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“I call to the Lord who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies.”

2 Samuel 22:4

The Value of Things

What do we think of when we consider the worth of an item? If it is a tool, my husband used to recall how often he used it. If it is his fishing tackle, he could tell the number and the size of the fish he caught. We sometimes judge our need on how much we make use of an item.

This summer, we made some purchases and oversaw some projects that have been beneficial to us. One of the good results of our one project is a sitting…  ( Click for more )

A Light for the World

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned. For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. “ (Isaiah 9:2,6 NIV)

The world was full of sin. People chose to go their own way, the kings chose to do what they felt was right to them. They erected altars and shrines to pagan gods.

…  ( Click for more )

“I call to the Lord who is worthy of praise,

and I am saved from my enemies.”

2 Samuel 22:4 (NIV)

The Value of Things

What do we think of when we consider the worth of an item? If it is was a tool, my husband used to recall how often he used it. If it is his fishing tackle, he could tell the number and the size of the fish he caught. We sometimes judge the worth of something on how much we make use of that item.

This summer, we made some purchases and oversaw some projects that have been beneficial to us. One of the good results…  ( Click for more )

When we are born, we are someone’s daughter or son. As we grow, we have playmates. We also may have cousins and /or siblings. I have heard it said that our cousins are our first friends. In school, we have friends—kids we meet in our classes. Some of these friendships may last a lifetime.

When we mature and venture out on our own, we meet new people, co-workers, and neighbors. When we attend church, we usually find friends who may become closer to us than family. If we marry, we have a spouse and relatives from our…  ( Click for more )

“To obey is better than sacrifice.”

1 Samuel 15:22 (NIV)

When my husband and I made plans to go down to visit our son. I requested to go to the bird sanctuary near the town where he lives. Our son took me over there. On the way, we passed a little church that had this message on its signboard.

“The fear of the Lord is shown by obedience.”

The message on that church’s sign made me think. How do we, as God’s children, obey Him? The Guidepost Family…  ( Click for more )

“Forgive as the Lord has forgiven you.

(Colossians 3:13b NIV.)”

From time to time, we have issues that interfere with our relations with other people. We hear in church that we are to love one another. (John 13:34, NIV) We often just let that circumstance keep us from having a relationship with those who have hurt us.

We have times when this scenario causes those involved to permanently part company. God wants us all to get along. When we cannot see our way to extend forgiveness to that other person, or maybe we are the…  ( Click for more )

“The Lord bless you

and keep you;

the Lord make his face to shine upon you;

and be gracious to you/

the Lord turn his face upon you

and give you peace.”

Numbers 6:24-26 (NIV)

As I sat on my porch, enjoying the cool breeze and the warm sunshine, my heart thought of two people who are now with Jesus.

Last Friday, our church had a memorial service for a man who brought us all closer to God when he prayed for us. A few hours before the service, a phone call went out that a woman, one of our members for whom we had prayed for…  ( Click for more )

“But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen.

Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans,

for they think they will be heard because of their many words.”

Matthew 6:6-7 (NIV)

Jesus told the disciples, “When you pray. . . .” He expects us to pray in order to seek guidance from God.

“Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary…  ( Click for more )

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.” Hebrews 5:7 (NIV)

Often, we have issues that plague us. They seem to get the best of us and keep us down. We find ourselves frustrated. I hear people say, “I give it to the LORD, but then, I take it back again.” Several years ago, I read that when we give a circumstance to God and that issue keeps coming back on us, we need to say each time, “I…  ( Click for more )

Suffering

“I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.” Philippians 3:10-11 (NIV)

I had a relative who had walked away from the LORD. During this spell, she developed some health issues and spoke of suffering, as one would speak of an enemy. She did not like going through it. I understood what she meant. No human likes pain. Then I heard the Apostle Paul’s thoughts he shared with believers at Philippi.

I often wonder what Paul meant.…  ( Click for more )

In our worship service recently, our pastor included a lengthy passage of scripture that ended with the following words; “Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.” (Psalm 107:31, NIV)

The next morning, I looked that passage up in my Bible. I realized I had studied it a few years before. Here is what I discovered then.

The writer of this chapter repeats the text of this verse four times, as if it were a chorus to a hymn. In the chapter, the writer speaks of…  ( Click for more )

“Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.”

Proverbs 19:21 (NIV)

“Did you recognize that one scripture pastor used in his sermon.” My friend asked me after the service.

I had to stop and think. “Which one do you mean?”

She looked pensive. “The one about man’s plans.” I remembered.

