On Remembering Truth…Psalm 89

 I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever;

With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.

2 For I have said, “Mercy shall be built up forever;

Your faithfulness You shall establish in the very heavens.”

3 “I have made a covenant with My chosen,

I have sworn to My servant David:

4 ‘Your seed I will establish forever,

And build up your throne to all generations.’ ” Selah

5 And the heavens will praise Your wonders, O LORD;

Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the saints.

6 For who in the heavens can be compared to the LORD?

Who among the sons of the mighty can be likened to the LORD?

7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints,

And to be held in reverence by all those around Him.

8 O LORD God of hosts,

Who is mighty like You, O LORD?

Your faithfulness also surrounds You.

9 You rule the raging of the sea;

When its waves rise, You still them.

10 You have broken Rahab in pieces, as one who is slain;

You have scattered Your enemies with Your mighty arm.

11 The heavens are Yours, the earth also is Yours;

The world and all its fullness, You have founded them.

12 The north and the south, You have created them;

Tabor and Hermon rejoice in Your name.

13 You have a mighty arm;

Strong is Your hand, and high is Your right hand.

14 Righteousness and justice are the foundation of Your throne;

Mercy and truth go before Your face.

15 Blessed are the people who know the joyful sound!

They walk, O LORD, in the light of Your countenance.

16 In Your name they rejoice all day long,

And in Your righteousness they are exalted.

17 For You are the glory of their strength,

And in Your favor our horn is exalted.

18 For our shield belongs to the LORD,

And our king to the Holy One of Israel.

19 Then You spoke in a vision to Your holy one,fn

And said: “I have given help to one who is mighty;

I have exalted one chosen from the people.

20 I have found My servant David;

With My holy oil I have anointed him,

21 With whom My hand shall be established;

Also My arm shall strengthen him.

22 The enemy shall not outwit him,

Nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

23 I will beat down his foes before his face,

And plague those who hate him.

24 “But My faithfulness and My mercy shall be with him,

And in My name his horn shall be exalted.

25 Also I will set his hand over the sea,

And his right hand over the rivers.

26 He shall cry to Me, ‘You are my Father,

My God, and the rock of my salvation.’

27 Also I will make him My firstborn,

The highest of the kings of the earth.

28 My mercy I will keep for him forever,

And My covenant shall stand firm with him.

29 His seed also I will make to endure forever,

And his throne as the days of heaven.

30 “If his sons forsake My law

And do not walk in My judgments,

31 If they break My statutes

And do not keep My commandments,

32 Then I will punish their transgression with the rod,

And their iniquity with stripes.

33 Nevertheless My lovingkindness I will not utterly take from him,

Nor allow My faithfulness to fail.

34 My covenant I will not break,

Nor alter the word that has gone out of My lips.

35 Once I have sworn by My holiness;

I will not lie to David:

36 His seed shall endure forever,

And his throne as the sun before Me;

37 It shall be established forever like the moon,

Even like the faithful witness in the sky.” Selah

38 But You have cast off and abhorred,

You have been furious with Your anointed.

39 You have renounced the covenant of Your servant;

You have profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.

40 You have broken down all his hedges;

You have brought his strongholds to ruin.

41 All who pass by the way plunder him;

He is a reproach to his neighbors.

42 You have exalted the right hand of his adversaries;

You have made all his enemies rejoice.

43 You have also turned back the edge of his sword,

And have not sustained him in the battle.

44 You have made his glory cease,

And cast his throne down to the ground.

45 The days of his youth You have shortened;

You have covered him with shame. Selah

46 How long, LORD?

Will You hide Yourself forever?

Will Your wrath burn like fire?

47 Remember how short my time is;

For what futility have You created all the children of men?

48 What man can live and not see death?

Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave? Selah

49 Lord, where are Your former lovingkindnesses,

Which You swore to David in Your truth?

50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of Your servants--

How I bear in my bosom the reproach of all the many peoples,

51 With which Your enemies have reproached, O LORD,

With which they have reproached the footsteps of Your anointed.

