Be Of Good Cheer

John 16:22-33 KJV; Be of good cheer no matter what troubles surround you for God is with you.

False Prophets Abound

Mark 13:5-8 KJV; Listen not to the false prophets and fake saviors. There is only one savior and know the peace that only he can give..

Strengthened By Christ

Philippians 4:8-13 KJV; 20th Sunday After Pentecost; We are strengthened by the abiding presence of Christ.

He Hears Our Prayers And Answers

Psalm 116:1-2; Romans 8:28; KJV; He hears our prayers and answers them according to His good will.

He Answers Our Prayers

Luke 18:1-8 KJV; The unjust judge answered the woman's petitions because he was tired of listening to her. The Lord answers because He is merciful.

Pray For All People

1 Timothy 2:1-6; 15th Sunday after Pentecost; pray for all people even our enemies that we might live peaceful and quiet lives.

Helping Our Neighbor

Romans 15:1-7 KJV

Our Hope To See Him

John 15:15-22 KJV

Trust The One True God

Psalm 138

I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.

I will worship toward thy holy temple, and praise thy name for thy lovingkindness and for thy truth: for thou hast magnified thy word above all thy name.

In the day when I cried thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul.

All the kings of the earth shall praise thee, O Lord, when they hear the words of thy mouth.

Yea, they shall sing in the ways of the Lord: for great is the glory of the Lord.

Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly: but the proud he knoweth afar off.

Though I walk in the midst of trouble, thou wilt revive me: thou shalt stretch forth thine hand against the wrath of mine enemies, and thy right hand shall save me.

The Lord will perfect that which concerneth me: thy mercy, O Lord, endureth for ever: forsake not the works of thine own hands.

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Praise the one true God before all gods. Get rid of those old gods and praise the one who is truly able and willing to show mercy. Those other gods will only bring you down. They cannot and will not help you. Sing praises to the One who can save you!

Life is full of troubles. Those troubles can often come at the hands of people you know well and may have even thought that they cared for you. Troubles may come through the false gods that you have put before the One true God. You may not know exactly what is troubling you; but, God knows everything that is going on in your life. Trust him! Give him  praise and thanks for he will deliver you from whatever assails you!

God's Peace - Pr. J.

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

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.

The Knowledge Of His Will

"For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;" 

                                                                                               (Col 1:9 KJV)

There you have it: a prayer not only for the people that surround us; but, a prayer that will give us all more peace.

Wouldn't it be so nice if everyone could have the mind of God, to know His good will, that all dissensions would just disappear? I hope; I pray, for this so often. But, there will always be those who reject God's Word and His will. There will always be those who prefer their false gods and so life will continue on with challenges and troubles of every sort. But, that should not stop us from praying that others might know the love and the will of God. Who knows what miracles God might bring about!

"Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be likeminded one toward another according to Christ Jesus:

That ye may with one mind and one mouth glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God. "

                                                                                            (Rom 15:5-8)

God's Peace - Pr. J

He Is With You Every Day

This is my comfort in my affliction: for thy word hath quickened me. (Psalm 119:50 KJV)

Do you find yourself depressed? Alone? Do troubles plague you so that you feel like you cannot take another step? Turn to Lord and his promises. Hear his word. He promises to love you and be with you forever. He is your good shepherd who will take you by the hand and lead you through any fires that threaten to destroy. Do not despair. The Lord is with you and for you.

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24 KJV)

God's Peace - Pr. J

Don't Sweat The Small Stuff

"I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace."  Eph 4:1-3 NIV

I wrote no blog yesterday. The internet and cable television went down late Friday afternoon during a storm. I called it in. At first the man on the other end of the line said since I was the only one who was down in the area they probably wouldn't be able to send a tech out until Tuesday after the holiday; but, he would try to get them to call me Saturday morning (while I was at an appointment) to set up a time for them to come out and fix it. He had walked me through the usual, unplug the modem and plug it back it. I've been dealing with modems for a few years and already had done that; but, I patiently complied anyway, even as I explained that there had just been a bad storm and I was pretty sure I wasn't the only one who had lost their connections in the neighborhood. About an hour later I received a call from some one else from this company telling me that they had just declared an area outage and assured me they were sending out a tech to take care of it. She didn't say when; but, for some reason I assumed that evening. I let my son (who was previously a tech for another company) know that they were coming out. He laughed saying that I would probably have it back up and running the next morning around 10. He was right. The neighbors informed me that the tech had just left when I returned home from an appointment at about 10:15 yesterday morning.

Therefore, I wrote no blog yesterday. If I can't do it early in the morning, I rarely find time during the rest of the day and yesterday was no different. My days tend to be pretty full. There were plenty of other doors that were open; plenty of other directions to go in and to do.

I am getting better at having patience with cable and satellite companies. I have learned to wait on them without getting upset. I did not even roll my eyes; at least not more than once. I don't watch much television so that is never a problem. I have learned to wait on many things. Everything does not always go as I plan. But, life continues. There is no sense getting upset about something so minor and that we have no control over. There are so many things in this world that are so much worse than the internet not working or a television show or a computer game being disrupted. It can even be a good thing when we lose our connection with the world wide web from time to time.

Some of the things that we lose patience with are pretty trivial compared to the troubles others suffer in the world. It would be best to ignore these minor obstacles and just move on past or over them. Don't let them interfere with what God has called you to do. Take advantage of what might seem to be a hindrance; because, it just might be a door opening for you. 

God's Peace - Pr. J