Scripture Treasures

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms ~ Ephesians 6:12 There is a great army which wages war against God’s principles and laws. We see it in this world around us in an ever more prevalent way. If a Christian stands up vehemently speaking out for what the Bible says, you can bet there will be some who will attack you for your stand. Not only does our government dissolve our Biblical principles, but so do most of our people. We do fight a war against the spiritual forces of our day. We also have an army on our side to do so, for God’s angels are in heavy force against the dark angels of Satan. Our prayers are our swords, our appeals are our strength. God hears and gives us what we need, when we need it to speak against what is unjust. This is what Paul the Apostle affirms for us – that we must stand strong by putting on the ar

So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire      and achieve the purpose for which I sent it ~ Isaiah 55:11 As a pastor, as a leader, I sometimes wonder how people hear what I say, or interpret it. I think it is a sinful failing of mine. It derives from a past which said that all I spoke was backwards and mixed up. It is something I need healing for because this word of God from Isaiah tells me the truth. God’s word that exits my mouth, (for I do trust that He speaks through me), will accomplish his purpose, and that is the bottom line. If I am faithful in proclaiming what God has called me to proclaim, then his word will not fail. Why then do we depend so much on our own words or wonder as I do if I said it right? God’s word, if we do really depend on it, is rich and full. He says it will not return to him empty, so that means that even though my finite and fallible words exit my mouth, when they come from the Lord him

For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened ~ Matthew 7:8 One of my favourite pictures of Christ is the one where he is knocking on the door waiting for it to open to him. In that picture, we are the one in charge of the door and whether it remains closed or not. This scripture is the reverse, for it talks about us being the one on the outside of the door. But this verse is also a reversal. For we can and some do keep the door to Christ shut and locked against him, but here the promise is that the door is always ready to open. Jesus does not keep any out. There is no locked door to knowing him, to coming and finding what they were looking for because he is behind the door waiting for our knock. What a wonderful promise that is. We need not ever fear that we are not good enough for Jesus, for all can come to him. John 3:16 tells us he died for the whole world, not for just some or a few. Everyone who asks receives, Jesus

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness ~ 2 Peter 1:3 Do you ever feel that you are not enough of something – you know, never smart enough, or brave enough, or strong enough. You constantly compare yourself to others who seem to have more of what you would like so that you could do what they do. Wow! I do not think there is any one of us who cannot say we have not thought that at some time or another! We need not do that after reading this verse! Jesus, through his power, gives us EVERYTHING we need! Everything! We have to come to the place and realize that we cannot do things on our own, but we do them because Jesus is there with us giving us the strength, the wisdom, the ability, the power to do what he has called us to do! That is so wonderfully amazing! You lack nothing if you are doing what God has called you to. If you fear that you are not enough, then you must stop and cast that

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day ~ 1 Corinthians 4:16 Inwardly, I do not feel older, yet I know that day by day, and year by year I do age. So, though I do not feel the time fly by, and it does, I know that the day will come when this body of mine will wear out. There will come the day when I join those who have gone before me into the Lord’s heavenly home. As Paul says though, we do not, I do not, lose hope. For our hope is found in Jesus Christ and his promise that through his conquering all that death may hold, its pain and sorrow, so I as his follower and disciple, will also conquer death. I will live with him forever and ever. There is also another change going on in me, for though my body begins to fade from youth, my heart becomes ever newer in the growing love of my Lord. I grow into more his likeness as he challenges me to leave behind my shortcomings, as he challenges me to move outside my own

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile ~ Romans 1:16 The gospel of Jesus Christ is the gospel of love. It was his love which led him to obey his Father and head to the cross. It was his love which nailed him there and separated him from his Father for the first and only time… “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” His Father had to forsake him because of love, because my sin held him there on that cross and I needed it atoned for, and only Jesus could do that. My sin is now as far away as the east is from the west. It has been cast into the deepest sea. The love of Jesus brought me into salvation so that I would live with him in the here and now, and in the future in eternity. I am not ashamed to tell people about Jesus! He is the only way for life to have the meaning it should. He is the only way for me to be who I was meant to be, for He knows me, He heals me, He

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal ~ Isaiah 26:4 Our faith in Jesus is rock solid! We may place our faith in our finances, or in our job, or in someone, but though these may offer us security they are never eternal. The only One we can place our faith and trust in eternally is our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ! He is a bulwark never failing! There is nothing else I can think of to say, for Jesus is my Rock, my strength, my hope, my joy. He is eternal and in him, I am eternal! There is nothing more that I need but him. He is my all in all. Pastor Julia image by pixabay