52 Blessed be the LORD forevermore!

Amen and Amen.—Psalm 89

This psalm really resonated with me this morning.  In verses 1-37 David speaks what He knows to be true about God and praises Him for His care of His people.  He reminds us (himself) that God’s promises are sure and that His truth stands forever.  Forever, O Lord, You word is settled in heaven.  He changes not and no one can oppose Him.  It is good for me to do the same when the evil reality of the world in front of me threatens to overwhelm my heart.

Underlying all that is happening in our world today is my faith in the ONE whose mercies don’t come to an end and whose truth is everlasting.  The truth of His word is my comfort in affliction and the anchor of my soul.   As the saying goes, I don’t know the future, but I am intimately acquainted with the ONE who holds all of it in His sovereign hand.  I am His and He is mine.  He knows me and my soul follows close behind Him.  He has given me eternal life...I will never perish and neither shall any man pluck me out of His hand.  He is greater than ALL.  

My day to day expectations may be thwarted and disappointed, but my faith and hope in my God is sure and brings me deep comfort in all that I face.  I am more than a conqueror through Him who loves me...for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us (ME) from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. The joy of the Lord is my strength.  The Psalmist began with praise and ended with the same.  I will do likewise...

Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!

"For who has known the mind of the LORD?

Or who has become His counselor?"

"Or who has first given to Him

And it shall be repaid to him?"

For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen.—Romans 11:33-36

Oh, how blessed is the man who places his trust in Him!  

Pray…Watch…Work

 Life lesson from Nehemiah for me...

Pray...Watch...Work

Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night.—Nehemiah 4:9

So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work.—Nehemiah 4:6

"Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."—Matt 26:41

for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.—Phil 2:13

Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen—Hebrews 13:20-21

Nehemiah…A Man of Prayer

 So it was, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.— Nehemiah 1:4

Then the king said to me, "What do you request?" So I prayed to the God of heaven.—Nehemiah 2:4

Nehemiah was a leader, he was a mover and a shaker but what I see most in the life of Nehemiah is that he was a man of prayer. 

Reading through Ch 1, verses 5-11 tells me that Nehemiah had a genuine, active and dependent relationship with his God. The content of his prayer tells me that they sprung from a heart that truly believed God is who He says He is.  I love that!   I so want to emulate the relationship Nehemiah fostered with God!  I want my prayers to come from a heart that believes God.  I want My Father in heaven to be the first person I think about when I awake and the last person on my heart as I drop off to sleep.  I want an awareness of His Presence continually so that my calling on Him becomes as natural as breathing.

Believing with Nehemiah that:

The LORD IS...

merciful and gracious,
Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us,
Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins,
Nor punished us according to our iniquities.
11 For as the heavens are high above the earth,
So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west,
So far has He removed our transgressions from us.
13 As a father pities his children,
So the LORD pities those who fear Him.
14 For He knows our frame;
He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass;
As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
And its place remembers it no more.fn
17 But the mercy of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting
On those who fear Him,
And His righteousness to children's children,
18 To such as keep His covenant,
And to those who remember His commandments to do them.—Ps 103:8-18

Here We Are in Our Guilt. Ezra 9-10

 And I said: "O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens.—Ezra 9:6

O LORD God of Israel, You are righteous, for we are left as a remnant, as it is this day. Here we are before You, in our guilt, though no one can stand before You because of this!"—Ezra 9:15

So much ingratitude...so much trampling and despising on the mercy of God.  So much evil returned for the goodness shown to them by their God.  Nehemiah and Malachi later encountered the same sin.  Neither God’s wrath in the exile, nor His grace in the return was enough to keep them from going there own way once again.  Truly, Ezra says it all when he says “here we are before you in our guilt”.  They were without excuse, as are we.  There was nothing and there is nothing else to say.

