STEADY AS YOU GO

 STEADY AS YOU GO

Ps. 121:3-4 He will not let you stumble and fall, the one who watches over you will not sleep. Indeed, he who watches over Israel never tires and never sleeps. NLT

Let this wonderful truth comfort and bless your heart today. The Lord watches over, protects, and takes care of His children all the time. There is never a moment in which the Lord is not aware of where we are at. He knows when we stumble and is there to pick us up when we fall. He will not let us stay down.

There are many reasons why we may stumble and fall. We may take our eyes off of where we are going and lose our bearings. We may not notice the obstacles in our path and stumble over them. We may get in too big of a hurry and outrun the Light before us. We may become more tuned into the voice of Satan than the Lord and become unsteady in our walk. Our tendency is to stumble. The only way we can walk steadily is if we walk with our hands firmly clasped in the Lord's hand on solid ground at the pace the Lord wants us to walk.

The Lord watches over all our steps all the time. He never goes off duty. He never takes a vacation. The Lord is always alert and never grows weary. You would think that He would become tiresome with all we put Him through, but He never does. He is always at His best. He never tires or sleeps.

You are never out of the Lord's sight or protective care. He is on your side and will see you home to heaven. He never abandons those whose eyes are fixed on Him. He will help you when you are down to get back on your feet.

Don't ever believe Satan's lie that all hope is gone. Don't let him persuade you that the Lord has abandoned you. Rather, believe God who declares that He will not let you down. He will not let you stumble and fall away from His watchful care. He watches over you all the time. There is never a time in which you are out of His sight.

Thank you, Lord, for being our constant guiding and protecting Light.

THE LORD IS MY HELPER

 THE LORD IS MY HELPER

Ps. 121:1-2 I look up to the mountains---does my help come from there? My help comes from the LORD, who made the heavens and the earth! NLT

If there is but one truth that we must get, it is this. Our help comes from the Lord. No one can help us with our most basic needs of life except the Lord. Only the Lord can peel away those things that don't really matter and get to the core of our needs. There is nothing that you will find in this world that helps you in a way that really matters. Our most basic need is a right relationship with God. If we don't get that right, nothing else really matters. We come into the world with absolutely nothing and we will leave the same way. If we don't have the Lord, we have nothing.

You may look everywhere in life for help, but if you don't look to the Lord, you will be bitterly disappointed by what you find. Only the Lord has the wisdom and ability to help you find your way to heaven. Before you start looking for help with whatever need you may have, first look to the Lord. His help is sufficient for your every need.

There are many gifted and very wise people in the world whom we have learned are trustworthy and deserving of our respect. They may have a great understanding and love the Lord deeply. Yet, we must never rely upon them in place of the Lord. We must never think that their wisdom and counsel are the final say. Only the Lord knows all things and has all understanding. Only the Lord can be counted on to always give us the best advice and guidance. Only the Lord will never fail us.

The Lord will never let you down or disappoint you if you will but trust Him to help you. He made the heavens and the earth and is more than capable of helping you. Study the Scriptures diligently and you will find the help you need. Will you let Him help you today?  

REJOICE TODAY

 REJOICE TODAY

Ps. 118:24 This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it. NLT

We don't know what is going to be in our day. For some of us, there will be great blessings from God. For some of us, there will be great difficulty or even suffering. For some of us, there will be much opposition to our faith. Some of us will experience ridicule because of our faith. Some of us will face unexpected circumstances that will throw us for a loop. Some of us will be standing at death’s door.

The attitude we have before we get started on our day will determine how we face whatever we may encounter today. If we are determined to be positive and praise the Lord no matter what, we will have a great day. If we are not determined to see opportunities to praise Him, we will probably not have such a great day. Each day is a gift from the Lord. He gives us life and the opportunity to live it to the fullest. He wants us to have fun as we go through our day. He wants us to see good in all things. The enjoyment we get from today is directly related to our ability to praise the Lord. There are lessons to learn today. There are things we must go through to grow stronger in our faith. There are things we must do and say as a witness for Him. There are things we will face that require us to go through by faith and not by sight.

The choice is yours to make. You can have a great day in the Lord by being thankful and rejoicing in it, or you can have a lousy day by letting circumstances dictate how you feel. Don't let your experiences determine whether or not you will rejoice. Be determined before you even start your day that you WILL rejoice and be glad in it. You don't have to like the circumstance you may be in to find a reason to rejoice in it. Rejoice! You are a child of God bound for heaven with Jesus as your ever-present guide and help.  

TRUST THE LORD, NOT MAN

 TRUST THE LORD, NOT MAN

Ps. 118:8 It is better to trust the LORD than to put confidence in people. NLT

In case you haven't noticed it yet, people will disappoint you. People will not always treat you fairly or nicely. People will not always have your best interests in mind. People will not always be honest with you. In other words, people are unreliable. You must be wise in whom you trust. Trust only those who have earned the right to be trusted. And, it takes time to observe a person in action before you know whether or not they can be trusted. Don't just jump into a relationship with someone you don't know anything about. Check them out. If you need help in discerning someone's character, go to the Lord who knows the character of every soul.

One of the problems with people is that we are all sinners. No one is going to act perfectly towards you all the time. Everyone is capable of breaking your trust in them. It is why grace is so important in our lives. Not every misstep is worthy of a broken trust. We need to extend grace to others as much as we can. There are certainly issues that arise that are worthy of a broken trust, but don't hold all people at arm's length out of fear they can't be trusted.

