For evermore

For evermore

The Psalmist writes,

"Seek the Lord, and His strength: 

seek His face evermore." 

                                                Psalm 105:4.

Being a Christian not simply saying “I believe in God and that Jesus paid the price for my sins”.

Being a Christian is going before God continually to seek His wisdom and guidance. 

The late American evangelist Billy Graham,

“The Christian life is not a constant high. I have my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, 'O God, forgive me,' or 'Help me.'” Billy Graham

In our lives we will have many ups and downs. 

The key however whether we are in one of the valleys of life or having a mountain top experience is to seek God continually.

We do this by studying the scriptures, praying, and praising God.

Do you seek The Lord continually in good times and in bad?

Please think about it.

I lift up my eyes

  I lift up my eyes

The Psalmist writes,

“I lift up my eyes to the hills— 

where does my help come from? 

My help comes from the LORD, 

the Maker of heaven and earth.” 

                                             Psalm 121:1,2.

I am so glad that I can say my help comes from the Lord, Maker of heaven and earth.

I am so humbled that God in the form of His Son Jesus Christ came to this world to save me. To help me in times of trouble. To be my guide in life.

Can you say this?

Please think about it.

My help comes from The Lord

  My help comes from The Lord. 

The Psalmist states,

"I lift up my eyes to the hills— 

where does my help come from? 

My help comes from the LORD, 

the Maker of heaven and earth.”

                                                  Psalm 121:1,2.

If you consider yourself a Christian, do you rely on your own strength to get you through from day to day? Do you only go to God when things start getting hard? When there is a crisis in your life?

As believers in Christ Jesus we should be looking each day to God to direct our paths. To show us what is right in His sight.

Are you doing this?

Please think about it.

A question for you to answer

  A question for you to answer

Jesus was asked,

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" 

Jesus replied: " ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' 

This is the first and greatest commandment. 

And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.'  

All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matthew 22:36-40.

Jesus here is echoing Deuteronomy. A portion of scripture repeated twice daily by faithful Jews. It reads

"Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  

These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts.  

Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up."  Deuteronomy 6:5-7.

It signifies total commitment to God and ones duty to follow all of Gods commands.

Thus my question to you. If you claim to be a true follower of Christ Jesus. A true believer in God; Are you truly serving God with your heart, soul and strength?

Please think about it.

Something to strive for

  Something to strive for

The book of Revelations records 

“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.  

I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.  

I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.  

Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. 

I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.  

Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.  

He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. Revelations 3:7-13.

Here we have the second of two churches mentioned in Revelations that no sin is found in. Jesus states,

“I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”

This church is said to have had little strength yet it kept true to Christ. They did not deny the name of Christ.

This is how we should be today. 

Yes I know all around us are temptations that try to pull us away from God. I’m sire it was the same for the church at Philadelphia.  Yet they stayed true to Christ.

 The church of Philadelphia had little strength yet it kept faithful. It set the example for all believers everywhere that with even though we have little strength we can overcome the temptations around us. 

If we do overcome these temptations we will receive a reward. Jesus states,

“Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it.”

To become a pillar in the temple implies a place of stability and strength a place of prominence in the service of God.

This is something we all as Christians should strive for.

Please think about it. 

The Lord is

  The Lord is

The psalmist writes,

"I love you, O LORD, my strength. 

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; 

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. 

He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, 

my stronghold." 

                                Psalm 18:1,2.

I write these blogs primarily to believers. Thus I would ask the question of those believers who are reading this is The Lord truly;

your Strength,

your Rock,

your Fortress,

your Deliverer,

your Shield,

your Salvation,

your Stronghold,

Or are the things of this world more important?

Please think about it. 

Our

  Our

The Psalmist writes,

“I love you, O LORD, my strength. 

The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; 

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. 

He is my shield and the horn of my salvation,

 my stronghold.”

                    Psalm 18:1,2.

The way I see it as Christians. As believers in Christ Jesus we need to put God first in our lives. We should without doubting make God...

                    our strength

                                                             our rock

                                                             our fortress

                                                             our deliverer

                                                     our shield

                                                             our stronghold

                                                             our Salvation

                                                             The One we take refuge in.

Question; if you consider yourself a Christian, a follower of Christ Jesus is God truly all of the above mentioned things to you?

Please think about it.

My Strength and Salvation

  My Strength and Salvation

The Psalmist writes,

“The LORD is my strength and my song; 

He has become my salvation.” 

                                                     Psalm 118:14.

