a glimpse of heaven's love

  Following and Obeying God Psalm 23:6a "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life..." The Psalmist is able to say this because of the confidence he holds in his Savior!  The whole psalm, for that matter speaks loudly and boldly of his confidence.  Why do you suppose this is true?  ...because the Lord is his Shepherd!  What a precious, precious truth that is! "Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life" ...that is to say, I know God's goodness and mercy shall follow me because I follow and obey God.  We can have that same confidence simply because we follow and obey God. This reminds me of a number of my posts, but one in particular is called, "The Abundant Life."  If you'll pardon me, I'd like to quote most of that post. J ohn 10:10   "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Sa...

Psalm 23:3b "...He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake." In just the verse previous it says, "He leadeth me beside the still waters."  Well, again, God is leading us...but in this case He leads us in the paths of righteousness.  What does that mean?  Well, first of all, I believe I've heard it said on more than one occasion, "A good definition for 'righteousness' is Right with God-ness ."  In other words, righteousness is a right standing before God . We cannot have a right standing before God without having confessed to God that we are a sinner, and in need of Christ's  finished work on the cross.  That is really a whole new subject...but it is, in fact, where it all begins.  If you do not know Christ as your personal Saviour, please reference "salvation" in my postings.  There are many, many references that will be a help to you.  This posting is primarily for Christians, and the remind...

Psalm 23:2b "...he leadeth me beside the still waters." At first glance, this sounds very similar to the previous posting, "He maketh me to lie down in green pastures."   They both sound very restful, very comforting.   But let's look at it a little different way today.   We hear throughout Scripture the realization that "His way is perfect" (Ps. 18:30); "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord" (Is. 55:8).   His ways are far beyond our ways, but that's not to stop us from obeying Him.   He says in James 1:22, we're to be "doers of the word, and not hearers only."   I could go on, but you get the point.   Put simply, as the Good Shepherd, He leads us; and as His sheep, we are to follow. The second point I want to make (and I've spoken on this subject many times), but it's the fact that we--even as Christians--tend to just want to go our own way.   We a...

This is a photo of Niagara Falls copied from Bing Images online.  It speaks volumes of God's wondrous glory and power!  God's power--that is what I want to talk about today.  Here are some wonderful verses regarding just that: Zec. 4:6  "Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit , saith the Lord of hosts." 2 Sam. 22:40  "For Thou hast girded me with strength to battle: them that rose up against me hast Thou subdued under me." Dan. 11:32  "And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong , and do exploits." 2 Tim. 1:7  "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power , and of love , and of a sound mind ." __________________________________________ These are all excellent verses.  Meditate upon them for a little bit, if you would…and notice ...

"But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed."  James 1:14  What is it that motivates you? What is your deepest desire? What is your own way? Tragically, it has been my experience, that many Christians today are more prone to just go their own way, with no thought of what God desires of them.  Those are not the target of my blog today.  More than likely, unless the Holy Spirit is at least beginning to change their heart, they will not have a desire to read on.  And chances are, they are not truly saved anyway.  A real Christian isn't just playing church, but has the Holy Spirit of God living within them, guiding and convicting them to do right.  They are not my target audience.  You, however, that are not being drawn by temptation, but by God's grace,  desire to change -- YOU are my target audience! As I said, if you are truly saved, the Holy Spirit of God lives within you, guid...

 " For all this they sinned still and believed not"  Psalm 78 This is a scary but unfortunate story of God's wrath against the disbelieving and disobedient. What is really scary and unfortunate is the fact that so many Christians today act just like the Israelites spoken of in this psalm.  Many of us are like that.  The bottom line:  we want our own way; it's SELF that is on the throne, not God, like He so deserves. I.  The Ridiculousness of such a State              A.  God Delivered Them              B.  God Led Them                        i.  by a cloud by day                       ii.  by fire by night ...