God’s Boundless Faithfulness

 

When we fully abide in God’s plan for us, we live in His peace, joy and love. He keeps us on the straight and narrow road for our protection, and He delivers us from evil through His loving care and compassion. He deeply cares for us, and He sent Jesus to earth to prove it (John 3:16-18).

 

When we seek our Father God with our whole heart, He prevents us from disobeying His protective laws. We hide His Words in our heart, and they keep us from sinning against Him (2 Corinthians 1:3). God comforts us in all of our trials, and He walks within us, as well as with us through every tragedy. 

 

He uses our experiences to help us to learn through them, to ease our burdens, and to teach us how to comfort others who experience the same things that we do (2 Corinthians 1:4). We offer consolation to each other in the big trials, as well as in the small ones that attempt to erode our confidence in God.

 

God is for us. He walks in us and with us and through us, in order to share His light with the world all around us. God strategically places us in the right place at the right time to minister to those He is drawing to Himself. He reaches out to us with outstretched arms, ready to wipe away our tears and to hold us close.

 

If we are willing, He fits the other half of His yoke upon our shoulders, as He helps us to carry our burdens until He resolves them (Matthew 11:29). If we take the time to listen, we will hear His constant encouragement and approval of the good job we are doing throughout the whole experience.

 

When we draw near to Him, He helps us to discern the difference between His conviction of our actual transgressions, and Satan’s condemnation and shame of both our past and current life (Romans 8:1). On the cross, Jesus took all of our sins and gave us His righteousness in exchange.

 

When Jesus paid our sin debt on Calvary’s cross, the payment was all-inclusive, far-reaching, and eternal. God cleanses us from all unrighteous thoughts, words and deeds that do not line up with His standard of holiness (1 John 1:9), and He loves us with His everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3).

 

Prayer:

Father God, we are poor and needy, and our soul within us is wounded, tattered and broken (Psalm 109:22); yet, You stand with us and save the humble from those who try to condemn us. We give You constant praise and greatly extol You both now and in the future with the great crowd of witnesses who worship and praise You both day and night (Psalm 109: 26-31).

 

You help us to lie down and sleep in peace, because we know that in You we will abide in safety, regardless of our circumstances (Psalm 4:8). We can live each day without anxiety, because You teach us that You are in control of all things, and You have our best interest at heart (Jeremiah 29:11). Even in our weakest moments, as well as in our false notions of our ability to keep our self safe, You provide Your strength for every area of our life.

 

Thought for the Day:

As authentic Born Again Believers, we are in God’s constant care, recipients of His continual blessings and provision, and secure in His unconditional love and abundant care for us; through the wildest tempests, the deepest pits of despair, and the darkest of nights, He abides in us, and He keeps us close to Him until the storms pass by. 

 

Songs of Victory

 

In times of trouble, our Heavenly Daddy protects us more often than we are aware of. We escape so many episodes of danger and tribulation in life without even realizing it. He surrounds us with the pillows of His love, and they cushion us from many bruises, scars and crushed ideals.

 

He surrounds us with songs of victory (Psalm 32:7, 98:1), because He directs our paths in life around the dangers of defeat and harm (Proverbs 3:5-7). His wisdom and care prevent us from experiencing many issues that we would otherwise encounter. His faithfulness to us is both current and eternal.

 

For those who love His commandments, the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth (Psalm 16:11). When we awaken, we see His face in righteousness, and we are satisfied all through the day, because we are in His presence (Psalm 17:15). He grants us His blessings forever, and He cheers us with the joy of His presence within us (Psalm 21:6).

 

His loving devotion to His children is precious to us, and we take refuge in the shelter of His wings. He satisfies our longings from the abundance of His household, and we drink from His refreshing springs of delights (Psalm 36:7-8). The Lord blesses His holy ones and surrounds us with His shield of favor (Psalm 5:12). 

 

He is a refuge when we are oppressed, and a stronghold in times of trouble (Psalm 9:9). He hides us in the secret place of His presence, from the schemes of men and the snares of the devil, and He conceals us in His sheltering arms (Psalm 31:20).

