For His Honor

“For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” Isaiah 41:13 NIV

I know that I have written about fear before and that God is with me so I should have courage. Today I am writing about how God has promised to take my right hand and help me. I have been given the privilege and honor of being part of a committee that decides how to spend time worshipping God during a particular retreat for an entire area of churches in my denomination.

This is scary because I want to do what God wants me to do and I want to do it the way God wants me to do it. I want to get this right, I want my involvement to glorify God. My fear has to do with how big this feels. I have not been involved with anything to this magnitude before.

However, as I write this, I am beginning to feel peace building inside of me about this. I need to remember to make sure that my thoughts, feelings and actions are focused on glorifying God, not on fear. I need to remember that I am never alone and that God has promised to help me to do anything that He has asked of me. God is always with me and every other believer, so I am choosing to reach out my hand and feel Him walking beside me.

Heavenly Father, thank You for always helping me to complete what is in Your will for my life. Thank You for never leaving me. Help me to glorify You with my involvement on this committee. In Your Son’s most precious name, Amen.

“Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14 NIV

Living in peace can be achieved but only with God. True peace only happens with God because the peace of this world is temporary. The peace that God can give you is so deep and pure that you don’t want to live without it once you have experienced it. Living in peace with everyone is hard but not impossible. It has nothing to do with the other person and everything to do with you and God.

If you think about where your soul will spend eternity, you begin to see how important it is to answer that question as soon as you can. Once you answer that question, there is a peace that fills you. The peace of knowing that you will be with God for all of eternity and not in eternal damnation. When I chose to let that peace to fill me and didn’t keep it at bay any longer, it allowed me see how important relationships are in this life.

Living in peace with each other is not only good for our soul, it is good for our mental health to not be angry, irritated or on edge all the time. It is also good for our Christian walk as we demonstrate the peace that Jesus taught about while He was walking around on earth so many years ago. No one can be at peace for you, no one can live at peace for you, you are the only one who can choose to live at peace with everyone.

Are you at peace?

“Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.” Psalm 119:105 NIV

As we walk long this road called life, how well is our path lit? For some it feels like it is lit well while others seem to stumble a lot in spots of darkness. Believers have a light that they can use if they choose to use it, God’s word. When we read God’s word, we can find references about how to handle most situations in life. God’s word can give us light in a very dark world.

When our path is lit, it is not the entire path, it is typically only the step or two in front of us. God gives us that light, most of the time just enough to know where to step next, and then we need to do our job which is two-fold. First, we need to take that next step knowing that if we are taking the step He has illuminated for us, then He will be with us as we move forward. Second, we need to maintain our faith that He will illuminate the next step just as He did the step we have taken.

Part of the challenge with the second part of our job is that God doesn’t work on our time table, He has His own. Our idea of when something should happen or we should be given the information we need to move forward does not always line up with His idea of when we should know these things. That’s when we need to exercise our faith and trust that God knows what He is doing and where our path is leading us.

There is another thing about lights that we need to remember, the light can only illuminate things around it, if it is turned on, if it is used. The light is not useful for illuminating anything if it is not used for that purpose. God’s word can light your path for your entire life if you use it to light your path but if you never open God’s word, read God’s word or apply God’s word to your life then you remain in darkness.

God does not want anyone to remain in darkness. If He did, then Jesus would not have come to save the world. He would not have walked among us, experiencing what we experience and showing us how to handle those situations in life. He would not have died a horrible death to pay our final payment for our sins and give us eternal life. He did all that because He loves us and wants us to walk out of the darkness and into the light, His light.

Have you turned on your light? Have you opened your Bible and read God’s word? I urge you to read God’s word. If you haven’t read the Bible before, then I suggest starting with Matthew, Mark, Luke or John in the New Testament. It doesn’t matter really where you start, just that you start. God wants you to walk in the Light, please come join others in the Light.

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121: 1-2 NIV

Where does your help come from? Have you found grace or unmerited favor at work or in a relationship? Has God provided for you, His child? Has God protected you?

These 2 verses are from the beginning of the 121st Psalm. I wrote about the last 2 verses yesterday and thought it might be good to look at the first two today. Again, the psalm is part of a collection of 15 psalms that are called the Songs of Ascent. They were sung by travelers as they made their journey up to Jerusalem for their annual pilgrimage.

This psalm starts out by talking about where the travelers’ help comes from as they look to the hills of Jerusalem. They ask the question and answer it immediately because they sing of their help coming from God. They know that they do not have to be close to the holy city of Jerusalem to be protected or given help by God. He is always with them as He is always with us.

It is amazing to me that my help comes from the Maker of heaven and earth, God Himself!!!! This amazes me because I consider myself to be a very very small part of this great universe that He created and yet He is interested in me and my life.

