I Know the Plans I Have For You

The following verses are part of a letter sent to Jews who had been taken captive to Babylon exhorting them to live as normally as possible and wait for the Lord's deliverance:

"For I know the plans that I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart. And I will be found by you," declares the Lord, "and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nation and from all the places where I have driven you," declares the Lord, "and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile." Jeremiah 29:11-14 (NASB)

God has a plan for us, wherever we may be, in whatever situation we may be. My older daughter reminded me of this the other day. She called last night to tell me she would be losing her job in May but when she and I discussed this possibility a few days ago and I was upset by it, she reminded me that God has a plan for us and if these things came to pass, they were meant to be. (Praise God my children have a personal relationship with Him!)

God does indeed hold us in His hand but He does not guarantee our lives will be problem-free. We can be confident, however, that He is always there for us!

God Bless!

Look and Live

They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"

Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.

The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived. Numbers 21:4-9 (NIV)

As you read about the children of Israel’s journey through the wilderness, many times you find them grumbling and complaining because of a lack of faith. But as is still true today (PRAISE GOD!), God’s mercy and grace provides a way of escape from (eternal) death through confession, repentance, belief and faith in Him. Here the sin—lack of faith in God which resulted in speaking against Him—the consequences of the sin—the venomous snakes bit the people—the result of the sin—death—but the act of faith—those who believed God looked upon the bronze snake and lived.

God’s grace is still sufficient today. If we confess our sins to God, He is faithful to forgive us. Further, Romans 10:9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”

Look to Jesus and live. God Bless!

Surrender

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. Ephesians 3:20-21 (NKJV)

I read a bar graph the other day that sited control issues as the primary cause of church divisiveness. That doesn’t surprise me at all. It seems everyone wants to be in control—certainly the people in my family (including me), are control freaks.

In truth, we can’t control our own lives much less the lives of others. Yet we struggle and fight for control as if it is something we are truly able to possess. For example, following the recent earthquake in Chile, my husband read the title of a news article which asked the question, “Is Mother Nature Out of Control?”

My point, of course, is there is but One who is in control—the Creator, the God of all. Instead of being anxious and going to the Lord in prayer with a litany of requests, surrender yourself to the One who loves you; the One who provides for you in ways that you can’t even imagine are possible—the One “…who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask...”

Control is the elusive butterfly, but the "the power that works in us", the Holy Spirit, is free to all through acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. To Him be the Glory forever and ever! God Bless!

Passion for God

Be glad in the Lord and rejoice, you righteous; And shout for joy, all you upright in heart! Psalm 32:11 (NKJV)

Last night at church I had the opportunity to hear a young man speak who surrendered to the ministry about a year ago. The passion, zeal, and enthusiasm this young man has for our great God is exhilarating. My heart is still full this morning.

As Christians, we should all express joy, passion, and enthusiasm for we serve a magnificent God who through the power of the Holy Spirit, resides within us. Now that is something to be excited about, today, tomorrow, and forever more!

Below is a hymn of praise written by Fannie Crosby around 1869. Fannie Crosby wrote about 8000 hymns in her lifetime though blind from the age of 6 weeks. Fannie’s passion for God is still seen today in hymn books across America.

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer!
Sing, O Earth, His wonderful love proclaim!
Hail Him! hail Him! highest archangels in glory;
Strength and honor give to His holy Name!
Like a shepherd, Jesus will guard His children,
In His arms He carries them all day long:

Refrain
Praise Him! Praise Him!
Tell of His excellent greatness.
Praise Him! Praise Him!
Ever in joyful song!

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer!
For our sins He suffered, and bled, and died.
He our Rock, our hope of eternal salvation,
Hail Him! hail Him! Jesus the Crucified.
Sound His praises! Jesus who bore our sorrows,
Love unbounded, wonderful, deep and strong.

Refrain

Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus, our blessèd Redeemer!
Heav’nly portals loud with hosannas ring!
Jesus, Savior, reigneth forever and ever.
Crown Him! Crown Him! Prophet, and Priest, and King!
Christ is coming! over the world victorious,
Pow’r and glory unto the Lord belong.

Refrain

Share your passion for God with someone today. God Bless!

