We have a hope!!!

I think it's about time to have some hope, and then maybe some more daily life help.  How about it?
I need all the hope and help I can get, how about you?  There is lots of instruction in the Scriptures and too, there is lots of hope, so let's get lifted up with some hope and even in the Book of Lamentations, there is a little bit of hope put in for encouragement.  Sometimes this Book is called the book of weeping:

Lamentations 3:21-24  "This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope.  Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.  They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness."

Isaiah 40:31  "Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not faint."

Jeremiah 29:11  "'For I know the plans I have for you', declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'"

Hope means the expectation of some future good.  Have you given up on life, I hope not, there is so much to live for in the Scriptures, it is a life saver for us who lose hope.

We are told that God's compassions fail not, they are new every morning.  I can't stress it enough that if you will ask God to fill you up with His Spirit, He will do it, every morning before you get out of bed, and then He will give you meaning for your life and hope for your future.

The promise is that if we Hope in the Lord, He will renew out strength and we will mount up with wings like eagles and we will run and not grow weary, and walk and not faint.  I am looking forward to that because I am not able to walk far and even then not without cane or walker, but I am very thankful I still have a mind and love to study His word and apply it to my life and I know that I have a hope and a future and you can too, and I hope and pray that you do, but if you don't, follow my plan and you will, I'm sure.  Grandma Joan

You have a Guide

I remember one time I was climbing Mt. Pit in Oregon with my family and when we got to the tree line, because of my fear of height, I couldn't go any further.  All I could see was the back side of the mountain and it was vast and steep and I stopped right there to wait for their return.  They didn't come and I waited and waited and people kept trudging past me and going to the top and I just sat there on a rock.  Finally I thought I heard there voices coming down and I decided to go on ahead thinking they would catch up with me and all would be fine. So that's exactly what I did.  I followed the path real close or at least I thought I did, when all of a sudden I came to the end of it.  Nothing!  I stood there in fear, knowing I was lost and wondering what to do, when I heard voices behind me, and guess what?  My husband and daughter were lost too and found me.  He had a good booming voice when he wanted to use it, being a logger, and he yelled out for directions and someone answered and guided us back down the mountain.  I needed a guide.  Sometimes we get lost in the maze of life and wonder which way to go or what to do.  We do have a guide and I will show you some texts that really help me.

Proverbs 3:6  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, in all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths."

Isaiah 30;21  "Your ears shall hear a word behind you saying, 'This is the way, walk in it', whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left."

Psalm 119:105  "Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path."

Psalm 32:8  "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye."

Psalm 25:8-10  "Good and upright is the Lord; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way.  The humble He guides in justice, and the humble He teaches His way.  All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth."

Do you have a Guide?  Of course you do, whether you know it or not, God is your guide if you allow Him into your heart so He can speak to you and you will hear His word behind you saying, 'This is the way walk in it'.  You may not hear an audible voice but you perceive in your mind, telling you just what to do.  Be always open to His directions and you cannot go wrong.  His word is our lamp to our feet and a light to our path in life.  In all our ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct our paths.  By all means don't lean on your own thoughts of what you should do or not do.  Lean on Him.  He is a secure guide in our life.  The closer we come to God through His word, the more we will hear His voice guiding us, I know from experience this is true.  He saved my life just recently when I was bleeding internally and didn't realize I was running out of blood,  I knew I was terribly weak and could barely walk without help and I went to bed the night we got home from a long days trip, had been gone for two weeks.  After I went to bed I felt the presence of the Lord telling me to get up and get to the ER or it would be too late.  I told my son and he and my daughter took me and it took to units of blood to bring me back to normal.  Praise God for His watch care over me, even when we really don't deserve it.  God is so very good, so tender and merciful, like I said, even when we don't deserve His mercy and love.  Listen carefully He may be guiding you in a way that you are rebelling to go.  Also make sure you are surrendering to Him daily, even if you fell like you are failing Him, He still loves you and wants to guide Him.  Let Him in, Please.   Grandma Joan

What about Humility?

