing, and this prayer is a reminder that every blessing comes from God

Notice the psalmist prays for the Lord to bless you “from Zion.”

Once again Zion is the place where God dwells.

It is the place where God meets with his people.

Blessing in your life comes as you meet daily with the Lord in his presence.

Psalm 48:1 says: “Great is the Lord, and most worthy of praise, in the city of our God [that is, Jerusalem], his holy mountain [that is, Mount Zion].” (Psalm 48:1)

It was a blessing for the Jews to be in Zion for the feasts, but Psalm 128 asks for God to bless you from Zion all the days of your life.

It’s a peek ahead to the very last psalm of triumph in the Psalms of Ascent –

Psalm 134 which says: “May the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, bless you from Zion.” (Psalm 134:3)

For God to bless you from Zion means that God’s blessing extends to you wherever you go.

This is fulfilled in the gift of the Holy Spirit for the believer today.

As Jesus said in John 14: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:16-17)

God the Father and God the Son are present with you through God the Spirit at all times wherever you go.

B. May God bless you within the community of his people.

So first of all, may God bless you all the days of your life.

And then secondly, may God bless you within the community of his people.

We see this in the second half of verse 5: “May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem.” (Psalm 128:5b)

God is not only concerned with individuals.

He is concerned for all his people.

And therefore so should we.

One of the greatest blessings for the believer is to see all of God’s people prosper.

The church is bigger than you, and God’s blessing on the church is your blessing as well.

This part of the prayer looks back to Psalm 122 and its particular focus on the gathering of God’s people.

We read in Psalm 122:

Psalm 122:6-9 English Standard Version

6 Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!
    “May they be secure who love you!
7 Peace be within your walls
    and security within your towers!”
8 For my brothers and companions’ sake
    I will say, “Peace be within you!”
9 For the sake of the house of the Lord our God,
    I will seek your good.

This is not only a prayer for Israel and Jerusalem.

We need to be praying for Israel and Jerusalem, but it is also a prayer for all of God’s people – it’s a prayer for the well-being of God’s church.

Psalm 122 was the first of the psalms of triumph in the Psalms of Ascent.

Psalm 128 is the middle of the psalms of triumph.

We see how Psalm 128 looks ahead to Psalm 134 which is the last of the psalms of triumph.

And so this middle psalm of triumph looks back to the first psalm of triumph in Psalm 122 and also looks forward to the last psalm of triumph in Psalm 134.

C. May God bless you with a long and fulfilling life.

May God bless you all the days of your life.

May God bless you within the community of his people.

And then thirdly, may God bless you with a long and fulfilling life.

Look at verse 6 now which says: “. . . and may you live to see your children’s children.” (Psalm 128:6a)

In the fifth commandment God promised a long life and a good life to those who honor their mother and father.

Now here in Psalm 128 the blessings of the fifth commandment are applied to all those who fear the Lord.

These prayers of blessing for those who fear the Lord not only stretch outward to the community of God’s people but also onward towards future generations of children.

Verse 6 is a prayer both for long life and the continuation of your family.

This is part of God’s blessing or reward for those who fear him. 

Proverbs 10:27 says: “The fear of the Lord adds length to life, but the years of the wicked are cut short.” (Proverbs 10:27) 

Proverbs 17:6 says: “Children’s children are a crown to the aged.” (Proverbs 17:6)

Many of you know the blessings of having grandchildren.

Psalm 128 reminds you that they are God’s blessing on your life!

So make sure you tell others not just “I love my grandchildren!” but also, “I thank God he has blessed me with my grandchildren.

I thank God that he has blessed me with length of life to see and know my children’s children.”

Also make sure that you pass on your faith to your children and grandchildren.

The apostle Paul writes to Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:5: “I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.” (2 Timothy 1:5)

What a rich blessing you leave for your children and grandchildren when you live a godly life in fear of the Lord!

What a blessing to pass on a godly heritage to your children’s children!

Proverbs 22:4 says: “Humility and the fear of the Lord bring wealth and honor and life.” (Proverbs 22:4)

And so we find this beautiful prayer of blessing in Psalm 128 for those who fear the Lord.

May God bless you all the days of your life.

May God bless you within the community of his people.

May God bless you with a long and fulfilling life that you may live to see your children’s children.

In Conclusion … Our Actions Will Speak Louder Than Our Words

Psalm 128 is a beautiful psalm that speaks of God’s blessing on all those who fear the Lord, and it describes this blessing in terms of the ideal family.

You might be wondering this day or season, “That’s all well and good, but what if I don’t have an ideal family?”

Well, first of all, welcome to the club!

But secondly, in holding up the ideal family, the psalm points beyond our broken, sinful families here on earth to the beauty and perfection of God’s family in heaven.

None of us have a perfect family here on earth, but we will all experience the blessing of an ideal family in heaven.

