Unswerving Hope

Hebrews 10:23 "Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful."

 

Some days it is hard to hold onto promises given to us and keep the hope we may profess on Sunday mornings or whenever we come to God and thank Him for those promises.  However, He will not forsake those He promised to save.  He has indeed already saved our souls from eternal punishment we just need to be patient and hold onto our hope in Him that His timing is perfect for our needs.

 

Lord, I am so very thankful for each and every one of Your promises and for all the blessings that You have already granted to me.  Please help me through Your Divine Spirit to cling to You and keep my hope secure in You.  Amen.

God Will Heal Us

Psalm 103:3 "He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases;"

 

God keeps all His promises and in His Word it tells us here that He forgives and heals us.  What we need to remember is that He does not promise to heal us right away...it's not going to happen overnight from the moment we start praying.  He will however reward us for keeping in a faith mind-set and believing in His promises and holding strong to that faith to give us patience.

 

Dear Father, I am so thankful for Your great mercy and love!  Thank You for Your forgiveness and healing!  Please help me to remember that You will also heal all my diseases in Your perfect timing.  Amen.

****Special Note****

In observance of "Greek Easter," I may need to cut down the daily verses for this week to allow time for my personal reflections and prayer through our holy week this week ahead.  I thank you all for your continued interest in receiving these weekly messages and/or daily verses.  I appreciate your understanding in my limited presence during this special week.  Christ has risen!!  He has risen indeed!  Alleluia!!! Have a blessed week!!! 

 

Love through Christ,

Niki

We Are His Sheep

Ezekiel 34:11 "For this is what the Sovereign Lord says, I myself will search for My sheep and look after them."

 

I'm having one of my "whoa" moments again!  Our God loves us so much that not only did He send His only Son to die so we may be saved, not only has our Father given us this salvation for free through repentance and forgiveness...as if that weren't enough He is out there searching for you and me!  When we stray from His path He is searching for us and when we are steady on His path God is looking out for us every step along the way!!  I don't know about you but this blows my mind and gives me great comfort.

 

Dear Lord,  Wow!  Thank You so much for everything You do, thank You for searching for me and bringing me back to where You can look after me when I've strayed.  Please help me to feel the magnitude of this love in my soul and cherish it forever.  Amen.  

Hunger And Thirst For God!

Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled."

God grants us all our needs, this is something we read again and again in His precious Word.  However, here is a case of His promise to fulfill a want...when that want is pleasing to God, when we are yearning for something that glorifies Him, He will fill us up with what we seek!  If we do not limit Him in our thinking than our awesome God will do great and wonderous things in our lives!  So let us hunger and thrist for righteousness and stand in awe at how we are filled!

Dear Father, I want to thank You for always supplying my needs and at times even my wants.  Please help me to delight in Your ways, to hunger and thirst for Your righteousness all the days of my life.  Amen.

Promises

Acts 2:39 "The promise is for you and your children and all who are far off-for all whom the Lord our God will call."

 

God's promise is for everyone...anyone can repent and believe and be saved through His great grace and mercy.  We are all imperfect people but God has given us the promises to overcome our imperfections, to overcome the separation that sin creates between us, and His promises are for all of us!

 

Dear Lord,  Thank You for forgiving even me, a sinner.  Please continue to forgive me of my sins and cleanse my soul and save me through Your awesome promises and Your one and only Son.  Amen.

Saved From Our Enemies

Psalm 18:3 "I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies."

 

Ok, so maybe our enemies aren't coming at us with spears or other deadly weapons however we are daily in spiritual warfare against our #1 enemy, the devil.  God will save us from this battle - He's already sent His Son to win this battle...it is our duty to call on God, to cling to Him, praise Him and to keep an attitude of faith so that our enemy has nothing on us!

 

Dear Lord, Thank You for saving us from our enemies, physical and unseen.  Please help me to remember that You are worthy of all of our praise and that You will continue to save us as long as we are here fighting the good fight of faith.  Amen.

Want or Need?