Humility is a Christian trait of character, but not all Christians practice humility.  There is a lot of pride that needs to be given  up and replaced with humility.  Humility is admitting that you are wrong when you are, it also means putting others first before ourselves, that is a tough one isn't it?  Another tough one is to take the blame when things need to be righted between people, even if you are not wrong.  I remember an incident that happened many years ago.  This man his name was James and he and a friend had a falling out and the other man was at fault and they didn't speak for quite a while and it bothered James a lot and finally he couldn't take it any longer and he decided to take the blame and go and apologize to his friend and it broke the friends heart that he would take the blame and it all melted away and they were friends again.  I think that might be a good way to handle wrongs that are done against us.  It does take humility to do this but if we are Christians, it seems to me to be the proper way to handle this type of problem.  Let's see what God says about humility.

James 4:10  "Humble yourselves before the Lord and He will lift you up."

Psalm 149:4  "The Lord takes delight in His people;  He crowns the humble with Salvation."

Psalm 25:9  "He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them His way."

Micah 6:8  "He has shown thee, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."

God loves His people to be humble, doesn't He?  He will lift us up, and take delight in us and will crown the humble with Salvation and also guide and teach the humble what is right.

He also has shown us what is required of us, to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.  Can you do this today, you will have a great day if you do and you and God will enjoy your day together. Grandma Joan

What about Jealousy?

Once in a while someone will become very jealous over your position in the church or work place.  Or it's possible that you might become jealous of someone.  It is a good way to ruin friendship or a relationship isn't it?  Jealousy is a very wicked trait and should be put away as soon as we realize that we are jealous and then of course what to we do with the one that is jealous of us.  I don't think there is much we can do except to pray for them and treat them kindly.  That's what I have done just recently, well, about a year ago someone was so jealous of me, it turned into hate and I always spoke kindly to her and treated her as kindly as I could.  I shed many  tears over it because it is not easy to be hated but it happens and now by God's grace I really know how to handle it.  God is so good to teach us out of His word.  I believe there is instruction in His word for every circumstance in life.  Let's see about jealousy. Another word for jealousy would be envy.

Proverbs 14:30  "A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones."

Galatians 5:26  "Let us not become conceited, provoking one another, envying one another."

James 3:16  "For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing is there."

Envy or jealousy rots the bones, and where it exists, confusion and every evil thing is there.  I think if you think back on your life that you will see that jealousy is a very hurtful trait to have and we don't want to be guilty of hurting anyone in this way, do we?  Are you growing along with me?  It's fun being a Christian and getting a handle on these things through God's word, isn't it?  I am learning so much I hope God gives me some years left to share and I will sure to do it if He does.  Grandma Joan

Is it OK to judge others?

Sometimes it is very hard not to judge someones actions or words.  But I have a couple of friends that don't dress like I think they should, and I know it's not my business how they dress, what they wear or what they do.  I over look those things and we are just the best friends and that's how it should be.  I have not always seen things in this manner and have in past years been very judgmental.  I hate it now and hope I have the victory over it, not sure yet but as I seek to be filled with God's Holy Spirit the desire to do that is fading fast away and I thank Him immensely.  I would like to share some verses with you this morning on judging.

Luke 23:33  "And when they had come to the place called Calvary, there they crucified Him, and the criminals, one on the right hand and the other on the left.   Then Jesus said, 'Father forgive them for they know not what they do."  Can we do that?  It is a hard thing isn't it?

Ezekiel 36:26,27  "I will give you a new heart and put a new Spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh.  I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you will keep my judgments and do them."  This is another verse that says that He will cause us to walk in His statutes and keep His judgments and do them.  Every morning before I get out of bed, I ask Him to fill me with His Holy Spirit.  I don't want to mess up my relationship with Him, I want to start my day out with Him.  It works so beautifully, I can't figure out why it took me so many years to understand how to have victory over the sin in my life.  If you are young or even middle age or older, don't waste any more years, believe what God says and live a life for Him, you will never be sorry.

