Rejoice! He Will Come Again!

Psalm 96 KJV

O sing unto the Lord a new song: sing unto the Lord, all the earth.

Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.

Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.

For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised: he is to be feared above all gods.

For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the Lord made the heavens.

Honour and majesty are before him: strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Give unto the Lord, O ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength.

Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come into his courts.

O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth.

Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth: the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved: he shall judge the people righteously.

Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.

Let the field be joyful, and all that is therein: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice

Before the Lord: for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth: he shall judge the world with righteousness, and the people with his truth.

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Rejoice; for the Lord has come and he will come again. Do not worry about justice for he will judge the whole world; every single person, with righteousness and truth. 

Rejoice; for the Lord has come and he will come again! Thanks be to God!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Vengeance Does Not Save

I will love thee, O Lord, my strength.

The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.                                                                                                                                                                                 (Psalm 18:1-3 KJV)

Most of us have enemies; people who would do us harm. Turning to vengeance ourselves is not real helpful. The Lord will take care of you.

Spending time and energy to avenge ourselves can be like a boomerang. It could very well fly back and hit us in the face. Vengeance can cause all sorts of legal ramifications for us. And, living in anger will take away our peace. It can make us ill: physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Leave the vengeance to the Lord. Trust Him for He is your rock, your fortress, deliverer, and strength. 

According to St. Paul: "If it be possible, as much as lieth in you, live peaceably with all men. Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves, but rather give place unto wrath: for it is written, Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. Therefore if thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head. (Rom 12:18-20)

Vengeance is God's. Trust Him and live life in peace!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

 

Think On The One Worthy To Be Praised

"Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." (Phil 4:8 KJV)

If our minds stay in the gutter; we will end up living our lives in the gutter. If our minds stay focused on the Lord, who is worthy to be praised, then we will live in His Kingdom. The work of our hands and every step that we take will naturally gravitate toward the things that we are focused on.

Whatever or whomever it is that we trust; that we put our faith in, that is our god. Will it be the things of this world or the one who loves us so much; the one who wants us to live in His presence so much, that He was willing to die that we might be forgiven our lustful and sinful ways and be reconciled to Him?

Jesus said, "For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matt 6:20)

By the inspiration of the Holy Spirit may God help us to treasure the one who is most worthy of praise, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

God's Peace - Pr. J

Children Are A Joy

Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son.

And her neighbours and her cousins heard how the Lord had shewed great mercy upon her; and they rejoiced with her.

And it came to pass, that on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child; and they called him Zacharias, after the name of his father.

And his mother answered and said, Not so; but he shall be called John.

And they said unto her, There is none of thy kindred that is called by this name.

And they made signs to his father, how he would have him called.

And he asked for a writing table, and wrote, saying, His name is John. And they marvelled all.

And his mouth was opened immediately, and his tongue loosed, and he spake, and praised God.

And fear came on all that dwelt round about them: and all these sayings were noised abroad throughout all the hill country of Judaea.

And all they that heard them laid them up in their hearts, saying, What manner of child shall this be! And the hand of the Lord was with him.

                                                                        (Luke 1:57-66 KJV)

So much excitement over the birth of John the Baptist! His father, Zacharias, praised the Lord at his circumcision.

Reading these verses this morning caused me to think about the joyless pregnancies we hear about today. What if Elizabeth or Mary had opted to terminate the pregnancies? Of course, Elizabeth would never have. She and Zacharias had for so long wanted a child. Mary, so young, was in a pretty inconvenient position when she became pregnant, though. But, the mothers of both John and Jesus loved their children and would have done them no harm; neither before or after birth.

Times were not easy in Zacharias' and Elizabeth's day nor are they for everyone today. But, the thought of having a child brought joy to them. If only it were so for those who find themselves with child today. 

I thank God for the birth of John and most especially for Jesus. I do not even want to consider what the world would be like today without their ministries and mission.

