The Beauty of Scripture

  2 Thessalonians 2:15 So then brothers and sisters, stand firm and hold fast to the teachings we passed on to you, whether by word of mouth or by letter.   I read a quote on Facebook that stated the church does not determine what we preach, the Bible determines what we preach. Those may not be the exact words, but they were much like what I quoted from Facebook. Most certainly, this thought is reflected in the letter to the Thessalonian church – you are to pass on the teachings sent to you by word or letter. The culture of the world around us has invaded our minds and thoughts, and our churches. No longer can one count on the truth of the Bible strictly taught in our churches of today, well, not all churches. Some churches become a place for “show” rather than true spiritual teaching. But there are many churches which do hold on and stand firm in the Bible teachings. And from what I understand, those churches that do not teach biblical truth lose their people who are searchin...

Hebrews 10:24-25 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” If there is anything that is needed in today’s world, it is encouragement. As we look around at the world and the politics and the wars and see the antagonism between peoples and countries it all vies for our attention. It in fact screams at us everyday to listen, to be absorbed, and to cringe in its wake. There is no good news out there in the world! No, we will not find our encouragement in the world around us – unless! Unless we live in the love of Jesus Christ! Our churches are still a place where the Good News is announced. Are we all perfect? No, not one, for none of us are perfect, but we do know someone who is Perfect! Our Lord Jesus, and our Lord is in control of all things that pertain to this world in which we live. The world has been ...

Romans 3:23, 24 For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ. When I think of my own story of redemption and how I came to be where I am in life, I am so grateful for the justification and redemption of my Lord. Paul says there is not one of us who can attain the glory of God – not one! We may strive in life to be good people, and yes, there are many good people in our world, but striving is not enough. Striving will never get me there, nor will it get you there. We are all sinners! We are born in the likeness of the first Adam who was tempted and fell. And we fall. Sometimes we fall hard. We struggle to know why that temptation once again caught our attention. We fight it to reclaim our victory and then fall again. It becomes a cycle in our lives as we go round and round. I have fought those battles. I have walked those paths that lead me back to the same spot as yesterday. You may not ...

 Psalm 59:16 TPT But as for me, your strength shall be my song of joy. At each and every sunrise, my lyrics of your love will fill the air! For you have been my glory-fortress, a stronghold in my day of distress. How glorious it was to see the sun streaming in my windows this morning! We have had so much snow and cloudy days in the past month we almost forgot what the sun looks like. But even more glorious is to wake up with the love of God in my heart! The psalmist says his lyrics of how much God loves him fills the air! Is God your song in the morning? Even in your troubled times, and I know we all have them. Our loved one has a serious illness, or perhaps it is we that deal with something in our body we cannot control. Dementia, cancer, money problems, car troubles, job closures and issues are only some of what may bring us down into the land of discouragement. Do you have trouble in those times to sing the song of love on those days? Sometimes it is difficult, yet look up...

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 be...

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...

For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil ~ 1 Peter 3:12 This is a promise for those of us who believe in a God who does not sway in his thoughts toward us. When we come to our God in prayer, when our hearts are right before him, our prayers are heard. The Lord does not promise our prayers will be answered the way we want, for his will for us and this world is what is most important to him. When we pray in his will because we are seeking his will, our prayers will be answered in a way that is a blessing to us and to others. God wants what is good for us and others. That does not mean we will not go through trials and testing. God places those on our path to strengthen our faith, our trust, and our hope in him. When we come through the other side of those trials, we are better able to pray for those who will experience what testing we have run the race of faith through. God desires th...

The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name ~ Zechariah 14:9 How we long for that day when the name of Jesus will be on every tongue and in every nation as the King of all kings! Then the pains of this world will be over and done with. There will be no more wars, or merciless killings. There will be no more destruction of life. People will live in harmony under one Ruler, under one Lord. Zechariah also says there will be living water flowing out of Jerusalem, and there will be no more distinction between night and day, for when evening comes, there will be light! This is hard to image as it is so wondrous compared to the world we are now living in. it is a dark and hardened world around us. We stand as Christians against a world which sees no hope, yet as we stand in faith, hope is all around us. We stand as Christians against a world which sees the end of life as a candle being snuffed out. We as Christians have the Ligh...

