FELLOW FOLLOWER OF JESUS— WE ARE SAFE AND SECURE IN HIM! Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of…

BE FOCUSED ON THE ETERNAL, NOT THE TEMPORAL I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. —Romans 8:18 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.—II Corinthians 4:16-18             Where is our focus?  Where are we fixing our eyes?  Are we focusing on…

LIVE FOR JESUS! For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. So I find it to be a law that when I want to do right, evil lies close at hand. For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see…

PONDER HIS WORK! I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your wonders of old. I will ponder all your work, and meditate on your mighty deeds. —Psalm 77:11-12             Remember how our Lord has worked and His wonders, past, present and what is coming in the future.  Ponder them, meditate on His deeds.  In doing so we cannot help but praise His Name.             Creation— what a joy it is to be outside enjoying what He has made.  How wonderful is our eye He designed that gives us the opportunity to enjoy color.  It is a marvel that he has given us the ability in His…

GOD’S SET BOUNDARIES Yours is the day, yours also the night; you have established the heavenly lights and the sun. You have fixed all the boundaries of the earth; you have made summer and winter. —Psalm 74:16-17 The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and…

HELP! May he defend the cause of the poor of the people, give deliverance to the children of the needy, and crush the oppressor! —Psalm 72:4 For he delivers the needy when he calls, the poor and him who has no helper. He has pity on the weak and the needy, and saves the lives of the needy. From oppression and violence he redeems their life, and precious is their blood in his sight. —Psalm 72:12-14                Are we helping the “cause of the poor?”  Are we giving “deliverance to the children of the needy?  Are we looking to “crush the oppressor!”  Are we seeking to help those who have no helper? …

THE ETERNALLY IMPORTANT GIFT OF GOD— HIS SON! But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it— the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his…

LOOK!  LISTEN!  CALL ON HIM NOW! Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man. He turned the sea into dry land; they passed through the river on foot. There did we rejoice in him, who rules by his might forever, whose eyes keep watch on the nations— let not the rebellious exalt themselves. —Psalm 66:5-7 Come and hear, all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul. —Psalm 66:16             Open your eyes!  Look around you and see the obvious of what God has done.  Design, design, design of the Designer is all around us— the…

UNSHAKEABLE! For God alone my soul waits in silence; from him comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be greatly shaken. —Psalm 62:1-2  For God alone, O my soul, wait in silence, for my hope is from him. He only is my rock and my salvation, my fortress; I shall not be shaken. —Psalm 62:5-6 Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us. —Psalm 62:8             Who do you trust?  Who can you pour your heart out to?  Who is your refuge?  God alone can be trusted 100% of the time. …

TRUE JOY— JESUS, OTHERS, YOURSELF O my Strength, I will sing praises to you, for you, O God, are my fortress, the God who shows me steadfast love. —Psalm 59:17 Do not grieve, for the joy of the LORD is your strength. —Nehemiah 8:10             Joy someone once said is “Jesus, others, yourself.”  JESUS— We are told to ‘“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment” (Matthew 22:37-38).  So, our top priority focus is to be Jesus.  OTHERS— Then we are told to “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  This will be our second…