It happened not for your destruction

Baruch 4: 5-6

" Take courage, my people!
Remember, O Israel,
6 You were sold to the nations
not for destruction;
It was because you angered God
that you were handed over to your foes."

"Endure your trials as 'discipline' " (Hebrews 12 :7)

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I wait for your word

"Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
Do not harden your hearts as at Meribah,
as on the day of Massah in the desert."  (Psalm 95: 7 - 8)

Oh that today I will hear your voice Father.  I will not harden my heart.  I yearn to hear you speak to my situation.  Let your word come and lift me up.  I wait for your word.  With courage I wait for it.  I wait for it more than a watchman for daybreak.  Do not delay the sending of your word.

The "waiting" word will recognize its "owner."

The joy of the Lord is my strength

"Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD is your strength!”  (Nehemiah 8:10)

The Israelites were disheartened after hearing the word of God.  They saw as in a mirror their true selves in relation to God.  God said to them in order to uplift them:

"He continued: “Go, eat rich foods and drink sweet drinks, and allot portions to those who had nothing prepared; for today is holy to our LORD. Do not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD is your strength!”  (Nehemiah 8: 10)

How awesome and compassionate our God is!

If they do as they are commanded, their obedience to this word of God will cause them to be renewed physically and spiritually.

How do we live this word of God today?  In whatever trial of life we may find ourselves, we can say: "I will not be saddened this day, for rejoicing in the LORD is my strength!”  For God's word  urges us:

"Consider it all joy, my brothers, when you encounter various trials,
for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
And let perseverance be perfect, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing."  (James 1: 2 - 4)

"Endure your trials as discipline."  (Hebrews 12: 7)

"This is the day the LORD has made;
let us rejoice in it and be glad."  (Psalm 118:  24)

Your promises give me hope in life

"Because he clings to me I will deliver him;
because he knows my name I will set him on high.
He will call upon me and I will answer;
I will be with him in distress;
I will deliver him and give him honor.
With length of days I will satisfy him,
and fill him with my saving power."  (Psalm 91: 14 - 16)

My God, these promises are precious, sweet and beautiful.  I plan to claim everyone of them.  Here I go:

• I cling to you like a drowning man clings to anything within reach.
• I know your Name.  Your Name is Abba Father.  I learned your Name from your Son Jesus.  I know the Name of your Son.  His full Name is Jesus Christ.  I know the Holy Spirit.  Father, Son and Holy Spirit, you are the Most Holy Trinity, One God in Three Persons.
• I am often in distress: health, finances, job, tools, etc.  I call upon you for help all the time.

You now see Father why I told you that I will claim every single promise in Psalm 91: 14 - 16.  If I am presumptuous Father, forgive me.  Lead me to right standing with you so that I can claim the promises.  I love them and I want them.

Dear Father, here are some more promises in your word that I love and claim:

"Find your delight in the LORD
who will give you your heart’s desire.
Commit your way to the LORD;
trust in him and he will act
And make your righteousness shine like the dawn,
your justice like noonday.

Be still before the LORD;
wait for him.
Do not be provoked by the prosperous,
nor by malicious schemers."  (Psalm 37: 4 - 7)

Your promises give me hope in life.  Treat your servant according to your mercy.

You revealed them to the little child

"At that time Jesus said in reply, “I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the childlike."  (Matthew 11: 25)

What do you like most about little children?

• Their trust
• Their innocence
• Their inquisitiveness
• Their natural purity
• Their total dependence

Jesus calls God His Father.  We think that He relates to His Father as a little child.  The Father wants me to come to Him as a little child.

How to be successful in everything

Joshua 1:8

"This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success."

May we find in the word of God the food of salvation & the fountain of life!

"Those that make the word of God their rule, and conscientiously walk by that rule, shall both do well and speed well; it will furnish them with the best maxims by which to order their conversation (Ps. cxi. 10); and it will entitle them to the best blessings: God shall give them the desire of their heart. " (Matthew Henry Commentary)

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Your words consoled me

"Remember your word to your servant
by which you give me hope.
This is my comfort in affliction,
your promise that gives me life."  (Psalm 119: 49 - 50)

Remember your commitment to me when I left Egypt:
"This is the commitment I made to you
when you came out of Egypt.
My spirit remains in your midst;
do not fear!"  (Haggai 2: 5)

And this was your commitment to me:
"It is the LORD who goes before you; he will be with you and will never fail you or forsake you. So do not fear or be dismayed.”  (Deuteronomy 31: 8)

Your promise gives me comfort in my affliction for I know that You placed your name and your word on the same level.  Your word can never fail.  This is my hope in trouble.