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.Psalm 100:2, “Serve the LORD with gladness, come before his presence with singing.” 

We all know that life has many demands which cannot be ignored. Work, maintaining a home, raising children, to name a few.  Every day requirements can seem overwhelming….soooo…. how does serving the Lord enter into the picture?

Serving God is actually an attitude of the heart. I Corinthians 10:31 says,  “Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”  Colossians 3:23 states,  “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily as to the Lord, and not unto men;”  We have covered these thoughts before but focusing on them again can reinforce these truths.

The fact of the matter is that no matter what we are doing can be defined as serving the Lord — washing dishes, going to work, teaching a Sunday School class, singing in the choir – all of these fall into the category of the ‘whatsoever’ found in these two verses.

The difference between plain work and service for God is our focus and motivation. When you approach a task with the thought of doing the best you can and doing it cheerfully as unto the Lord – then it takes on a whole new dimension.   It jumps from the mundane – have to do job – into the category of serving the Lord with gladness, (Psalm 100:2).

Today as you approach the job of ‘living’, ask God to help you to look at every task as an opportunity for service and do it as unto the Lord. Serving the Lord with gladness does lead to a life filled with singing!

Philippians 1:12, “But I would ye should understand, brethren, that the things which happened unto me have fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the gospel;”

Everything in Paul’s life was centered around Christ. Here he was in prison, held in bonds.  Instead of complaining, he is praising God.  Philippians 1:14 says that because of what he was going through many of the brethren had become bolder in speaking out for the Lord.  This cannot have been a very pleasant way to live, but Paul is not focused on the ‘woe is me’ syndrome. He is thankful that He can serve the Lord and the gospel is being furthered.

Joy in the midst of turmoil. Praising God in the times of hardship.  It is not our natural tendency to do this.  Often minor inconveniences can cause us to gripe and complain.  We can question God with a list of ‘whys’.   Paul had his eyes in the right place – not on what was going on around him but Who was in control of what was going on around him.   Because his attitude was right, he was being a testimony for Jesus and the gospel was being advanced.

Paul sums it up nicely in Philippians 1:27, “Only let your conversation be as it becometh the gospel of Christ: …….that ye stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.”

This is what the Christian life is all about – living right, standing together with other Christians – being in agreement and working together for the cause of Christ. People are watching how you live and how you react to adversity.  Ask God to help you to be the example you should be so that others will be encouraged stand and serve no matter what is going on in their lives.  People need to know that Jesus saves — and we need to be the ones to tell them!

Proverbs 16:23,   “The heart of the wise teacheth, his mouth, and addeth learning to his lips.” 

Our mouth definitely needs teaching – or bridling – or stopping – or at least being controlled!

This verse puts a humorous picture in my mind. I can see here a person giving his mouth a lecture.  Instructing it on proper behavior and admonishing it for speaking improperly.

Aside from my imagination, I believe that this verse is basically saying that it is the heart that controls the mouth. If your heart is right: filled with God’s truths and seeking to serve Him — then what comes out of your mouth will be right.

Let’s examine a few of the verses that talk about the mouth or the tongue. The Bible is actually full of verses on this subject and it would be a worthy study to do on your own.

• Ephesians 4:29, “Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.”
• Proverbs 16:24, “Pleasant words are as a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.”
• Psalm 89:1, “I will sing of the mercies of the LORD forever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.
• Proverbs 15:1, “A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.”
• Psalm 141:3, “Set a watch, O LORD, before my mouth; keep the door of my lips.

A wise and learned person will keep a close watch on how he speaks. Our prayer needs to be the same as David’s in Psalm 19:14,  “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.”

We have a great opportunity every day to use our words to serve God and to build up and encourage others. Let’s make a conscious effort to ‘teach our mouth’ to speak in a manner that will honor God!

Philippians 1:6, “Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.” 

There may be times in your life when things seem difficult. This may be caused by family problems, health problems, financial problems, or possibly having too much to do and not enough time to do it.  Whatever the reason – you may feel like giving up.  But, it is wonderful to know that God never gives up on you.  He is always there doing a good work in your life.  This promise has no expiration time – it never becomes outdated.  God says He will be there working in your life all the way up to the time that He calls you home or Jesus comes again.

