OUR LORD PROVIDES “Go at once to Zarephath in the region of Sidon and stay there. I have directed a widow there to supply you with food…”  Elijah said to her, “Don’t be afraid. Go home and do as you have said. But first make a small loaf of bread for me from what you have and bring it to me, and then make something for yourself and your son. For this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘The jar of flour will not be used up and the jug of oil will not run dry until the day the Lord sends rain on the land.’”  She went away and did…

BE READY TO MEET THE JUDGE OF THE EARTH— JESUS! The LORD has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations. —Psalm 98:2 He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity. —Psalm 98:7-9             Well, there is not a person on the earth that has lived in the past or in the present or that will in the future that has an excuse for not knowing His salvation— “The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because…

FINISH THE RACE WELL! As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molek the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the Lord; he did not follow the Lord completely, as David his father had done. —I Kings 11:4-6 The old prophet answered, “I too am a prophet, as you are. And an angel said to me by the word of the Lord: ‘Bring him back with you to your house…

ALL CREATION WILL REJOICE! Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth.  He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness. —Psalm 96:13 Yes, all creation is going to rejoice at the coming of our Lord.  Presently, “I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself…

MY LORD GOD IS SOVEREIGN KING AND SHEPHERD For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods.  In his hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him.  The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.  Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care. —Psalm 95:3-7             Our Lord God is great and is above all authorities.  “The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in…

PASSING ON LOVING OBEDIENCE When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son.  “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul,…

But the king replied to Araunah, “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.” —II Samuel 24:24             Do the offerings I offer to the Lord have any cost to me?  What do I offer Him?  Treasure?  Time?  Talents?  Thoughts?  Tasks?    How has my life been affected by what I offer Him?  Has my life been affected by what I offer Him?             When David could have freely obtained what was needed to sacrifice to our Lord, He responded with— “No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord…

BE A TREE! The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon; planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God.  They will still bear fruit in old age, they will stay fresh and green, proclaiming, “The Lord is upright; he is my Rock, and there is no wickedness in him.” —Psalm 90:12-15             Those who love our Lord are like palm trees and growing like the cedars of Lebanon.  They flourish in the presence of our Lord and will still bear fruit in old age, staying fresh and green.  They will proclaim, “The Lord is upright; he is…

IN HIM I TRUST! Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” —Psalm 91:1-2 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. —Psalm 91:5-6 “Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.  He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will…