June 26 – When The End Is Not That

“As for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, Yet from my flesh I shall see God.” – Job 19:25-26 (NASB)

Yes, we are focusing a bit on suffering these past three days. But we should not be surprised to know that suffering for Christ’s sake is promised each believer. Our portion will be according to the will of God. Job suffered for God to a degree none of us could imagine. In Job 2:7 we read that Satan “smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.” Yet in the circumstance of his skin peeling off and turning black from decay, Job held on fast that he would see God in his flesh – that means after his death he believed in his resurrection by God. He believed that God who was allowing him to suffer so severely was also his Redeemer God. Eventually He will rule all taking His stand on the earth. The scripture we have received from God is His inspired word and is perfect. Nothing that ever happens to God’s family of faith believers will last even if it brings death. When hope for life is no more, we have confidence that God will resurrect our bodies and conform them to perfection as His body is perfect.  

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March 9 –He's Waiting and Ready

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” Revelation 3:20 (NASB)

We look again at a familiar verse and promise. Context is important and that is true here. This is a part of the message which our Lord Jesus sent to the assembly of believers in Laodicea in the first century. It was a specific invitation to the individuals in that church. The common interpretation of Christ’s knocking on a person’s heart, is not in the context which demands that Christ was seeking to enter this church that bore His name but lacked a single true believer. This poignant letter was His knocking. Jesus said that if any one person realizes that Jesus is waiting to be invited into his or her life, Jesus is ready and willing to respond. This is, of course, true of any local professing church. Christ must be invited to come in and become the center of worship, adoration, and love, but it is also true of the heart of man. Jesus wants us to be aware of His nearness and He has so much to share with us every day – at any hour of the day. Today, let's each open the door to our lives and invite Jesus to be with us.  

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May 24 – Unbounded Grace

“Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.” -  Romans 5:1-2 (NASB)

Day to day we may not, very often, think about the grace in which we stand. Considering that grace in our lives is pretty much limited to the word “gracious” which, means kind, polite, civil, tactful, and courteous. Grace, however, is much more than politeness or civil behavior. Our promise in today’s verse is powerful because it explains what grace brings to us. Because of the grace God has for us we, who in faith believe in Jesus and His words, have been justified. Notice the “have been” there? It is past, it is a done deal. Being justified provides for us peace with God which is also by grace, our possession. We have such a possession of peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ and it is through Christ we were introduced by faith into this marvelous grace. We really need to think about this deeply and frequently. It is a gift which continues to develop into more gifts from God. The last promise is hope, and hope is ours because of what God has fully done for us by grace. It a hope for which we can triumph in the glory of God.  

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March 20 – Only One, He Promises

“Remember this and stand firm, recall it to mind, you transgressors, remember the former things of old; for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me,” – Isaiah 46:8-9  (ESV)

For those who through Jesus Christ are living with the promise that our new life will last for eternity, it is still good to remember from where we have come. Not remember how or what but where we were once before God pulled us out of the miry muck of sin and death and set our feet on solid ground. Remembering God and thinking about what He has done and who He is. His attributes and His characteristics, help us remember to keep our focus on Him in spite of the chaos of our world that invades our peace, disrupts and stirs up our temper, or attacks our disposition. Remembering and standing firm on what we know about God helps us not to let our temper loose on anyone else. Remember, He has promised this: He is God, our God, and the only true and living God. There is none like Him, none that can compare. It is God who promises us in today’s passage “There is none like Me.” Many times we are challenged to think the gods of other’s religion are real but they don’t exist as anything other than entities opposed to our LORD God the Almighty.

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October 5 – Never Fades, Never Perishes

“The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8 (ESV)

“…for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.” 1 Peter 1:24-25 (ESV)

We have a promise found in our verses today that was given first in the book of Isaiah and then quoted by the Apostle Peter in his first letter to the believers who were scattered across Asia Minor. It promises the permanence of God’s Word, our Bible. It is a good promise for us to cling to and remember, to even commit to our memory. The words which God has given to us in the Scriptures are true and they are eternal. Unlike the grass and flowers which we plant and cultivate and tend to so attentively will ultimately suffer from the heat of the sun and lack of water – even if we keep all those threats at a minimum, the expectant life is pre-determined. Many attack the Bible and question its absolute authority, but the words of God recorded in Scripture remain and will stand forever.  They do not fade away, wither away, or dry up.  In fact we can know with assurance that each day the words from God our Father remain fresh, powerful and effectual (Lamentations 3:18). This promise keeps us looking upward and faithfully believing what the Bible gives us.    

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August 4 – Standing On Firm Rock

“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” Psalm 40:2 (NIV)

This verse reveals for us the promise of what the Lord does for those who respond to His loving invitation of eternal life. This is a Psalm written by King David and in it David affirms God’s goodness in rescuing him from some trouble.  David certainly did often find himself mired down in circumstances where He needed to trust his Lord God for deliverance.  We trust that you who follow this blog have found yourself on the “firm place to stand” that the psalmist had found. Our verse does not tell us exactly what it means by “firm place to stand” But the next verse explains that many will “put their trust in the Lord.”  So, that is where the firm place is found – it is in trusting the Lord.  If you are trusting in the Lord for all your needs, material and spiritual, that is a firm place to stand. If you are not certain you are standing on a firm place, you can find it by trusting what God has said in His Word.  Let's thank God today for providing  and setting us upon that rock – a firm place in Him.