God may or may not bless you with marriage or children in this life.

But either way the promise of this psalm remains.

Blessed are all who fear the Lord. God has promised to bless all those who fear him and walk in his ways.

When you long for the same things God longs for, you will see you desires fulfilled.

Psalm 128 teaches us that there is a direct relationship between your attitudes and actions and God’s blessing in your life.

God’s blessing is available to everyone.

You can choose to either welcome God’s blessing in your life or you can choose to chase it away – it all comes down to fearing the Lord and walking in His ways.

Psalm 128 teaches us that how you live your life matters, both for you and for so many other people in your life.

There is a ripple effect in each of our lives that flows outward.

Your attitude and actions have an impact not only on your personal life, but also on your family, on your community and on future generations.

Psalm 128 teaches us that the influence of the godly person is great, that God’s blessing flows outward from the individual, to your family, to your church, to the whole people of God.

The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ became a curse for us, so that we might receive the blessing of God. (Galatians 3:13-14)

Jesus died on the cross for our sins.

He took the penalty that was due us.

He took the curse of God for sin upon his own flesh.

He paid it in full so that we could come and know God’s blessing.

So don’t miss out on God’s blessing!

Fear God and walk in his ways that you may know the fullness of God’s blessing in your life.

Blessed are all who fear the Lord and walk in his ways.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, You are my God and my Savior. Thank You for your free gift of grace, which I receive by faith. Thank you for my family. May we reverence Your name forever and walk in Your ways all the days of our lives. All our blessings are permanently rooted and grounded in Christ Jesus my Lord, in Whose name I pray.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen

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Our Love’s for God’s Most Generous Expression: Our Learning, Growing, Living, Doing, in the Family of Faith. Hebrews 13:1-3

Hebrews 13:1-3 Amplified Bible

The Changeless Christ

13 Let love of your fellow believers continue. 2 Do not neglect to extend hospitality to strangers [especially among the family of believers—being friendly, cordial, and gracious, sharing the comforts of your home and doing your part generously], for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it. 3 Remember those who are in prison, as if you were their fellow prisoner, and those who are mistreated, since you also are in the body [and subject to physical suffering].

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

Love’s Generous Expression

Hebrews 13:1-3 Common English Bible

Our acts of service and sacrifice

13 Keep loving each other like family. 2 Don’t neglect to open up your homes to guests, because by doing this some have been hosts to angels without knowing it. 3 Remember prisoners as if you were in prison with them, and people who are mistreated as if you were in their place.

Keep Loving each other like family.

Do not neglect to open your homes to guests.

Remember the prisoners as if you were in prison with them.

What an incredibly interesting array of both ancient, contemporary ideas!

Loving each other like family – respecting and honoring one another!

Respecting the home, respecting the life of the family and their belongings.

By showing kindness to strangers, you could be showing kindness to a messenger of God.

Paying it forward, buying an extra burger to share with a homeless person, helping someone change a flat tire on their car, offering a ride to a colleague who needs one—in these ways and countless more, our God often gives us all opportunities to show hospitality and compassion for someone who has a need.

As I encounter people who are not part of a faith community, it saddens me when they describe Christians as less-than-compassionate people.

Words I often hear in these conversations are that Christians are aloof,not friendly or forthcoming; cool and distant. and judgmental and condescending.

Many people see church buildings in their communities as little more than social clubs, entertainment centers or worse, only occupied on any Sunday.

Any other day, the parking lots are 99.99% empty of cars and any activity.

They hear church people speak out mostly about what the members oppose.

Where is that sound of “little children of all ages” glorifying God and Jesus?

The world needs to see the Body of Christians as people of compassion—good-news people who minister and act like Jesus.

That will happen only when we finally nurture a habit of practicing compassion.

It is not by accident that the writer of Hebrews urges readers to love each other and to look out for the needs of strangers.

It’s easy to overlook the unusual or the unfamiliar.

It takes the love of Christ to step out, move out and reach out to the stranger who might just bring a singularly unique blessing that you never saw coming.

Learning, Growing, Living, in the Family of Faith

There’s all the difference in the world between describing what it means to ride a bicycle and actually helping somebody learn to get on the seat and pedal away.

Making a layer cake seems to be fairly straightforward when I look at the recipe books, but I haven’t had much success in making one that actually tastes right!

What I need is hands-on guidance: somebody to actually take the time to teach me to do it in front of me and then patiently allow me to try my hand at it too.

The moral instruction provided for us in Hebrews 13 is to be trained and formed in our lives not by learning to apply abstract principles but as a result of seeing these principles successfully or erroneously worked out in the family of faith.

We can read, for example, about what it means to love one another, but it is far better to observe such love in the lives of loving people.

We can understand that we are supposed to care for strangers, but we can experience it firsthand if we are brought up and raised in a home where such care, consideration and compassion for one another is faithfully practiced.

