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Psalm 94 can be a great comfort, for it assures us of two things.  The Lord will defend and protect us, and justice will prevail!

The Holy Bible:  King James Version, Pslam 94

94 O Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself.

² Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud.

³ Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph?

⁴ How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?

⁵ They break in pieces thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage.

⁶ They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless.

⁷ Yet they say, The Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it.

⁸ Understand, ye brutish among the people: and ye fools, when will ye be wise?

⁹ He that planted the ear, shall he not hear? he that formed the eye, shall he not see?

¹⁰ He that chastiseth the heathen, shall not he correct? he that teacheth man knowledge, shall not he know?

¹¹ The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.

¹² Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law;

¹³ That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.

¹⁴ For the Lord will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.

¹⁵ But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.

¹⁶ Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?

¹⁷ Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.

¹⁸ When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up.

¹⁹ In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.

²⁰ Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?

²¹ They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.

²² But the Lord is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.

²³ And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the Lord our God shall cut them off.

Daniel: Chapter 12, Verse 1  “At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise. There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people—everyone whose name is found written in the book—will be delivered. 

Ezekiel 33:9-11 New International Version (NIV)

⁹ But if you do warn the wicked person to turn from their ways and they do not do so, they will die for their sin, though you yourself will be saved.

¹⁰ “Son of man, say to the Israelites, ‘This is what you are saying: “Our offenses and sins weigh us down, and we are wasting away because of^[a] them. How then can we live?”’

 ¹¹ Say to them, ‘As surely as I live, declares the Sovereign Lord, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that they turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, people of Israel?’

When something bad or difficult is about to happen, often God tries to warn us, because He loves us and wants us to avoid the difficult times if we can.  God doesn’t want us to suffer.

In the story of Jeremiah in the Bible, it tells of such a story.  There was a King, and a people who just refused to follow God.  And so God told Jeremiah to write down all of the things that might happen if the King and his people kept rejecting our Lord.  And so, Jeremiah being obedient to the Lord, had his friend write all of these things down and bring it to the King and His people.  But instead of repenting, the King threw the list into the fire and refused to repent.  He refused to turn back to our Lord, no matter how much God loved him.

And so, sadly, all of the difficult times came to pass.  God tried to warn him, but he just wouldn’t listen and so sadly they suffered.

God is as Just as He is Merciful.  Too often we want to concentrate only on His mercy, but He is both Just and Merciful.  At some point, whether we want it to or not, justice will come…

COMPASSION. It seems to be the word needed right now.  Compassion for all.  There are two sides rapidly conflicting in this virus fight.  One says the only way to protect everyone’s health is to stay at home.  The other says we need, as a country, to get back to work before the economy is destroyed.  What concerns me is the level of anger on both sides, when what we need is to have compassion for both sides!

It’s easy for me to say we should stay home.  I am working from home, my son works from home and my husband still goes to work.  We have a nice home, perhaps not huge or fancy, but very cozy.  My entire family is here and virus-free (at least for right now).  And we have enough to eat. 

But there are many families who are not nearly so fortunate.  They are suffering, out of work and worried about their house payment or rent.  They don’t have enough food to eat and they don’t have enough money to buy more food, or medical supplies.  Since that are out of work, they may not have health insurance.  Which means they may be unable to go to the doctor.

Unhealthy, or homeless and hungry.  Which is worse?  And who decides?

I don’t have the answer, but I do know that neither answer is good and we need to have compassion for one another. 

And most of all, we need to Pray for each other, because that is the only way we will get through this… In Jesus Name, Amen.

It’s hard for Christians all over.  Whether it is an outright threat to our lives or simply the peer pressure that is occurring in America, the world has tried to by and large, to silence Christianity.  From calling us  judgmental to the resounding silence of many in the media when it comes to suggesting people should pray during these difficult times, the world has found many ways to suggest that we should be quiet.

But this is not the time to be quiet.  So often our Lord has helped us!  It is time for us to take a stand for Him as well.

So here is mine.  I follow Christ, above all things.  I need Christ, above all things.  I am not a Christian because I am “so good”, but rather I am a sinner in need of a Savior.  The Bible is the Word of God, as it is written, and it is true and complete.  I care far more for what God thinks, than what man thinks.  And I am not afraid, for I know our Lord has both me and those I love, and I trust Him.  And no matter how difficult the road becomes, my true Home is in Heaven and no one and nothing can stop Jesus from bringing me Home.  Jesus IS coming back-soon!

Choose Christ while you can ?

In Jeremiah there is a story of a group of people who were just to stiff necked to turn to the Lord.   No matter  how many died, no matter how many wars they fought, they just would not turn to God.  And then, finally one day, they did.  They asked Jeremiah to pray for them to our Lord.  They asked Jeremiah to pray to God that “the Lord you God may show us the way wherein we may walk and the things we may do”

And God, despite the many times the people had ignored Him, was merciful because He loved them!  And God told them if they would “abide in this land than I will build you, and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck you up….”

Our nation has ignored the Will of God many times over the past few decades.  But we don’t have to continue on that path.  We can turn to our Lord and pray just as the people in Jeremiah’s time did.  We can turn to God and He will be merciful because He loves us!

Praying for our nation,  In God We Trust, Theresa

There can be no doubt that if there is one thing we want to know during these difficult time, it’s that we want to know we are doing exactly what God wants us to ?.   And no matter how hard we try, it can be difficult to know that we are.

I read something recently by F.B. Meyer who was a famous Pastor many years ago from London.  A friend of D.L. Moody’s, he was a Baptist Preacher.  And I thought he put it really well.  He spoke of there being three lights guiding us. “ God’s Word (The Bible), God’s Providence (Circumstances) and the Holy Spirit (thoughts from God)”

In praying and thinking about it, that does simplify it quite a bit ?.  If we are feeling there’s an action we should take or a direction we should go, then it should fall within those parameters.  If God wants a door open, He will open it (God’s Providence).  If God wants us to do something, it won’t contradict His Word (The Bible).  And we will have peace about it (The Holy Spirit).  And if what we want to do falls within all of these, than we can be pretty sure that we are in God’s Will. 

Of all of these though, most important is the Guidance of the Holy Spirit, who God sent to be our Comforter.  The Holy Spirit IS God’s Confirmation of Living in His Will. 

John 14:26 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

²⁶ But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.

And be comforted by this, God counts your effort!  If you choose “wrongly”, but sought God’s Guidance through prayer and all of the above.  Know that God loves you and appreciates your love for Him and your efforts to seek His guidance. 

2 Chronicles 7:14 King James Version (KJV) 

“If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.”

As we listen to the news, more and more they are talking about the possibility that the virus was actually from a Wuhan Bio-Weapons Lab. And if that is true, we need to also ask the question: Was it on accident or on purpose?

Fortunately for us, God doesn’t say He will only heal our land if it was an accident-He says He will heal our land. So in the face of these new questions, the answer for us is still the same: Repent and Pray, because God always keeps His promises 🙂