Ah! This descriptive picture of Jesus is far more pleasing than the one of His suffering that we looked at last week. These promises of who He would be, His title, His throne, His reign, His forever kingdom are all a far cry from the stable we picture with cattle and hay at His birth or the scene of the suffering Savior weighed down with sins not His own. Yet all are descriptions of promises fulfilled or yet to come, and all of them leading us – pleading for us even – to worship Him – the infant, the crucified, the risen and ruling King!
My mind cannot fully grasp the truths of this announcement but my heart rejoices with Mary at the message Gabriel brought her. It was a message of a Messiah promised long ago, a message of hope that would change the world. Born a child and yet a King, born to die but yet to live – and to reign forever. Son of the Most High God yet born to man. Born in a lowly stable but given the throne of his father David. May every heart receive Him and every tongue confess the name of Jesus Christ the Lord.
I do not own the rights to this music
How are you worshipping Christ during this Advent season?
It’s Tuesday friends and one day closer to the Thanksgiving Holiday and some time off with family and friends. If you’re like my daughters and are already enjoying a nice week-long break – I pray it is off to a good start. 🙂 Our new advent study, The Promised Messiah, begins next Monday (Nov.27) but for now let’s continue through our journey of Scriptures that prompt praise and worship for all God is and does.
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
Romans 8:28
What is the promise?
The promise is, for those who are saved, all things will indeed work together for good. “All things” should be taken to mean each and every circumstance one might experience, even pain or suffering. “Work,” or “work together,” must be understood in light of God taking action in the world. He is the one who causes all things to work together or, perhaps, works in and through all circumstances toward a specific end. What is that end? “Good.”
Bibleref.com
From Joseph being sold into slavery by his brothers to Jesus hanging on the cross for our sins this truth/promise brings us hope as it is played out in the lives of those who came before us and certainly in our own trouble or regrets. Is there anything in your past that you would do over if you could. Are there decisions you made then that have adversely affected your now? Take some time right now to remember or grasp hold of the truth from this verse of promise and hope – perhaps for the very first time. I used to think it said, “And we know all things work together for good…” and I remember the day and the place when I realized what it really said/meant: “…God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.” Mistakes, regrets, things you had no control over, hurts, betrayal … these will surface in our minds from time to time – the enemy uses them as arrows but this powerful truth will combat them.
We must be careful to keep these words in the context Paul intended – and that was to bring hope to those believers who were struggling or suffering in life. He wanted them to remember that God is good and He is in perfect control on behalf of His children and according to His purpose, which by the way is perfect. Take hope in the encouragement that Paul’s words offer to those who belong to God – and trust that He truly has been and is continually working all things together for the good of those who love Him and have been called according to His purpose.💜
You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.
Joseph, to his brothers – Genesis 50:20
Your Turn
What about today’s verse, Romans 8:28, makes you thankful? Is there a way you have seen its truth played out in your life? – If so give thanks!
Will you take a minute and share your response(s) in the comment section – It may be just the encouragement that someone else needs and for certain it will bring God glory.
Worship Through Music
I do not own the rights to this music nor do I use it for any profit or gain –
Happy Monday Friends! Let’s look to the Lord for the help we need today💜 For we know that God will hear us when we pray and we can be confident that just as He saved us from our sins He will rescue us from our troubles or walk with us through them.
Today’s Verse comes from Micah 7:7 which says:
I
It seems like everyday (sometimes every hour or minute) has something that we need help with – something we are crying out to God for. Whether it is health … provision … wisdom … strength … peace … or a myriad of other needs that arise – God is able. Whether it is us or someone else we know that is in need, God tells us to cast all our cares on Him because He cares for us, (1 Peter 5:7). From the least to the greatest of the cares He has invited us to bring them all to Him. So what is it you need to look to God for today? He’s ready and always listening – so let Him know and then wait confidently for His help.
What about this verse can you thank God for today?
How can I pray for you? Share a request in the comments or private message me at my email or facebook account –
mryelnb@aol.com (please put prayer in the subject line
@facebook/ MaryEllen Black
How have you seen God answer recently? Give Him praise and let it be a reminder that you can trust Him and a catalyst to continue looking to Him for help.
Praise the LORD! Give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! His faithful love endures forever. – YET how quickly they forgot what he had done!
