Category: Psalms

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Kindness For All

I have to ask – were you able to plant some seeds of patience yesterday? Make sure you water them each day so that they grow to be healthy and productive plants.

One way to keep them watered is by using the seeds we are planting today, the seeds of kindness.

“ But the fruit that the Spirit produces in a person’s life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these kinds of things.” Galatians 5:22-23 ERV

Gestures of kindness are not forgotten.

When we were a young family, we were having a very hard time financially. We were a home of two working parents, we lived as economically frugal as possible and still we were unable to make ends meet.

We had friends who lived a good 30+ miles away and one Saturday morning they arrived at our door saying, “we were just in the neighborhood”. They proceeded to carry in bag after bag of groceries. They even had planned what we would have for lunch and stayed to make it with us and enjoy a day of swimming, friendship and encouragement.

This was an unforgettable kindness.

“I pray that the Lord will bless and protect you, 25 and that he will show you mercy and kindness. 26 May the Lord be good to you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-25 CEV

“Our Lord, you keep your word and do everything you say. 14 When someone stumbles or falls, you give a helping hand. 15 Everyone depends on you, and when the time is right, you provide them with food. 16 By your own hand you satisfy the desires of all who live. 17 Our Lord, everything you do is kind and thoughtful, 18 and you are near to everyone whose prayers are sincere.” Psalm 145:13-18 CEV

Kindness isn’t something that needs to be described. I think everyone understands what it means to be kind. However, it is something that needs to be planted and cultivated. If we don’t produce kindness, we will have a hard and calloused heart.

“Then the ones who pleased the Lord will ask, “When did we give you something to eat or drink? 38 When did we welcome you as a stranger or give you clothes to wear 39 or visit you while you were sick or in jail?”

40 The king will answer, “Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.” Matthew 25:27-40 CEV

God takes our acts of kindness personally. He sees our actions as an outreach of his hands. When we are being kind and caring for “the least of these”, the unimportant ones, the forgotten ones, He sees it as a service to Him.

“Your kindness and love will always be with me each day of my life, and I will live forever in your house, Lord.” Psalm 23:6 CEV

The seeds of kindness that we plant not only grow in our hearts but it is seed that we can plant in the lives of others.

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Growing Joy

I’ve got joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.

Where?

Down in my heart, down in my heart.

I’ve got joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.

Down in my heart to stay!

That’s a chorus I remember singing as a young girl in Sunday School. Little did I realize that the stories I was learning about Jesus and His love for me were planting seeds of joy in my heart.

“But the fruit that comes from having the Holy Spirit in our lives is: love, joy, peace, not giving up, being kind, being good, having faith, 23 being gentle, and being the boss over our own desires. The Law is not against these things.” Galatians 5:22-23 NLV

Joy: to experience great pleasure or delight : REJOICE.

I can hear someone asking, “Kristi, do you expect me to be happy all the time? That’s just not possible.”

Let’s let the Bible answer that question.

“Be full of joy always because you belong to the Lord. Again I say, be full of joy!” Philippians 4:4 NLV

“Or the one who hates me will say, ‘I have power over him.’ And those who hate me will be happy when I am shaken. 5 But I have trusted in Your loving-kindness. My heart will be full of joy because You will save me. 6 I will sing to the Lord, because He has been good to me.” Psalm 134:4-6 NLV

“Our hope comes from God. May He fill you with joy and peace because of your trust in Him. May your hope grow stronger by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NLV

“ The angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. See! I bring you good news of great joy which is for all people. 11 Today, One Who saves from the punishment of sin has been born in the city of David. He is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:10-11 NLV

“You will show me the way of life. Being with You is to be full of joy. In Your right hand there is happiness forever.” Psalm 16:11 NLV

“ The Lord is my strength and my safe cover. My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped. So my heart is full of joy. I will thank Him with my song. ” Psalm 28:7 NLV

We can be joy-full when people hate us or when they treat us badly. Joy is not predicated on our outward circumstances. It is a condition of the heart.

“ For every tree is known by its own fruit. Men do not gather figs from thorns. They do not gather grapes from thistles. 45 Good comes from a good man because of the riches he has in his heart. Sin comes from a sinful man because of the sin he has in his heart. The mouth speaks of what the heart is full of.” Luke 6:44-45 NLV

When we plant seeds of joy because we belong to the Lord and dwell in His presence, our heart will produce joy no matter the circumstance.

