Unfailing Love

"The Lord is your Keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; He will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore."

~Psalm 121:5-8

I love the Psalms because they are real life, written from the heart. The writers of the Psalms were people like us, dealing with life situations. They poured their hearts out to God in anguish, fear, love and joy. No matter the situation, they were not afraid to be real in front of God. Many of the Psalms were written by King David, who definitely had problems, was in no way perfect, made huge mistakes, yet was called 'a man after God's own heart.' David knew he wasn't perfect, yet he never forgot the One who is. David took his problems and failures to the Lord. He knew that no matter who hated him or tried to kill him, his life was in the hands of the living God.

"The righteous may have distress but the Lord delivers him from them all (Psalm 34:19)."

Who are the righteous that God delivers? Those who have faith in Christ. Each one who believes can lay claim to every promise in the Bible. It is our inheritance as heirs with Christ (Romans 8:17). We are God's kids and His love for us is greater than our understanding. 

"For your unfailing love is higher than the heavens. Your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds (Psalm 108:4)."

No matter what we've done; no matter how far from God we go, we cannot outrun His unfailing love. David sinned - a lot. He committed murder and adultery, yet God forgave him and blessed him because David had a contrite heart and loved God. But David still suffered the consequences of his actions. God will always allow us to suffer the consequences of our actions. It doesn't matter what we've done in the past, once we ask God's forgiveness, He forgets our sin and sees us through the blood of Jesus. We are washed in His blood, and innocent before Him. Be like David and sing of Gods greatness. Be a man (or woman) after God's own heart.

"But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear Him, and His righteousness to children’s children, to such

as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them (Psalm 103:17-18)."

Read 1 Samuel 25; Psalm 7, 17, & 35
Weekend Reading 1 Samuel 26-27; Psalm 14, 18, 31, 53

©2018 Marie McGaha

www.mariemcgaha.com

Faith & Works

"For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workman- ship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them."
~Ephesians 2:8-10

Some people have a difficult time accepting that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is all that is needed for the forgiveness of sins. They find it difficult to grasp the idea that one man's death could atone for the sins of everyone else. They also have difficulty believing you don't have to work for forgiveness; that there isn't some kind of personal atonement for sins already committed in this life. And sadly, some religions even teach working for forgiveness. But that's not what God's word says about redemption and the forgiveness of sins. 

We are saved by grace through faith alone, not by works (Ephesians 2:8). People have been working at being "good" for centuries to no avail. If we could save ourselves through works, then Christ died needlessly (Galatians 2:21). But there is only one way to salvation, and that is through faith by believing Jesus is who He says He is.

"Then he brought them out and said, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' And they said, 'Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household' (Acts 16:30-31)."

Paul and Silas had been jailed for preaching the Gospel but that night, an earthquake opened the cell doors and they were set free. This scared the guard because losing one's prisoners meant the guard would be put to death. Knowing this, Paul and Silas didn't run, instead, they stayed and led the man to Christ. All that was required for salvation was to believe.

While we cannot be saved by working for salvation, once we know the peace and love of Jesus that comes from salvation, we do want to work. It's not like working to keep a job because the Lord has given us salvation freely, not based on merit. We work for the Lord to show our faith.

"But someone will say, “You have faith and I have works.” Show me your faith apart from your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that God is one; you do well. Even the demons believe—and shudder! Do you want to be shown, you foolish person, that faith apart from works is useless (James 2:18-20)?"

Believing Christ died for our sins saves us from ourselves, our sins, and guarantees our place in Heaven. Faith is what keeps us on track and keeps us going in the face of trials and hardships. The other element is growing our faith, increasing our faith, which is key to long term success in walking our Christian walk without becoming weary. When we prove our faith, it is through works. The two work hand in hand. We do not achieve salvation through works but faith does not allow us to sit on the sidelines either.

"But you are a chosen race, a royal priest- hood, a holy nation, a people for His own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9)."

Read 1 Samuel 24; Psalms 13-22

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018

The Object of God's Affection

"'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future' (Jeremiah 29:11)."

This is one of the most recognizable verses in the Bible. I use it a lot but it's no less true. I'm not sure if people realize just how much God loves us and wants the best for us. God wants to show us His way is a better way, a more prosperous way. But God cannot prosper unfaithfulness and disobedience.