Matthew 7:1,2  "Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged;  and with what measure you use, it will be measured back to you."

John 8:7 "If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her."

Matthew 7:5  "You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your own eye."

Not very long ago, I had a friend judge me very harshly and it hurt very much and I thought about it and what I should do about it and my new knowledge about sin, told me to forgive and forget it and that is what I did.  It's buried and I feel very forgiving about it.  It is so simple when we let Jesus and His Holy Spirit take over, it's really sooooo simple I can't believe I could have been living like this all my life.  It's wonderful and I know if you try it you will be very blessed indeed.  Grandma Joan

Justice

Is God Just in all His dealings with mankind?  Sometimes in our minds it doesn't appear that He is, but we must remember that He is ALL KNOWING and He knows the end from the beginning and He also knows our hearts inside out and our motives, so we don't have to worry about our Heavenly Father be just or not, we know that He is.  But He also wants us to deal justly too, so let's see what we can find out about Justice.

Micah 6:8  " He  has shown thee, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of thee but to do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with thy God."  So we are to do justly too, aren't we?

Proverbs 31:8, 9  "Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute.  Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy."

Isaiah 1:17  "Learn to do right!  Seek justice, encourage the oppressed.  Defend the cause of the fatherless,  plead the case of the widow."

Isaiah 30:18  "The Lord is a God of justice.  Blessed are all those who wait for Him."

Psalm 11:7  "For the Lord is righteous, He loves justice.  Upright men will see His face."

We are to speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, and judge fairly and defend the rights of the poor.  Defend the cause of the fatherless, and plead the case of the widow.  We will be blessed if we wait on Him, for the Lord is Just and righteous and if we follow Him we will see His face.  What a promise!  The Bible is so full of promises and not only that God wants us to be just in all our dealings with our fellowmen and He has shown us what He requires of us but to ' do justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly with our God.  Walking humbly with God may be the hardest thing for us to do because that is putting others first in our thoughts and in our associations with others.  Justice does play a big part in the Christians life, doesn't it.  Something for us to think about.  Grandma Joan

Is Obedience necessary?

So sorry, my computer got hacked up and have had a terrible time getting it back together.  Had to change passwords and close down other sites, but fortunately I'm on again, I was beginning to wonder if I was suppose to be on here anymore.  Seems like if it isn't my health, now it was my computer, praise the Lord it is working again.  I was wondering what I should talk about today and Obedience came to mind as something a lot of people don't think is important and most people in the world think it is impossible, as I have said before, it is impossible for us to obey God in our own strength, so let's see what God has to say:

Jeremiah 7:23  "Obey Me and I will be your God, and you will be My people, Walk in all the ways that I command you, that it may go well with you."

Luke 11:28  "(Jesus) replied,  Blessed are those that hear the word of God and obey it."

Deuteronomy 4:2  "You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take anything from it,  that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you."

Ecclesiastes 12:13  "Now all has been heard, hear the conclusion of the matter.  Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man."

Now don't get all shook up by saying, 'you know I can't do that', yes I know that you can't do that, but God can if you allow Him to take control of your life.  Living in Him all things are possible and joy comes from obeying.  Check out the texts Philippians 1:6 and 1 Thessalonians 5:24.  As I have said before these verses give me comfort, that when I get tired of being what I think God wants me to be and I feel weak and worn out from trying, I remember these verses that tell me that God is willing to work in me to will and to do of His good pleasure.  That verse is found in Philippians 2:13. I can't say God does it all, because it takes a full surrender on our part.  He can't surrender out hearts for us, we have to do that, after all that is done, then He works out our salvation for us.  Be sure and check out those two texts again in Philippians 1:6 and 1Thessalonians 5:24. I will always remember them because I know that I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.  That's found in Philippiains 4:13.  There are so many texts in the Bible that are so very encouraging to me, I just feel like I have to share them to encourage you.  I am so sorry my computer was down for several days.  But please don't give up on me.  I love sharing, even when I don't feel so well.  God has been so good to me I just have to share Him with others.