They reward me evil for good,

To the sorrow of my soul.—Psalm 35:12

I love that Ezra did not stand “above” the people when he prayed. He did not point fingers nor did he speak to them in anger. Ezra’s prayer came from a heart broken not just by the people’s sin but his own sin as well.  (Even though he did not sin in the way the people had) It was the “humble sound” of a contrite heart that caused the people to acknowledge their sin and rend their hearts and not their garments. 

Now while Ezra was praying, and while he was confessing, weeping, and bowing down before the house of God, a very large assembly of men, women, and children gathered to him from Israel; for the people wept very bitterly. 2 And Shechaniah the son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam, spoke up and said to Ezra, “We have trespassed against our God, and have taken pagan wives from the peoples of the land; yet now there is hope in Israel in spite of this. 3 Now therefore, let us make a covenant with our God to put away all these wives and those who have been born to them, according to the advice of my master and of those who tremble at the commandment of our God; and let it be done according to the law. 4 Arise, for this matter is your responsibility. We also are with you. Be of good courage, and do it.”—Ezra 10:1-4

Beloved…Ending this one is hard…my heart is rightly sad.  The sin of the people caused so much heartbreak and loss.  Our own sin does the same. Sin does not just hurt the sinner. The sin of even one person hurts and defiles all who come into contact with them.  

Oh Father!  All of us stand before you guilty at times of going our own way and doing what is right in our own eyes. Help us to look ahead…to see the consequences of our sin not just for us but for our families as well. Give us a heart like Ezra that break over our sin. May it never be enough for us to just say we are sorry.  Help us when we sin to not only confess it but to change our direction as well. 

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.—1 Corinthians 10:13

The Good Hand of God…

 I LOVE Ezra!  I love that he prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord and do it. I love that he not only taught the people God’s law but also lived it out in his own life.  This morning as I read through chapters 7 and 8, I noticed all the verses that spoke of the good hand of God.  It seems to be a favorite expression of Ezra's.  I like it too.   It reminds me of one of my favorite verses from Psalm 139.

You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.

My God’s favor is with me.  He not only gives me what I need for the journey but also guides my steps and does the work.   It’s all grace!

God's hand provided...

this Ezra came up from Babylon; and he was a skilled scribe in the Law of Moses, which the LORD God of Israel had given. The king granted him all his request, according to the hand of the LORD his God upon him.--Ezra 7:6

God's hand guides us on our journey...

And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. On the first day of the first month he began his journey from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the Law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach statutes and ordinances in Israel.--Ezra 7:8-10

God's  hand is encouraging...

Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, who has put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem,  and has extended mercy to me before the king and his counselors, and before all the king’s mighty princes. So I was encouraged, as the hand of the LORD my God was upon me; and I gathered leading men of Israel to go up with me..--Ezra 7:27-28

God's hand is good and brings us what we need...

Then, by the good hand of our God upon us, they brought us a man of understanding, of the sons of Mahli the son of Levi, the son of Israel, namely Sherebiah, with his sons and brothers, eighteen men;  and Hashabiah, and with him Jeshaiah of the sons of Merari, his brothers and their sons, twenty men;  also of the Nethinim, whom David and the leaders had appointed for the service of the Levites, two hundred and twenty Nethinim. All of them were designated by name.--Ezra 8:18-20

God's hand is on those who humbly seek Him....

Then I proclaimed a fast there at the river of Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from Him the right way for us and our little ones and all our possessions.  For I was ashamed to request of the king an escort of soldiers and horsemen to help us against the enemy on the road, because we had spoken to the king, saying, “The hand of our God is upon all those for good who seek Him, but His power and His wrath are against all those who forsake Him.”  So we fasted and entreated our God for this, and He answered our prayer. --Ezra 8:21-23

God's hand delivers us...