When Adam and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, they had everything they needed and were in perfect harmony with God. They had a personal relationship with God; He even took walks with them and had conversations with them. There was nothing they couldn't have, except that one little thing - the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Isn't it always that one little thing that gets under our skin and eats at us until we give in? That's the enemy picking at our weaknesses the way he picked at Eve until she gave in to temptation.

Adam and Eve suffered the consequences of their actions and were expelled from the Garden. Remember, choose the action, and you are choosing the consequences. The consequences for them was losing God's abundant provision. Now they had to work the ground to grow food, hunt, build a home, work hard for every little thing. God gave us free will but Adam and Eve allowed sin nature into their lives, and into the lives of all future generations. 

"The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying:
'Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love;
Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you' (Jeremiah 31:3)."

But no matter how far we stray, God continues to call us to Him. His love for us has not strayed. We are still the object of His affection. There is no depths that we can sink to that He is not willing to pull us out of. The breadth of His love is beyond our comprehension, but if we can grasp just a shred of that love, we would never want to be anywhere other than with Him. 

"For this reason I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom the whole family in Heaven and Earth is named,  that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man,  that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God (Ephesians 3:14-19)."

Read 1 Samuel 23; Psalm 63

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018

Faith Not Fear

"Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid."
~John 14:27

If you've read any headlines lately, you know the world is in pretty rough shape. The war in the Middle East has been going on since shortly after 9/11 and is now threatening to escalate to a full world war. So far, the BMOC are in play - America, Russia, France, Great Britain - and of course, China and North Korea are putting in their two cents. It's some scary stuff that have a lot of people ready to head for the hills and hide for a while. But did you know being afraid is not biblical? Fear and faith cannot coincide. Faith is from God, fear is not.

"But now, thus says the Lord, who created you, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel:
'Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; You are Mine' (Isaiah 43:1)."

Those who have accepted Christ as their Savior have been redeemed and belong to the Lord. The God who redeemed the nation of Israel is the same God who redeems us today. He is Jesus Christ and He hasn't changed. In fact, He sent His own Spirit to comfort and guide us (1 John 4:13). He did not give us a spirit of fear but of love and power and sound judgement (2 Timothy 1:7). Fear is not of God but a weapon of the enemy meant to steal our peace and joy. When our faith is firmly rooted in the person of Jesus Christ, and we have a complete understanding of who we are in Him, there is no room for fear. 

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1)."

Read 1 Samuel 22; Psalm 34, 56, 57 & 142; 1 Chronicles 12

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018

Be Dependent

"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding."
~Proverbs 9:10

When my Pop was a kid, the age of majority was 21; by the time I was 15 or so, the age was lowered to 18. I've heard talk of lowering the legal "adult" age limit to 16! That is ridiculous of course, no 16 year old possesses the capacity to be fully responsible for their lives no matter what they may think. In fact, very few 18 year olds possess that maturity. I know I didn't, even though I surely believed I did!

The world around us encourages independence but not always in conjunction with maturity. Not everyone matures at the same rate and allowing, nay, booting a person out into the world due to an arbitrary birthday is not in God's plan. While we are expected to mature in life, and in God's Word, far too much emphasis is placed on independence rather than dependence on God.

According to the Bible, we are not to leave our parents until marriage, yet children leave home at extremely early ages, have their own children at earlier ages long before they are mentally, physically, or financially able to support themselves, much less the added burden of a helpless child. This is not part of God's plan for our lives.

God wants a personal relationship with each of us; a relationship that grows more dependent upon Him, rather than less dependent. Dependence upon the Lord is the most mature relationship any of us can have. In our dependence upon Christ, we find ultimate freedom from this world.

"I am the Vine, you are the branches, apart from Me, you can do nothing (John 15:5)."

When we plant seeds, we see the first shoots of the vine push through the soil, then it grows stronger and bigger, produces branches, then flowers bloom and those blooms become the fruit that each particular plant produces. Break a branch from the vine and it withers and dies. The same principle is true in our lives. Apart from God, we wither, society falls into decay and destroys itself. We see it all around us every day.

"People plan their course but God establishes our steps (Proverbs 16:9)."

If you are living independent of God, you are missing the most important relationship of your life. You are missing true fulfillment in life and you are cheating yourself out of a truly satisfying life full of God's goodness, grace, mercy, and favor. The world screams "be independent," but the Lord is calling, "Depend on Me, I will never let you down."

