Psalm 3:6 Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
There are times we may be tempted to ask, "Where's the goodness and mercy?"
The problem is that we often fail to recognize it. We are so trained to think that we must chase after what we call "good things", like a big screen television.
It is foreign for us to think about good things chasing after us. God has a conspiracy of beauty and love nipping at our heels, but our eyes aren't trained to see it in our lives. So often we miss it.
Where is the love, beauty, kindness, grace, and forgiveness that you are overlooking? Is it in a smile on a child's face or a hug? Is it a bright sunny day? Is it a memory of a wonderful moment in your life? Someone has said, "We traffic every day in overlooked blessings."
It is amazing how much better life gets when you start actively and purposefully looking for God's goodness and mercy in every experience. It will change your life.
The Father and the Son have always been in loving fellowship with one another. They never came into being at a point in time.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.
So Jesus existed before He was born in Bethlehem. "The Word was with God" proves that God is the Son, distinct from God the Father, and God the Holy Spirit.
When God said, "Let there be . . . " He created all things through Jesus Christ, the "Word".
John 1:4-6 In him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehended it not.
Believers should share this great biblical truth with the unbeliever so they can overcome the darkness of their sinful condition and come to the enlightment of spiritual understanding found only in Jesus Christ.
John 1:14 And the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
Growing up in Daddy's house, we had no books or magazines, few toys, and no Internet. When i was a teenager we got inside plumbing and a television.
I often got bored and looked for things to do. When the neighbor kids were outside, we put our "ball chasing dog" in the cellar and conjured up a ball game in the driveway. I played field position in the road.
We had necessities, but it was the upright piano in the living room that made me happy. Half the ivories were missing and it was out of tune, but it consumed hours and hours of my time. Along the way Daddy changed the dark wood to a streaky-like-beige finish.
All of us kids played chop sticks and most of us played more. My parents could only afford piano lessons for my oldest sister, Doris. Since I was child number ten, I taught myself to play and have been church pianist for many years.. Daddy played the piano and many stringed instruments by ear.
Thank you, Daddy for the piano. Thanks for taking us to church. Thanks for being a good father. Oh yes, thanks for giving us your music.
God never has to revise His Word or renege on a promise. His faithfulness is demonstrated repeatedly throughout the pages of scripture, such as: His promise to Abraham for a son, providing a substitute sacrifice for Isaac, providing the promised land, and providing a redeemer for all mankind.
Joshua 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed; for The Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
We don't have to be afraid or lose courage. God has proven Himself to be all-powerful, all wise, and ever faithful.
No one knows ahead of time the Father's plan, but we walk by faith and can be certain that God knows best.
Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou has been, Thou forever will be.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Great is Thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided.
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord unto me.
Ronnie C. Freeman, Jr.
If Christianity were reduced to its most basic element, that element would have to be faith.
Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that he is a rewarder of them that deligently seek Him.
It is by faith that we experience God, that we accept His Son Jesus Christ, and that we are justified before God. It is by faith that we live by the directives of God's Word and Spirit.
For faith to be beneficial it must be personal. It must grow and gradually develop to perfection.
The perfecting of faith is a daily journey toward God. Fellowship of strong Christians, trials, temptations, prayer, Christian virtues, and the Second Coming of Christ strengthen our faith along the journey.
Some days the journey will be easier than others. We can expect detours and roadblocks along the way. We must not allow these to cause us to quit our journey. We must use the means God has provided to help us perfect our faith.
Your love for God should be so great that it motivates you to aspire to live above this world's values and expectations, it's actions and attitudes.
1 John 4:16 And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and He that dweleth in love, dwelleth in God, and God in him.
The apostle Paul speaks of charity (the love of God) as a piece of clothing that brings everything together and makes it the driving, empowering, enabling force in our lives.
Colossians 3:12-14 Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering: Forbearing one another and forgiving one another . . . And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.
Attributes of a good father is not giving his children what he never had growing up, but giving them what he did have -- morality, manners, respect for authority, a strong work ethic, personal discipline, a love for God, a love for God's Word, and a love for our fellow man.
Ephesians 6:4 And ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of The Lord.
Dads are called to provide a proper nurturing environment where kids can grow up to love and serve Christ. Because fathers are not perfect, they need God's guidance to be a positive influence on their children.
Fathers can provoke their children to anger in a number of ways: overprotection, overindulgence, favoritism, unrealistic gods, discouragement, neglect, excessive discipline, etc.
My dad, Gene Watson, only had a fourth grade education, but he supported his family as a miner, filled our home with music, and took us to church. You see, by the time I came along (child #10), God had gloriously saved him. What a difference it made in my life.
TO ALL THE FATHERS, HAPPY FATHERS DAY!
