"The Weeping Will Stop"

"Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." Psalm 30:5b

When we are going through times of pain and sorrow, we can't see past that moment. What we are going through feels like it will last forever- we see no end to our hurt. This verse gives us so much hope. It lets us know that our weeping, pain, sorrow, grief and hurt won't last forever. It will come to an end.

The verse says that "weeping endures for a night, but joy comes in the morning". Just as surely as night time gives way to the morning, just as surely as day follows night and has since the beginning of creation, weeping will give way to joy. Joy will follow weeping. It will come. Your weeping will stop. You will have joy again.

Who causes the night to give place to the morning? Who creates the morning? Who sets each new day in place? Who tells night when it is ended and a new day when to begin? The Lord does. And He is the One who gives and restores your joy and brings your weeping to an end.

"Weeping endures for a night." Night time is a specific amount of time- it's a season. Your weeping only last for a season and then it comes to an end. The morning is the start of a new day- a new season, a new beginning. God will wipe away your tears after a season, and you will see the dawn of a new day. At the present all you can see is a "night of weeping", but it won't last forever, the morning will come.

Have a great day. Weeping only lasts for the night, but then joy will come.

For further reading:
Isaiah 51:11; 61:3
Psalm 30:11; 126:6

"Eating A Lie"

"Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said unto the woman, Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" Genesis 3:1

When the enemy comes to tempt us, he does it through trying to plant thoughts in our minds. Those thoughts will almost always be an attack against the Word of God by putting it in question. He has done that from the very beginning- he did it with Eve way back in the Garden of Eden.

If you entertain those thoughts and believe what he says, then you are believing a lie. When you believe his lies, you will be deceived, just like Eve. "And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression." (1 Timothy 2:14) When you are deceived, you are heading down a dark path that leads to death. "For in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Genesis 2:17b)

"And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her; and he did eat." (Genesis 3:6) That day Eve didn't just eat the physical fruit that the Lord had commanded them not to eat, she "ate" the lie that the devil was "feeding" her.

Not only did the enemy put God's word in question ("hath God said?), he also tempted Eve to distrust the truthful, trustworthy character of God-."God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." (verse 5) He tried to get Eve to believe that God was a liar and that she could not trust Him. "And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die." (verse 4)

When he comes to tempt you it is not always just to get you to "sin", it is to get you to doubt God. It is an attack on your faith in God and in His word. It is an attack to steal, kill and destroy your faith and confidence in God. He knows that without faith it is impossible to please God and he knows that when you aren't trusting God's word you are not going to follow or stay close to Him.

This morning are you "eating" his lies? Are you being deceived by what the enemy says? Are you questioning the truthful word of God? Is your faith in God's trustworthiness being put to the test? Eve found out too late that she had believed a lie and that it wasn't God who was lying to her. Don't be deceived by the lies of the enemy. Believe God's Word and trust that what He says is the truth.

Have a great day. If you are going to "eat" anything, "eat" the truth- God's Word.

For further reading:
John 10:10; 17:17
Hebrews 11:6; 10:23
Psalm 119:103

"Hold On To What Matters"

"Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown." Revelation 3:11

"That no man take thy crown." Is that possible? Evidently, it is or there wouldn't be this warning in the verse. The next question then is, "How is it possible?". There are two ways that come to mind: carelessness and distraction.

When you forget the value of something, you can become careless with it. This happens with material possessions, it happens with relationships and it can happen with spiritual things in our lives. When we forget just how valuable what we have is, we often begin to take it for granted. When it is taken for granted, we don't show it the same care that we once did and we often begin to neglect it. Are you neglecting so great a salvation this morning? Have you forgotten just how precious your salvation is? Have you become "careless" with it forgetting how much it cost for you to be able to have it?

The second way is through distractions. I remember when my daughter was a little girl, not three years old yet. I took her to the local fair to ride the rides. I stopped by the concession stand to get us something to drink. She was standing beside me and I turned to place my order, in that brief second while I was putting my attention on making the order, she walked off from my side. That brief moment of "distraction" from her could have caused me to lose the most valuable thing to me on earth. What temporary thing is distracting you from that which is eternal? What is captivating your attention so that it is placed on something besides eternal riches? Where is your focus- on things above or things below?

I am so thankful for all the blessings the Lord has bestowed upon me- especially the eternal ones. And I am thankful that He loves me enough to warn me to hold on to those blessings. Hold on to what you have, don't be careless with it by forgetting just how precious and valuable it is. Hold on to what you have, don't allow anything to distract you to the point where it is taken away from you.