Question is God your strength? Is God your salvation?

Today is Sunday a good day to meditate on your relationship to God. Why not take some time today to pray, study, and meditate on the scriptures? 

Take time to as someone once said to me “review” your relationship with God. Ask yourself do you truly trust God daily? Pray and ask God to show you how you can draw closer to Him.

Please think about it.

Is He?

 Is He?

The Psalmist wrote,

“God is our refuge and strength, 

an ever-present help in trouble” 

                                                     Psalm 46:1.

Is God the first person you go to in times of trouble? Think carefully about it. When you come up against adversity what is your first instinct? 

In first Chronicles we read,

“Look to the Lord and his strength; 

seek his face always.”

                                      1 Chronicles 16:11.

As believers in God. As believers in Christ Jesus we should be looking to God not only when we are in trouble, but at all times.

In proverbs we read,

"Trust in the LORD with all your heart 

and lean not on your own understanding; 

in all your ways acknowledge him, 

and he will make your paths straight."

                                                            Proverbs 3:5,6.

So I ask you; is God your refuge and strength?

Please think about it.

Where is your trust?

  Where is your trust?

The Psalmist writes,

"God is our refuge and strength, 

an ever-present help in trouble" 

                                             Psalm 46:1.

When you get in trouble, when you are having problems in your life, where does your strength come from? Does it come from God or the things of this world?

Matthews gospel records this interaction between Jesus and a young man,

"Now a man came up to Jesus and asked, "Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" "Why do you ask me about what is good?" Jesus replied. "There is only One who is good. If you want to enter life, obey the commandments." 

"Which ones?" the man inquired. Jesus replied, " ‘Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not give false testimony,  honour your father and mother,' and ‘love your neighbour as yourself.''" 

"All these I have kept," the young man said. "What do I still lack?" 

Jesus answered, "If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." 

When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth." Matthew 19:16-22.

Now there’s nothing wrong with having great wealth. The problem comes when we put our trust in that wealth ahead of God. 

The apostle Paul wrote,

"For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs." 1 Timothy 6:10.

Notice here the apostle Paul here says “for the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil.”

Money in and of itself is neither good nor bad. Its what we do with it and how much value we place on it in our life that can cause problems.

Our trust must always be in the Lord God Almighty. Nothing should come before Him.

So where is your trust?

Please think about it.

Facing Battles

 Facing Battles

         In the book of 1Chronicles we read,

“Look to the Lord and his strength; 

seek his face always.”

                                                  1 Chronicles 16:11

Throughout our lives we all face battles both physical and spiritual but through it all we need to look to the Lord.

It’s easy in times of trouble to say “why me” and to complain about the trouble we are in. Leaving God out of the situation. This should not be so.

We need to make God such an integral part of our lives that when we suddenly find ourselves in trouble it is to Him that we turn.

We need to be able to say as the Psalmist writes,

"I lift up my eyes to the hills

where does my help come from? 

My help comes from the LORD, 

the Maker of heaven and earth." 

                                                       Psalm 121:1,2.

So where does your help come from?

The Faithful Church

The Faithful Church
In the book of Revelations we see Jesus speaking to the church in Philadelphia saying.
“To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: 
These are the words of him who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open.  
I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.  
I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.  
Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth. 
I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.  
Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.  
He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Revelations 3:7-13
Here we have what scholars call the faithful church. Jesus says to this church,
“I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.” Revelations 3:8
Jesus tells this church
“I will make those who are of the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews though they are not, but are liars—I will make them come and fall down at your feet and acknowledge that I have loved you.” Revelations 3:9.
Jesus tells them,
“Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.” Revelations 3:10 
He tells them the reward for their faithfulness. Saying
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.  
Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.”  Revelations 3:11,12.
The message of Jesus here to faithful believers is,
1. That those who oppose them will one day fall at the feet of the faithful believer and acknowledge that Christ has loved them.
2. That the true believer will be kept from the hour of trial that is going to come upon the world.
3. That the true believer will become a pillar in the temple of God. The strongest part of the temple.
4. That they will never leave it.
5. That Jesus will write on the faithful believer, the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name.
The question is are you such a believer?
Many in the Christian world would like to think that they are like the church at Philadelphia but in reality they are not.
The key however here is to know that we can be like the church of Philadelphia. In order to do so we must put Christ first in everything we do.
Jesus acknowledged that the Philadelphia church had little strength yet they remained faithful. Thus if they can do it. We can also.
Please think about it.