Lord Bless You

 

The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift his countenance upon you and give you peace. Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)

Words spoken by Moses to Aaron

The Lord bless you

The Lord God blesses us in so many ways.

* With His guidance

* With His love

* With His Word

* With friends

* With Spiritual gifts

*

and be gracious to you

The Lord sheds His grace on us in so many ways.

* By extending salvation to us

* By granting us rest

* By listening to our prayers

* By guiding us through hard times

* By giving us what we don’t deserve

and give you peace.

The Lord God gives each of us peace

* When we go through difficulties

* When we don’t know what to do

* When we have been deeply hurt

In our Lenten devotional readings for Sunday school, the author pointed out something that was new to me.

“The word peace in Hebrew is the word shalom. The word is vividly translated, “May all things be for you the way God always wanted them to be.” (1)

I like that meaning. In our world we see conditions that God doesn’t want for us. We must pray that God deal with these things each time they appear in our world.

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(1) Guided to the Cross by Ed Arle © 2024, Creative Communications, division of Bayard, Inc Fenton, MO.

The Gift of Peace (part 2)

 

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The Lord bless you and keep you;

The Lord make His face shine upon you,

And be gracious to you;

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,

And give you peace.

Numbers 6:24-26 (NKJV)

Words given by God to Moses. Moses was commissioned by God to speak these words to Aaron and his sons. This is one of my favorite verses. Let’s look at the various parts of it.

The Lord bless you and keep you

God chooses to bless us, His children, and to keep us safe because He loves us.

The Lord make His face shine upon you

When God looks down on us, His children, He desires to be delighted in what He sees going on in our lives.

The Lord lift up His countenance upon you

God watches what we do as we go through our days. Nothing we do or say gets by Him: He sees all and hears each word we utter.

And give you peace.

God gives each of us, His children, peace in our hearts. While we pray for peace for our world; He chooses to grant each of us peace in our hearts.

Pray About Everything

 

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I will say rejoice! Let your gentleness be known to all men. The Lord is at hand. Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Phil. 4:4-7 (NKJV)

Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say rejoice!

Each of us has something over which we can rejoice.

* Did you sleep well?

* Is the sun shining?

* Did you have a good breakfast?

* Is your house warm?

* Are your children/grandchildren safe from harm?

Let your gentleness be known to all men.

Gentleness is one of the fruit of the Spirit. When we can react to a circumstance gently, we show others that we belong to the Lord. Jesus was gentle when He spoke to the woman caught in adultery. He also spoke gently when he spoke to Mary and her sister Martha when their brother Lazarus had died.

The Lord is at hand.

God is near to each of His children. When we face harsh circumstances, all we have to do is ask Him to guide us through the problem. We can do this non-verbally, just by asking Him with our thoughts or through our hearts.

Be anxious for nothing,

Anxiety sometimes causes circumstances to appear more serious than they actually are.

Anxiety can also lead to serious health issues. A counselor once told me that, as humans, we sometimes have a tendency to own circumstances that are not ours. As Christians we have to decide whether the issue at hand actually belongs to us.

but in everything by prayer and supplication,

Paul tells us that we must pray about everything.

* Pray about your friends and their family circumstances.

* Pray about the issues of our nation and the nations of our world.

* Pray about your finances.

* Pray about your relationships.

* Pray about your neighborhood.

with thanksgiving,

We must thank Him for all we have, for the people in our lives. We should thank Him for the merchants in our towns and cities and those who work for them.

let your requests be made known to God;

We must remember to make those requests to God first. Sometimes, we must ask others to pray for unspoken requests. On social media, I have seen requests for prayer that said, “God knows why.”

and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding,

The peace of God is what we desire in dire situations. It is that peace that carries us through those tough times,

*When we initially deal with the loss of a loved one.

*When we go through personal illness. When we go through times of uneasiness, personal or national.

Some people go through times each day where they need the peace of God to get them through.

will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Jesus guards the hearts and minds of each of us. He stands at the door of our hearts and reminds us of His love for us and that He can stave off the attacks of the enemy that might cause us to doubt ourselves or allow us to become unduly upset over something that would cause harm to us, His children.