I looked up the word joy in the NLV, New Living Version, this morning and found 444 verses on joy. That’s a lot of seed and it will produce a big harvest. Time to start planting.

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Let’s Grow Some Fruit

We’ve just finished almost 6 weeks of teaching on love and yet it’s going to be the first seed we’re going to plant in our garden.

“But the fruit that the Spirit produces in a person’s life is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these kinds of things.” Galatians 5:22-23 ERV

Before we look at planting seeds of love, I want us to examine what type of seed we are putting into the soil of our hearts.

Fruit trees are a perpetual seed meaning each season they produce fruit. Some seasons they will produce larger fruit but there will be less of it. Some seasons they produce a lot but the fruit is smaller. Perpetual seed.

Vegetable seeds are annuals. They grow for one season; produce a crop and they die. We don’t want to be producing annuals in our lives.

Then there are the perennials. Technically, fruit trees and bushes are perennials but most often that term refers to flowers that bloom all year round or that go dormant and come back year after year.

I like that the Scripture doesn’t say that the “vegetable” the Spirit produces is…, no, the Holy Spirit produces fruit in our lives. Big difference.

Love.

“So these three things continue: faith, hope, and love. And the greatest of these is love.” I Corinthians 13:13 ERV

Since the Bible names love as the first fruit and calls love the greatest characteristic we shall start there.

“Fill us with your love every morning. Let us be happy and enjoy our lives.” Psalm 90:14 ERV

“What I teach will give you a good, long life, and all will go well for you. 3 Don’t ever let love and loyalty leave you. Tie them around your neck, and write them on your heart. 4 Then God will be pleased and think well of you and so will everyone else.” Proverbs 3:2-4 ERV

“He said, “Teacher, which command in the law is the most important?”

37 Jesus answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and most important command. 39 And the second command is like the first: ‘Love your neighbor the same as you love yourself.’” Matthew 22:36-39 ERV

As I pointed out the other day, God’s word is the seed we are given to plant in our hearts.

“And what about the seed that fell on rocky ground? That is like the people who hear the teaching and quickly and gladly accept it. 21 But they do not let the teaching go deep into their lives. They keep it only a short time. As soon as trouble or persecution comes because of the teaching they accepted, they give up.

22 “And what about the seed that fell among the thorny weeds? That is like the people who hear the teaching but let worries about this life and love for money stop it from growing. So it does not produce a crop in their lives.” Matthew 13:20-22 ERV

The verses above are good seed and they WILL produce but they need to be protected. All the seeds of God’s word do.

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Proverbs 4:23 NLT

Now, let’s start planting and watch the seeds grow!

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Love Without End

I’m a big country music fan – real country. You know Randy Travis, Tracy Byrd, Barbara Mandrell, Travis Tritt, Lorrie Morgan, Vince Gill and George Strait.

This morning it was the words of a George Strait song that sneaked into my heart during my quiet time.

“They said, “Let me tell you a secret about a father’s love
A secret that my daddy said was just between us
You see, daddies don’t just love their children
Every now and then It’s a love without end, amen
It’s a love without end, amen”

Whether married or single, a couple or alone, this Valentine message comes to all of us from the Father above. We can never truly love or be loved until we experience His marvelous, wonderful, unconditional life-giving love. It’s a love without end!

The love we have, give and experience on our own is only a shadowed comparison of the love that He offers us through Christ.

“How great is God’s love for all who worship him? Greater than the distance between heaven and earth! 12 How far has the Lord taken our sins from us? Farther than the distance from east to west!” Psalm 103:11-12 CEV

“The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” Lamentations 3:22-23 NLT

Never ending, east-from-west kind of love. Stop and think about that. If you ever start to go east and continue in that direction, never turning back, you will never go west. You will always continue in an easterly direction, it will be a never-ending path. Each morning His love is new and fresh; as long as we experience morning, we will experience an outpouring of His love.

God’s love brought heaven to earth, something only God could do. Love came wrapped in the form of a man; a man named Jesus. Jesus was the embodiment of love, even on the cross His love spoke, asking forgiveness for those who were responsible for His crucifixion.

His love for us brought Him to death and that same love brings us to life!

