The Lord watches over you

November 1, 2021

Psalm 121:7-8 NLT – The LORD keeps you from all harm and watches over your life. [8] The LORD keeps watch over you as you come and go, both now and forever.

This verse gives me so much comfort. Knowing that the Lord God watches over my life gives me peace. I love that it says He watches over me as I come and go. I love that He watches over me both today and for always. As I dwell on this I am reminded of the words of David in Psalm 139 where he says, “Where can I go to escape You presence”. David knew God was always with him. This is the same for us today. God is always with us. He watches over us. He protects us. He guides us. And He will do it until He calls us home to be with Him forever.

Prayer

Thank You God that You are always with us. You watch over our lives and keep us safe from all harm. Thank You that You promise to do this always. Help me to never forget I am kept safely in the palm of Your hands. Amen.

Follow me as I follow Him

October 29, 2021

Philippians 4:9 NLT – Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me – everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.

I love this from the Apostle Paul to the church at Philippi. He was so confident in his teaching, his messages and his life, that he encouraged the church to follow his example. It was like he was saying follow me, as I follow Jesus. He must have known deep in his heart that he was truly following Jesus wholeheartedly that he could ask others to do what I do, and do what I say. He knew that living this way would bring the peace of God to their lives.

Prayer

Dear Jesus, please help me to follow You wholeheartedly. I want my life, my words, my example to be a pathway that others can follow to find You. I want others to follow You, so they can experience You and the peace You give. Amen.

Focus on the right things

October 27, 2021

Philippians 4:8 NLT – And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.

It is just so important to focus our thoughts on the right things. In today’s world with pandemics, wars, major storms, shortages of food and supplies and health concerns, it is easy to take our eyes off the Lord and worry. The above verse encourages us to focus on things that are “true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable”. God knew just how important this would be. That is why He encouraged the Apostle Paul to put it in a letter to the church at Philippi nearly 2000 years ago! And that is why it still speaks to us today.

Prayer

Dear God, help me to focus my mind on good things. Help me to not focus on all the troubles in the world. Help me to think on things that are true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Help me to set my heart and mind on things above, not on the earth below. Amen.

Enter boldy

October 25, 2021

Ephesians 3:12 NLT – Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence.

I love the fact that it says we can come boldly into God’s presence. We don’t have to fast or ceremonially wash or dress 100% correctly to come into God’s presence like an Old Testament Priest. We can come in boldly, as the veil in the Temple has been torn in two. We don’t have to grovel on hands and knees, because we are co-heirs with Christ. We don’t have to make an appointment with God, as we are His children. He is our Abba Father.

Prayer

Thank You God that we can come boldly in to Your presence. Thank You that because Jesus died for us we are now Your children for all eternity. I pray that I will always remember that I can always come into Your presence just as I am. Amen.

Power to change our lives

October 21, 2021

I thought this was really good from vision180.org.au today…

‘I will strengthen you and help you.’ Isaiah 41:10 NIV

We go to seminars and conferences looking for a painless cure by which our lives can be zapped and changed. We go on diets. We join gyms and our enthusiasm runs strong for about two weeks. Then we fall back into the same old rut. We don’t change. We read self-help books, but the problem with self-help books is that they tell us what to do but can’t give us the power to do it. We are told things like: ‘Get rid of all your bad habits. Be positive; don’t be negative.’ But how? Where do we get the power to change? 

The Greek word dunamis, meaning ‘power’, occurs 120 times in the New Testament. It is used to describe the most powerful event that ever happened—the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. And that resurrection power is available to change your life today. The most important thing in life is knowing Christ and experiencing the power of His resurrection. 

Paul writes, ‘I want to know Christ—yes to know the power of His resurrection.’ (Philippians 3:10 NIV) Again he writes, ‘I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great His power is to help those who believe in Him. It is that same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead.’ (Ephesians 1:19–20 TLB)

The Greek word dunamis can be understood in two ways: 

(1) ‘dynamite’, which is an explosive force, or 

(2) ‘dynamo’, which is a constant flow of power. 

And in Christ, you have both. Through Him you can break the chains that bind you and the limits that pull you back, and walk victoriously in His power today.