Philippians 4:19 "And my God will meet al your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

 

The Bible does not ever promise that we will have the biggest house or the best new car or even the fanciest clothes.  However, God does promise us again and again that He will provide us with all our needs.  God will provide for all our needs, physical as well as mental, emotional and spiritual.  He's already offered us His greatest sacrifice to fill our need of salvation!

 

Father, I want to thank you for providing for absolutely all of our needs day in and day out, always.  Please help me to remember when I am longing for something and not able to obtain it that it was only a want and I should refocus on all of the needs that are being met.  Amen.

Sacrifice of Waiting?

Hebrews 9:28 "so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him."

 

Sacrifice...that word means different things to different people.  In any case it is generally accepted that you give up something valuable, right?  Christ gave us His life, God the Father gave us His Son...what have we given to them?  Our time?  Talents?  Treasures?  Oh, and are we waiting for His return as a child waits for Christmas morning?  Or are we merely walking through this life trying to survive another day and waiting for our future to arrive? 

 

Father, I am humbled as I thank You for Your ultimate sacrifice that You gave up in order to save me, a sinner.  I beg of You to please forgive my shortcomings and help me to joyfully anticipate Your triumphant return for those of us who are waiting for You.  Amen.

Today Is A Gift

Psalm 118:24 "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."

 

I've always loved this verse!  It says to me, no matter what we are going through, each day of our lives is a gift from God!  We should rejoice and be glad to have this blessing of life!

 

Dear Lord,  Thank You for this day!!  Please help me to always remember that each day You grant me is a gift and I should forever rejoice.  Amen.

A Time To Give Up?...And Move On!

Ecclesiastes 3:1 & 6 "There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away"

 

I think at times we all tend to think of giving up and throwing away as activities that have a negative connotation to them.  However, God tells us there is a time for those, a time for everything.  Maybe if we have been trying for too long with no results or hanging on to long with no good use...well, maybe that is God telling us to give up and throw away, and turn our attentions to something new that He is leading us to!

 

Dear God, Thank You for showing me through Your precious Word that there is a time to give up on one thing so I may go in search of another.  Please grant me the wisdom to know when You are telling me it is time.  Amen.

Grive Freely! (Secretly)

Proverbs 21:14 "A gift given in secret soothes anger, and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath."

 

Ok, honestly I am not really sure about the "bribe" here but I know that this is not the only reference in the Bible to giving in secret.  God does not want us to become full of ourselves and give in this big public and open manner.  He wants us to give of the gifts He has given to us however He values a cheerful giver even more so when the giving is just between us and God.

 

Dear Father, I want to thank You for all the blessing You have given to my family, friends and me.  Please help me to quietly and generously give to others of all that You have given to me.  Amen.

The True Light

John 8:12 "When Jesus spoke again to the people, He said, "I am the Light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light if life."

 

I don't know about you but if I had to choose I would choose the light over darkness any day!  Jesus is the true Light, He has defeated the darkness!!  I love thinking about this and about how this means that when I give my life over to Him I will never have to walk in the dark again...this is some amazing and reassuring news!

 

Father, Especially around the celebration of Your Son's Resurrection, we give You thanks for sending Jesus to become man and to be our Light.  Please help me to remember that because of Your grace, mercy, love and sacrifice, we no longer need to be afraid of the dark.  Amen.

Without Gossip

Proverbs 26:20 "Without wood a fire goes out; without gossip a quarrel dies down."

 

Sometimes the best way to end a quarrel is to get to the root of the matter, right?  Whether it is truth or unintentional falsehoods all gossip should never begin and once it does it is like a brush fire...it takes a huge effort to put out the blaze.  If God's Word warns against it we can be pretty sure it is not in the nature He created us with to do this...so join me in fighting off the devil with a quiet tongue!

 

Lord, We thank You for the wisdom which You have seen fit to bestow upon us through Your presence in our hearts and through Your precious Word.  Please help me to hold my tongue and not be the root of any gossip.  Amen.