Holy Comfort

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.  Matthew 5:4

There comes a time in life when we will all mourn.  The King James Version Dictionary defines mourning as expressing grief or sorrow.  When you face a time of mourning, what or who will you turn to for comfort?  Material possessions, activities, and people may be able to offer you comfort for a while, but the only comfort that is completely satisfying is “holy comfort.”  Jesus is the only one capable of offering us this “holy comfort.”  Have you turned to Jesus for comfort or are you seeking comfort in other ways?  God promises in His Word that He will provide the comfort we need. 

God lovingly sends people in our lives during seasons of mourning to offer comfort, but along with this comfort God desires to offer us His “holy comfort.”  This “holy comfort” brings with it unexplainable peace and rest for the weary soul.  No words can truly describe this “holy comfort.”  You just know when you have experienced “holy comfort” and you desire for others to experience it also.  If you are in a season of mourning, choose to lay your mourning on God’s altar and allow Him to provide you with His divine comfort.  After we accept this divine comfort from our Savior and LORD, we are able to enter into the promise land of God’s healing. 

God provides us with “holy comfort” and desires for us to comfort others.  When we provide comfort to others, we need to always point them to the “God of all comfort.”  2 Corinthians 1:3-4 – Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, and who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.  To receive “holy comfort” we must turn to our LORD. 

When we experience “holy comfort,” God provides us with strength, encouragement, and hope, which will ultimately lead us toward our promise land of healing.  In addition, as we begin to experience “holy comfort,” we are often able to see God’s hands on the events in our life. 

Life is filled with much uncertainty, but Jesus desires to offer us eternal comfort.  Are you willing to turn to Him and accept this comfort today?  Jesus is the one who is capable of refreshing our souls.  Allow Jesus to touch your heart in a personal way and to provide the “holy comfort” you so desperately need.   Allow Jesus to refresh your soul and spirit.  Psalm 23:3-4 – He (The LORD) refreshes my soul.  He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake.  Even though I walk through the darkest valley I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 

There will come a time of mourning.  Turn to Jesus for “holy comfort.”

Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for providing us with your divine comfort.  I pray Father, during seasons of mourning we will turn to You.  I pray we will place our mourning upon Your altar and rest in Your soothing grace and mercy.  In Jesus Name I Pray…..Amen.

A Renewed Spiritual Desire

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.  Matthews 5:6

If you were to measure your spiritual desire, would you be lacking in a hunger and a thirst for righteousness?  Do you desire a more intimate relationship with your Savior and LORD or have you allowed the things of this temporal world to overshadow your relationship with God?  Prayerfully ask God for a renewed spiritual desire.  Fall deeper in love with Jesus and allow him to fill your heart.  When our hearts are filled with the love of our Savior and LORD, it can’t help but to spill out on to those we come in contact with each day. 

Our LORD offers that which feeds the soul.  When we neglect our relationship with our LORD, we are left spiritually hungry and thirsty.  Often we attempt to feed our souls with temporal things from this world that will never truly satisfy.  They may satisfy for a season, but there will come a time when you will be spiritually weary and your heart will be spiritually dry.  Come to the only one who can satisfy your spiritual hunger and your thirst for righteousness – Almighty God.  “Come all you who are thirsty, come to the water; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.  Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy?  Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and you will delight in the richest of fare” – Isaiah 5:1-2.  God promises in His Word when we come to him, we will be filled. 

Maybe you are in a season of your life and you do not even realize you are missing a hunger and a thirst for things of God.  Now is the time to allow the Holy Spirit to examine your spiritual condition and come to a place of surrender and recommitment to your Savior and LORD.  Having a passionate love for God and a thirst and hunger for righteousness is satisfying beyond measure.  God is the spring of living water.  He is our hope.  Prayerfully ask God to place in you a hunger and a thirst for righteousness.  He is faithful and will answer your prayers.  We must seek to restore our relationship with our LORD.  Whether we choose to acknowledge it or not, our lives depend upon God.  Psalm 42:1-2 – As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.  My soul thirst for God, for the living God.  When can I go and meet with God?  God desires for us to commit our lives to Him and for us to hunger and thirst for righteousness.  We will never hunger and thirst for righteousness without surrendering to our LORD. 

Throughout God’s Word, He refers to Himself as the spring of living water.  Come today to the spring of living water.  The spring of living water which will provide you with eternal life.  John 4:13-14 – Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst.  Indeed the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”   Allow Jesus to place in your heart, His desires.  Allow Christ to change you from the inside out.  He desires to bless you.  Nothing will completely satisfy, other than Jesus Christ. 

Dear Heavenly Father, place a desire for righteousness in our hearts.  Help us to hunger and thirst for godly living, instead of worldly living.  Place in our hearts a love for You, a hunger and thirst for a more intimate relationship with You.  Fill our hearts with Your desires.  In Jesus Name I Pray…..Amen.

 

 

Place Your Burden in the Hands of Almighty God

Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.  Psalm 55:22

Do you have a burden today?  What will you choose to do with your burden?  You can drag it around with you and allow it to weigh you down physically and spiritually or you can give it to the one who truly cares for you – Jesus Christ, your Savior and LORD. 

