Ruth 1:16-17
But Ruth said, "Do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go, I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. Thus may the Lord do to me, and worse, if anything but death parts you and me."
This foreign woman has married into a family of God-fearing Hebrew people, and has realized that the God they worshiped is not like her national god, Chemosh. She considered that the Lord God was worth giving up her nation, her people, her home, her religion. She left herself no loop-hole where she would be able to change her mind--she bound herself until not only the death of her mother-in-law, but to her own death, presumably years later. She would never again be attracted to a false god.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Saturday, April 30, 2016
Attitude And Mind Set
Psalm 73:25
Whom have I in Heaven but You? And Earth has nothing I desire besides You.
May this be my attitude and my mind set: That God is my life, my home is in Heaven with Him, or wherever He will spend Eternity; and this Earth and everything in it, all the wealth, all the things, all the places and pleasures will not last, they are all temporary and will one day be destroyed. Then there will only be my God, and His glories forever.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Whom have I in Heaven but You? And Earth has nothing I desire besides You.
May this be my attitude and my mind set: That God is my life, my home is in Heaven with Him, or wherever He will spend Eternity; and this Earth and everything in it, all the wealth, all the things, all the places and pleasures will not last, they are all temporary and will one day be destroyed. Then there will only be my God, and His glories forever.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Friday, April 29, 2016
Our Super-Hero
Psalm 50:14-15
Sacrifice thank offering to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.
God often gives us groups of three things He requires of us. Here he tells us, as His children, to:
(1) Be thankful, have a mind-set of gratitude;
(2) Be honest in our speech and always do what we say we will do; and
(3) Turn first to God to help us through whatever problems and trials we have, to let Him be our Super-Hero, who Saves The Day! Then He will get all the honor, the glory, the credit.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Sacrifice thank offering to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call on Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor Me.
God often gives us groups of three things He requires of us. Here he tells us, as His children, to:
(1) Be thankful, have a mind-set of gratitude;
(2) Be honest in our speech and always do what we say we will do; and
(3) Turn first to God to help us through whatever problems and trials we have, to let Him be our Super-Hero, who Saves The Day! Then He will get all the honor, the glory, the credit.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Thursday, April 28, 2016
With One Voice
Romans 15:4-6
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus; that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. --
The perseverance and encouragement are gifts from God, so we can understand what God wants to teach us in the Scriptures. When we all have God's Holy Spirit living in us and opening our minds to understand and perceive His ways, and opening our hearts to want to follow through in our attitudes and actions according to what we've learned, then we will all live our lives in obedience to His rules; and when we experience the results of cooperating with the way He designed this world to work and receive the benefits, the blessings from God, then we will all respond to this bounty by magnifying our Creator and Redeemer and Lord together, with one voice.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
For whatever was written in earlier times was written for our instruction, that through perseverance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope. Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus; that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. --
The perseverance and encouragement are gifts from God, so we can understand what God wants to teach us in the Scriptures. When we all have God's Holy Spirit living in us and opening our minds to understand and perceive His ways, and opening our hearts to want to follow through in our attitudes and actions according to what we've learned, then we will all live our lives in obedience to His rules; and when we experience the results of cooperating with the way He designed this world to work and receive the benefits, the blessings from God, then we will all respond to this bounty by magnifying our Creator and Redeemer and Lord together, with one voice.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Wednesday, April 27, 2016
What God Established, Stands
Psalm 119:89-91
Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in Heaven. Thy faithfulness continues throughout all generations; Thou didst establish the Earth, and it stands. They stand this day according to Thine ordinances, for all things are Thy servants.
God is God, and we are not. God is sovereign over all Creation, for He made it all, and He rules it all. What He established in this Universe continues, because they all obey His ordinances, His rules for them, and they follow them. Only Angels and Man have the authority to disobey His rules; the Angels that sinned were created without the ability to die, so they cannot be redeemed. Man sinned also, but God made Mankind with the ability to live or die, so because we sinned, we can have a substitute to die in our place, so we can live. In the Old Testament, God allowed an animal to die for the sinner, and he can now be forgiven, because the death-price has been paid. When Jesus died, He was the Perfect Sacrifice, Who paid our human death in our place, so now there needs to be no more sacrifices, because what He paid was perfect and forever.
So now we have a truly free choice to obey, and love Him; or to rebel and refuse Him. We can live in His power, as His Spirit has come to live in us, and we are able to now obey His rules; or if we refuse Him, we will perish.