Psalm 106:1, 13a
Psalm 106:1; 107:1; 118:1; 1 Chronicles 16:34 and so many other passages call us to “give thanks to the LORD.” The passages site various reasons like His faithfulness, His goodness, His steadfast love and more. The problem is when we fail to be impressed with the Lord’s character and acts of kindness and when we fail to notice His miraculous works. There is great danger in forgetting to acknowledge Him with praise and thanksgiving. For look at the example of the Israelites in today’s passage who failed to be impressed with the works of God’s hand and then quickly forgot what He had done. May we never find ourselves in this place – but rather daily find time and reasons to sing His praises and give HIm thanks – even for the littlest of blessings or fingerprints –
Your turn
What is that impresses You about God? – Make sure to journal it or write it out somewhere or even tell someone – and don’t forget to give thanks to Him to whom the praise/thanks is due. We must be intentional about this discipline in our life – not being so captivate by the day or the moment or the person but fully captivated by God alone – and intent on remembering the works of His hands. 💜
We will remember, we will remember We will remember the works of Your hands We will stop and give you praise For great is Thy faithfulness We will remember, we will remember We will remember the works of Your hands We will stop and give you praise For great is Thy faithfulness You’re our creator, our life sustainer Deliverer, our comfort, our joy Throughout the ages You’ve been our shelter Our peace in the midst of the storm With signs and wonders You’ve shown Your power With precious blood You showed us Your grace You’ve been our helper, our liberator The giver of life with no end We will remember, we will remember We will remember the works of Your hands We will stop and give you praise For great is Thy faithfulness When we walk through life’s darkest valleys We will look back at all You have done And we will shout, our God is good And He is the faithful One … Hear the entire song at https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=AcUA7x9CVgs&feature=shared
8 But since we are of the day, we must stay sober by putting on the breastplate of faith and love and as a helmet our hope for salvation.9 For God did not destine us for wrath but for gaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.
1 Thes 5:8-9
As he does in many of his letters, Paul teaches here – that, in light of the rapture we need to “live alert and self-controlled” unlike those who walk or live in darkness. In other words, believers are to be careful how they live. They must not live as those who are unsaved and walking in the darkness – but as children of God who walk in the Light. Paul makes a comparison between those of the night and those of the day. He emphasizes that those who are “children of the day,” or “sons of the light” as some translations render it, have been given the responsibility to stay alert and to wear God’s armor. Note that he specifically references the breastplate of faith and the helmet of salvation, which guard our hearts and minds. Yet when he speaks of those of the night he gives the example of those who are drunk or asleep, in other words not alert and vulnerable to the things of the earthy rather than the things of God.
Destined for Victory
In verse nine, Paul mentions that believers are not destined to experience the wrath of God that will come but rather to know salvation through Jesus, His son – whose name is 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 of life.”
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3:5-6
I’ve had some twist and turns lately that have caused me to remember these words from Proverbs chapter three. Words that instruct the child of God to trust in Him with their whole heart and warn against leaning on their own-human understandings. This isn’t always easy. Life comes with detours and road blocks and catastrophes that range from cracks in the road to canyons that engulf.
I’ve run into a bit of this unexpected rough terrain in recent months. It’s terrain that led to the emergency room and follow-up tests and procedures and complications leading to more test and procedures. So far the medical end of it seems to be ok but can’t, or I’m told shouldn’t be left unchecked. However the billing and insurance side of the roadmap have proved to be canyons or perhaps, better stated, insurmountable mountains. Yet this one thing I know and have faithfully been reminded of – both by God’s Word and the remembrance of His provision in the past: When the way seems insurmountable or the road impassable – even then – God can make a way.
It would be easy to panic, and trust me, the phrases – “there’s no way” and “how in the world” have rolled off my tongue or at the very least through my mind with every bill and every reminder from the insurance company “not covered!” BUT GOD‘s Spirit whispers the sweeter reminder: “Nothing is impossible with God” and “God will make a way where there seems to be no way … rivers in the desert you will see … “. Yes, He’s been faithful to provide a Savior for our unbelievable deliverance from sin and death – but we can also trust Him to provide for our physical needs as well – even the seemingly impossible ones! Why am I so sure? Because, I know He cares for me! (1 Peter 5:7) … Because I know He holds the future … because I know what He has already done for me … and because I know His promises of eternal life and a straight path when the way seems impossible – are yes and amen in Christ Jesus.
The wisdom of today’s verse is not just an encouragement but a divine promise. In submitting our ways—our decisions, dreams, and dilemmas—to God, we are promised not just any path, but a straight one.