You may not be able to trust some people, but you can always trust in the Lord. The Lord never varies in who He is. He is absolute Truth. He is always holy. He will never let you down. He will never seek anything but your good. He will always act in a loving way towards you. The Lord is always worthy of your trust. If you will let Him, He will take care of you and bring to completion all the good He has planned for you.

You can trust the Lord with anything and everything. He will never violate your trust in Him. He always keeps doing what He says He will do. He will always be who He is. Put your life in His hands. The more you learn from Him, the more confidence you will have in His trustworthiness. God earned your trust in Him at Calvary.

YOU ARE PRECIOUS TO GOD

 YOU ARE PRECIOUS TO GOD

Ps. 116:15 The LORD's loved ones are precious to him; it grieves him when they die. NLT

This is a verse that comforts the soul. We need to be reminded of it over and over again. We who are children of God are precious to Him. Dear friend, you need to grasp this awesome truth today. You are loved by God and are precious to Him. Regardless of how you may feel about it, it is true. God's love for you does not depend on how you feel or your circumstances of life. He loves you. And, His love for you is not a sentimental love. He loves you with the highest form of love there is. He loves you unconditionally and sacrificially. You do not have to be somebody, know somebody, or cater to anybody to be loved by God. You are loved simply because God is love and it is impossible for Him to not love you.

You are precious to Him. You may sense that you don't matter to anyone. There may be times in which you feel like your life is so insignificant that if you weren't alive no one would care. You may feel like everyone is against you and that your life is worthless. Those thoughts and feelings come straight from the pits of hell. Dear child, you are precious to the Lord. He loves you and loves to hold you close. You are the object of His love. You are why He came to earth and died at Calvary. You are why He is in heaven today preparing a dwelling place for you. Because you are precious to Him, He will never leave you alone or forsake you. He will always be available to you when you call on Him. He will always come to your rescue when everyone else abandons you.

It grieves the Lord when people die. The Lord loves and He is grieved when people die without knowing His love. He is not willing that anyone would perish and spend eternity in hell. It would be the greatest news the Lord could ever have if hell would be empty except for Satan and his demonic forces. He loves everyone in the world and longs for fellowship with them, but He knows that most will spurn His love and not be with Him in heaven. It greatly grieves the heart of God when a soul goes to hell because they chose to not let Him be the lover of their soul.

Oh dear friend, won't you let the Lord love you today? No matter what your circumstances may be or how you may feel, won't you open up your heart to Him and let Him give you a love bath? Let the Lord in and let Him hold you close. You will be glad you did. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the life of His children.

VALUE YOUR SALVATION

 VALUE YOUR SALVATION

Ps. 116:12-14 What can I offer the LORD for all he has done for me? I will lift up a cup symbolizing his salvation. I will praise the LORD’s name for saving me. I will keep my promises to the LORD in the presence of all his people. NLT

There is nothing we can offer the Lord that can come close to being good enough to show our gratitude for our salvation. His gift of life is priceless. It cannot be fully understood or appreciated. All we can do is treasure it. The more we treasure it, the more valuable it becomes to us.

I fear that many of us do not treasure it much. We accept it, but then we take it for granted and let it lose its luster in our lives. We don’t take pride in it and keep it fresh and glowing in our lives. We let our living tarnish it and even render it useless in our lives. We treat God’s gift with little respect and fail to appreciate what we have been given. How can we be so foolish?

Salvation is the gateway into heaven. Salvation is the gateway into holiness. It is God’s way of preparing us so that we can enter into His presence without fear and judgment because of our sin. Salvation allows us to have fellowship with God! Salvation is God’s guarantee that we will not spend eternity in hell.

I challenge you to keep the promises you made to the Lord. When you first believed, did you promise Him the best of your love? Did you promise Him to go anywhere He would lead you, to do whatever He bid you to do? Did you promise Him that you would right some wrong that you had done? Did you promise Him that you would be faithful to Him and do what is right in His eyes? Did you promise to let Him have His way with you?

Lift up the cup of your salvation to the Lord today. Repent of those things that are not true to your salvation. Repent of the promises you have made to the Lord and have not kept. Renew your vows to Him. Let your heart once again be able to sing His praises. He is waiting for you.

GIVE GOD THE GLORY

 GIVE GOD THE GLORY

Ps. 115:1 Not to us, O LORD, but to you goes all the glory for your unfailing love and faithfulness. NLT

We are not as careful as we should be about accepting the praise and adoration of others. We like the attention and sometimes let it go to our heads. We get the idea that we deserve it. We accept praise because of our hard work and talents. We somehow get the idea we are worthy of the attention lavished on us. We soak it up and before you know it, we become arrogant and proud of who we are and what we have done.

We are sinners by nature and it is the natural thing for us to do. It takes determination and a right relationship with God for us to resist the temptation. We must constantly be reminded of the fact that only God deserves the praise, honor, and glory others try to bestow on us. We dare not forget that who we are and what we become are all because of God’s mercy and grace. It is God who enables us to become who we are. God alone deserves the credit.

If our heart is right with God, we will want to give Him the glory for all things. We will understand that it is because of God’s unfailing love and faithfulness towards us that we are who we are. We will understand that we deserve nothing from God but His wrath, but instead He has given us His mercy and favor.

If our hearts are right with God, we will be careful to not hoard the praise of others. Instead, we will give it to the Lord who alone deserves it. We will not take ourselves seriously. We will always understand who we are before Him. We will always strive to please and honor Him in all things. We will understand that whatever we may be able to become or achieve is because of God’s gracious work in us. And, we will understand that all of it can be taken away from us in a moment if we let sin creep in and take away from the Lord the glory due His holy name.