Psalm 145:3-7

Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of Lords, all God and and all man, the Word of God made flesh….He alone has been given the redemptive right to save us and give us eternal life. In Him. through Him. in the unity of the Holy Spirit. the gift of god so that no man could boast! we are saved not by our power and might but by his.

Psalm 145:3-7

      You are fairer than the sons of men;

Grace is poured upon Your lips;

Therefore God has blessed You forever.

³ Gird Your sword upon Your thigh, O Mighty One,

With Your glory and Your majesty.

⁴ And in Your majesty ride prosperously because of truth, humility, and righteousness;

And Your right hand shall teach You awesome things.

⁵ Your arrows are sharp in the heart of the King’s enemies;

The peoples fall under You.

⁶ Your throne, O God, is forever and ever;

A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom.

⁷ You love righteousness and hate wickedness;

Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You

With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.

Anointing set aside a particular person for special service to God. In OT times, those who were anointed for special service foreshadowed the Anointed One, the meaning of Messiah and Christ. This is a portrait of heaven, with God as King and the church as His radiant bride.

The words Your throne indicate the messianic direction of the psalm. Here the King is addressed as God, yet it is “God, Your God” who anointed Him. Thus these verses describe the interaction of the Father and the Son, for both are called “God.” The writer of Hebrews used these verses to assert Jesus’ deity.

So all bore witness to Him, and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded out of His mouth. And they said, “Is this not Joseph’s son?” 

Luke 4:22

And He has made My mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of His hand He has hidden Me, And made Me a polished shaft; In His quiver He has hidden Me.” 

Isaiah 49:2

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. 

Hebrews 4:12

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called ^kWonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

Isaiah 9:6

To God our Savior, Who alone is wise, Be glory and majesty, Dominion and power, Both now and forever. Amen. 

Jude 25

But to the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. 

Hebrews 1:8

And I looked, and behold, a white horse. He who sat on it had a bow; and a crown was given to him, and he went out conquering and to conquer. 

Revelation 6:2

Ezekiel 21:24

God loves us too much to leave us the way He found us. There are consequences to our actions….repeated sin or old patterns of dealing with life causes residual havoc in our life. Ask forgiveness for past sins, yours and others, and leave them where they belong….in the past. History repeats itself until we recognize that the past had failed us miserably and we seek new ways {God’s way} to handle the ups and downs of life. Be set free in Christ!

The Judeans in their pride and false sense of security in the treaties (sworn oaths) would conclude that the king received a false divination. However, the verdict had been pronounced: Jerusalem would be taken. Nebuchadnezzar would be God’s instrument to punish the people’s rebellion.

Ezekiel 21:24

²⁴ “Therefore thus says the Lord God: ‘Because you have made your iniquity to be remembered, in that your transgressions are uncovered, so that in all your doings your sins appear—because you have come to remembrance, you shall be taken in hand.

that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded in the riches of their liberality. 

2 Corinthians 8:2

Surely, after my turning, I repented; And after I was instructed, I struck myself on the thigh; I was ashamed, yes, even humiliated, Because I bore the reproach of my youth.’ 

Jeremiah 31:19

“Behold, therefore, I beat My fists at the dishonest profit which you have made, and at the bloodshed which has been in your midst. 

Ezekiel 22:13

In your filthiness is lewdness. Because I have cleansed you, and you were not cleansed, You will not be cleansed of your filthiness anymore, Till I have caused My fury to rest upon you. 

Ezekiel 24:13

Psalm 150

Everything comes from God. The air that we breathe, the environment that surrounds us, the plants and animals that provide us sustenance, the people that share this world with us…..every thing comes from God and to Him alone belongs all honor and praise. Be thankful. Be humble. Know that life is His gift. Praise God.

Psalm 150, a psalm of praise, is a development of the Hebrew word hallelujah, meaning “Praise the Lord.”

The very breath that God gives us should be used to praise Him. As long as we live we should praise our Creator. By His breath God created all things, and by our breath we should adore Him.

Psalm 150

Let All Things Praise the Lord

¹ Praise  the Lord!

Praise God in His sanctuary;

Praise Him in His mighty firmament!

² Praise Him for His mighty acts;

Praise Him according to His excellent greatness!

³ Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet;

Praise Him with the lute and harp!

⁴ Praise Him with the timbrel and dance;

Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes!

⁵ Praise Him with loud cymbals;

Praise Him with clashing cymbals!

⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord!

Nehemiah 2:17-18

God is in the restoration business. He will take what we give to Him and restore it to His perfect will for our life. In the birth, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior is our abundant life to be found. Place everything you have mentally, physically and spiritually at the feet of God and He will use it for His glory and the glory of His Church!!! Nehemiah was used by God to encourage others to build up the House of the Lord. We are called to do the same.