Service to Others

“…but whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant. And whoever of you desires to be first shall be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.” Mark 10:43b-45 (NKJV)

Jesus spoke these words to His disciples while on the road to Jerusalem. As they journeyed, Jesus explained to His disciples what He would suffer in Jerusalem; He would be betrayed, condemned to death and killed, but on the third day He would rise again.

When Jesus finished telling the disciples of coming events, James and John (brothers) ask Jesus to grant them the right to sit on either side of Him in His kingdom. This, of course, did not sit well with the other disciples. In response, Jesus takes the opportunity to teach His disciples an important lesson; in order to be considered great in the kingdom of Heaven, they must learn to serve others. He tells them that even He, the Son of God, came to serve; not to be served.

To be in service to others can be a hard pill to swallow…some may even think it demeaning; surely service to others could not be the road to greatness! But most assuredly, as Christians, we are to be in service to others. Not only are we to serve others, but we are to serve others gladly and with an attitude of gratitude.

Why??? Love. We are to love our neighbors as ourselves—Matthew 22:37-39. We are to love others because God so loved us that He gave us His son to die on the cross for our sins—John 3:16. It is impossible to become Christ-like without love and it is impossible to love and not serve—1 John 2:3-6, 1 John 3:16-18.

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” 1 John 3:1a

Dear Lord, May I worship you today through love and through that love may I be a blessing to others in your precious name. I pray that by serving others gladly I honor, glorify and magnify Your Holy Name. Amen.

God Bless!

Be Humble

This morning I was reading in the book of Numbers that Moses was the most humble man on the face of the earth during his time. This statement gave me pause because this is opposite of what society encourages in us today. As Americans, we are nurtured to be proud.

This is radically different from what the Bible teaches. Throughout the Bible we are taught God loves the humble of spirit. I queried on the keyword, “humble” at Biblegateway.com, New King James Version, and got at least 70 hits. I have listed some of those below:

If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land. 2 Chronicles 7:14

The LORD lifts up the humble; He casts the wicked down to the ground. Psalm 147:6

When pride comes, then comes shame; But with the humble is wisdom. Proverbs 11:2

A man’s pride will bring him low, But the humble in spirit will retain honor. Proverbs 29:23

Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 18:4

For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:11

Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion. Romans 12:16

Philippians 2:8 tells us we are to be humble because Christ humbled Himself for us; He is the King of Kings who humbled Himself to die on the cross for our sins.

And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross.

Let us, therefore, serve our great God with gladness and humbleness of heart! Amen.

God Bless!

What do others say about you?

Do you spend much time wondering what others think of you? I can’t say that I do. This hasn’t always been true. When I was younger, I was definitely concerned about what others thought of me. Those were the days when my self-esteem was tied to what others thought. What a wretched time!

Maturity is a wonderful thing. However, maturity in Christ is a much better thing! I am most concerned with what my Heavenly Father thinks of me. I am only concerned with what others think of me in regard to my Christian witness. I never want to be a stumbling block to anyone!

By nature, I am a reclusive person. When I became an adult, I realized I was expected to go into the world, rub elbows with others, attend an institution of higher learning, get a job, etc. Because of these things, I learned I must leave behind my childhood insecurities (and eccentricities) and become a somewhat socially acceptable individual who could converse intelligently (and nicely) with a variety of people.

Having not worked in almost five years, I find myself returning to that naturally reclusive self. I also find myself attending fewer social functions at my church. The problem with this is I now realize I may be offending some of my brothers and sisters in Christ with my reclusive behavior. This will not do!

In Romans 14:14-23, Paul admonishes us to be mindful of our actions in regard to others in the faith. Even though he is specifically addressing the argument of what some considered unclean food and drink, it still follows that we should be careful not to offend others and thereby place a stumbling block in their journey of faith.

I know and am convinced by the Lord Jesus that there is nothing unclean of itself; but to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if your brother is grieved because of your food, you are no longer walking in love. Do not destroy with your food the one for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let your good be spoken of as evil; for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. For he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men.

Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All things indeed are pure, but it is evil for the man who eats with offense. It is good neither to eat meat nor drink wine nor do anything by which your brother stumbles or is offended or is made weak. Do you have faith? Have it to yourself before God. Happy is he who does not condemn himself in what he approves. But he who doubts is condemned if he eats, because he does not eat from faith; for whatever is not from faith is sin.

May we all serve Christ faithfully by loving and encouraging others. God bless!