November 25 – Being at Home - Always

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

And this day many are traveling home after their visit with families or other travels on the busiest travel day in some countries. Going home is often a wonderful trip no matter what the reason. This is a very short verse today from a Psalm written by Moses. He was writing about his own experience and the experience of other people of faith who lived before him. We believe his words can describe our experience today as well. We like the picture of the Lord as being our dwelling place. It is like saying that the Lord is our home. Isn't it true that when we trust in Him we do feel at home? Our Lord does want us to feel at home with Him. It is so comfortable to be able to trust Him and to sense His fellowship. So let's always remember to come home to the Lord because that is where we belong. 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...forever.

 

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January 26 – No Distinctions In Peace

“Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.” Colossians 3:15 (NASB)

In the larger context of this passage we find that the Apostle Paul is writing to Christians in the church in Colossae. Paul is addressing the truth that in Jesus Christ there were no distinctions made between Greeks and Jews. Paul presses this truth to include the circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarians (those who spoke neither Greek or Latin), Scythian (the lowest class of people), slave and freeman. Because all who believe in Jesus Christ belong to Him. All racial bigotry, chauvinism, and snobbery is condemned here. Here the truth that before God “all men are equal” receives its best infallible, inspired expression.  So, what we find in our selected verse is that we should allow the peace of Christ to be our referee in our differences. We should use His peace to rule in our hearts and when there is a disturbing question about something, we should let God's peace make the decision. Instead of worrying about something we cannot control, we can let God's peace control our thinking. That's what God called us to and it is our promise from Him that He will rule correctly on our behalf.

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April 28 – Always, Continually, In All Things

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 (NIV)

Our lives as followers of Jesus Christ are intended to have the habit of always rejoicing, praying, and giving thanks in all things.  How can we expect to be always joyful?  No matter what happens in our lives, even in the most difficult circumstances can we be joyful in what God has done and promised to us.  How can this be?  It can be by abiding with God in continual communication, always praying.  This doesn't mean that we are 100% of the time on our knees in formal prayer.  It means that whatever is going on, we are in communication by thought or words or song with God who is there helping.  The result will be a desire to rejoice in the most difficult times for God is carrying out His plan for our lives.  And we are to give thanks in all circumstances.  God is here with us and we can be thankful about that.  It takes work and commitment but with a joyfulness in God and with regular communication and depending on Him, we find giving thanks a natural reaction.  And, after all it is God's will that we do this because we are in Christ Jesus.

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April 19 – Finished for Eternity

“Therefore when Jesus had received the sour wine, He said, “It is finished!” And He bowed His head and gave up His spirit.”  John 19:30 (NASB)

These are the last words spoken by Jesus while he hung on the cross just before He died.  Most of us understand and have heard this verse and understand how very meaningful they are.  Jesus had come from Heaven, lived a perfect life as a man and was accomplishing what He had come to do.  He came to fulfill God's plan for our salvation – making a way for all people to believe and receive forgiveness and eternal life.  Although Jesus had not sinned, He died to pay the price for all the sins we would commit.  He was dying in our place.  We can be so grateful to Jesus, the Son of God for going all the way for us.  When he declared “it is finished” it was for each of us.  We do well to be thankful and praise Him for what He has done for us.  By faith believing, what He finished becomes finished for us as well.  Let's be sure to give ourselves to Him in complete submission to His will today and every day.

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November 28 – Learning the Secret

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.”  Philippians 4:12-13 (NIV)

For the Apostle Paul, the life of a Christian is a time of learning to be content.  No matter what situation he was in, Paul says that he had learned the secret of being content. We know enough about Paul's life so we can say that he had faced many very difficult situations.  His life had been threatened, he was physically beaten and he had been left for dead.  He had been imprisoned for speaking the truth of the Gospel.  All these circumstances had been opportunities to learn contentment.  Maybe we find that difficult to understand?  But Paul had a teacher, and although he does not mention His name specifically we know Paul was talking about  His Lord.  All through his life God was teaching him and he had learned the secret from God.  Our promise is that we have the same teacher,  the same Lord and He wants to teach us this secret of being content.  It begins with being thankful and not being anxious for anything.  

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June 6 – Faithfulness Creates Trust

“For the word of the Lord is right and true; he is faithful in all he does.” Psalm 33:4 (NIV)

In this world of ours there are many many words being spoken or written. People are talking all around us all the time. Words are being spoken without end on the radio and on television and think of the words printed in newspapers, magazines, letters, emails, social media of all kinds. Some of these words may be true but certainly not all.  Our verse reminds us that the Word of the Lord is right and true and it tells us why we can believe that – God's words are right and true because of what He does. He always does what He says He will do. It's our God's faithfulness in all things that makes His word dependable. We have come to be very suspicious and wary of so much of what we hear and read today because those writing and saying these words are not faithful to the truth. We can be thankful and rejoice knowing that we can trust God's words because they are backed with His promises and He will make good everything that He says by His actions. What He has said He will do and what He has spoken He will make good. 

Note: The inclusion of the reference to 'emails and social media of all kinds' is by the editor.

April 11 – Rule of Peace

“And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.” Colossians 3:15 (ESV)

Peace was a subject which Jesus Christ talked about often when he was on this earth during his public ministry. He was aware that there were a lot of things in this world which create confusion and unrest. And these days, we are seeing a growing resistance to Christian things and to those who believe in Jesus. Today we look at a verse that promises what Jesus offered – to give His people peace in their hearts.  He still wants our hearts to be at peace even when our circumstances might not be so peaceful. Our verse speaks of Christ's peace RULING in our hearts.  If His peace is king of our heart  and if it has control of our thinking it will keep disturbing thoughts out. There will still be unsettling thoughts trying to get into our thinking and distract us from His promises but if we allow Christ's peace to RULE it will keep them out.  How does this happen? It happens when we let it happen by choice because that is God's will for us. 

February 20 – Thanks for Answering

“Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I shall rescue you, and you will honor Me.””Psalm 50:15  (NASB)

We want always to remember that our God does answer prayer. In the Bible verse we've chosen we are reminded what God expects from us when He answers our prayers. We sometimes hear people make the statement that prayer changes things. We would really be wiser to say that God changes things in answer to prayers. It is what God does that makes a difference in our situation when we pray about it.  This, of course, is what our Lord wants us to remember. We must give Him the credit for answering prayers. So, when we pray and then realize that God has changed things let be sure to honor Him when we think about it and when we talk about it. Even when the way God answers our prayers is not exactly what we expected or wanted.  He always knows what is best for us and He promises to rescue us when we call. 

November 23 – Being at Home - Always

“Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations.” Psalm 90:1 (NIV) 

This is a very short verse today from a Psalm written by Moses. He was writing about his own experience and the experience of other people of faith who lived before him. We believe his words can describe our experience today as well. We like the picture of the Lord as being our dwelling place. It is like saying that the Lord is our home. Isn't it true that when we trust in Him we do feel at home? Our Lord does want us to feel at home with Him. It is so comfortable to be able to trust Him and to sense His fellowship. So let's always remember to come home to the Lord because that is where we belong. 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...forever.

October 12 – Established Peace

“Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us.” Isaiah 26:12 (NIV)

We believe these words are true for us who belong to God's family today. We must never forget how much our Lord is involved in our lives. One of the goals that God wants for each of His children is peace in our hearts. The enemy of our souls does not want us to enjoy spiritual peace but our God wants it for each of us. So, when we do sense this kind of peace let's remember that it has come from God. We don't work it up by ourselves. Our verse reminds us also of how much all we do accomplish is because of what God has done for us. We need to be thankful to Him for working all kinds of things out for us.