“ But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. 21 So just as sin ruled over all people and brought them to death, now God’s wonderful grace rules instead, giving us right standing with God and resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5:8 & 21 NLT

“Give thanks to the God of heaven. His faithful love endures forever.” Psalm 136:26 NLT

I’m not sure if you’ll receive candy or flowers, a card or a gift today but one thing I know for certain is that we will all receive a love without end, Amen!

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Always On His Mind

Do you take time to sit quietly with your thoughts? That’s what I love most about mornings. The opportunity to sit and reflect on God’s goodness and His amazing love.

A number of Scriptures are filling my heart so I will share them with you.

“I look at the heavens you made with your hands.
    I see the moon and the stars you created.
4 And I wonder, “Why are people so important to you?
    Why do you even think about them?
Why do you care so much about humans?
    Why do you even notice them?”

5 But you made them almost like gods
    and crowned them with glory and honor.
6 You put them in charge of everything you made.
    You put everything under their control.
7 People rule over the sheep and cattle and all the wild animals.
8 They rule over the birds in the sky
    and the fish that swim in the sea.
9 Lord our Lord, your name is the most wonderful name in all the earth!” Psalm 8:3-9 ERV

Father, why do You even think about us? Why are we so important to You? Why is Your mind filled with thoughts of us?

He says, you are always on My mind!

“You know when I sit down and when I get up.
    You know my thoughts from far away.
3 You know where I go and where I lie down.
    You know everything I do.
4 Lord, you know what I want to say,
    even before the words leave my mouth.
5 You are all around me—in front of me and behind me.
    I feel your hand on my shoulder.
6 I am amazed at what you know;
    it is too much for me to understand.
7 Your Spirit is everywhere I go.
    I cannot escape your presence.” Psalm 139:2-7 ERV

Our heavenly Father knows our every step, every time we stand up or sit down. He knows when we stumble, and He is here to pick us up and make our steps secure once again. His mind is filled with thoughts of us.

“And why do you worry about clothes? Look at the wildflowers in the field. See how they grow. They don’t work or make clothes for themselves. 29 But I tell you that even Solomon, the great and rich king, was not dressed as beautifully as one of these flowers. 30 If God makes what grows in the field so beautiful, what do you think he will do for you? It’s just grass—one day it’s alive, and the next day someone throws it into a fire. But God cares enough to make it beautiful. Surely he will do much more for you. Your faith is so small!

31 “Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ 32 That’s what those people who don’t know God are always thinking about. Don’t worry, because your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things.” Matthew 6:28-32 ERV

Our Father who created all the world with its splendor and beauty cares more for us than anything else in His creation. Don’t worry, He knows everything we need.

He is mindful of our needs!

“ Yes, God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him would not be lost but have eternal life.” John 3:16 ERV

From the beginning of time, our heavenly Father and Lord of creation, has had one thing on His mind – His love for us.

We are always on His mind!

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Wrapped in Love

I have a big basket of knitted blankets in the living room. When the grandkids come they each want their own blanket. There’s just something about being wrapped up, all snug as a bug in a rug.

There are two fleece blankets in that basket, not homemade, but given to me by two dear friends and each time I snuggle in beneath them, I feel the love that their friendship has blessed me with through the years.

Wrapped in love!

As I read God’s word each morning. it gives me a feeling of peace, strength, security and love. Oh my…it’s much greater, so much greater, that snuggling in those blankets, but that warmth gives you a tangible example of how God’s word touches my life.

“Lord, your faithful love reaches to the sky. Your faithfulness is as high as the clouds. 6 Your goodness is higher than the highest mountains. Your fairness is deeper than the deepest ocean. Lord, you protect people and animals. 7 Nothing is more precious than your loving kindness. All people can find protection close to you. 8 They get strength from all the good things in your house. You let them drink from your wonderful river.9 The fountain of life flows from you. Your light lets us see light .10 Continue to love those who really know you, and do good to those who are true to you.” Psalm 36:5-10 ERV

Love, faithfulness, goodness, protection, loving kindness, strength – all these words and so much more are a description of the Father’s love for us!

“Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. ” I Peter 4:8 NLT

Christ covered our sins with His death on the cross. The Apostle Paul says they were blotted out – the edict containing all our sins and failures, was saturated with the blood of Christ until the handwriting against us was no longer visible.

Our sins were covered by His love! And not just our sins but the sins of the whole world!

“ He paid for our sins with His own blood. He did not pay for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.” I John 2:2 NLV

I hope that you will sense God’s loving arms wrapped around you and that you are consciously aware of His faithfulness, goodness, loving kindness and strength.