Then we departed from the river of Ahava on the twelfth day of the first month, to go to Jerusalem. And the hand of our God was upon us, and He delivered us from the hand of the enemy and from ambush along the road.  So we came to Jerusalem, and stayed there three days--Ezra 8:31-32

Psalm 30 from today’s OYB is a perfect capstone to Ezra’s “good hand of God”. ❤️

4 Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name.
5 For his anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
6 As for me, I said in my prosperity, "I shall never be moved."
7 By your favor, O LORD, you made my mountain stand strong; you hid your face; I was dismayed.  (Psalms 30:4-7, ESV)

The Gracious, Sustaining Consolation of God…

But the following night the Lord stood by him and said, "Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome."—Acts 23:11

As I read this verse in Acts 23 this morning my heart was encouraged.  It is God’s will that despite all that is happening around us...despite the evil...despite the uncertainty...we are to remain faithful and to be of good cheer.  The gracious consolations of God sustain us.  The Lord stands with us and strengthens us!  Truly, if  God is for us, who can be against us?  

My God is my refuge and strength. He is my very present help in time of trouble.  Therefore, I NEED NOT fear.  He IS with me and upholds me with His righteous right hand.  All those incensed against me shall be ashamed and disgraced.  They shall be as nothing and those who strive with me shall perish.   Even now, God holds my right hand and says, fear not, I will help you.  I CAN be of good cheer.  There is NO condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus.  I am His and He is mine. He calls me by name.  When I pass through the waters, He is with me, and the rivers, they do not overflow me.  In Him my heart has peace.  In the world I have tribulation, but I can and will be of good cheer...He has overcome the world.  

After I finished writing the above, I read today’s Psalm and rejoiced as I heard David’s faithful and cheerful heart 1000 years earlier even as he flees from Absalom, his son.  We CAN be faithful..we CAN be cheerful...for it is the Lord who is in us and stands by us. 

1 LORD, how they have increased who trouble me!

Many are they who rise up against me.

2 Many are they who say of me,

"There is no help for him in God."

Selah

3 But You, O LORD, are a shield for me,

My glory and the One who lifts up my head.

4 I cried to the LORD with my voice,

And He heard me from His holy hill.

Selah

5 I lay down and slept;

I awoke, for the LORD sustained me.

6 I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people

Who have set themselves against me all around.

7 Arise, O LORD;

Save me, O my God!

For You have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone;

You have broken the teeth of the ungodly.

8 Salvation belongs to the LORD.

Your blessing is upon Your people.

Selah—Psalm 3

Turn to Me!

 Oh, turn to me, and have mercy on me!

Give Your strength to Your servant,

And save the son of Your maidservant.

17 Show me a sign for good,

That those who hate me may see it and be ashamed,

Because You, LORD, have helped me and comforted me.—Psalm 86:16-17

Father…Thank you for these precious verses from Psalm 86! Your lovingkindness is ALWAYS before my eyes! Blessed is the man whose strength is in You!   I so often forget who I belong to You and why I am here.  I am Your maidservant…here on this planet to do Your bidding and fulfill Your will.  Lead me in Your way and teach me Your truth.  

In my distress, I will seek You! You are my way of escape in this world fraught with trial and trouble.  Your compassionate kindness surrounds me and Your mercy and truth are my refuge and my consolation.  

Oh Father!  Look upon me and be merciful to me, as Your custom is toward those who love Your name. Oh, satisfy me early with Your mercy!  You are my help and my shield.  My soul will wait for You, my God. 

Encourage my heart to fear Your name. Show me a sign for good!  Make Your face shine upon Your servant. Let those who are the adversaries of my life be confounded and ashamed. Let them be covered with reproach and dishonor who seek my hurt because You, O Lord, have helped me and comforted me. 

Direct my steps by Your word and let no iniquity have dominion over me!  My heart will rejoice in You because I have trusted in Your Holy name.  I will go in the strength of the Lord GOD; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only. May Your mercy be upon me, Father, just as I hope in You.  

Have you not heard?

The everlasting God, the LORD,

The Creator of the ends of the earth,

Neither faints nor is weary.

His understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the weak,

And to those who have no might He increases strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,

And the young men shall utterly fall,

31 But those who wait on the LORD

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint.

O God, who is like You?

You, who have shown me great and severe troubles,

Shall revive me again,

And bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

You shall increase my greatness,

And comfort me on every side.