Our lives can take many paths after we get saved. This often depends on our motivation and dedication to following God.  God has given us a free will to choose our course of action in life.

Once you are born again into God’s family you become His child. The Holy Spirit enters your life and is always present to lead you and guide you — AND — to convict and chastise you when you choose to go your own way and not God’s.  Just remember if you choose to live contrary to God’s ways and leading you will have no peace and no happiness.

God is telling you that at the moment of salvation, He began a good work in you and He will continue that work. You can always be assured that He is there for you at any stage of your Christian life.  You may not always be what you ought to be, and you may not always be living the way you ought to live – but God is always there working.  Don’t waste your time (or your life) — surrender to God and let Him do the good work that He desires to do in your life!

Remember, you are never alone. God is always there.  Isn’t it wonderful that God doesn’t give up on us?

Psalm 128:1, “Blessed is every one that fearth the Lord; that walketh in his ways.” 

Happy are you if you reverence God. A few days ago we talked about needing to understand ‘Who” God is.  He is the all powerful and all knowing creator of the universe who is in control of everything that happens.  We need to keep our hearts and minds focused on this truth at all times.  When we see God for who He really is, all the problems of life fall into their proper places.  We begin to see that they are no match for His power and majesty.

I love the fact that this verse says – blessed is EVERYONE that fears God. Everyone of us – with no exceptions, are included in this promise.  We are all on equal ground.  We just need to reverence God AND walk in His ways for this promise to be ours.

Stop and brainstorm all the ways of God that you can think of that would represent walking in His ways. I just started to write out some examples, but, YOU need to make this a personal exercise.  Make out a list of all the things you can think of that you can do to demonstrate to God that you love Him and are desiring to live the way that He wants you to.  The Bible is full of instructions on how He desires for a Christian to live.  Our goal each day should be to try to DO what He says and seek His help in doing it.

Walking denotes a continuing action. It’s what you need to do – today, and tomorrow, and the next day.  Don’t give up.  Just keep on, keeping on, and God says you will be blessed (happy) as a result. Great Promise!

Philippians 4:6, “Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.  And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus” 

I could easily end this blog at this point. These are great verses with a great message and great promises:

• Don’t be anxious about anything.
• Pray about everything.
• Ask concerning your needs.
• Be thankful.
• Don’t hesitate to make requests of God.

Then God promises:

• Peace that only comes from God will be yours.
• God will keep your hearts and minds focused on Him.

This seems to be an area of great neglect on the part of a lot of Christians – we don’t talk to God about our needs and frustrations. Yet, over and over again in the Scriptures, He tells us to do so.  He wants to hear from us and He wants to answer our prayers.  We are not burdening God with our needs – we are obeying Him when we present them to Him.

God tells us quite clearly in these verses that He wants us to present everything to Him in prayer. These prayers will result in a peace given to us by God, and He will keep our hearts and minds focused on Him. If you ever have any doubts about God loving you – just read these verses, along with many others in the Scriptures, and your doubts will dissolve into thin air.

We have a wonderful God.  Let Him know you love and trust Him by talking to Him about all your needs and concerns!

God’s Word is so clear when it comes to preparing us for the realities of life. It’s all there – everything we need to know about how to live when good things happen, and how to live when bad things happen.  It seems to be part of our nature to want to major on the pleasant and positive promises of the Bible and fly over the areas we prefer not to think about.

I Peter 4:12, “Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you:” 

The wording of this verse is ominous. A fiery trial sounds like a serious problem, not just a minor inconvenience.  It sounds scary and hurtful.  Notice that God doesn’t say if. He is saying when it occurs we should not be surprised.  The Scriptures goes on to say in verse 13, “But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”

II Timothy 3:12 is a clear statement by God Himself to Christians – “Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” If we are living the way we ought to for the Lord – witnessing and being a godly testimony, God says we will suffer persecution.  He has told us what to expect and therefore these happenings should not trigger a long list of ‘whys’ on our part.  We should rejoice because God has promised us victory and blessing because we are living the way that He desires for us to live.

