Trust in the Lord

 Isaiah 26:3-4
Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee. Trust ye in the LORD for ever: for in the LORD JEHOVAH is everlasting strength.

If we keep our focus on Jesus and His love and care for us, we can have peace in every situation. Peter during the storm was able to have peace and confidence to walk on water when he kept his focus on Jesus. It was only when he allowed the turbulent water around him to distract him, he began to sink, and lose control. Life is full of things that disrupt our peace. The things of life hit us like a storm, and our focus is on our problems and not on the One who can solve our problems or the One who is in control. We stress over little and sometimes not so little things in life. Human nature will cause us to fret and worry. It is only by resisting our human inclination and focusing our trust on the Lord will we be able to overcome and conquer life’s stressful situations.

I Shall Not Be Moved

 Psalm 16:8
I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.
When our focus is on Jesus, we are able to stand and not be moved or shaken from our faith. When everything in life is changing and things seem to always be moving we can trust Him to always be at the right hand of the Father making intercession for us. Christ is our firm foundation and we shall not be shaken when the winds blow, the storm hits, and the earth is moving. Keeping our eyes on Jesus, believing He will see us through, even when we don’t see it for myself. We can choose to trust Him, “I shall not be moved”.

Complete in Christ

 Matt 19:21

Jesus said to him, “If you want to be complete (perfect), go and sell…

What do you possess that you are not willing to let go in order to be complete and whole in Christ? The call to follow Christ requires that we take up our cross and let go of those things that hold us back from fully serving Him. The scripture has many examples of those who held back, and did not gain entrance to eternal life. The love of money has kept many people from having eternal life, but money is not the only thing that keeps people from having eternal life. Eternal life is given to us only through Christ, and knowing Him is to follow Him in complete obedience to His word. We cannot be perfect or complete in Christ if we don’t have a heart single toward Him and Trust Him with our whole heart.

Look To Jesus

 Heb. 12:2
looking only at Jesus, the originator and perfecter of the faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God
Jesus says, “Look to Me, faith in God begins with Me. Without Me there is no faith. I went to the cross on my own free will, gave my life for you, took on your sins and bore your shame. I now sit at the right hand of the my Father, making intercession for you, that you may not grow weary and lose heart during times of tribulation and suffering. I and the Author and finisher of your faith, I alone can save you and set you free from the bondage of sin. Look to me you sinners, for I came to save you. Believe in Me, trust Me with your life, give me your heart. I am the way, the truth, and life. There is no other name under heaven that can give new life. Look to Me and you will have eternal life, and dwell with me forever and ever.” 

Put On Love

Col 3:14

…In addition to all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity.

Discord can happen between anyone who does not see things in the same way. Often conflict and division happens because of miscommunication or  someone’s actions that are perceived to be wrong or inappropriate. It is not always easy to just overlook things like this and act like everything is ok. Conflict in itself is not wrong, but allowing resentment and harvesting ill will toward others is not conducive to maintaining a close walk with God and seeking to be like Jesus. Paul recognized that we are human and our emotions can get the best of us. Putting on love is done with intentionality, in some cases it is an act of our will in spite of the circumstances. Love will seek resolution and unity. It will even work to love those who are our enemies and seek to destroy us. When love is put on between all involved it will be the perfect bond to keep us together in Christ.

Wisdom From Above

 Prov. 3:18
She (wisdom) is a tree of life to those who take hold of her, and happy are those who hold on to her.
To be truly wise, one must know wisdom. The Bible speaks of the wisdom of this world, and the wisdom from above. They are not the same. The wisdom of this world is grounded in humanity, and the welfare and the success of man. Choices that gain riches and material gain for this life. What is expedient and advantageous. Jesus talks about building your life on a firm foundation. The person who has wisdom will build it on a solid rock, a foolish person will build it on the sand (wisdom of this world). The wisdom from above is life from God. It is focused on doing what is right and not what is expedient. Following the wisdom of God will many times go contrary to the thinking of the world, it is wisdom that will lead to eternal life. Wisdom from God is to have Christ the center of life choices. For in Him we have life and have it more abundantly, it is finding happiness and fulfillment in Him, something the wisdom of this world cannot give. 
“Therefore, everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts on them, will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”- Matt 7:24

The Arm of Flesh

 Isaiah 41:13

For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand, Who says to you, “do not fear, I will help you.”

Ten percent of the world is known to be left handed, therefore the left hand is the weaker hand for most of the world. In our need of help, God removes our dependence on our human strength to show us our need for Him. Too often we depend on the arm of the flesh to carry us through. Human endurance is great and is capable of many feats, but in the end, we need Him to make it through the hard times in life. He wants to help us when we are going through difficult times and we are struggling with the human cares of life. There are many things in this world that the devil wants us to fear. The fear of Covid has the world in a pandemic of fear. Covid is real and many have succumbed to this deadly virus, but God is greater than any virus, and we can trust Him that He has this virus under His control. We need not fear if we know the Savior. Our lives are in hand. “For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain”. Phil 1:21