May 17 – Equipped With Everything

“Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant, even Jesus our Lord, equip you in every good thing to do His will, working in us that which is pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20-21 (NASB)

The selected verses for today’s promises are so often used as a benediction they may be familiar to some. They are packed with so much we will highlight just a few. Does it sometimes seem difficult to live the Christian Life in such a way that we will please God? The very long sentence begins with six words of the statement and then at the ending promise. We learn that it is the God of peace who raised Christ – our great Shepherd – from the dead. The power to do that is the power we have to live a life pleasing to God.  We cannot and  shouldn't try to live such a life by our own effort. We will never make it on our own. We do not have the ability. God knows that we do not possess what we need within ourselves. God doesn't expect it of us so He equips us with what we need. Our God makes us complete and He wants us to recognize that He will bring the changes in our lives to live godly lives. This is a promise and the result brings glory to God – it’s our reason for our existence. 

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September 22 – Pleasing Meditation

“May my meditation be pleasing to him, as I rejoice in the Lord.”  Psalm 104:34 (NIV)

The Psalmist who wrote Psalm 104 expressed in verse 34 a desire which we might apply to ourselves. We know it is very important that we who follow the Lord think right thoughts so that we can express the same desire that the Psalmist did here.  I think we all want our meditation to be pleasing to the Lord.  Our verse reminds us how this can be true.  It is God's will that His people be happy.  It is also His will that we find our happiness in knowing Him, in sensing His presence with us at all times. Our Lord Himself is the source of our true joy. When we enjoy God's presence and the assurance of His constant love and reflect on the promises He has given to us, we can't help but think of it, can we?  It becomes a part of our meditation and that is pleasing to the Lord. 

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May 17 – Equipped With Everything

“Now may the God of peace...equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:20a, 21 (ESV)

Does it sometimes seem difficult to live the Christian Life in such a way that we will please God? Our verse for today is a long sentence and we are looking at the first six words of the statement and then at the ending promise. This reminds us that we shouldn't try to live a life pleasing to God by our own effort. We will never make it on our own because we do not have the ability and God doesn't expect us to do that. God knows that we do not possess, on our own, what we need – we don't have it in us and so He equips us with what we need. Our God comes into our lives when we accept Jesus as Savior. He makes us complete and He wants us to recognize that He will bring the changes in our lives to live pleasing to Him. This is a promise and the result brings glory to God – our reason for our existence. 

July 15 – Do the Will of Our Father

“I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:8 (NIV)

These are very precious words. We believe that David was expressing his own personal  feelings but we also believe that these words have a wider meaning than that. These words fit so well with what the Bible records about the attitude of Jesus. We remember how often Jesus expressed His desire to do the will of His Father – all the way to the cross. We also want to apply these words to ourselves as we come to our God in prayer we want to express our deep desire to do what is pleasing to Him. And we know we have the promise within our hearts, if we have believed and accepted Jesus as our Savior. That is why it is our desire to do what God wants. And, don't we sense in our hearts what is pleasing to Him?

May 17 – Equipped and Able

“Now may the God of peace,. . . equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.” Hebrews 13:21 (NIV)

We know that as children of God we are called to live in such a way as to please our Heavenly Father. It is possible, however, that we might be tempted to think that it is hard – even too hard to actually live as God wants us to live. God knows this and as we are told in today's verse, He had given us the ability to live as He has called us to live. We believe that the writer of these words was inspired by God to remind his readers, including us, that God does help us – He provides the tools.  Did you notice the words about equipping us with everything good for doing His will? God is not expecting us to do anything by ourselves. He is with us to help us and He will equip us to do what he wants us to do. And to live lives that are pleasing to Him.