I Have Named You, Though You Have Not Known Me…

 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put it in writing, saying,

2 Thus says Cyrus king of Persia:

All the kingdoms of the earth the LORD God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judah. 3 Who is among you of all His people? May his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel (He is God), which is in Jerusalem. 4 And whoever is left in any place where he dwells, let the men of his place help him with silver and gold, with goods and livestock, besides the freewill offerings for the house of God which is in Jerusalem.—Ezra 1:1b-4 (emphasis mine)

Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia

Cyrus, the King of Persia came to power when he overthrew the city of Babylon. Isaiah 44 and 45 predicts this 150 years before Cyrus was even born! 

that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, 

How was Cyrus’ spirit stirred??  The same way God stirs each of our hearts…through His word.  

Now Daniel the prophet was in Babylon at the time of its overthrow. A few hours before it occurred, Belshazzar, the ruler of Babylon, was throwing a wild party and drinking from the vessels taken from the temple in Jerusalem.  While the party was in full swing, a disembodied hand appeared and wrote on the wall of the room, striking fear into the heart of Belshazzar.  An interpreter was needed, and Belshazzar’s mother remembered Daniel, in whom was “the spirit of the holy gods,”.  Daniel was summoned and interpreted the writing on the wall. 

This is the interpretation: MENE; God hath numbered thy kingdom, and finished it. TEKEL; Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting. PERES; Thy kingdom is divided, and given to the Medes and Persians. (Daniel 5:26–28)

That very night the Medes and the Persians conquered Babylon, the city that was said to be invincible.  Many believe that after this Daniel had an opportunity to show Cyrus what the prophet Isaiah, by the Spirit of God, had written of him 150 years earlier.

Who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd,

And he shall perform all My pleasure,

Saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built,"

And to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid."'—Isaiah 44:28

1 "Thus says the LORD to His anointed,

To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held—

To subdue nations before him

And loose the armor of kings,

To open before him the double doors,

So that the gates will not be shut:

2 'I will go before you

And make the crooked places straight;

I will break in pieces the gates of bronze

And cut the bars of iron.

3 I will give you the treasures of darkness

And hidden riches of secret places,

That you may know that I, the LORD,

Who call you by your name,

Am the God of Israel.

4 For Jacob My servant's sake,

And Israel My elect,

I have even called you by your name;

I have named you, though you have not known Me.

5 I am the LORD, and there is no other;

There is no God besides Me.

I will gird you, though you have not known Me,

6 That they may know from the rising of the sun to its setting

That there is none besides Me.

I am the LORD, and there is no other;

7 I form the light and create darkness,

I make peace and create calamity;

I, the LORD, do all these things.'—Isaiah 45:1-7

As I read these words from Isaiah this morning, they brought me much comfort because they reminded me that God speaks the same way to me, His daughter.  He has chosen me, named me, called me and encircled me, though I once did not know Him.  He has broken in pieces the chains of sin that held me.  It is He that upholds me, goes before me and makes my crooked places straight.  It is He who gives me treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places. The God of Israel has called me by name.  He has a plan for my life. I love Him because He first loved me. 

13 For You formed my inward parts;

You covered me in my mother's womb.

14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

Marvelous are Your works,

And that my soul knows very well.

15 My frame was not hidden from You,

When I was made in secret,

And skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.

16 Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed.

And in Your book they all were written,

The days fashioned for me,

When as yet there were none of them.—Psalm 139:13-16 (emphasis mine)

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, 4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, 5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, 6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.—Ephesians 1:3-6 (emphasis mine)

20 "I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; 21 that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 22 And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: 23 I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.—John 17:20-23 (emphasis mine)

Plenteous in Mercy….

 For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee.--Psalm 86:5

Father,

I stand in awe of Your goodness toward me in Christ Jesus. Me...who was dead in trespasses and sin and still your enemy!  Me...a stubborn, vile sinner bent on her own way.  You, Lord, heard my cry and saved me!  You brought me up out of the miry clay and redeemed me....You have set my feet on a rock. Safely ensconced in your arms,  I sit in the heavenly places with You!  