So I ask again, where does your help come from? Does it come from God or do you believe that you don’t need help because you are responsible for your life? My answer is that as one of many of God’s children, my help comes from Him. I cannot navigate this life with God and I don’t want to. He made me and I look to Him for guidance, protection and help daily.

Where do you look for those things?

“The Lord will keep you from all harm—he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore.” Psalm 121:7-8 NIV

There are 15 psalms titled “Songs of Ascent” and they would be song by those traveling to Jerusalem during their annual festivals, to reflect on God’s protective power. The word ‘ascent’ comes from the part of their journey where they had to climb up to Jerusalem. During this journey they would sing this among other songs to help remind themselves that God was with them everywhere, not just in their journey or destination but also in their daily life.

At my aunt’s funeral, Psalm 121 was placed on the memory card you receive. My cousin told me that when her and my uncle went through my aunt’s bible, this passage was marked. I know that my aunt believed that God protected her from harm no matter where she was and that it was for ever. This does not mean that my aunt was not hurt in any way, but even though she may physically be harmed by whatever this world threw her way, her soul was not able to be touched because it belongs to God.

Every believer has that assurance, that we may be physically harmed but our souls belong to God and they are protected from the evil of this world. This should give comfort to every believer because it doesn’t matter if we are traveling or remaining at home, our God is watching over us. This verse among others tells us that…God will keep us and watch over us.

I know that as my aunt ‘climbed’ her way to heaven that God was with her every step of the way, that He watched over her and that He protected her on that final journey. After reading the entire psalm, I can see why she would have marked it in her bible – a solid reminder of the wonderful, powerful and amazing God we serve.

Do you have that assurance of protection from God? Do you know Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If not, please make that decision today.

“But you, Lord, do not be far from me. You are my strength; come quickly to help me.” Psalm 22:19 NIV

My husband and I were fortunate to be at a Zach Williams concert the other week and the hymn “I need Thee” was played. It was wonderful to hear that many people singing this hymn all at the same time. It touched me very deeply and my husband suggested that I speak about it in my blog. So I researched the history of this beautiful hymn and this is what I found.

In June 1872, Anne Hawks was doing her usual housework when she felt the strong presence of God. His presence gave her such warmth, with the words “I need Thee, Lord” filling her mind she was inspired to write this hymn. Dr. Robert Lowry, Mr and Mrs. Hawks’ pastor, wrote the music for the lyrics that Anne Hawks had compiled. In November of 1872, the hymn was first performed in the National Baptist Sunday School Association Convention in Cincinnati Ohio. In 1873 it was published in Royal Diadem for the Sunday School and John 15:5 “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.” KJV, was given as a reference of the hymn. Anne Hawks wrote over 400 hymns in her lifetime and said that this hymn was prophetic in nature, speaking to her need to feel God’s presence in times of distress.

This hymn echoes what the psalmist wrote in Psalm 22:19, when he asks the Lord to not be far from him. Although I do not automatically remember this hymn in times of grief or distress, as I sit here writing about it, it has brought me comfort. When I awoke this morning and prayed with God about what I should write about today, this hymn is what entered my mind. As I said, my husband had suggested I write about it but I had not gotten any further in doing that, than writing the title on a post draft and saving it.

This morning, God brought it to my mind and as I thought about the lyrics, I found comfort in knowing that my Lord is near me at every moment. I need Him and He responses by never leaving me or any other believer. As much as I need my Lord, my uncle who buried his wife, my aunt, of 66 years, yesterday needs the Lord as well and I find comfort in knowing that the Lord is as near to him as He is to me. I pray that my uncle, a believer of many years, feels the Lord holding him in His arms during this time of deep grief.

I stand in awe of individuals who are so touched by God that they are able to create beautiful music, poems or literature that praises and honors our wonderful God. Thank You, Lord for those people and Thank You for always being there for each and everyone of us.

“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise.'” Luke 23:43 NIV

This verse is a testament that as we have sinned, have asked for forgiveness and have been given forgiveness by Jesus that when we die we are in paradise with Him. The person Jesus is talking to in this verse is the thief on the cross next to His. This man had not lived life the way that he should have, he didn’t follow the teaching of Jesus. Yet, when he realized who Jesus was and is, the Messiah, he asked for forgiveness. Jesus not only forgave him but also assured him that he would be in paradise with Jesus when he died.

As much as I love the fact that Jesus is willing to forgive us of our sin and save us from eternal damnation, the part of this verse that I cling to this past week is the part where Jesus tells the man he will be in paradise that day. When I heard that my aunt had passed from this temporal life to her eternal life, it gave me comfort to know that she was in paradise that day. My aunt lived her life in the exact opposite manner than the thief on the cross, she followed the teachings of Jesus and what I remember the most about her was her commitment to Jesus.

