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I’m sharing this here with you from my time of personal devotions with my Lord Jesus Christ, for your encouragement. Sue Love
I Give You Thanks, O Lord
Psalms 138:1-3 ESV
We should be the same no matter who we are with or who we are around. We should not fear anyone, but we should be bold in our witness for Jesus Christ. Now, this doesn’t mean we become insensitive and brash, but it just means we are people of integrity who do not change like shifting shadows depending upon whose presence we are in. So, we will not cease to praise the Lord even if we are before kings and powerful people.
Also, giving God thanks and praising him is not just something we do verbally but then not with our lives, with our actions. If our praise is lip service only, it is not genuine praise. The same with our worship, it can’t just be singing songs of worship of God but we need to be worshipers of God by yielding our lives over to the Lord as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him, which is our acceptable worship of God.
For our thanks must be with our whole heart, with our whole being. And our worship of God involves us bowing down in worship of him, which involves humility and submission to him as Lord (owner-master). And this engages our attitudes, our behaviors, and our words, as well as it must be done in truth and in righteousness with no fakery, no pretense. And our worship involves our obedience to our Lord in doing what he says to do.
And if our worship of God is genuine, we need to be thankful for every aspect of God’s divine character and will. And this means we will be thankful for his sovereignty over our lives even if that means that God will permit evil people to do evil things to us. This doesn’t mean we can’t pray for deliverance from certain circumstances, but it does mean that we will submit to God’s will and purpose and we will rely on his strength to endure.
In the Midst of Trouble
Psalms 138:7-8 ESV
Our troubles will vary depending on our circumstances, where we live, our ages, our cultures, our governments, and our own walks of faith in the Lord Jesus. The closer we get in our walks of faith the more we will face persecution and have other people opposing us and fighting against us. And the degree of that persecution is certainly dependent largely on the law of the land and the general attitude of the culture toward Christianity.
In America, where I live, Christianity is generally acceptable as long as one stays within the parameters of the acceptance of the general populace. In other words, as long as your Christianity remains private, and as long as you don’t try to share your faith with other people, and as long as you blend in with your culture in living not much different from everyone else, you will be acceptable to the general populace for you are not offending anyone.
But if you are serving the Lord Jesus with wholehearted devotion, and you are bowing before him in humility and in submission to his will and purpose for your life, and if you are walking in obedience to his commands in going wherever he sends you and in saying whatever he commands you to say, you are going to have enemies because Jesus had enemies and he said we would be hated and persecuted as he was hated and persecuted.
Especially in today’s Christian culture in America if you walk closely with the Lord and if you are verbal about your faith, you are going to be considered an odd ball. If you take the word of God seriously, and if you are putting into practice daily what the Word teaches, you will be considered odd even among others who profess faith in Christ Jesus. And especially if you are calling others to repentance and obedient faith in the Lord, this will happen.
And if the Lord is fulfilling his purpose for you by leading you in the way that he wants you to go, and by empowering you to do the work of the Lord, and even if that calling is biblical, but the Christian culture around you is more worldly, then you are going to meet with some resistance even from others who profess faith in Jesus Christ. And others who profess faith in Jesus may not want to be around you for you are just too strange for them.
Yet, the Lord will preserve your life. But, again, this doesn’t mean that bad things won’t happen to you or that evil people will not treat you badly or that you won’t be killed for your faith in Christ. It just means that the Lord is going to give you all that you need to endure and to persevere and to keep on in your walks of faith and to continue to serve him with wholehearted devotion despite what your enemies are doing against you. Amen!
[Matt 5:10-16; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Matt 28:18-20; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Rom 5:3-5; Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; 2 Co 1:3-11; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Phil 3:7-11; Col 3:16; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; Heb 3:13; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 2:9; 1 Pet 4:12-17]
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
I Give You Thanks, O Lord
Psalms 138:1-3 ESV
“I give you thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart;
before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.”
before the gods I sing your praise;
I bow down toward your holy temple
and give thanks to your name for your steadfast love and your faithfulness,
for you have exalted above all things
your name and your word.
On the day I called, you answered me;
my strength of soul you increased.”
We should be the same no matter who we are with or who we are around. We should not fear anyone, but we should be bold in our witness for Jesus Christ. Now, this doesn’t mean we become insensitive and brash, but it just means we are people of integrity who do not change like shifting shadows depending upon whose presence we are in. So, we will not cease to praise the Lord even if we are before kings and powerful people.
