Category: Scripture

From the Holy Bible

Joyful

On By vickleaIn Scripture4 Comments

In this season of celebration and joy, it seems that we should ponder the reason for our joy-filled hearts. The Scripture gives the answer.

When we fear the Lord, showing Him the reverence He deserves as our Creator and the One who sustains us, we are joyful. When we follow His ways, we are joyful. How do we know His ways? We read His Word and spend time talking to Him in prayer. You cannot get to know someone when you never communicate with them.

So, instead of a season of joy that lasts a few days or a few weeks, let’s be joyful every day because we know the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and we are following Him, all the way to eternity!

My Strength Forever

On By vickleaIn promises, Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

I say “Yes and Amen, Lord” to this scripture verse. It is one to hold on to when your body seems to be going the wrong way. I laughed the other day when my husband told me that once you turn seventy, your “check engine” light comes on and doesn’t go off. Funny analogy, right? I prefer to think that as I age, the pains remind me that I am closer to my eternal home where there will be no more pain, no more doctors’ visits and no more tears of frustration over yet another medical condition. We cannot hold on to this life, but we can hold on to God and His promises in His Word!

Trusting God through Pain

Have you ever experienced deep pain? Maybe you or someone you know received a painful diagnosis. Or perhaps you or someone you know is living with lifelong pain.

All of us experience pain, sickness, and suffering in our life. It’s part of our human experience because of the effects of sin on creation. Every single person will experience death, pain, and sickness.

However, in the midst of those things, God promises to be with us. The Psalmist gives us an incredible promise in Psalm 73:26. Even though our flesh and heart will fail, God promises to be our strength and portion forever.

That means God is working in our life to strengthen us. Scripture tells us that one day, God will make everything new (Revelation 21:5). The world will be like He intended it to be–free of pain, suffering, and death. God will restore all things.

So, while we experience pain and suffering in this life, we can have hope and look forward to the restoration of all things–especially the resurrection of our bodies. The God who created us from the inside out and knows everything about us will restore our bodies to perfection when we join Him in heaven.

Take a moment to reflect on the frailty of your earthly body. Give thanks to God for creating you and giving you life. Just like the Psalmist, ask Him to be your strength and your portion forever. Remember that He cares for you and loves you. Take hope that one day, He will restore all things, including our pain and suffering.

Representative of Christ

On By vickleaIn Scripture1 Comment

I don’t know about you but I am a little fed up with people who say that they represent me in Congress or in the state legislature, but infrequently have they actually asked me how I feel about things and voted the way that I would vote. Maybe it’s because they don’t really know me?

As Christians, we are called to be representatives of Christ to a lost world. We can do that because we know Him through His Word and He knows us because we are His. If we are truly Christians, He communicates with us daily and we should be communicating with Him all day long. Then, we go out into the world and open our mouths and our representation of Christ may not be so obvious. In today’s world of technology, we can just sit at home and represent Christ, or not represent Him well, as the case may be.

Look at this verse carefully. It doesn’t say, “and when you know the Father is listening” or “when you are around other believers.” It says whatever you do or say. That means in person and online. I used to post a lot of things on Facebook that would offend some people because that particular meme or graphic represented my beliefs. Now, I post scripture and about books and family. Not politics to a random audience online who only sees what I post and judges me by what I am posting. I ask myself now before I speak (online or in person) if what I am saying is a good representation of Christ or if I should just keep my mouth shut. More often than not, the Spirit tells me to clam up and keep my personal opinions to myself because they are not edifying Christ.

How about you? Are you ready to make a commitment to be a good representative of Christ wherever you are and whatever you say or do? A new year is coming and it would be a great resolution to make, and one you could actually keep with the help and empowerment of the Holy Spirit. We are called to be good representatives of Christ, not the ones whom He will one day turn His back on and say He never knew us.

