November is right around the corner and so are the elections. Scary, right?! But God tells us again and again there is no need to fear. Do not worry. He is in control. Even if we end up with someone in office we do not like or is a tyrant or is not qualified, God has a plan and we need not fear. Many do not have the freedoms we have here in the U.S. Let us be grateful for what we have while we still have it (and pray for those who don’t). We know that there will be tough times ahead, but we also know we have hope in Jesus and that one day He will return. But more than that we can have peace and joy now, no matter what the outcome or circumstances we face in the future.
Continue reading “Do Not Fear; God’s Got This”Category: encouragement
Get out of the Boat
There is so much we can learn from the event of Jesus walking on water and Peter getting out of the boat to walk on water. A great study that we have done is called, “If You Want to Get Out of the Water, You Have to Get Out of the Boat,” By John Ortberg. I have gone through it several times with different small groups and I learned so much from it. God can do great things in each of us if we are willing to step out in faith. And there is so much more in that story.
Continue reading “Get out of the Boat”Job and His “Friends”
Many know the story of Job, how Satan inflicted great pain and suffering on Him to try to show God that He only praised Him for His blessings. It was a test. This is a hard read, and I am sure I will not do it justice, but I will try.
As with all of us, He didn’t pass all of the test, but He kept his integrity and faith, even through his doubt and questioning. Job lost his children, his house, his wealth, his friends and family more or less abandoned him, even his wife told him to curse God and die. He was inflicted with disease, pain, and great suffering, but in the end, He stayed strong in his faith in God and eventually repented of his pride. But he had some so-called friends that came to him to explain why he was suffering based on their own experience and short-sighted knowledge. From the end of chapter 1 through chapter 31, the author writes of the debate between Job and his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, as well as Job’s complaints against God. You should read through this on your own, but I will give some of the highlights. In another post I will write about God’s reply and the encounter between God and Job, and God and Job’s 3 friends. Between these events, another person comes into the scene, Elihu, and reveals some flaws in the arguments of both Job and his friends. So this younger man, after listening and respecting his elders, gave his opinion which contradicted the other men, explaining the character of God and the shortcomings of their argument. God does not rebuke Elihu as He does his 3 , but reminds everyone who He is and His power and righteousness, and sets them straight.
Continue reading “Job and His “Friends””Of Angels and Demons
Do you believe in ghosts? I do not. Do you believe in guardian angels? I do not. Do we each have our own angel looking over us? No. Do people become angels when they die? No. Why? You ask. Because it is not in scripture. What is in scripture is that there are demons and angels fighting amongst us. The devil works hard to destroy us. His fallen angels (demons) help him in this mission, and God’s angels fight against evil for good. God also gives us other weapons to fight these spiritual battles and He is there to fight for us if we ask Him.
Continue reading “Of Angels and Demons”Value of the Kingdom
Today we will discuss the last of the parables of Jesus in this series. Here He talks about the value of the Kingdom of Heaven. Jesus tells 3 short parables describing God’s Kingdom, and when people realize how great it is, the treasure of it far outweighs any sacrifice or struggle they might encounter.
Continue reading “Value of the Kingdom”
My Daily Scriptures 