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing” ~ Zephaniah 3:17 Many years ago, when I had been going through a really rough family time, my one sister sent me this verse as a reminder that God was with me and that he delights in me! Me! He delights in me! These words just filled my heart with encouragement and came at the time when I needed them most. For one, I needed to know I had a Mighty Warrior on my side for I felt then that the battle was too much for me. And two, the fact that God would think of me with joy when my thoughts were full of self-despair gave me a new way of looking at both my situation and at myself. God loves me! God loves you! Can you imagine him singing over you, rejoicing in you? What a lovely thought that is! I can barely imagine the beauty of his voice in song, let alone that the song would be just for me! It would be the great

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him ~ Matthew 6:7, 8 This verse was written when the temple in Jerusalem was the place where all went to pray, and they would stand, as they do now at what is left of it, the “wailing wall”, and utter their prayers aloud. Jesus knew that some kept repeating themselves and did so with a loud voice and many words so that people would notice them, and of course, think them important. Jesus says we don’t need to do that. I recall my early days of training for ministry, and my supervising pastor would ask me to lead in the pastoral prayer for the church service. I was still so very shy then, and to pray aloud was very stressful. I just could not impromptu stand and pray, especially in front of and for a congregation. It took me a long time, and many written prayers, to be able to pray out loud and in

Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires ~ Galatians 5:24 It sounds like a painful thing to do, that is, to crucify the flesh from its passions and desires, yet, when Christ comes to live within the heart, it is neither painful nor hard to do. It is quite amazing to note the transformation that takes place in one’s heart when Jesus comes in to live there. I remember when I first came to Christ and the changes that took place within me. I gave up so many worldly things that I had been attached to. But the interest in them was no longer there! It just disappeared, maybe not the exact moment I gave my heart to Christ, but very shortly thereafter. Vices of the world which had attracted me no longer held my attention. The only things that pulled at me were to live like Christ lived. It is not that I am totally free of my fleshly passions and desires. I fight them the same as everyone – whether that is how I use my words, or whether my patienc

Humility is the fear of the Lord;  its wages are riches and honor and life ~ Proverbs 22:4 Sometimes we look more at the last part of this verse before the first part. Wages and riches and honor and life are all important, but when it comes to God, those are blessings for a life that is lived in a right way. Humility is the fear of the Lord and that is what is most important in this verse. This is because God is more worried about our character than anything else. If I do not live with humility, I will not set him as all important, for the very act of humility is to set oneself as less important. I have lived that way and it is not the way I want to live again. The Lord now is my all-important guide; it is him I worship and him I praise. I cannot truly find my life when he is placed as second or third in it. Whatever pleasures, whatever blessings I receive from the Lord they even are secondary as they become a gift to me, and not something I have earned because I worked hard, or beca

Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:15 I recall a funeral that I officiated many, many years ago. The deceased, as I knew him was an elderly, but wonderful man, he had given his heart to Christ and had many good reports from friends around where he lived at the time. What I did not know about was his past life…he had been an alcoholic, an absent father, and when under the influence of drink, he had been violent. Part way through the funeral some of his family who had not seen him for quite some time began to shout and rage that he was an awful man, that he had done much harm to his children. The other side of his family began to argue back and for a few moments the whole sanctuary was in bedlam. With the grace of God, I was able to calm them all down, but what a scene it was! This was all due to hurt and pain that had not before been addressed with their father, instead they hel

For whoever wants to save their life (or soul) will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me and for the gospel will save it ~ Mark 8:35 Before Christ came into my life, I thought I was a strong woman, a “modern” woman even. It was not until after Jesus entered my life that I discovered I was neither strong nor modern. I had instead been dying inside within a marriage that was psychologically abusive. And all that time I had thought all was well. I once mentioned my thoughts of how I viewed myself to a sibling, that is, before Christ was my center. If anyone can see what the real truth is, it is usually others outside of yourself. The look of shock on their face said it all. You see, when I lived without Jesus in my heart, I was saving myself, but I was dead inside. How absurd is that thinking, yet I am not alone. Those who walk each day without Christ live a life of lies, yet they go on thinking they are doing just fine without him! When we try to run our life without the wisdom