Witnessing God’s Love

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For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you.

Psalm 86:5 (ESV)

A Prayer of David

David’s prayer speaks of God’s goodness and His capacity to forgive His children when they transgress His Word and His direction.

When God hears us pray to Him, recognizing that we have sinned, He forgives us and chooses to forget. When God forgets those sins, He never brings them up to His children ever again.

For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving-David has received God’s forgiveness and truly believes that God has been good to him and has forgiven David for his sin.

abounding in steadfast love- David has witnessed God’s love many times over.

Likewise, God forgives us our sins, even those that we have forgotten. His love for us is as strong for us today as it was when we asked Him into our hearts.

Father God: We thank You for your undying, wonderful, love for each of us. We thank You for our salvation, so rich and free. In Jesus’ Name, I pray. AMEN

A Gift of God’s Grace

 

For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, and godly lives in this present age.

Titus 2:11-12 (NIV)

When we turn over our hearts and lives to Jesus, He gives us His Father’s grace to guide us through our lives. We receive salvation and so much more.

We receive the strength to stand against the worldly ungodliness that, from time to time, we have to face. Yes, as I read this scripture believers can say “No” to the worldly things.

The grace of God teaches us that we can manage in this world when we trust in the Holy Spirit to utilize self-control through Him and live lives pleasing to God before our neighbors and those we see where we do business.

I believe it is important that each follower of Jesus must strive to get closer to God and model our beliefs to those around us. However, I do not say this is easy to do. We have to rely on the Holy
Spirit to guide us through the roadblocks that life throws in our way.

Pledges

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 I gave this message at church this past Sunday.  I didn't realize that some of this information was new to some of the adults. 

Children’s Moments Message

September 25, 2022

I have been thinking about promises lately, sometimes we call them pledges. A pledge is a sincere promise we make. We make one to our nation’s flag, another one to the Bible, and one to the Christian flag.

In all three pledges, we promise to be loyal to each of these.

Pledge to the American flag

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which is stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

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Pledge to the Bible

I pledge allegiance to the Bible, God’s Holy Word. A lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. It’s words I will hide in my heart, that I might not sin against God. ⁽¹⁾

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Pledge to the Christian flag

I pledge allegiance to the Christian flag and to the Savior for whose Kingdom it stands, one Savior, crucified, risen again, and coming again with life and liberty to all who believe. ⁽²⁾

We have those items in our sanctuary here at Cross Roads. I discovered something I did not know about the Christian flag. I knew there is a cross in a blue section, and the rest of the flag is white. Here’s what I learned:

#The shade of red in the Cross reminds us of Jesus’ blood that He shed because He took our sins away.

#The blue reminds us of the water of baptism. It also reminds us of Jesus’ loyalty to God.

#The white reminds us of Jesus’ purity. He was without sin until He went to the Cross for us. ⁽³⁾

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^1.http://www.ccabrazil.org/uploads /4/3/5/9/4359809/christian_flag__bible_pledges.pdf

2. IBID.

3. http://en.wikiepedia.org/Christian _Flag#:-text=The Christian Flag was first to arrive for the event/

Show Humility to All Men

 

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Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men. Titus 3:1-2 (NKJV)

Paul’s words to Titus whom he describes as a “true son in our common faith.”

Paul lays groundwork here for believers to follow.

* To submit to rulers and authorities.

* To not speak badly about anyone.

* To live peaceful lives.

* To show humility to all we know.

Paul makes some very strong points, getting to the core of human relationships. He writes these words to a pastor who is young. Titus faces a huge task, that of establishing churches.

As we go through our days, we must follow these words of guidance from Paul. We are tasked to helping enlarge the kingdom of God, however, we must learn to daily practice gentleness.

This is a very difficult thing to do. Recently, I received a phone call from a friend who lives in my neighborhood. She wanted my advise on something. She told me her feelings on an issue and I told her that if she felt uncomfortable doing what she was asked, then maybe she should not do it. She had some good reasons about why she felt the way she did. I could have been more gentle about certain related issues she spoke of. I intend to be more careful in the future.