God’s Covenant Is Forever

On By vickleaIn promises, Scripture1 Comment

If you are reading this and think that you don’t know what a covenant is, I am almost sure that you do, but you may not have used that exact word. A covenant is another word for a binding agreement, a contract or a promise. Anyone who is married has entered into a covenant relationship with their spouse, for example. God entered into a covenant with Abraham when He promised that his seed would be as numerous as the sand. He entered into a covenant with David when He promised that someone from his lineage would be on the throne forever. And He entered into a covenant with us when He sent Jesus to die for our sins; our part of that agreement was to accept the sacrifice. God does not make promises lightly because he always keeps them. Always and in all ways!

God has promised us unfailing love…we cannot escape this promise if we just hold on to it. We have to listen to find life. To what do we listen? To God speaking to us in His Word. Within the cover of the Holy Bible is where all of His promises and His covenant agreements with us can be found. You cannot know what they are unless you read and study His Word. What if you suddenly discovered that you owned valuable property but had never been shown the contract so you were unaware of it? That is what it’s like to never claim the promises of God’s Word. They are meant for each of us, His children, but we have to know them and know that God’s love has provided them for us.

God is faithful. We look around at mankind and see few examples of faithfulness. Most people who call themselves public servants are actually just serving themselves and their own desire for glory, fame and riches. God doesn’t need our worship. We need Him because He is the One we can count on to always be faithful and to always keep His covenant. God is still working out His purpose in our lives every day. We need to help Him fulfill the best for our lives by getting in step with His plan, not insisting that He bless the plan that we have come up with ourselves. God is a faithful, covenant-keeping God and for that I am eternally grateful.

Hosanna!

On By vickleaIn Scripture, Song2 Comments

All the World Awaits (Hosanna)-Chris Tomlin

I am so happy that today I finally feel well enough to put up and decorate our Christmas tree! The lights on the tree represent the lights that shone in the Heavens when the angels announced the birth of our Savior. The angel on top represents the heavenly host that came to earth to proclaim His birth. The ornaments represent the gifts that were given to baby Jesus. And the green tree…that is the best of all! It represents never dying, eternal life is now possible because the Messiah was born and came to save us from our sins. Hosanna in the Highest!

God’s Love

On By vickleaIn ScriptureLeave a comment

This is a busy time for almost everyone, especially those of us who have gifts to buy, a house to decorate and other seasonal errands to accomplish. As I read my Scriptures this morning, I confess that my mind was wandering to the next thing I had to get done and how long it would take me before I could move on to yet another task. God got my attention when I came to this verse and He stopped my mind from wandering away from focusing on Him.

Nothing., not one thing, can separate us from God’s love and that is all that is important, in this season and in all seasons. We can busily rush around checking off items on our “to do” list, but loving us is God’s to do list. It’s the only thing on His list. We matter to God, not the chores or the gifts or the baking, cleaning or even beautiful tree we plan to decorate in His honor. He wants our time, our love and devotion, just as wholeheartedly as He gives these precious gifts to us.

A Mother’s Thoughts

On By vickleaIn Scripture, Song1 Comment

Since we moved so frequently as a military family, I have memories of each of my children in different places. I used to be upset that I didn’t have one home with all of my memories safely stored there with me. Nowadays, after suffering a stroke and losing part of my memories, I am thankful for all of the moves because I can see an image of a child in a place and know where we were and what was happening then. Tokens of their childhood are stored safely away in various places in our current home…the first haircut, the first tooth lost, the first report card. And each token carries a memory of being a young mother with a lot of love and not much knowledge about what I was doing.

That brings me to the Bible verse and a song for today.

The angels sang, the shepherds came to worship and Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus, treasured these memories in her heart. It boggles my mind that a simple girl was chosen by God to give birth to the Savior of the world. It mystifies me that Mary was a mother, just like me, with hopes and dreams for her child but also knowing that He had a destiny to fulfill and she was only a small part of it.

“Mary, Did You Know?” by Pentatonix

This is my absolutely favorite Christmas song because it incorporates the love of a mother for her newborn child and the love of the child for the entire world.

Cherish your memories and hold fast to to your faith that God has a plan for your life, just as He did for Mary, and that He will bring it to pass.