June 3 –Steadfast Convictions

“Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands.” Psalm 112:1 (NIV)

“They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”  Psalm 112:7 (NIV)

There is a positive result seen in the promises of these two verses from Psalm 112. With no title to this Psalm, it is evidently a companion to Psalm 111. We consider the promises in these verses. The exhortation at the beginning of 112:1 is never given too often; our Lord is the LORD God and He always deserves praise. The exhortation is for all thoughtful persons who observe the way and manner of life that appropriately fears the Lord. God’s favor towards the God-fearing is a display of His character and encourages gracious feelings in others. We study the divine precepts while we endeavor to observe them, and we rejoice doing so. Our promises are: We will have no dread that evil tidings will come, and we will not be alarmed when they do come. If our hearts are fixed in our reliance upon God, any change in circumstances will barely affects us; our faith makes our conviction steadfast. When the worst should come to worst we rest and remain quiet, patiently, waiting for God.

Compare line by line Psalms 111 & 112 and see the greatness of God and its reflection. 

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July 15 – Steps to Follow

“For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps, who committed no sin, nor was any deceit found in His mouth: and while being reviled, He did not revile in return; while suffering, He uttered no threats, but kept entrusting Himself to Him who judges righteously;”  -1 Peter 2:21-23  (NASB)

We live in a day where accusations are hurled and people are reviled simply for holding opposite opinions.  Especially for those who claim Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. When we step out and proclaim the truth we hold, it is common for allegations of all kinds to be claimed of our character, and intelligence.  Our promise today is the example of Jesus and how He conquered bitterness. There had never been any person more grievously sinned against then Jesus. Instead of receiving the honor He was worthy of, Jesus was dishonored more than any other man. As a man we would think Jesus had the right to be angry and bitter and even vengeful. How did Jesus overcome this?  How did Jesus control His reaction when they spit in His face? He had faith in his Father’s righteous judgement. Jesus did not need to avenge Himself and when we suffer indignities for proclaiming faith in Jesus, we don’t need to do so either.  He left us an example of how He reacted and calls us to follow Him in those steps. Don’t strike back. Leave the vengeance in God’s hands. Continue in faith to proclaim the Good News.

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July 21 – Precious Promises Granted

“For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.”   2 Peter 1:4 (NASB)

Take notice of “by these” in the first six words in today's verse.  The “these” are what he wrote in the previous verse,  “everything pertaining to life and godliness...”  Peter asserts that as Christians we are fully equipped to live a life pleasing to God for we have been given all we need to overcome any obstacle we face, and that we can persevere under trial. God is sufficient.  These are the promises God has given to us, promises we find in other scriptures, and promises we can  trust.  By trusting in God's promises we are allowing Him to make us more and more like Him – we become participants in the divine nature which He is developing in our lives.  Each of us who believe in Jesus and have received Him as our Lord and Savior are being conformed to Him.  This is a wonderful truth and promise that one day, when we are in heaven, corruption of this world will no longer be a factor and we will experience the completion of that process conforming us to His nature.  It will all be to the glory of our Almighty God.

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May 7 – Awe-inspiring Fear

“Praise the Lord! How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, Who greatly delights in His commandments.” Psalm 112:1 (NASB) 
“He will not fear evil tidings; His heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”  Psalm 112:7 (NASB)

These promises in these verses are, of course, written for all of people created by God and who are therefore all equal in His sight.  We include these two verses this way because we believe that they describe the kind of person who follows this blog.  We are therefore thankful and take great delight in hearing the suggestions which God has given in the Bible as to how we should live.  When we pay attention to the teaching which God has given us in the Bible it does give us the ability to not shrink in fear when we hear of evil that is at work in the world. Rather, these  promises give us courage and strengthens our hearts so that we are standing firm and trusting in the Lord our God.  We trust our Lord because of who He is and our fear of Him is an awesome respect of Him.  We do not cower from God but we submit to His awe-inspiring authority over all things and submit to His will.  We do not have to cower from evil news either because God Almighty is our God and we recognize that all things come from Him.  So we take hope and delight in following in His way and commandments no matter what we encounter in our life.   

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November 26 – Hear It, Believe It

“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”  Romans 10:17 (ESV)

The promises we have in today's verse are very special because they affirm for us how we have the faith we claim to have.   When ever we have the opportunity to hear the Word of God spoken and taught to us, and whenever we read from the Bible, we have the opportunity to believe.  It is our faith in the truthfulness of God's word that builds our life in Christ.  Faith comes from hearing the message.  We know that we are saved by faith and the Bible  tells us that we live by faith.  Yes, we need faith to live our Christian live each day.  We need faith to believe and trust the promises and as we do our faith is strengthened.  Paying attention to His Word whenever we hear it and taking it in and thinking about it is how our faith grows.  When confronted by a trial or test of our faith, we can trust it to help us because we believe what we have heard through His Word. 

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August 2 – Perfect Shield

“As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.”  Psalm 18:30 (NIV)

The songs or psalms that we have in our Bible were often written to express what the writers had experienced in trusting God.  Today's verse is like that.  When David wrote this song he had passed through a very trying period of his life. His experience had proved to him that God does everything right.  That is why David used the words perfect and flawless to describe what God had done for him.  We notice that David thought of God as a shield. Let's remember how a shield is used.  It is used between a person and some threatening danger, and that is how our Lord protects us each day.  Let's trust the Lord to be close to us, closer than the things which bother us.  If He is that close He'll be between us and our problems and will truly protect us as He did so for David. That is our promise to remember – that our Lord is our shield, our perfect shield in this world today. 