Do we always find ways to show humility to those around us?

We Must be Faithful

 

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This is a faithful saying:

For if we died with Him,

We shall also live with Him.

If we endure,

We shall also reign with Him.

If we deny Him,

He will deny us.

If we are faithless,

He remains faithful;

He cannot deny Himself.

2 Timothy 2:11-13 (NKJV)

Paul wrote these words to Timothy. This was his last letter he would write. Paul knew he would die.

Paul gives words of encouragement to Timothy to stay close to God. These words are especially important to followers of Christ today. We see people who followed Christ in their youth go their own ways and get tripped up by the enemy. We have at least two generations that seem to have denied Christ. We must endure for His sake. We must not deny Him. God is faithful; we must be faithful to Him.

Each of us must re-dedicate our lives to live for Jesus, to stand for what He has taught us.

He Rewards Faithfulness

 

But, without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe He is and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV)

When we go before the LORD, we must believe He is who He says He is. The writer of Hebrews tell us without our believing in Him we cannot please Him. When we go before His throne, there are certain things we must believe:

* He will listen to our pleas.

       If our hearts are in tune with Him.

* He will answer our requests.

      In the way that is best for us and His plan.

* He will reward us for our efforts.

      His rewards may be a lightness of heart.

      He may give us new insight into a concern or a problem.

However, we must concentrate on Him while we seek His guidance.

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.“ Matthew 6:6 (NKJV)

Sometimes, we can follow Matthew 6:6 when we are in a crowd. Other times we can do obey this scripture by physically removing ourselves from the circumstance that needs our prayer.

Being Faithful

 

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His Lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant: you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.” Matthew 25:21 (NKJV)

The disciples asked about the end times and the Rapture. Jesus told them several parables that relate to the end times and His return. One was about being faithful with what we have.

A wealthy man prepares to travel a great distance from home. He leaves three of his household servant in charge of some talents (money). After a lengthy absence, the wealthy man returns. Two of the servants had made the talents work for them, doubling the amount each was given. They were praised and rewarded for their efforts. Their master said they were faithful. The third servant did nothing with what he was given. The master took away the gifts and gave them to the other two servants.

Do we see many people being faithful to the LORD or even to each other in our world today? Are we as faithful to God as we were when we first gave our hearts to Him? This is something I have to deal with often.

We all want to hear God tell us that we were faithful over what He has given us.

Because of His Faithfulness

 

Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His mercies fail not. They are new every morning; Great is your faithfulness. Lamentations3:22-23 (NKJV)

Did you ever have ‘one of those days’ when nothing went the way you planned or wanted it to go? Because we are human, we all have them. Not sleeping at night, forgetting where you put something you need to function, needing to alter plans to accommodate someone else are just a few of the ones we could face in our days.

Because we belong to God, we can function in spite of the plans that go awry. He blesses us with the strength to continue with what we need to do.

My study Bible lists some advantages because of God’s faithfulness:

*We can have confidence when we pray.

*We can conquer evil and temptation.

*We can praise Him.

*We can have courage when we are afraid.⁽¹⁾

We all must rely on His faithfulness as we go through our lives. When we do we become stronger in our witness and testimony for God.

_____________________

(1.)Jeremiah Study Bible, Dr. © 2013 David Jeremiah Inc, Worthy, Hatchette Book Group NY, NY. Page 1045.

God’s Goodness

 

Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have laid up for those who fear You, which you have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence in the presence of the sons of men!

Psalm 31:19 (NKJV)

As children, we learned the table grace, “God is Great, God is good.” Somewhere in the process of growing up, we seem to forget how great God really is.

As we look around our world, we see people take for granted that God loves them and the many ways He provides for us.

When we pray, we need to begin with the words, “Thank You,” or even “Forgive us, Father,” We need to remember that all we have and all we are, we owe to Him and His graciousness.

