May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace - Rom. 15:13

Great verse!  What isn't shown here or on my pillow is the end of that verse that says:

 

"...so that you may OVERFLOW with hope by

the power of the Holy Spirit."

 

Therefore, whatever fills us overflows from us.  Did you think no one noticed what you were cherishing in your heart?  Did I think no one knew there was a criticial spirit within me?  Matt. 12:34 says: "..for the mouth speaks what the heart is full of."  So what is filling you today?  Are there fears, doubts, resentments, jealousies, disappointments?  Or gossip, texts, Facebook?  Or is it the GOD OF HOPE who promises you only His good and wonderful plans?  We do have a choice.

 

Here are a few promises the God of Hope offers you:

 

"...those who seek the Lord lack no good thing." Psalm 34:10

"...he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things." Psalm 107:9

"I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness." Jer. 31:3

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." Matt. 5:6

"...and my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus." Phil. 4:19

 

Hope is impossible to find in anything other than the One True God.  He is the only One who promises to provide everything we need.  If anyone else says that, they are not telling the truth.  Like the ship in the night who can put down their anchor and trust in its ability to hold them secure, so the God of Hope is our security.  Whatever the circumstances that may come our way, His indwelling Spirit is enough, His grace is sufficient.

 

Our 4th Grade Sunday School lesson this past Sunday reminded me we used to carry around rabbits' feet?  Do you remember?  Somehow we thought that would protect us from the ills of life...not true.  But the God of Hope...you better believe He will comfort us and protect us in ALL things.

 

What is filling you today?  And what is pouring out of you?

 

For further study: Psalm 62:5,  Proverbs 27:19, Isaiah 49:23,  1 Cor. 13:7,  Ephesians 5:15-20,  Phil. 4:8, Colossians 1:27,  1 Thes. 4:13, 1 Tim. 6:17-19, Hebrews 6:18-19.

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly 

 

 

 

 











God's plans for you are good and full of HOPE - Jer. 29:11

 

The prophet Jeremiah was desperate for his people, who were in exile, to believe the Lord Almighty rather than the wicked false teachers who were deceiving them.  The LORD spoke to Jeremiah to reassure him that the plans He had for them were good...however, they were going to have to wait for them and not take "quick fixes" that might be tempting to take.   Today, not only is waiting hard to do but we are encouraged to seek after some pretty dangerous things.  We long for things we don't have; we're not grateful for what we do have and we envy the person who does have them!  Maybe that's just me...

 

The LORD Almighty tells us His plans will prosper us - they won't harm - and they will give us HOPE and a future.   Why do we settle for the cheap and worthless?   I am in a women's study on the book of RESOLUTION FOR WOMEN by Priscilla Shirer.  In it she says that the things we long for greatly affect the people around us.  If the things we long for are plans that we have made up - not the plans of the Lord - just think about how that affects our families.  If we are believing that what we want is what we are entitled to, we are believing a lie.  The world will tell us to fight hard for what you want; the Bible tells us to ask God for wisdom (Jas. 1:5).  The world will tell you society is changing and we must change along with it; the Bible tells us "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" and "my words will never pass away" (Matt. 24:35).  The world will tell you your body is your own; the Bible will tell you "your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit...you were bought at a price" (1 Cor. 6:19-20).   Just think about how our decisions affect those you love.

 

I learned a long time ago if my plans come from my flesh, they are not worth pursuing.  Now His plans...that's a different story.  I resolve to spend the rest of my life seeking those. How about you?

 

For further study: 1 Sam. 2:1-3, 2 Sam. 22:31, Psalm 33:10-11, Psalm 119:68, Luke 1:37,  Romans 8:28,  1 Cor. 2:9,  1 Tim. 4:4,  Hebrews 11:39-40.

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word (which endures forever!!).

 

Love,

Holly



Commit your way to the Lord... - Psalm 37:5

"Commit your way to the Lord;

trust in him and he will do this:

He will make your righteous reward

shine like the dawn, your

vindication like the noonday sun."

 

Our psalmist, David, was encouraging those under him to do the right thing and they would be blessed.  The wicked would not in the long run prosper.  However, he often wrote about how much he was suffering for doing the right thing, so he wasn't always as confident as these words would indicate.  He had seen the miraculous work of the Lord and his faith was strong.  We must be just as faithful today.

 

Matthew West has a song out entitled "Do Something".  These are his words:

 

I woke up this morning, saw a world full of trouble...

thought how'd we ever get so far down?

How's it ever gonna turn around?

So I turned my eyes to heaven, I thought:

"God, why don't you do something?"...

He said, "I did, I created you."

