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Jeremiah 5:22
“Do you not fear me? Declares the Lord. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.”

As I read this scripture this morning I realize that I take so much for granted. I love going to the ocean. It is so huge, it seems endless, it is calm and violent all at the same time. I find it so peaceful to be near the ocean. I’ve never once thought as I sat near the ocean that maybe this next wave will not stop at it’s appointed place and that the ocean will just continue to flow onto land. I’ve never thought about that. This scripture tells me that God, himself placed a boundary for how far the water can go. God controls EVERYTHING!!! The winds obey Him, the seas obey him. Amazing!

2 things come to mind as a result of my soul being affected by this scripture:

1) The Awesome power and might and sovereign reign and control of our Almighty God and Father! HE rules over all!
I should not take this for granted but let it affect my soul and my behavior so I will walk in fear and awe of God always
2) Since God is sovereign over the seas what little things in my life do I not trust Him with? God commands the seas and they obey him! Can He not then command my circumstances? My feelings? My fears? Etc etc…? Of course He can!

Thank you Lord for increasing my understanding of You this morning. Thank you for increasing my faith!

Phil 2:3
“Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.”

Last weekend I attended a wedding and this weekend I’m attending 2 more! Dennis and I have been married for over 30 years now! Amazing! I’m thankful to God for his grace in our marriage. If I could give one piece of advice to each of my newly married friends it would be the above scripture.

Do NOTHING from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count your spouse more significant than yourself. Can you imagine if we all did that in ALL of our relationships?

By God’s grace it’s a goal worth working toward!

Romans 14:13,20,21

“Therefore let us not pass judgement on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. Do not, for the sake of food destroy the work of God. Everything is indeed clean, but it is wrong to make another stumble by what he eats. It is good not to eat meat or drink wine or do anything that causes your brother to stumble.”

I read these scriptures this afternoon and I’m reminded of my friend who was an alcoholic. One day she was drinking and partying for pure enjoyment and then God interrupted her life and she stopped drinking. It was indeed a work of God!!! He worked in her a greater thirst for Jesus than her thirst for alcohol! It was miraculous to witness and a joy to have had a ringside seat to this transformation. As I read these scriptures today I think of my friend’s new roommates. Before my friend moved in it came to her attention that the girls kept wine in the house. Now, it is not evil or even sinful to keep and drink wine UNLESS it would be a stumbling block for someone. As my friend brought this up with her potential roommates they informed her that they had already made the decision WITHOUT HER EVEN ASKING that if she moved in they would no longer keep alcohol in their house.

These young ladies put their money where their mouth is. These young ladies were not just hearers of the Word but doers of the Word! They were willing to set aside their own freedoms to ensure that their new roommate would not stumble.

I think of this song: “And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love. And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.” (written by Peter Scholte)

Daniel 2:20-21
“Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings, He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding.”

Proverbs 21:1
“The King’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will.”

As the elections heat up the temptations to worry about who will be our next president may be great! Here are two scriptures that have always calmed me down when I’ve been unhappy with our political leaders. I am reminded that that GOD is the one who decides who is going to be our next president. Our job is to pray and to vote according to our conscience and we leave the results to God. The bible isn’t going to tell us, by name, who to vote for. We must weigh the issues, pray and then vote… but we are not to worry!!! We are to be responsible to vote but we must remember that our hope is not in our president but in GOD ALONE!
The proverbs scripture reminds me that God turns the king’s heart any which way He wills. I have to constantly remind myself that God is sovereign over every leader, nation and decisions made… God does not sit idly by and watch us make a mess of this world! God is actively involved in history. After all it is HIS STORY!

Are you tempted to get wrapped up in the election coverage and worry? Remember, trust God.

From The Gospel Primer by Milton Vincent, p. 46

“What happens to my appetite for sin when I am filled with the fullness of God in Christ? Jesus provides this answer:
“He who continually comes to Me will never hunger or thirst again.” (John 6:35)
Indeed, as I perpetually feast on Christ and all of His blessings found in the Gospel, I find that my hunger for sin diminishes and the lies of lust simply lose their appeal. Hence, to the degree that I am full, I am free. Eyes do not rove, nor do fleshly lusts rule, when the heart is fat with the love of Jesus.”

