Thoughts for Life: Hang in There

Max Lucado: Hang in there! Don’t give up! Is anything too hard for the Lord? No!

Easy for you to say! You have no idea how long I’ve been praying and asking—and asking again!

Just when you least suspect it—the God of surprises strikes again! God does that for the faithful.

Just when the womb gets too old for babies, Sarah gets pregnant. Just when the failure is too great for grace, David is pardoned.

The lesson? Those three words: Don’t give up!

Is the road long? Don’t stop. Is the night black? Don’t quit. God is watching.

For all you know, right at this moment—the check may be in the mail. The apology may be in the making. The contract may be on the desk.

Don’t quit! You may miss the answer to your prayers! God is faithful—He’s always on time!"

Hang in There

From Grace for the Moment

Listen to UpWords with Max Lucado at OnePlace.com

(By permission and Google image, with my emphasis added)

Surrendered to the will of God

Surrendered to the will of God
That all the world might see
Reflections of His love and grace
Lived out in one like me

Who once had wandered far from His

Desire for my soul

Until I met God's matchless love

That made this broken whole

For many were the sins for which

This sinner should have died

For all the lusts and selfish deeds

This wretched human tried

But God in His undying love

Saw something yet in me

That He desired more than life

To give eternity

The spark of life breathed from His lips

Instilled within the man

That he and all his heritage

Might in God's glory stand

As each child in obedience

Would learn to be like Him

Who spoke creation into place

And with His hands formed them

But as man fell from his abode

In fellowship with God

The whole of his posterity

Was cursed upon this sod

As Satan sought to gain control

Of all that God had made

Destroying what man could have been

If he from sin had stayed

But God would not allow this fight

For every soul of men

To lose what He created

If they just returned to Him

And so He paid the price of sin

Through His beloved Son

That everyone who turned to Him

Could by His grace be won

And every sin committed

By presumption in their past

Would by the grace of God be wiped away

And by Him cast

Into the sea forgotten

Never more to come again

Unless by our presumption

We should fall again in sin

So here I stand in mercy

By my faith upon God's grace

And know if I am faithful

I am soon to see His face

As Christ returns to gather home

The children that are His

For whom He paid the dearest Price

That they should never miss

The glory of God's warm embrace

As through eternity

They come at will to meet with Him

Each day on bended knee

And know that they will never have

To face their past again

Because through God's amazing Grace

They'll be at one with Him.

Micah 7:18, 19; Hebrews 3:12-14

Lee Forbes January 23/16
Surrendered to the Will of God

(Used by permission)

Today’s Bible verses: Heb. 3:14 "For we are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence stedfast unto the end."

"For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens." Heb. 7:26

Today’s quotes: Sharon Jaynes "Satan will tell us that we don’t have the right credentials to enter the throne room of God. He’s a liar and a thief. Once you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior, you have all the credentials you need. As a child of God, you have undeniable access because God’s Son is with you and in you.

Savor the peace of knowing that one day you will pass through heaven’s gates to spend eternity with your Heavenly Father. You don’t have to worry about what the future holds, because God holds your future...

Let's pray: Heavenly Father, thank You that I have undeniable access to You through the shed blood of Jesus Christ. Lord, if it were up to my credentials—or rather my own works, I would never stand. But You have made a way for me to come into Your presence. I look forward to the day when I will see You face to face. In Jesus’ Name, Amen."

"How does trusting God change the way you look at difficult situations?"

December 17, 2015

The Right Credentials

Sharon Jaynes

~ "When I feel like I’m in over my head I don’t need to shake in my shoes. And you don’t either. When God tell us to go – to move on to the next thing – to trust Him in a new adventure – we need to go! We need to move forward and expect Him to provide everything we need so that we can be faithful in the small and big." Gwen Smith

9 Reasons Why Breakfast is Important

By Diana Leagh Matthews

So why is breakfast so important?