Marching Forth!

" In that day this song will be sung in the land of Judah: "We have a strong city; God will appoint salvation for walls and bulwarks. 2 Open the gates, that the righteous nation which keeps the truth may enter in. 3 You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. 4 Trust in the LORD forever, for in YAH , the LORD , is everlasting strength ." Isaiah 26:1-4 Verse 4 has been rattling around in my mind this morning.  We should trust in God forever because in the LORD is everlasting strength.  I was never the strongest of my peers, and as I have grown older my strength has lessened.  God's strength, however, remains complete and beyond reckoning forever.  God's great love, His power, and sovereignty offers perfect peace to all who trust in Him. Students of the Bible will notice this chapter begins with, "In that day..." meaning the thought continues from the previous portion of scripture.  It s...

I enjoy reading the Psalms, songs bursting with praise to the LORD.  Four times in Psalm 107 (verse 8, 15, 21, 31) the psalmist exclaims, " Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men !"  Packed within these songs of worship and thanksgiving are references to Jesus Christ and things He would fulfill.  The Saviour of the world told His disciples after His resurrection in  Luke 24:44 , " Then He said to them, " These are the words which I spoke to you while I was still with you, that all things must be fulfilled which were written in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms concerning Me ." Last night after reading  Psalm 107:23-30 the miraculous deeds of Jesus on the Sea of Galilee came to mind: " Those who go down to the sea in ships, who do business on great waters, 24  They see the works of the LORD , and His wonders in the deep. 25  For He commands and rais...

It is one thing to strap on a parachute and walk to a plane, but it is entirely different experience to jump out of the plane with the expectation of survival because of that parachute.  There is a time when the safety demonstrations are over, the consent forms have been signed, the equipment inspected and fitted, and it is "go time."  I do not believe a skydiver would jump out of the plane who is not convinced the odds of survival are high, but it requires a degree of faith in your training and equipment to do so. It can take a life or death decision for people out of desperation to trust God.  Similar to couch potatoes avoiding physical exercise, the tendency of people is the desire to avoid needing to trust God.  We seek out easy and quick options to overcome obstacles or anything that offers a guarantee of success.  We are ever seeking to reduce risk, limit liability, and make life carefree.  But everyone living faces the necessity of dying, and eve...

Man was created in the image of God but let us never assume He is like us.  Being all-knowing and all-powerful and without sin God is shockingly different to us in every regard.  Psalm 50:21 shows man can presumptuously think erroneously about God because He says, " These things you have done, and I kept silent; you thought that I was altogether like you; but I will rebuke you, and set them in order before your eyes ."  The God who gave us freedom to choose always employs His will to do righteously.  Our thoughts and emotions can be so hardwired into our flesh we don't consider that God cares how we feel but doesn't feel like we do. As I mulled over this concept, I came to the conclusion God does not experience what we call "disappointment."  We are disappointed when our expectations are unmet, yet this cannot be the case for a Being who knows all things before they occur, the One who speaks and it is exactly as He said.  A couple weeks back I d...