Reconciliation is the restoration of friendly relation or the action of making one view or belief compatible with another. Bringing the Messiah of the Jews, Jesus Christ, to the Gentiles of the world.

Nehemiah, whose name means “The Lord Comforts,” was a highly placed statesman associated with Ezra in the work of reestablishing the people of Judah in the Promised Land. The month of Chislev corresponds to our November–December.

Nehemiah encouraged all of the people to assist in rebuilding the city’s walls emphasizing that it was not just his idea to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem. Rather, the idea had come to him from the Lord. In response to Nehemiah’s challenge, the people replied, Let us rise up and build.

Christ in the Scriptures

Like Jesus, Nehemiah gives up a high position in order to identify with the plight of his people. Like Jesus, he comes with a specific mission and accomplishes it. And like Jesus, Nehemiah’s life is punctuated by his prayerful dependence on God. His purpose is not just to get the Jews back to Jerusalem; his ultimate goal is restoration! The temple is rebuilt. The city walls are repaired. Jerusalem is reconstructed. The covenant is renewed. The people are reformed. According to the apostle Paul, Jesus came into our world for exactly the same reasons: reconciliation and renewal.

2 Corinthians 5:18 Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, 

2 Corinthians 5:19 that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. 

Nehemiah 2:17-18

¹⁷ Then I said to them, “You see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lies waste, and its gates are burned with fire. Come and let us build the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach.” ¹⁸ And I told them of the hand of my God which had been good upon me, and also of the king’s words that he had spoken to me.

So they said, “Let us rise up and build.” Then they set their hands to this good work.

Romans 7:13-20

Oh wicked men that we are….let the Love of God expressed in Jesus Christ change you precept by precept into the person you were created to be. There is no one righteous. no. not. one. If we hold God up in the cross of His salvation others will be drawn to His mercy and  love.

The problem is not the law; the problem is sin. Sin used the good law to produce evil, that is, death. But through the law, sin is shown for what it is, and its evil and tragic consequences are clearly revealed. Even though Paul was a Christian dedicated to serving God, he continued to fall short of God’s moral standards.

Being fleshly, sold over to sin, involves a conflict that mystifies Paul and other believers. Paul feels he does not understand himself. He finds himself defeated, not doing what he wants to do, and doing what he hates to do. The conflict indicates that there is battle between two identities in the believer. First there is something that acknowledges that the law … is good. Second there is something within, called sin, which produces evil. The problem is the flesh, the part of the believer in which there is nothing good. The will is the desire to do good. Yet the ability to perform is lacking.

²⁰ So Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” And he answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord: 

1 Kings 21:20

¹⁷ And they caused their sons and daughters to pass through the fire, practiced witchcraft and soothsaying, and sold themselves to do evil in the sight of the Lord, to provoke Him to anger. 

2 Kings 17:17

⁵ Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 

Genesis 6:5

²¹ And the Lord smelled a soothing aroma. Then the Lord said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. 

Genesis 8:21

¹⁷ For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. 

Galatians 5:17

¹⁹ For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. 

Romans 7:19

Romans 7:13-20

¹³ Has then what is good become death to me? Certainly not! But sin, that it might appear sin, was producing death in me through what is good, so that sin through the commandment might become exceedingly sinful. ¹⁴ For we know that the law is spiritual, but I am carnal, sold under sin. ¹⁵ For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. ¹⁶ If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. ¹⁷ But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. ¹⁸ For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. ¹⁹ For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. ²⁰ Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.

Micah 2:1-2

God protects those who cannot protect themselves….it is a bad thing to have your God as your enemy. All things are under His control and it is our duty to uphold equality and justice for all people.

The ethical teaching of the prophets regularly included oracles of judgment against greed, theft, and oppression, actions of the powerful in attacking the weak.

Deuteronomy 10:18 

He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. 

Deuteronomy 32:4

He is the Rock, His work is perfect; For all His ways are justice, A God of truth and without injustice; Righteous and upright is He. 

Deuteronomy 24:17

“You shall not pervert justice due the stranger or the fatherless, nor take a widow’s garment as a pledge. 

Micah 2:1-2

2  Woe to those who devise iniquity,

And work out evil on their beds!

At morning light they practice it,

Because it is in the power of their hand.

² They covet fields and take them by violence,

Also houses, and seize them.

So they oppress a man and his house,

A man and his inheritance.

