Psalm 27:14 - Wait on the Lord

“Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!”

Psalm 27:14

Waiting for the Lord is wisdom. Running ahead of him and trying to help Him to answer or bring something to pass is not. Let’s say you want to bake a batch of brownies for your grandchildren to enjoy when they come over. You preheat the oven. You spray your 9x13 inch pan with Pam. You add all the necessary ingredients to a mixing bowl. You pour the brownie batter into the pan and then you place it in the oven. As you wait for the brownies to get done, in your excitement you decide to take the brownies out early instead of leaving them in the oven for the appropriate amount of time for them to get done. Because of this, the brownies are only partially baked. They have gooey spots everywhere and they aren’t fit for consumption. This would be ridiculous wouldn’t it? Yet many times as Christians we try to outrun God’s timing and take ourselves out of His preparation time too soon. We do not let Him answer our prayer requests in His timing and in the way He knows best. We run ahead of him and try to help Him. Only doing this, we make a whole mess of things. I know this for a fact as I have been there and done this. I had to learn the hard way that we should do this, but thank God I did learn. Now I trust in Him to take care of things, in His ways, and in His timing. Look at Abraham and Sarah. They were promised a son. And then when the Lord tarried on the answer, they ran ahead of Him and tried to make the promise come to pass in ways that He had never planned. Our world is still suffering the consequences of their choice of not waiting on the Lord. God knows what you need. He hears your prayers. Let Him answer them in His way and in His time. Don’t give up waiting and try to satisfy that need in your own way. Wait on Him, and He will take care of you according to His greatness. Some Scriptures that will encourage you to wait are Psalm 27:14 “Wait on the Lord; be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your heart; wait, I say, on the Lord!” Be of good courage as you wait. He promises to strengthen your heart. Psalm 37:34 says “Wait on the Lord, and keep His way.” Keep His way as you wait on Him to answer and move on your behalf. Isaiah 40:31 “But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.” There are blessings in store for you as you wait.

Father, Isaiah 8:17 says “And I will wait on the Lord … and I will hope in Him.” Father, may I wait on You to answer all my prayers in Your timing and in Your ways. I trust You with my life and I put my hope in You. Help me to be patient as you work everything out. Strengthen my heart. Make me be of good courage. Renew my strength. I give you praise! In Jesus’ name I pray.

Proverbs 31:10-12 Looking for a spouse

“Who can find a virtuous wife? For her worth is far above rubies. The heart of her husband safely trusts her; so he will have no lack of gain. She does him good and not evil all the days of her life.”

                                                                      Proverbs 31:10-12

When a man looks for a spouse they should look for someone that is virtuous, a lady that is of moral worth and excellence. If you find someone like that, today’s verse says that their worth is far above rubies. I like what it also says that “The heart of her husband safely trusts her.” He can put his confidence in her, he doesn’t have to fear what she is going to do. An added plus to this is that “he will have no lack of gain” as she will do “him good and not evil all the days of her life.” She will be a blessing. Your home, your life, and your children will be blessed because of her, the Lord, and her walk with the Lord. This is why it is so important that you listen to God and God’s Word when choosing a mate. If you chose someone that is not of moral worth and excellence, you will suffer the consequences of this choice for the rest of your life. You won’t be able to trust them. You will have a hard time getting ahead in this world. They will do evil things regularly and sometimes they will not be good to you because they operate and live in the flesh, therefore they are fleshly. If you make a mistake in this one area, it is a drastic one. Pray for yourself if you are single, pray for your children, and pray for your grandchildren to find a virtuous, Spirit-filled, godly mate. The right mate is one of the most important decisions one can make in their life, for it affects the rest of it.

Father, may You help us ladies to be virtuous women. We want to be ladies of moral worth and excellence. We want our worth to be far above rubies. We want our husbands to be able to put their confidence in us and be able to safely trust us in each in each and every aspect. Our men shouldn’t have to fear what we are going to do. Help our men prosper, having no lack of gain. And may we do our husbands good and not evil all the day of our lives. We want to be a blessing to our homes and we want your hand of blessing to be upon us all. Help those that are looking for a spouse, to find a virtuous, Spirit-filled, godly mate that You have handpicked for them if You so desire for them to marry. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.    

Ephesians 6:24 - Love the Lord with an undying love. If you do, His grace will be upon you.

“May God’s grace be upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love.”

Ephesians 6:24

Many can live the Christian life with outsiders, or those that we have little contact with. It is in our homes and in our churches that we can find applying the Lord’s precepts to be difficult. Why, because our real self comes through to those who know us well. They see us for as we really are. Much of the time they see us at our best. Sometimes, though, they see us at our worst. We should remember that we should love the Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love. Having an undying love for Him should make us have an undying love for others, keeping us in check. I like today’s verse for it says “May God’s grace be upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ with an undying love” (Ephesians 6:24). “May God’s grace be upon” you and “May God’s grace be upon” all your relationships. “May God’s grace be upon” me and upon all my relationships as well. The NKJV says “Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.” The Living Bible says “May God’s grace and blessing be upon all who sincerely love our Lord Jesus Christ.” May we love Him in actuality, and may we love Him sincerely, with an undying love and heartfelt devotion.

   

Father, Oh, that we might have an undying love for our Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, that we would love Him in sincerity. May Your grace and blessing be upon us all and all our relationships. We know that You are our all in all. We want and desire to be Yours through and through. May we love You day after day; and in the process, may Your grace meet our every need. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Proverbs 26:20 - Getting rid of the strife that is in our lives

“Where there is no wood, the fire goes out. And where there is no talebearer, strife ceases.”