We should not become bitter and disheartened because of trials and persecutions. Instead,  we need to follow the example of the apostles in Acts 5:41,42,  “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.  And daily in the temple, and in every house, they ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ.”

Psalm 73:28, “But it is good for me to draw near to God:  I have put my trust in the Lord God, that I may declare all thy works.” 

“It is good for me” – implies something that is beneficial and helpful. It is something that will enhance my life and make it better.  (Now, often times I do not choose to do the things that are ‘good’ for me due to the fact that it may take hard work and discipline, such as, exercising more or eating properly.  But the fact remains, whether I chose to do them or not – they WOULD be good for me if I did them!)

This verse says that it is good for me to draw near to God.  A lot that we accomplish in our Christian life is actually dependent on us.  To draw near to God is an action on our part.  It is developing a close relationship to Him by depending on Him and seeking His face continually throughout the day.  It is acknowledging His presence and trusting that He is in control of all that happens in our lives.

In the second part of this verse, the psalmist says that he has put his trust in the Lord God. Trusting is also an action.  We need to draw near and trust Him daily in order for the ‘good’ results of these actions to be activated in our lives.

When we are living close to God and are trusting Him, then we will be able to say with the psalmist – I will declare all thy works. We will be the testimony for the Lord in this world that so desperately needs Him.  It will be easy to praise Him and share the wonderful ‘good’ things that He is doing in our lives.

It’s plain and clear to see how these actions: drawing near to God, trusting Him, and declaring His works, will be of great benefit to us.  But, remember it’s your choice if you are going to decide to incorporate them into your life.  God promises ‘GOOD’ things if you do!

Jude verse 24, “Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,” 

He is able — He is able — He is able — to keep us from falling. What a great promise.  Life is full of stumbling blocks.   We face obstacles every day that could cause us to trip and hinder our walk with God.  BUT – He is able to keep us from falling. God’s love is so amazing.  He wants to help us through the rocky terrain of life and to keep our lives in balance and our feet secure.

I’ve always appreciated the ‘feet’ verses as I’ve come across them in my reading. Verses such as:  Psalm 18:36,  “Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.”  I get an amusing picture in my mind when I read this verse –  I picture myself walking around with feet so huge that nothing could possibly cause me to topple over.  This is basically what God is saying in these verses.  Through trusting Him and following His Word we can have balanced, secure lives that will not stumble when we are tossed about with the winds of circumstances. Believe God is able to keep you from slipping.

The second half of this verse goes on to say that we will be presented faultless before God. This is because of what Jesus did on the Cross.  When we accepted Him as our Saviour, our sins were completely forgiven.  This truth and knowledge ought to give us exceeding joy when we think about it.

Jesus is able – to help us in all areas of our lives and to keep us until the day He presents us faultless before the throne of grace! 

(Other good ‘feet’ verses to consider: Psalm 40:2, Psalm 119:59,  Psalm 18:36, Psalm 119:105,  Proverbs 4:26 – to name a few.)

Nahum 1:7, “For the LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knowth them that trust in Him.” 

God is good – I’ve heard this statement may times – in testimonies, in church, during special meetings. God is GOOD – all the time.

What exactly does this mean? When everything seems to be going wrong; when hardships seem to pile up, and there seems to be no end in sight.  How can we see ‘good’ in any of it?

The answer is – when we see God for Who He really is. He’s not just a being who is a step above man.  He is the all powerful and all knowing creator of this universe.  He is the one in control of ALL that happens in this life.  He is the omnipresent being Who has promised to be there for us in all the trials of life.

We must remember that earth is not Heaven. Heaven is a promised place of freedom from evil and total happiness in the presence of God.  We need to realize that until God takes us home, we are in this world where the works of Satan abound and hardships and trials are very real.  In the midst of all that is going on in your life (no matter what it is), you must keep your heart and mind focused on the fact that God has promised to be a strong hold (a fortified place, a place of security) for you in all the hard times and challenges of life.  

This verse goes on to say that He knows them that trust Him. We show our trust in God by acknowledging that He is good even when we do not understand a situation.  It’s thanking Him even in the midst of hardships and problems because we know that He is in control.

We need to stay focused on this simple truth:   God is good —– All the time!