Wednesday's Word of Truth

Based On: 1 Chronicles 16:7-11 (NIV)   7  That day David first appointed Asaph and his associates to give praise to the Lord in this manner: 8  Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. 9  Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. 10  Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice. 11  Look to the Lo...

Based O n: Hebrews 4:16 (KJV) Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Excerpt: It is impossible to come boldly before God when we are weighted down by the guilt of our sin. But when by the blood of Jesus the Christ, we lay our sins aside, we are freed and emboldened to with haste make our way to God’s throne.

Based on : Psalm 42:5 (NIV) Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. Excerpt: Consequently, it is quite easy to find ourselves in a “sorrow season.” However, we get to choose whether to wallow in our “sorrow season” or “catch ourselves.” When we wallow we go deeper into the muck and mire of our pains and prob...

Based On : Ecclesiastes 3:1 (NIV) There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens: Excerpt: I suggest that one of the reasons that we fail to grasp the full benefit of this text is because we think it only refers to earthly circumstances, and human situations. The Truth is this text is not only describing the timing of earthly matters, but also the timing of the w...

Based On : John 15:15 (NIV) Instead, I have called you friends,  for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. Excerpt: Jesus always made it clear that after His work here on earth was completed, He would return to the heavenly realm. However, His relationship with His disciples would never end. 

Based on : Luke 4:18b, 21 (NIV) He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners… He began by saying to them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing.” Excerpt: My Brothers and Sisters, because death could not keep Jesus in the tomb, our past mistakes and failures will not keep us in bondage. We are not just free; we are free indeed.  

Based On : John 12:17-18 (NIV) 17  Now the crowd that was with him when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word.  18  Many people, because they had heard that he had performed this sign, went out to meet him. Excerpt: The “Many people…” never saw Jesus perform a miracle, show a sign, or display a wonder. Yet, based upon someone else’s testimony the...

Based On : John 12:12-13a (NIV) 12  The next day the great crowd that had come for the festival heard that Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem.  13  They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting… Excerpt: The Truth is Jesus is calling us up and out of our places of suffering. It is quite simple. If the place that you are in is filled with pain and oppression, then leave that place and g...

Based On: Matthew 5:16 (NIV)  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Excerpt: We have a personal life coach at our disposal 24/7. Whether it’s finances, relationships, children, or just plain ole family drama – Holy Spirit has a solution tailor made for every situation.

Based On: 2 Corinthians 3:18 (CEB) All of us are looking with unveiled faces at the glory of the Lord as if we were looking in a mirror. We are being transformed into that same image from one degree of glory to the next degree of glory. This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. Excerpt: Our Lenten journey toward the empty tomb is a journey of transformation. As we make our way up to Jerusalem a...

Based On:  Hebrews 12:1-2 (CEB) So then, with endurance, let’s also run the race that is laid out in front of us, since we have such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us. Let’s throw off any extra baggage, get rid of the sin that trips us up,  2  and fix our eyes on Jesus, faith’s pioneer and perfecter. He endured the cross, ignoring the shame, for the sake of the joy that was laid out in fro...

Based on : John 12:24 (NIV) Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. Excerpt: I suspect that this is why Winter also gives us the gift of Lent. The Lenten season always begins in the Winter. One might say that the two are contradictory. However, I believe that Winter and Lent are interdepend...

Based on: Jeremiah 18:4 (NIV) But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Excerpt: This all happened because Israel took the love of our God for granted. This amazing God who finds pleasure in taking the marred clays of our lives, and re-shaping them into a life that is beautiful and useful to God’s K...

Based On: Matthew 5:8 (NIV) Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. Excerpt: Often times we may not be aware of the wounds that are festering in our hearts. All that we have to do is listen to what we say. We may not even hear ourselves, but others do hear us. Our words will never contradict the substance of our hearts. Our words will always line up with what we are thinking and feel...

Based On: Deuteronomy 33:27a (NIV) The eternal God is your refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Excerpt: In the place of “Oneness” with God, we find strength to be and to become. We find strength to do and to undo that which has been faultily done. We find strength to forgive and to be forgiven. We find strength to love and be loved.

Based On: Proverbs 16:9 (NIV) We plan the way we want to live, but only God makes us able to live it. Excerpt: The Truth is the closer we stay in step with God, the greater the likelihood that we will envision a life for ourselves that has Heaven’s stamp of approval. The moment we begin to forsake our intimacy with God is when we begin to veer off course. It is then that we develop tendencies that...

Based on : Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV) For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Excerpt: Before we launch out into the deep of 2024, it is a wise thing to incline our thoughts toward Heaven. Surely, we know that God has plans for us – plans of a hope and a future -- but do we know what our assignment is in the...

Based On: Acts: 7:49-50 (NIV) “‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me? says the Lord. Or where will my resting place be?   Has not my hand made all these things? Excerpt: Yet, we must be reminded that a healthy new birth requires tending of the soil, the planting of good seed, and an active prayerful wait for the time of realization. During th...

Based On: Isaiah 43:19 (CEB) Look! I’m doing a new thing; now it sprouts up; don’t you recognize it? I’m making a way in the desert, paths in the wilderness. Excerpt: The good news is that God has gifted each of us with the ability to imagine a thing and hold it in consciousness until it takes tangible form in our lives. It is true that if we can imagine it, it can manifest itself in our real worl...

Based On: Luke 2:11 (NIV) Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. Excerpt: There is no such thing as coincidence in the life of the believer in Jesus Christ. The Bethlehem story is time tested evidence that God is working all things out for our good. We serve a God who does extraordinary things in ordinary places.

Based On: Isaiah 40:1-2 (NIV) Comfort, comfort my people says your God.   Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and proclaim to her that her hard service has been completed, that her sin has been paid for, that she has received from the Lord’s hand double for all her sins. Excerpt: The long, short of the story is that before we chose to sin God thought through the salvific sacrifice of Jesus dying on a cri...

Based On: Luke 1:8-10 (NIV) 8  Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God,  9  he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.  10  And when the time for the burning of incense came,  all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. Excerpt: Ain’t nothing changed with us. We are just on o...

Based On: John 1:1 (NIV) In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Excerpt: Jesus comes into our human life and human affairs clothed in human flesh. He brings two gifts that will never fit under the Christmas tree. They are the opportunity to end our old ways and the joy of beginning a new life in Jesus Christ.

Based on : Isaiah 53:5 (NIV) But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. Excerpt: Therein lies the shout of the Advent season. It is the season where year after year we get to experience over and over again the great anticipation of the arrival of the Savior of our Souls.

Based On : I Kings 8:45 (NIV) … then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. Excerpt: Now God in this season of Thanksgiving, I ask in the name of Jesus that You send them a reminder that the best is yet to come! Let Your Daughters and Sons know that it ain’t over until You say it’s over. Give them double for their troubles. Restore the years the locusts and the canke...