We Cannot Hide Our Secrets From God

Isaiah 29:15-16 KJV; Our God is a just God. He will provide justice for all people; even for those who would lie to his children for their own benefit.

Prosper In Love

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

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What does it mean to be blessed.  I don't know about all of you; but, I have found that living in relationship with God is to be blessed. 

There are many who preach that you will have every material thing that you desire if you follow God's law. But, to prosper has more meaning than the materialistic meaning that the word has taken on.   

Prosperity for the Christian is to grow rich in the love of God and to be fruitful by sharing his love with others.  When we share his love we don't have to worry about following every law because when we love God we automatically worship and put him before all others.  When we love others we will do them no harm. We will not sin against them. 

"Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet; and if there be any other commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law." 

                                                                          (Rom 13:8-10)

Blessed are those who love the Lord and who love one another for they will be fruitful in edifying the church. They will live lives abundant with  the peace of heart and mind in the presence of God that faith alone in Christ alone can bring. 

There is a prosperity that is not just about money and things. It is better to be prosperous; enriched with these things:  "faith, hope, love," for they will last an eternity while our things will not.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

God Is Our Fortress

Psalm 71:1-11 KJV

In thee, O Lord, do I put my trust: let me never be put to confusion.

Deliver me in thy righteousness, and cause me to escape: incline thine ear unto me, and save me.

Be thou my strong habitation, whereunto I may continually resort: thou hast given commandment to save me; for thou art my rock and my fortress.

Deliver me, O my God, out of the hand of the wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and cruel man.

For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth.

By thee have I been holden up from the womb: thou art he that took me out of my mother's bowels: my praise shall be continually of thee.

I am as a wonder unto many; but thou art my strong refuge.

Let my mouth be filled with thy praise and with thy honour all the day.

Cast me not off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength faileth.

For mine enemies speak against me; and they that lay wait for my soul take counsel together,

Saying, God hath forsaken him: persecute and take him; for there is none to deliver him.

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The Lord has been with us and will continue with us to protect us from those who would come up against us. They may think that God is not with us and attack us mercilessly but we have every confidence that he is. He is our refuge and our fortress. In him alone do we trust. In him alone do we find peace.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

The Fake Lights Would Destroy Hope

Psalm 16:1-9 KJV

Preserve me, O God: for in thee do I put my trust.

O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee;

But to the saints that are in the earth, and to the excellent, in whom is all my delight.

Their sorrows shall be multiplied that hasten after another god: their drink offerings of blood will I not offer, nor take up their names into my lips.

The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup: thou maintainest my lot.

The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places; yea, I have a goodly heritage.

I will bless the Lord, who hath given me counsel: my reins also instruct me in the night seasons.

I have set the Lord always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved.

Therefore my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.

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In these dark days it can be difficult to have hope. I have found myself reminding myself that I need to pray for the safety of multitude of civilians of many nations that have been left behind in Afghanistan. I have to remind myself because to tell you the truth I find that I have fallen into the trap of having little hope that they will all or even the majority be able to get out of Afghanistan safely.

Yet, without hope we cannot move forward to secure their escape. Hope keeps us moving and doing.  Hope will not leave us destitute and depressed. Hope will lead us to action. 

Our hope is misplaced when we it is based on any one or group of persons in government leadership.  They are not our saviors. There is only one savior. His name is Jesus. In him our hope must lie.

The world can be a very dark place. But, a light has come into the world. Sadly, too many prefer the dark and will not come into the marvelous light of Christ.

Years ago, I had a vision that I will never forget while at a Renewel In Missouri Conference. That vision was of a candle with a great light surrounded by a circle of smaller candles with very dim lights. One would think that those smaller candles were attracted to the great light. But, no. The candles with dim lights were surrounding the great light in the attempt to put it out so that their own lights could shine. So goes the world today. Egos of so many world leaders as well as others attempt to outshine the rest. They do not listen to the counsel of God. They are guided and guide others by a false light that is not of Christ but of their own imaginations. 

For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. (2 Cor 11:13-14)

We can never put out the light of Christ even as many who profess to be Christians; profess to love; profess to care; try as they might to snuff out the light of Christ so that their own fake lights might shine.

Again... there is only one light that can be trusted. That light is the light that has come into the world for the sake of all of humankind. His name is Jesus the Christ. In him alone our hope must lie.

Let us pray: Lord God, have mercy upon us. Have mercy on all who are in harms way in Afghanistan and around the world. Have mercy on us filling us with faith, hope, and love through the power of the Holy Spirit in the name of Jesus the Christ, our Savior and Lord. Amen.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Seek Counsel From God

Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the Lord, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth us?

Surely your turning of things upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay: for shall the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no understanding?

                             (Isa 29:15-16 KJV)

We neglect to hear the counsel of the Lord. instead we turn to the understanding of the world. We make a very big mistake when we trust the words of those who hunger for power; who seek to lead us astray for their own benefit, instead of the one who is all powerful and all knowing and does all things for the benefit of his creation.

In Isaiah's vision he hears that there will be sorrow for those who think that they can hide the things that they do from the one who created them. 

