SERVING, SECURE AND GUIDED For You are my rock and my fortress; lead and guide me for the sake of Your name.  —Psalm 31:3 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters.  He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for the sake of His name.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my…

SINGING, THANKFUL SAINTS! Sing to the LORD, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy name —Psalm 30:4             Do you have a song of thanks to our Lord in your heart today?  New Hampshire woke up to a blanketed snowscape.  It is a wonderful reminder that it is He who says to the snow, “Fall on the earth” (Job 37:6, Psalm147:16).  As we age we might not be so excited about snow removal, but we need to remember that He has purposes even in snowfall.  So, even in our older age we can be thankful for the snow.  It melts, runs off and provides us water which we…

OUR WORK IS WORSHIP Then Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and he has filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills— to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood and to engage in all kinds of artistic crafts.  And he has given both him and Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, the ability to teach others.  He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers,…

THANK GOD FOR FORGIVENESS Blessed is he whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the man whose sin the LORD does not count against him, in whose spirit there is no deceit.  When I kept silent, my bones became brittle from my groaning all day long.  For day and night Your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was drained as in the summer heat.  Selah  Then I acknowledged my sin to You and did not hide my iniquity.  I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,” and You forgave the guilt of my sin. —Psalm 32:1-5 “David son of Jesse, a man after my own…

WHOM SHALL I FEAR The LORD is my light and my salvation– whom shall I fear? The LORD is the stronghold of my life– of whom shall I be afraid? —Psalm 27:1 The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me? —Hebrews 13:6             I have no reason to be afraid of any person.  The worst man can do to me is kill me and that is not so bad since I will then be in heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ!  Man thinks they are accomplishing the ending of a person’s life, but the believer is immediately ushered into the presence of…

LEVEL GROUND My feet stand on level ground; in the congregations I will bless the LORD. —Psalm 26:12 He refreshes my soul.  He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. —Psalm 23:3 Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. —Psalm 1:1-2             Being on uneven ground can be dangerous.  Once I was trimming hedges from a stepladder and the ground was uneven.  There was one more area…

GOODNESS Good and upright is the LORD; therefore He shows sinners the way. —Psalm 25:8             Do you think you are good?  Apart for God you are not!  Jesus said, “No one is good–except God alone” (Luke 18:19).  “For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with…

LOVING OBEDIENCE “All that the LORD has spoken we will do, and we will be obedient.” —Exodus 24:3, 7 Whoever has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me. The one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and reveal Myself to him.” —John 14:21                  To be obedient is to trust the One asking you to be or do something.  God is fully trustworthy.  He is the only One who is.  As His followers we are to also be trustworthy.  As followers of our Lord Jesus Christ if we truly love Him our desire is to obey Him and…

PRAISE HIM BEFORE THE WORLD And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.” —Exodus 19:6 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light. —I Peter 2:9             Israel was chosen to be a testimony to the world and they failed.  Now the Lord has chosen His church to be a testimony to the world.  We are to represent Him to the world.  How are we doing with…