I am your Lord !!!!

Isaiah 41:13 (NIV). 
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you....... 
Thoughts on This Verse... 
Life crashes in and we wish we could be children again and have someone to take care of us and protect us. Into our confused and chaotic world, God's promise comes to us once again. 


Like a loving parent with a frightened child, God reaches out and takes hold of our hands and comforts us with his precious words:
''Don't be afraid. I'm here with you. I will help " 
Even when he seems distant, the echo of this thought can remind us that we are never alone or forgotten. (cf. Heb. 13:5-6) 

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."

Psalm 30:5

Christian! If thou art in a night of trial, think of the morrow; cheer up thy heart with the thought of the coming of thy Lord. Be patient, for

"Lo! He comes with clouds descending."

Be patient! The Husbandman waits until he reaps his harvest. Be patient; for you know who has said, "Behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give to every man according as his work shall be." If you are never so wretched now, remember

"A few more rolling suns, at most,

Will land thee on fair Canaan's coast."

Thy head may be crowned with thorny troubles now, but it shall wear a starry crown ere long; thy hand may be filled with cares--it shall sweep the strings of the harp of heaven soon. Thy garments may be soiled with dust now; they shall be white by-and-by. Wait a little longer. Ah! how despicable our troubles and trials will seem when we look back upon them! Looking at them here in the prospect, they seem immense; but when we get to heaven we shall then

"With transporting joys recount,

The labours of our feet."

Our trials will then seem light and momentary afflictions. Let us go on boldly; if the night be never so dark, the morning cometh, which is more than they can say who are shut up in the darkness of hell. Do you know what it is thus to live on the future--to live on expectation--to antedate heaven? Happy believer, to have so sure, so comforting a hope. It may be all dark now, but it will soon be light; it may be all trial now, but it will soon be all happiness. What matters it though "weeping may endure for a night," when "joy cometh in the morning?"

Today's reading taken from Charles Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening."

Commit your way to the LORD !!!

Psalm 37:5-6 (NIV). 
''Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him and he will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.''...... 
Thoughts on This Verse... 
How much do you trust the Lord? Better yet, how much of yourself have you entrusted to the Lord? 


We have focused the last several days on the promised blessings the Lord longs to give us. Yet in his wisdom, God has chosen to make the release of many of these blessings dependent upon our trust in him and our asking of him. 


As long as we grip the steering wheel of our life, it is hard to let God take us in the direction of his blessing and his will. I saw a bumper sticker recently that put it this way:''If God is your co-pilot then you had better switch seats!'' 
Committing our way to the Lord is offering our lives to him to do his work, to receive his blessing, and to know his presence. 
So what are you waiting for? 

"And will manifest myself to him."

"And will manifest myself to him."

John 14:21

The Lord Jesus gives special revelations of himself to his people. Even if Scripture did not declare this, there are many of the children of God who could testify the truth of it from their own experience. They have had manifestations of their Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ in a peculiar manner, such as no mere reading or hearing could afford. 

In the biographies of eminent saints, you will find many instances recorded in which Jesus has been pleased, in a very special manner to speak to their souls, and to unfold the wonders of his person; yea, so have their souls been steeped in happiness that they have thought themselves to be in heaven, whereas they were not there, though they were well nigh on the threshold of it--for when Jesus manifests himself to his people, it is heaven on earth; it is paradise in embryo; it is bliss begun. 

Especial manifestations of Christ exercise a holy influence on the believer's heart. One effect will be humility. If a man says, "I have had such-and-such spiritual communications, I am a great man," he has never had any communion with Jesus at all; for "God hath respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off." 

He does not need to come near them to know them, and will never give them any visits of love. Another effect will be happiness; for in God's presence there are pleasures for evermore. Holiness will be sure to follow. A man who has no holiness has never had this manifestation. 

Some men profess a great deal; but we must not believe any one unless we see that his deeds answer to what he says. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked.

" He will not bestow his favours upon the wicked: for while he will not cast away a perfect man, neither will he respect an evil doer. 

