He Loves Us

 Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.

The judgments of God are real and He will someday judge each one of us of the deeds that we’re done with the time He has given us in this world. We will be judged on the choices that we have made. Did we choose to give our hearts to Jesus? There is a judgment day coming, but today we live in a time of grace. The good news is that Jesus loves us. He looks upon us with mercy, grace, and love. God the Father is not willing that any should be judged to eternal damnation. He loved us so that He sent His Son in the form of a man to die and take on the wages of sin, and sent the Holy Spirit to us to lead and guide us into all truth and holy living. His love will bring a rest to the soul, His love will quiet the trouble waters in our lives. His love will sing forth our name and give us peace.

Don't Be Anxious

 Philip 4:6 & 13

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and pleading with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God...I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

Impossible! Being anxious is part of human nature, right? The definition of being anxious: worried, concerned, uneasy, apprehensive, fearful, perturbed, troubled, bothered, disturbed, distressed, disquieted, fretful. All of these words describe a person who has forgotten that God is in control, and having such feelings and thoughts will lead to despair. Our human reaction is often displayed in this way. Like temptation, we have a choice to make. Scripture admonishes us to take all our worries and concerns to God in prayer, put our trust in Him, lean not to our own understanding, trust and surrender our lives and situation to Him. We can do this! How? “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”

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.