Daniel 7:13-14

Come Lord Jesus, come back into this world to rule and show us God’s way of love and peace. you came because god so loved his creation and you so loved the father….you in god and we in you…. together all in all.

Son of Man is Semitic for “human being.” Daniel saw One like the “Son of Man,” indicating that He is not a man in the strict sense, but rather the perfect representation of humanity. Jewish and Christian expositors have identified this individual as the Messiah. Jesus Himself used this name to emphasize His humanity as the incarnate Son of God.In contrast to the vanishing nature of the previous empires, His dominion is … everlasting.

John 3:13 No one has ascended to heaven but He who came down from heaven, that is, the Son of Man who is in heaven. 

John 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, 

John 5:27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 

Matthew 24:30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. 

1 Corinthians 15:28 Now when all things are made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all. 

Revelation 19:16 And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS 

Revelation 1:7  Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. 

Daniel 7:13-14

¹³     “I was watching in the night visions,

And behold, One like the Son of Man,

Coming with the clouds of heaven!

He came to the Ancient of Days,

And they brought Him near before Him.

¹⁴ Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,

That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.

His dominion is an everlasting dominion,

Which shall not pass away,

And His kingdom the one

Which shall not be destroyed.

Matthew 2:12-15

If we listen closely to the small voice of the Holy Spirit He will guide us and direct us in the path that we should go!

Five dreams of divine guidance emphasize God’s orchestration of these perilous events.

Jesus is the genuine Son of God, and, as Israel’s Messiah, is the true Israel; therefore, He gives fuller meaning to the prophecy.

Then He opens the ears of men, And seals their instruction. 

Job 33:16

“God brings him out of Egypt; He has strength like a wild ox; He shall consume the nations, his enemies; He shall break their bones And pierce them with his arrows. 

Numbers 24:8

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son. 

Hosea 11:1

Matthew 2:12-15

¹² Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

¹³ Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”

¹⁴ When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, ¹⁵ and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

Jeremiah 43:1-4

When God tells you to go…GO…but if He tells you to stay…STAY! God knows the whole story of your life, from the beginning to the end. Listen closely to the Holy Spirit. 

Father. knows. best.

The people had already intended to go to Egypt to escape the perceived danger of Babylon. Azariah and Johanan spoke out against the counsel given by Jeremiah.

Jeremiah 43:1-4

43 Now it happened, when Jeremiah had stopped speaking to all the people all the words of the Lord their God, for which the Lord their God had sent him to them, all these words, ² that Azariah the son of Hoshaiah, Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the proud men spoke, saying to Jeremiah, “You speak falsely! The Lord our God has not sent you to say, ‘Do not go to Egypt to dwell there.’ ³ But Baruch the son of Neriah has set you against us, to deliver us into the hand of the Chaldeans, that they may put us to death or carry us away captive to Babylon.” ⁴ So Johanan the son of Kareah, all the captains of the forces, and all the people would not obey the voice of the Lord, to remain in the land of Judah. 

Luke 14:25-30

The Cost of Discipleship?……going forward and forgetting the past. God must come first in our life. period. end of sentence.

The essence of discipleship is giving Christ first place. To “hate” one’s family and even one’s life is rhetorical. It refers to desiring something less than something else. This instruction was especially appropriate in Jesus’ day, since a decision for Jesus could mean rejection by family and persecution even to the point of death. Those who feared family disapproval or persecution would not come to Jesus. A disciple must be ready to face and accept such rejection. 

Following Christ is not something to be taken up on a trial basis. It calls for ultimate commitment.

Luke 9:62 

⁶² But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” 

 Luke 14:25-30

²⁵ Now great multitudes went with Him. And He turned and said to them, ²⁶ “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple. ²⁷ And whoever does not bear his cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. ²⁸ For which of you, intending to build a tower, does not sit down first and count the cost, whether he has enough to finish it—²⁹ lest, after he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, ³⁰ saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’

Habakkuk 1:9-11

We can say our success and prosperity is due to our hard work and diligence and belongs to us….we would be wrong, dead wrong in the eyes of God. It does not belong to us it belongs to Him.

God alone controls the earth and it is His right to give and to take away. We need to be careful who we emulate and give credit to for our success, as a nation, as a people, it can all be taken away in an instant. The lesser gods of power, greed and control He will not tolerate. 

To God alone all praise and honor is due! everything comes from Him..every little thing!

Habakkuk had observed violence in Judah but Babylon relished violence. They had resettled numerous conquered peoples with little regard for them as individuals. They did not respect authorities and powers other than their own.

They scoff at kings, And princes are scorned by them. They deride every stronghold, For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it. 

            Habakkuk 1:10

They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. 

