Do Good; Live In Peace

Psalm 37:1-11

Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity.

For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb.

Trust in the Lord, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.

Delight thyself also in the Lord: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.

And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday.

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath: fret not thyself in any wise to do evil.

For evildoers shall be cut off: but those that wait upon the Lord, they shall inherit the earth.

For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be.

But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.

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Do not fret! Do not be angry or jealous of those who appear to have more or be happier than you are! The Lord will provide for you. Those who live life focusing on the good gifts of God will delight in an abundance of peace.

So much time is spent feeling sorry for oneself; for lamenting their perceived trials and troubles. There are real troubles in this world and then there are also those that are contrived in one's head. That is not to say that we should not strive to help those in real trouble. But, sometimes it might be good to recognize that others have much more serious problems than our own.

When Jesus died he gave it all for us. He gave his life for us and then he rose from the dead to reign in the Kingdom that we hope for. That old addage that says it is better to give than to receive is not wrong. He gave it all! What would we be willing to give? 

It does not do any good to complain about our lives. Take a look at the world around you and consider what you might do, following in the footsteps of Jesus, to do good for others. If and when you do this you will find that your own perceived troubles will begin to disappear. You will not have time to fret about your life. Those things that once bothered you will mean very little to you.

Do not fret! Trust in the Lord! He will provide for you.

God's Peace - Judy

To Whom Shall We God

 

But there are some of you that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were that believed not, and who should betray him.

And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.

From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.

Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?

Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.

                                                                                 (John 6:64-49 KJV)

Where will we go? In times of severe trouble people sometimes stay away from their places of worship. Some are embarrassed because they think that people will  know about their problems and judge them. Others might be grieving and or depressed. There are many reasons that people use to not attend worship and hear the promises of God. But, that is exactly where we need to be when things get bad. We need to go and hear the promises of God in his Word that our faith might be strengthened (Rom 10:17) and to receive the gift of Communion with our Lord, the Son of the living God, and with one another that we might be refreshed.

When things get rough do you turn away from the Lord or do you turn to him to help you in your time of need?

When Jesus gave his followers a hard teaching, the teaching that they must partake of his body and blood, many turned away. It was too much for them. But, Peter and the other apostles would not turn away. Where would they go he had asked. After all, Jesus was the Christ. He is the Christ, the Son of the living God. Why would you turn away for anything less?

God's Peace - Pr. J.

The Holy Spirit Knows

Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. 

                                                                                      (Rom 8:26-27 KJV)

Troubles can weigh us down and leave us feeling like we are in between places and time; in a state of confusion. We can be in such a state that we are not even sure what is really troubling us and definitely don't know how to fix the problems as we find ourselves unsure of which direction we should take and not even sure how we should pray. 

At times like this we thank God for the Holy Spirit who knows exactly what is troubling us; knows exactly what we need; knows exactly what we should pray for. When we cannot figure out what to do we must trust the Lord. When we do not even know what or how to pray, the Spirit knows and makes intercession for us when we find that we cannot.

Do not fear. God knows what you need. 

"But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Now unto God and our Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen." (Phil 4:19-20)

God's Peace - Pr. J.

Remember The Sabbath

The Third Commandment.

Thou shalt sanctify the holy-day.

What does this mean?--Answer.
We should fear and love God that we may not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred, and gladly hear and learn it.

http://bookofconcord.org/smallcatechism.php#tencommandments

 

My husband and sons were logging. We sometimes joked that it was just a hobby as it often felt like they were paying to work rather than earn livings since equipment breakdowns can get pretty expensive. At times, it is so expensive it feels like you are paying to work. On occasion, they would decide that they needed to work on Sunday morning rather than worship in order to make up for time lost due to the weather or equipment breakdowns. Every time they decided to do this they would have another piece of equipment break down on that Sunday morning. Do I think that God was punishing them for working on Sunday? No. I think that because they did not heed His word to rest on the seventh day that they were exhausted and when we work tired and troubled; accidents; problems occur. God does not give us the commandments so that He can punish us. The commandments are for our own good.

 

It has been many decades since I realized what this holy-day of rest meant for me. I can get pretty cranky at times. During a particularly trying period of my life I came to realize that if I did not attend worship on Sunday (or maybe Saturday evening) I was even more difficult to live with the rest of the week. By Friday, nobody, including myself, wanted to be around me. I need to receive the means of grace, the Word and the Sacrament of Holy Communion, in order for me to be a bit more graceful towards others. I need to be able to find rest in Christ in order to be refreshed for the upcoming days.

 

Thanks be to God, He has given us the gift of the holy-day to gather with the saints and hear His sacred Word.

 

God desires good for you. Receive the good gifts of His Word and the Sacrament of Holy Communion. These gifts are available freely for you every Sunday at your local place of worship. Do yourself and your family and friends a favor; go and listen to Him; receive His Word; receive the Lord in the Sacrament of Holy Communion! Join others in worship every seventh day, no matter which day that happens to fall on.

Help us, Lord, to seek and find rest in You.

 

God's Peace - Pr. J