There may be many reasons that you choose not to release your burden into the hands of Almighty God.  You may have trust issues, control issues, or issues with pride.  You are missing Heavenly blessings when you choose not to release your burdens into the hands of Jesus.  In addition, you are forfeiting a sense of relief and peace when not allowing your Savior and LORD to take your burden upon Himself. 

When we refuse to give our burdens to our LORD, we are ultimately saying that we do not trust Him with our lives and the circumstances in our lives.  We can verbally proclaim our trust in Jesus, but do we demonstrate our trust with our actions?  It takes humility to admit that we have a burden which is weighing heavily on our souls.  Carry your burdens – your worries, stresses, and struggles – to the Savior of your soul.  Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you – 1 Peter 5:7.  How much does Jesus care for you?  He gave His life so that you can have eternal life, if you accept His gift of salvation. 

Another reason why we may find it difficult to release our burdens to our LORD is because we question His love for us.  God demonstrated His love for us.  But God demonstrates his love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us – Romans 5:8.  God loved us even before we turned to Him and accepted Him as our Savior and LORD.  God promises us in His Word that He will always love us.  Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed, says the LORD, who has compassion on you – Isaiah 54:10.  Read God’s Word an allow His loving words to reassure your questioning soul.  God reveals His love to us every day.  As children of God, we must open our spiritual eyes and see the demonstration of our Heavenly Father’s love for us. 

Releasing our burdens into the hands of our Heavenly Father does not mean that we will not encounter difficulties.  It does mean that God will provide us with His comfort, peace, and direction as we continue on our journey toward our Heavenly home.  God will provide us with hope which will empower us to persevere. 

When we release our burdens into the hands of Almighty God, we can rest in Him and trust in Him.  No matter how large or small your burden, release it to your Heavenly Father and trust Him completely.  We find true rest, in the shadow of the Almighty, when we completely trust our LORD.  Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” – Psalm 91:1-2.  Release your burden to the LORD and rest in His soothing grace.  Entrusting your burden to God demonstrates that you have complete faith in knowing that He is in control.  Choose to believe God is who He says He is and choose to believe that He loves you and desires to bless you.  It is you that must make the decision to place your burden into the hands of Almighty God.  No one is capable of making the decision for you.  I encourage you today to put your burden down and rest in the LORD. 

Trust in God’s faithfulness and the love He has for you.  Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” – Lamentations 3:22-23.

Dear Heavenly Father, increase our faith in You.  Help us to release our burden into Your mighty hands, gracious LORD.  Thank You for Your mercy and grace which You bestow upon us.  Please forgive our lack of faith and trust.  In Jesus Holy Name I Pray…..Amen. 

 

 

All for the Glory of God

For from him and through him and for him are all things.  To him be the glory forever!  Amen.  Romans 11:36.

Do you recognize the glory of God?  Do you honor and praise God’s glory?  Does your life reflect His glory?  God is the creator of all things; therefore He deserves all honor, glory, and praise.  “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” – Revelation 4:11.  God created us; therefore He deserves us to honor and praise Him.  We are the created.  God is our sustainer.  Every breath we take is made possible because our Heavenly Father wills it. 

How would you explain the glory of God to someone?  In The Purpose Driven Life, Rick Warren describes the glory of God as who God is.  “It is the essence of His nature, the weight of His importance, the radiance of His splendor, the demonstration of His power, and the atmosphere of His presence.  God’s glory is the expression of His goodness and all His other intrinsic, eternal qualities.” 

Take the time to look around you at all our Heavenly Father has created - the beautiful clouds, the stars, the moon, and the sun.  None of this is by happenstance.  All this was created by the hand of our Almighty God.  Never take for granted the magnificent beauty of the handiwork of God.  Psalm 19:1 – The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. 

Study God’s Word and you will discover God revealed His glory to His people.  God revealed His glory in the Garden of Eden, to Moses, in the tabernacle, and the temple.  His glory was displayed in a consuming fire, a cloud, thunder, smoke, and a brilliant light.  God revealed His glory through His son, Jesus Christ.  The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.  After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven – Hebrews 1:3.  Our Savior – Jesus Christ is the complete expression of Almighty God in a human body. 

God’s Word reveals that we were created for God’s glory.  Isaiah 43:7 – Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.  If you are not living your life for God’s glory, allow Him to do a mighty work in your heart.  God can turn the hearts of His children back to Himself.  Surrender to the hand of your LORD.  Prayerfully ask God to renew your desire to bring honor, glory, and praise to your Savior and LORD.  Allow God’s Word to speak to you and guide you into offering your life as a beautiful sacrifice to Him.  Romans 12:1 – Therefore, I urge you brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship. 

It is wonderful to know that we are not left to our own devices in trying to live our lives to honor and glorify our LORD.   God provides the divine power we need to be obedient to His calling and to live a life to glorify Him.  His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us, by his own glory and goodness – 2 Peter 1:3.  Call upon the LORD today and ask Him to help you live your life to honor and glorify Him.  So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God – 1 Corinthians 10:31. 

Dear Heavenly Father, I pray that we will live a life which brings you honor, glory, and praise.  LORD provide us with Your divine power as we glorify you.  Help us to always remember You are our creator and know what is best for us.  Let us never forget to recognize your glory all around.  In Jesus Holy Name I Pray…..Amen.