Have a great day. Don't let anything distract you to the point where you are careless with the things that matter most.

For further reading:
Matthew 16:26; 6:19,20
1 Corinthians 6:20
1 Peter 1:18,19
Hebrews 2:3

"Fragrant Encounter"

"For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish." 2 Corinthians 2:15

While I was at the store one day buying groceries, I picked up a bottle of oil that you use to make your home smell good. When I picked up the bottle, some of the oil had been spilled on the outside of the bottle. It was a cinnamon fragrance and was now on my hands. I got out a tissue and tried to wipe it off my hands. The fragrance was so strong that it got on everything I touched- the tissue, the shopping cart, my purse, etc. I made my way to the restroom and washed my hands- but the fragrance was still lingering.

After I finished getting my items I went to the checkout. I placed the items one by one on the register. When the lady who was checking me out got to my bag of potatoes, she told me, "For some reason your potatoes smell good. I have never smelled potatoes like that before". I wasn't sure what she was talking about. They didn't smell any different to me. Then it dawned on me, so I asked her, "Do they smell like cinnamon?" She said, "Yes, they do." So I explained to her about my encounter with the bottle of fragrant oil.

Did you know that Jesus has a fragrance? It is the fragrance of love, joy, peace, etc. (He smells like the Fruit of the Spirit). When we spend time in His presence, we will have an encounter with Him. During that encounter, His "fragrance" will rub off on us. So that when we leave our prayer and worship time, others should be able to "smell" His fragrance on us. They should be able to detect an "aroma" on us that "smells" like Him and causes them to "take note that we have been with Jesus". (Acts 4:13)

Do others "smell" something different from your life? The checkout lady noticed that the bag of potatoes didn't smell like potatoes. Others should notice in our lives that we don't "smell" like "sinful, self-centered flesh" (which is what we are without Jesus). They should say that there is something "different" about us, and that difference is the sweet smell of Jesus. Not only should we have His fragrance on us, but it should rub off on the lives of those that we come in contact with so that they will no longer smell like "flesh" but like Him instead?

Have a great day. Our lives should have the fragrance of Jesus on them.

For further reading:
Galatians 5:22,23
2 Corinthians 2:14-16
Ephesians 5:2

"It Was A VIRGIN Birth"

"Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" Luke 1:34

I am totally shocked at the number of "Christians" who don't believe in the virgin birth of Jesus. And what shocks me even more are the preachers who are preaching that Jesus was not born of a virgin. I want to clarify something this morning-- He was born of a VIRGIN! His mother knew no man! There was no man involved in Jesus' birth! The Spirit of God overshadowed Mary and she conceived Jesus. Do I understand this? No, but I believe it because the Bible- God's Word- says it was so. The verse above tells us that this was the case. The "teaching" that Jesus was not born of a virgin is straight from the "pit of hell"!!

Let's look at the importance of the virgin birth to the Christian faith. First, if we don't believe these verses about Jesus conception, how can we believe any verse in the Bible? How can we believe anything that God says? He is the One who inspired the words that are written in its pages. To say that the virgin birth is false when God said it was the truth is to call God a liar. Also, we can't "pick and choose" which scriptures we want and don't want to believe.

Second, if there was no virgin birth, there can be no salvation and we are still lost without any hope of eternal life. Our whole belief is in the fact that Jesus, because He was sinless, was the only acceptable sacrifice to take away our sins. Had He not been born of a virgin, had there been a man in the conception process, Jesus would not have been sinless- He would have been like the rest of us-- sinners. Sin came through man. Because of Adam's sin in the Garden of Eden, sin was passed on to all mankind- thus, "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23) A sinful man cannot take away sin- or else we could have all saved ourselves. It took a "spotless lamb"- one without sin.

There are some strange beliefs emerging throughout "Christianity" that are trying to tear down the very foundation of our faith. If the foundations are removed, the "structure" is weak and will fall. "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" (Psalm 11:3)

If ever there was a time when you must be solid in your conviction it is now. Know for yourself what the word of God says. Don't be swayed from the truth. Don't remove the foundation. Don't believe everything you hear- regardless of who you hear it from. If you don't believe that Jesus was born of a virgin, then you don't know the true Jesus. If you are preaching that Jesus was not born of a virgin, then you are preaching "another" Jesus.

Have a great day. Let me say it again, "Jesus was born of a virgin"!!! If you don't believe that, you have no foundation to your faith.

For further reading:
Hebrews 4:15
2 Corinthians 11:3,4
Isaiah 7:14
Matthew 1:23
Luke 1:26-35
1 Peter 1:18,19
1 John 4:1