Isaiah 51:11 So the ransomed of the Lord will return, and come with joyful shouting to Zion; and everlasting joy will be on their heads. They will obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing will flee away. Do you think of the Bible as an old history book? It might surprise you to know parts of the Bible haven’t happened yet. This is one of those future passages. When Jesus returns in the sky, just like He left (Acts…
I Timothy 2:4 (God) who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. God desires all humans to be preserved from danger, injury, and peril. He wants to keep us safe and sound, and restore us to health. That’s what saving means. He wants everyone to enjoy Him and His is protective care. He wants to deliver us from His final judgment. Some people doubt there is a real judgment day. Jesus talked…
Proverbs 3:5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. Have you ever been brought to a place or circumstance that you were at a loss to know what to do or say? As if you were up against a brick wall and you were stuck in forward gear? Everything in you screams, “There is no way out! We’re going down!” Stop. Remember you are not alone. The One who promised to…
I Corinthians 16:13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. This scripture has so many rich words in it, yet it appears so short and simple. Here Paul tells us to be alert. That means, “to watch, give strict attention to, be cautious, active, take heed lest some destructive calamity may suddenly overtake one because of remission and idleness.” Stand firm carries the connotation of perseverance and persistence. We are to keep on…
II Chronicles 7:14 “ . . . and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray, and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” God promises His people deliverance if they will do four things. (1) We must humble ourselves. That means to bring ourselves into subjection to Him. To stop trying to do things our own way. (2)…
Romans 6:14 For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law, but under grace. If we are in Christ, then we are new creatures. We have new gate-keepers. We no longer obey Satan’s demands. We have new life and new abilities. We have power to resist Satan’s temptations. We have a new Master—Jesus. Our old master, sin, has been rendered a fatal blow. In order to please God, we need to yield to His grace….
Matthew 9:6 (Jesus said) “But in order that you may know that the son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic—“Rise, take up your bed, and go home.” The religious leaders of the day scoffed at Jesus when he told a paralytic his sins were forgiven. Jesus knew their unspoken evil thoughts against Him. He asked those leaders which was easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or to say, “Get up and…
Psalm 118:6 The Lord is for me; I will not fear; what can man do to me? The enemy, the liar and father of lies (John 8:44), the accuser of the brethren (Revelation 12:10), uses fear as a tool against us. He whispers a lie or a half-truth in our ear and then waits as a patient fisherman for us to seize on that bait. He cranks us closer by adding a few “what if’s” or a couple of “if…
Isaiah 40:29 He gives strength to the weary, and to him who lacks might He increases power. A little farther on in this chapter, God gives the key to how to obtain this strength and power from God in verse 31. That verse says we are to wait for the Lord. That waiting is not a finger-drumming, toe-tapping, hurry-up-God, kind of wait. This is a looking for, a hoping in, and expecting God to act on our behalf. There are…
Deuteronomy 33:27 (Moses said) “The eternal God is a dwelling place, and underneath are the everlasting arms, and He drove out the enemy from before you, and said, ‘Destroy!’” There is no safer place on earth than in God Almighty. No expertly-designed shelter can keep us safe apart from God’s eternal arms. There is no strength greater than His. Those who are hostile to God and His ways are in danger of destruction at His hand. The residents of Canaan,…