We learn to trust God and His goodness as we go through the trials and hardships of life here on earth. I don’t need to elaborate on the many trials people to through to you who read this; I am certain that each of you have gone through trials of various sorts.

As I type this essay, I am trusting Him to guide my husband and myself through the day tomorrow as we go for his pro-operative tests for his surgery early in August. This time has been one of learning for me.

We all see things that remind us of God’s goodness to us, His children. In return, we must show His love to the world. We should always remember that He died for our sins Because of that act we will be able to spend eternity with God.

Everlasting Mercy

Sallman Collection

 

 

For the LORD is good; his mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.

Psalm 100:5 (NJKV)

 

These words come from a Psalm of Thanksgiving. I find comfort in them as I type them. I remember learning this Psalm in the fifth grade.

 

We sing choruses about God’s goodness to us. But do we really understand what we mean? God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are the only truly good persons we know of. They are without sin. God endows His children with His goodness so that they can display that goodness to those who need His love axpalnd kindness.

The goodness God showed to the Biblical heroes He can also show to us. What was truth in those times is still truth today. God never changes. We as a nation and a people need to get back to following God. 

We never realize how merciful God is until we know we have received mercy in a way that we cannot explain any other way. I experienced His mercy in this way several times lately.

God will see us through these difficult times.                             

       We must remember God's goodness to each of us. I trust you will enjoy this song.

Book Review: Kingdom Values by Tony Evans

 

Books a Million

 

Doctor Tony Evans has written a book that is needed for our time. He explores the words of Jesus He spoke in the Sermon on the mount. The Bible calls them the Beatitudes. Dr. Evans calls them Kingdom Values.

 

With each Kingdom value, God gives a blessing. As usual, Dr. Evans speaks to our hearts. He shows us that we can overcome the difficulties of life by modeling the Kingdom Values before those in our circle of friends, our neighbors, and those with whom we do business as well as to those with whom we worship.

 

I learned a lot from this book. One thing was that we can exhibit these values in our daily lives to those who may be trying to ‘try our patience.’

 

I would recommend this book to all those who are dealing with issues in their families, their neighborhoods, their work places, and their churches. I believe it would make a wonderful study for a group.

 

This book can be purchased at:

Books a Million: here

Christian book: here

 

I received a copy of this book for free from Bethany House, a division of Baker Books. All they asked of me was that I give an unbiased review.                      

 

 

 

 

 

                       

The Path to Peace By Ann Swindell

 

Amazon.com

 

Ann Swindell has written an excellent book about finding peace in our hearts. It is a combination of a devotional and a Bible study. I find the book lives up to it's tag line: Experiencing God's Comfort when you are overwhelmed.

 

She has chosen five heroes of the Bible, four individuals and the disciples, and explored how they found peace in their lives. She chose to include Sarah, Moses, Ruth, Hannah, Mary, the Disciples, Mary Magdalene, and Paul.

 

In each section, she examines what is going on as each person lives out their lives and how that person was able to find peace through Jesus Christ.Ann Swindell shares some of the times in her life that she needed to find peace to heal from deep hurts.

 

I like that she showed transparency and, in her writing, could say, “I have been there, I know what it is to be hurt by friends and life’s circumstances. And I was able to find peace through Christ.”

 

I am impressed with the make-up of her book.

Each day’s reading is short, but powerful. When she makes a valid point on the daily topic, she backs it up with a scripture reference.

 

This is an interactive book. At the end of each of the 40 daily readings, she asks a relevant question of her readers and includes space for the reader to record an answer.

 

I would recommend this book to any woman or group of women who feel overwhelmed by life’s stresses. This book would also be beneficial for Christian counselors to include in their libraries.

 

This book is available on: Amazon here and Christianbook and here..

 

I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group. All they asked of me was that I give an unbiased review.

  

Here I Am To Worship

 

            We sang this at church last Sunday. I  love the words. I thought you would as well.

Bearing with One Another

 

 

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering (patience), bearing with one another in love, endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

                                                                                                                Ephesians 4:1-3 (NKJV)

 

Words of Paul to the believers in Ephesus.

