God’s amazing grace helps us live us day,
He leads our heart in what to do & say;
From the day He comes inside to abide,
He’s there with us, walking by our side!

God’s amazing grace is worth more than gold,
It gives peace of mind to our heart & soul;
We don’t understand all things taking place,
There’s nothing like God’s unending grace!

God’s amazing grace prompts us to do right,
Like Him, it’s with us every day and night;
It starts over as each new day begins,
Oh, how blessed we are, He’s living within!

God’s amazing grace with His special touch,
Knowing as we’re here, we need it so much;
He never leaves one deserted or alone,
It’s His sufficient grace helping us go on!

KI

“In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”1 Thessalonians 5:18

I’ve been thinking about gratitude a lot lately. What is it? When should we show it? What does God say about it?

Paul wrote the Thessalonians, “Give thanks in all circumstances”. Most read that verse and think it rather nice. So we slap a sloppy coat of thanksgiving on life and go about our day. In reality, most of us are thankful for very little.

Notice the Bible doesn’t command us to feel thankful in all circumstances. Instead it commands us to “give thanks in all circumstances.” When I begin to praise God in a difficult situation, even if I don’t feel like it, many times the scales fall from my eyes and I begin to see glimpses of His glory sprinkled on the black backdrop of the situation like diamonds on black velvet.

Sometimes I don’t see glory in tragedy, but I still can praise God because I know He is there.

Gratitude changes the lens through which we see the circumstances in our little slice of time. Thanksgiving changes our perspective despite broken dreams, broken relationships, tumultuous circumstances, and unfulfilled longings.

As you praise God for who He is and thank Him for what He’s done, your perspective of Him grows larger and your problems grow smaller. As a result, you will experience a deeper sense of intimacy with God as the emotional gap between what you know to be true and how you feel at the moment closes.

On many occasions in the Psalms, David complained about his circumstances (Psalms 42; 57; 62). But more often than not, about midway through David’s laments, he begins praising God for who He is and thanking God for what He’s done. And you know what happens? All of a sudden David starts feeling better! Life isn’t so bad after all! His problems grow smaller as his perspective of God grows larger, and he begins to see God’s glory shining through the situation.

Why is that? In the writing of one little Psalm, David shifted from depression to rejoicing. He didn’t wait until God changed his situation, solved his problem, or made him feel better before he began thanking Him.

When we stop complaining and grumbling and begin speaking God’s love language of gratitude, our perspective will change as well. We will begin seeing moments of sudden glory through the lens of praise and thanksgiving—glory moments that were there all along, but hidden from the grumbling eye.

Debbie Przybylski

“Rejoice evermore.¹⁷ Pray without ceasing.¹⁸ In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

It is not always easy to give thanks, but this is the very thing we must do in order to see God’s will accomplished in our lives. This is how we move into higher realms of faith for ourselves, for our city, and for our nation.

Thanksgiving has great power to bring joy and break the power of the enemy. Whenever you give thanks to God, despite the most difficult circumstances, the enemy loses a big battle in your life. When you give thanks in the midst of difficulty, you bring pleasure to God’s heart. He is looking for Christians who live in a realm of praise and thanksgiving where the enemy no longer has an ability to hold or manipulate that person. Satan is defeated when we have a thankful heart because thankfulness during difficulty is a sacrifice pleasing to God.

Are you thankful? Are you thankful for your present circumstances?  Are you thankful for your salvation, your friendships, and your job? Thankfulness is a key to your life. It is the key that turns your situation around because it changes you, your outlook, and your attitude. There is power in a thankful heart.

“By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually,
that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.”   Hebrews 13:15

Giving praise to the Lord is one of the best ways to express our thanks to God for His blessings and yet how many of us do it on a regular basis? Yes, we normally go through our routines of thanking God for our food before we eat, sometimes we even thank Him for the clothes we wear and praise Him for the sunshine. Around the Thanksgiving holiday we may even list out our blessings and reflect on what God has done, but to do we really “offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually” as our theme verse, Hebrews 13:15, states?

Continual doesn’t just mean once a year or even once a day for that matter. It implies that it is repeated without interruption. David said in Psalm 34:1, “…His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” He also said, “At midnight I will rise to give thanks unto thee because of thy righteous judgments.” (Psalm 119:62)

When’s the last time we found ourselves up at midnight thanking the Lord? Later on in that same psalm David says, “Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments.” Do we stop seven times a day to praise God? Do we even stop once or twice to praise Him?

Now that we know that we need to praise God continually, how do we do it? If you think that all praising God involves is sitting in a small group in a quiet place, whispering quiet praise songs–think again! Praising God is an active thing.

The Bible says the following about praise. “shout for joy” (Ps. 32:11) “O clap your hands” (Ps. 47:1) “sing” (Ps. 47:6) “make a loud noise” (Ps. 98:4) “lift up your hands” (Ps. 134:2) “with the sound of trumpet” (Ps. 150:3) “upon the loud cymbals” (150:5) “make a joyful noise” (Ps. 98:4) “rejoice” (Ps. 98:4) “with harp” (Ps. 33:2) We are not to keep praising God to ourselves. We are to “…make known his deeds among the people.” (Psalm 105:1) In other words if you receive a blessing–tell someone about it.

If we are going to develop a lifestyle of praise to God continually we need to put things in perspective. Realize who God is and we who are not. “Know ye that the Lord he is God: it is he that hath made us and not we ourselves; we are his people and the sheep of his pasture.” (Psalm 100:3,4) We need to recognize that all of the things we find in our blessing basket come from above.

