Notes of Faith May 20, 2024

Notes of Faith May 20, 2024

Secret Hero

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Romans 8:26

We try so hard to be self-sufficient. Although we delight in helping others out of our strength, it takes a giant swallow of our pride to accept help. We avoid feelings of brokenness and dependence. We would rather struggle for months on end before admitting we need help. This tendency stunts our growth because it rejects the help and power God has provided.

Although unseen, the Holy Spirit is the invisible hero dwelling within us. God knows our weakness and provides the Holy Spirit to guide, strengthen, and sustain us. The Spirit comes to our rescue time and time again. We are loved, and our weakness is never mocked. When God calls us, we can rest assured that the Holy Spirit will equip us through His insight and power. The evidence is clear in both the life of Christ and the lives of His followers.

The first thing that accounts for God’s using D. L. Moody so mightily was that he was a fully surrendered man. Every ounce of that two-hundred-and-eighty-pound body of his belonged to God; everything he was and everything he had, belonged wholly to God.

R. A. Torrey

I love reading about men like D. L. Moody, A. W. Tozer, and many others. Yes, I like to read. But men like these gave their lives for the sake of Christ in more modern days as the apostle Paul did in the first generation of the church. May we be more like those that live a life devoted to God and proclaiming truth and love toward all that was created in His image through the power of His Spirit within us.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 19, 2024

Notes of Faith May 19, 2024

The Feast of Pentecost (Shavuot) We celebrate this today!

Amazing prophecies of God’s plans for the world can be found embedded in the customs of the feasts of Israel. The intricate detail of the prophecies illustrated in the observances of these feasts provide insight into God’s plan for the ages. Sunday, May 19th is Pentecost, also known as The Feast of The Weeks in English and Shavuot in Hebrew. On Passover, the people of Israel were finally released from slavery in Egypt; and on Shavuot they were given instructions on how to live post-slavery life well in the Torah. With this love letter from God, His people became a nation committed to serving the Lord. The word Shavuot means weeks because the festival of Shavuot is the end of the seven-weeks between Passover and Shavuot. Enjoy this excerpt of Unlocking The Secrets Of The Feasts!

Explicit parallels and contrasts are evident between the Feast of Pentecost in the New Testament and the Feast of Weeks in the Old Testament. The Feast of Weeks is the same feast the disciples observed in the New Testament, known as the Feast of Pentecost. At the first Feast of Weeks, God provided the law. God had given the children of Israel freedom from bondage and slavery, so He then gave them the law to guide them in living.

As slaves they were told what to do by their masters, but in freedom they needed guidance from their new Master, the Lord God of Heaven. It should be noted that God gave them freedom, salvation from slavery, before He gave them the law.

Keeping the law was not a condition for receiving their freedom; it was a response to God’s grace in setting them free.

At the first Feast of Pentecost in the New Testament, God provided His Holy Spirit for guidance. The Feast of Weeks/Pentecost celebrates God’s provisions for life. This feast is observed during the time of the wheat harvest, a major provision of the Lord. In Leviticus 23:15-16 God told the Jews:

You shall also count for yourselves from the day after the Sabbath, from the day when you brought in the sheaf of the wave offering; there shall be seven complete Sabbaths. You shall count fifty days to the day after the seventh Sabbath; then you shall present a new grain offering to the Lord.

A new grain offering was to be offered in the Feast of Weeks:

You shall bring in from your dwelling places two loaves of bread for a wave offering, made of two-tenths of an ephah; they shall be of a fine flour, baked with leaven as firstfruits to the Lord.

Leaven is now introduced to the bread in place of the unleavened bread of the former feasts. But why?

Checking with the messianic rabbis, I discovered a logical answer to this question. While the Passover is referring to God and the purging of sin, the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost refers to God’s people who receive the law and the Spirit. We still have sin in our lives until we receive our new glorified bodies at the Rapture. We read in 1 Corinthians 10:17:

Since there is one bread, we who are many are one body; for we all partake of the one bread.