We can extend ourselves into areas of ministry and mission which are quite challenging – church prison ministry (https://heartprisonministries.org/) or Christian Prison Ministry (Kairos https://www.kairosprisonministry.org/)

We can read the principles and hear sermons, demands for sexual purity, but we will do far better if we are raised in a flourishing home where they are modeled or we are even able to sit in such homes as we visit other families in our church.

Praise God, the list of mission and ministry opportunities goes on and on.

Establishing these ethical norms is demanding.

It takes the first love of God, our time, effort and patience, and involvement.

The miracles wrought through purposeful discipleship, transformation cannot be achieved by searching the internet, watching a video or reading an article.

If information was enough to bring about transformation, then all we would need to do is write it down or say it.

But you can’t learn love, honor, and faithfulness from the content on a screen.

No, if you are to be content, pure, loving, and hospitable, then that is going to have to be proactively discovered and actively worked out in the family of faith.

Look, then, to your brothers and sisters who exemplify Christ-likeness in these ways.

Read Hebrews 13:1-3 again, praise God for those you know who live these verses out, then be sure to learn from them so in these ways you become like them.

Make it your aim to follow their example that you, like Paul, might humbly be able to say to others, “Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ” (1 Corinthians 11:1).

Easter is but a short time away.

Celebrating the ultimate act of agape love and sacrifice and service.

What will your efforts at discipleship and transformation in preparation for this coming Easter look like, sound like, be more Christ like in these coming weeks?

I have heard repeatedly: “it takes an entire community, an entire village.”

According to Wikipedia, the original quote “it takes a village to raise a child” is an African proverb meaning it takes a whole community of people interacting with a child to ensure he or she grows in a healthy and safe environment.

Regardless of which stage of life we are all in: parents raising children, married with no children, single, or late adulthood, even a church, we need community.

In these times of recovery, perhaps we need to go back to the essential basics of the Gospel to learn it all over again – to teach it unto each other all over again?

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Heavenly Father, thank You that while we were yet sinners You loved us and gave Christ to be the propitiation for our sins. Help us in word and deed to increase and abound in brotherly love for one another, just as we also do for You. Give us wisdom as we enter into mission and ministry to our brothers and sisters in Christ and may we speak the truth in love to Your praise and glory. This we ask in Jesus name, AMEN.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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Becoming Like Christ: Steps Towards Spiritual Freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

2 Corinthians 3:12-18 Amplified Bible

12 Since we have such a [glorious] hope and confident expectation, we speak with great courage, 13 and we are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face so that the Israelite’s would not gaze at the end of the glory which was fading away. 14 But [in fact] their minds were hardened [for they had lost the ability to understand]; for until this very day at the reading of the old covenant the same veil remains unlifted, because it is removed [only] in Christ. 15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil [of blindness] lies over their heart; 16 but whenever a person turns [in repentance and faith] to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty [emancipation from bondage, true freedom]. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.

The Word of God for the Children of God.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

Becoming Like Christ

2 Corinthians 3:15-18 Amplified Bible

15 But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil [of blindness] lies over their heart;  16 but whenever a person turns [in repentance and faith] to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty [emancipation from bondage, true freedom]. 18 And we all, with unveiled face,  continually seeing as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are progressively being transformed into His image from [one degree of] glory to [even more] glory, which comes from the Lord, [who is] the Spirit.

If the Holy Spirit’s work in us is like the work of a master gardener, what is the Spirit growing in us?

The Spirit wants to reproduce Jesus’ character in us.

Our reading from 2 Corinthians today states that we “are being transformed into [Jesus’] image with ever-increasing glory.”

In other words, the Holy Spirit’s aim is to make us more and more like Jesus.

The Holy Spirit’s work is to nudge us, prod us, move us, transform us and shape us to think and act and be more like our Savior Jesus, for us to better mirror Jesus in our character, to increasingly help us love like Jesus in our daily life.

Of course, it’s not an overnight rush job.

The Spirit doesn’t guarantee delivery in full by 8:00 a.m. the next day—or even within a few days, months, years or decades.

This isn’t the work of a courier driver.

This is the work of the Master Gardener, the One with a master’s vision of the finished garden, the One who daily, gradually toils and works in our lives until the desired spiritual fruit eventually sprouts, blossoms, unto the glory of God.

There are times when the Holy Spirit’s work in us will be immediate, dramatic, and maybe even spectacular.

But usually the Spirit’s work in us is slow, subtle and gentle.

That’s the Holy Spirit’s trademark.

We are made in God’s image, in the image of God we are created, (Genesis 1:26-27) but that sacred image became spoiled and polluted in us because of sin.

So now God is slowly remaking that image in us—to be like our Savior Jesus!

Steps Towards Spiritual Freedom

Have we truly noticed that most of our unrest comes from ourselves?