 

Paul tells us that they and subsequent believers should live humble and gentle lives. Believers are to be patient and should bear one another’s differences in love. While endeavoring to keep the unity of the Holy Spirit through the bond of peace.

 

There are times in our lives that we must realize that there are those prone to say or do things that do not represent godly thought, speech, or behavior. They may say they are Christians, but their behavior tells otherwise. It is possible that they might not realize what they are saying or doing is wrong in God’s eyes and does not represent Him.

 

According to what Paul tells us here, it is our duty to be patient,

12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; 13 bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. 14 But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection.

Colossians 3:12-14 (NKJV)

Peace with God

 

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Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand and rejoice in hope of the glory of God. Rom. 5:1-2 (NKJV)

 

The Apostle Paul tells the believers at Rome something very basic to Christian belief.

 

Simply put, we have access to peace with God through our relationship with Jesus Christ. There are others who state that there are other ways to establish our relationship with God. His Word tells us otherwise.

 It is through our relationship with Jesus that we come to know God. It is our faith in Jesus that allows us to learn of God. It is this relationship we have with the Son that allows us access to the Father.

 Jesus went to the cross, shed His blood, and rose and entered heaven so that we may someday go be with Him and His Father.

Access to God is a very special concept to those of us who try to live for Jesus. We use this access daily, sometimes more often as needed. Because we have this privilege, we can weather the storms that life puts us through. Those storms can enter our lives unannounced and very unexpectedly. But God is there with us as we travel through those times.

Peace through Jesus Christ

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These things I have spoken to you that in Me you will have peace. In the world you

Will have tribulation; but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.

John 16:33 (NKJV)

 

Jesus gives His disciples further guidance in this passage. He tells them that He has chosen to say these things for them to find peace in Him.

 

He cautions them that they will have tribulation. (And they did.) However, he tells them to “be of good cheer.” He then states. “I have overcome the world.”

 

In our present time, we face many harsh circumstances in our lives. COVID, personal illnesses, loss of family members, etc. When we look at what Jesus went through as He hung on that cross and the reason He consented to doing it. He did it for us to be deemed worthy to enter heaven.

 

What we experience during our time on this earth is nothing in comparison. The Apostle Paul called what we go through while we are on earth “momentary troubles”(2 Corinthians 4:17 NIV). He overcame the world for our sake. We have peace with God because of what Jesus did- He died in our place. As we live for Christ, we should always remember this.

His Peace

 

Sallman-Head of Christ

 

Peace, I leave with you, My peace I give you, not as the world gives you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. John 14:27 (NKJV)                                                                                          

Jesus tells His disciples that he leaves them peace, His peace, not like the world offers.

 

The world’s peace is fleeting. I have described worldly peace as two boys fighting on a school playground. One boy says one thing. A second boy has to say something harsher and louder. That is just the beginning of a fist fight complete with wrestling.  No one really wins in a playground fight.

 

Jesus’s peace is lasting. It is beyond comprehension from a world’s viewpoint. I have stated before that I view the world’s peace is one that lasts until someone throws the next rock. When Jesus returns to earth, we will have lasting peace. We will have no more “cold war”, no more invasions of smaller countries, no more internal issues that divide us.

Jesus tells the disciples and us not to be troubled or afraid. That is not always possible unless you have the Lord Jesus standing with you as you go through the circumstance life has presented you.

I had an experience recently that I believe has brought me peace about a condition in our neighborhood. The house right across the street from us was abandoned.last summer. The last occupants left the yard in  a mess. When our son was home for Thanksgiving, he noticed a window on the second floor was opened.  I had called downtown to the Environmental Court and found out they had sent a letter to the registered owner and gave her until September 21, 2020 to clean up the yard. This house is a brick two story home. There is only one other brick home on our street.  

Today, I heard a knock at our front door. There was a woman who asked me about that house. I have been praying for that house ever since the last occupants left. I couldn't tell the lady at my door what she wanted to know. All I could do was suggest she contact the courthouse and ask the questions she had. But I am thankful that God has been listening to my prayers.