The two loaves mentioned in Leviticus 23:17 picture the Jew and the Gentile, but we are now one body, “one loaf.” There are a number of other offerings and sacrifices that are presented at the temple at this time as well, and they are applicable to several things, from sins to thanksgivings.

Counting of the Omer

According to Leviticus 23:15-16, the Jews were commanded to start counting fifty days from the day of the Feasts of Firstfruits to the next feast, the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost. During the forty-nine days of this count, which they call “the counting of the omer,” the wheat crop is in the ripening process. By the end of the omer count, the crop is ready for harvest, and the firstfruits of the wheat crop can be brought to the temple for Pentecost on the fiftieth day. Shavuot, the Hebrew name for this festival, means “seven weeks.” This concludes the festival season, which began at Passover. Just as Firstfruits celebrate the ripening of the barley crop, Shavuot celebrates the ripening of the wheat crop.

The law brought death, but the Spirit brings life!

The Remembrances

The feasts all have a historical significance.

The Feast of Passover is a remembrance of the slaying of the Passover Lamb.

The first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is a remembrance of the exodus from Egypt. The Feast of Weeks is a remembrance of the giving of the law at Mount Sinai. The seventh day after Passover, according to tradition, reminds the Jews of the crossing of the Red Sea. The counting of the omer is regarded as a remembrance of the intervening days between the exodus from Egypt and the revelation at Sinai. That is why the Feast of Weeks became known as the anniversary of God’s appearance at Mount Sinai.

On the first Feast of Weeks, signs and wonders accompanied the giving of the law. We read in Exodus 20:18:

All the people perceived the thunder and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking; and when the people saw it, they trembled and stood at a distance.

Thomas Lancaster, pastor of Beth Immanuel Sabbath Fellowship in Wisconsin, maintains that the Midrash also makes mention of what took place at the Feast of Weeks when the children of Israel heard the voice of God giving the law from Mt. Sinai. He says that according to the Midrash, a collection of Jewish oral traditions of the things that happened in history, the people in the camp saw sound waves in the form of fiery substances. Each commandment, as it left God’s mouth, circled the whole camp and eventually rested on each Jew personally. He also noted from the Midrash that the people heard God’s voice in many different languages.

Exodus 19:16 states:

So it came about on the third day, when it was morning, that there were thunder and lightning flashes and a thick cloud upon the mountain and a very loud trumpet sound, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

The parallels are quite fascinating when we read Acts 2:2-6:

And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Now there were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together, and were bewildered because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own language.

We cannot prove that everything recorded in the Midrash happened, but we can assume that all the people who were in the room in Acts 2 were familiar with the events. They could immediately make the connection between the Feast of Weeks and their present experience on the day of Pentecost as being of God.

Filling of the Spirit

The concept of the filling of the Spirit has always evoked different opinions regarding its meaning. One thing I observed about filling was that in the Greek there are two different words for the process. In Ephesians 5:18 the word for filling is pleroo, which conveys the idea of growth to maturity or being molded by the Word of God. If we compare Ephesians 5:18 to Colossians 3:16, which discusses the same subject, we can see that “be filled with the Spirit” is the same as “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you.” Since this command in Ephesians 5:18 is in the present tense, this indicates a continual experience or process. Both phrases have the same result: praise and thanksgiving to the Lord.

On the other hand, pimplemi in Acts 2:4 is in the aorist tense, which indicates a single event or happening. In context, the word implies an empowering for a work of service.

Today, since the Spirit indwells us as believers, we can be empowered by the Holy Spirit in our respective ministries. So the Holy Spirit is doing two major things for us: empowering and maturing us.

It is also interesting to note that when Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 6:19:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you,

he used the Greek word naos, which means “the innermost holy place of the Temple where God dwelt.” The other word for temple, hieron, means “the entire temple.” By Paul’s use of the word naos, he wants believers to understand that their bodies are truly the intimate dwelling places of the Holy Spirit.