We get stuck ruminating on the things we can’t change or control.

Un-forgiveness stops us from moving toward healing in our relationships.

Pervasive negativity prevents us from enjoying the moment.

Exhaustion keeps us functioning as only a shadow version of ourselves.

Repeated excuses keep us trying the same things over and over again that are no longer capable of working, are burning bridges and stop us from changing.

Fear, guilt and shame stop us cold from accepting God’s free gift of grace. 

Our unhappiness lives in our souls and finding peace starts as a process of Holy Spirit-led self-discovery.

How many of us will spend our lives turning a blind eye to our own hangups?

In our own stubborn blindness, we refuse to consider that maybe the rhythm of frustration we are up against might be something we have the power to change.

It’s so much easier to render our judgments, and then blame our surroundings.

To point out the sliver in our neighbor’s eye, all while avoiding our own planks. (Matthew 7:1-5)

We so often live stuck in a giant sheet of bubble wrap we wrapped around us.

Thank God He is patient with us! 

Thank God that God knows exactly what to do with bubble wrap – POP IT!

How, then, do we allow ourselves to be “popped by God” to get us past our blindness and grab onto the gracious freedom that God promises each of us?

1. Freedom comes when we abandon pride. 

The path towards freedom begins with a surrendering of the pride we each hold that claims we have what we need to fix ourselves all on our own.

This pride tells us to be ashamed, embarrassed, fearful and humiliated when we don’t live up to our own internal standards.

It relies on rules and religion rather than grace and a relationship with Jesus.

Step one towards freedom and making peace with the people God created us to be is to abandon our pride.

The Bible teaches that pride comes before a fall (Proverbs 16:18), and the humble find wisdom (Proverbs 11:2). 

2. God’s wisdom teaches us how to change. 

Wisdom helps us change.

Only through God’s miraculous truth can we see the way past the same thought processes which keep us trapped, wrapped, in our own fears, shame, bitterness. 

James 1:5 prompts us to ask God for wisdom when we don’t have it.

He gives it freely when we have a humble heart.

When we read and study God’s Word, spend time in his church, seek Him and His Kingdom through prayer, we discover what godly wisdom looks like.

Proverbs 1:7 instructs us that wisdom is found in the context of community.

We have to be willing to accept advice and instruction when we are stuck and looking for a new way forward. 

Proverbs 3:7 tells us that wisdom turns away from evil.

If our own set patterns get us stuck in sin over and over, then God’s wisdom, and our Savior’s Cross, His Resurrection power moves us away from that evil temptation that keeps repeatedly keeps maliciously tugging at our souls.  

3. Freedom points us towards others.

Interestingly God gives us the internal power through the Holy Spirit to find spiritual freedom, not so we can just enjoy ourselves better.

Even though a free you is a happier you and is a you that you can be confident in and enjoy.

The purpose of this Christ-purchased freedom is that we can serve others.

Isaiah 61:1 tells us God’s spirit in our lives gives us the ability to bring good news to the poor, assist the brokenhearted, and set free those imprisoned in this world!

We are set free, so we can help others find that same freedom.

When we find ourselves stuck, wrapped in our own frustrations or even upset with others in our lives because their sin nature is making our lives harder, we are invited to draw on God’s spirit to see new ways to love and to serve others.  

4. God’s spirit sets us free. 

2 Corinthians 3:17 says, “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.”

There is a mysterious element to spiritual freedom.

Freedom is an indescribable moment or journey that can take time where Heaven meets us here on Earth.

Areas I’ve sought freedom in has been anxiety over diabetes management.

For me, this freedom journey has taken years, but God has been my faithful teacher and sustainer through step forward and backward, each up and down.

Other times our freedom is like a dam breaking all at once.

The old life is washed away in an instant, and a new one is ready to begin.

Why does God work one way in my life and a different way in yours?

That is part of the mystery of the Spirit.

God is connectional and relational and not a rule-based God, which is why each of us has a singularly unique and diverse and vastly different spiritual journey.

One thing the Bible does tell us is that if we want to find freedom in our lives, we have to seek His Kingdom through His Holy Spirit.  

Matthew 6:33 Amplified Bible

33 But first and most importantly seek (aim at, strive after) His kingdom and His righteousness [His way of doing and being right—the attitude and character of God], and all these things will be given to you also.

John 8:36 says, “So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Jesus came to Earth, so we could not only escape death and join his family, but so we could experience freedom in our lives here on Earth.

I am so thankful that God has not left me as I was.

He is always renewing my mind and spirit.

May you, by God’s grace, take steps toward spiritual growth and freedom today.