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January 5 – Resting While Working

“So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His.” Hebrews 4:9-10 (NASB)

It is well for us to be aware of the benefits of the Christian life which God wants us to experience.  In these days as attacks on our faith by the enemy grow more and more bold, we can find a promise in today's verse. The concept of resting began a long time ago. We read about God resting after the creation of the universe. The idea of resting is mentioned in the Old Testament where God wanted His people to rest on His promise to take care of them. They often disappointed Him by trying to work things out for themselves. God is still anxious for us to rest upon His promises. We rest on His promise to give us eternal life when we believed on Jesus as our Savior. He wants us to rest on His promise to care for our needs each day. Instead of worrying about things, let's rest on God goodness and love today and remember the promise that has been given to each of us.  

October 22 – See Us Through

“Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands.” Psalm 112:1 (NIV)
“They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.” Psalm 112:7 (NIV)

We are choosing two verses from Psalm 112 today. The first verse identifies who the psalmist is writing this song for. Those who fear the Lord and delight in what He tells us to do.  The next verses describe a person who respects and worships God. Our second verse doesn't say that a follower of the Lord will never hear any bad news. It doesn't say that nothing unpleasant will ever happen to us. What our verse promises is that we won't spend time thinking of some bad things that might happen to us. What it means is that we will be trusting in the love of God to take care of us no matter what happens. We have a great and loving God and He promises to see us through.  

October 9 – Tested and True

“Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and your servant loves them.” Psalm 119:140 (NIV)

Our verse today is from the longest chapter, by verse count, in the Bible. In Psalm 119 every verse speaks of God's Word and commandments and promises. We hope that each person who reads this today can affirm the words of verse 140. Walking daily with God's word and trusting in Him will result in agreement that God's promises have been thoroughly tested. That is why we have good reason to love these promises we find throughout the Bible because of this testing. It may be a challenge for some to fully accept this because their expectation is something different than what God has promised. Today, remember what God says, He will always do and what He has spoken, he will make good. God is not a man that he would lie or change his mind. 

September 17 – Providing Rest

“I myself will tend my sheep and have them lie down, declares the Sovereign Lord.” Ezekiel 34:15 (NIV)

Shepherds were very common in the world during the days that these words of the Bible were written. God often spoke of Himself as our Shepherd. As the sheep followed their Shepherd, God wants us to follow Him and trust Him to provide what we need – even the times of rest. We can picture a flock of sheep relaxing in a nice cool place after feeding on the grass and drinking from the cool stream. With all their needs supplied the sheep can enjoy a good rest. This is what our Lords wants to do for us. He wants us to pause and relax trusting that all our needs are taken care of by Him for He is our shepherd, our Good Shepherd.

May 7 – A Steadfast Heart

“Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord, who find great delight in his commands.” Psalm 112:1 (NIV)
“They will have no fear of bad news; their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.”  Psalm 112:7 (NIV)

We have chosen these two verses which reminded us of steadfast heart. The last words of verse 7 describes a picture of a heart that is resting on something solid so that it is not shaken no matter what happens. When the world around us is unstable and coming apart our hearts can remain unmoved. The verses today explain how this comes about. It is by trusting in the Lord. What else could provide a more solid foundation than our God? As we trust and fear the Lord we find satisfaction in his promises and commands. We won't be bothered by things  going on around us. Our feelings and our thoughts will always be steady knowing that God is faithful. Today, let's be like the person in the verse. Praise the Lord and trust in the Lord.

July 25

“As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; he shields all who take refuge in him.”  Psalm 18:30 (NIV)

Many of David’s songs were composed during times of stress. Psalm 18 was written after a stressful time when the pressure was off. Shields were of course used in days when warfare was carried on with arrows, spears, and swords. A person behind a shield would be protected from the missiles coming from the enemy.  David had found that kind of spiritual protection by trusting in the Lord his God. There are arrows flying in our direction, too, arrows of doubt, discouragement, and loneliness. How can we be protected from such arrows? By trusting in the Lord. He, Himself will protect us. 

May 12

“Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.”  James 1:12 (NIV)

We all need to realize that there are times when our faith in God is being tested. When we have experiences like that we can remember that God has given us promises like this one. What is it that God has promised? It is a crown of life. And who will get the crown? It is for those who love God. And how does one show his or her love for God? We show our love for God by persevering when tested. So, if we claim to love the Lord, we can show that Love by keeping on trusting Him no matter what happens. 

May 7

“My heart, O God, is steadfast, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make music.” Psalm 57:7 (NIV)

This is another psalm composed by David when he was hiding in a cave to protect himself from those sent by King Saul to kill him. Can you picture young David sitting in a cave knowing that his enemies were looking for him to kill him? There he sits in the cave singing! How could he sing such words in such circumstances? It was because His heart was focused on God, His love, His concern, His great power and ability. If your hearts are focused upon God, firmly trusting in Him and His love and power, you, too, will be steadfast and unmoved. And there will be a song in your heart!

April 15

“Be strong, all you people of the land,’ declares the Lord, ‘and work. For I am with you,’ declares the Lord Almighty.” Haggai 2:4 (NIV)

This is a word of encouragement through the prophet Haggai to the people working on the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem. As your face each day you have things that you need to do. Will it make a difference to you if you know that the Lord is with you? You can be sure that if you are trusting in the Lord, He will be with you. So you can be encouraged by the words of this scripture because they remind us that our Lord is involved in what we are doing each day. He will be with us through each day and will strengthen us.