 

In times of trouble that we do face, we can hide under the shadow of His wings (Psalm 91), and He shelters us from satanic warfare and challenges in this life. In His companionship is fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). On the paths He chooses for us, we find peace and an abundance of His unconditional love.

 

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for giving us what we need to succeed in this world. Although we abide here in the flesh, it is not really us who walks in our shoes, but Christ in us who is accomplishing Your will in and through us (Galatians 2:20). Help us to resist the distractions of the desires of our flesh, as well as the demonic temptations that bombard us each day.

 

We sincerely appreciate You cushioning us from the blows of life that we would experience if we did not walk in Your will and follow Your directives each moment of the day. When life scares us, we nestle under Your wings, and You hide us from the evils that attempt to overwhelm us. Our confidence is in You alone, and we give to You all the praise and glory that is due to Your name.

 

Thought for the Day:

God is an ever-present help in our life, and He is attentive to our needs; therefore, He gives us the example to dwell with each other with understanding, and to give our spouse, children and church family the attention, time and energy that they need from us; we can only do this, however, if we do not overly schedule our time, but we live according to His will for our life instead, and we reserve special time for those that we love and cherish.

 

 

A Good Marriage - Creative Dating

 

 

 

As we prioritize our life and fit our marriage into our list of the responsibilities in our life, we often find our self arranging expensive dinners and outings. This is not necessary, however. A picnic, popcorn and iced tea with a TV movie, or hot cocoa and s'mores in front of the fireplace are just as fulfilling.

 

The object of date nights is to relax, to enjoy each other's company, and to gaze into one another's eyes in order to see the love filling them. We just need quality time to connect, to bond, and to give smooches instead of hurried pecks on the cheek. 

 

Creative dating is challenging, but fun at the same time. Both husband and wife can participate in the planning or in arranging a surprise date that we think our mate will enjoy. We can take turns booking a babysitter that we trust, and that will show up on time.

 

However, our best dates can occur right at home. Put the kids to bed and then watch a movie on TV, listen to the music channel while snuggling and chatting on the couch, or enjoy a Christian broadcasting special together. The key word is "together".

 

As we daily choose to include one another in our plans, activities and options, we grow closer. Laughter, playfulness and talking about what we are thinking will all make this time together more enjoyable. Occasional, serious discussions about our interests and concerns also enable us to connection.

 

Making adjustments in our habits, decisions and schedules allow this to occur too. Our dating hinders the devil from planning traps that cause us to drift apart. Life gives us enough surprises to deal with, and we can draw near to God and resist the devil; then, he has to flee from us (James 4:7).

 

Sincerely caring about one another builds affection. Showing empathy and compassion for one another's disappointments help us to create a deeper unity between us. We just need to schedule daily couple time into our weekly calendar and make it our top priority. 

 

Prayer:

Father God, as marriage partners, we often see each other through the filter of past experiences, relationships and trauma. We project onto each other's responses the attitude and emotions which we experienced from significant others in our past. Remind us that You want to heal us from these past traumatic occurrences. Help us to accept each other as individuals, separate from the people in our past.

 

Help us to make You a priority in our time together too. Instruct us on how to appreciate, respect and honor one another. Remind us to schedule time to play together, to share true and intimate affection, and to cherish each other. Inspire us to create our time together to include our mate's interests as well as our own. Teach us to create dates that do not tax our budget, but still allow quiet and relaxation, free from concerns and issues that normally engulf our attention.

 

Thought for the Day:

Every locality offers enjoyable free events that can serve as creative couple time; and "at home dates" give us stress-free time to relax and to make wonderful memories to cherish for a lifetime; the key is for us to love our mate with his/her love language, and not with our own love language, because this is the only way that they will truly feel valued and loved.