When I am afraid, I put my trust in you ~ Psalm 56:3 Life is full of ups and downs, of good times and stressful times, of health and of illness. Of course, like anyone, I want all of life to be the good, the healthy, the up! The problem with living continually in that way is that I have found I tend more to trust myself than to turn to God in trust. It is because of the down times, the stressful times, and the illnesses which come upon me or someone I love that I know for certainty that I can trust God. I know because as I have grown as a Christian, I have put more and more into his hands during those times, and I have found him faithful. So, when I am afraid, I know to whom I can trust, even when what I see around me looks very bleak and hopeless. I have certainly had those times when it was very dark, and I did not know which way to turn. In fact, there was no way to turn, but to stand still and trust God to do what his will was in either my life or my loved one’s life. And he did

Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children ~ Ephesians 5:1 I think automatically of the line, “Love conquers all.” It is not in the Bible specifically as that, but there are many verses that come close in meaning. Apparently, the words, “Love conquers all” comes originally from the phrase, “Love conquers all, let us all yield to love” which then became shortened to the phrase I began with. Romans 8:37 tells us we are more than conquers through him who loved us, and of course, we have the whole love chapter in 1 Corinthians 13. Wise words of how to love and what to avoid if we are to love with the purity of God is what we find there. Peter knew about the love of God! He had to live with the knowledge he had turned his back on his Saviour at a most crucial time, yet after the resurrection of Jesus, he was reinstated as someone who loved Jesus and whom Jesus loved in return. In his writing Peter wrote: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitu

  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;     and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned,     and the flame shall not consume you ~ Isaiah 43:2 I am very blessed as I live a life that, for now, is relatively free of stresses and burdens that overwhelm a soul. I am grateful and thankful for that. It is not that my life has always been so, for there have been many rivers I have had to ford, and many fires that needed putting out in my life. But, like the promises from the word of Isaiah here, none of them have taken me so down to drown me completely and no fire which consumed me entirely. God has always had my hand in his, even when I did not know it. It is when we look back over the trials of our life and know that we survived them with his help. This is where we can see how our trust in the Lord preserves us. He is faithful when we lack faith, he is trustworthy when we lack trust. If we have asked him i

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,     and in his word I put my hope ~ Psalm 130:5 I hunger for the Lord’s Spirit to fill me to overflowing everyday, for his wisdom and guidance to lead me, for his words to stir me. Still, I wait. I once read that Mother Teresa wrote she never felt the closeness of Jesus. I found her quote on the web, but it was not there I had first read it. She stated : “Jesus has a very special love for you. [But] as for me–The silence and the emptiness is so great–that I look and do not see,–Listen and do not hear”. –MOTHER TERESA TO THE REV. MICHAEL VAN DER PEET, SEPTEMBER 1979 ( https://time.com/4126238/mother-teresas-crisis-of-faith/ ) We wonder at this for she did such a great work in our world with the poor and impoverished. Her heart was genuine and true, and her words spoke in clear volume. Her dedication and love were ecumenical, and all faith groups recognized her value in our world as a follower of Jesus, yet she felt only Jesus’ silence. Are

Since all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are now justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus ~ Romans 3:23, 24 NRSV I recently had a conversation in which we were discussing our backgrounds before Christ was a part of our lives. We went over mistakes and bad choices we had made, and the impact they had on our lives at the time. Looking back, it was easy to see where we had erred in life and how we had turned our back on all that God through Jesus Christ desired for us to have lived. But we also looked forward, for now that our lives and hearts belong to Jesus Christ, we know our past has been forgiven. That is our gift in Christ. It is and was not that either of us had done anything to deserve this forgiveness and the washing of our soul, but only through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ! We all have different past lives. Whether you were raised in the church, or fell away in some stage of your life, or, if you do not even

Now all has been heard;     here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments,     for this is the duty of all mankind ~Ecclesiastes 12:13 This is the second to last verse of the book, thought to be written by King Solomon. He was the wisest man who ever lived, and no one would be wiser, not until Christ walked the earth (1 Kings 3:12; Matthew 12:42). His concluding words put the whole of his writing in proper perspective – our duty, the duty of every living person, is to keep the commandments of God and fear him, or, hold him in awe. It is a simple conclusion, but such a profound one, for not all people will do this and live in this way. We struggle with our own rules, our own decisions, and our own ways. We constantly fight the battle between flesh and spirit, between listening to God and listening to our ego self. If only mankind would give in and pay attention to this final word for the next verse lays out the result of paying attention or not to this