Our Hope Is in Jesus

I just finished reading Job 22-24. Job is such an encouraging book for me because I have gone through much sickness and pain and sorrow in my life. It gives me hope because I can see that God doesn’t allow anything to happen in my life without His approval. Maybe that’s a hard concept for some but all you have to do is read Job 1 to see what I am saying.

We can be an Eliphaz to someone in our lives when we judge why they are going through something that is painful. We live in a fallen world that wants us to fall too. If you know Jesus as your Savior and Lord, you might be more compassionate, more caring, more loving than Job’s friends were. It is up to us to listen to the Holy Spirit; and sometimes He speaks through the Word and other times a friend will be truthful with us. We need to check ourselves to be assured that we are walking on the path that Jesus has chosen for us.

Just how exactly do we check ourselves? To whom do we compare ourselves to? The answer is quite simple. So simple, in fact, that some will reject such a suggestion. Read the Bible from cover to cover each year, asking God to show you daily what you need. Be prepared for Him to show you your sin, to repent and work on not repeating that sin. As we are reading the Word of God, we will see Jesus in a new light. We will have a better understanding of why He came to earth, died for us and rose again in victory!

God is faithful! He gave us a manual to live our lives by, to guide us through each day towards righteousness. “This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” (Rom 3:22-24)

My pastor is preaching on Joshua and recently spoke about the Israelites going from fame to shame to fame. Isn’t it like that in our lives as well? To repent means to acknowledge our evil behavior and to turn away from doing it again. According to Ephesians 4:28, when we turn away from our sin, we must have another plan to take the place of such behavior. Believe me, I know it is easy to fall back into the same sin again but I also know what a compassionate God we serve. He will forgive us when we come before Him in repentance. But, it is up to us to look at filling that behavior with something that is pleasing to the Father.

Anyone who has read my first book, “Faithful Hope” will understand that I struggle with something that most people would find rather silly. But, it is my sin. If I do not fill that with something that brings glory to God, I can become quite the sinner, for one sin can take me on the downward spiral to another sin, to another and so on. Fill that repentant sin with something to glorify God!

If you need encouragement to help you read through the Bible, get a copy of “Faithful Promises of God”. It will also help you to apply some of God’s Word in your own life. God is faithful! “…put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Eph 4:24

So Help Me God…

Have you ever wondered where or why we use “so help me God” when taking an oath here in the United States? Or why our money has “in God we trust” on it?

As you read through the Bible, you will start to note rather quickly that our founders knew their Bible pretty well. If you have any understanding concerning our Constitution and the laws that were set up during the time that this country experienced birth pains, you will recognize that our founders based many of our laws and the Constitution on Scripture.

If you are using my book, “Faithful Promises of God”, to read through the Bible, you’ve, no doubt, already ran across the importance of picking Godly leaders. That includes a national leader, a local leader, a Pastor and a Godly husband (which leads the family and set the tone). History is important and that is why we need to read the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.

When we read “they did what was right in their own eyes” or “he did evil in the eyes of the Lord”, we need to realize that there are consequences to our behavior. And those consequences often affect many people around the sin.

“They rejected His decrees and the covenant He had made with their fathers and the warnings He had given them. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them and although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do,” and they did the things the Lord had forbidden them to do.” (2 Kings 17:15) Now, let’s think about this one verse in Scripture that is full of how to apply it to our lives today. Have we rejected God as a nation? Have we rejected Him in our personal lives? Do you follow the Bible? Yes, yes, I understand that “all have sinned” but do most Americans even know what the Bible says, let alone try to live lives pleasing to the Lord? Do we have many who feel worthless? Is the United States of America, which was founded on Biblical principles, continuing to follow the laws set up, especially concerning immigration? Are we as a nation, doing things that the Lord has forbidden?

When our country’s higher powers take out “so help me God” and no longer have people swearing their oath on the Bible, is that rejecting God? Although our forefathers formed much of our government after the Bible and this country was founded on Christian principles, it was intended to run as a Christian nation. Yes, we welcome other religions to practice their faith but the founders intended the government to be a Christian based nation. And anyone coming into our country is expected to follow our laws, not make up their own laws or bring their laws in from the country they came from.

“Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established, the authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgement on themselves….Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience.” (Romans 13: 1-2, 5) We may not always like what the laws are but according to this Scripture, we are to obey those laws. Thankfully, our government is set up in such a way that we can speak out and work to change such laws.

Please note that this is not meant to be divisive but rather to get many people to read the Bible and also to grasp what our forefathers were basing the new form of government that we now know as the United States of America on.

As always, I welcome any comments from you. If you cannot write a comment here, please go to A Fae Original on facebook. But in the meantime, I challenge you to stay in the Word!

Genealogy

A while back, I had my DNA tested. I am now connecting to relatives that I didn’t even know existed. I am finding it a fun experience and somewhat of a mystery as at least one name has come up high on the list but I have no idea who this person is. Oh! that is a good mystery! I can hardly wait to solve it.

Today I started reading 1 Chronicles and find it so much fun to go through the names of past generations and I almost feel like I know them personally. But, I also realize that not everyone feels the same about all these names…names that are hard to pronounce! Name upon name! My advice to a friend who said she gets bogged down in those genealogies in Scripture is to skim them, or even skip over them. Don’t let those names stop you from reading the Bible!

I am getting so into genealogy that I’ve started filling out charts and papers starting in Genesis, the first being Adam and am now up to David. Frankly, this never entered my mind until about a year ago, a dear friend came knocking on my door to show me his Biblical genealogy chart. He had it on his computer and we sat for quite some time as we went over who belonged to whom. I could usually find a name in Scripture pretty easy and give my friend more to add to his list. When he came to me that day, I never thought I would be doing the same thing but right before my friend went to see Jesus, I decided that I would start a few sheets to see how far I could get. I am thankful to Norman for spurring me on to further research concerning the Bible and helping me understand those names.

I hope your Bible reading is coming along and that you’ve read more than you’ve ever read before. Keep going! You can do this! A little bit of reading the Bible every day … sort of like one tiny bite at a time… can result in finishing the Bible before you know it! God doesn’t expect you to do this perfect, or to understand every word you read, but He does expect you to be persistent. To keep going until you have finished the task.

The hardest parts are almost behind you and you will soon be in the Psalms and then the Proverbs. At some point when you hear a sermon, you are going to be able to understand where the Scripture reference came from, perhaps even a little history behind what is being preached.

Most importantly, may we remember as we go through those genealogy lists, is that our actions DO matter. They may not affect you but what about your grandchildren? Our actions can affect generations to come! Now, that is something to ponder…

In the meantime, Happy Mother’s Day!