In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

Let us Pray,

Jesus, my Savior, I have been listening to too many lies for far too long. I have been tricked one too many times by the enemy and I am frustrated. I need to be free from these lies. Jesus, I know that You are true and that the truth will set me free. Jesus, help me to rejoice in the truth. I need to believe the truth. I pray that it really would set me free. Help me with my unbelief, Jesus. Holy Spirit, You know my heart, and know that I need help believing. Thank You, Jesus, that You offer truth to Your children. Thank You for Your patience with me. In Your glorious name, I pray.

Adeste Fidelis! Venite Adoremus! Dominum.

Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Amen.

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What Does it Really Look Like to ‘Honor Your Father and Mother’? Exodus 20:12, Deuteronomy 5:16

    Honoring your father and your mother is the only commandment out of the Ten Commandments that is followed by a promise, Honor your father and your mother, as the Lord your God has commanded you, that your days may be long, and that it may be well with you in the land which the Lord your God is giving you. (Deuteronomy 5:16)

    Exodus 20:12Amplified Bible

    12 “Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged in the land the Lord your God gives you.

    The Word of God for the Children of God.

    Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

    Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

    Most Christians are very familiar with the verse “honor your father and mother”, but few actually know of it’s origin in the Bible.

    The command to honor your father and mother actually comes from the Old Testament book of Exodus 20 in the story of the 10 Commandments.

    However, it is also a command that is repeated several times in both the Old and New Testament. 

    Chapter 20 of the Book of Exodus serves as a powerful reminder of the intimate relationship God has with humankind.

    This passage specifically reveals the intense care and concern that God shows toward His Children.

    Today this chapter remains popular because of a very special occurrence – the Ten Commandments.

    At eighty plus years old, after venturing up to Mount Sinai, Moses, a father, brought down the Ten Commandments, rules given Him directly from God.

    The Ten Commandments described ten precepts for how God expected His people to behave.

    This monumental moment follows after the Israelites fled Egypt. 

    Chapter 19 in the Book of Exodus details how the Israelites camped in the wilderness, now living a life outside of slavery for a few months.

    God informs Moses that He desires to bless the nation of Israel.

    However, He also wants them to keep a covenant with Him (Exodus 19:5-6).

    The Ten Commandments serve as part of that covenant.

    One of these commandments spoke to the relationship between a child and parent and is a guideline we as Christians still ought to be following today.

    Exodus 20:12The Message

    12 Honor your father and mother so that you’ll live a long time in the land that God, your God, is giving you.

    The reason this commandment in addition to the other nine is still relevant today is because Jesus indicated such to later believers (Matthew 5:17-20).

    Jesus did not abolish the law, but rather came to fulfill it.

    The Apostle Paul wrote to the followers at the church at Ephesus;

    Ephesians 5:1-2 Amplified Bible

    Be Imitators of God

    5 Therefore become imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]; 2 and walk continually in love [that is, value one another—practice empathy and compassion, unselfishly seeking the best for others], just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and sacrifice to God [slain for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance.

    We are to do our part yet today in abiding in Jesus, by these commandments.

    Today, I do not believe there is little to no controversy about whether or not the Ten Commandments are still relevant.

    What has been up for rather contentious debate in the meaning of “honor” in the context of parents and children.

    There are many instances of children being the victims of incest, abandonment, neglect, or other severe and seriously exploitive forms of ultra damaging abuse.

    In these situations, how does a child honor a parent, when the parent lacks any concept or context of abiding in God, His Son Jesus and have honor for the child.

    To understand this commandment, we have to examine the original context.

    What Is the Original Meaning of Honor Your Father and Mother in Exodus 20?

    The commandment to honor our father and mother is the fifth of the ten mentioned.

    The commandment to precedes this one is honoring the Sabbath, followed by the commandment to not murder.

    Scripture explains the reason why the commandment should be followed.

    Exodus 20:12Amplified Bible

    12 “Honor (respect, obey, care for) your father and your mother, so that your days may be prolonged in the land the Lord your God gives you.

    The benefit of abiding by this commandment is longer life, specifically for the Israelites venturing on toward the Promised Land.

    Dennis Prager [https://dennisprager.com/] emphasizes that though this could be viewed as a reward, this is also a reason.

    And many of the other commandments are not given explicit reasons to be followed.

    Prager suggests in a society where parents are honored by children, the society is bound to survive longer, than a society with a weaker family structure.

    This commandment in Exodus is mentioned a number of other times in the Bible, each time as an admonishment to God’s people to better establish them. 

    Deuteronomy 5:16 tells us, “Honor your father and your mother, as the LORD your God has commanded you, so that your days may be long and that it may go well with you in the land that the LORD your God is giving you.”

    Ephesians 6:2 states: “Honor your father and mother” – which is the first commandment with a promise”

    God blesses the people when their parents are honored, but the people are punished when they do not.

    To honor is to hold someone in high regard or reverence.

    The word honor does not mean agree with or even obey, but does suggest in this context a child should hold the highest utmost respect for both of their parents.