( https://www.5lovelanguages.com/quizzes/ ) 

Three Levels of Heaven

 

 

It surprised me to read that there are three levels in the heavens (2 Corinthians 12:1). Of course, the First Heaven is the atmospheric heavens and clouds all around our Earth (Genesis 2:19; 7:3,23; Psalms 8:8, Lamentations 4:19). The first heaven consists of the stratosphere above us, until we come up to the stars (Genesis 1:14; Psalm 78:23; Isaiah 40:22).

 

The SECOND Heaven is out in space, our universe or cosmos. It consists from where our atmosphere ends and continues up into the starry heavens. It is the heaven in which the sun, moon, and stars are fixed in orbit (Genesis 1:17). 

 

The stars are seemingly endless and the distance between all of them is staggering. There are billions of galaxies, and God knows every star by name (Psalm 147:4; Isaiah 40:26). No wonder this level of heaven declares the glory of God, because this firmament shows His handiwork (Psalm 19:1, 4, 6; Romans 1:20). 

 

In ancient times people were in awe of the starry expanse. Due to our powerful telescopes and satellites of today we know how immense this Second Heaven really is (Jeremiah 8:2). Star gazing is a favorite pastime for many people, a hobby worth cultivating. 

 

The THIRD heaven is beyond space and the stars, where no man has seen by telescope. The Old Testament Saints went to the third heaven in Paradise until Jesus came and redeemed them. 

 

This third heaven is the dwelling-place of God, to which Paul was taken, and whose wonders he was permitted to behold (2 Corinthians 12:2,4). Stephen also saw the third heaven as people were stoning him (Acts 7:56).

 

Jesus ascended back to the third heaven after his resurrection, once His mission and visitation on earth ended (Hebrews 4:14). His throne is actually “higher” than the first and second heaven, in the third heaven (Hebrews 7:26, 8:1). 

 

When Jesus was baptized, He saw the heavens parting and the Holy Spirit descending upon Him like a dove (Mark 1:10). Jesus viewed it as “an eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). The third Heaven is the abode of the righteous who are in possession of “everlasting life.”

 

God’s Saints are delivered from all sufferings there forever, a deliverance from all evils (2 Corinthians 5:1,2). Christ calls it His “Father's house” (John 14:2), and also “paradise” (Luke 23:43; 2 Cor. 12:4; Revelation 2:7). 

 

The term heaven is used in many ways: Isaiah 14:13,14; “doors of heaven” (Psalms 78:23); heaven “shut” (1 Kings 8:35); and “opened” (Ezekiel 1:1). The “kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 25:1; James 2:5). The “eternal kingdom” (2 Peter 1:11). 

 

Heaven is the “eternal inheritance” of all Believers where there is fulfilling joy and forever blessings, a “better country” (1 Peter 1:4; Hebrews 9:15, 11:14,16). It is the location of “The heavenly Jerusalem” before it comes to earth as the New Jerusalem (Galatians 4:26; Hebrews 12:22; Revelation 3:12). 

 

New Jerusalem, the holy city of God, is the place of our legacy that Jesus went ahead to “prepare” for us that we may be with Him, wherever He is (John 14:2; Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 12:4; Revelation 2:7). We look forward to spending eternity in Jesus’ presence, and serving Him as our Lord and King of the Kingdom of God.

 

Prayer:

Father God, Your ways are so much higher than our ways. You are our amazing God, and infinite Savior, Lord and King. You made Jesus, Your only begotten Son, just a little lower than the angels for a season. This made a way for those of us who trust in Him for our Salvation to enter Your holy family by adoption. In fact, You always make a way for us, when there is no apparent way. We can never thank You enough for such a privilege as this.

 

We want to walk by Your Spirit in obedience to Your commandments and to prove our love and loyalty to You as our Daddy God. You established that all things are possible for us, through Christ in us, no matter how hard or insurmountable they seem to our human perception (Matthew 19:26). We rejoice in You, find solace in Your salvation, trust in Your holiness and generosity, and seek comfort in Your compassion. You are our Almighty God.

 

Thought for the Day:

We are graced by God to understand the power, peace and presence of God in the Third Heaven; it is the ultimate dwelling place of the Bride of Christ, and our part of it is guaranteed to us by the presence of the Trinity of God within us.

