God is GOOD!


Psalm 34

Taste and See That the LORD Is Good

A Psalm Of David, when he changed his behavior before Abimelech, so that he drove him out, and he went away.
1 I will bless the LORD at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.
2 My soul makes its boast in the LORD;
let the humble hear and be glad.
3 Oh, magnify the LORD with me,
and let us exalt his name together!

4 I sought the LORD, and he answered me
and delivered me from all my fears.
5 Those who look to him are radiant,
and their faces shall never be ashamed.
6 This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him
and saved him out of all his troubles.
7 The angel of the LORD encamps
around those who fear him, and delivers them.

8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good!
Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
9 Oh, fear the LORD, you his saints,
for those who fear him have no lack!
10 The young lions suffer want and hunger;
but those who seek the LORD lack no good thing.

11 Come, O children, listen to me;
I will teach you the fear of the LORD.
12 What man is there who desires life
and loves many days, that he may see good?
13 Keep your tongue from evil
and your lips from speaking deceit.
14 Turn away from evil and do good;
seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the LORD are toward the righteous
and his ears toward their cry.
16 The face of the LORD is against those who do evil,
to cut off the memory of them from the earth.
17 When the righteous cry for help, the LORD hears
and delivers them out of all their troubles.
18 The LORD is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous,
but the LORD delivers him out of them all.
20 He keeps all his bones;
not one of them is broken.
21 Affliction will slay the wicked,
and those who hate the righteous will be condemned.
22 The LORD redeems the life of his servants;
none of those who take refuge in him will be condemned.

How can we come to the Father?


John chapter 14 verse 6. ”Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life, no man cometh unto the father, but by me.’‘ This verse tells a lot in a little space. Truly, it tells about the way to be saved through Jesus and by belief in Him. It also tells about the way to come to the Father, God Himself, through Jesus in prayer. Because without faith in Jesus your prayers just don’t cut it. A sinner can pray and ask Jesus to forgive him of his sins and repent, turning from his ways to become a new person in Christ. But, your prayers don’t go very far if you are not a believer except of the one prayer which brings salvation into your life.

There is a hymn which has a line in it which goes like this, “O, come to the Father through Jesus the Son and give Him the glory, great things He has done”. We cannot truly come to the Father with our problems and our petitions unless we come through Jesus first. Life as a Christian is a walk with Jesus, did you know that? You can’t do one without the other. You can’t be a Christian without the Christ in your life. It is just that simple.

But, people do try to be things which they aren’t all of the time. Our so-called “politicians” have been practicing their lies for so long until they actually believe they are telling us the truth about the good that they are doing. But when you look at the state of the world today, you can see clearly that they haven’t been doing a very good job of what they say.

Jesus is the Son of God and therefore is our Savior but He is so much more than that! John says in chapter one that He is the Word made flesh. He is the I AM. He is the Creator and the Son, the second of the Trinity. He laid His divine life down to take up the flesh of humanity to live and be tempted and tried just as we are so that He could pay the penalty for our sinful nature. No other creature or person could do this except Jesus and He was destined for this from the very beginning of Creation. The only way for a sinner to approach God’s throne is by Jesus and through Him only. He had to pay the penalty for your sin, which was death, so that you and I can have eternal life through Him.

It sounds pretty harsh for God to put His Son through this but He knew that there was no other way for fallen man, to be justified and sanctified except through faith in Jesus and by His blood we are redeemed. The sins of mankind were placed upon Jesus so that He could endure the wrath of God in our place because without Jesus we would be destroyed as a consequence of His wrath. You cannot come to the Father except through the Son, Jesus.

We can quit some of our sinful ways on our own, sometimes, but that doesn’t bring us into a right relationship with God and we aren’t sanctified unless it is by the blood of Jesus which we have asked for when we seek Him as our Savior. When His blood is sprinkled over our sins, they are washed away. Yet, we can’t live our lives as if we can get washed this week and then go get dirty in sin again. If you are doing this, then your heart and your life hasn’t changed at all. Your “salvation” is just words and nothing more. Living as a sinner but claiming to know Jesus as your Savior is normal because we are all hypocrites. None of us is capable of living a sinless life, even after we have given our hearts to Jesus.

We can only come to the throne of grace by having Jesus as our covering and our Savior. Without Him, we are dust. As Isaiah wrote, “we are as filthy rags in God’s sight”. Our “righteousness” is nothing without Jesus and anything that we do in service to Him and for His Kingdom means nothing unless we have the Savior as our righteousness and not our own.

Run the race of life…


Jesus is our Rock!


Desire His mercy


Delight in the Lord!


God will supply your needs


Jesus came to give us Life!


What do you believe?


From Acts chapter 16 starting at verse 29:

29 Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

31 They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 Then Paul and Silas spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house. 33 At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds. And without delay, he and all his household were baptized. 34 Then he brought them into his home and set a meal before them. So he and all his household rejoiced that they had come to believe in God.

It is our belief in Jesus and what He did for us, all of us, that brings salvation to us. It has nothing to do with our gifts or our abilities or even the church that we may belong to. Your salvation and mine depend only on the work which Jesus did on the cross and by His resurrection from the grave! Anything which we attempt to add to His complete work for our salvation is covered in pride and it does nothing to elevate us in the eyes of God.

Believe in Jesus the Christ, the Son of God and you will be saved. Repent of your sinful life and its ways and follow Him until that day when you go to be with Him. Because He was raised from death to Life then we have the Hope of eternity as well through Him.

Amen

My God is able!


Have you ever doubted that He would do something, anything for you when you pray? If you did doubt Him or His ability to accomplish what you were asking Him for…why should He do it? Doubt is the seed which Satan sows in your mind toward God’s power so that when we are in need and we ask for God’s help, we still doubt if He will do the thing which we asked for. Do you understand what that looks and sounds like from God’s perspective? It goes something like this: “I know that you will supply all of my needs but…”; “I know that you said that you would heal me by His stripes but…”.

Do you see a pattern forming here? There is a “but” getting in the way and it is caused by your doubt towards God and His power. You really don’t believe that He will give you this or heal you of that or even provide for you in your time of need. You say it with your mouth and you may believe it with your head but it isn’t deep down in your soul belief! It isn’t unwavering belief which is shaken but not torn down by the winds of doubt and fear. God is able to do ALL things which we can ask or imagine, if it is His will for us and our ministry to give Him glory!

There is no power on Earth which can stop God from giving you that which will accomplish His work in you and through you but you have to believe in Him and in His ability to do what He said and that He will answer your prayer. Will it be the answer you want? Maybe, but if it isn’t then God may have something better planned for you, He just hasn’t showed it to you yet. God loves each of us and He is able to do all of the things which the Bible says that He can do, the promises and healings and the blessings. But, when you doubt Him you are telling Him that you don’t think or believe that He will do those things. Maybe not in words but God knows your thoughts and your heart so there is nothing hidden from Him.

Trust Him and believe that He can and will do the things which you ask IF it lines up with His purpose and His will for your life. Trust in God and His purposes for your life and put that faith to work for Him and through Him you will be blessed. Amen

Use the gifts given so that more will be added to your life.