God knows what his children; his creation think and say and do. He knows what is best for you. Listen to him!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

The Promise; Our Inheritance

 In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;

Wherein he hath abounded toward us in all wisdom and prudence;

Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:

That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ.

In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory. 

                                                                            (Eph 1:7-14 KJV)

Forgiven and redeemed by the grace of God through the blood of Jesus the Christ; for what? According to St. Paul is it so that we might be gathered together as one in Christ and not just we but all things in heaven on earth. The inheritance; the purpose, is that we might be reconciled to one another; that we might be reconciled to God.

Thanks be to God through Jesus the Christ we have been redeemed to live united in peace. That is the promise. Although that promise has not yet fully come. Our hope is that in the dispensation of the fulness of time we will fully realize that unity; that peace. That hope gives us the ability to endure all things even today.

God grant us the hope to believe the promise of unity in Christ and to live as though that promise has already been fulfilled.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Who Is Righteous?

PSALM 1 KJV

Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.

But his delight is in the law of the Lord; and in his law doth he meditate day and night.

And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.

The ungodly are not so: but are like the chaff which the wind driveth away.

Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.

For the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous: but the way of the ungodly shall perish.

I remember as a very young person learning that we are not saved by our good works; rather, that because we are saved we do good works. Also, our good works are not counted toward our righteousness for no man is righteous according to the law. We all sin. We are found righteous only by faith in the only one who is righteous, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Those who have been forgiven much love much. They love enough to serve the Lord and one another to the utmost of their ability which will also fall short of perfection. Thanks be to God for Jesus Christ who died that through faith in him and his sacrifice we might be found righteous.

"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." (Phil 3:8-11)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

There Is None Upon The Earth Like Him

Nevertheless I am continually with thee: thou hast holden me by my right hand.

Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.

My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever. 

                                                                                    (Psalm 73:23-26 KJV)

Stuck in a dark corner and cannot find your way out? Seek the Lord with your whole heart for He is with you. He will give you the strength to keep moving forward. There is none other but the Lord who can save you. He will hold you by the right hand and guide you wherever it is that you should be.

Stick close to the Lord God; cling to Him; love Him with your whole heart. There is none other like Him.

God's Peace - Pr. J.

A Woe And A Promise

Oh, rebellious children, says the Lord,
who carry out a plan, but not mine;
who make an alliance, but against my will,
    adding sin to sin;
² who set out to go down to Egypt
    without asking for my counsel,
to take refuge in the protection of Pharaoh,
    and to seek shelter in the shadow of Egypt;
³ Therefore the protection of Pharaoh shall become 
    your shame,
    and the shelter in the shadow of Egypt your 
    humiliation.

                                           (Isa 30:1-3 NRSV)


Woe to those obstinate children who do not listen to the word of the LORD given through the prophet. Those who trust Pharaoh to protect them are going to be very sorry, indeed!

God tells Isaiah: 
For they are a rebellious people,
    faithless children,
children who will not hear
    the instruction of the Lord;
¹⁰ who say to the seers, “Do not see”;
    and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us what is right;
speak to us smooth things,
    prophesy illusions,
¹¹ leave the way, turn aside from the path,
    let us hear no more about the Holy One of Israel.”
For thus said the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel:

In returning and rest you shall be saved;
    in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.
But you refused...  

                                                        (Isa 30:9-11,15)

They are in trouble. They are in fear for their futures; their lives. However; rather than turn to God, they turn to Egypt. They run, they flee, to Egypt when all it really would take to be helped is to repent and rest in the assurance of their salvation.

Isaiah 30 provides those who trust in the LORD a promise as well as a great woe for those obstinate children who won't and don't.

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you;
    therefore he will rise up to show mercy to you.
For the Lord is a God of justice;
    blessed are all those who wait for him.

Truly, O people in Zion, inhabitants of Jerusalem, you shall weep no more. He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry; when he hears it, he will answer you.

                                                                           (Isa 30:18-19)

Are you in trouble? When you are, what is it that you do? Do you turn (repent) to the LORD and follow in the Way or do you attempt to make a way out of the trouble for yourself? Do you lean on others who haven't figured a way out of the trouble they're in themselves? Maybe, they don't even realize how much trouble they're in? 

I find that often we attempt to do both; carve a path for ourselves while 

begging God to keep us safe. Isaiah reminds us that there is only one way to salvation... You cannot travel along both ways. May God keep you in His Way.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Happy Are They Whose God Is Lord

The Lord brings the counsel of the nations to nothing;
  he frustrates the plans of the peoples.
The counsel of the Lord stands forever,
  the thoughts of his heart to all generations.
Happy is the nation whose God is the Lord,
  the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.                                               Psalm 33:10-12 NRSV

Are we a happy people or not? Some days, yes. Many days, it seems as though, as a nation, we are not. There is way too much division and that division comes because, as a people, we do not listen or follow the will of the Lord. But, we must know that the Lord is God and His will will be done whether we listen, like it, or follow him or not. The further we pull away from him to do our own will, the less peace and joy we will know.

We can know the will of the Lord and we will all know it if we bother to listen to him. Happy would be the nation whose God is their Lord.

It is an absolute truth. The Lord reigns! Listen to his counsel!

God's Peace - Pr. J