Romans 5:1-5 – Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. 3 Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
It is deep truth, yet profoundly elementary, that we are saved by faith and not by works. (Ephesians 2:8-9) We can do nothing to save ourselves except fall onto our knees cry out to Jesus that He would accept us as His humble servants. We do that, or we perish. (John 3:18) There is no bargaining on this condition. It is God’s way or there is no way. (Acts 4:12) If anyone is too proud for that, than they have chosen the eternal place for the proud, perdition. But for all who do repent and come to the Lord, He will surely accept them. That is beyond doubt, it was what He came to do! Jesus Himself said that His purpose for coming to earth was to seek and save the lost, which we all were. (Luke 19:10)
Having humbled ourselves before God the Father through loving His Son, we have peace with God. It is absolute, it is sure, and in every way it is enough. We grow in His peace as we grow to know that His sacrifice was more than enough in every way and for eternity. Thank you Jesus!
A “Come to Jesus” moment is and is not a once in a lifetime moment. Coming to Jesus once is all that is needed. However, in reality, in gratitude, every day of our lives we will be thankful to Him and out of our love for Him, and because Holy Spirit lives within He continuously changes us to be more and more what the children of God will be known as. And that is being possessors of His love. (1 John 4:7-8) What we are is not what we were and what we are is not what we will be because He is faithful! So our boast is never about us, but about our God who takes care of everything for our benefit. Because of Him, we persevere. Thank You our triune God!
God the Holy Spirit keeps us close. He gives us strength to carry on. As we learn to yield to Him we consider that everything in this world is worth losing for the sake of being closer to the Lord. We shed all to gain all. As we persevere our Children of God character grows and as it grows we begin to all the more understand the magnificent plan of God for our eternal salvation. Since we grow in our knowledge of God our faith in Him grows and our hope becomes an inextinguishable fire that burns away the chaff of our lives, heats our hearts to molten red, and lights the path that the Lord God has custom made for each of our lives. And the hope we have in God is hope that God gives to us that God nurtures into that glowing flame and it will never put us to shame. Instead, we boast of what God does for us, and for all who will come. So, in us there is nothing to boast of. All we have done and do outside of faithful service to the Lord is a waste. We pray to only serve Him and that to be our joy. In that we hope. And that hope keeps and builds us because He loves us. Praise God! Thank you Lord!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withPhilippians 1:21 “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.
Is life hard? If we could truly lock into seeing things from God’s perspective and if we could truly, absolutely, beyond all doubt believe God’s Word, and also believe in His love, then would we consider life to be hard? Yes, hard things happen. Love ones get sick and some die. People get in accidents and get maimed. People hurt people every minute of every day. Bad things happen every day. But does that make life hard? Might it be possible that while hard things happen it doesn’t have to mean life as hard?
If a child dies shouldn’t we celebrate that the best thing that could happened to the child has happened, the child is with God! (Isaiah 57:1) Praise God! King David gave us a great example of a Godly perspective. (2 Samuel 12:19-23) He prayed for his child’s healing, but when that never came, He went on with life and his faith never wavered. His child was with God and one day David would see the child in Heaven. (2 Corinthians 5:8)
Worldly perspective is that the longer one publicly and loudly mourns then the greater the love. The Godly leave here and go to Heaven to be with God. To the extent we believe that is the extent of our peace. If someone loves and serves Jesus, then dying is a great celebration as they are promoted from earth to His presence. Of course we have to believe God more than anyone else, even than ourselves. If we truly love the person, why should the pain of us missing them overshadow the joy of them being with God? We have not lost them, and never will, but will one day rejoin them. Truly believing and trusting God determines our level of peace
If we love, then we want the best for those we love. Being with us is not the best. We all have hurt each other, intentionally or not. When we are with the Lord in Heaven there is no pain, no hurt no suffering. (Revelation 21:4) Do we truly believe that or do we merely acknowledge it as something we should believe? Nothing on this earth, jobs, houses, cars, and even friends and family compare with the blessing of walking with God. Nothing on this earth should be hard to release if required to do so by God. And if we understand and practice that, then we begin to get the correct perspective that any earthly thing that is lost cannot steal away the love, peace and joy that we have in Christ Jesus.
We can do that if God is truly number one in our lives. God must be first in our lives with no rivals. Every day we grow closer to Him doubt is trimmed away. Every day gets better. Every day we love Him more. Romans 8:38-39 declares that nothing can stop God from loving us and as we truly love Him nothing can separate our love from Him. And since we always have the love of the Lord can any one of our lives be defined as hard? Often we find that those who have suffered most and not wavered in their faith have the greatest joy and peace. Believe God’s Word, talk to Him continuously and faith will grow. It is inevitable. God is true and faithful. Family, by His grace and equipping we can do this. Having a hard life is living without Jesus. I pray that on that day, none of us be found to be guilty of that. Always praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withLuke 15:1-7 – Now the tax collectors and sinners were all gathering around to hear Jesus. 2 But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.” 3 Then Jesus told them this parable: 4 “Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn’t he leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? 5 And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders 6 and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ 7 I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.