 

The trouble is, we have all this other stuff going on.  We're all about our kids or our jobs or our exercise and not enough about "committing our way" to Him and His plan.  Do you remember doing Henry Blackaby's EXPERIENCING GOD and his premise that "God is at work and we need to join Him there"?  How would our fears for this world change if we truly believed He was at work and that we were his hands and feet on earth?   Read Psalm 37 and be encouraged by the number of positive statements David makes to those who do the righteous thing.  Let us be all about letting Him do the leading.

 

For further study:  Joshua 24:15, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 6:8, Jer. 29:11,  Matthew 9:37-38, Romans 12:3-8, 1 Cor. 12:4-7, Eph. 2:8-10,  Eph. 6:7, Phil. 1:3-6, Col. 3:23, Hebrews 6:10

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly



The Lord is My Shepherd - Ps. 23:1

This is one of my favorite verses - in fact I wrote on it just this past July - and it is frequently made up in my pillows.  As the New Year begins, I am trying to be honest with myself about who I listen to, who I yield to and who I honor with my behavior and habits.  Don spoke last night in our Wednesday Bible study on the Eph. 5 passage on women submitting to their husbands.  I had to say to myself..."do you show him that you are joyful about your yielding to him?".  In other words, who is my leader...who do I follow...do they see a stubborn or cheerful heart?

Our society as a whole today tends to not want to be led...the role of President, CEO, Director is much harder because we tend to want to be independent...we can be our own bosses, we think our opinions are smarter than our boss.  The truth is we are not much different than those adorable (and stubborn) sheep...we need to be led.  David, the shepherd, knew that and that knowledge, I'm sure, came in handy when he became the King.

Phillip Keller says our view of our Lord is "too small"...

"..too cramped-too provincial-too human.  And

because it is we feel unwilling to allow Him to have

authority or control - much less outright ownership

of our lives."

 

 

Christ's power can't rest on us (2 Cor. 12:9) without His having ownership of us.  His redeeming work in our lives has entitled Him to be our Lord and we - who have been bought at a price - ought to be grateful and follow wherever He leads.  I am in need of my Savior and He is most worthy of my praise and my thanks.  Who will you follow today?

 

For further study:  Psalm 25:5, 100:3, Isaiah 40:11, 53:6, Jer. 31:10, Matt. 9:36 John 10:1-18,  1 Pet. 2:23-25, 1 Peter 5:4

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly

 



Taste and see that the Lord is good - Ps. 34:8

Happy New Year, friends!  I hope and pray your holidays were sweet and meaningful.  Unfortunately, for many of us, some things were done excessively...this won't be my most popular blog...within our home or others!  Our psalmist, David, wrote this psalm during a time of great anguish...he was writing while being pursued by Saul.  Often, during our times of anguish, turmoil or busyness, excesses crop up.  Commonly referred to as "one of the seven deadly sins", gluttony is often associated with eating or drinking too much, but the truth is it could be the "overindulgence and overconsumption of anything to the point of waste".  I think of some of my cravings...what does my refrigerator hold?  Or my closets?  Or our garage?  I believe there is a lot of waste there.

A popular Facebook post lately has been an article written by Jason Todd called "The Socially Acceptable Sin".  He says gluttony is the "soul's addiction to excess.  It occurs when taste overrules hunger, when want outweighs need."  Yikes, he's really getting to the heart of America today.  He says:

"...the desire for "more" is not inherently bad, but it is often

misdirected.  What we need is a relentless appetite for the divine.

We need a holy ravennousness...There is only one infinite source

of satisfaction that can satisfy our bottomless cravings.  A taste

of His supreme grace is enough to lure an appetite long held

prisoner to lesser portions."

 

I have started Nancy Leigh DeMoss's THE QUIET PLACE for this year's devotional book.  This was her question to me today:  "If you had to boil down the greatest desire and longing for your heart to just "one thing", how would you summarize it?" (Ps. 27:4)  What does your checkbook show is a priority?  What does your calendar show?

 

I have written our verse for today on the chalkboard in our kitchen.  I want to be reminded that the things I crave, the things I taste, need to reflect my love for the Lord.. not my love for myself or my belly.  This is a good time for us to reinvest in good habits...Godly habits.  I, for one, want to be able to recognize gluttonous behavior and turn away from it.  Want to join me?

 

For further study:  Deu. 4:29, Deu. 6:5,  1 Chron. 28:9, Prov. 23:1-3, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Cor. 6:19-20, 1 Cor. 10:31, Gal. 5:24, Phil. 3:18-19, 1 Peter 2:1-3.

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

Love,

Holly