Is it any wonder this treasured hymn of my heart came flooding through my mind and spilling out in tears as I finished this blog – may it speak volumes to your soul as well. – Me, from the Inside-out 🦋
Why should I feel discouraged, Why should the shadows come, Why should my heart be lonely, And long for heav’n and home; When Jesus is my portion? My constant Friend is he; His eye is on the sparrow, And I know he watches me; His eye is on the sparrow, And I know he watches me.
Refrain: I sing because I’m happy, I sing because I’m free; For his eye is on the sparrow, And I know he watches me.
“Let not your heart be troubled,” His tender word I hear, And resting on his goodness, I lose my doubts and fears; Though by the path he leadeth, But one step I may see; His eye is on the sparrow, And I know he watches me; His eye is on the sparrow, And I know he watches me. [Refrain]
But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.
Hebrews 11:16
Who are “They”?
When studying Scripture, it is important to look back to the previous verse(s), exploring the people and things talked about, in order to understand the pronouns in the current verse. For instance in our SOAP verse today, we must know who was “aspiring to a better land” in order to understand who God “is not ashamed” of or who “He has prepared a city for.”
In this case, looking back, we find that the writer is referring to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob – and others like them; they are the “heroes of the faith.” They were the ones who remained faithful, not turning back even though they never received the things they were promised. They believed the promise that there was a better “homeland” and did not return to the one they, by faith, had left behind. Instead, they “trusted God’s ability to bring about His promises out of things unseen.”
Now faith is the certainty of things hoped for, a proof of things not seen. –
Hebrews 11:1
Made Right With God
“They realized that God’s promises aren’t necessarily tied to some physical earthly benefit. Instead, God is working all things for good, from a heavenly eternal plan.” So, because they lived out their faith – not wavering in their trust in God – God was not ashamed of them. “It was their faith leading to obedience, not the actions themselves, which made them acceptable to God.” [quotes borrowed from bibleref.com, Hebrews 11:16]
The same is true for us today, for when we walk by faith and not by sight, placing our trust in Jesus, we are made right with God – no longer His enemies but the children He, by grace, adopts as His own.
The grace and goodness of God are on full display in Christian reconciliation. “You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault”
Father, thank you that though we were once Your enemies, You – by grace – made a way for us to have a relationship with You. By grace, the work of Christ on the cross, and our faith in Him we stand before You unashamed – no longer condemned because we are in Christ Jesus, in whom You are well pleased! Thank you for the examples of those who have gone before us, who by faith did not turn back from following You, though they did not see Your promises come true in their lifetime. Like them we are strangers and foreigners on this earth – waiting for our heavenly homeland. Though we may grow weary in the wait Father, help us to stand firm – fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him, endured the cross – scorning its shame. Help us not to turn away from His commands but to press on to the mark of the Your high calling in Christ our Lord and Savior. Help us to endure in the hope we have in Christ and in Your promises – Amen and amen in Jesus’ name amen!
The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
Lamentations 3:22-23
Father, You are good! I am reminded this morning that one of the many facets of Your goodness is Your faithfulness – indeed Your Great Faithfulness! Truly, as Your prophet wrote and the great hymn proclaims, morning by morning new mercies I see. Your faithfulness stands out to me as I recall that all I have needed YOUR HAND has provided. Without fail, I find strength for today and bright HOPE for tomorrow when I remember how You’ve pardoned my sin and filled me with a peace that endureth! Surely these are some of Your chiefest blessings to me – with 10,000 besides!
May I forever proclaim Your faithfulness – for whether I find myself – in plenty or in want… in the calm or in the storms of life… on the mountain tops or in the valleys… in the midst of exceeding joy or unspeakable sorrow – this one thing I know for certain … Great. Is. Your. Faithfulness. 💜
Father, You are Good! You forgive all my iniquities. You bring healing to my mind, my body, and my soul. You have redeemed my life from the pit. Father – You crown me with Your faithful love and compassion. You satisfy me with good things and I am renewed like the eagle who soars on the wind. My soul blesses You LORD – All that is within me blesses Your Holy Name!
I bless You LORD – my Father and my God – my Creator, Healer, and Sustainer of life and I do not – no, I will not forget ALL these benefits. They are unmerited favors – gifts from Your grace, poured out from Jesus, Your Son and my Savior+. Yes, oh yes! You are good and all that is within me blesses Your Holy Name!
Me From the Inside Out 