Followed by Goodness and Mercy

God has a satisfying plan for each of us. He reveals His plan for one moment at a time as we continually enjoy the fullness of His presence (Psalm 16:11, 17:15). Then, He delivers us from an eternal death in hell and preserves our life as we trust in Him (2 Timothy 4:18).

Our benevolent Father God remembers the days of our youth through the eyes of His love; not holding against us our sins and indiscretions (Psalm 25:7, 36:7-10). All of His ways are loving and trustworthy, especially as we faithfully abide in covenant with Him (Psalm 25:10).

We often want to prolong our days on this clay ball, because we desire to remain with family and to accomplish things for God and to fulfill our goals (Philippians 1:23; Psalm 21:4). We have our mind centered on material pursuits.

Yet, we can always remember that God guides us with His wise counsel during our lifetime and receives us up into His glorious Kingdom at the end of our days on earth (Psalm 73:24-26; 2 Corinthians 5:1). He rejoices in the death of His Saints, because He looks forward to us joining Him in Heaven (Psalm 116:15).

There are troubles and trials on this earth. We lose loved ones too soon, and often suffer physically, emotionally, materially, mentally and financially. There is no way to escape earth's trials.

We are so wise when we give our soul - our thoughts, feelings and choices - time to grieve and to catch up to the events which life hands us (Psalm 30:11-12; 103:17; 2 Corinthians 1:10). Grief is with us all of our life. Triggers repeatedly drag us back into the depths of this anguish.

As we give our self permission to feel the grief each time it appears, we allow our tears the time they need to do their cleansing work. God meets us with His mercy each moment of every day now and throughout eternity, and He turns our times of mourning into dancing (Lamentations 3:22-23; Psalm 30:11-12).

Goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life on this earth; and then, we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever (Psalm 23:6). God's got us covered now and forever.

Prayer:
Father God, thank You for delivering us from the evil in this current world, or walking through it with us. Allow us the opportunity to share Your love with our family, friends and even strangers by our response to life's challenges. Grow us spiritually into ever increasing images of Your Son and give us opportunities to share your love with everyone we meet.

We lift Jesus higher still and ask You to draw all men unto Him for healing for their spirit, soul and body as we live in Your service for our life now and throughout eternity. We give You all the praise, glory and honor now and forever and ever. Amen.

Thought for the Day:

Once our intimacy with God increases, we want and seek nothing more than to dwell in His courts, gaze on His beauty and abide under the shelter of His wings all the days of our life. - Psalm 27:4, 61:4

God is True and Faithful

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In these last days, there are many deceiving spirits, which are traversing the world and weaving their deception in the hearts of men and women who are not grounded in the Word of God (2 Timothy 3:13).

The devil keeps his demons busy looking for gullible people whom he can deceive with his lies and vain philosophies (Colossians 2:8). He is the deceiver of the whole world (Revelation 12:9).  

Satan sends false prophets who convince people that they are the Christ or that they come from Christ, but who are actually lawless and have grown cold in their love for the things of God (Matthew 24:4-12).

Although God’s invisible attributes are revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness, these with their false doctrine, suppress the truth and keep people from believing what God reveals in our conscience and in nature (Romans 1:18-22).

Those of us who are deceived have no valid excuse not to believe in God, because He reveals His glory to everyone who ever lives; and we condemn our self to hell by our choice not to believe in Jesus (John 3:16-18; Obadiah 1:3; Proverbs 28:26).

This occurs because of our stubborn pride, lustful desires and our trust in what our foolish heart tells us is true. We allow these deceivers to draw us away from the simplicity of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:3).

Yet, those of us who forsakes evil company and withstand this temptation will receive the crown of life and every good and perfect gift, which the Lord promises to those who love Him (James 1:12-17; 1 Corinthians 15:33).

Prayer:

Father God we know that You will not be mocked. If we sow to the flesh, we will reap corruption (1 Corinthians 6:9-10); but if we sow to the Spirit, we will enjoy the fruit of Your righteousness and reap everlasting life (Galatians 6:7-8).

Those of us who sell our soul to the flesh, the world and the devil will inherit our part in the brimstone lake of fire and the second death (Revelation 21:8). Even those of us who trust in our own goodness to get to heaven will end up deceived and disappointed (Matthew 7:21-23). It is only as we trust in Your Son, Jesus, that we find the ultimate way, truth and life (John 14:6).

Thought for the Day:

God is true and faithful and His promises remain forever.

- Romans 3:4

Why We Need Jesus

As we view the Ten Commandments, we realize that we break the heart of God in sin whenever we worship anyone or thing other than Him, use His name as a curse word, disregard Sunday as a day to worship the Lord, disobey our parents, murder, have physical relations with someone to which we are not married, steal, lie or covet what belongs to someone else (Matthew 5-7).

Jesus taught us the nuances of some of these commandments when He stated that anger is as vile as murder, and lusting as sinful as adultery. He even said that when we belittle one another we are in danger of going to hell (Matthew 5:22-28).

Paul goes into even more detail when in Galatians 5:19:21 he list as sins: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft, rebellion (1 Samuel 15:23); hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like.

He also stated that whatever we think, say or do that is not coming from faith is a sin (Romans 14:22-23). John tells us that all wrong doing is sin (1 John 5:17). James says that when we know the right thing to do and we omit doing it, we are sinning (James 4:17).

Under the law, Saints had to keep every word of the law or be cursed to an eternity in hell (Galatians 3:10). Reading these lists may cause us to feel condemnation from Satan; but thankfully, if we stop doing them, we are free from condemnation (Roman 8:1).

That is why we need Jesus as our Savior. He is the blameless Lamb of God who takes away our sins (John 1:29). With his dual nature as God and man, He could do what we could never do. He lived in sinless perfection.

Now, Christ lives in us with this same divine power and nature (2 Peter 1:4). Through His sacrifice on Calvary's cross, He exchanged our sin for His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21).

By faith in God's saving grace, we receive His Spirit to cleanse our spirit from Adam's sin and our own (Galatians 3:13-14). God's Spirit also gives us both the desire and the power to live in holy communion with God at all times (Colossians 1:27; Philippians 2:12-13).

Prayer:

Father God, while we were still lost in our sin, You loved us (Romans 5:8; 1 John 3:1). Even though we do not deserve it, You faithfully forgive us for every sin from which we repent and turn away (1 John 1:9). You condemn no one, but we condemn our self by refusing to believe in Jesus (John 3:16-18).

Remind us that You know that the rewards of sin are actually wages that we have to pay for partaking in this destructive behavior. Teach us that we reap what we sow, and You want to spare us from the degradation and suffering caused by sin.

Thank You for desiring instead that no one will ever perish in hell, but that everyone who truly repents and surrenders their life to You will enjoy eternity with you in Heaven (2 Peter 3:9).

Thought for the Day:

The sins listed for us in the Bible are there to help us to realize that without Christ we can do nothing. - Philippians 3:14; Galatians 3:24