My Hope!

O Lord, you alone are my hope. I've trusted you, O LORD, from childhood. Psalm 71:5

Let all that I am wait quietly before God, for my hope is in him.  Psalm 62:5

David, a man after God’s heart, was jealous. He could not understand why people who don’t love God prosper while those who honor God were facing hardship, and David said, “When I thought about this it was too painful for me.” Think about it for a second, does it make sense to you that people who have no sense of love, dedication or commitment, those who make fun of you for going to church, or for waiting on God to meet that special someone, to get the perfect job, and to buy your first home, those people are married, or switching girlfriends/boyfriends on a regular basis. They own the apartment you are renting and unable to pay for. They enjoy excellent health, while you have been dealing with various health challenges. It just doesn't seem fair, does it? David says, “They are blessed, they have more than their heart can wish” David continues, “I just can’t take it.” And God says, “You are looking at them at the wrong time. You are looking at them in the morning. It’s morning in their lives. Like in nature in the morning the flowers bloom, but when the hot sun starts beating down, they wither and die.”

Friend, there is no need to be jealous, David realized that and he saw the light later on and he admitted in Psalm 73. One day, you too, will come to the sunrise of your life. Every moment, every sacrifice, and all challenges are bringing you closer to that sunrise. What good is money? What good is power? What good is a great relationship? What good is any of it when the sun goes down?  What we hope for apart from God can be wonderful, positive and life but what if it doesn't come to pass?  What if we never get it? What do we do then? Do we go crazy? You see, hope in God never disappoint. Friend, you should focus on Christ. He went to prepare a place for you. If you think those who don’t love the Lord are having a great time now, you should see what the righteous are going to enjoy in heaven. 

There are people who rejected Christ and yet are still enjoying His mercy and goodness but there will be a time when it will all come to an end. They will know no more mercy and grace. They will know the wrath of God, while we enjoy His love. What else do you need when you have Jesus? You have His peace (financial, marital). When you have Jesus, you have someone to love you unconditionally (will never leave you), you have someone to own you (handle all your challenges). When you have Jesus, you have total acceptance. Your days of getting rejected are for ever gone, you now have acceptance. When you have Jesus, you have someone who will be able to find you in the midst of your darkest hour; in your deepest loneliness, you will have someone to comfort you. Psalm 23:3 says, when you have God, you have someone to restore your soul. Glory! The hurt, pain, hardship, rejection, loneliness, are all temporary. 

Friend, don’t worry that you haven’t come across all that is in store for you. The joy of the fact that you are a child of God should be present in your life. That joy should remain in you until the appointed day when you are with your savior face to face. Now the world may not know it, but you have something that can’t be taken away. You have a seat in the kingdom of God, and if you are in the middle of a storm right now, don’t worry. You are not alone; Psalm 23: 4 assures us that He is with us. Those who have God have it all, and the best is yet to come. 

"No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame" (Psalm 25:3)

Praise the Lord!

Psalm 35

1        Contend, Lord, with those who contend with me;

    fight against those who fight against me.
2 Take up shield and armor;
    arise and come to my aid.
3 Brandish spear and javelin[a]
    against those who pursue me.
Say to me,
    “I am your salvation.”

4 May those who seek my life
    be disgraced and put to shame;
may those who plot my ruin
    be turned back in dismay.
5 May they be like chaff before the wind,
    with the angel of the Lord driving them away;
6 may their path be dark and slippery,
    with the angel of the Lord pursuing them.

7 Since they hid their net for me without cause
    and without cause dug a pit for me,
8 may ruin overtake them by surprise—
    may the net they hid entangle them,
    may they fall into the pit, to their ruin.
9 Then my soul will rejoice in the Lord
    and delight in his salvation.
10 My whole being will exclaim,
    “Who is like you, Lord?
You rescue the poor from those too strong for them,
    the poor and needy from those who rob them.”

11 Ruthless witnesses come forward;
    they question me on things I know nothing about.
12 They repay me evil for good
    and leave me like one bereaved.
13 Yet when they were ill, I put on sackcloth
    and humbled myself with fasting.
When my prayers returned to me unanswered,
14     I went about mourning
    as though for my friend or brother.
I bowed my head in grief
    as though weeping for my mother.
15 But when I stumbled, they gathered in glee;
    assailants gathered against me without my knowledge.
    They slandered me without ceasing.
16 Like the ungodly they maliciously mocked;[b]
    they gnashed their teeth at me.

17 How long, Lord, will you look on?
    Rescue me from their ravages,
    my precious life from these lions.
18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly;
    among the throngs I will praise you.
19 Do not let those gloat over me
    who are my enemies without cause;
do not let those who hate me without reason
    maliciously wink the eye.
20 They do not speak peaceably,
    but devise false accusations
    against those who live quietly in the land.
21 They sneer at me and say, “Aha! Aha!
    With our own eyes we have seen it.”

22 Lord, you have seen this; do not be silent.
    Do not be far from me, Lord.
23 Awake, and rise to my defense!
    Contend for me, my God and Lord.
24 Vindicate me in your righteousness, Lord my God;
    do not let them gloat over me.
25 Do not let them think, “Aha, just what we wanted!”
    or say, “We have swallowed him up.”

26 May all who gloat over my distress
    be put to shame and confusion;
may all who exalt themselves over me
    be clothed with shame and disgrace.
27 May those who delight in my vindication
    shout for joy and gladness;
may they always say, “The Lord be exalted,
    who delights in the well-being of his servant.”