So, how fat is your heart with the love of Jesus? The ONLY way we can feed our heart is by being in the WORD! It is THERE that we find the Gospel. It is in God’s Word that we read over and over again God’s love for us through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for our sins. When we read about the holiness of God and the depth of our sin, when we read about what we deserve because of our sin and when we read about what God did to save us from His just wrath, THEN we see the beauty of Jesus and His love for us.

If I find that I am falling into sin a lot, o worse, if I find that I am not hating sin as I should... I need to stop and evaluate what I’m feeding on. Am I feeding on the things of the world? Or am I feeding on Jesus Christ!?

Is your heart fat with the love of Jesus?

“Acts 5:41
“Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the Name.” (of Jesus)

The Apostles had just been beaten and charged not to speak about Jesus.. and they left the council REJOICING!
I read this and I realize what a whiny butt I can be when I speak about Jesus to my friends or my fear of speaking of Jesus to the cashiers at Giant etc…why? Because I’m going to be beaten????????? NO! I might get a “funny” look or I might get “talked about”… but I can go into the store the next day and still buy my groceries with no fear of being beaten. Or I can still go to a family reunion and have no fear of being thrown in jail or of being beaten because I speak of the name of Jesus. I’m afraid, of… what? Not being liked? Of a “rolling of the eyes?” goodness!

So what did the apostles do after they were beaten? Did they run in their house and pray for the people? They may have, but they also did this:

v. 42
“And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.”

WOW! And the same Holy Spirit that made them bold is the same Holy Spirit that lives in me and makes me bold. All I have to do is obey!
Please do not misunderstand me. I am not feeling condemnation. I am feeling encouraged that all I have to do is ask God for boldness and opportunities and courage and strength to obey and I’m pretty sure God will give me all of these!

Lord, please give me boldness and courage and strength to seize the opportunities you bring my way to share Christ!

Acts 4:12
“And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

JESUS. What a BEAUTIFUL name!

“How do I thank You oh Lord for taking my place on the cross; And how do I thank you oh Lord for all of your mercy and kindness. For calling me to You, for letting me hear You, for opening my heart to the gospel! As long as I have breath I will praise you. As long as my heart beats I will sing. As long as life flows in my veins, I will bless Your Name.”
(1998 Sovereign Grace Music; Words and Music by Mark Altrogge)

Psalm 118: 14
The Lord is my strength and my song; He has become my salvation.

Last night I was at a wedding of a friend (Kirk) from an old church and is presently a new pastor in the family of churches (Sovereign Grace Ministries) that I am a member of now.
Being at Kirk’s wedding reminded me of how God used the Gathering (a young adult ministry at McLean Bible Church), particularly the worship there, to ignite my heart to the knowledge of the glories of God in Jesus Christ.

During those years at the Gathering I was introduced to worship songs that were God-centered, NOT man centered! I remember worshipping one night at the Gathering and I wondered in my heart that perhaps eventually I would have to move on from this group of people that I had grown to love. I had NEVER in my Christian life experienced such God honoring worship! I couldn’t imagine where I would find a church that used these type of songs to honor God and not man. Well, God in his sovereignty, used a series of circumstances to move many of us out of that church and ministry and I ended up at Sovereign Grace Church in Fairfax.

I could not believe that my new church used the type of songs that Will Pavone had introduced me to in worship! Last night at Kirk’s wedding, my two worlds blended. Having Will leading us in worship with my Sovereign Grace family caused me to get emotional in my thanks to God for His kindness to me. God drew me into greater affections for Himself, God drew me into a love of deep worship of Him. I love the church. I love the body of Christ. I love Jesus. Yesterday, I had a glimpse of heaven as I saw friends from my former church blended with my friends at my new church and seriously, I couldn’t keep from getting teary.

I say all this to honor God and declare that it is HIM that I love to worship, that is is HE who has become my salvation and I love to worship Him with my family of God. How I thank God for my salvation. How I thank God for old friends. I thank God for new friends. He is so good to me, giving me far more than I deserve for I deserve nothing but hell and God, not only saved me but keeps giving me gift after gift. I thank you Lord God!