Further Observations

I was also intrigued by one important contrast between the Old Testament Feast of Weeks and the New Testament Feast of Pentecost. In Exodus 32:28, we find that three thousand men died on the day the law was given, but in Acts 2:41 we read that three thousand people were saved on the day the Holy Spirit was given.

The law brought death, while the Spirit brought life!

It is interesting that the entire Godhead was involved in the fulfilling of the spring feasts. The Son honored and fulfilled the Feast of Passover by His death. The Father honored and fulfilled the Feast of Firstfruits by raising up Christ from death and the grave. The Holy Spirit honored and fulfilled the Feast of Weeks/Pentecost by His descent fifty days after the resurrection of Christ. Now we, in response to the fulfilling work of the total Godhead, can truly serve the Lord in all power and truth!

Excerpted from Unlocking the Secrets of the Feasts by Michael Norten, copyright Thomas Nelson.

The Bible is the Word of God. He speaks to us in it and through it to hear as He reveals Himself to us and shows us how to live. No one can keep the perfect law of God but all can receive the grace of God through Jesus, believing in His death, burial, and resurrection, paying the price for our disobedience and failure to keep God’s law, redeeming us from the penalty of eternal judgment and condemnation, and finally, taking us to live with Him, giving us new bodies, hearts, and minds, to inherit the glory of heaven, and be with God forever! Let us celebrate today the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell in those who believe in Jesus!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 18, 2024

Notes of Faith May 18, 2024

Trusting God with Everything

‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for prosperity and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.’ — Jeremiah 29:11

It doesn’t take long to realize there is no checkbox formula for life. If only it were that easy! We are all complex. Our situations and experiences are unique. The challenges we face often seem overwhelming.

There is good news, though. When we listen carefully and lean in to God, we will hear His whisper. That is what Jesus promised the Holy Spirit would do

(John 14:16–17; 26).

For me, I keep coming back to the thought that…

If you can’t trust God with everything, you can’t trust Him with anything.

Our faith is not a pastime, an opinion, a vending machine. It is not our politics. Our faith is not a philosophy, a way of looking at the world, or even how we try to explain it. It is much more personal than this. Our faith is life itself, and it is through the activation of our faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ that we have gained access to the everlasting grace (unmerited favor) of God. This has brought us into an eternal and loving personal relationship with God that was previously impossible.

This was made possible by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross and His resurrection from the dead. In this relationship, we are forgiven; our identity is secured; our purpose is established; our fears and anxieties are overwhelmed by His power and peace; His inexhaustible love bears our sorrow and sustains us. That is the experience I can testify to.

On so many occasions, I have come back to God’s promise in Jeremiah 29:11. At the end of the day, we have to decide whether we believe this is true, or not. If we believe it, we can claim the future and hope that God has promised us. And if we believe, then we are called to act on that faith, to believe in miracles, to love, to forgive, to repent, to surrender, to obey, to serve, to worship, and to follow.

The life of such faith is not easy, but take heart, because God understands that we struggle with this journey.

Jesus demonstrated this to us in the gracious way that He dealt with His disciples. He loved them. He chose them. He knew their flaws and weaknesses, but He also knew their heart for Him and their faith. He knew they would fail. He even assured them they would, telling Peter he would deny Him three times. He was patient with them. He built them up, restored them when they were down, and admonished and consoled them when He needed to. He understood their humanity, just like He understands ours.

God understands that we struggle with this journey.

In my public life, I have often felt like an alien in the place where I believed God has called me to serve. I think this alien experience is increasingly how many Christians feel about living in our Western society today.

Our world increasingly acts as if it has outgrown God. We have become wise in our own eyes. We pretend to have knowledge and insight that, somehow, we think has eluded the eternal God. Arrogance and pride have taken the place of humility and reverence before God. The eternal and immutable standards of God are now being substituted for what we believe is right in our own eyes (Judges 21:25). The truth is now as we each seek to define it. How convenient for us.

In such a world Christians will increasingly face trials, discrimination, mocking, and persecution, as Jesus said we would (John 16:33). In such a world we are right to feel like aliens if we are truly holding to our faith. How much more important, then, that we hold to our faith in these times?