-      2 Kings 6:16-17

 

 

Our Hiding Place

 

When we surrender our life totally to God for His safekeeping, He gives us a new song in our heart that overflows into our thoughts, emotions and choices. We sing to the Lord all day long, praising Him for His forgiveness, daily blessings, presence in our life, and guidance through each moment of our day (Psalm 96:1-2).

 

God is great both in His awesome creation, and also in His goodness to us all. He deserves our respect, honor and praise all the days of our life. We want Him to use us to proclaim His glory among the nations, and to give constant testimony of His marvelous deeds on our behalf (Psalm 96:3-4). 

 

We often erect idols in our life that take the place of our full devotion and obedience to God. We make our spouse, children, vocation, possessions, desires, community, and church involvement as our priority, instead of the One who made the heavens and the earth, as well as all that dwell in them (Psalm 96:5).

 

We fail to attribute to the Lord the glory and strength that is due to His name, or to give Him the bulk of our time and attention, or to follow His directives for us each and every day. We forget to praise Him for His splendor and majesty (Psalm 96:6-8).

 

Racing through life at a speed faster than light will contribute to illnesses in our body, soul and spirit. Even sin in our life weakens our health, and it severs our lifeline with the Lord. However, consulting God for His priorities for our time and energy renews our soul, and confession sets us free from the burden of our disobedience to His will for us. 

 

We can thwart the tyranny of busyness by limiting the alarms set on our phone, and for making quiet time to read God’s Word and to listen for His voice. As we enter our hiding place with the Lord throughout the day, we purposely silence the demands of our mind, and we take control of our schedule. 

 

The Lord reigns and governs the earth by the power of His will, as well as His preordained plans. He is deserving of all of our praise. Our life changes for the better once we continually surrender to, obey, and worship the Lord for the splendor of His holiness (Psalm 96:9-10).

 

Prayer:

Father God, we continually praise You for who You are, what You do for Your Saints, and Your plans for the future peace and utopia in our world. So many signs of Your soon return are in place already. There is so much unrest in so many places in our society in these later days. Israel gaining part of her land again is the key sign of Your eminent return, but there are so many other areas of fulfilled prophecy now.

 

Keep us from multiplying our busyness and help us to rejoice in Your presence within us. We bless Your name at all times, and Your praise shall continually come from our mouth. We thank You for hearing our prayers, caring about our needs, saving us from trouble, and planning for our future. We rejoice each moment of our day, and especially when You protect us from trouble (Psalm 32).

 

Thought for the Day:

With God as our Father, we never lack any good thing that we need; He is our hiding place, He surrounds us with songs of victory, He guides us along the best path for our life, and He continually advises us and watches over us.

-      Psalm 32:7-8

Walking in Obedience

 

Viewing our self from God’s perspective will change our life. No longer hindered by self-deprecation or critical remarks from other people, we feel lighter, freer, more positive and have more energy. God’s Word is full of His opinion of us, and good advice on how to change our negative habits, hang-ups and hobbies.

 

Once we humble our self, admit our sinful state, walk away from known sin and trust Jesus with our life, our load of guilt and cares diminishes considerably (Romans 3:24). God sees us as perfected through Christ, and as His beloved adopted children (Hebrews 10:14; Ephesians 1:5-9).

 

Jesus, as a human being, had every opportunity to give in to His fleshly nature, to follow His own human desires and instincts, and to rationalize His options throughout His lifetime. Yet, He always chose to obey our Heavenly Father’s directives during His perfect, sinless life.

 

Our poor choices and deviations from God’s will for us in the past, even as recent as yesterday or an hour ago, are forgiven once we ask for forgiveness. We do not need to submit to Satan’s shame for our behavior, but we make a commitment to walk in humble obedience in the future (Romans 8:1).

 

God’s grace and love cover our multitude of failings with the blood of Jesus, and He removes them from us as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12). That is not the amount of space between one country’s borders to the other border, but the space around the globe from east to west – which has no boundaries at all; it is infinity.

