word

Psalm 139

1 O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.

2 You know when I sit down or stand up.

  You know my thoughts even when I'm far away.

3 You see me when I travel and when I rest at home.

  You know everything I do.

4 You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.

5 You both precede and follow me.

  You place your hand of blessing on my head.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!

7 I can never escape from your Spirit!

  I can never get away from your presence!

8 If I go up to heaven, you are there;

  if I go down to the grave, you are there.

9 If I ride the wings of the morning,

  if I dwell by the farthest oceans,

10 even there your hand will guide me,

  and your strength will support me.

11 I could ask the darkness to hide me and the light around me to become night—12 but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.

To you the night shines as bright as day.

  Darkness and light are the same to you.

13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!

  Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it.

15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb.

16 You saw me before I was born.

  Every day of my life was recorded in your book.

Every moment was laid out

  before a single day had passed.

17 How precious are your thoughts about me, O God.

  They cannot be numbered!

18 I can't even count them;

  they outnumber the grains of sand!

And when I wake up, you are still with me!


23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;

  test me and know my anxious thoughts.

24 Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.

encouragement

When life seems fruitless &/or clueless...

Galatians 6:9

Don't get tired of doing what is good. Don't get discouraged & give up, for we will reap a harvest of blessing at the appropriate time. (NLT, 1^st ed.)

And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint. (Amplified)

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. (ESV)

Let us not grow tired of doing good, for, unless we throw in our hand, the ultimate harvest is assured. (J B Phillips)

So let’s not allow ourselves to get fatigued doing good. At the right time we will harvest a good crop if we don’t give up, or quit. (The Message)

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. (NIV)

May we never tire of doing what is good and right before our Lord because in His season we shall bring in a great harvest if we can just persist. (The Voice)

miraculous

Maybe it would be interesting to read this miraculous account

away from all the traditions,

warm & fuzzy cold weather feelings,

& the massive commercialism of the season that surrounds it...

Luke 2

1 At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire.

2 (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.)

3 All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census.

4 And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David's ancient home.

He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee.

5 He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

  6 And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born.

7 She gave birth to her first child, a son.

She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger,

because there was no lodging available for them.

8 That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep.

9 Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them,

and the radiance of the Lord's glory surrounded them.

They were terrified,

10 but the angel reassured them.

"Don't be afraid!" he said.

"I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people.

11 The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!

12 And you will recognize him by this sign:

You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger."

  13 Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying,
14 "Glory to God in highest heaven,

  and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased."

  15 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other,

"Let's go to Bethlehem!

Let's see this thing that has happened,

which the Lord has told us about."

  16 They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph.

And there was the baby, lying in the manger.

17 After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened

and what the angel had said to them about this child.

18 All who heard the shepherds' story were astonished,

19 but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often.

20 The shepherds went back to their flocks,

glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen.

It was just as the angel had told them.

for future reference

This is Paul writing to the followers of Jesus in Thessalonica.

He's explaining some end times stuff.

I know it's kind of confusing, but just absorb it...

especially the parts I underlined at the end.

Just remember for future reference the things Paul writes here...

2 Thessalonians 2

1 Now, dear brothers and sisters, let us clarify some things about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ

and how we will be gathered to meet him.

2 Don't be so easily shaken or alarmed by those who say that the day of the Lord has already begun.

Don't believe them,

even if they claim to have had a spiritual vision,

a revelation.

3 Don't be fooled by what they say.

For that day will not come until there is a great rebellion against God and the man of lawlessness is revealed—the one who brings destruction.

4 He will exalt himself and defy everything that people call god and every object of worship.

He will even sit in the temple of God, claiming that he himself is God.

  5 Don't you remember that I told you about all this when I was with you?

6 And you know what is holding him back,

for he can be revealed only when his time comes.

7 For this lawlessness is already at work secretly,

and it will remain secret until the one who is holding it back steps out of the way.

8 Then the man of lawlessness will be revealed,

but the Lord Jesus will kill him with the breath of his mouth and destroy him by the splendor of his coming.

  9 This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles.

10 He will use every kind of evil deception to fool those on their way to destruction,

because they refuse to love and accept the truth that would save them.

11 So God will cause them to be greatly deceived,

and they will believe these lies.

12 Then they will be condemned for enjoying evil rather than believing the truth.

worthy

2 Thessalonians 1:11a

...our God will make you worthy of the life to which He called you.

Absorb that...

In my life, I have been called upon t be & do many things for the Lord.

I wish I had had those words of Paul filed away in my psyche.

I wonder if I would have not only be more Christ like as I journeyed through this life, but would also have been a whale of a lot LESS stressed in the process.

no matter what?

1 Thessalonians 5:18

No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. (NLT, 1^st ed.)

in every situation [no matter what the circumstances] be thankful and continually give thanks to God; for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus. (Amplified)

Whatever happens, always be thankful. This is how God wants you to live in Christ Jesus. (ERV)

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (ESV)

Be thankful, whatever the circumstances may be. If you follow this advice you will be working out the will of God expressed to you in Jesus Christ. (J B Phillips)

Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. (The Message)

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (NRSV)

give thanks to God no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. (This is God’s will for all of you in Jesus the Anointed.) (The Voice)

I know that it's hard to be this & do this in the midst of whatever comes.

the wicked

Psalm 10

1 O LORD, why do you stand so far away?

  Why do you hide when I am in trouble?

2 The wicked arrogantly hunt down the poor.

  Let them be caught in the evil they plan for others.

3 For they brag about their evil desires;

  they praise the greedy and curse the LORD.

4 The wicked are too proud to seek God.

  They seem to think that God is dead.

5 Yet they succeed in everything they do.

  They do not see your punishment awaiting them.

  They sneer at all their enemies.

6 They think, "Nothing bad will ever happen to us!

  We will be free of trouble forever!"

7 Their mouths are full of cursing, lies, and threats.*

  Trouble and evil are on the tips of their tongues.

8 They lurk in ambush in the villages, waiting to murder innocent people.

  They are always searching for helpless victims.

9 Like lions crouched in hiding, they wait to pounce on the helpless.

Like hunters they capture the helpless and drag them away in nets.

10 Their helpless victims are crushed; they fall beneath the strength of the wicked.

11 The wicked think, "God isn't watching us!

  He has closed his eyes and won't even see what we do!"

12 Arise, O LORD!

  Punish the wicked, O God!

  Do not ignore the helpless!

13 Why do the wicked get away with despising God?

  They think, "God will never call us to account."

14 But you see the trouble and grief they cause.

  You take note of it and punish them.

The helpless put their trust in you.

  You defend the orphans.

15 Break the arms of these wicked, evil people!

  Go after them until the last one is destroyed.

16 The LORD is king forever and ever!

  The godless nations will vanish from the land.

17 LORD, you know the hopes of the helpless.

  Surely you will hear their cries and comfort them.

18 You will bring justice to the orphans and the oppressed, so mere people can no longer terrify them.

King David, a king of Israel thousands of years ago & the author of this psalm, evidently lived in a time where the wicked got away with all kinds of wickedness...

...much like we have going on today.

David clearly outlines the the fact that even though the wicked seem to prosper, one day “their chicken will all come home to roost.”

iow, they will face the consequences of their wickeness.

And, those of us who are not consumed by wickedness will be bale to live in terror of these same wicked people.

In a time when it seems the world is filled with wicked people,

embracing all kinds of wickedness,

perhaps it is advantageous to remember that what goes around comes around,

or,

we reap what we sow.