Daniel 5:4

Habakkuk 1: 9-11

⁹“They all come for violence;

Their faces are set like the east wind.

They gather captives like sand.

¹⁰ They scoff at kings,

And princes are scorned by them.

They deride every stronghold,

For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.

¹¹ Then his mind changes, and he transgresses;

He commits offense,

Ascribing this power to his god.”

John 4:10

Whoever asks receives! Salvation is the gift of God to ALL who accept it… Jesus came for YOU and Joy in your salvation is your strength. Just believe.

Living water springs from an unfailing source and is ever-flowing. Jesus, of course, was talking about eternal life.

¹⁵ But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. 

Romans 5:15

²³ For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. 

Romans 6:23

³⁸ He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” 

John 7:38

³Therefore with joy you will draw water From the wells of salvation. 

Isaiah 12:3

John 4:10

Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

Daniel 5:13-15

The spiritual realm is very close to believers and it includes dreams and  visions with the interpretation of them given to us by the Holy Spirit…..We need to listen closely with our spiritual ears to hear Him. 

This event took place in 539 b.c. Daniel was an old man at this time, possibly 80 years old or older. God is not into age discrimination… He will speak to you as long as you will listen.

Daniel 5:12  Inasmuch as an excellent spirit, knowledge, understanding, interpreting dreams, solving riddles, and explaining enigmas were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar, now let Daniel be called, and he will give the interpretation.” 

Daniel 5:13-15

Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king spoke, and said to Daniel, “Are you that Daniel who is one of the captives from Judah, whom my father the king brought from Judah? ¹⁴ I have heard of you, that the Spirit of God is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 

Ezekiel 34:7-10

God does not tolerate religious leaders and their man made laws who prey on the fears of  others for personal gain. The Holy Spirit takes the truth of Christ and gives us understanding.…we have our own teacher who has taken up residence within us. If we seek the truth it will find us!

Jeremiah 23:5

“Behold, the days are coming,” says the Lord, “That I will raise to David a Branch of righteousness; A King shall reign and prosper, And execute judgment and righteousness in the earth.

John 10:11 

 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.

Hebrews 8:6 

But now ⁱHe has obtained a more excellent ministry, inasmuch as He is also Mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises.

John 10:7

Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.

Ezekiel 34:7-10

⁷ ‘Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: ⁸ “As I live,” says the Lord God, “surely because My flock became a prey, and My flock became food for every beast of the field, because there was no shepherd, nor did My shepherds search for My flock, but the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed My flock”—⁹ therefore, O shepherds, hear the word of the Lord! ¹⁰ Thus says the Lord God: “Behold, I am against the shepherds, and I will require My flock at their hand; I will cause them to cease feeding the sheep, and the shepherds shall feed themselves no more; for I will deliver My flock from their mouths, that they may no longer be food for them.”

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

We don’t have to be famous Bible Scholars….we need only to know that our salvation is through the birth, death and the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. In Him and with Him in the unity of the Holy Spirit we are and will forever be…..just believe!

God’s plan of salvation does not conform to the world’s priorities. In fact, it seems foolish. Yet in reality, eternal salvation is more valuable than all the fame, wealth, and success pursued by the world. Wise refers to the Greek philosophers. Mighty refers to influential, politically powerful people. Noble includes all the aristocratic upper classes. No doubt many of the Corinthian believers were people who did not count in the eyes of the world but had found grace in God’s eyes.

God uses what is considered foolish and despised in this world to reveal His truth, so that He alone will receive the glory. Otherwise, the powerful would boast that they had found the truth. Instead, God sent His Son to become a humble carpenter and to die in the most despicable way, on a cross. Jesus’ life and death reveals God and His wisdom. Since Christ not only imparts wisdom but also righteousness, the Christian cannot boast, except in the Lord.

²¹ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become ^athe righteousness of God in Him. 

2 Corinthians 5:21

⁹ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; 

Philippians 3:9

1 Corinthians 1:26-31

²⁶ For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. ²⁷ But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty; ²⁸ and the base things of the world and the things which are despised God has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, ²⁹ that no flesh should glory in His presence. ³⁰ But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption—³¹ that, as it is written, “He who glories, let him glory in the Lord.”

Luke 7:44-50

Faith alone please God! If you are humbled by the multitude of sins that you have been forgiven…rejoice for God loves the humble, contrite and thankful heart.

Be careful whom you judge….the Father is watching!

Jesus contrasted the actions of the woman with the actions of the Pharisee Simon, implying that the woman knew more about forgiveness than Simon. Jesus confirmed that the love of the woman, which was visible in her actions toward Jesus, had come from being forgiven.

