November 23 – Being at Home - Always

“Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.” Psalm 90:1 (NASB) 

The promise from God that we have to consider today is in a very short verse a Psalm written by Moses. He was writing from his own experience and the experience of other people of faith who lived before him. The word “dwelling” is like a “hiding place” or “refuge.” God promised to be their sanctuary for protection, substance, and stability. We believe his words also are for us and can describe our experience today as well. The next verse is also expressive of God’s promises. “Before the mountains were born Or You gave birth to the earth and the world, Even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.” It’s like saying that the Lord is our home. It’s true that when we trust in Him we do feel at home. Our Lord desires for us to feel at home with Him. It’s so comfortable to be able to trust Him and to sense His fellowship. Let's always remember to come home to the Lord because we belong there. He is and He always will be throughout all generations for those who believe and accept Jesus. That is something we can be very thankful for today, tomorrow, and forever.

199

May 5 – Taking Pleasure In Us

“He brought me out into a spacious place; he rescued me because he delighted in me.” Psalm 18:19 (NIV)

Being in that spot between a rock and a hard place is not comfortable. Sometimes those predicaments lead to circumstances that are more than just not pleasant. Generally it is dark in those places as far as our trying to find an easy way out. Whether it is our job, our relationships, even a lack of job or resources these might happen in the bright of day but in our hearts we don’t perceive them so well. Many of the songs in the Bible were composed by Shephard and King David. Some are prayers when David had special need of divine help. Some are songs of praise. In this verse David praises God for delivering him from his enemies and rescuing him out of a tight spot. The words reveal a very special relationship between God and His servant. In Psalm 18 David sensed that God was happy about him, that He really loved him and was pleased with him. He wrote “God was delighted.”   This same relationship can be ours, too. He loves us and He is delighted when we trust Him wholly and faithfully. Let's do that today, no matter what "spots" we find ourselves in.

198

February 26 – We Have A Place Made Ready

“In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you?  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”  John 14:2-3 (ESV)
“Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.”  Hebrews 11:16 (ESV)

It was their last night and Passover meal together and Jesus was preparing his disciples for the sad news that He was going to return to His Father in heaven.  He tells them He is going where they cannot follow.  Jesus then tells them to not be troubled but to understand finally who He is – one with the Father. He gives them some comfort by telling them that while he will be leaving them, he is going to prepare a place for them.  He’s coming back. He will take them to be with Him.  The excitement we have is that these promises are for us as well.  Jesus offers a prayer to His Father, for his disciples and for those of us who have believed in Jesus upon hearing the words carried on by the disciples, the words written through the inspiration of Holy Spirit so we have them in the Bible. (John 17:20 ESV)  Our second promise is from the letter to the Hebrew believers and confirms that God has already prepared a city for those who believe. He is our God and we give Him the glory He deserves.  Let’s start doing that today. 

# # #

September 18 – The Real Safe Place

“But let all who take refuge in You be glad, Let them ever sing for joy; And may You shelter them, That those who love Your name may exult in You.” Psalm 5:11 (NASB)

We are promised that when we trust the Lord, He actively responds. In our verse today we learn that the result is joy and gladness. When we recognize that we are safe, that brings joy. Refuge is a place of safety.  We have a promised refuge in our spiritual lives as Jesus followers.   It is so good to know that our God takes care of those who seek His help. When one of God's children takes refuge in Him, how is that done?  We find refuge in God when we have faith in His word and believe what He has promised.  Today's verse teaches us about two results from taking refuge in Him.  We rejoice with gladness and sing for joy.  God also shelters us and spreads protection over us.  These two expressions are similar, speaking of the from two different perspectives. We are reminded that we can seek refuge in the Lord and we notice that when we do trust God and His promises we have another cause for rejoicing.  Today let us seek refuge in Him.   

# # #

August 13 – A Place, A Return, A Gathering, Forever

“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” John 14:3 -   (NASB)

The Gospel of John give us an account of what Jesus said to His disciples at their observance of Passover Seder. We believe that Jesus' words in John 13-17 were spoken before they went out to the garden where Jesus was arrested.  Many promises were given at this time and much encouragement was offered because Jesus knew they would need it.  Judas was planning a betrayal for a bounty.  Peter was soon going to deny that he even knew Jesus and he was going to do it three times. Most of the rest would run for their lives and hide in fear. We believe the promises and encouragement are intended for all who have believed in Jesus as Savior and Lord.  Our verse today has four promises, or maybe we might say, four parts to one promise.  Jesus promises to prepare a place for us.  Jesus promises that He will come again.  Jesus promises that He will take us to Himself.  Jesus promises that we will be where Jesus is and that is for all eternity.  A place prepared, He comes again to gather His believers to have them with Him for the rest of time without end.  Let these promises be front and center today as we each attend to our responsibilities and duties.  

# # #

December 30 – We Are His Own

“...and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, just as a man carries his son, in all the way which you have walked until you came to this place.”  Deuteronomy 1:31  (NASB)

We have selected  another good verse from the Bible to read as the days of this year tick off.  It was Moses who spoke these words to the people of Israel after they had wandered around in the desert for 40 years.  Moses reminded the people of how God had been leading and caring for them.   He said God had been carrying them as a father would carry his son.  We do well to recognize that God has been doing the same for us this past year and years before that since we first believe in Him.  If we have entered God's family by faith in Jesus then God has adopted us into his family and He is our Father is carrying us.  So as we come to the end of this year and we pause to look back on our experiences the last 12 months, let's remember that we have not been doing this on our own – we have not been living by ourselves.  Our God has been with us providing guidance for us and bringing us along.  As promised, He has carried each of us as His own, because WE ARE His own. 

#-#-#

Please take a moment to share with friends.

May 2 – Always In This Place

“When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.”” Genesis 28:16 (NIV)

These words spoken by Jacob and recorded in our verse for today were uttered at a time that Jacob saw a vision at night of a stairway reaching from earth to heaven. Angels were going up and down the stairway. It was, of course, God who had given him the vision and had talked to him. The next day Jacob named the place Bethel, meaning the “House of God.” This was a special vision of God's presence but God had been with Jacob before that. Jacob should have known that God is everywhere and that He was always near to him. So it is with us, and it's our promise to keep. We don't need a special vision to prove to us that God is with us. We might be like Jacob who said, 'I was not aware of it,' but we can at anytime also say as Jacob said, 'surely the Lord is in this place,' because he always is. Today, we can hold this promise and know for certain God is with us wherever we go, whatever we do, whatever we say.