Proverbs 26:20

Do you have strife in your life? If so, examine your tongue. Proverbs 26:20 says “Where there is no wood, the fire goes out.” You may be fanning it and keeping it alive. It just may be that if you stop talking, the strife will cease and the fire may go out. Many of us don’t like to think of ourselves as talebearers. We don’t gossip, we say. But do we complain and grumble about someone to another party? Proverbs 16:28 says that “A perverse man sows strife, and a whisperer separates the best of friends.” We really don’t want God to think of us as perverse. Do we? We really don’t want to sow strife. And we really don’t want to be a whisperer. Whispering separates. God wants us to unite and be held together by His love. Make a decision today to watch your tongue. Use your tongue only for His glory. Remember the old saying “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.” Apply that to your everyday lives.

Father, we are tired of the strife that is in our lives. We want it to stop. We are reminded today that “Where there is no wood, the fire goes out.” Help us to watch our tongues and say only that which is good. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Genesis 7:1 - Be a righteous person

“… I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.”

Genesis 7:1

Noah lived in the midst of a very perverse generation. We live in the midst of a very perverse generation in this day and age as well. But just because the people were evil in the Lord’s sight, didn’t mean that Noah was. God’s Word says that Noah was a just man. It says that he was perfect in his generations. It even goes on to say that Noah walked with God. It says this in Genesis 6:9 “Noah was a just man, perfect in his generations. Noah walked with God” (NKJV). The NLT words it this way. It says “Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless man living on earth at the time. He consistently followed God’s will and enjoyed a close relationship with Him.” The Word of God may use the words just, righteous, perfect, and blameless, but this does not mean that Noah never sinned. What it means is that Noah wholeheartedly loved and obeyed the Lord. He was a godly influence and example to his family. His right heart not only saved Noah, but it also saved Noah’s wife, his sons, and his sons wives from the worldwide flood that destroyed everything living that was not brought into the Ark. Be encouraged today. Even though many in the world are evil, doesn’t mean that it has to affect you. You can stand apart from the crowd and be just. You can be perfect in your generations. You can walk with God. God can and will see this, and He can encourage you with the very same words that He encouraged Noah with. He can say “I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation.” Live your life for God. Be a righteous man. Be blameless. Consistently follow God’s will. Enjoy a close relationship with Him. It will make a difference in this life and in the life to come, for you and for others!

Father, above all I want to be known as righteous. I want to be blameless. I want to be just. I want to consistently follow Your will and enjoy a close relationship with You. It’s not money, fame, nor power that I desire. I desire to be Yours and Yours alone. Help me to make a difference in the lives of others by my sincere and heartfelt walk with You. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

2 Corinthians 4:17,18 - The hardships we face

“Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

2 Corinthians 4:17 (NLT)

I read today’s verse and it just jumped out at me. It strengthened me in the faith and it seemed to have “power” in it when I read it. Ponder this verse a moment. See if it does the same thing for you. I have another NLT Bible in my house (dated a different year) and it words this verse a little different. It says “For our present troubles are quite small and won’t last very long. Yet they produce for us an immeasurably great glory that will last forever!” Last forever! How great! It goes on to say in verse 18 “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see right now; rather, we look forward to what we have not yet seen. For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.” Hallelujah! “For the troubles we see will soon be over, but the joys to come will last forever.”

Our troubles should not diminish or dampen our faith. God loves us. Just because we are facing something, does not mean that He doesn’t care or that He has withdrawn His love from us. We should know without a shadow of a doubt that God always has a purpose for our troubles, difficulties, and trying times. They draw us to Him, causing us to have a closer walk with Him if we respond accordingly. Not only that but we can be certain that we are going to receive “an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.”

Some of our troubles are not small in our eyes. They can seem to be very big. To God, though, they are small. Why, because He see’s the whole picture. He is doing something behind the scenes (and in our spiritual lives) that only He knows what He is doing, only He knows what He is accomplishing through it. He wants us to bring our troubles to Him in prayer and to lay them at His feet. Then He wants us to keep our eyes on heaven, what we have not seen, and the glory that will be ours when we get there.

I don’t know what you are facing today. I don’t know what hardship you are being asked to endure. Just be sure to endure it for His sake and by His Spirit. Remember that you will be rewarded in proportion to what you have suffered. Not only this, but know that your very life will be a positive example of His love, mercy, and grace for others to see His greatness and power flow in!

 Father, “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” To this, we give thanks. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Acts 20:36 - Be a giver

“And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Acts 20:35

Most of Jesus’ words were written about in Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The above words were not written about in the four Gospels. This tells us that not all of Jesus’ words were written down by the disciples. Although this spiritual truth wasn’t written down by one of the twelve, it still circulated. Paul heard it and knew it in his heart to be true. Most of the time the Bible uses the words “Blessed are …” and it leads into a spiritual truth. This verse says “more blessed,” meaning that there is a greater blessing to be had if we are to know this truth for ourselves. Yes, it is always a blessing to receive something from the hand of God. But you are more blessed when you choose to give of yourself, or something, to others as the Lord leads. When we receive, we’re taking something for ourselves. It is a “me” thing. But when we give, we’re acting like our Heavenly Father and it is a “Christ-like” thing. Oh, that we should be more and more like Christ. Oh, that we would give, and give, and give. Remember Christ’s words, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Let’s know the truth of these words for ourselves.

Father, You love a cheerful giver. May I be a cheerful giver each and every day. May I seek to give of myself and whatever You so desire. May I know in my own heart the truth that “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” I want to be “Christ-like.” I want to think of You and not just “me.” In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.