Thus there will be three effects of nearness to Jesus--humility, 

happiness, and 

holiness.

May God give them to thee, Christian!

Today's reading taken from Charles Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening."

"I am with you always."

Matthew 28:20

It is well there is One who is ever the same, and who is ever with us. It is well there is one stable rock amidst the billows of the sea of life. 

O my soul, set not thine affections upon rusting, moth-eaten, decaying treasures, but set thine heart upon him who abides forever faithful to thee. Build not thine house upon the moving quicksands of a deceitful world, but found thy hopes upon this rock, which, amid descending rain and roaring floods, shall stand immovably secure. 

My soul, I charge thee, lay up thy treasure in the only secure cabinet; store thy jewels where thou canst never lose them. Put thine all in Christ; set all thine affections on his person, all thy hope in his merit, all thy trust in his efficacious blood, all thy joy in his presence, and so thou mayest laugh at loss, and defy destruction. Remember that all the flowers in the world's garden fade by turns, and the day cometh when nothing will be left but the black, cold earth. 

Death's black extinguisher must soon put out thy candle. Oh! how sweet to have sunlight when the candle is gone! 

The dark flood must soon roll between thee and all thou hast; then wed thine heart to him who will never leave thee; trust thyself with him who will go with thee through the black and surging current of death's stream, and who will land thee safely on the celestial shore, and make thee sit with him in heavenly places forever. 

Go, sorrowing son of affliction, tell thy secrets to the Friend who sticketh closer than a brother. Trust all thy concerns with him who never can be taken from thee, who will never leave thee, and who will never let thee leave him, even "Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever." 

"Lo, I am with you alway," is enough for my soul to live upon, let who will forsake me.

Today's reading taken from Charles Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening."

MIGHTY WARRIOR, BEAUTIFUL AND INTERESTING VIDEO !!!

Psalm 89:8 (New International Version, ©2011)

 Who is like you, LORD God Almighty?
   You, LORD, are mighty, and your faithfulness surrounds you.

God watches over YOu !!!

Matthew 5:8 (New International Version, ©2011)

 Blessed are the pure in heart,
   for they will see God.

The greater LOVE !!!

John 15:13 (NIV). 
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends....... Thoughts on This Verse... 
Words communicate and explain. 
We can tell people that we love them. We can explain how precious they are to us. 
Actions validate and confirm. 
When we sacrifice our preferences for another, we show our respect and affection. 
When we sacrifice ourselves, our wishes, and our preferences for a friend, we give the greatest of all gifts and prove our love beyond any doubt. 

"But now is Christ risen from the dead."

1 Corinthians 15:20

The whole system of Christianity rests upon the fact that "Christ is risen from the dead;" for, "If Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain: ye are yet in your sins." The divinity of Christ finds its surest proof in his resurrection, since he was "Declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead." It would not be unreasonable to doubt his deity if he had not risen. 

Moreover, Christ's sovereignty depends upon his resurrection, "For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living." Again, our justification, that choice blessing of the covenant, is linked with Christ's triumphant victory over death and the grave; for "He was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

" Nay, more, our very regeneration is connected with his resurrection, for we are "Begotten again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 

And most certainly our ultimate resurrection rests here, for, "If the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwelleth in you."

If Christ be not risen, then shall we not rise; but if he be risen then they who are asleep in Christ have not perished, but in their flesh shall surely behold their God. Thus, the silver thread of resurrection runs through all the believer's blessings, from his regeneration onwards to his eternal glory, and binds them together. 

How important then will this glorious fact be in his estimation, and how will he rejoice that beyond a doubt it is established, that "now is Christ risen from the dead"!

"The promise is fulfill'd,

Redemption's work is done,

Justice with mercy's reconciled,

For God has raised his Son."

FEAR ???

NO FEAR, HE PAID THE PRICE FOR YOU AND ME !!!

Word of GOD endures forever !!!

"Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings."

Ephesians 1:3

All the goodness of the past, the present, and the future, Christ bestows upon his people. In the mysterious ages of the past the Lord Jesus was his Father's first elect, and in his election he gave us an interest, for we were chosen in him from before the foundation of the world. 

