Category: Scripture

The Lord is My Strength

Currently, I have been reading from the Book of Psalms as part of my daily devotion. Psalm 18 caught my eye. It was written by King David. Here are some of the verses that stood out to me from the New Living Translation:

“I love You, Lord, You are my strength. (v.1)The Lord is my rock, my fortress, and my savior; my God is my rock, in whom I find protection. He is my shield, the power that saves me, and my place of safety. (v.2) I called upon the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and He saved me from my enemies. (v.3)”

“He reached down from heaven and rescued me; He drew me out of deep waters. (v.16) He led me to a place of safety; He rescued me because He delights in me. (v. 19)”

“To the faithful, You show Yourself faithful; to those with integrity, You show integrity. (v. 25)To the pure, You show Yourself pure, but to the wicked, You show Yourself hostile. (v. 26)”

“You rescue the humble, but You humiliate the proud. (v. 27) You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness. (v. 28)”

“God’s way is perfect. All he Lord’s promises prove true. He is a shield of all who look to Him for protection. (v.30) For who is God except the Lord” Who but God is a solid Rock! (v.31) God arms me with strength and He makes my way perfect. (v.32)”

“The Lord lives! Praise to my Rock! May the God of my salvation be exalted! (v.46) For this O Lord, I will praise you among the nations; I will sing praises to Your name. (v49).”

(The lyrics of the Praise and Worship song, “I Will Call Upon The Lord, by the Christian group, Petra, were derived from Psalm 18)

The Supremacy of Christ

This passage was from one of my daily devotions that reminds us of this week between Jesus’s Triumphal Entry to Jerusalem, to His Crucifixion and Resurrection (in the last paragraph below, replace the Apostle, Paul’s name with your name)

Christ is the visible image of the invisible God. He existed before anything was created and is supreme over all creation, for through Him God created everything in the heavenly realms and on earth.

He made the things we can see and the things we can’t see- such as thrones, kingdoms, rulers, and authorities in the unseen world. Everything was created through Him and for Him.He existed before anything else, and He holds all creation together.

Christ is also the head of the church, which is His body. He is the beginning, supreme over all who rise from the dead. So He is first in everything.

For God in His fullness was pleased to live in Christ, and through Him God reconciled everything to Himself. He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ’s blood on the cross.

This includes you who were once far away from God. You were His enemies, separated from Him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now He has reconciled you to Himself through the death of Christ in His physical body. As a result, He has brought you into His own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before Him without a single fault.

But you must continue to believe this truth and sand firmly in it. Don’t drift away from the assurance you received the you heard the Good News. The Good News has been preached all over the world and I, Paul, have been appointed as God’s servant to proclaim it. Colossians 1:15-23 (NLT)

Prayer for God’s Protection

Psalm 5 is a psalm of David. These excerpts are his prayer for protection and are certainly applicable in these times.

Oh, Lord, hear me as I pray; pay attention to my groaning. Listen to my cry for help, my King and my God, for I pray to no one but You. Listen to my voice in the morning, Lord. Each morning I bring my requests to You and wait expectantly. Psalm 5:1-3 (NLT)

But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread your protection one them, that all who love Your name may be filled with joy. For you bless the godly, O Lord; you surround them with your shield of love. Psalm 5:11-12 (NLT)

Christian Unity

Christian bothers and sisters, need to come together in unity, in the body of Christ. We are all in this together Christians and non-Christians. We need to be a positive witness to others. Currently in the state of the world, our words are speaking louder than our actions (rather than our actions speak louder than our words). James 1:22 – “But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” NJKV. James 1:26 “If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless.” (NLT)

If you are a Christian and are bashing others and instead of lifting them up, shame on you! We need to uplift others, not tear the down. We need to pray, pray hard for those who have lost love ones, those who are fighting for their lives, those who have lost their jobs, the medical personnel, our President and his staff, the list goes on an on.

Remember Galatians 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. (ESV)

“A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on all God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm agains all the strategies of the devil. For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but agains even rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against the mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places……Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be present in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” Ephesians 6:10-12, 18 (NLT)

Are You Ready?

In world’s current situation, could this be the beginning of end times? We, as Christians, are called to share the Gospel of Salvation. Simply put, “….Believe in the Lord, Jesus, and you will be saved…” Acts 16:31 (ESV)

Paul says in his second letter to Timothy “I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and his kingdom; preach the Word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke and exhort; with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away fro listening to the Truth and wander off into myths. As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” 2 Timothy 4:1-5 (ESV)

Except of King David’s Prayer of Praise when Solomon Anointed King

“”Then David praised the Lord in the presence of the whole assembly. “Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel, may You be praised forever and ever! Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory , the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and earth are Yours, O Lord, and this is Your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. Wealth and honor come from You, alone, for You rule over everything. Power and might are in Your hand, and at you discretion people are made great and given strength.

O our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious name! But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to You? Everything we have has come from You, and we give You only what You first gave us! We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are soon without a trace.””

1 Chronicles 29 10-15

King David’s Song of Praise

Excepts from 1 Chronicles 16. David’s Song of Praise after returning the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem.

“”Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! He is to be feared above all gods.

Give the Lord the glory He deserves! Bring your offering and come into His presence. Worship the Lord in all His holy splendor.

Let the heavens be glad, and the earth rejoice! Tell the nations, “The Lord reigns! ” Let every sea and everything in it shout His praise! Let the fields and their crops burst out with joy! Let the trees of the forest rustle with praise for the Lord is going to judge the earth.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His faithful love endures forever.

Praise the Lord, The God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting! And all the people shouted “Amen!”” 1 Chronicles 16:25,29,31-34, 36 NLT

2 John – Truth and Love

Excerpts from 2 John.

“Grace, mercy and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ – the son of the Father- will continue to be with us who live in truth and love.” 2 John 1:3 NLT

“I am writing to remind you , dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. Love means doing what God has commanded us, and He has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.

I say this to you because many deceivers have gone out into the world. They deny that Jesus Christ came in real body. Such a person is a deceiver and an antichrist. With out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward.

Anyone who wanders away from this teaching has no relationship with God. But anyone who remains in the teaching of Christ has a relationship with both the Father and the Son.

If anyone comes to your meeting and does not teach the truth about Christ, don’t invite that person into your home or give any kind of encouragement. Anyone who encourages such people becomes a partner in their evil work.” 2 John 1:5-11 NLT

I

Nothing Can Separate Us From The Love of God

In Paul’s leter to the Romans in Chapter 8, he writes about God’s love.

“What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us, won’t He also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one – for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one – for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting at the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels or demons, neither or fears for today or our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below – indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us fro the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus, Our Lord.” Romans 8: 31-39 NLT

Happy Thanksgiving

On this Thanksgiving Day, my daily devotion centered around giving thanks to God. The passage of the day was the following passage.

“I will give thanks to you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonderful deeds. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.” Psalm 9: 1-2 (NIV)

I think of all the blessings that God has bestowed on my and my family over the years. I think of the words of Doxology (public domain).

“Praise God from who all blessings flow. Praise Him all creatures here below. Praise Him above all heavenly hosts. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen!

I pray that you thank God for all your blessings this year, in both good and bad times.