God is Truth, and what He has said will prevail throughout all time, unchangeable and unalterable. Even though this Heaven and this Earth may perish (when He decides to destroy it), His Word will never pass away, through all eternity.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Forever, O Lord, Thy word is settled in Heaven. Thy faithfulness continues throughout all generations; Thou didst establish the Earth, and it stands. They stand this day according to Thine ordinances, for all things are Thy servants.
God is God, and we are not. God is sovereign over all Creation, for He made it all, and He rules it all. What He established in this Universe continues, because they all obey His ordinances, His rules for them, and they follow them. Only Angels and Man have the authority to disobey His rules; the Angels that sinned were created without the ability to die, so they cannot be redeemed. Man sinned also, but God made Mankind with the ability to live or die, so because we sinned, we can have a substitute to die in our place, so we can live. In the Old Testament, God allowed an animal to die for the sinner, and he can now be forgiven, because the death-price has been paid. When Jesus died, He was the Perfect Sacrifice, Who paid our human death in our place, so now there needs to be no more sacrifices, because what He paid was perfect and forever.
So now we have a truly free choice to obey, and love Him; or to rebel and refuse Him. We can live in His power, as His Spirit has come to live in us, and we are able to now obey His rules; or if we refuse Him, we will perish.
God is Truth, and what He has said will prevail throughout all time, unchangeable and unalterable. Even though this Heaven and this Earth may perish (when He decides to destroy it), His Word will never pass away, through all eternity.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Tuesday, April 26, 2016
Level Ground
Psalm 143:8-10
Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life. Rescue me from my enemies, Lord, for I hide myself in You. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground."
This is my prayer, also. May I realize that His mercies are new each morning, and that He knows better than I the way I should go each day. I want to be teachable to learn about what He would want from me in every circumstance of my day, then my "enemies" will not prevail over me. My home is not the house I live in, but it is my Lord God, in Whom I dwell and have my being. Following in His footsteps will lead me into that level playing field where I will experience victory in every trial.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I entrust my life. Rescue me from my enemies, Lord, for I hide myself in You. Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God; may Your good Spirit lead me on level ground."
This is my prayer, also. May I realize that His mercies are new each morning, and that He knows better than I the way I should go each day. I want to be teachable to learn about what He would want from me in every circumstance of my day, then my "enemies" will not prevail over me. My home is not the house I live in, but it is my Lord God, in Whom I dwell and have my being. Following in His footsteps will lead me into that level playing field where I will experience victory in every trial.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
Monday, April 25, 2016
Dwelling Together In Unity
Psalm 133:1
How good and pleasant it is when (God's people)(brethren)(brothers and sisters) live together in unity! --
Well, isn't that the goal of us all, to be able to live peacefully, in agreement with one another as we live our lives! Whether it is in our families, our neighborhoods, or our churches, we all strive to get along.
I have found that the the best way I can get along with others, even those who disagree with my faith or world view, is to find what we do have in common, what we can agree on, and basically agree to disagree on what we don't agree on. But this does not mean to water down what I believe. When I am willing to listen to them, without condemning them or putting them down, then they will be more willing to listen also to me, when I explain how much God loves them and has provided for all their needs.
Even members of my own family can work against me as my enemies, so I need to make every effort to do what I can to reconcile our relationship and keep the lines of communication open.
I pray that we all will discern what we can do, especially in our own families, to show Jesus' love to them in ways they can understand, to reconcile our own families, and to inform and invite them into God's own family.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
How good and pleasant it is when (God's people)(brethren)(brothers and sisters) live together in unity! --
Well, isn't that the goal of us all, to be able to live peacefully, in agreement with one another as we live our lives! Whether it is in our families, our neighborhoods, or our churches, we all strive to get along.
I have found that the the best way I can get along with others, even those who disagree with my faith or world view, is to find what we do have in common, what we can agree on, and basically agree to disagree on what we don't agree on. But this does not mean to water down what I believe. When I am willing to listen to them, without condemning them or putting them down, then they will be more willing to listen also to me, when I explain how much God loves them and has provided for all their needs.
Even members of my own family can work against me as my enemies, so I need to make every effort to do what I can to reconcile our relationship and keep the lines of communication open.
I pray that we all will discern what we can do, especially in our own families, to show Jesus' love to them in ways they can understand, to reconcile our own families, and to inform and invite them into God's own family.
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!
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