About a year after an election loss ended my tenure as Australia’s prime minister, a friend gave me a painting of Daniel praying in the lions’ den. He told me that this is what he thought it must have felt like when I was PM. He was right. As Christians in a society that is increasingly hostile to our faith, the lesson of Daniel is a good one to follow. Rather than react as the world reacts, Daniel trusted in God’s eternal plan. He stood and served where God had placed him, as an alien. The good news is that God’s got this. Daniel understood this. God’s purposes are greater than those we currently see impacting our society.

The message and instruction from our God has not changed. We are to wait on the Lord and live out our faith in His love. God has already won the victory. As it says in Scripture, we are to love God with all our heart, our soul, and our minds, and we are to love one another (Matthew 22:37–40). That is our calling.

Whatever our times or our experiences, we will see the goodness of God’s plans in our lives if we choose to seek Him, if we choose to trust Him, and if we choose to love and follow Him. When we do this, we can look back on the many stones that have been laid down across our lives, signifying His great blessing and faithfulness, and rejoice. These stones do not just remind us to give thanks. These stones lead us onward, confirming God’s plans for our good and that the best is always yet to come.

Dear God, thank you for the promise that You are faithful to provide us with a hope and a future, that Your plans are for our good, and that we can trust You in both the triumphs and trials we face. Amen.

Written for Devotionals Daily by Scott Morrison, author of Plans for Your Good.

Great is Thy Faithfulness!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 17, 2024

Notes of Faith May 17, 2024

Tell God Everything

I cry out to the Lord with my voice; with my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.

Psalm 142:1

When reading the New Testament, we sometimes wonder: “Was the apostle Paul thinking of such-and-such Old Testament event when he wrote those words?” That could be the case when we see an example (Old Testament) and exhortation (New Testament) to pour out our concerns to God.

Phil 4:6-7

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

When David was anointed king, King Saul tried to kill David to block his ascension to the throne. On one occasion, David hid in “the cave of Adullam” (1 Samuel 22:1) to escape the murderous Saul. In Psalm 142, we have a record of David’s prayer to God while he was hiding from Saul. And what a prayer! Surely it is an example of what Paul wrote about in Philippians 4:6-7—don’t be anxious, but through prayers and supplications let your concerns be made known to God. And just as David was guarded in a “stronghold” while he prayed (1 Samuel 22:4), so the believer is guarded by the peace of God as we commit our concerns to Him (Philippians 4:7).

Don’t be afraid to tell God your deepest needs and concerns. By example and exhortation, the Bible encourages that very thing.

Anxiety and prayer are more opposed to each other than fire and water.

J. A. Bengel

Prov 3:5-6

5 Trust in the Lord with all your heart,

And lean not on your own understanding;

6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,

And He will direct your paths

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 16, 2024

Notes of Faith May 16, 2024

Walking With God

Enoch walked with God.

Genesis 5:24

What does it mean to walk with God? There’s a clue in Hebrews 11:5: “By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, ‘and was not found, because God had taken him’; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God.”

To walk with God is to please God, and we please God by trusting Him with our troubles. Hebrews 11:6 says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”

As we worship this powerful God we know, we should be encouraged in our walk with Him. We should come to know God better—His omnipotence, His holiness, His ever-present nature, His faithfulness and truthfulness, His justice and love. By coming to know Him better, we trust Him more. By trusting Him more, we please Him. By pleasing Him, we walk with Him as Enoch did.

Is there a burden you need to entrust into God’s care? Do it now, trust Him fully, and enjoy walking with Him through the ups and downs of life.

Day by day, morning by morning, begin your walk with Him in the calm trust that God is at work in everything.

Anne Ortlund

Day by day, and with each passing moment,

Strength I find to meet my trials here;

Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,

I’ve no cause for worry or for fear.

He, whose heart is kind beyond all measure,

Gives unto each day what He deems best,

Lovingly its part of pain and pleasure,

Mingling toil with peace and rest.