He had from all eternity the prerogatives of Sonship, as his Father's only-begotten and well-beloved Son, and he has, in the riches of his grace, by adoption and regeneration, elevated us to sonship also, so that to us he has given "power to become the sons of God." 

The eternal covenant, based upon suretiship and confirmed by oath, is ours, for our strong consolation and security. In the everlasting settlements of predestinating wisdom and omnipotent decree, the eye of the Lord Jesus 

was ever fixed on us; and we may rest assured that in the whole roll of destiny there is not a line which militates against the interests of his redeemed. 

The great betrothal of the Prince of Glory is ours, for it is to us that he is affianced, as the sacred nuptials shall ere long declare to an assembled universe. The marvellous incarnation of the God of heaven, with all the amazing condescension and humiliation which attended it, is ours. 

The bloody sweat, the scourge, the cross, are ours forever. Whatever blissful consequences flow from perfect obedience, finished atonement, resurrection, ascension, or intercession, all are ours by his own gift. 

Upon his breastplate he is now bearing our names; and in his authoritative pleadings at the throne he remembers our persons and pleads our cause. His dominion over principalities and powers, and his absolute majesty in heaven, he employs for the benefit of them who trust in him. His high estate is as much at our service as was his condition of abasement. 

He who gave himself for us in the depths of woe and death, doth not withdraw the grant now that he is enthroned in the highest heavens.

Today's reading taken from Charles Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening."

Finding Jesus !!!

Jeremiah 29:13 (NIV). You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart....... 
Thoughts on This Verse... 
God wants us to seek him. In fact, he made us to seek him! Unfortunately, however, we often seek God along with the other things that draw our eyes for a moment or two. 


We must never let anything distract us from God having first command of our hearts. 


Only God is worthy of our full devotion. 

We are called to serve, minister, and assist others !!!

Galatians 6:2 (NIV). Carry each other's burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ....... Thoughts on This Verse... 

This is just another way of saying,''Love your neighbor as yourself!'' Jesus came to bear our burdens and carry away the stain and pain of our sin. (Read Isaiah 53 for a powerful description of God's Suffering Servant, a passage quoted in the New Testament in reference to Jesus.) He now asks us to live redemptively, in practical ways, toward those around us. More than just praying, or asking what we can do to help, we are called to serve, minister, and assist others who are burdened. 

"He that was healed wist not who it was."

John 5:13

Years are short to the happy and healthy; but thirty-eight years of disease must have dragged a very weary length along the life of the poor impotent man. When Jesus, therefore, healed him by a word, while he lay at the pool of Bethesda, he was delightfully sensible of a change.

Even so the sinner who has for weeks and months been paralysed with despair, and has wearily sighed for salvation, is very conscious of the change when the Lord Jesus speaks the word of power, and gives joy and peace in believing. 

The evil removed is too great to be removed without our discerning it; the life imparted is too remarkable to be possessed and remain inoperative; and the change wrought is too marvellous not to be perceived. Yet the poor man was ignorant of the author of his cure; he knew not the sacredness of his person, the offices which he sustained, or the errand which brought him among men.

Much ignorance of Jesus may remain in hearts which yet feel the power of his blood. We must not hastily condemn men for lack of knowledge; but where we can see the faith which saves the soul, we must believe that salvation has been bestowed. 

The Holy Spirit makes men penitents long before he makes them divines; and he who believes what he knows, shall soon know more clearly what he believes. Ignorance is, however, an evil; for this poor man was much tantalized by the Pharisees, and was quite unable to cope with them. 

It is good to be able to answer gainsayers; but we cannot do so if we know not the Lord Jesus clearly and with understanding. The cure of his ignorance, however, soon followed the cure of his infirmity, for he was visited by the Lord in the temple; and after that gracious manifestation, he was found testifying that "it was Jesus who had made him whole." Lord, if thou hast saved me, show me thyself, that I may declare thee to the sons of men.

Today's reading taken from Charles Spurgeon's "Morning and Evening."