I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. —Psalm 121:1-2             Where does my help come from?  Where does my strength come from (Psalm 27:1)? — “So we say with confidence, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.  What can mere mortals do to me?’”  Surely the One who made heaven and earth (Genesis 1, John 1:3; Colossians 1:15-18; Hebrews 1:1-4; Revelation 4:11) is all powerful.              Where does my help come from?  It comes from Jesus!  Both physical strength and spiritual strength comes from Him— “Jesus answered, ‘It is…

LOOK TO THE RISEN JESUS! You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. —Acts 3:15 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. —Acts 4:1-2 It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found…

CALLED TO BE WITNESSES/DISCIPLE-MAKERS But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” —Acts 1:8 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) … —Acts 1:15 When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of…

LORD, PLEASE OPEN THE EYES When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. —Luke 24:9-11 He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all…

THE COMING JUDGMENT! — BE READY! Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled.  “There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea. People will faint from terror, apprehensive of what is coming on the world, for the heavenly bodies will be shaken. At that time they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.” —Luke 21:24-28 I do…

LOST BUT FOUND BY JESUS! Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through. A man was there by the name of Zacchaeus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy. He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd. So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.  When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.” So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.  All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the…

PRAY!  AND DON’T GIVE UP! Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared what people thought. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’  “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care what people think, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually come and attack me!’ ”  And the Lord…

BE WISE WITH WORLDLY WEALTH! For the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light. I tell you, use worldly wealth to gain friends for yourselves, so that when it is gone, you will be welcomed into eternal dwellings. —Luke 16:8-9             Being shrewd, insightful or perceptive is something that Jesus said “the people of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own kind than are the people of the light.”  The people of light— brothers and sisters, fellow followers of Jesus— how are we helping others in the Body of Christ who are of “our own…

BEWARE OF GREED Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.”  And he told them this parable: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’  “Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, “You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry.”’  “But God said to…

MY NAME IS WRITTEN IN HEAVEN! He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.” —Luke 10:18-20             Fellow followers of Jesus, brothers and sisters, our “names are written in heaven!”  That is our home, that is our destiny.  So let us always keep this in mind.  Our road there, the race we are called to run with perseverance, may not all look the same, but we know what…