1 John 2:1
“My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.”

I just listened to a sermon by John Piper (http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/MediaPlayer/2665/Video/)
Regarding this scripture. He spoke about the tenderness that John used in writing this letter. He referred to the Christians he was writing to as his little children. That is indeed very comforting terminology. It conveys concern and compassion not harshness. This letter of 1 John is written so the Christian can test themselves and see if they are in the faith. Dr. Piper said that as the Christian reads 1 John they may begin to panic because the person who is truly born again is very aware and sorrowful over their sin that they know is a part of their lives every hour. He then referred us to this scripture that I just quoted and he spoke about the assurance, those in Christ Jesus have, when they sin. They assurance is that JESUS CHRIST THE RIGHTEOUS is our advocate! Now THIS is something to ponder on today and rejoice and be thankful about!

Is 61:10
“I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation; for He has covered me with the robe for righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself with jewels.”

Before God rescued me I was enslaved to sin and dressed in filthy rags, BUT THEN God called me and rescued me and dressed me in the garments of salvation and a robe righteousness! Jesus lived a righteous life, a good and perfect life and then gave HIS righteousness to me. He credited HIS righteousness to my account. He clothed me a robe of righteousness. I will indeed greatly rejoice in the Lord!!!

Psalm 106:43-46
“Many times He delivered them but they were rebellious in their purposes and were brought low through their iniquity. NEVERTHELESS, He looked upon their distress, when He heard their cry. For their sake He remembered his covenant, and relented according to the abundance of HIS steadfast love. He caused them to be pitied by those who held them captive.”

I’m amazed by grace again today. The Israelites were rebellious and sinful and NEVERTHELESS God relented according to the abundance of His steadfast love. WOW!
Thank you Lord that your steadfast love is so great and so huge that you would look upon the Israelites distress! Thank you Lord that even in my sin you look upon me with grace and steadfast love through Jesus Christ. Thank you Lord for your amazing grace.

Tribute to Edith Wickert

2 Corinthians 5:7
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.”

Yesterday in the early afternoon an elderly friend of mine (in her late 80’s) from Burke Community Church had the pleasure of leaving this world and seeing her Savior Jesus face to face. Can you imagine the joy she had upon seeing His face? It boggles my mind. She had pain and suffering as she was leaving this world but I imagine that once she passed from this world to the next, she forgot every bit of that suffering as she gazed upon Jesus.

I had the pleasure of serving the Lord with Edith in several ministries. For a while, she and I would get together at 5:30 AM at church on Friday mornings to pray for the church. Mind you, she was already in her late 70’s at this point! We taught women’s bible studies together (in the same ministry). We were in a ministry together that helped women see sin and sin patterns in their life and walk in freedom from these sins. It was such a privilege to serve the Lord with her.

Edith was such an elegant woman. She was a gracious, Southern woman, the kind you read about in novels with the beautiful white hair and the gracious and elegant speech. Top that with a deep love for Jesus.. yes, she was a wonderful woman of God. And so generous!

One day she and I were casually talking about our households and she asked me a question regarding my “silver”. I said, “What silver?” She said, “your silver bowls and serving pieces.” I said, “I don’t have any of those things.” She said, “Didn’t you get any for your wedding?” I said, “I think I have one serving piece.” She just nodded.
Next time we were together for bible study she handed me a gift box, wrapped up like a wedding present ( I had already been married for almost 20 years) and when I opened it there was a beautiful silver bowl in it. She told me it was one of her bowls, but she had so many she wanted me to have one. J Yes, Edith was a thoughtful and generous woman.

We will miss her here on earth. Her husband Tom will be so very lonely, I am sure. But, I can’t help but be excited and so happy for Edith today for even though you and I still must walk by faith and not by sight, Edith now walks by sight! She SEES her SAVIOR JESUS! Alleluia! Or as another friend of mine from BCC used to say, “GLORY”!!

James 2:13
“For judgement is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgement.”

I read this scripture this morning and I realize that I am not very merciful. I am quick to point a finger. I am quick to show disgust, anger or frustration. Should I hate the sin I see in the world? YES! What should my response be, then? A love and compassion for the lost? YES! Then I wonder is it really enough to just love the lost in feelings? NO! It’s a great start but I am beginning to think that I must do more! I can’t share the gospel with EVERYONE who is lost but I can in my little piece of the world. To my family. To the people that God places in my life. The cashiers at Giant that I have come to know so well with over 16 years of shopping at the same store. My mailman? Give him/her an unexpected Gift Certificate and throw in a tract, then be available to talk when he/she next delivers the mail. I have asked God to show me how to be merciful and the ideas are beginning to flow!

