Psalm 100 A Prayer of Thanksgiving

Psalm 100 is a prayer of Thanksgiving.  In this short 5 verse Psalm we are instructed to come to the Lord in a spirit of praise and thanksgiving.  We are to shout to the Lord and come to Him joyfully in song.  I love singing with fellow believers during church worship.  I love the traditional hymns and I love the praise and worship music in contemporary services.  When I am alone I sometimes come to God in song; on the bike trail in Layton or on my swing in Orefield.  I have so very much to be grateful for.  God is my creator and my shepherd.  I serve Him with gladness, joy, praise, singing, and thanksgiving.  

Today I particularly come to Him in thanksgiving for my children, grandchildren, and nieces and nephews.  A baby boy, Preston, was born to Richard’s nephew Christian on September 26^th in Colorado.  And yesterday was Christa’s due date.  Our fourth grandson is just about ready to come into the world.  I am gratefully in prayer for Christa and her second little son, baby boy Kachline.

The Psalm closes saying that the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endures to all generations.  I want to pass on my faith and the knowledge of God’s goodness, mercy, and truth to my children, and to their children, and to the generations after that.  We will enter His gates with thanksgiving and bless His holy name.    

1 John 4:19 He First Loved Us

I believe what I read in 1 John 4:19.  God knew me before I knew Him and God loved me first.  As an infant, God used loving parents to pour love into my life.  I was cared for and cherished.  Not every baby is that fortunate.  It is easy to feel love when one is loved.  In verses 15 and 16 we are told that God is Love and all who proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God live in love.  We live in God, and God lives in us.  Believing in and experiencing God’s love, a gift of the Spirit, causes my own love to grow more perfect.  We are commanded to love God and our neighbors.  My neighbor is anyone God places in my life as I walk my physical life and my faith journey.

I felt God’s love as a child.  One can come to experience His love during any stage in life, young or old.  He wants each of us, whosoever, to meet Him, receive Him, trust Him, and love Him.  He loved us first.  He will grow His love in us and let it flow through us. God wants us to pass His love on to others.      

1 Corinthians 13 Love, the Greatest Gift

God is Love and we are to love.  In John 13:34 Jesus told the disciples that He was giving them a new commandment instructing them to love one another.  Jesus said, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”  As a believer, I am instructed to love others. 

I want you to look at 1 Corinthians 13.  As you read it, I am sure you will recognize the words.  I do not remember if it was read at my wedding but I have read it a few times during my nieces, nephews, and God children’s marriage ceremonies.  The first time I read it out loud was at my Nursing School graduation in 1963.  I was the Valedictorian of my class and we were at Hanson Place Methodist Church in Brooklyn.  This chapter in 1 Corinthians is special to my heart. 

Richard and I celebrated our 49^th Wedding Anniversary yesterday, September 25^th.  Growing in patience, kindness, and love has been a process and a commitment.  The love which we now have for each other has grown from the teenage love we felt for each other in high school to a deep dependent devoted love which we have for each other in the grandparent stage of our lives.  We are truly blessed!  In verse 13 God tells us that there are three things in a faithful life that will endure.  These things are faith, hope, and love but the greatest of these is love.       

John 3:16 God's Love For Us

This is one of the first Bible verses which I learned and memorized as a child.  It taught me that God loves the world, His world.  He loves me.  He loves each and every one of us and wants us to know and love Him.  He made a way to bring us to Him.  His plan of salvation is seen throughout the 66 books of the Bible.  He sent His only Son down from Heaven to be The Way back to Him.  The Prophets foretold the Messiah’s coming even though they did not fully understand what God was telling them to say.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are the One True God seen in the plural since the account of creation which is written in Genesis.   Jesus, The Son, came to earth to show us the character of God and to be a living Spirit Filled example for us.  He shows us how we are to live.  He was perfect.  We, as believers, can never be perfect. The Holy Spirit enables us and is constantly perfecting us by giving us as believers the fruits of the Spirit. 

The Holy Spirit has convicted my heart and I believe in God’s promise to me in John 3:16.  Because I believe in Christ, my promised redeemer, I know without a doubt that I will not perish, but have eternal life.  I will be in eternity with God, and family, and loved ones some day.   

John 3:16 is The New Testament message, the Gospel, and the Good News, stated in a one sentence Bible verse.  I will not stop reading it, repeating it, meditating on it, and sharing it. God loves me and  He loves you!

Philippians 1:6 God Will Complete It

The Holy Spirit has convicted my spirit.  I believe.  I have received.  I will continue to study.  I will continue to grow in my faith as God continues to grow my spirit.  His plan and His purpose will be accomplished in my life when I am open to His leading.  He directs my steps and my words.  I am His vessel.  He works in me and through me when I hear His leading and follow it with my steps, words, and actions.  He wants His children to be His eyes, ears, feet, hands, and mouth in the lives of others.  I fall short of His expectations when I don’t hear Him.  I cannot hear Him when I am not in the Word or I am too busy to spend quiet time with Him.  He speaks to me in His Word, in nature, in times of silence, in prayer, in family, in friends, and in those I love.