Where Is Your Trust?

Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and whose hope is the Lord. —Jeremiah 17:7

Let’s be honest. Are we always able to trust ourselves in everything? Even the apostle Paul said emphatically about himself, “I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:27). He wouldn’t trust himself to do the right thing unless he kept his body under strict discipline.

Jeremiah reminds us that “the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9.) It is not possible for any of us to fathom the extent of the deceptions of our heart. How then can we ever trust ourselves or anyone else completely?

Jeremiah warned the last Judean kings against placing their trust in earthly kings (Jeremiah 17:5-6). But they continually sought help from Egypt. How foolish they were! They should have repented of their wickedness and returned to Almighty God for His help.

Where can we put our trust for help in difficult and uncertain times? God’s Word tells us that those who place their trust in God are like trees planted by the waters. Even in drought they will not cease to bear fruit (Jeremiah 17:7-8).

Let’s trust God to produce fruit in our lives.

— Albert Lee

God’s Unending Love

God’s unending love comes into our life,
The moment we ask Him to come inside;
He saves our soul & forgives all our sin,
Becoming our Guide and faithful Friend!

God’s unending love never goes away,
He lights our path, & shows us the Way;
He says Peace, be still to a raging storm,
He does so many things out of the norm!

God’s unending love gives our life so much,
There is nothing like the love in His touch;
He’s not like men, who get so perplexed,
God’s wisdom knows just what to do next!

God’s unending love is so sweet to know,
It will be there with us, wherever we go;
He saved us when we gave Him our trust,
His love then became a blanket for us!

By Ricky Smith

I must confess a few weeks ago, I was not sleeping well and consumed with worry and fear. Due to some stressful and hard conversations that were necessary and productive, I had great fear over what could possibly happen, and I operated out of fear rather than out of faith in the sovereignty of God. Can you relate?

In those moments, my actions do not reflect the sincerity of my faith. I’m not beating myself up but observing an area of my life where I must grow to walk more by faith and not by sight. My failures expose opportunities to grow, and for that, I am thankful. 

When we are exposed to sin or weak faith, what do we do? Some may grind it out more and work harder.  Some may get swept away by fear and are unable to function. A proper response would be to acknowledge God’s design and to turn from the pattern that leads to our failure.  It is more than simply saying “stop it” to my worry and fear. It is more of growing in self-awareness to see my tendencies and rely on the Spirit to guide me before I am swept away by the current of fear. 

It also requires a humble heart of repentance to acknowledge that God does not desire me to walk in fear and failure, but I clearly have demonstrated what happens when I do this on my own! Humble repentance is required for genuine change. 

We see this demonstrated in the response of Nineveh to the message of Jonah. They repented and relented to a sovereign God who ultimately could forgive or punish. It is only the mercy of God and His will that determines the outcome, and we must humble ourselves. Think of the power in Micah 6:8 –  “He has shown you, O man, what is good and what the Lord requires of you. Do justice. Love mercy, and walk humbly with your God”. 

By Unknown

We have ended our time in Exodus, and it is honestly bittersweet. I have enjoyed all that we have learned. Finally, we have reached the climax of this story in Exodus. The cloud, which represents God’s presence and glory, fills the Tabernacle, and the Lord has accomplished his task, that He may dwell with His people. 

While reading, it was interesting that Moses could not enter the Tabernacle. Was Moses not in the presence of the Lord on Mt. Sinai? Was it because it was only a glimpse of His glory? Back in Exodus 33:20, The LORD gives us our answer, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.” Moses, nor any man, could handle the weight of the Glory of God. The Hebrew word for glory is kavod, which means heaviness or weight. God’s glory is a heavy, tangible presence. 

I enjoy snorkeling and exploring the ocean. There is a lot I can see in the shallow parts of the water. However, if I want to experience the beauty of the ocean, I would need a specialized/pressurized suit that would allow me to endure the pressure or weight of the ocean water. 

Moses and the people of Israel could not handle the weight of the Glory of God. Therefore, for us to experience the fullness of God in his glorious splendor, we must have a special/ pressure-fitting “suit” that will allow us to endure the pressure of His glory. 

You and I hope that Jesus has come so that we may have life and life abundantly. Jesus, the embodiment of God’s presence and glory, stepped down from heaven, lived among us, died for us, and paid the penalty for our sins. Thus, he made way for us to be able to stand in the presence of God’s glory and be able to endure the weight. There will be a day when Jesus returns, and there will be a new heaven and earth. We will receive new bodies that can endure the weight of God’s glory forever. Oh, the day when we can stand in His presence and see Him face to face. Until that day, we can demonstrate God’s presence and glory to a lost and dying world. 

Safe In The Storm
Safe in the storm, our life will always be,
God is our Shelter, supplying every need;
He’s the Refuge where we can run to hide,
We’re very blessed, that in Him, we abide!

Safe in the storm, within God’s loving hand,
His wisdom still has all things in command;
Everything He does according to His will,
To any storm, He’ll still say, Peace, be still!

Safe in the storm, He’s our solid ground,
In Him, is peace & love that abounds;
He’s waiting for us to cry out in prayer,
Then He embraces us with loving care!

Safe in the storm, there’s no need to fret,
Trust fully in God, there is no regret;
He watches over us in each step we take,
His loving breath blows the bad storm away!

KI