2

Every day the Lord Himself is near me,

With a special mercy for each hour;

All my cares He fain would bear and cheer me,

He whose name is Counsellor and Pow’r.

The protection of His child and treasure

Is a charge that on Himself He laid;

“As thy days, thy strength shall be in measure,”

This the pledge to me He made.

3

Help me then, in every tribulation,

So to trust Thy promises, O Lord,

That I lose not faith’s sweet consolation,

Offered me within Thy holy Word.

Help me, Lord, when toil and trouble meeting,

E’er to take, as from a father’s hand,

One by one, the days, the moments fleeting,

Till with Christ the Lord I stand.

"Blott en dag" by Oscar Ahnfelt "Day by Day (and with Each Passing Moment)" is a Christian hymn written in 1865 by Lina Sandell several years after she had witnessed the tragic drowning death of her father. It is a hymn of assurance used in American congregational singing. Sandell-Berg was a prolific Swedish hymn writer.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 15, 2024

Notes of Faith May 15, 2024

Not All Days Are Like This!

Sing to the Lord with thanksgiving.

Psalm 147:7

Alexander Whyte, a famous Scottish preacher, was known by his people as a man who was very optimistic and positive. He always prayed and devoted the first two or three sentences of his prayer to gratitude and thanksgiving to God.

On one particularly miserable Sunday in his church, about ninety percent of the congregation could not even get to the service because the weather was so bad. Rain, snow, wind, and ice were howling around the church. Dr. Whyte got up to pray, and his people wondered what he could possibly say that would be positive in his prayer that day.

“We thank Thee, O Lord,” he prayed, “that it is not always like it is today.”

Perhaps you’re having trouble feeling thankful today. Regardless of your circumstances and mood, you can lighten your heart today—and bless God’s heart—by developing your own personal thanksgiving prayer. Make a mental list. Think of things for which you’ve never before expressed gratitude.

Thanksgiving is a great antidote for self-pity, and it’s an effective cure for the blues!

Count your blessings, name them one by one; and it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Ps 136:1

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

His love endures forever.

God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 14, 2024

Notes of Faith May 14, 2024

Rest and Refresh

Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.” John 7:37

They were nuns, monks, hermits, and ascetics, and were known as the Desert Fathers (or Desert Mothers, for nuns). Beginning with Anthony the Great who moved to the Middle Eastern desert around A.D. 270, thousands of others followed in his footsteps, seeking spiritual purity, enlightenment, solitude, and perfection.

Their pattern of retreating contributed to today’s practice of taking a retreat to refresh oneself spiritually. Thankfully, it’s not necessary to retreat to the desert or a mountaintop, either temporarily or permanently, to find spiritual refreshment. Jesus said if we would but come to Him—for living water or for rest (Matthew 11:28-30)—we would find it in abundance. We can create that place of rest in a place of prayer or Bible study or meditation or worship, anywhere we can retreat from the cares and busyness of life. When we turn over those cares to God in prayer through Christ, His peace will guard our heart and mind (Philippians 4:6-7).

If you can retreat to a serene spot in nature—wonderful! If that’s not possible, retreat with Jesus wherever you can. He will meet you there.

You made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless till they rest in you.

Augustine

We don’t just need a vacation from work or the routine of life, we need Jesus every moment of every day. We must learn to come to Him, at all times, to find rest and peace for the trials and tribulations of “every day.” May you be blessed as you seek His presence with you in everything that you do . . . He is always there.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 13, 2024

Notes of Faith May 13, 2024

It’s Going to Turn Out All Right

“Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here!” — Matthew 14:27 NLT

God’s call to courage is not a call to naïveté or ignorance. We aren’t to be oblivious to the overwhelming challenges that life brings.

We must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it. — Hebrews 2:1 NASB

Do whatever it takes to keep your gaze on Jesus.

When a friend of mine spent several days in the hospital at the bedside of her husband, she relied on hymns to keep her spirits up. Every few minutes, she stepped into the restroom and sang a few verses of “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.” Do likewise! Memorize Scripture. Read biographies of great lives. Ponder the testimonies of faithful Christians. Make the deliberate decision to set your hope on him.