28 My tongue will proclaim your righteousness,
    your praises all day long.

Psalm 89

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

2 For I have said, Mercy shall be built up for ever: thy faithfulness shalt thou establish in the very heavens.

3 I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant,

4 Thy seed will I establish for ever, and build up thy throne to all generations. Selah.

5 And the heavens shall praise thy wonders, O Lord: thy faithfulness also in the congregation of the saints.

6 For who in the heaven can be compared unto the Lord? who among the sons of the mighty can be likened unto the Lord?

7 God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

8 O Lord God of hosts, who is a strong Lordlike unto thee? or to thy faithfulness round about thee?

9 Thou rulest the raging of the sea: when the waves thereof arise, thou stillest them.

10 Thou hast broken Rahab in pieces, as one that is slain; thou hast scattered thine enemies with thy strong arm.

11 The heavens are thine, the earth also is thine: as for the world and the fulness thereof, thou hast founded them.

12 The north and the south thou hast created them: Tabor and Hermon shall rejoice in thy name.

13 Thou hast a mighty arm: strong is thy hand, and high is thy right hand.

14 Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face.

15 Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance.

16 In thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in thy righteousness shall they be exalted.

17 For thou art the glory of their strength: and in thy favour our horn shall be exalted.

18 For the Lord is our defence; and the Holy One of Israel is our king.

19 Then thou spakest in vision to thy holy one, and saidst, I have laid help upon one that is mighty; I have exalted one chosen out of the people.

20 I have found David my servant; with my holy oil have I anointed him:

21 With whom my hand shall be established: mine arm also shall strengthen him.

22 The enemy shall not exact upon him; nor the son of wickedness afflict him.

23 And I will beat down his foes before his face, and plague them that hate him.

24 But my faithfulness and my mercy shall be with him: and in my name shall his horn be exalted.

25 I will set his hand also in the sea, and his right hand in the rivers.

26 He shall cry unto me, Thou art my father, my God, and the rock of my salvation.

27 Also I will make him my firstborn, higher than the kings of the earth.

28 My mercy will I keep for him for evermore, and my covenant shall stand fast with him.

29 His seed also will I make to endure for ever, and his throne as the days of heaven.

30 If his children forsake my law, and walk not in my judgments;

31 If they break my statutes, and keep not my commandments;

32 Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with stripes.

33 Nevertheless my lovingkindness will I not utterly take from him, nor suffer my faithfulness to fail.

34 My covenant will I not break, nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips.

35 Once have I sworn by my holiness that I will not lie unto David.

36 His seed shall endure for ever, and his throne as the sun before me.

37 It shall be established for ever as the moon, and as a faithful witness in heaven. Selah.

38 But thou hast cast off and abhorred, thou hast been wroth with thine anointed.

39 Thou hast made void the covenant of thy servant: thou hast profaned his crown by casting it to the ground.

40 Thou hast broken down all his hedges; thou hast brought his strong holds to ruin.

41 All that pass by the way spoil him: he is a reproach to his neighbours.

42 Thou hast set up the right hand of his adversaries; thou hast made all his enemies to rejoice.

43 Thou hast also turned the edge of his sword, and hast not made him to stand in the battle.

44 Thou hast made his glory to cease, and cast his throne down to the ground.

45 The days of his youth hast thou shortened: thou hast covered him with shame. Selah.

46 How long, Lord? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy wrath burn like fire?

47 Remember how short my time is: wherefore hast thou made all men in vain?

48 What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.

49 Lord, where are thy former lovingkindnesses, which thou swarest unto David in thy truth?

50 Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people;

ached, O Lord; wherewith they have reproached the footsteps of thine anointed.

52 Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen, and Amen.

Praise the Lord!

God Brings Peace!

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. John 14:27

How true is that! God does keep all His promises. Many years ago, I thought I would never experience peace again. After my mother died, I promised myself that I would never smile again. I made the decision to be miserable.  It is ironic how we are sometimes our own enemy! But, in the years since my mother's passing, I have smiled, and I have even  laughed. God has blessed our family in ways that I never thought possible. We now have peace. Thank God for His goodness, mercy and grace. God has a way of working with us through our hardship and pain and little by little restore the joy in our hearts. God is good. He does not give up on His children. His promises of peace, like all the others, is a promise we can rely on. God expects us to know that he keeps his promises, and can be trusted. You and I must believe that God can and will do what He says will do. Friend, God keeps his promises. It may have been two years or  twenty five years since the promise had been given, but at the appointed time the promise will be fulfilled. God can be relied upon, he can be trusted, and believed on, to do that which he has promised to do. The challenge comes with waiting. We simply do not like to wait. We want it all today and now.

We live in the "microwave era." We want immediate gratification of our wishes and desires. How hard is to wait? Very. Both prophets Isaiah and Malachi talked about promises of God, but the gap between the prophecy of Malachi and its fulfillment with the birth of John was more than four hundred years; whereas the prophecies of Isaiah and the birth of Jesus was about around eight hundred years. God fulfills his promises, and has always proven himself faithful in the past, and He will continue to be faithful. You can and should place your trust in Him. Times are really hard but we can trust God. He promises of peace; therefore, peace is ours.He promises to never leave us alone; therefore we are never alone. Whatever the challenge my dear friend, you can trust God. let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid, is a command. Live in peace. Have faith in God. Remains faithful no matter what comes your way and be blessed!

Father God, thank you for who you are, all you have done, and all you will do in my life. I praise you. I honor you. Amen. 

Praise the Lord!