Don’t you love the promises of God? There are people in this world who will turn their backs on you and disappear the moment things get difficult. God is the exact opposite; when things get difficult, hard, or even downright ugly, God draws near and says, “Come to Me and I will give you rest for your soul.” That’s the beauty of the gospel, our worst for God’s best!
This year has been extremely difficult; people are hurting financially and are feeling stressed and overwhelmed. In the midst of it all, God gives an invitation to come to Him and exchange it all for rest. Today, if you are weighed down by the worries of this world, go to the Lord and trade your stress for rest!
For the King,
Pastor Daniel Batistelli
Have you ever forgotten how faithful God is? I don’t mean you don’t know He is faithful, but with our attitudes, complaining, and countenance, we have a lapse in memory. I know for me, I seem to forget God’s faithfulness when I think something should be done in my way, not remembering that God is faithful to do many things His way, according to His will. God will do what He has promised you. It may not be how you imagined it or within the timing you thought, but He will do it.
Resting in Him,
Pastor Sean Boehm
When Jesus is the center of your home there is no better reward than to see your children move into their own independent and personal walk with the Lord. But then when they have children and you see your grandkids loving Jesus, that is glorious. As grandparents, we should never neglect the opportunity and responsibility we have to pour into the lives of that next generation. And as the Proverb says, we can also teach our little one to love and respect their parents because that is how a godly home works.
From this generation to the next,
Pastor Gerard Deleeuw
As Christians, we need to regularly gauge our spiritual walk and this verse helps to do so. Do you question if you really know Jesus? Ask yourself, are you keeping His commandments?
This doesn’t mean we don’t stumble occasionally, but we shouldn’t be living a life where we’re constantly breaking the Lord’s commandments. That’s why it’s important to always read the Bible, pray, and go to church, so that God can speak to you about how you’re walking in Him.
Today, ask the Lord, as David did in Psalm 139:23, to search me, O God, and know my heart. God gives us every tool we need to be able to abide with Jesus.
Wanting to know Jesus better,
Pastor Ron Kitchell
I love all types of music and all kinds of worship styles from the contemporary to the more traditional hymns. Worship after all is about the heart before God. Which is why I love our verses as the Lord directs His people to build the place of worship void of things that would distract: an altar of earth or stones not hewed or decorated. The height of the altar must provide for the modesty of the priests robes, not too high to expose them. With all the emphasis today on worship production: lights, lasers, smoke machines…things that distract, I long to see worship returned to the simple where God is the focus and there is nothing to drawn my attention away from Him.
Simple worship is best,
Pastor Jack Abeelen
If you cannot express yourself well on each of your beliefs, work and study until you can. If you don’t, other people may miss out on the blessings that come from knowing the truth. Strive to re-express a truth of God to yourself clearly and understandably, and God will use that same explanation when you share it with someone else.
But you must be willing to go through God’s winepress where the grapes are crushed. You must struggle, experiment, and rehearse your words to express God’s truth clearly. Then the time will come when that very expression will become God’s wine of strength to someone else.
But if you are not diligent, then the words will be of no value to you or to others. Always make it a practice to stir your own mind thoroughly to think through what you have easily believed. Your position is not really yours until you make it yours through suffering and study. The author or speaker from whom you learn the most is not the one who teaches you something you didn’t know before, but the one who helps you take a truth with which you have quietly struggled, give it expression, and speak it clearly and boldly.
Pastor William Del Casale
Psalm 57 was written by David when he fled from King Saul into a cave. David had wound up in a perilous situation, because Saul intended to kill him. David describes himself as being amongst lions (Psalm 57:4), but his response is to cry out to God for mercy, and to declare his trust in the Lord for deliverance (Psalm 57:1), while seeking for God to be glorified (Psalm 57:5). David is not relying on his own devices for deliverance because he is fully trusting in God (Psalm 57:3).
This passage describes David’s disposition as he faces adversity: His heart is steadfast in the Lord, and in that confidence, he desires to worship and praise the Lord. David’s walk with God is so strong that in this dire situation he does not respond with fear and trembling, but confidence and praise. In our local church body and the West in general, we are not going to find ourselves in a situation where we are being hunted down. However, we do face trials and adversity in our lives. Would it not be great if we could respond like David when those times do come? May our walk with the Lord be so strong that we can fully trust in God for deliverance, and that we praise Him as He guides us through life’s storms.
Jeff Mericle
These two verses describe the primary reasons why God has done virtually everything He has done since the beginning of time and everything He will do throughout eternity. They explain why He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in Ephesians 1:3. It clarifies why He chose us before the foundation of the world in Ephesians 1:4 and describes why He has predestined us to adoption in verse five. Furthermore, it enlightens us to why He redeemed us though the blood of Jesus in Ephesians 1:7 and granted us an inheritance in Ephesians 1:11.
Reason number one for all of this: because He wanted to—it was His delight. When we truly understand the immensity of the blessing, the wonder of His choosing, and the exceeding greatness of the value of our adoption and inheritance, the only appropriate response is a humble gratitude to our God. And in response to our “Thank you,” He responds, “It’s My pleasure,” and it is!
Reason number two: the praise of the glory of His grace. The grace of God freely extended toward us in the excruciating sacrifice of His Son on the cross is the apex of His glory, the pivotal focus for all eternity. It was the fulfillment of all the ancient prophesies. And it is the event that will be celebrated forever as we sing, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain!”
In our narcissistic culture, we want to think that we are the primary focus in all God has done, but that is not entirely true. We were created to celebrate His glory and for the praise of His infinite value, not our own. Blessed be His name now and forever!
Tom Day
These two verses are the conclusion to a psalm where David was frustrated with the evil of others but yet decided to focus on the goodness of God. In verse seven, David makes it a point to say that God and God alone is able to bring joy to his heart, far more than any other earthly treasure or blessing. That means that we could lose everything we have physically in this life and still have gladness in our hearts. That seems impossible in reality, but it’s not.
The Lord is truly that good and when we put our trust in Him and Him alone, He has the power over our hearts to bless us with His infinite peace and safety. Sadly, we put too much stock in worthless things to allow our hearts to truly understand this reality and promise, but hopefully as we continue to grow in our faith, this impossibility becomes a reality for us.
Pastor Jason Witt
The Jews would often pride themselves as being the seed of Abraham. They’d go around telling people that we are of Abraham and followers of Moses. They are putting on their religious garments and put themselves over everyone else. Paul takes them back to the law. He says the law was to point you to Christ; it was never meant to save you. In fact, we were all condemned under the law. Therefore the law was to point us to Jesus Christ that we might be justified by faith to those who believe.
If you believe and were baptized in Christ, you are now one with the body of Christ. You can say we are all now one family. We are part of the family of God. We are all on equal ground. The things that separated us before no longer separate us because we are now one with Jesus. The answer to all of the division that we have been experiencing is faith in Jesus.
One in Christ,
Joshua Navarro
