Shalom, welcome to June 30^th


><//>--------------------Thought for the Day

Sinners are unable or unwilling to live in the present. The result is that they live in a constant state of remorse and fear because of their unholy past and its morbid attractions, or the uncertain future and its vague forebodings. So the only real hope for the believer and sinner alike is to face the present. Now is the time. Now is ours. The past is beyond recall. The future is as uncertain as life itself. Only the now belongs to us.

Am I living in the now?


><//>--------------------Meditation for the Day

Understand Them

Take joy wherever you go. You have been much blessed. You are being much blessed. 

   Such stores of blessing are awaiting you in the months and years that lie ahead. Pass every blessing on.

   Love can and does go round the world, passed on the God-currents from one to the other.

   Shed a little sunshine in the heart of one, that one is cheered to pass it on, and so My vitalizing joy-giving message goes.

   Be transmitters these days. Love and Laugh. Cheer all. Love all.

   Always seek to understand others and you cannot fail to love them.

   See Me in the dull, the uninteresting, the sinful, the critical, the miserable.

   See Me in the laughter of children and the sweetness of old age, in the courage of youth and the patience of man and womanhood.


><//>--------------------Prayer for the Day

Father, we pray that we may not carry the burden of the past. We pray that we may cast it off and press on in faith. Amen.


A Disciple's Reflections: Moses, Moses!

When the LORD saw that he had turned aside to see, God called to him out of the bush, "Moses, Moses!" And he said, "Here I am." Then he said, "Come no closer! Remove the sandals from your feet, for the place on which you are standing is holy ground." He said further, "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob." And Moses hid his face, for he was afraid to look at God. Then the LORD said, "I have observed the misery of my people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings, and I have come down to deliver them from the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land to a good and broad land, a land flowing with milk and honey, to the country of the Canaanites, the Hittites, the Amorites, the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Exodus 3:4-8

Beloved, for those of us who desire a closer walk with the Lord in our lives let us take a look at the attitude that it would be good for us to adopt.  Together, let us witness what the Bible reveals concerning Moses' mountain-top experience again.

The initial reaction of Moses to God's appearance was fear. That isn't unusual.

Many people can recall a time in their lives when their primary feeling connected to God was fear. There's a reason why the phrase "fear of God" was coined – and that's not all bad. Yet, for those same people, their fear of God was usually all mixed up in the other fears that were part of their lives – fear of their parents, fear of failure, fear of looking bad in the eyes of their neighbors.

A healthy understanding of the "fear of the Lord" is a sense of reverence and respect, and an attitude of submission. An unhealthy understanding is to be afraid of God in the same way a child is afraid of the dark or an adult is afraid of being mugged while walking down a street at night. We should know that our God is Holy and means what He says, therefore we should be afraid not to do as He commands. This too is a very healthy fear all too lacking in today’s comfortable believers. This fear is not of danger but rather one born of wisdom.

In my own experience, I know that continued willful sin causes a block and reduces our potential relationship with God. It can cause us to suffer error and demonic interference.  I fear this happening, and this is another way that the fear of God, especially His word, helps us to get right with Him in our lives.  So many believers I have known have no fear of this at all and go their merry way without any clue to the effect of this attitude on their witness or their very lives.

My experience has been that it is very difficult to teach people the difference between these healthy and unhealthy understandings. It is common today to say that "no one fears God anymore... everyone has a sort of simple minded "Jesus loves me mentality" toward God and that's about as far as it goes.  But I have never bought that for a single minute.

I think, deep down inside, lots of people are still afraid of God, especially those who don't live in a life giving relationship with God. They still mix that fear up with their fear of failure, their fear of what the neighbors will think – and there is also, for many people, a deep foreboding sense that God is out to get them.

Guess what, dear one? God IS out to get us!

Every human being is created for the purposes of God, and for His pleasure, precious one.

That is to say that God has a prior claim on our lives before anyone, or anything, else. Whether or not we buy that idea is irrelevant. "Our souls are restless until they find their rest in Thee.” What we experience as the fear of God is often the Spirit's way of inviting us to get back in touch, back in relationship, with our Creator.  There's is no depth from where we cannot return, there is no perversion that we cannot put away once and for all with His help and power in our lives.

God showed up to get Moses. He had a job for Moses to do, a job that revealed God's loving purpose for His people. He wanted Moses to help him set captive Israel free from their bondage. And in responding faithfully to that call, Moses would also be set free from his own bondage!

In the same way, Jesus showed up to get you and me, and all of God's people and draw them unto Himself that they, too, may we be set free. Jesus said that, when he was lifted up he would draw all people to himself. Jesus wants to get us too! Not to punish us, or scold us, or cast us aside, but to love us, to comfort us, to invite us to leave behind the chains which bind us.

We can be afraid of lots of things – pain, events outside our control, change, loss – but we need not be afraid of God in order that we may approach Him... praising Him... thanking Him... and loving Him.

Let us pray: Gracious God, Your presence in our lives makes every place we go Holy ground. As we come into Your presence now in this prayer, we pray that you transform us that we might trust that you are here, and that you are working in our lives. Rid us of self-defeating fears and instill in us a healthy reverence and respect toward You that we might be open to all You wish to show us today. In Jesus' name. Amen.


God Said It, So That’s It, Folks!

"He has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires." 
– 2 Peter 1:4

God's divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness (2 Peter 1:3). Yet we all struggle in life with things like envy, greed, lust, jealousy, covetousness, anger, unforgiveness, hatred and so on. Everyone has one or possible several areas of vulnerability. Vulnerability to evil desires. But God's promises are many and they are complete. They are so complete as to allow us to participate in God's divine nature and holiness; therefore hold close to God's promises and be equipped to escape any and all evil ways.

Webster's tells us that a promise is a pledge to do, bring about or provide. The word is full of God's "pledges" to you and I. He will never leave us nor forsake us. He will give us strength against temptation. He will provide comfort and peace in our time of need. He will give His grace, mercy and forgiveness to all who seek Him. The list of things that God wants to "bring about" in our lives is lengthy and they can be found throughout His word. Today, may we may BELIEVE in God's promises to us, and sing His praise! Then, surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives.

"Then they believed his promises and sang his praise."
– Psalm 106:12 


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Please have a blessed day, be hopeful, be encouraged, and know you are not alone.

“God Calling” compiled by A. J. Russell.
"Twenty-Four Hours A Day" Hazelton – adapted.
Kerry Nelson writes Moses, Moses!
Greg Candelaria writes God Said It, So That’s It!
Barry Gray writes A Disciple’s Reflections.