    Now that we better understand the original context and interpretation of the commandment to honor thy mother and father, we can try to discern how this precept applies to modern-day life.

    How Can Christians ‘Honor Your Father and Mother’ Today?

    With an understanding of the word honor, there need not be a change in how parents are respected by children today.

    However, with modern cultural shifts, this commandment for some has taken on a different interpretation.

    We can perhaps better, more prayerfully understand the proper ways of honoring parents by first understanding how honoring should not appear.

    As Dennis Prager discusses in his video analysis of the commandment, some parents yearn to be loved, rather than honored.

    The visual example given in his video is that of a parent showering their child with gifts in order to receive affection.

    This same parent when trying to discipline their child instead receives severe retaliation from them.

    This is definitively not an example of a child honoring their parent because instead of respecting them as an “authority” figure, they are simply seeking what else, exactly how much more they can manipulate, gain from the parent.

    Much like the Bible commands us to love others, the call to honor our parents is an outward action – something we do for others.

    Honoring our parents is therefore not contingent upon what they give in return.

    Within the Ten Commandments, verse 12 of Exodus 20 gives no clarification as to what parents are to be honored or even how.

    We can conclude then that all parents are deserving of honor, and we can use the context of love within the Bible to discern appropriate ways to show honor.

    We can even in some instances see how people have honored God as Father as an example.

    Ways we can appropriately honor our parents include:

    Expressing Gratitude
    Parents invest time and effort into raising children.

    Those reasons alone are enough to show them gratitude for the sacrifices they make.

    Parents provide shelter, food, clothing.

    For every action they do in their support of their child is in itself a far more than sufficient reason for expressing their appreciation and gratitude.

    Spending Time Together
    When physically possible, children can and should get together with their parents.

    This acknowledges their existence and places a level of importance upon the relationship.

    If being together physically is not an option, calling a parent on the phone for a check-in is also beneficial.

    Dennis Prager shares with fellow believers he called his parents once a week.

    Serve
    Another way for children to honor their parents is to find creative ways to serve their desires, wants and needs, much like parents perform on behalf of children.

    To Honor or Not to Honor

    It goes without saying and preaching to the choir that modern parenting is not equivalent to the parenting in ancient biblical Jewish culture.

    Children today learn differently and have certain responsibilities such as owning a cell phone [I never did], which was not true for past generations.

    No matter the time, parents should always be honored.

    One concern followers, nonbelievers have with the commandment is the issue of bad parents, individuals who have abused their children by various means.

    The Bible does not qualify which parents deserve honoring.

    Additionally, Jesus mentions we are to love others as ourselves (Matthew 22:39) and to bless those who persecute us (Romans 12:14).

    We, therefore, know that even when seemingly impossible, we should all do our best to express love for our parents, our children as we express love for our God.

    This fifth commandment, however, does not advocate for putting ourselves in danger with bad parents.

    Applying this commandment for children who have been abused will look different in terms of how they show their honoring.

    Spending time together may be an impossibility but talking on the phone or writing a letter could prayerfully be an option depending on the circumstance.

    Sometimes we have to set boundaries in relationships, and whenever that is the case we have to pray unto our ABBA God for wisdom, so that we may honor His commandment and honor our parents while keeping ourselves safe (James 1:5).

    There are no easy or set human answers how to be complete, perfect parents.

    As Mom’s and Dad’s together …

    The very best we can do is diligently consult the Word of God for His Children.

    Study it …

    Like Jesus did, intentionally plumb its depths, its ways, its truths and its life.

    Pray without ceasing over every aspect of it, revelation from it …

    Koinonia, Fellowship with our ABBA Father, His Son Jesus, Holy Spirit, other Parents …

    Finally,

    Be Still, Be Quiet, know only God is God, and can, should be, exalted as God.

    Matthew 6:25-33New King James Version

    Do Not Worry

    25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 Which of you by worrying can add one [a]cubit to his [b] stature?

    28 “So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin; 29 and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not [c]arrayed like one of these. 30 Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?

    31 “Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.

    In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

    Let us Pray,

    Heavenly Father, thank You for my parents and for giving me life. Thank You for the pleasant and harsh lessons I have learned and the good times and the bad we have shared together. Forgive me for the times when I have not sufficiently honored my father and mother as I ought – for I am now acutely aware that this is dishonoring to You. From this day forward, I pray that I should honour You in all my interactions with my own family and with my friends, and may my life be honoring to You.

    Adeste Fidelis. Venite Adoremus. Dominum.

    Gloria. In Excelsis Deo. Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia, Amen.

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    Am I like a person who looks at his face in a mirror, studies his features, goes away, and immediately forgets what he looks like? James 1:22-25

    You won’t be surprised to hear me say that time spent in diligently studying the Bible is never wasted. However, when we next set the Bible down, we put it back upon our bookshelves, turn around and go on and turn around and to live life as we always had, we leave the Bible behind us to gather dust, without heeding the following advice from the book of James, we are fooling ourselves into thinking we did something noble to grow our faith. Do God a favor – please avoid looking into any mirrors. God does not want your image to be seen – but only wants His.