If I hate the sin I see then I must realize that same sin was in me and some still remains in me!!! BUT, I have been forgiven and set free from the slavery to this sin by the sovereignty of God in giving me a measure of faith and the grace to believe that Jesus Christ died for my sins and HIS kindness brought me to repentance. Is this not mercy?
Then the most merciful thing I can do is to take measures to love people by sharing the very same gospel that saved me.

Please pray for me. I do not want to have this conviction today and ignore it. I want to act on it. Please pray for boldness for me. Please pray for courage to follow through on the ideas that God is giving me. Please pray that I am not just a hearer of the Word but a doer! I want God to be glorified. I want to share the gospel AND be merciful and loving and compassionate while hating sin and loving those that are made in the image of God.

As you can see… I have a lot on my mind today.

Today I am pondering God’s benefits:

Psalm 103: 2-17

Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits:

1. He forgives all my iniquity
2. He heals all my diseases
3. He redeems my life from the pit
4. He crowns me with steadfast love and mercy
5. He satisfies me with good so that my youth is renewed like the eagles
6. He works righteousness and justice for all who are oppressed
7. He is merciful and gracious
8. He is slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love
9. He will not always chide, nor keep His anger forever
10.He does not deal with me according to my sins
11. He does not repay me according to my iniquities
12. His steadfast love is as high as the heavens above the earth toward those who fear Him
13. He removes my transgressions from me as far as the east is from the west
14.The Lord shows his compassion to those who fear him
15.The steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him, and his righteousness to children’s children.

As I ponder these benefits today I want my affections for my Lord and Savior to increase!

Psalm 102:27
“But you are the same and your years have no end.”

Hebrews 13:8
“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”

Revelation 1:8
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

God never changes. Weather changes. People change. Jobs change. Presidents change. Economy changes. Health changes. Circumstances change. I change. My mood changes. GOD NEVER CHANGES! The God who parted the red sea for the Israelites to have an escape route, is the same God who walks with us today. The God who died on the cross for our sins is the same God who parted the sea and walks with us today. The God who parted the sea, died on the cross and walks with us today is the same God who will come back for his church.
I bow before my God, the Almighty.

Psalm 100:3
“Know that the Lord, He is God! It is HE who made us, and we are HIS, we are HIS people, and the sheep of HIS pasture.”

I read this scripture several times this morning and each time I was more convicted of the “familiarity” I can sometimes have with God. It is good to know God and be familiar with who He is and to be intimate with him, but I’m talking about the negative familiarity, the kind that minimizes who someone is, taking them for granted. I’m going to take this one step further. If there are times when we are not impressed with who God is, if there are times when I take God for granted it is because I really haven’t taken into consideration to know God and WHO HE IS!! Know that the Lord, HE IS GOD!
HE IS GOD! Alleluia! HE IS GOD!!!

On Steve Altrogge’s blog, The Blazing Center : http://www.theblazingcenter.com/2008/06/official-gratefulness-day.html , He has declared today to be Official Gratefulness Day. I read this psalm this morning and then I will list only a few of the things I am grateful for.. there are so many, too many to write, but today I will just some!

Psalm 98:1,4
“Oh sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done marvelous things! His right hand and His holy arm have worked salvation for him… Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth, break forth into joyous song and sing praises.”

Some of the things I am grateful to God for today:

1. Salvation through my Lord, Jesus Christ
2. My loving husband of over 30 years!
3. My 4 children
4. My son in law – I love how he loves and takes care my daughter
5. My daughter in law – I love how she loves my son and how she waited for him so faithfully to return from war.
6. That God brought my son safely home from Iraq
7. Flowers… I LOVE flowers
8. My eyesight, I LOVE to read
9. Books, I LOVE to read
10. My church! We LOVE our church family!
11. My friends. God has given me so many godly friendships!

SING TO THE LORD!

Is 53:5
“But he was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed f our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.”

THEREFORE:

Psalm 95:1-2
“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! “

Enough said?

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MY FOOT SLIPS!

Psalm 94:17-19
“If the Lord had not been my help, my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence. When I thought, “my foot slips.”, Your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up. When the cares of my heart are many, your consolations cheer my soul.”