"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? (Matthew 6:25-26)."

Read 1 Samuel 19-21
Psalm 34; 56-59; 133

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018

From Faith to Faith

"See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is."
~1 John 3:1-2

When I was seven years old, I was staying with my grandmother, who was a minister. My room had this old iron framed bed with a very soft mattress. The quilts were all made by my grandmother and felt as if they weighed fifty pounds each. When I climbed into bed, I had to lay in the position I wanted because once those quilts were pulled over me, I couldn't move again. Early one morning, before dawn, a bright light shining in my face woke me up. I had to shield my eyes with my hand the light was so bright. There in my room, coming out of the ceiling were what I thought was clouds surrounding a staircase. There was a man dressed in white standing barefoot on the steps. I couldn't see all of him because he was so tall. I pulled the covers over my head, and when I peeked out, the room was back to normal. I heard my grandmother in the kitchen, so I jumped out of bed and ran to tell her. She never batted an eye, and told me how special I was to have seen the Lord. To her, nothing could have been more normal. However, when my parents came to pick me up and I told them, they laughed and said I had been dreaming. 

My grandmother has been with the Lord since 1981, and my parents have long forgotten the incident. I never have. There was a reason that the Lord showed himself to a little girl, and, in retrospect, I know if He hadn't, I wouldn't be here today. We are all given what we need when we need it, even if it's not clear to us at the time.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by faith' (Romans 1:16-17)."

We live from faith to faith in Christ. Sometimes that faith can get shaky, sometimes it's difficult to hold on to promises we can't see but when we falter, the Lord gives us that boost of faith we need to get to the next place in life. There are scriptures that boost my faith like the one from 1 John 3. The thought of seeing Jesus Christ as He is makes my heart flutter. There are other ways Christ boosts our faith; a particular worship song, a word from a friend at just the right time, an encouraging greeting card arrives in the mail. All of those have happened to me. Faith is given to us by God. We don't have to worry about maintaining any particular level of faith because He does it for us as we need it (Romans 12:3).

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:1-2)."

Read 1 Samuel 14 & 1 Chronicles 8-9
Weekend Reading 1 Samuel 15-18; Psalm 110; Psalm 144

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018

Whatever You Ask

"Whatever you ask in My name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask Me anything in My name, I will do it."
~John 14:13-14

I believe pray is the most important part of Christian life. It's how we communicate with our heavenly Father. But I have to confess, I'm not very good at it. In fact, I dread being called upon at church to open or close in prayer. My pastor and his wife are world class pray-ers. At Wednesday night prayer group, these two are tag team prayer warriors that carry us through the hour of prayer time. At home, I pray a lot, or at least, I have conversations with God but like a lot of people, I wonder if I'm really being heard, and doubt I pray fervent or effectual prayers (James 5:16).

"Therefore, my friends, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus,  by the new and living way that he opened for us through the curtain (that is, through His flesh), and since we have a great Priest over the house of God,  let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water (Hebrews 10:19-22)."

Prior to the death and resurrection of Christ, only the high priest could enter the Holy of hoiles and approach the Mercy Seat of God. But when Christ was resurrected and ascended into Heaven, we were granted direct access through Him. His death upon the Cross changed everything. We were no longer required to make sacrifices because Christ is the ultimate sacrifice. We no longer have to have a priest sprinkle blood on the Mercy Seat because Christ's blood was shed once for all (Hebrews 9:12). Christ became the only High Priest we ever need, giving us complete access to Heaven.

Prayer is meant to be heartfelt communication with God for the purpose of glorifying God. God is glorified when our prayers are answered, and when we ask in the Name of Jesus, it moves God to act. That doesn't mean we can go to God like a kid with a quarter to stick into the candy machine. Our prayers must also line up with the will of God. Does that mean asking for financial increase, a new home or car is wrong? Absolutely not. More finances mean we can contribute more to our church, missions, and help for the needy. A new home, or better home might mean a safer neighborhood, being warmer in the winter, or room for everyone in the family. A new car means reliable transportation for work, doctor appointments and getting to church on time.  It's our motivation behind our prayers that matters (James 4:3).

"And this is the confidence that we have toward Him, that if we ask anything according to His will He hears us. And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him (1 John 5:14-15)."

Read 1 Samuel 10-13

A Year of Blessings by Marie McGaha ©2018