Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.  For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations.
Ps. 100:4-5

^“...Those who are righteous will be long remembered. They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the LORD to care for them. They are confident and fearless and can face their foes triumphantly.   Ps. 112:6-8 (NLT)

Careful reading of this Psalm reminds us that even the righteous hear bad news... BUT we don’t have to fear it for our God is in control!  We know that the Lord will“care for” us whatever the news! He will be with us through thick and thin!

Donna Gill submitted this verse and this testimony of God’s faithfulness in our lives...

I "found" this verse last year when my youngest daughter was having health problems. It was believed by a specialist at Baylor that she had MS. She was sent for 5 MRI's and we had to wait quite a while for the tests to be screened.

She was experiencing many of the symptoms of MS and I was trying to prepare myself for the worst. This verse I discovered stated, "He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord"Ps. 112:7. I repeated this verse over and over each day while waiting for the diagnosis.

Praise God, she did not have MS, but I did trust God with the outcome, whether it was good news or bad news!I knew He was in control and would take care of her.

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  For My yoke is easy and My burden is light."  Matt. 11:28-30

Are you “weighted down” with the cares, struggles, troubles and trials that you are facing?  You are not ALONE!  Everywhere I go it seems people are weary and weighted down – even many of those who appear to be “happy go lucky”! 

How do we find the “peace that passes all understanding”(Phil. 4:7) or that peace in the midst of the storm? The answer to that is here in this verse submitted by Margret Jobe. 

If you REALLY want peace and rest, Jesus said “Come to Me...”!  Jesus, the Prince of Peace (Isa. 9:6) offers peace to ALL who will come to Him for forgiveness of sin! He offers “peace” to all of His children who will abide in Him!  He told His disciples, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you...” John 14:27

Will you slow down today so you can “learn of Him”?  Will you open your heart up to Him for comfort, direction, help, and security!  He is waiting!

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. Colossians 4:5-6

The biblical standards of right and wrong are labeled unfair, unkind and bigoted.  If you speak out against the moral rot of our culture it is seen as hate speech!  So how do we live in this wicked world that is determined to redefine marriage? That wants to change our dry county and put alcohol in our local restaurants and grocery stores? That wants to put a club a short distance from churches?

1) We need the “wisdom” of God to live out our faith in our community! We cannot let the slick talk of the world replace the “wisdom” of God revealed in His Word! 

2) We need to “redeem” the time! Time is short! We need to live for God NOW! If we compared life to a football game it would be to the last two minutes of the game! If life were a baseball game we would be in the 9th inning! It’s time to live wisely!

3) We must be a voice of reason to this world!  Silence is NOlonger an option! Filled with the wisdom of God and the Spirit of God we must let our “speech be with grace, seasoned with salt!

Overcoming Fear!

Worried Yet?
 

"Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?  Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?   Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?  So why do you worry about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin;  and yet I say to you that even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.  Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?  Therefore do not worry, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?'  For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.  But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. Matt. 6:25-33

It seems that the news just gets worse by the day. The President endorsed gay marriage this week. The stock market is down again. People in Tyler are gathering signatures on a petition to hold an election to sell alcohol in Tyler… oh yes, Chandler is facing the same type of election.  We have the possibility of a new club right here in our own community AND I haven’t even mentioned the poor, the lonely, the hurting, the jobless and hopeless all around us!  So what can we do?  We can worry OR “seek first the kingdom of God & His righteousness...”

"All the days of my appointed time will I wait."
Job 14:14

I love the book of Job. The conversation with “friends”, the pain and loss, the conversation from God. The restoration at last. It is a wonderful book to read for enjoyment and wisdom. Here Russell Lloyd has laid out some treasures from Job 14:14.

Submitted by Russell Lloyd:

 We are left here for the period of our appointed time for God's many reasons.

· One would be for our fellowship with Christ. To grow closer and more in tune with Him.

· Another is for the good of our fellow man, to lift them up and bring them to Christ and also to be a model for the aspiring Christian, and an example for non-Christians, as well.

· One more reason would be for God's glory.
This quote explains it all to me, and I hope it will for you, also; "If my lying in the dust would elevate my Lord by so much as an inch, let me still lie among the pots of earth. If to live on earth forever would make my Lord more glorious, it should be my heaven to be shut out of heaven."  quote from “Charles Spurgeon's Morning and Evening”, devotions.