The psalmist was writing about living in a world with the wicked. It was difficult then, it is difficult now. Praise the Lord, we, in the USA, are not put to death for our faith. We are not tempted to turn from our faith because impending death for our faith looms on the horizon, however, we are tempted in many other ways. The things of the world which are around us… the TV shows we want to watch that everyone is talking about, or the movies… or in the way we respond to things and situations! We want to “fight for our rights”, we want to defend our reputations, we want to “be right”, we want to argue, we want to worry etc etc.. the list is almost endless.

In my home I live with unbelievers. Sometimes it’s a fight for joy! Sometimes I want to be fearful and worrisome like my mom … sometimes it seems easier to do that than fight for joy and faith. BUT when I think, “my foot slips”, GOD’S steadfast love holds me up!

I wasn’t even looking for a reference to God’s steadfast love today but it was in my regular reading plan.. how kind of God in his perfect timing to remind me that it is HE , by His love, that holds me up when I am about to slip, or when I feel like I’m slipping or even when I want to slip!!! God keeps those he saves. Oh, what comfort!

Psalm 92:1-2
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night.”

Psalm 36:5
“Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.”

I’m still meditating on the steadfast love of the Lord! I’m pretty sure that an important component of being “satisfied” in God’s steadfast love is meditating on it and searching out scriptures about it. Of course the loudest proclamation of God’s steadfast love is the salvation of our souls through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!
My hope and intent today is that I think often of this great love that comes from God and may my life reflect this love by the love I extend to others as a result of God’s love for me.
This love of God brings such joy!!!!

Psalm 91:1-6

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust. For He will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you will find refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and a buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the destruction that wastes at noonday.”

I looked up the word “pestilence” in the dictionary and it is defined: something hard to be rid of; an pernicious, malign influence that is hard to get rid of; a virulent disease, harmful and destructive.

WOW! God delievers us from the deadly pestilence. He delivers us from the deadliest pestilence: sin. What a gracious, merciful and loving God. I am also pondering today that this scripture tells us that it is GOD’S FAITHULNESS (not mine) thiat is our shield and buckler(one that shields and protects). It is so important to know and understand the faithfulness of God for then we will know and understand the protection we have from and the refuge that God is! Amazing! So amazing! So, so , so comforting.

Psalm 90:14
“Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.”

“God is constantly taking knowledge of me in love and watching over me for my good.” (Knowing God, by J.I. Packer., p. 42)

I love praying scripture back to God and I love when I come across an actual prayer in Scripture. The psalmist is asking God to satisfy him with HIS steadfast love and goes on to say that being satisfied in God’s steadfast love brings rejoicing and gladness to our days! Of course it does!
I am re-reading a modern Christian classis, Knowing God. It powerfully affected my soul when I read it almost 18 years ago and it is powerfully affecting my soul now! The author of this book is directing my heart to scriptures that speak of God’s steadfast love. I am being refreshed in my soul, heart and mind in the understanding of God’s love for me and it has indeed produced in me a renewed joy and gladness in my God and Savior.
I encourage you to pray this and ask God to satisfy you with His steadfast love. See what happens!

2 Tim 2:24-26
“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth , and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by hm to do his will.”

This reminds me to be kind to the non believers in my life. It’s way too easy for me to get argumentative over an issue of sin that gets public notoriety.. for example, abortion, gay lifestyle.. As believers we must, of course, stand firmly against those sins but it does absolutely no good to argue with someone over those. Of course they’re not going to see what we see, because their eyes are still blind to the truths of the gospel. So many times we try and clean up someone’s act AND THEN lead them to Christ through the gospel. So many times I’ve had it backwards! My job is to share the gospel and GOD will clean up their act. Being quarrelsome does no one any good!

Lord, help me to be gentle and kind to everyone even when every part of me wants to argue because I know I’m right on these issues! Instead, help me to be humble and gentle and kind, speaking as one who is rescued, not as one who wants to be right. In Jesus name, Amen.

2 Timothy 2:22
“So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.”

As I read this scripture I see that if we are to pursue (to strive to gain; seek to attain or accomplish)
righteousness, faith, love and peace that means we are to FLEE from unrighteousness, unbelief, hate, and conflict(not peace).
Yikes! If I take a quick look I’d say I’m doing okay… but a deeper look would indicate that maybe I don’t flee from these sins as quickly as I ought or thought

Let me take a look at my own life:

Worrying about something = unbelief
Arguing over a theological concept in order to be right = conflict
Gossiping or entertaining gossip = hate (this includes Hollywood entertainment magazines or tv shows or laughing at political jokes about candidates. It’s still gossip even if I don’t personally know the people that are being gossiped about!!!!)