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart ~ Jeremiah 29:13 God does not play “hide-and-seek” with us. We aren’t left running around in circles, desperately trying to find him, but he is hidden so well we cannot. Instead, he wants us to want him, and when our heart is crying out he responds. He opens up our world, our heart, our life and we are made whole in him. All that was kept hidden is revealed then when we ask for his Holy Spirit’s guidance and discernment. God wants relationship with us. We were created for relationship with him, but those who have chosen not to seek him unfortunately do not recognize this. Instead, they seek for riches and fame. They seek for success that is competitive and powerful, and prideful. Those things are not God’s things, unless they fit within God’s purposes for us. The Lord God wants our worship and our love from hearts which are committed to him in obedience. Seek him today with your whole heart, and he will answer your cry...

I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and fortress, my God, in whom I trust” ~ Psalm 91:2 There is only one place where I can run to in complete knowledge of safety – that is to run to my God. We are living in what seem to be more precarious times in 2022. The past two years as a world we have dealt with Covid-19, and now we look at a world which has a possibility of more violence than what we have encountered since WWII with Russia and its invasion of Ukraine. The world is turning more upside down than it has for many years. Am I afraid? I cannot say that I am for myself, yet I know as I look at my children and grandchildren I wonder what this world will bring for them. Jesus has promised us he will return, and we know not when, but we do know there will be much unrest in our world as his return draws closer. Are we in those times? We do not know. Only the Father knows, for not even the Son, Jesus Christ, knows. Whatever happens whether it be today, or in a year from now, all is ...

The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit ~ Psalm 34:18 We do not shed our tears alone, or in the company of another, without our Lord God knowing our pain. He is with us as we grieve and mourn. We could hide away in a closet and the Lord would be there, crouched down beside us, holding us in his arms. We think of any number of people who at this moment who are broken-hearted, and we wonder how to comfort them, what should we say, or do, to help them. And what comfort can be offered to us in our moment when all seems lost, and we feel forsaken? Grief grips us, our broken heart tied in a knot within, and the world around us crashes. Yet, in the midst of this crushing moment, the Lord sends those who will comfort, those who will bring relief to our pain, and scripture tells us God catches our shed tears in a bottle. In these dark days of covid, I think, (and I am sure you do too) of those who have lost loved ones during this time, and I think too ...

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 ~ Psalm 139:23, 24 We are in the season of Lent, and it is the time of asking God to search our heart. It is not that we should not seek this at any time we come before the Lord, we should, and we ought. We do not want to have a heart that becomes hardened because of sin which enters in, but we constantly need the Holy Spirit to show us where we have fallen down. We do not want anything to block our prayers from entering the throne room of God, nor do we want broken relationships with those around us. Unless we are tested, and searched, and allow our openness to the God who tests us, we will gradually walk further and further away from him. It is not that we want to walk around acting like a pious and overly religious snob, for God does not want that to be what we display to those around us. But in our prayer closets, to open our heart t...

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth ~ 1 John 3:18 How blessed we are that we follow a Lord who loves and teaches us to love not only with words but with actions and with truth. In our world there are those that believe in karma – what I do will come back to me. If I do good, good will come; if I do bad, bad will return. The love of God teaches us something very different – love no matter what. Jesus said if we love those who love us, we gain no credit. If we love our enemy, our reward is great. Throughout Jesus’ lifetime, he showed us how to love by his actions of loving the outcast, by healing the sick, the poor, and the distressed. His parable in Luke tells of a neighbour who came for bread late at night, and only by insistence was he given the bread. It is of course a message about insistent prayer, but it would have ended differently had the owner of the house said, “I will pray for you that bread will come.” Instead, bread was given ...