In Philippians 1:6, He tells me that I am to be “confidant that He, who has started a good work in me will carry it out to completion until the day of Jesus Christ”.  He will keep working in my life and growing my spirit until Christ comes back to earth or until He takes me back to Him in eternity when my earthly life is over. 

This promise gives me encouragement.  I know that He will always keep working in the lives and hearts of those He has convicted.  He hears my prayers and He will continue to work in the life of everyone I love and pray for.  I can sow His seeds but the work is His.  I want my family and friends to know the Lord and grow in His Spirit.  To God alone be the glory!   

Philippians 4:19 My Needs Are Supplied

I trust in God and His Word and I believe in His promises.  Philippians 4: 19 promises me that He will “supply all of my needs according to His riches in Glory, in Christ Jesus”.  Believing in the last part of that verse, in Christ Jesus, is key to my asking and having my needs supplied.  It is conditional.  I must believe that God IS.  Hebrews 11:6 tells me that “it is impossible to please God without faith, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him”. 

I come to Him in faith.  I also come to Him asking for my needs, not my wants, to be met.  I believe that He knows what I need even before I ask.  He has taught me not to pray selfish prayers.  I want my prayers to line up with God’s thoughts and plans for my life and for the lives of the people I pray for.  When I receive His supply and experience His answers to my prayers my faith grows even greater than it was before.  Remembering what He has done causes me to live in anticipation of what He will do today and in my future.  I am grateful to God for His favor and His blessings in my life.  He supplies all of my needs according to His riches in glory.  I live in an attitude of gratitude and thanksgiving.  

Philippians 4:7 The Peace of God

The Bible consists of 66 individual books.  There are 39 books in the Old Testament and 27 Books in the New Testament.  The book of Philippians is one of my favorites.  In it I see the character of God in Christ.  He tells us to be thankful, joyful, content, and peaceful as we walk our journey with Him.  He gives me an internal joy and peace even when the circumstances of my external life are anything but peaceful.  This peace which God speaks about, and I experience, can only come from God.  God’s peace is supernatural.  It cannot be humanly explained or understood.  Philippians 4:7 says that the peace of God transcends or “passes all understanding”.  This peace “will guard our hearts and minds as we live in Christ Jesus”.  God has promised that He, the “God of peace” will be with me when I put into practice what I learn in His Word.       

Romans 10:17 Growing My Faith

Faith is a gift.  I have received God’s gift of faith.  In the Gospels Jesus tells the Disciples that even if they had faith as small as a mustard seed they could “move mountains” (Matthew 17:20).  God tells us that nothing is impossible with faith.  I want my little faith to grow into big faith.  Romans 10:17 tells me how to grow my faith.  It says that faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.  My faith increases as I listen to and read God’s Word. 

When I was young in age and young in my Christian walk, I had baby faith.  The more I read the Word, believed His promises, trusted God, and obeyed what I was learning, the more my faith grew.  Every time I stepped out in faith, boldly, I saw God working in my life.  My faith increased as I read and learned His Word.

My faith is now a mature faith which will continue to grow as I stay in the Word of God.

Ephesians 2: 8 and 9 Faith is a Gift

I can remember where I was and who read Ephesians 2:8 in a Sunday morning church service.  It was like a light went on in my understanding.  I am sure I had read or heard this bible verse before but this time I knew what it meant.  I knew where my faith had come from; my faith was a gift to me from God.  I believed and had received my gift of faith before this moment but now I heard God explaining His gift to me.

As I continue reading in Ephesians 2:9, God tells me that my faith is not about anything which I have done, only about what He has done for me.  I cannot boast about my works or my actions.  It is God alone, by His Grace that I am saved.  I thank the Lord continuously for His gift of Faith.  It is an awesome gift.  I believe His Word, I have received His gift and I want to pass it on.  His gift of Faith is available to everyone who seeks and receives.

Psalm 32: 8 and 18 The Lord Watches Over Me and Guides Me

In Psalm 32: 8, God tells me that He will direct me along the best path for my life.  I spend time with Him and talk to Him so that I will hear His directions. 

If I am traveling to a destination for the first time, I will need a map, a GPS, or someone to tell me how to get there.  Last week I drove to visit my daughter, Christa, in her new home.  I am not a person who has a built in homing pigeon instinct.  I needed all the help I could get.  Richie told me the directions, printed a Google map, and set up a GPS on the car’s dashboard.  I did it!  I was very proud of my accomplishment.

If I need directions between two Pennsylvania towns why would I think I could go through life aimlessly?  God is my GPS and the Bible is my guidebook.  God has used many people in my life to keep me from getting lost.  I lift up prayers of Thanksgiving for His faithfulness, for my parents, for sisters, children, family, and so many friends.  I am especially grateful to Him for Richie.  We will be celebrating our 49^th anniversary on September 25, 2013.  I am so glad that He has allowed us to walk our paths together.