The first memories I have of my aunt and uncle are of them taking my mother, brother and myself to church. My aunt was a no-nonsense kind of woman, who believed what she believed and wasn’t ashamed to let everyone know that she was a Christian. She was a second mother to me and was as responsible for me coming to know Jesus as my own mother was. My aunt was a strong woman of faith and I hope that I am half as bold in my walk with God as she was.

Today we will pay tribute to her, celebrate her life and then place her body at rest. Today will be hard, but I am finding comfort in knowing that I will see her again someday when I arrive in heaven. So I am not saying ‘goodbye’ to this wonderful woman, I am saying ‘see you later.’

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” John 3:17 NIV

Today is my mother’s birthday and she would have been 82 years old. So Happy Birthday Ma. To honor her memory, I want to look at John 3:17. Her favorite verse was John 3:16 which I have already wrote about. I feel like the 17th verse is meant to be read along with the 16th even though it is usually forgotten about when John 3:16 is recited.

My mom would talk about John 3:17 when she was witnessing to others and I was privileged to see this during her last 6 weeks of life. She would discuss Jesus with each nurse, nurse’s aide and visitor that she could and if she found out that they were not saved, she would try to persuade them to consider following Jesus. When she was talking with anyone about Jesus, especially non-believers, she would tell them that Jesus gave up His life for them to save them, that He loves them that much.

Many non-believers hold a view of God as an angry punishing God, but John 3:17 tells us why He sent His Son to earth to live, die, and rise. God sent Jesus to save each and every one of us, NOT to condemn us. God loves us that much, Jesus loves us that much. We do enough condemning of each other on our own, God isn’t joining in, He is trying to save us.

So in honor and memory of my mother, I want to shout out to anyone who is listening that God Loves You and He sent Jesus to Save You!!!!!!! I pray that if you are reading this and do not know Jesus as your Lord and Savior, that you take time right now to stop reading this and talk to God. Ask Him to come into your life, and save you from eternal damnation. Then pick up a Bible or put a Bible app on your phone and begin reading. I suggest John 3:16 and 3:17 as a great place to begin.

Have a wonderful day and again Happy Birthday, Ma.

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23 NIV

God’s love is great! The book of Lamentations was written during the invasion of Babylon and eventual capture and enslavement of many of the Jewish people. Even though this book is a book full of sorrow and pain, Jeremiah writes of not being consumed by the situation going on around him. Instead he is choosing to focus on God, God’s love, God’s compassion for all of us and God’s mercy.

Life is hard sometimes but I believe it is even harder for the non-believer. As a child of God, I know that God loves me, that He has compassion for what I am going through at all times and because of His mercy He is willing to give me His strength to walk through the situations of life. As we face struggles, difficult times, sorrow, we can take comfort in knowing as God’s children that His love will always sustain us. Unfortunately the non-believer does not have that same assurance.

As a non-believer faces life and life’s many challenges, there is not a comfort for them of a superior Being who is able to help them. I have friends and family who are non-believers and it is sad to watch them go through the trials of life without that deep knowledge and comfort of having Jesus to lean on, to communicate with, to rely on and to walk with them. My heart aches for them.

As a follower of Jesus, it is my privilege to tell them about Jesus, but that is not always a conversation that they want to have. I wish they would embrace God’s great love, His amazing compassion and He unending mercy for all of us. When we are able to take our eyes off of our problems, our situations, our disappointments, and focus on God, we realize that we are not alone at any time. As God’s children, as co-heirs with Jesus, we never walk through this life alone.

Our hearts break, but we are not consumed. Our God, my God, has given us and me His strength to make it through today because His mercy is new every morning. We don’t deserve it and we can’t earn it, it is a gift from God to us. Great is God’s faithfulness to us!

“I will praise you, Lord my God, with all my heart; I will glorify your name forever.” Psalms 86:12 NIV

Many passages of scripture are focused on praising God. Some talk about praising God in a general way and others, like this verse, are personal. What makes this one personal to me is where David writes ‘I will praise the Lord my God.’ In this verse, which is part of a prayer to God, David is focused on his relationship with God. So many times we reference God as ‘the Lord’ or simply ‘God’ but our relationship with God is very personal. No one can develop your relationship with God and no one can harm your relationship with God. You are in charge of how deep or shallow, how intense or how mild your relationship with and commitment to God is.

We know from scripture that David had a very personal relationship with God, he was not just part of the group that worshipped God, he spoke to God faithfully. This verse is just one of many passages where David talks with God. Here David has made a commitment to glorifying God’s name forever, not just when he feels like it or when he is being prosperous but always.

Also in this verse, David states that he will praise God with all of his heart. Some times we praise God with only our mouths or our minds but not always our hearts. Our hearts should always be involved in praising the Lord. We should be ‘all in’ when praising and glorifying our Creator.

When you praise God, are you all in?