God's Peace - Pr. J

His Name Is Praised

From the rising of the sun unto the going down of the same the Lord's name is to be praised. (Psalm 113:3 KJV)

When asked if you believe in Jesus, what do you say? Do you say "I believe" and leave it at that? Seems to me a whole lot of people say they believe; but, what do they believe? Do they believe that God is the creator of all of heaven and earth? Do they believe that the Lord is our only salvation? Do they trust him for with their futures and their very lives? 

To say that one believes that their is one God really isn't saying all that much about in who or what you place your faith. According to James: "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble." (James 2:19) 

When one truly believes and trusts in God; their appreciation for what the Lord has done for them would show not in seeking things of this world; but, in praising and worshiping him alone.

The Lord's name is praised above all others; all things by those whose trust is in him and who love him.

God's Peace - Pr. J

From The Rising To The Setting

Blessed be the name of the Lord
from this time on and forevermore.
From the rising of the sun to its setting
the name of the Lord is to be praised.
The Lord is high above all nations,
and his glory above the heavens.
(Psalm 113:2-4 NRSV)

Every morning when I wake the first thing I do is to think about what God has done for me and thank Him for being who He is. I am not sure how people even begin to live life without Him. From the rising of the sun to its setting and from the setting of the sun to its rising God is with humankind. He is with us and for us whether we are for us or not. He is to be trusted above all things because He is above all things.

From the rising to the setting of the sun, as long as we have breath upon our lips, let us give thanks to and praise the Lord our God, who created us and then recreated us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.

Live life in Christ!

God's Peace - Pr. J

Real Beauty Is Found Within

"Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;    but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised." Prov 31:30 NIV

One of my favorite songs as a child was "If You Want To Be Happy" sung by Jimmy Soul. My mother would sometimes sing it to me. I sang this song to my sons on way more than one occasion when they were teens:

"If you wanna be happy for the rest of your life
Never make a pretty woman your wife
So from my personal point of view
Get an ugly girl to marry you."

Okay, I was a little crass. My sons did not really appreciate this song. They didn't appreciate my singing at all! But, having brought them up to know Christ, I wanted them to look deeper than the skin as they attempted to form lasting relationships. It doesn't matter what one looks like on the outside. One really cannot judge a book by its cover. Beauty comes packaged in all shapes and sizes. It shines through much better when the package doesn't have a lot of glitter and glitz covering it.

The fact is that is that God doesn't make ugly. God makes us all beautiful. We are all unique. But, it is wise to find a partner in life that doesn't put his or her looks before their love of the Lord. You will avoid a lot of unnecessary heartache if you look beyond the surface. You may be young and marrying a Christian may not be all that important to you today; but, when you are old and have grown wiser you may find that it would have been much wiser to marry one who knows the Lord and will share your love for Him because your love for Him will grow with time. 

From birth to death our looks will change. Some will stay perpetually young and beautiful according to the eyes of the world thanks to money and good cosmetic surgeons. Actors, actresses, and many politicians depend on this youthful look to further careers. But, because one looks youthful doesn't mean that are honest or have integrity or have any virtues. Youthful beauty does not equate with honesty and trustworthiness or faithfulness. Doesn't mean it can't. It is just wiser to get the real person buried underneath the mask.

Jimmy Soul's song was a pretty silly song. Jimmy started out his life praising the Lord as a young preacher and gospel singer and ended up in prison and dying of a drug related heart attack at age 45. One can never know which path we or anyone else will take through life. It is helpful, for the sake of our eternal lives to find friends and a partner to share our lives with who will fear and praise the Lord.

May we all look past what is on the outside and look a bit deeper for the true beauty as we discern between what is truly good and what is not.

God's Peace - Pr. J

P.S. One of the most beautiful women I have recently met is 100 years old. She has had no cosmetic surgery to make her look eternally young. She is eternally young for she has eternal life in Christ. The Spirit of Christ is with her and it is just awesome to be in their presence.