As followers of God, you and I have a huge asset. We know everything is going to turn out all right. Christ hasn’t budged from his throne, and Romans 8:28 hasn’t evaporated from the Bible. Our problems have always been his possibilities.

Feed your fears, and your faith will starve. Feed your faith, and your fears will.

We know everything is going to turn out all right. That’s the promise of Romans 8:28. But it’s hard to remember when all the possibilities of what could go wrong are swirling around us. When fear is plentiful, let’s fix our gaze on Jesus and remember this:

We know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. — Romans 8:28 NKJV

God’s Promise to Me

The Lord is in control. He knows how it all turns out. And He promised it will be for my good. He will give me the courage to keep going and the hope to hold on.

Feed your faith, and your fears will starve.

Believe He Can

Don’t be afraid; just believe. — Mark 5:36

The presence of fear does not mean you have no faith. Fear visits everyone. Even Christ was afraid (Mark 14:33). But make your fear a visitor and not a resident. Hasn’t fear taken enough? Enough smiles? Chuckles? Restful nights, exuberant days? Meet your fears with faith.

Do what my father urged my brother and me to do. Summertime for the Lucado family always involved a trip from West Texas to the Rocky Mountains. (Think Purgatory to Paradise.) My dad loved to fish for trout on the edge of the white-water rivers. Yet he knew that the currents were dangerous and his sons could be careless. Upon arrival we’d scout out the safe places to cross the river. He’d walk us down the bank until we found a line of stable rocks. He was even known to add one or two to compensate for our short strides.

As we watched, he’d test the stones, knowing if they held him, they’d hold us. Once on the other side, he’d signal for us to follow.

“Don’t be afraid,” he could have said. “Trust me.”

We children never needed coaxing. But we adults often do. Does a river of fear run between you and Jesus? Cross over to Him.

Believe He can. Believe He cares.

Does the path ahead look uncertain, even frightening? Maybe this image will help. When a father leads his four-year-old son down a crowded street, he takes him by the hand and says, “Hold on to me.” He doesn’t say, “Memorize the map.” Or, “Take your chances dodging the traffic.” Or, “Let’s see if you can find your way home.” The good father gives the child one responsibility: “Hold on to my hand.” When fears threaten your faith, remember this:

My Scripture of Hope

You go before me and follow me. You place Your hand of blessing on my head. — Psalm 139:5 NLT

God’s Promise to Me

I don’t have to live afraid. Because God cares. He holds my hands and leads me safely to Him.

Excerpted from Calm Moments for Anxious Days by Max Lucado, copyright Max Lucado.

Fear is a motivator of evil. Let us be discerning to know from whom, how and why we are experiencing fear.

Perfect love casts out all fear!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 12, 2024

Notes of Faith May 12, 2024

God Loves You Simply Because He Has Chosen to Do So

God loves you.

Personally.

Powerfully.

Passionately.

Don’t Worry

We worry. We worry about the IRS and the SAT and the PTA. We worry that we won’t have enough money. And when we have money, we worry that we won’t manage it well. We worry that the world will end before the parking meter expires. We worry what the dog thinks if he sees us step out of the shower. We worry that someday we’ll learn that fat-free yogurt was fattening.

Honestly, now. Did God save you so you would fret? Would He teach you to walk just to watch you fall? Would He be nailed to the cross for your sins and then disregard your prayers? Come on. Is Scripture teasing us when it says, He has put His angels in charge of you to watch over you wherever you go (Psalm 91:11)?

No, I don’t think so either.

Though mind-numbingly mighty, He comes in the soft of night and touches us with the tenderness of an April snow. He is the shepherd who loves you.

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.

— Philippians 4:6 NLT

Give your worries to the Lord, and He will take care of you. — Psalm 55:22

I leave you peace; My peace I give you. I do not give it to you as the world does. So don’t let your hearts be troubled or afraid. — John 14:27

With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine. — Ephesians 3:20

God will love you. Always.

No matter what.