God loves people who sin. Now that is very different from saying that God loves people to sin. Or that God excuses sin. Or that a sin is okay because we are “Only human.” Sin can be forgiven, but it is not excused for any reason. Sin is wrong and the Word of God clearly states that it has a price and that the price is death (eternal separation from God). Romans 6:23 declares “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” So there is no accepted excuse for sinning. None. However, if we will love and serve Jesus, then the mercy and grace of God through Jesus Christ will bring us to Heaven. Romans 6:22 states “But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness and the result is eternal life.” Eternal life means eternal peace and communion with God and that only through Jesus. (John 14:6)
I openly confess that I was a filthy sinner who one day fell in tears before Jesus and cried as I asked Him to please be my Savior and Lord. I knew the fullness of my sins and that there was no excuse for any of them. But wait, there’s more! Jesus not only forgave all my sins to that point, but continues to forgive them as I confess them. Yes, I confess, I am still a sinner, but the difference now is that I am a forgiven sinner. With Jesus as Lord of my life I sin less, but I am certainly still a sinner. Jesus who suffered for every one of my sins, continues to love and forgive me always and forever! Everyone likes a good and fair deal and Jesus paying for all of our sins as a free gift to us is the best deal ever!
For all who do not know Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord, I want you all to know that there is no-one, this side of life, that He excludes from His forgiveness. (2 Peter 3:9) If you are without this personal relationship with Jesus, please, right now, humble yourself and seek that personal relationship with Jesus. It’s one you will never regret. If you need someone to explain more, and pray with you, I would be delighted to do that. No judgement, just a helping of another person to find Jesus, as I was helped. Let me know, or another born-again Christian know, and we will be delighted to pray with you. Praise our God who desires us all to be saved and not perish. Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
John 20:11-18 “Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. 13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?” “They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus. 15 He asked her, “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means “Teacher”). 17 Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” 18 Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her.”
With a broken heart and weeping inconsolably Mary Magdalene went to the tomb where she had seen Jesus laid. Today many have known the feeling of going to a gravesite and crying with a broken heart for a loved one who has died. Mary was mourning because yes, she loved Jesus but He was much more than a person she loved, He was the Savior of her eternal soul, and now she didn’t understand how He could be dead. How deeply she was broken! She felt irreparably broken.
Some of us have felt, and some of us do, also know such grief. Some of us have felt circumstances changed, or are about to change, and that our world may never be the same again. And, we may be right in that the world may change seemingly become beyond repair, but the Lord knows how to deliver through the flood, through the sea, and though the fire. “But God!” How glorious that phrase for those who know it, have trusted it, and have found it to be true!
For all who are suffering, grieving and worrying, we need not hurt and fear, as we are prone to do. Of course some events in our lives will leave scars that remain tender for a lifetime. The outer flesh closes, but the wound beneath remains tender. The scars will remain but they are only a reminder, are not only a remembrance, but also a sign of healing. In the loss of loved ones, we will, on this earth, hurt at the separation. But for those who love and serve the Lord our pain of separation may be eased. The ache to be reunited remains, but in the promises of our God the pain eases. We focus ever more intently on the One who is most dear to us. We focus on our God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. He is our hope, He is our joy and peace. He alone is the supreme Darling of our souls.
Jesus came to comfort the broken hearted (Psalm 34:18) and to give hope (Romans 15:13) to all mankind who will look to Him and not the world as their greatest treasure (Matthew 13:52, 19:21). For all who love Jesus we know this hope. How hopeless did Mary feel as she saw Jesus suffer and die? But her sorrow turned to joy when she saw the risen Jesus. Then she was filled again with the overwhelming peace and joy that she knew before her seeming separation from Him. After seeing Him her joy was not only returned, but she ran to bless others so that their joy may also return. Beloved Sisters and Brothers, whether it be the death of a loved one, or the fear of a tumultuous world, Jesus is always the answer to being restored to the peace and joy that only He gives. (John 14:27) We must turn our eyes from the gravestone, and from our thoughts of the seeming tidal wave that threatens to overwhelm, and look to our God for whom nothing is impossible. (Luke 1:37) As always, the answer is simple, look to Jesus. He is always the Answer. Thank you Jesus! Praise God
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withPsalm 27:13-14 – I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Philippians 4:4-5 – Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.
All who love and serve the Lord have full confidence that the Lord will bring us to our eternal home. Yet sometimes it is easy for us to become morose Believers who hate today and long for the morrow. We can walk around like too many saints of days gone by, and even today, who live as if this life is something to be endured, but not enjoyed. We can think that our joy lies solely in the eternal “after-life” with Him. Family and Friends let’s not live life in such a way. The Lord desires us to enjoy this life with the overflowing blessings that He gives us today as we look for the next life when our joy will be complete. We, more than all others, should celebrate our life and our countless blessings. We should be known for our quick smiles, our laughter and our love for those who love Christ and for all people. People who hurt should see us as sources of healing, hope and restoration. We should be those who help sustain the better and more moral parts of life and who clearly illuminate the path to God. They should begin to realize that the characteristics that they see in us are what radiates from God through us. Yet how can they see that if we are sad and seem to always be tossed by the wind?
