Singing His Praises

“But I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.” Psalm 59:16

What a blessed time we have just come through as we focused on the miraculous birth of Immanuel (God with us!). Now on the wave of that beautiful time I want to encourage you to add something to the daily time you spend with the Lord. Let’s make good use of Youtube by finding good playlists for Scripturally accurate music like Sovereign Grace and the Gettys to listen to and sing with as a deeping part of your personal worship. Let the words of these songs sink deep into your soul and set the tone for your heart during the remainder of the day. May 2024 be our closest walk yet with the Lord.

Also, when we begin our Thursday morning Bible study January 11th we will be digging into the book of Job for a good look at dealing with difficulty in our lives in a Godly way. You can order your book on Amazon–”Job-the Question of Pain and Suffering” by John MacArthur. If you do not have access to Amazon, I have a couple of extra books that you can get from me. Plan to have the first lesson done for our class that begins on the 11th.

May God be our focus and our source of joy in 2024.

A Blessed Christmas to You

Luke 2:8 And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch   over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 

As we approach two of the most beautiful days of the year may our hearts truly be focused on the miraculous human birth of our Savior and our God. Think about the words of the angel to the shepherds when he said, “I bring you good news of great joy.” In checking out the two words “great joy” I found some depth we might not think of as we look at it casually. Strong’s Concordance defines “great” as “Large, great, in the widest sense.”  Then as I looked up “joy” I found “cheerfulness, i.e. Calm delight.” So we are looking at the widest sense possible of cheerfulness and calm delight. Oh may these be the words that describe our souls as we contemplate the amazing birth of our Savior.

Undivided Adoration

“Do you love Me more than these?” John 21:15

John Piper uses the phrase “a God saturated life.” In thinking about this concept over the past few years I have been challenged in my own life to make this more of a reality. Many influences around us would discourage us from pursuing such a life, but, in reality the most flourishing existence is only found here. When God gave us the first commandment in it’s various forms throughout the Bible, His purpose was absolutely His glory, but this has a natural result in our good.

This Thursday morning as we discuss the lives of several Biblical characters we will see the contrasts of lives lived wholeheartedly for God and those that have a divided attention. Plan to join us as Peggy Porter leads our group this week and be prepared to discuss Chapter 2.