    We simply enjoy looking back at our smiling elves quite enough during the day. Do you get tired of looking at yourself in the mirror? James certainly hopes so!

    Come along side with me as I walk through a passage of Scripture phrase by phrase, reviewing its context, interpreting, and offering an application. Some of us – including me – learn best by watching somebody else. That is what I am now inviting you to do with me today as we study through James 1:22-25:

    James 1:22-25 The Message

    22-24 Don’t fool yourself into thinking that you are a listener when you are anything but, letting the Word go in one ear and out the other. Act on what you hear! Those who hear and don’t act are like those who glance in the mirror, walk away, and two minutes later have no idea who they are, what they look like.

    25 But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God—the free life! —even [a glimpse] out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.

    The Word of God for the Children of God. Gloria! In Excelsis Deo! Alleluia! Amen.

    Let’s dive in and explore the context: James is writing this letter to a number of believers scattered across regions. They likely scattered when they ran away from persecution in Jerusalem after Stephen was stoned to death for preaching about Jesus (Acts 7-8), Saul went on the “warpath” arresting, jailing followers. 

    The Book of James begins by exhorting them to consider their current trial joy in light of how it can grow their faith. They fear for their lives because of the threat of persecution, but James is urging them to trust without wavering just like God does not waver. (James 1:2-18)

    Having already warned them not to be prideful about their earthly wealth, James now addresses their attitude of anger and calls on these believers to get rid of all moral filth and evil by humbly accepting the Christian teachings and warnings to follow.

    This is where we step into today’s passage with verse 22 AKJV: 

    22 But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

    James doesn’t play around, nor does he mince his words. He tells all of these believers plain and simple what he wants and what he expects from them:

    “Obey God’s Word! Do not just listen to it being read or just read it yourself and feel exceedingly great about “devoted Christian self” Actually DO what it says! Do not just read the Scriptures then nod your head and smile in a not-so-subtle pretense of thoroughly understanding what you just read. Read the Scriptures! Then perk your ears up, listen to what God is trying to communicate into your heart and unto your soul. You read Scriptures, you are definitely talking to God!

    Even though this sounds excessively simple, like a natural extension of your soul, ask yourself a question – is it a natural extension of your heart and soul?

    Let’s take a look at each phrase because that’s when we learn more than we expected to learn or substantially more than we actually wanted to know.

    “Do not merely listen to the word…” Why is he talking about “listening”? Don’t most people read God’s Word? It’s not exactingly like they had the King James Bible APP on their Smart Phones reciting the Bible back to them verse by verse.

    Exactly, and neither did most first century Christians have a copy of the Old Testament or letters by the apostles in their home. The church leadership likely had possession of a copy – as letters such as this epistle usually traveled from church to church – and they were read when the community gathered. Most first century believers only listened to these teachings being read to them. 

    “… and so, deceive yourselves.” Ask yourselves, “Who are we hurting when we walk away from the Bible unchanged?” The answer is we hurt ourselves. We are severely hurting ourselves by deceiving ourselves into thinking we are “good Christians” for having read the Bible today when, in fact, we are not living out our faith. James’ clearest command is this; “Do what it [God’s teaching] says.”

    As James likes to do, he brings his point to us in an analogy in verses 23 and 24:

    23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his [a]natural face in a mirror; 24 for once he has looked at himself and gone away, [b]he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was. [NASB]

    How is reading the Bible like looking into a mirror?

    When I do a quick once-over before I leave the house, I make 100% sure all the zippers are zipped, my shirt matches my pants, my necktie does not clash with my outfit, my socks and shoes match my pants, and my hair is neatly combed.

    Let’s say I am on my way to a business meeting, or a formal event and I spot a giant stain on my shirt. I see the stain – it’s loud and clear – but I leave for my function without changing. What’s the point of looking in the mirror in the first place? I make it to my gathering with my giant stain, and somebody asks me a little sarcastically, “Don’t you own a mirror?” and my response is, “Of course I do. I took a long look at myself in said mirror before I left, too. What else could possibly be the problem here?” I just gave the appearance of a careless dresser.

    This scene is so ridiculous, yet this is how we sometimes act with the Bible.

    James 1:19-22 New American Standard Bible

    19 [a]You know this, my beloved brothers and sisters. Now everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger; 20 for a man’s anger does not bring about the righteousness of God. 21 Therefore, ridding yourselves of all filthiness and all [b]that remains of wickedness, in [c]humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls. 22 But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not just hearers who deceive themselves.

    In full disclosure, I’ll share with you a personal example. Let’s take the set of verses we just glanced over, James 1:19-20: “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires.”

