Our Confidence & Inheritance in the Afterglow of Easter

It was late evening on Easter Sunday when Billy, a college-aged, lover of Jesus texted me a Scripture reference from the New Testament. In the afterglow of Passion Week, I want to now share the encouraging passage with you:

Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! God has given us a new birth because of His great mercy. We have been born into a new life that has a confidence which is alive because Jesus Christ has come back to life. We have been born into a new life which has an inheritance that can’t be destroyed or corrupted and can’t fade away. That inheritance is kept in heaven for you, since you are guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time. -- 1 Peter 1:3-5 (GWT)

Holiness Unto The LORD!
Grateful

Oh, the Joys of Those Who Trust...

¹ I waited patiently for the Lord to help me,
and He turned to me and heard my cry.
² He lifted me out of the pit of despair,
out of the mud and the mire.
He set my feet on solid ground
and steadied me as I walked along.
³ He has given me a new song to sing,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see what He has done and be amazed.
They will put their trust in the Lord.

⁴ Oh, the joys of those who trust the Lord,
who have no confidence in the proud
or in those who worship idols.

-- Psalm 40:1-4 (NLT)

I will wait patiently for the Lord...
Gratefl

With God, In God, On God, For God

When we live authentic Christian lives, our lives are characterized and identified with these two words, "praying always". There is no greater testimony of a true believer than for someone to say "He or She Prays!"

These four realities come forth as undeniable proofs from every life that is lived carefully and prayerfully in the presence of the Lord:

(1) Perseverance with God
(2) Confidence in God
(3) Dependence on God
(4) Reverence for God

And all the people said, "AMEN!"
Grateful

Be Encouraged! God Cannot Lie!

(15) So Abraham received what God promised because he waited patiently for it. (16) When people take oaths, they base their oaths on someone greater than themselves. Their oaths guarantee what they say and end all arguments. (17) God wouldn’t change His plan. He wanted to make this perfectly clear to those who would receive His promise, so He took an oath. (18) God did this so that we would be encouraged. God cannot lie when He takes an oath or makes a promise. These two things can never be changed. Those of us who have taken refuge in Him hold on to the confidence we have been given. (19) We have this confidence as a sure and strong anchor for our lives. This confidence goes into the holy place behind the curtain (20) where Jesus went before us on our behalf. He has become the chief priest forever in the way Melchizedek was a priest.
-- Hebrews 6:15-20 (GWT)

Let's Be Encouraged... and... Be...
...Grateful

Love Present! Tormenting Fears? History!

Need Good News for today and all of your tomorrows? Here it is:
Because of God's perfect Love at work in us presently,
all of our tormenting fears are history.

Don't believe me? Take God's Word for it:

(17) God’s love has reached its goal in us. So we look ahead with confidence to the day of judgment. While we are in this world, we are exactly like Him with regard to love. (18) No fear exists where His love is. Rather, perfect love gets rid of fear, because fear involves punishment. The person who lives in fear doesn’t have perfect love.
-- 1 John 4:17-18 (GWT)

Do we believe that God's Love is strong enough to truly cancel out all of our tormenting fears?

Let's Love God? And Fear Not!
Grateful

Look At The Birds!

Seven words in Psalm 50:11 (NIV) speak powerfully to me about our God's compassionate attention to His Creation: I know every bird in the mountains...

Jesus then says in Luke 12:24 (NIV): And you are far more valuable to Him than any birds!

Lord, I pray that we would trust You like the birds do. You challenge us to have confidence in You with these words You spoke in Matthew 6:26: "Look at the birds! They don’t worry about what to eat—they don’t need to sow or reap or store up food—for your Heavenly Father feeds them."

Like the birds, Lord, let our lives be characterized by worship, not worry. We should not dwell in sorrow, but we should instead sing of Your love forever. Amen.

ALL... JOY TO YOUR WORLD!
Grateful (P.S. Added Later in the Day Below)

P.S. This morning after I wrote and posted this blog entry, I sadly found a frozen mourning dove in the midst of black-oil sunflower seed that I keep plentiful in my yard for my winged-friends. I buried the beautiful bird in the ground underneath the snow at the foot of the Manger in our outdoor Nativity Scene. (Because I know the symbolism of a dove in the Bible and because I know that God's Son was born to die, burying the breathless, beautiful dove was a very deep and agonizing moving experience for me.) Still, it was an amazing experience for me,too, in that I had just read Psalm 50:11 late last evening. Think about it: The God I love, knew this dove. When the dove died, I can vouch that it was not hungry, but when it breathed its last breath, our compassionate Creator God cared. And how much more valuable are we than birds. An inspiring illustration for my soul.

Trust

Lord, help me to trust in Your blood rather than my sweat. Remind me that trusting You must overwhelm my trying. I want to live by faith in You alone and trust with confidence in Your great Love. Amen.

ALL JOY!
Grateful