Also, giving God thanks and praising him is not just something we do verbally but then not with our lives, with our actions. If our praise is lip service only, it is not genuine praise. The same with our worship, it can’t just be singing songs of worship of God but we need to be worshipers of God by yielding our lives over to the Lord as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to him, which is our acceptable worship of God.
For our thanks must be with our whole heart, with our whole being. And our worship of God involves us bowing down in worship of him, which involves humility and submission to him as Lord (owner-master). And this engages our attitudes, our behaviors, and our words, as well as it must be done in truth and in righteousness with no fakery, no pretense. And our worship involves our obedience to our Lord in doing what he says to do.
And if our worship of God is genuine, we need to be thankful for every aspect of God’s divine character and will. And this means we will be thankful for his sovereignty over our lives even if that means that God will permit evil people to do evil things to us. This doesn’t mean we can’t pray for deliverance from certain circumstances, but it does mean that we will submit to God’s will and purpose and we will rely on his strength to endure.
In the Midst of Trouble
Psalms 138:7-8 ESV
“Though I walk in the midst of trouble,
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your right hand delivers me.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.”
you preserve my life;
you stretch out your hand against the wrath of my enemies,
and your right hand delivers me.
The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me;
your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.
Do not forsake the work of your hands.”
Our troubles will vary depending on our circumstances, where we live, our ages, our cultures, our governments, and our own walks of faith in the Lord Jesus. The closer we get in our walks of faith the more we will face persecution and have other people opposing us and fighting against us. And the degree of that persecution is certainly dependent largely on the law of the land and the general attitude of the culture toward Christianity.
In America, where I live, Christianity is generally acceptable as long as one stays within the parameters of the acceptance of the general populace. In other words, as long as your Christianity remains private, and as long as you don’t try to share your faith with other people, and as long as you blend in with your culture in living not much different from everyone else, you will be acceptable to the general populace for you are not offending anyone.
But if you are serving the Lord Jesus with wholehearted devotion, and you are bowing before him in humility and in submission to his will and purpose for your life, and if you are walking in obedience to his commands in going wherever he sends you and in saying whatever he commands you to say, you are going to have enemies because Jesus had enemies and he said we would be hated and persecuted as he was hated and persecuted.
Especially in today’s Christian culture in America if you walk closely with the Lord and if you are verbal about your faith, you are going to be considered an odd ball. If you take the word of God seriously, and if you are putting into practice daily what the Word teaches, you will be considered odd even among others who profess faith in Christ Jesus. And especially if you are calling others to repentance and obedient faith in the Lord, this will happen.
And if the Lord is fulfilling his purpose for you by leading you in the way that he wants you to go, and by empowering you to do the work of the Lord, and even if that calling is biblical, but the Christian culture around you is more worldly, then you are going to meet with some resistance even from others who profess faith in Jesus Christ. And others who profess faith in Jesus may not want to be around you for you are just too strange for them.
Yet, the Lord will preserve your life. But, again, this doesn’t mean that bad things won’t happen to you or that evil people will not treat you badly or that you won’t be killed for your faith in Christ. It just means that the Lord is going to give you all that you need to endure and to persevere and to keep on in your walks of faith and to continue to serve him with wholehearted devotion despite what your enemies are doing against you. Amen!
[Matt 5:10-16; Matt 10:16-25; Matt 24:9-14; Matt 28:18-20; Lu 6:22-23; Lu 21:12-19; John 15:1-21; Acts 1:8; Acts 26:18; Rom 5:3-5; Rom 12:1-8; 1 Co 12:1-31; 2 Co 1:3-11; Eph 4:1-16; Eph 5:17-27; Phil 3:7-11; Col 3:16; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; Heb 3:13; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 2:9; 1 Pet 4:12-17]
For Our Nation
An Original Work / September 11, 2012
Bombs are bursting. Night is falling.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Trust Him with your life today.
Make Him your Lord and your Savior.
Turn from your sin. Follow Jesus.
He will forgive you of your sin;
Cleanse your heart, made new within.
Men betraying: Our trust fraying.
On our knees to God we’re praying,
Seeking God to give us answers
That are only found in Him.
God is sovereign over all things.
Nothing from His mind escaping.
He has all things under His command,
And will work all for good.
Jesus Christ is gently calling
You to follow Him in all ways.
Men deceiving: we’re believing
In our Lord, and interceding
For our nation and its people
To obey their God today.
He is our hope for our future.
For our wounds He offers suture.
He is all we need for this life.
Trust Him with your life today.