    I will freely confess that anger and impatience is a big weakness of mine and has been as long as I can remember. There have been years of taking this sin seriously but there have also been periods of giving up and basically saying, “I am an impatient person. I see this verse telling me to listen patiently and to keep my sarcasm and anger in check, but I am walking away without a change.” 

    Here are some reasons why, I think, some of us walk away from God’s Word unchanged:

    • We have tried to solve this problem in our own strength, have failed and given up. Clearly, this is just how we are, and there is no hope. Not true! Jesus told us He was sending the Holy Spirit to be our Helper to remind us of everything He has taught us (John 14:16-17, 26).
    • We have forgotten why we study the Bible. It’s easy for our quiet time to become our quiet routine. Remember to start our Bible reading with prayer for focus and a heart and soul open to being convicted and changed. (Psalm 32)
    • We are scared to admit and confess our sin before man and before God. We each somehow think we will lose face – even if just in front of ourselves. We run from the shame we’d feel at the thought of our sin. Guess what?! Forgiveness is right on the other side of confession. Jesus has already paid the price, so our heavenly Father is waiting with open arms for us to confess and to grow closer to Him.

    I cannot move on before mentioning that last phrase: “When we walk away, we forget what we look like.” When we close our Bible and our souls are unfazed and move on with our day, we are not likely to revisit the issue. On the other hand, if we read the passage with an open heart and feel convicted, the Holy Spirit has our attention to begin working in our hearts towards change and righteousness.

    James 1 Verse 25 NASB has another promise for us:

    25 But one who has looked intently at the perfect law, the law of freedom, and has continued in it, not having become a forgetful hearer but [a]an active doer, this person will be blessed in [b]what he does.

    There is so much to explore in this verse. 

    How is this person looking into God’s Word? Intently! It’s not an obligatory glance but intentional, focused reading. 

    What do we learn about His Word, “the perfect law”? It gives freedom. The world tries to tell you that God’s rules are restricting, but obeying God rather than being a slave to sin is actually freeing. Have you ever experienced that? When we turn from sin towards Christ, we have a joy and peace beyond description.

    Is it about intentionally reading God’s Word then? No, that’s just the first step.

    The key is to continue in His will – that means to not forget His word but rather implement it. Of course, we do so imperfectly on earth and grow over time with the help of the Holy Spirit. But thankfully, God first looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). He knows we are “only human” (Psalm 103:14), and never gives up on us but grows our faith until the day He will perfect it (Hebrews 12:2).

    And when we do God’s will… well, then God will bless us in it! What a promise.

    James continues his letter to the scattered believers with lots of exhortations to love one another regardless of status or wealth, live out our faith in our actions and speech, and walk humbly with God instead of boasting in ourselves.

    The book of James is full of these life lessons.

    Do you seriously and over-zealously want to learn how to study them well?

    I’m Gonna Live So God Can Use Me (African American Spiritual)

    1. I’m gonna live so God can use me
    anywhere, Lord, anytime!
    I’m gonna live so God can use me
    anywhere, Lord, anytime!

    2. I’m gonna work so God can use me
    anywhere, Lord, anytime!
    I’m gonna work so God can use me
    anywhere, Lord, anytime!

    3. I’m gonna pray so God can use me
    anywhere, Lord, anytime!
    I’m gonna pray so God can use me
    anywhere, Lord, anytime!

    4. I’m gonna sing so God can use me
    anywhere, Lord, anytime!
    I’m gonna sing so God can use me
    anywhere, Lord, anytime!

    I’m gonna read my Bible so God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!

    I’m gonna study my Bible so God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!

    I’m gonna love my Bible so God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!

    I’m gonna live the word of God, so God can use me anywhere, Lord, anytime!

    I’m gonna walk the word of God, so God can use me, anywhere, Lord, anytime!

    I’m gonna talk the word of God, so God can use me, anywhere, Lord, anytime!

    Finally, in your contemplations, in and within your pondering and meditation over exactly whose mirror you are looking in, whose image is most preferred?

    Consider well your motives for knowing versus not knowing the Word of God:

    In your experience, what’s the hardest part about reading God’s Word intently?

    What distracts you from taking a look at yourself in light of what you see in Scripture? And, while you comment to God, see if you can encourage a fellow believer who has also shared to keep on keeping on in our faith in Christ Jesus.

    In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,

    Let us pray,

    Heavenly Father, Author of Wisdom, thank You for the wise teachings of James. I realize how important it is to not only have a genuine faith… by trusting in the finished work of the Lord Jesus at Calvary, but to be a fruitful Christian in word and in deed. Keep me from worldly ways and from slipping back in the carnality of fleshly living, but may I grow in grace and in a knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ – as I abide in Him… and bring forth much fruit to Your praise and glory – this I ask in Jesus’ name, Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! AMEN.

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