The next day, a blogging friend wrote about the release of her e-book six weeks later. She spoke of procrastination…  ( Click for more )

“All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin[a] for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (NIV)

…  ( Click for more )

In these times of turbulence, unrest, and upheaval, we need an anchor to hold our feet on the ground. Each day seems to bring more and more senseless behavior, in my country and worldwide.

Jesus tells us to come to Him and he will give us rest. (Matthew 11:28, NIV) He invites us to share with Him the burdens of our hearts. (Matthew 29-30, NIV)

I attend two small prayer groups that meet each week. The requests of late have been for the unrest of our nation and of the world. We also have concerns about the church leaning toward a cultural Christianity…  ( Click for more )

We celebrated our nation’s freedom earlier this month. We hear scriptures talking about the freedom we have in Christ. The newspaper in our state capital has the scripture, “Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” written as part of its masthead.

The leaders of our nation remind us that freedom not free. Ask any family that has lost a member who gave his/her life for the cause of maintaining or establishing freedom for our or another nation.

We have freedom in Christ because God planned for His Son…  ( Click for more )

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 (NIV)

What is Praise?

Several years ago, I heard a radio evangelist and his wife ask their two sons to explain praise, as they understood it. One of them said it was giving God a compliment. I liked that response. However, I now know it is more than that.

Praise is Thanking God

Near the beginning of our worship services at church,…  ( Click for more )

“a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away.”

Ecclesiastes 3:6 (NIV)

I find this verse haunting, at least the first section. There are times we lose something precious to us; we search for it until we have looked everywhere. Then we stop, realizing we cannot find it. However, somehow, a while later, we spot it just out of reach from one of the places we looked.

However, when we hear of a plane going down, we hear of a search team rescuing those who have survived. Yet, after a given time, that team’s objective…  ( Click for more )

“a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build.” Ecclesiastes 3:3 (NIV)

I believe the first part of this verse belongs to God’s activity. It is His job to decide whether He heals a person or takes that person home to be with Him. I just noticed in this section of the verse what we think is a negative action is mentioned first.

In the second half, the negative again comes first. Yes, there is a time to tear down. Right across the street from our home sits a Community Garden spot. In March of 2014, the house that stood there…  ( Click for more )

Time

“There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV)

Throughout our lives, we have waged a contest between time and ourselves. We know there are 24 hours in a day, usually 31 days in a month—except April, June, September, and November, each of these have 30; and that renegade we call February which has either 28 or 29.

Back in high school, I had a teacher who used the phrase ‘time—wasters’ to describe some of us students. We heard people…  ( Click for more )

In my recent reading, I ran across an article that said we in the USA and Europe have abandoned Biblical Christianity for Cultural Christianity. I forwarded the article to some friends. At church, the next Sunday, one of them stopped me to tell me she got a lot out of the article. I took the time to copy/paste the statement about our world engaging in ‘cultural Christianity’ into another e-mail to emphasize how much I agreed with that thought.

This set me to thinking, “What is Biblical Christianity?” We have God’s Word…  ( Click for more )

“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 (NIV)

A recent sermon reminded me of the fact that we are never alone. Jesus is always with us. One of the churches I was a part of several years ago had an anniversary celebration while I attended there. The closing hymn of that service was selected because the congregation sang it to…  ( Click for more )

In the story of Jesus’ birth we see God’s emissaries carry the Gospel message to earth. God relies on them to:

● announce to Mary her role in His plan to send His son into this world.

●explain to Joseph what had happened and the carpenter’s part in this wonderful story.

● tell the shepherds of the birth of Jesus and invite them to go worship the newborn king.

At the age of 30, Jesus approaches his cousin, John, and requests to be baptized. As He comes up out of the water, the Holy Spirit-in the form of a dove lands…  ( Click for more )

“I have set the LORD always before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore, my heart is glad, and my glory rejoiceth: my flesh also shall rest in hope.” Psalm 16:9 (KJV)

Old Testament

“In the Old Testament hope is expressed by several different words meaning ‘safety, security, trust,”1

Hope hōp/Submit noun 1.a feeling of expectation and desire for a certain thing to happen.

"he looked through her belongings in the hope of coming across some information"

Synonyms: …  ( Click for more )

“I know the plans I have for you.” Declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)

Who has not had plans for a vacation or even a long weekend that went awry? We all have had that happen.

Plans in My Life

When I was in my late teens and my early adult years, I had plans fail several times. Those intentions either fell through beforehand or came to completion and left me ‘down.’ Because of this I got to the place where I really could not look forward to…  ( Click for more )