We should be carefree but care deeply. We should be seen as small boulders that are pieces of the Great Rock, as people who are called to live our lives in formation with the will of God. Let us not only have every confidence that God will bring us home to Him and reward us for staying the course be we also enjoy the person and blessings of God now. There is no need to wait for the Day to come, we are to enjoy Him here and now. We do not hope to know God in the future, but we increasingly know Him now. And if we know Him now then we ought to enjoy Him now. And if we enjoy Him now, we ought to celebrate Him now. And if we celebrate Him now why should we live ponderous lives? There is no need to wait to enjoy God and be in His presence, we have it now. Let us always see the many blessings and how overwhelmingly they outnumber even our serious troubles. Let us enjoy fellowship with God now. Enjoy His love and His personality now. We now enjoy His gifts to us of healing and provision, and also we enjoy His humor, His wit, His wisdom, His loveliness and the friendship that He gives to us right now. Those blessings themselves are beyond any friendship in the world. We now have all of God that we can now handle in the land of the living! How blessed we are! Thank You Father! Thank You Jesus! Thank You Holy Spirit!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withProverbs 14:2 “Whoever fears the Lord walks uprightly, but those who despise Him are devious in their ways.”
Luke 6:45 “A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.”
Acts 13:41 “Look, you scoffers, wonder and perish, for I am going to do something in your days that you would never believe, even if someone told you.”
Jude 1:18 “They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.””
The person who has sought God, and found Him, strives to walk right before God by bowing low to Jesus and crying out for mercy, which He is quick to give. However, those who hate God express it by denying Jesus. (1 John 2:22-23, Psalm 2:11-12) People make evil plans to subvert the Word of God, but there is a day that they will mourn the error of their ways. (Romans 4:8) But God is good and has, through Jesus, made the way for forgiveness of all sin through Jesus. All sin is forgivable with one exception, the sin of rejecting eternal life through Jesus. Once a person dies, all hope for peace with God is gone. (Hebrews 9:27) However, why should anyone let that haunt them? Jesus died for everyone and so, since anyone reading this is still alive, eternal life is being offered to every person right now! (John 3:16, 2 Peter 3:9) Walk with God by walking with Jesus. (John 14:6) Don’t be devious and plot against salvation through Jesus because by doing so one plots against their very own soul. Jesus loves you, why not accept His love and return it and thereby receive eternal life through Him? Bow low to God and He will lift you up. (James 4:10) Praise God!
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withProverbs 11:4 “Wealth is worthless in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.”
Mark 8:36 “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”
As Pastor Greg Laurie often states, “You’ve never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul trailer. You’re gonna leave everything here on this side, in this life.”
King Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 2:4-11 “I undertook great projects: I built houses for myself and planted vineyards. 5 I made gardens and parks and planted all kinds of fruit trees in them. 6 I made reservoirs to water groves of flourishing trees. 7 I bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house. I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. 8 I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasure of kings and provinces. I acquired male and female singers, and a harem[a] as well—the delights of a man’s heart. 9 I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me. In all this my wisdom stayed with me. 10 I denied myself nothing my eyes desired; I refused my heart no pleasure. My heart took delight in all my labor, and this was the reward for all my toil. 11 Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under the sun.”
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withPsalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
Proverbs 11:1 “The Lord detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him.”
What man thinks is a small thing, an inconsequential sin, God sees and detests. Man uses euphemisms instead of calling sin, sin. But the Lord God calls cheating a customer by a penny, or cheating a merchant by a penny, stealing. It is sin. Mankind tells “little white lies, or stories of no harm” but God calls them lies and has said that there will be no thieves or liars in heaven. None. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Revelation 21:8) If we sin, let us call it sin and repent. But especially in things like lying and stealing, for beneath the both of them is dishonesty in the heart. A thief is always a liar and a liar is usually a thief. Let our hearts and our ways be upright in things big and small.
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob withProverbs 10:12 “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all transgressions.”
1 Peter 4:7-8 “The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray. 8 Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
Mark 12:29-31 “Jesus answered, “The foremost is, ‘Hear, O Israel! The Lord our God is one Lord; 30 and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
We should listen to everything that Almighty God says. If He says it twice, we know that He is stressing the importance of it. If He says it three times, it could be compared to a received TEXT MESSAGE IN BOLD AND IN ALL CAPITALS. Pay attention, God wants your attention. Love others as God has loved us.
Psalm 150:6 – Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!
Micah 7:7 – But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will Hear me.
Micah 6:8 – He has shown You, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.
Numbers 6:24-26 “The Lord bless you and keep you; 25 The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26 The Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.”
by Bob with