Author: njbc-editor

It is hard to understand all the suffering that goes on in our world. There is so much homelessness, hunger, and sickness; we see destruction of our cities and destruction of our families. There is unexplained violence in the workplace and in of all places, our churches, which should be places of safety and peace. We see acceptance of alternate lifestyles and the collapse of the morals our country was founded on. Some people might say it is God’s will that we should witness and suffer through these things, but He did not create us to suffer. These things are a consequence of mankind’s sin. Thankfully, God can bring us through these things and save us. We need to give Him praise for all the good in our lives. Joshua 1:9 says “Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whither-soever thou goest.” In the midst of the chaos, let’s draw our hope from the one who is in total control! Amen? God bless you today!

Would you be free from the burden of sin…..? Being set free from sin is an awesome reality that we, as followers of Jesus, get to experience. When the burden and strain of sin in our lives is taken away by the blood of Jesus it is a powerful testimony to the power He has in our lives. However, this freedom we enjoy cost Him his life, so we must guard it with determination and avoid yielding to the temptations we face daily. Galatians 5:1 tells us: “Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage.” God bless you as you stand firm in the faith!

Have you ever considered the human eye? What a marvelous thing it is; and oh the things it can do. It has the ability to determine color, depth, width; it can even zoom in and out! But in spite of our human visual capabilities, consider how mighty God’s eyes are and what He can see. He is omniscient! He can see everything at one time! Songs like “His Eye is on the Sparrow” have described his vision, there is even a nebulae named “The Eye of God” (you can Google that to see it’s magnificence). Psalm 15:3a says “The eyes of the Lord are in every place,” I sure am glad He has his eyes on me, how about you? God bless you today!

We all have memories: some good, some bad; but how long do those memories last? There are days when I can’t remember what I did yesterday! The bible is full of rememberings, snippets of things that happened long ago. We have the ability to remember all the things that have happened during our relationship with Christ: marriage to our spouse, birth of a baby, a new job, answered prayers and other little things that mean so much to us. But how can we remember things from years ago? Just as things are written in the bible for us, we can “journal” our thoughts on paper, creating a written record of “reminders” of God’s goodness and faithfulness. David wrote in Psalm 143:5 – “I remember the days of old; I meditate on all thy works: I muse on the work of thy hands.” Just as David remembered, we can too. Give it a try and create lasting memories to share! God bless you today.

Was there ever been a time when you thought there was no hope, that you just couldn’t make it through to the other side of a problem? Just because a situation seems hopeless, it doesn’t mean that we should be without hope, especially when we have so much to hope for! If we put our hope in ourselves or in others we will probably fail at some point, but we can place our hope in God….. Romans 15:13 tells us about hope: “Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.” We have eternal hope because of Him. I pray that your day is filled with the power of that kind of hope. God bless you!

One way to encourage others is to send them a note, card, or letter. There is nothing better than getting kind words from a friend or loved one. When we open the bible that is just what we are receiving; a handwritten message from heaven, sometimes when we need it the most. Isaiah 55:12 tell us “For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.” Try reading his word every day and receive your personal note of encouragement from our heavenly Father. May God bless you through His word today!

Do you make checklists for shopping, chores, packing, etc.? Do we prepare for our daily lives? Do we have everything we need? The truth is: because we know Christ, God has given us the perfect checklist – everything we will ever need to complete our daily walk with Him! Galatians 5:22-23 tells us: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.” We need to have those things on our checklist, a checklist where He has already marked the boxes for us. With a checklist like His, how much more prepared could we be, amen?

Every day we are faced with some sort of temptation. When this happens we experience a battle between good and evil in our hearts and minds. We want to please God, but there is a strong urge to give in to our earthly desires to do what is wrong. When we encounter these temptations in our lives, we can pray for God to deliver us from this battle. We should acknowledge to Him that we are weak and feel like we are going to stumble. Our God is sufficient to give us the strength to resist evil and do good! 1 Corinthians 10:13 says “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.” I am praying that He will sustain you in every temptation. God bless you today!

Most of us can quote the Lord’s Prayer; it is the example that Jesus gave to the disciples about how to pray in Matthew 6:9-13. The Lord’s Prayer has seven petitions and in scripture the number seven often symbolizes completion or perfection. It is a complete and perfect example of how to pray to our God. It begins with “Our Father, who art in Heaven” affirming that He is indeed, our celestial Father. It is followed by the seven petitions: It starts with “Hallowed be thy name,” which means that God is holy. 1 Samuel 2:2 says “There is none holy as the Lord: For there is none beside thee: Neither is there any rock like our God.” When we acknowledge that He is holy we are recognizing that He is to be praised above all other things. There are six more petitions in the Lord’s Prayer; I encourage you to read them in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke (11:1-4). I hope you’ll remember His example as you pray; God bless you!

Each of us looks to the future when we will be with our King. We wait with hope, trusting in the word of God that promises us eternal life if we put our faith in the saving grace of Jesus Christ. We wait expectantly for His return; some of us more expectantly than others, but all of us who believe are waiting for Him to split the skies with a trumpet and a shout. Psalm 130:5-6 says “I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning: I say, more than they that watch for the morning.” I look forward to the day we all will be gathered at his feet, worshipping him forever!