What do you think of when you hear the word mercy? Mercy is requested when we need forgiveness to avoid punishment and desired when we need relief from pain and suffering. It is often thought of as compassion. Years ago, I learned the following definition of God’s grace and mercy… Grace = God giving me…
There was a time in my life when I would read the first verse of Psalm 27… The Lord is my light and my salvation—so why should I be afraid? Psalm 27:1 And I could quickly reply, “let me count the ways!” My list of concerns, fueled by the enemy’s whispers of potential problems, convinced me that…
Can followers of Jesus stop sinning? We’re taking a closer look at sin, obedience, and forgiveness. Come on over and join the conversation.
Baseball legend Yogi Berra was known for crazy sayings that came to be known as “Berra-isms.” One of his more famous sayings is… “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” But which one? How do you know which road to take? David evidently had a decision to make. He had come…
God told Job… “Everything under heaven belongs to me.” Job 41:11b And David prayed His words back to Him… The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to Him. Psalm 24:1 Then he wondered if God is sovereign and everything belongs to Him… The answer… The one who has…
Psalm 23 was my mom’s favorite. Most nights, she included it as part of her evening prayers. She said praying those words gave her the peace she needed to relax and rest. There is peace in our Shepherd’s presence. Growing up, my family lived much of life at Our Shepherd Church. I used to say…
The Bible from beginning to end points to Jesus. The coming Savior was promised in Genesis and details about His life, death, and resurrection were prophesied throughout the Old Testament. Based on eyewitness Biblical accounts, scholars report that the Gospel accounts tell us that Jesus fulfilled more than 300 of those Old Testament prophecies and…
Psalm 21 is a bookend of Psalm 20. Psalm 20 was a prayer for King David and his army as they prepared to go to battle. Psalm 21 is a prayer of thanksgiving for God’s strength and protection . . . and for giving them victory. As I read these words today, I wondered how…
Is it hard for you to ask for prayer? Maybe you don’t want to appear weak or needy. Maybe you don’t want people to know your private struggles. Or maybe you aren’t ready to face the problem yourself. Psalm 20 is often called . . . “David’s Psalm” or “A Prayer for the King.” It…
Creation points to the Creator. It is God’s will for all He has made. The heavens declare the glory of God Psalm 19:1a I sometimes wonder why David began Psalm 19 by telling us to “look up!” Look at God’s display in the heavens. Without a sound, the sun, moon, and stars proclaim the majesty…
Do you ever feel like you’re just incapable of handling the challenge in front of you? Maybe you’re at a place in your life where you’ve looked to the heavens and said, “God this is too hard. I can’t do this!” I had a time like that years ago. Our lives were turned upside down…
Do you feel like we live in a just and fair world? Do you feel like people are treated fairly? Are you crying out for justice? David began Psalm 17:1 with these words… O Lord, hear my plea for justice. Listen to my cry for help. Psalm 17:1 Take a scroll through social media or listen to…
Psalm 16 reminded me of a story… There was once a king who offered a prize to the artist who could paint the best picture of peace. Many artists tried. The king looked at all the pictures. After much deliberation, he was down to the last two. One picture was of a calm lake perfectly…
The Bible says we need to live a blameless life to approach God in worship and praise, and Jesus is the only way we can be made blameless to approach Holy God.
Many of us want to see the world in shades of gray . . . a blending of beliefs and ideas presented as perfectly acceptable truth. But there is no simply acceptable truth. There is only truth or lie, fact or fiction, right or wrong. David believed that God and His Word are the absolute…
How much hope do you have? Let me ask it another way… How often does fear overwhelm you? Believe me, I understand your struggle because I spent years living with oppressive fear and anxiety. All it took was a “what if” whisper for me to spend hours trapped in a circle of fretful thoughts. But…
Do you ever look around and wonder . . . “why would God allow this to happen”? Maybe it’s while you’re watching the news or after you’ve learned of a difficult diagnosis. Maybe it’s after a painful betrayal or a devastating loss. In Psalm 10, David wrote: O Lord, why do You stand so far away? Why…
Have you ever said… What do you mean when you use the expression “with all my heart”? Here are some of the meanings I found: 1) with sincerest feelings 2) with all your energy and enthusiasm 3) to be fully devoted 4) to make someone or something your greatest treasure. Psalm 9 begins with these…
Look up! Not just spiritually but physically. Why? Well, David says it like this… When I look at the night sky and see the work of Your fingers— the moon and the stars You set in place—what are mere mortals that You should think about them, human beings that You should care for them? Psalm 8:3–4 When…
Have you ever had someone spread lies about you? What did you do? We’re tempted to either loudly defend ourselves or quietly get revenge. But as you might expect, neither of those are the responses God wants from us. Psalm 7 was written when David was dealing with the “slanderous accusations of those who claimed…
Guilt. Shame. Blame. You know . . . those things the enemy uses to discourage you. There’s nothing he loves more than to remind us of our past failures. His goal is to get us to nod in agreement and live defeated. Why? Because when we are discouraged and defeated . . . focused on…
