Scripture Treasures

However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name ~ 1 Peter 4:16 In my daily readings this morning, I was reading that we are called to carry our cross just as Jesus carried his. Being a Christian and following Jesus calls is a difficult path. We have to put our flesh aside which means that what we want, and desire comes second, after what Jesus leads us to do. This sometimes places us in the way of those who disagree with our values, our morals, our decisions, and for that we may suffer. If you are antiabortion, you will suffer for your thoughts and your opinion. If you stand up and proclaim loudly that Jesus is the only way into heaven, you will suffer for mentioning his name in public and denying other faith groups access into heaven. Jesus calls us to be different from the world though. We are not to stand up for commercialism, or for prejudice and oppression. We are to stand up for freedom in Christ which means we live by his comman

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another ~ John 13:23 Jesus came in love, to bring love to all who would receive, and as he came showing us his love, so we are expected, commanded in fact, to love one another. What makes the difference in Christ’s love through us is that we don’t love just those who love us, but we love our enemy. In fact, we are to pray for our enemy! Not for God’s wrath to rain down upon them, that day will come when the Lord comes back to earth to claim his own. It is not our job to plaster our enemy with wrath! Love conquers all, and love covers all sins says the word of God to us. If I love only those who love me, I am no better than those who do not love Christ. But when I love as Christ loved me, a sinner, unclean, then my grace, which stems from Christ, flows into the life of another. And when that other is my enemy, or if they are my friend, they are blessed with the grace, forgiveness, and the blessings o

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us ~ Romans 5:8 We are still in the time of Lent, where we think of the death of Christ, and the sacrifice he made for us. During this time, we often give up a pleasure, or make sacrifices of our own to serve as our way of undergoing how Christ demonstrated his love for us. In no way do we sacrifice during Lent in the way that Christ did as he walked toward the cross. We cannot in any way give up what Christ gave up. Have you fasted? Christ did much more than fast from certain foods. Have you given up buying luxury items? They matter little in the cost of a life. We do not sacrifice, nor can we, to repay the price Christ’s life expended. He willingly sacrificed his life for you and for me. His love was demonstrated by following the will of his Father in heaven to die for us. His life was the sacrifice which enables us to draw close into the throne room of God and to come into his presence w

Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful ~ Joshua 1:8 God is faithful to fulfill his promises to us. It is us who forget God’s laws and place other gods before us to worship. If we follow God’s laws, we live in a way that serves both us and others the way in which God calls us to live, and we are in God’s will, putting him first in our life. What is so wonderful about our God is that even when we are unfaithful, he is faithful to receive us back into his fold when we repent. God desires good for us always. We have to live with our humanity and frailty, with our waywardness, and God knows we are formed this way. It is better by far to remain faithful in our heart toward him, but the fact of our humanity makes us at times weak. God understands this about us. Jesus lived on earth as a human, and though he was without sin, he was tempted by all the sin

One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple ~ Psalm 27:4   Like the psalmist, those of us who love the Lord can think or imagine nothing better and have no greater desire than to dwell in the house of the Lord and seek him in his temple. I think of it not only in this life but in the life hereafter. I love going to church and being with God’s people worshipping him. We come together and our praises fill the sanctuary. Even when we come in and would sit alone, just God and me, the time spent is beautiful, peaceful, refreshing. We are strengthened when we come into his holy presence, no matter where that might be. As I love being in church, so I love my mornings when I spend it in scripture, and in reading prayers, and adding prayers from my heart as I lift them up before my God. Time spent with the Lord is never wasted time, for his presence is beauti

I waited patiently and expectantly for the Lord; and he inclined to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire. And he set my feet upon a rock, he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand ~ Psalm 40:1, 2 God moves in his time, not in ours, but he does not ignore us. When our hearts cry out to him, he hears and bends his ear toward us. We, however, expect him to move immediately on our time, and our patience runs low. It takes faith, patience and hope as we wait for the Lord to move on our behalf. When we wait patiently for the Lord to act, oh how he works! As the psalmist says, he was brought up out of the slimy pit, the mud and mire. What is the pit that you are in? Is it a pit of depression? Is a pit of financial stress? Is it a pit of abuse whether that is emotional or physical? All these tragedies of life are deep pits which trap us and bring us down. We feel caught, as though we are in quicksand, sinking deeper and deeper.

A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his dwelling ~ Psalm 68:5 When I grew up, most families were two parent families, well, at least where I grew up that is what one would find in the statistics. I know there are many children who have grown up without a father and in a single parent home. It leaves a scar, an opening for the enemy to make those feel as though they were not good enough or deserving enough to have both parents. There is a space which is left as a gaping hole when a parent is missing. It is the same when a partner dies, and one is left trying to fill in the openings the other person had so faithfully filled. New skills need to be learned, new challenges may arise daily. How did they do this? Or that? How did they manage the finances or turn on the breaker in the panel when I accidentally pop one because, guess what, I had too many things plugged in! When we live without the Lord in our life those gaps remain. Sometimes they grow, too. I know someo

Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans ~ Proverbs 16:3 On Sunday I was reminded that we cannot order our plans, for we do not know what tomorrow will bring. The scriptures say our life is like grass, the wind blows over it and it is gone (Psalm 103:16). We make plans, but our life is gone before we know it, and our plans have not come to fulfillment for one reason or another. Even when we have good intentions with our plans, we do not know what may come up the next day which will take us away from our plan. Here we are told to commit to the Lord whatever we do, and he will establish our plans. This means I come to him in prayer and supplication, seeking his desires for my life. What does God have in mind for you or me today, or tomorrow, or a month from now? It does not mean I will be around even in a year to see the fruition of those plans, but they will be established through the power of God with me, or without me. It does mean that I will be a part o

Trust the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight ~ Proverbs 3:5, 6 Trusting in the Lord is sometimes so hard for us. We think we can take charge, we can control it, we can manage without anyone’s help, thank you very much. I am strong, I am a woman, or I am a man, and I know exactly what I need to do to fix it! Do you ever think that way? I used to. I used to think I could do it all, that is, until I met the Lord and realized how much I could not do without him. Then, trust in myself withered away and trust in him grew. There is so much wisdom God has for us which is beyond what I can imagine, so when I would lean on my own understanding, I would miss the point, or the process, and I would be way off base. With the Lord’s understanding my eyes were opened to truth about situations when I placed my trust in him. It means that I have to fully submit to him, which is what our verse says. I hav