Posts Tagged ‘ God ’
Bow your heavens, O Lord, and come down! Touch the mountains so that they smoke!
Psalm 144:5, ESV
We come together to remind each other of God’s promises and covenants, especially that God came to us to redeem us from sin.
O Lord, what is man that you regard him, or the son of man that you think of him? Man is like a breath; his days are like a passing shadow.
Psalm 144:3-4, ESV
Looking at our world, it’s easy to see humans are relatively insignificant and horrible to each other. Therefore, we gather together in Christ to remind each other that the Creator loves us, saves us, and lifts us up by His Spirit.
Teach me to do your will, for you are my God! Let your good Spirit lead me on level ground!
Psalm 143:10, ESV
It is not natural for us to want to do God’s will, so we meet regularly with fellow believers – those empowered by Christ’s Holy Spirit – to encourage each other to lovingly obey Him.
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Psalm 143:8, ESV
We need reminders of God’s love and faithfulness, and this is why we gather together as the Church, to lift each other up to our Savior.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.”
Matthew 5:6, ESV
Righteousness is not our default but rather selfishness. When the Holy Spirit helps us override our natural desires to seek Christ, we find that God is what our souls truly craved all along, and He gives of Himself more than we can comprehend.
Here is a 9-year-old post that bears repeating.
Here is keeping it simple: I will just post a quick thought on a topic. Nothing else.
This week’s topic:
The Gospel
The Gospel is that God has a perfect standard that no person has ever been able to perfectly meet. We are all guilty of breaking this standard, of sinning, and there was no way we could ever fix it. So God came in the person of Jesus of Nazareth to perfectly live by that standard, and then He died. His death brought about the forgiveness we needed for our sins. Three days later, He proved He is God by rising from the dead, and those who believe all of this have the hope of a future resurrection and eternity with Him!
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.
1 Corinthians 15:1-3, ESV
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
Romans 1:16
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Matthew 5:5, ESV
When we can admit that we can’t get through this life in our own power, that only in Christ can we fully thrive, then we find that we can be co-heirs with Him, living eternally on a restored Earth in glorified bodies like His, worshipping and truly living.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”
Matthew 5:4, ESV
As the saying goes, it’s okay to not be okay. In fact, we must realize our sinfulness and that we have wounded God. Not just wounded, but our sins held Jesus to the cross until He died.
When we mourn our sin and its destructive, killing power and offense to God, then we can find comfort and forgiveness in the resurrected Savior.
“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Matthew 5:3, ESV
We must do the difficult thing of admitting we are wretched sinners to a holy God then we will find ourselves lamenting our condition. This is when we are free to receive God’s grace and forgiveness in Christ and find the full eternal freedom He offers.
I sought the Lord, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
Psalm 34:4-5, ESV
Our fear darkens our outlook on life and connection with God, and when we can admit our need for help, He puts His light in us and shows us hope and grace.
a simple man of God 