May you start each day wrapped in love!


    

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Victory!

This afternoon millions of people are going to be glued to their televisions waiting for victory. Who will be declared the Super Bowl champion?

Of far greater importance is the billions of people around the world, throughout the generations, who have searched for and gained victory in life. I remember in 1982 when I realized that I was called to be victorious in this life.

“Sin is what gives death its sting, and the Law is the power behind sin. 57 But thank God for letting our Lord Jesus Christ give us the victory! 58 My dear friends, stand firm and don’t be shaken. Always keep busy working for the Lord. You know that everything you do for him is worthwhile.” I Corinthians 15:56-58 CEV

Victory!

Before that, I let the circumstances of life defeat me more times than I can count. Instead of going from victory to victory, I went from embattled defeat to classic failure. “But thank God for letting our Lord Jesus Christ give us the victory!”

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary this is victory:

  1. the overcoming of an enemy or antagonist
  2. achievement of mastery or success in a struggle or endeavor against odds or difficulties

Victory is ours in Christ. Just look at these verses.

“Help us defeat our enemies! No one else can rescue us. 12 You will give us victory and crush our enemies.” Psalm 60:11-12 CEV

“I have a lot of enemies, Lord. Many fight against 2 me and say, ‘God won’t rescue you!’ 3 But you are my shield, and you give me victory and great honor.” Psalm 3:1-3 CEV

There have been times since 1982 when I have let my guard down and gone through defeat. Having walked through some pretty tough battles that I thought I could handle on my own – without His help or strength, I failed miserably. The defeats were crushing, I like victory better.

“ In everything we have won more than a victory because of Christ who loves us. 38 I am sure that nothing can separate us from God’s love—not life or death, not angels or spirits, not the present or the future, 39 and not powers above or powers below. Nothing in all creation can separate us from God’s love for us in Christ Jesus our Lord!” Romans 8:37-39 CEV

“We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow. 4 Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory. 5 No one can defeat the world without having faith in Jesus as the Son of God.” I John 5:3-5 CEV

The players on the field today have trained hard. They’ve done the drills, they’ve been committed to training, they’ve been disciplined, and they know the play book. God has given us a play book and it’s not hard to follow.

The captain of our team knows all the winning plays and leads us to victory.

“But thanks be to God, who always leads us in victory through Christ. God uses us to spread his knowledge everywhere like a sweet-smelling perfume.” II Corinthians 2:14 ERV

Today I will sign off the same way I sign most of my letters, Victorious in Him! Because of Christ we are victorious, let’s celebrate the victory!

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Love Divine

This morning, once again, my heart is focusing on the love of the Father and my love for Him. It was then I read this Psalm once again.

The heart of the psalmist is so open to expressing his love for his God. This kind of adoration comes from daily fellowship and deep devotion.

“I love you, Lord!
    You answered my prayers.
2 You paid attention to me,
and so I will pray to you
    as long as I live.
3 Death attacked from all sides,
and I was captured
    by its painful chains.
But when I was really hurting,
4 I prayed and said, “Lord,
    please don’t let me die!”

5 You are kind, Lord,
    so good and merciful.
6 You protect ordinary people,
and when I was helpless,
    you saved me
7 and treated me so kindly
that I don’t need
    to worry anymore.

8 You, Lord, have saved
    my life from death,
    my eyes from tears,
    my feet from stumbling.
9 Now I will walk at your side
    in this land of the living.
10 I was faithful to you
    when I was suffering,
11 though in my confusion I said,
    “I can’t trust anyone!”

12 What must I give you, Lord,
    for being so good to me?
13 I will pour out an offering
    of wine to you,
and I will pray in your name
because you
    have saved me.
14 I will keep my promise to you
    when your people meet.
15 You are deeply concerned
when one of your loyal people
    faces death.

16 I worship you, Lord,
    just as my mother did,
and you have rescued me
    from the chains of death.
17 I will offer you a sacrifice
to show how grateful I am,
    and I will pray.
18 I will keep my promise to you
    when your people
19 gather at your temple
in Jerusalem.
    Shout praises to the Lord!” Psalm 116 CEV

Divine love – how rich, how amazing!

As I was about to finish up with this writing this morning, the words of a song came to mind. It’s the fifth stanza of a hymn written by Isaac Watt in 1707, When I Surveyed the Wondrous Cross. It goes like this:

“Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.”