 Faith is the human channel for receiving God’s gifts. 

Luke 7:44-50

⁴⁴ Then He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she has washed My feet with her tears and wiped them with the hair of her head. ⁴⁵ You gave Me no kiss, but this woman has not ceased to kiss My feet since the time I came in. ⁴⁶ You did not anoint My head with oil, but this woman has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. ⁴⁷ Therefore I say to you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven, for she loved much. But to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.”

⁴⁸ Then He said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”

⁴⁹ And those who sat at the table with Him began to say to themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”

⁵⁰ Then He said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.”

Mark 4:30-32

Faith alone pleases God. He will take the seed of that faith in Him and in the salvation He gives in His Son, Jesus, and with the help of the Holy Spirit it grows and grows and grows! 

With each person who enters into the Body of Christ we grow in stature and in the power of God. We are all knit together in the unity of the Holy Spirit, the heart of the Father, to be a blessing to all people.

A mustard seed is much smaller than a kernel of corn or a grain of wheat, yet its growth is more spectacular, reaching a height of ten to twelve feet. The point is the comparatively large result from such a humble and insignificant beginning. The kingdom that Jesus came to announce drew little support during His life but will find complete fulfillment when He returns.

Mark 4:30-32

³⁰ Then He said, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it? ³¹ It is like a mustard seed which, when it is sown on the ground, is smaller than all the seeds on earth; ³² but when it is sown, it grows up and becomes greater than all herbs, and shoots out large branches, so that the birds of the air may nest under its shade.”

John 14:1-5

In order to have peace in a world of chaos and live fearlessly in a world hell bent on destruction you have to believe that God is and that He is a rewarder of those who place their total trust in Him. Through Christ He has given us eternal life and that life is to be lived abundantly honoring Him with the life that we have been given. Fear not for He has not left us alone!

After announcing Judas’s betrayal, His own imminent departure, and Peter’s denial, Jesus told His disciples not to be troubled, but to trust Him. Peter may have failed Jesus, but Christ will not fail to return for Peter and for everyone else who has believed in Him.

believe (Gk. pisteuō) Strong’s #4100: The Greek word for believe literally means “to place one’s trust in another”; it occurs over 90 times in the Gospel of John alone. To believe in Jesus is to believe in His person and to trust in Him completely for salvation. Many of Jesus’ contemporaries believed in Jesus’ miraculous powers, but they would not believe in Jesus Himself. Others wanted to believe in a political Messiah, but would not believe in the One who suffered for their sins. But we must be careful to believe and trust in the Jesus presented in the Scriptures, in the Son of God who sacrificed His life for our sins.

John 14:1-5

14 “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. ² In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. ⁴ And where I go you know, and the way you know.”

Daniel 5:17-24

Everything comes from God…every little thing…to God be all glory in heaven and in earth. He will not tolerate strange gods before Him. Be humble and give thanks to God for all that you have been given for it is His to give and His to take away.

Daniel 5:17-24

¹⁷ Then Daniel answered, and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another; yet I will read the writing to the king, and make known to him the interpretation. ¹⁸ O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father a kingdom and majesty, glory and honor. ¹⁹ And because of the majesty that He gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whomever he wished, he executed; whomever he wished, he kept alive; whomever he wished, he set up; and whomever he wished, he put down. ²⁰ But when his heart was lifted up, and his spirit was hardened in pride, he was deposed from his kingly throne, and they took his glory from him. ²¹ Then he was driven from the sons of men, his heart was made like the beasts, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. They fed him with grass like oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till he knew that the Most High God rules in the kingdom of men, and appoints over it whomever He chooses.

²² “But you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, although you knew all this. ²³ And you have lifted yourself up against the Lord of heaven. They have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your lords, your wives and your concubines, have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, bronze and iron, wood and stone, which do not see or hear or know; and the God who holds your breath in His hand and owns all your ways, you have not glorified.

Luke 6:12-16

Before you make any major decisions in your life…PRAY! Here we find an example of Jesus spending time with God before an important event in His life. Jesus all man/all God needed direction from His Father before making decisions. In all things with prayer and supplication place your questions at the feet of God and then expect an answer. God calls whom He chooses. It is not up to man to understand.. it is his to obey.

Luke 6:12-16

¹² Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. ¹³ And when it was day, He called His disciples to Himself; and from them He chose twelve whom He also named apostles: ¹⁴ Simon, whom He also named Peter, and Andrew his brother; James and John; Philip and Bartholomew; ¹⁵ Matthew and Thomas; James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called the Zealot; ¹⁶ Judas the son of James, and Judas Iscariot who also became a traitor.