As a familiar passage and worship song, these words take on a whole different meaning depending on what is happening in your life at the moment. Imagine you’ve been out of work and are finally offered a job? What about the one whom the Lord brings a helpmate? What about the one whose health has been restored? But, what if the Lord now decides to take it all away? Will you still love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and soul and strength? As painful as it is to have something we love taken away, we must remember the Lord has a plan for us that was established long ago. We are simply living out those plans. That same perfect will nailed Jesus to the cross for the atonement of our sins. When He was on the cross, you and I were on His mind.
So what does God give? He gives eternal life. He gives comfort to those in need. He gives tender mercies that are new each day. He gives a hope and a future; He gives peace that passes all understanding. God gives unconditional love.
And what does He take away? He takes away my sin. He takes away my doubts and fears. He takes away my selfishness. He takes away the addictions of my past. He takes away my hopelessness. He takes away my anger and replaces it with joy. Now, that’s something to sing about. He gives and takes away…Blessed be the Name of the Lord.
With a song in my heart,
Tom Moore
At this time, the Apostle Paul was in prison in Rome awaiting his execution. He knew that the time of his departure from planet earth was coming, and he was so excited to meet the Lord in glory. You see, Paul had lived his Christian life sold out to Jesus. He finished his race in full stride, still on fire for Jesus Christ through tremendous difficulties and trials.
All too often, people face death without the humble confidence and joyful expectation that Paul had. So many people face death with regret and shame, knowing that they wasted much of their life off the course, pursuing things that will be left behind or simply spending too much time sitting on the bench.
No matter where you are today in your spiritual life, “it ain’t over till it’s over.” If you still have breath, you still have time to turn it around for Christ. Get back in the race and finish strong knowing that God has not given up on you. “Fight the good fight, finish the race, keep the faith!”
Pastor Doug Hardin
Have you been resting in the peace of the Lord lately? If you are like me, this is probably a struggle at times. We know that nothing is too hard for the Lord, but we feel that our current trial is too messy or worse, we don’t want to bug Him. Here Jesus gives us a promise of peace and when Jesus makes a promise, He keeps it. When you are feeling restless and peace seems to escape you, remember this promise of peace. Let not your heart be troubled or afraid, lay it in the hands of Jesus.
For the King,
Daniel Batistelli
When I was younger I played sports. As with anything, if you want to do well, it requires training. Sports required physical and mental training. You can train or study for anything as much as you want, but if you are not mentally ready for what you are preparing for, it will begin to show outwardly and the same goes for us spiritually!
This verse is a continuation from Romans 12:1 where Paul strongly encourages us to give everything we have for God. That cannot happen unless our minds and hearts are renewed by God. We can do all the right stuff outwardly, but if the insides are not continually being renewed by the Word of God, we eventually end up being very religious and not truly transformed from the inside out. Pray that the Lord would renew from the inside out so we can genuinely and truly show the true transformation the Gospel of Jesus Christ offers!
Blessings,
Pastor Sean Boehm
This verse is a conclusion of some amazing events. The disciples had endured Jesus’ crucifixion, witnessed His risen body, and physically watched Him ascend into heaven. Now they had gone back to Jerusalem to the Upper Room to wait for the promise of the Holy Spirit. And what did they do? They prayed. But here’s the amazing part. They were “with one accord.” They had absolute unity.
The 11 strong-willed disciples were not arguing over who would have the best seat in the kingdom; Peter was no longer concerned about what John should do; Thomas wasn’t pouring cold water on things; Philip wasn’t asking for a sign; and Jesus’ family was not demanding special privileges. They were one in purpose, one in heart, and one mind. They were all looking up to Jesus at the same time for the same thing. Oh, what a difference Jesus’ finished work should make in our lives!
Dwelling together in unity,
Pastor Gerard Deleeuw
It can be difficult to watch the news nowadays. The Bible tells us in the last days evil will be called good and good will be called evil and you can certainly see that in the latest headlines. It certainly does seem like the wicked are prospering.
That was Asaph’s complaint in Psalm 73. He spent the first part of the psalm complaining about the good life of the wicked. It didn’t seem like there was any benefit to following the Lord when those not following Him lived the good life.
But in verse 17, it all became clear to him. When he attended the synagogue and heard about the fate of those who don’t follow God, he realized he was wrong. If you read the internet and see the prosperity of those who couldn’t care less about the Lord, remember their ultimate destination. These aren’t people who should be admired, they are people who need prayer and God to enter their lives. As Christians, this life is only temporary and we have a lot in which to look forward – eternal life with our Jesus!
Teach me to look up and not around,
Pastor Ron Kitchell
David’s words, recorded in our verse, were spoken to his brothers when David, hearing the jaunts, jeers, and threats of Goliath, expressed his shock that not one in the army of the living God was stirred enough to go and stand for the Lord against this offending Philistine. Instead, Saul had offered lots of fleshly incentives to any volunteer but still there had not been any takers!
Today we live in a world that continues to move further from the Lord and often we as believers offer little to stem the tide. But saints, isn’t there a cause for us to fast and pray, to reach out and share, to invest ourselves in preaching God’s love found in Jesus? Today, in your busy day, I pray God gives you an opportunity to speak up for Him because the cause is good and fields are white and the laborers are few.
Speak through me, Lord,
Pastor Jack Abeelen
The Greek word for united in this verse is a term from the field of biology and means “parts united so as to form a single part,” such as when two branches of a tree fuse together. The first half of the verse reinforces the truth that we have been baptized into His death (Romans 6:3). Ponder that for a moment. Being united with Jesus means that we participated in His death (Galatians 2:20).
The second half of the verse explains that it logically follows then that we are united with Jesus in His resurrection (also see Romans 6:8). God sees us as being on the resurrection side of the grave! May our walk be propelled by the joy of that knowledge.
Jeff Mericle
After Paul lists off the last piece of battle armor that we are to put on to fight the enemy, he points us to the glue that truly binds all the armor together and makes them effective — prayer. Prayer is what binds us to God because prayer is the means by which we talk and communicate with God. Without talking to God, there is no fellowship, no communion, which boils down to no relationship. Without an intimate relationship with God, our armor becomes just something fancy to look at it, but ineffective when it comes to battling our enemy.
Paul elaborates a little more on prayer in saying that it should be done always with great perseverance because it is easy to get sidetracked from it. He also points out that prayer comes in different forms, whether it be just general talking with God or supplications where we ask God for very specific things. Lastly, he reminds us that prayer is to be made for all the saints because we are all facing the same spiritual battle and we all need God’s help collectively and individually as believers.
Praying for us all,
Pastor Jason Witt
How does our prayer life look when those around us attack us for our faith? Peter and John were arrested for healing a man. They were told not to preach in the name of Jesus, but when they were with their brothers, they asked for boldness to speak His word.
I really like the way they leave it in the hands of the Lord. They could have complained but instead, they ask for boldness. When things don’t go my way or I feel like I’m being mistreated, I tend to complain to the Lord that it is not fair I go through this. Not only do I complain, but I tend to go back to my little box and hide. May we be like the apostles and go back to our group of Christian friends and ask for boldness. Not to hide in our little group but to be encouraged to go out and speak God’s word.
Asking for boldness to share His word.
Joshua Navarro