Join me in offering this Valentine to the Lord. Let’s give Him our soul, our life – our all!

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Forever & Always

My mind is filled with absolutes this morning. Do you know what I mean? Words like forever, never, always, everyone, only – these are absolutes. When using them to describe something or someone there can be no variation, no deviation, no substitute.

Sunday afternoon Dave and I watched a movie with absolutes. It’s one I’ve seen before, and I always come away from it with the same thing – an absolute. In fact, I think Dave may have tired of me saying, “Wait for it, just wait for it”.

“This is my word… and, as such, is beyond contestation.” spoken by Prince Edward in the movie, “A Knight’s Tale”.

Chaucer wrote a story, one of the Canterbury Tales, about a young man from humble means who lived with a dream of changing the stars, of changing his destiny. He took on the identity of a fictious character and fought hard to prove himself to be a royal. At the end of the story his charade is revealed, and people turn on him. All but one.

Prince Edward comes to his defense and proclaims, “He may appear to be of humble origins, but my personal historians have discovered that he is descendent from an ancient royal line.” And then Prince Edward has William take a knee and says this, “By the power vested in me by my father, King Edward, and by all the witnesses here, I dub thee Sir William.”

It’s a simple story but for me it’s an example of what the power of God does in changing our lives; we go from common sinners to heirs and joint heirs with Christ.

“ The Spirit that we received is not a spirit that makes us slaves again and causes us to fear. The Spirit that we have makes us God’s chosen children. And with that Spirit we cry out, ‘Abba, Father.’” Romans 8:15 ERV

What God speaks over us is beyond contestation. With God there is no variableness. We are His chosen children, adopted into His family.

“Every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father who created all the lights in the heavens. He is always the same and never makes dark shadows by changing.” James 1:17 CEV

“ Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” Hebrews 13:8 CEV

“But you are God’s chosen and special people. You are a group of royal priests and a holy nation. God has brought you out of darkness into his marvelous light. Now you must tell all the wonderful things he has done. The Scriptures say, 10 ‘Once you were nobody. Now you are God’s people. At one time no one had mercy on you. Now God has treated you with kindness.” I Peter 2:9-10 CEV

“All who call out to the Lord will be saved.” Romans 10:13 CEV

“Your kingdom will never end, and you will rule forever. Our Lord, you keep your word and do everything you say.” Psalm 145:13 CEV

Absolutes! All, never, forever, always. God’s word spoken over us is beyond contestation – we are part of a royal family. We are sons and daughters of the King of Kings!

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Think On This

I wonder how often we overlook the important because we are focused on minute details.

Sometimes we allow the “little” things to block us from what truly matters. I heard a Bible teacher comment on this verse in Philippians and it gave me a greater perspective of what my daily mindset should be.

“Christian brothers, keep your minds thinking about whatever is true, whatever is respected, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever can be loved, and whatever is well thought of. If there is anything good and worth giving thanks for, think about these things.” Philippians 4:8 NLV

Thinking on what is good, pure, lovely, true and worthy of respect will stop us from jumping to wrong conclusions. When we deal with others we should be slow to take offense. It’s possible that the other person has just had a very bad day and they didn’t mean to be rude or critical. Think on what is good, loving and kind.

Let God’s love flow to them, showing them His compassion. Afterall, doesn’t God extend His loving-kindness to us even when we are at our worst.

“The Lord’s kindness never fails! If he had not been merciful, we would have been destroyed. 23 The Lord can always be trusted to show mercy each morning. 24 Deep in my heart I say, ‘The Lord is all I need; I can depend on him!'” Lamentations 3:22-24 CEV

Each day is filled with challenges but we have God’s example and His strength to handle them in a way that brings God glory.

I want you to stop and think about the most difficult person you have ever encountered. Now, with their picture in your mind think about God’s love.

“Do not trouble yourself because of sinful men. Do not want to be like those who do wrong. 2 For they will soon dry up like the grass. Like the green plant they will soon die. 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good. So you will live in the land and will be fed. 4 Be happy in the Lord. And He will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Give your way over to the Lord. Trust in Him also. And He will do it. 6 He will make your being right and good show as the light, and your wise actions as the noon day.” Psalm 37:1-6 NLV

Don’t fret, trust God, do good, be happy. Think on these things and let God handle the rest!

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