In addition to our anniversary, it is Christa and Kris’ 7^th anniversary today, September 16, 2013.  May they travel a long happy path, directed by The Lord and His Word.  Richie and I send them our love and all of our best wishes for God’s Blessings and Favor in their lives today and always.  A huge second Blessing is expected at the end of the month.  Harrison will be meeting his baby brother.  We are all very excited and are in prayer for mommy and baby, and for daddy and brother too, of course.

Psalm 32:18 promises me that He watches over all who fear Him; all who rely on His unfailing love.  Our God is a Holy God.  He is to be praised and respected.  I trust Him, love Him, and rely on him to watch over me and my family.  

Proverbs 3: 5 and 6 Trust in The Lord

Today’s Bible Verse, Proverbs 3: 5 and 6, has always been one of my favorites.  In my spiritual walk, over many years, I have trusted and continue to trust the Lord with increasing certainty.  Faith begets more faith and trust begets more trust.  I step out in faith.  I come believing.  He honors my faith.  I see Him working in my life.  I want to be obedient.  He honors my obedience when I honor Him.  I seek His presence and His direction in every situation in my life; large and small.  He speaks to my spirit with His presence and His peace. 

I love The Lord with all of my heart, mind, and soul.  I trust Him with all of my heart.  In this verse He also tells us that we should not lean on our own understanding.  There are so many things that we cannot humanly understand.  This is where believing in God and in His Word become my anchor.  I will trust even though I don’t understand.  God’s ways are not our ways.  I spend time in His Word and talk to Him in prayer so I can seek His will in all I do.  He promises to direct my path and I believe His promises.

Note:  As you see, I do not write the words of the Bible verse; I only tell you where it is found.  I want each of you to go to your Bible and read the verse for yourself.  God, through His Holy Spirit, will quicken it to your own heart.  His Word never returns void.          

Jeremiah 29:11 God's Plans

In this, my new blog, my intent is to share one bible verse in each posting.  It is my hope that my readers will pick up a bible and read the verse.  I pray that God will bring the verse alive in each reader’s life.  I want His light to shine through His words, illuminating each of our paths.  In Jeremiah 29:11, God says that we will find Him when we look for Him.  He knows us already and He knows the plans which He has for each of our lives.  When I sought God and earnestly looked for Him, I found Him.  Seek and we will find!  God listens when we come to Him in prayer.  In this scripture He tells me, and He tells you, that He has plans for our lives.  They are plans for good and not for disaster.  They are plans to give us a future and a hope.  I believe that God hears my prayers.  The light of His word gives me hope and I live in anticipation of his plan for my future and for the future of my loved ones because I believe Him, I believe His word, and I believe His promises.          

Philippians 2:13 and Philippians 4;13 God's Strength

Philippians 2:13 tells me that God is always working in me to give me the desire to obey Him.  I am a spiritual work in progress.  Since I accepted Christ as my Savior I have never been alone.  He is working in me to give me the desire, the power, and the strength, to do what pleases Him.  He began a good work in me and He will continue His work “until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus comes back again” (Philippians 1:6).  He gives me the hope and strength to believe and do his will.  I am walking the walk, He knows the path.  I know that “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”.  He tells me this in Philippians 4:13.  He has proven this in my life over and over again.   

Colossians 1:9 and 10 Spiritual Wisdom

In reading Colossians 1:9 and 10, I see God instructing me to continue praying for myself and others.   I read that He wants me to ask Him for Spiritual wisdom.  I want him to personalize the message to me and give me wisdom in all areas of my life.  This wisdom shows me how to live in a way which is pleasing to Him.  He also instructs me to continually do good kind things for others.  When I follow His instructions I learn to know Him better and better and come into a more intimate relationship with Him; my God, my Savior, and my Friend.   

Seeking God's Presence and Power

I want to grow into a deeper understanding of who God is in my life.  I have met Him and received Him as my Savior.  I believe that He will never leave me nor forsake me, therefore I am never alone.  I believe that the Bible is the Word of God.  It is God’s instruction book and His love letter to each of us.  In it I learn about God’s character, God’s promises, and God’s will for my life.  He tells me about His unconditional love in Bible Stories such as the Story of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15.  He loves me.  He loves you.  He wants us to come into a closer relationship with Him. 

God never changes.  He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.  The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, our Triune God, is the Creator.  We see this in Genesis and throughout the Psalms.  I have heard many sermons and have read books about God but the only way I can discern truth is by reading the words in the Bible for myself.  God speaks to me personally through His Word.  He has, is, and will continue to reveal Himself, talk to my heart, and grow my spirit and my understanding as I come to Him in prayer and Bible study.  Ultimately, it is not how much scripture I know; it is the truths which I believe and how I live my life in God’s presence and power in the sight of others.