Jesus told us in His Word we would face trouble in the last days. He told us beforehand so we won’t be caught off guard.
“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world” John 16:33.
Do we remember what else the Lord told us? Three hundred sixty-five times in the Bible, God says, “Don’t be afraid!”
God’s Word is living. It speaks to our souls when we open our hearts to the Lord to speak to us personally. Listen to His voice:
But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; Isaiah 43:1-3
God doesn’t condemn us, He gave us a Redeemer. He gave us His only Son, Jesus who stretched out His arms wide on the cross to take our failures of sin.
He offers His salvation to anyone who will believe. He is God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior . . . ?
Yes? Let today be the day of salvation for you. You then will hear Him say, “You are Mine, I have called you by your name.”
And, today, even with great trial and sorrow, you can sing:
“Lord, I’m in Your hand. Lord, I’m in Your heart. In Your thoughts, in Your plans, never on my own.
Lord, I’m in Your hands. Lord, I’m in Your heart. In Your thoughts, in Your plans, never left alone.
When the darkness closes in and fear begins to rise, help me to remember You’re always by my side.
When the darkness closes in and fear begins to rise, help me to remember, You’re always by my side.”
Thank you Ella & Irelyn and Tim Weeks for your awesome song!
Been misunderstood? Is it hard to find a friend who understands?
There’s a Friend who understands everything. Every evil brought against us, Jesus knows first-hand.
In desperate times and days filled with hardships, we need to see with our own eyes a reason to hope. We look out at all that’s going on and we only see destruction and pain.
It’s at times like this, when a closed Bible on the shelf seems impossible to open. I don’t have the “want to.”
God must know we can’t do it on our own. The pages are too heavy. Every other App is shouting, “Open me!” But the Bible App remains closed.
But Jesus prayed for us.
His light can overcome any darkness. He accomplishes His will.
My will says “no,” but the spirit urges me to receive healing in its open pages.
The Gospel of John is opened.
Misunderstood? This is Jesus’ story from the beginning. He Created the very ground the people stood on, yet, he was not received.
“But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God” John 1:12.
What Good News is sandwiched in the middle of rejection. Choice is His gift.
The stories unfold.
Disrespected? Treated with cruelty? Hated?
The God of the Universe, the one who sees the heart of man, He knows.
He was spat upon. Beaten.
Jesus experienced it all. He suffered.
Are lies spread against you? The enemies of Jesus spread word that “by the ruler of the demons He casts out demons” Mark 3:22.
Let the reading of the Gospels, today . . . be our refuge. An open Bible gives sight to our blurred eyes and water to our discouraged and hardened hearts.
Living Waters move hard things. Through God’s Word, the mountains of anxiety in self-discovery are scattered to freedom in knowing Jesus came to earth for one purpose, to die on the cross to set us free.
Jesus walked this sin-cursed earth. He kept His eye on His Father. Jesus prayed for us. He prayed . . . that we would be one.
With God, all things are possible. He trusted the Father. So can we.
“I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.
Father, I desire that they also whom You gave Me may be with Me where I am, that they may behold My glory which You have given Me, for You loved Me before the foundation of the world.
O righteous Father! The world has not known You, but I have known You; and these have known that You sent Me. And I have declared to them Your name, and will declare it, that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them”John 17:20-26.
God demonstrated His love. He suffered. He rose again on the third day. He will help us rise as well, through His glorious power and love, He will show us how to love.
He will.
“Satan thought he had won, but You rose again to give me life, to give me victory! I love You Jesus, because You first loved me.” -Lincoln Wright
Lincoln Wright, a missionary in Managua penned these words many years ago when our dear friend was very ill. They were both revived in spirit by Jesus’s love and sacrifice. I put music to the words for my two friends.
I pray this music therapy of the Gospel message becomes a response and remedy for healing and hopebecause we discover again or for the first time, . . .