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March 12 –No Council No Scoffers

“How blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit in the seat of scoffers!”  Psalm 1:1 - (NASB)

Our promise today is that we are blessed IF we avoid those things that block a blessing from us.  We all really want to be happy.  Blessed is another word for “Happy” and our verse could read, How HAPPY is the man who avoids the pitfalls of wicked counsel, does not hang around the areas where sinners pass by, and does not congregate with those who scoff.  Pretty simple, “Don’t get involved with the wrong crowd where the counsel is not godly and the way is not righteous and those sitting around us are mocking what we believe.  These days we encounter those who scoff at people, like us, who speak out about our faith in Jesus.  They are scoffers and their scoffing is aimed at our Lord and us for believing and talking about our love of God.  In a few verses and three days we will understand the outcome of those who provide wicked council, beat a path to unrighteousness, and make fun of believers in God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  To scoff at one is scoffing at all persons of the One God we worship.  

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November 18 – Before, Now and Future Time

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy,  to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.”  -  Jude 1:24-25 (NASB)

Our verses today are the doxology found at the end of the letter written by Jude, a half-brother of Jesus and full brother to James.  There is only one chapter in this book, and it is packed full of warnings against a life of sinful living and in rebellion to God and Jesus Christ our Savior.  But Jude ends the rather harsh letter with these encouraging words and promises. We have the promise that Jesus Christ is able to keep us from stumbling into the life and actions Jude previously warned us off of.  And the promise that Jesus gives us a rightful standing in the very presence before God.  Not just a standing but a standing in His glory and in a blameless state, filled with joy. There is so much here that the next time we hear it recited at the end of a message or service, we should think deeply about these promises and not let them just roll off our tongue.  We can acknowledge that Jesus Christ our Lord has glory, majesty, dominion, and authority from eternity past, before all time, now in time, and forever into eternity future for all time.    

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August 25 – Stand on a Firm Place

“He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.”  Psalm 40:2 (NIV)

Today we are considering a testimony by David in one of the psalms he wrote.  This is a song of praise to God. We want to think of those last words about God giving us a “firm place to stand.”  That is really what He has done and is doing.  Without that firm place, we find ourselves on uncertain and slippery mud.  Have your ever been in such a place where even a step could mean a fall into muck and slime?  When we believed in Jesus as our Savior, we were lifted out of the slimy pit we were in and given a solid foundation, a rock to stand on.  This rock is the new relationship we have with the God of the universe.  We have received His Spirit to live in us and to guide us and to keep us from falling.  We belong to Him and are part of His family forever.  Such is the solid ground on which we stand now.  There is this promise given to us and we can stand on it in faith believing because God is the faithful one who watches over us.  

If you find hope and encouragement in these daily blogs, please share them with your friends. 

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March 9 – Waiting and Ready

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” Revelation 3:20 (NIV)

The Bible promise we read in today's verse is a familiar one to many but it is worth repeating. It is a part of the message which our Lord Jesus sent to the assembly of believers in Laodicea in the first century. It was a specific invitation to the individuals in that church.  It is a promise for individuals believers today in much the same way as when John recorded it.  Jesus said that if any one person realizes that Jesus is waiting to be invited into his or her life, Jesus is ready and willing to respond.  Jesus wants to be a part of our lives first as our Savior and also as our teachers, guide, and friend. He wants us to be aware of His nearness and He has so much to share with us every day – at any hour of the day. Today, let's each open the door to our lives and invite Jesus to be with us.  

July 25 – Belonging to Him, We are His

“Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.” 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 (NIV)

We can be sure that our God is involved in what happens in our lives as Christians. We know that we all pay special attention to the things that belong to us. This is true of property which we might own and of smaller things which we think of as belonging to us. Our verse reminds us that God thinks of us as belonging to Him. For that reason He is actively involved in our lives to maintain that relationship, helping us to stand firm in Christ. That's why he has given us His Holy Spirit to live within us and also to be our guarantee that we belong to Him. Let's be thankful for the stamp of ownership Jesus has given to us in the Holy Spirit within us. 

March 2 - At Your Side

“But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion’s mouth.”  2 Timothy 4:17 (NIV)

This verse is the testimony of the apostle Paul and we are thinking especially of the first part of this verse. Paul is telling how the Lord helped him in a court appearance. When Paul was summoned to testify in court no other person was there to help him but he did not stand alone. He said that the Lord stood at his side and gave him strength. What a wonderful experience that was for Paul. He knew that he did not stand alone and he was conscious that the Lord stood right there at his side. This can be our experience too. We can be assured that whatever we face, the Lord is with us. Let us remember God’s promise to be with us right when we need Him. He will be with you as He was with Paul. Remember what Paul said, “…the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength...” He will give you strength also.