Oh Lord! Help me to flee from these things! Help me to hate these things! Give flight to my feet Lord so I will run, run, run from my youthful passions!

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2 Timothy 2:21-26
“Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work. SO flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who calls on the Lord from a pure heart. Have NOTHING to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know they breed quarrels. And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.”

I am going to camp on this scripture for at least a couple of days if not more. So many things to think about and ponder on!
The phrase that first came to my attention was, “ready for every good work.” As I thought about and prayed that I want to be ready for every good work I had to read on to see how that happens. I am to FLEE youthful passions… according to dictionary.com, flee is defined as: to run away, as from danger or pursuers; run away quickly; The act of fleeing; the act of running away, to escape or expected evil; hasty departure.
This doesn’t mean flirt with youthful passions and try to resist. It doesn’t mean to slowly back away. It doesn’t mean to stop, look at it, pray about it, think about it. It means GET OUT OF THERE FAST!
So, one way to be ready for every good work is to FLEE youthful passions. Tomorrow I’m going to think through and talk about what youthful passions are. But for today, my prayer is for God to help me to flee from sin and to hate it and not even entertain the thoughts of sin. Sin is dangerous. As John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” FLEE!

Psalm 27:4
“One thing have I asked of the Lord, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in His temple.”

In John Piper’s book, God is the Gospel, he says, “The critical question for our generation – and for every generation- is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted, and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied in heaven, if Christ was not there?” (page 15)

That is and should be a very sobering question. Do we love Jesus for Jesus or for what He gives to us? Do we love the beauty of Jesus and His holiness? Oh may it be so!!!

Lord, help me to be a lover of only Jesus! Help me to always love Jesus more than what He gives to me. Help me to love the beauty of Christ and being with Him more than anything else. Amen.

Is 45:5-7
“I am the Lord and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know from the rising of the sun and from the west, there there is none besides me; I am the Lord and there is no other. I form the light and create darkness, I make well-being and create calamity, I am the Lord, who does all these things.”

How reassuring to my soul it is to know that there is NO OTHER GOD except the Lord. How reassuring to my soul it is that there are no random acts that “happen” to us but our lives are in the control of our God who is good. Amen?

Please continue to pray for Jeff.

Nahum 1:7
The Lord is good,
A stronghold in the day of trouble;
He knows those who take refuge in Him.

On Saturday evening my son's childhood friend was in a car accident. Buddy's friend is miraculously fine and will be out of the hospital today. Sadly, his friend's girlfriend and another friend died in this accident. His friend is so, so sad.
Please pray for Jeff. Please pray for the families of the 2 girls who died. Jeff is only 15 and has this huge burden to bear. Pray for his healing and that God would be his comfort.

It is good to know that even in this the Lord is indeed good and HE is a stronghold, our security, in the day of trouble.

Please keep this situation in your prayers.

John 15:4,5,8
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing…By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.”

When I read this scripture this morning I was reminded of a movie I had seen where a family’s vineyard burnt to the ground and were despairing at the loss of their means of living. Then, someone found a piece of the living vine and they rejoiced because they knew that with just one part of the living vine to plant… that the vine would again produce grapes. A happy ending!

This is how it is with us in Christ. We are the branches attached to the vine… it is the VINE that produces the fruit in us, the branches. If we are not abiding in Christ, in the vine, we will not produce Father-glorifying fruit. If we do, then it is proof that we are disciples of Christ. It is not the fruit that we muster up and try to push out.. it is the fruit that comes from abiding in Christ.

It is a beautiful reminder this morning that unless we abide in Christ; unless we abide in the Word of God, we will not bear fruit. For apart from Jesus we can do NOTHING!

Oh Lord, I love your word, Help me to love it more and more and more. When I get complacent about your Word, wake me up and draw me into your word. Help me see it as my very sustenance! I want my Father to be glorified by the fruit that is produced from abiding in You. I want the gospel to be advanced by the fruit that YOU produce in me.
I love you Lord and I thank you for Your Word.