Love Is All You’ll Find

Water must be wet. A fire must be hot. You can’t take the wet out of water and still have water. You can’t take the heat out of fire and still have fire.

In the same way, you can’t take the love out of God and still have Him exist. For He was... and is... love.

Probe deep within Him. Explore every corner. Search every angle. Love is all you find. Go to the beginning of every decision He has made, and you’ll find it. Go to the end of every story He has told, and you’ll see it.

Love.

No bitterness. No evil. No cruelty. Just love. Flawless love.

Passionate love. Vast and pure love. He is love.

God will love you. Always. No matter what.

We know the love that God has for us, and we trust that love. — 1 John 4:16

I loved you as the Father loved Me. Now remain in My love. — John 15:9

We love because God first loved us. — 1 John 4:19

Excerpted from Grace for the Moment for Moms by Max Lucado, copyright Max Lucado.

The love of a mother is hard to understand and harder to explain. She sacrifices and suffers because of her love and yet continues to give more love. Mom brought life into the world through pain and even what we might call the worst of mothers gave the loving gift of life, the loving gift of God, that in living, each precious gift of love might come to Him, love Him, worship Him, and live forever with Him. Moms are precious in God’s sight for He chose them to be His vessel for bringing His love into the world. Praise God for His precious gift of mom!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith May 11, 2024

Notes of Faith

Praise Him in the Morning

I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.

Psalm 34:1

Don’t just praise the Lord for an hour on Sunday. Keep a song in your heart all the time. Start first thing each day. Scottish preacher Duncan Campbell resolved to bless the Lord at all times, starting with his morning devotions. According to his biographer, Campbell rose each morning as the farmers harnessed their horses to the plows. He was convicted by their work ethic and determined to be as diligent with his spiritual harvest as they were with their crops.

Campbell’s biography explained, “During these hours of communion with God, the fresh dew of heaven bathed his soul, refreshing and equipping him for daily service. He carried the fragrance of the presence of God with him from the secret place into his public ministry.”1

When we start the day praising the Lord, it keeps a song in our heart throughout our waking hours. When we offer our praise and worship to the Lord, He can dry our tears and banish our fears. His praise shall continually be in our mouth.

Joy is balm and healing; and if you will but rejoice, God will give power.

A. B. Simpson

1. Andrew A. Woolsey, Channel of Revival (Edinburgh: The Faith Mission, 1982), 157.

Ps 34

34 I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. 2 My soul will make its boast in the Lord; The humble will hear it and rejoice. 3 O magnify the Lord with me, And let us exalt His name together.

4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me, And delivered me from all my fears. 5 They looked to Him and were radiant, And their faces will never be ashamed. 6 This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him And saved him out of all his troubles. 7 The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him, And rescues them.

8 O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! 9 O fear the Lord, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want. 10 The young lions do lack and suffer hunger; But they who seek the Lord shall not be in want of any good thing. 11 Come, you children, listen to me; I will teach you the fear of the Lord. 12 Who is the man who desires life And loves length of days that he may see good? 13 Keep your tongue from evil And your lips from speaking deceit. 14 Depart from evil and do good; Seek peace and pursue it.

15 The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous And His ears are open to their cry. 16 The face of the Lord is against evildoers, To cut off the memory of them from the earth. 17 The righteous cry, and the Lord hears And delivers them out of all their troubles. 18 The Lord is near to the brokenhearted And saves those who are crushed in spirit.

19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, But the Lord delivers him out of them all. 20 He keeps all his bones, Not one of them is broken. 21 Evil shall slay the wicked, And those who hate the righteous will be condemned. 22 The Lord redeems the soul of His servants, And none of those who take refuge in Him will be condemned.

Life in this world is difficult. Jesus reminds us in…

John 16:33

33 "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world."

We win because of Jesus! The difficult things of this world will pass away…

Rev 21:4-5

and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away."

5 And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new."

1 Cor 2:9

"No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him"

Praise be to God for His indescribable love, overcoming the world, and taking those who trust in Jesus, to live with Him forever!

Pastor Dale