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“…the joy of the Lord is your strength.”  Nehemiah 8:10b In the book of Nehemiah we read that Ezra was sharing with the Israelites about God’s law. The people had drifted away and were not following the commands of God. As Ezra read and explained the laws of God to them, the people were so moved that they  fell down and worshipped. They cried and repented of their sins and humbled themselves before God. The people were sad that they had failed God in so many ways. But, then Nehemiah, Ezra, and Levites continued by telling the people not be sad. Instead they told them to rejoice because this was a ‘sacred” day to the Lord! They were encouraged to be happy and celebrate with a great meal because now…

“And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.” Matthew 6:13 It is said that temptation in itself is not a sin. It is when we give in to that temptation that we mess up. Jesus knew about temptation. The devil had tried to get Jesus to sin in so many ways after His baptism. (See Matthew 4) But Jesus resisted all the temptations set before Him by trusting God and standing on His Word!  In our lives we deal with temptations everyday. Jesus knew that we were going to face problems. He knew that the devil was going to be right there trying to persuade us to follow his cunning ways and turn our backs on the God that loves us. In verse 13 of…

“I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak… I will shepherd the flock with justice.” Ezekiel 34:16 These words of God found in Ezekiel show both God’s love and comfort for His people. God describes Himself as a shepherd for His flock — one that cares and protects His sheep.  There are 3 points that stand out. First, God says  He will search for those that are  lost or have gone astray. We have all failed God and maybe even drifted away at one time or another. We may have drifted so far away that it seems we have forgotten God, but He never forgets us! What a great comfort to know that God will never stop…

“And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests.” Ephesians 6:18 There has been much said and written about prayer and praying. There have been books written telling us how to pray, when to pray, even what kinds of prayers to say at particular times. We too try to categorize our prayers sometimes by lumping them into groups like: prayers for thanksgiving, prayers for our needs, prayers for forgiveness or prayers for help, guidance or direction.  None of this is wrong and may be helpful, but the most important thing to remember is that prayer is simply a conversation with God. We may not have the most eloquent words or we may not be able to express exactly what we are feeling or thinking,…

“The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Exodus 14:14 When struggles and battles come into our lives the first thing most of us want to do is “fix” the problem. It is just our human nature taking over. We want to feel in control and we want to handle things on our own. We should always go to God first for guidance, but He does give us intelligence and understanding so we can solve problems.  But what happens when we cannot handle it by ourselves. Sometimes situations are out of our control and we are helpless to do anything about it.  Sometimes, despite our best efforts, the struggle just seems to continue. Sometimes we face big, tough, difficult problems. The Israelites had a big problem…

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.” John 10:11 The shepherd is a very, very important person to a flock of sheep. The shepherd protects the sheep, he makes sure they have food and water, he keeps them all together, he knows each one individually and he is willing to die to keep them safe. If not for the shepherd, sheep would wander aimlessly at the mercy of their environment. Jesus called Himself the “good shepherd”. What a beautiful analogy the verses in John 10:1-14 give us!  By describing Himself like this Jesus is saying that He does the same for His children. He protects us, He supplies our needs, He holds us close to Him, and He knows us each by…

… 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. Romans 10:9 If you want to change your life and receive the salvation and eternal life that only Jesus can give, this verse gives  the directions simply and easily. It is not difficult nor time consuming and it is FREE! There are two simple steps. First we must confess (say, acknowledge or admit)) that Jesus is Lord — the Almighty Son Of God, the Savior of the world! Then we must believe  with all our heart that He took all our sins on Himself and died on the cross for them. Then, He came back to life to give us a path to heaven.…

“Who is this? Even the winds and waves obey him!” Mark 4:41 An event in the life of Jesus is recorded in Mark 4:35-41. Jesus and His disciples were traveling by boat across a lake. A “furious squall” (bad storm) came up and the winds were tossing the boat around and the waves of water were splashing over the sides of the boat. The disciples were scared, and thought that they might drown. Jesus, however, was resting; sleeping peacefully, undisturbed by the storm and the commotion that the disciples were bound to be making. They finally woke Jesus and asked, “don’t you care that we are about die?” Jesus calmly got up and simply rebuked the winds and told the waves to “be still”. Suddenly everything was calm again. The…

“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with lovingkindness.” Jeremiah 31:3 Not many things in this world last forever. We marvel at antiques that are hundreds of years old. We are in awe of couples that stay married for  fifty, sixty, even seventy years. We admire people that live past 100. But all of that is but a minute drop in the bucket compared to God’s love for us.He promises that His love for us will be “everlasting”. This is a love that surrounds us everyday,(Song of Songs 2:4); a love that holds us up when were weak (Isaiah 41:14);  a love that gives us guidance when we need direction (Jeremiah 29:11-12) and a love that forgives us when we do wrong (Psalm 103:11-12). This…

“In his heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps.”  Proverbs 16:9 A new year is on the way! 2025 will arrive in just a few days! Maybe you are looking for a new beginning with 2025. You may be making changes for a new lifestyle, a new home, or a new job. Some are making New Year’s resolutions about things they want to do differently.  Most of us strive to improve ourselves and become better people. There is nothing wrong with this, but as Proverbs 16:9 reminds us, we must remember to always let God lead us. After all, He tells us in Jeremiah 29:11 that He has plans for us. Plans  for a good future, plans to help us.  So before we go making…