You are rich to all who call upon Your name!  How excellent is your lovingkindness toward us, O God, therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.  You, Lord, are good to all and Your tender mercies are over all Your works.  Your goodness endures continually...mercy and redemption are with You.  You are nigh unto all who call on You and fulfill the desires of those that fear You.  You hear their cry and save them  You preserve those who love You. 

Praying that I, who have been forgiven much, will have Your heart of love towards those You have placed in my life....Your thoughts of mercy grace and forgiveness ...let them be my thoughts....let them be my ways.  I confess to You that these are not my thoughts...nor my ways.  Truly, Father, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are Your ways and thoughts so much higher than mine.  You are God!  There is none like You.  You pardon sin and pass over transgression.  You do not retain your anger forever because YOU DELIGHT IN MERCY!!!  You turned to me and had compassion on me.  You subdued my iniquities and cast my sins into the depths of the sea!  If you Lord, should mark iniquities, O God, who could stand!  You remember me according to Your mercy for Your goodness sake.   There is forgiveness with You. 

Luke 15:17, 20-24... 

“But when he came to himself, ....“And he arose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son.’

“But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the fatted calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry;for this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ And they began to be merry.

Photo by “e” ❤️

But With Us Is the Lord our God to Help Us…

 My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me.--Psalm 63:8

“Be strong and courageous; do not be afraid nor dismayed before the king of Assyria, nor before all the multitude that is with him; for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.--2nd Chronicles 32:8

My life in time and eternity are Yours, Father.  I will walk with You in boldness because my relationship with You is unbreakable.  Nothing can separate me from Your love.

Thank you that you have NOT given me the spirit of fear but instead have given me Your power, Your love and Your mind!  These all became mine when I believed.  You have enlightened my eyes with the light of Your life and have given me understanding to know what is the hope of your calling, the riches of the glory of my inheritance and the exceeding greatness of Your power toward me who believe.  Your love has been poured out in my heart...I can love as You love...focused not on me but on You, my Father in heaven.  By your Spirit of grace I can now seek the good of others before my own. 

I don't want my circumstances to move me and cause me to react in a way that is not honoring to You .   I don't want even to consider my own life dear to me, but, like Paul, I want to finish my course with joy, testifying of you at all times and in all things.  Fear is from the enemy and walks in total opposition to Your perfect love.   It is evil and filled with self seeking.  Your word tells me that anything that is not from faith is sin.  Oh, Father, I confess I fail here so often...my first and last thoughts each and every day are of me.  Help me to walk in your perfect love that casts out fear and self seeking. Help me to surrender to what You want and put aside my fears for I have not received the spirit of bondage but the Spirit of adoption whereby I can cry Abba, Father!  I am your precious daughter and can go boldly to Your throne for grace to help in time of need. 

In You Father, I live and move and have my being.  In You, my Light of Life, I see light!  My Redeemer lives!  You have delivered my soul from the pit and released me from my fear of death.  Even when the darkness closes in, You are the light all about me.  Yay, even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil because You walk with me and comfort me.  There is no fear in Your perfect love...fear involves torment.  Oh Father, make me perfect in Your love.  You are my help and my shield and my soul waits for You.  My heart rejoices in You, my Savior and trusts in Your holy name.  Let Your mercy, O Lord, be upon me! 

When I focus on You and draw my very life from You...when I surrender and meditate on Your word...when I seek Your wisdom and grace...when I want Your will and your purposes...when I abide in You and seek Your kingdom first all the rest is added unto me. "Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit saith the Lord of Hosts."

 Father, may Your word be my treasure.  May spending time with You at Your throne of grace be where my attention and time is devoted.  Let me desire like Paul to know nothing but Your Son, Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  This is wisdom!  Help me to find my peace in this life in You at Your feet.  May You be my consolation and comfort in death and may I have joy forever in Your everlasting arms. 

Photo by sweet “e” flowers by God…