 

Our forgiveness of our self, as well as those who cause harm to us, guarantees our forgiveness by God (Colossians 3:13). This may be easier to imagine than to actually do it, but God’s grace is always available to us in order to give us the strength to walk in His Truths (Proverbs 24:16).

 

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for not remembering our sins anymore, and for setting us free from the bondage they cause in our life. You forgive us, redeem us, and perfect us by Your Holy Spirit - calling us Your friend and child (John 15:15-17; 1 John 3:1). You welcome us into Your family with open arms, loving us unconditionally and completely. We are so sorry that our sins sent Jesus to the cross, and we are eternally grateful for His willing sacrifice for us all.

 

We are also grateful to You for Your unchanging Word (Matthew 4:4; Isaiah 40:8; Proverbs 30:5), and for its encouragement to walk in the safety of Your precepts, to realize our value in Christ, which enables us to gain insight into the reason behind the chaos in our world, and to enjoy Your peace and hope for our future (Jeremiah 29:11). We trust in You with our whole heart, and we look in every trial for the seed for a miracle, which You plant within every circumstance we face (Proverbs 3:5-6).

 

Thought for the Day:

The scientific and medical communities have actually seen the positive effect, that meditating on the truths of God’s Word promotes in our physical and mental health, our quality of life, our positive outlook on our circumstances, and the measure of our direction, contentment and fulfillment as we walk in God’s purpose for us.

 - Joshua 1:8; 2 Timothy 3:16-17

 

Hiding Gods Word

 

I am so amazed that God gave us the Bible to sustain us through life, to learn wisdom for living, to guide us to answers to our questions, to explain what is happening in our world today, and to prepare us for God’s future plans for this earth.

 

Hiding God’s Word in our heart enables us to have joy in negative circumstances, to prevent us from sinning against our Father God (Psalm 119:11), and to comfort us in all of our distressful situations. God’s Word is authentic and stable.

 

God is always worthy of our trust. We cannot control life, and the sooner we learn this truth, the happier and more content and fulfilled we will feel. We can relinquish to God our human penchant to worry, and to attempt to control life in order to keep our self and our loved ones safe. 

 

The Word of God strengthens us in spirit, soul and body. We do not suffer from psychosomatic illnesses when we abide in God’s peace through His Word. God’s truth in His Word is always available to help us to live in victory when life and the devil’s lies threaten to choke the life right out of us. 

 

As we focus on biblical truth, we live a sustainable life that is full of God’s glory and blessings. Even in times of temptation and discouragement, we overcome each trial through the presence of the Godhead within us. When He finished His forty-day fast in the wilderness, Jesus used God’s Word to do spiritual warfare with Satan (Matthew 4:1-3), and we can use it too. 

 

The more we read the Bible, and commit it to our heart, the more the truth of God’s Word can comfort us in our times of trial. It reminds us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17), to walk in God’s Spirit (Galatians 5:15-25), and to share with others what God does for us each and every day, as we look forward to our Heavenly rewards.

 

Prayer:

Father God, remind us that prayer is not the solution to find help after we have tried everything else; but it is our continual, daily lifeline as we traverse the paths that You planned for us each day. Thank You for teaching us how to guard our heart from satanic schemes, to walk in Your ways, and to hide Your Word in our heart, so that we do not sin against You. Remind us that a powerful spiritual life is the result of meditating on Your Word, and of a heart full of praise and prayer. 

 

Satan must flee from us whenever we draw near to You. As we resist his efforts to sidetrack us with religious activities, the cares of this world, and from following hard after You. As we prevent him from discouraging us from having faith in Your promises; and as we run under the shadow of Your wings when he tries to make us weary and to lose strength in our daily trials, we mature spiritually and grow in Your mercy and grace. 

 

Thought for the Day:

The thoughts, emotions and attitude that are in our heart will come out in our behavior, and mental and physical health; therefore, hiding God’s Word in our heart will mature us spiritually, encourage our soul, and keep our body healthier than we will be if we entertain negative thoughts, words, feelings and actions.

-      Proverbs 4:23