“Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.
Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:31-32 ESV
Tag: Caring
Saturday Song – I Will Carry You
Much of my life I seemed to walk alone. Or so I thought. Through more difficult days I can count, more trials, more stumbling and reaching out in the darkness for someone to help me up and thinking no one was there, now I see Jesus was.
It was He who led me, He who protected me, He who lifted me up again and again, and He who loved me through it all, and I know He always will.
I pray you know He’s there for you, too. I pray you know He carried your sins on the cross, even when He knew the sins that would stumble you, and He loved you still.
I pray you know when you’re in need He’ll provide for you; when you fall He’ll pick you up; when you’re empty He’ll fill you; when you’re lost He’ll come after you; when you’re broken He’ll weep with you, and then He’ll heal your heart, as many times as it takes.
Do you not know? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and His understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary
and increases the power of the weak.
Even youths grow tired and weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
Isaiah 40:28-31
I Will Carry You
by Ellie Holcomb
by Ellie Holcomb
I know you’re tired, I see it in your eyesAll that anxiety that rules your mindI’ll be your shield when you don’t feel likeYou’ve got strength enough to fightI’ll stand by your side
I will carry youThrough your darkest nightWhen you’re terrifiedI will carry youWhen the waters riseWhen your hope runs dryI will carry you
You are not the sum of your mistakesYou don’t have to hide the parts of you that acheI choose you as you are a million times‘Cause I am not ashamed of youI won’t walk away from you
I will carry youThrough your darkest nightWhen you’re terrifiedI will carry youWhen the waters riseWhen your hope runs dryI will carry you
Up and over the mountainsValley deep as the oceanWhen you can’t keep goingI will shoulder your burdensUp and over the mountainsValley deep as the oceanWhen you can’t keep goingI will shoulder your burdens
I will carry youThrough your darkest nightWhen you’re terrifiedI will carry you (carry you)When the waters riseWhen your hope runs dryI will carry you
I will carry you, carry youThrough the darkest night (you)When you’re terrified(I will shoulder your burdens)I will carry you, carry youWhen the waters rise (you)I will carry you
“Come!”
“And because lawlessness will abound,
the love of many will grow cold.”
~Jesus
Matthew 24:12
I’ve been thinking about these words a lot lately. It’s easy to read them and assume that it’s the people who practice lawlessness whose love will grow cold, and that’s certainly true.
But in my own heart I’ve seen how easy it is to simply sit and watch or read about the wickedness going on around us and become angry. Yes, we should have a degree of righteous anger, but if we’re not careful, that righteous anger can turn into self-righteousness, judgment, bitterness, and with them the loss of grace, mercy, faith, and love.
We can get our eyes onto other’s sins and off our own, and forget how much we need forgiveness ourselves. Over time, a lack of repentance and the guilt that sets in can keep us from sitting in the presence of the Lord, the Source of the love we so desperately need.
And slowly, replacing a tender heart of love, anger begins to fester, and the enemy slowly leads us away, not from salvation, but from fellowship with our gracious Heavenly Father.
“You are all children of the light and children of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.”
1 Thessalonians 5:5-8
Let’s be alert, filled with the Holy Spirit, resisting the enemy, abiding in the love of Christ, the One who is able to rescue us from ourselves, and remember the hope Jesus gives in the next breath after His words we started with at the beginning:
“But he who endures to the end shall be saved.” Matthew 24:13
That word “endures” means “to stay under or behind, remain, to undergo, bear trials, have fortitude, persevere, abide, patiently suffer…”
Yes, we’re living in hard times, but remember, the things of this life are not the goal, this life is not the end, it is the beginning. It is the training ground for the life to come; it is where we cling to Christ, and even more through those very hardships, receiving His character for ourselves, growing into spiritual maturity, prepared for what He has for us in the next.
So let us “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2
If followers of Christ should be characterized by anything, it should be by His love. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
So what should our response be to the violence, the hatred, the blatant disregard for life we see around us? Yes, be angry at the sin, yes, be angry at the enemy and the war he’s declared on Almighty God, and then let’s emulate our Lord and Savior who was filled with love and prayed from the cross that His Father would forgive those who put Him there.
We, too, can let the love God’s given us through the filling of the Holy Spirit lead us to pray for those who are caught in the sin. We can ask our gracious and merciful Heavenly Father to grant them repentance and salvation, pulling them back from the pit of hell, just like He did for us.
So, if you’ve drifted away from the Lord or you deliberately walked away for whatever reason, and your love has grown cold, or maybe your faith is there but it’s lukewarm, which Christ said was even worse than being cold (because it’s so deceiving), or maybe you’ve never given your life to Christ and you know there is something missing, something you desperately need and have been looking for but haven’t yet found, today is the day.
Christ is ready, willing, and able to forgive you and receive you and fill you with His love, a love that is able to go far above and beyond all other loves, a love that will quench our thirsty souls, renew hearts and minds, and heal us more than we can imagine, and this is what He says to you:
“The Spirit and the bride (followers of Christ) say, ‘Come!’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come!’ Let the one who is thirsty come; and let the one who wishes take the free gift of the water of life.” Revelation 22:17
“Come!”
Operation Christmas Child
Is there anything more beautiful than the joy of a child?
Children are so precious that our Lord Jesus held them up as an example to us:
“Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Whoever receives one little child like this in My name receives Me.”
Matthew 18:3-5
Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child is underway, and the deadline is quickly coming to a close. Collection Week is November 15-22.
If you’d like to give a shoebox (or two or three!) and put a smile like these on a child’s face, go here to find out all you need to know, how to pack a shoebox, gift suggestions, and how to find a drop-off location near you.
And if you can’t get out to buy items yourself, you can pack a shoebox right on their website here.
Not only will you give a Christmas gift, but an opportunity for a child, and maybe a family, to hear the gospel and receive the most important Gift of all.
Saturday Song – I Lift My Eyes Up
In the days leading up to today, the words that kept coming to my heart were that our help comes from the Lord.
The word “help” in Hebrew is ‛ezrâh, meaning aid, and it derives from another word, ‛âzar, meaning to surround.
He is our ever-present help in times of trouble. (Psalm 46:1)
You are my help and my deliverer… (Psalm 40:17)
Give us help from trouble… (Psalm 60:11)
Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wing I will rejoice. (Psalm 63:7)
And this song, I Lift My Eyes Up, from Psalm 121.
Father, thank you for surrounding all of us who look to you for comfort and peace today and every day. We pray for your grace and mercy on our nation today for revival, that countless more hearts will look to you, the Creator of heaven and earth, to be their help, their hope, their salvation. It’s in the mighty name of Jesus we pray, amen.
I lift my eyes up, to the mountains
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from You
Maker of heaven, Creator of the earth
Oh how I need you Lord
You are my only hope
You’re my only prayer
So I will wait for you
to come and rescue me
Come and give me life