Wednesday's Wisdom

“Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!

Serve the LORD with gladness!

Come into his presence with singing!

Know that the LORD, he is God!

It is he who made us, and we are his;

We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.

Enter his gates with thanksgiving,

And his courts with praise!

Give thanks to him; bless his name!

For the LORD is good;

His steadfast love endures forever,

And his faithfulness to all generations.”

Psalm 100

 

How much we have to be thankful for!  We are God’s people, the sheep of His pasture.  He cares for us, He leads us, He watches over us, and He knows us by name.  Today, let’s focus on the blessing of belonging to Him, and let’s praise Him as we go about our day.

 

-J

 

Tuesday's Task-Be Content

Phillipians 4:11

"Not that I speak in respect of want; for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content."

Hebrews 13:5

"Let your conversation be without covetousness; and be content with such things as ye have; for he hath said I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee."

From these verses, we see that no matter what our circumstances are we have Jesus on our side so we should be content with what we have. We shouldn't worry about having the next big thing or the next relationship or the next big promotion.

Where you are right now is enough.

-C

Another note: Notice Paul says he has LEARNED to be content. It isn't something we just know how to do. Human nature wants more and worries about the future. It takes effort and focus to learn to be content, to be happy with what you have and be satisfied. Don't get discouraged!

Monday's Musings

Does Jesus care when my heart is pained

Too deeply for mirth or song,

As the burdens press, and the cares distress,

And the way grows weary and long?

 

Refrain:

Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares,

His heart is touched with my grief;

When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,

I know my Savior cares.

 

Does Jesus care when my way is dark

With a nameless dread and fear?

As the daylight fades into deep night shades,

Does He care enough to be near?

 

Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed

To resist some temptation strong;

When for my deep grief there is no relief,

Though my tears flow all the night long?

 

Does Jesus care when I’ve said “goodbye”

To the dearest on earth to me,

And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks—

Is it aught to Him? Does He see?

 

~Frank E. Graeff

 

This song has been very comforting to me lately, and I hope it can help lift your spirits as well!

 

-J

 

 

Sunday's Scripture

Galatians 3:26-28 (KJV)

"For ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus."

Saturday's Sense-Be Friendly!

            Today many of us will run errands that have been put off all week. We may attend birthday parties or weddings. We might enjoy some time at home after a long week, but tonight we will prepare to worship our Lord tomorrow. In the midst of those preparations, I want to encourage you to focus your mind on being a welcoming individual tomorrow. I want you to make the decision right now that you will approach visitors at your congregation to introduce yourself and tell them how happy you are to see them. I want you to be sure and tell a faithful member (regardless of age) how happy you are to see them as well. Is this an easy task? It is for some, but for many (like me) it is a more difficult challenge. For this reason, we must decide now that we WILL go out of our way to be friendly & put it into practice tomorrow, because it is what Jesus would do. He befriended the woman at the well (John 4:6-15) and Zacchaeus, the tax collector (Luke 19).

Follow Jesus’ example, remember what it feels like to be the visitor & remember the golden rule.

Friday's Focus-Strength

Psalm 27:1

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?"

Psalm 27:14

"Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and He shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord."

Psalm 28:7

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped; therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will praise Him."

Psalm 28:11

"The Lord will give strength unto His people; the Lord will bless His people with peace." 

Who is our strength? Is it our parents, our friends, our education, our selves? No. Our strength is found in the Lord. He is the one we should look to when we need strength. He is the one who will carry us when we can no longer bear the hardships of this life. Only God is strong enough. Our strength is not within us but within Him.

-C

Regret.

I’m going to tell you something that I hope you will remember when you’re about to do something stupid regretful. Regret is ugly and painful. It rarely goes away. It will haunt you for the rest of your life. You will forever regret that night in the backseat of that guy’s car, you will forever regret the moment you ever tasted alcohol, you will always regret that lie to your parents, or that hurtful word thrown at your sibling in anger. These things will follow you in your mind forever. In the moment, you may think what you’re doing is harmless or exciting or a rite of passage. That’s Satan for you. He likes to make sin look so appealing. What he doesn't want you to know about is the regret that follows when you are so ashamed of doing what you knew to be sin. He doesn't want you to experience that shame or regret or guilt. He wants you to keep believing the lie that sin is fun. He’s the master of deceit, friends. Sin leads to death. That’s the only path it leads down. It will never lead to righteousness and it will never lead you to Heaven. What it will do is destroy your life.

But you know what you will never regret? Being honest, being kind, saying no when you know you need to say no. You will never regret the moment you are baptized into Christ and become a child of God. He is the only path to righteousness and the only way to Heaven (John 14:6). The writer of Hebrews speaks of Moses and how he chose “rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season.” (Hebrews 11:25) Moses understood that sin is only for a short time on this earth pleasurable then it is eternal damnation.

In I Corinthians, Paul asks the question, “Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?” (I Cor 3:16)  Let’s be good stewards of the body God gave us. It’s His temple and He expects us to do with it what is honorable and good. Don’t get caught up in worldly sin. It doesn't bring anything but unhappiness and regret into your life.

It's not worth it. 

-C