peace

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Has God required you to endure?

we-must-follow-christ-daily-not-occasionally-copy

Following Christ involves suffering.

What lengthy struggle has God required you to endure?

Is God calling you to keep praying daily and keep trusting Him even when you struggle with deep emotional wounds, sickness, loss or loneliness?

How can you rely on God’s provision when you do not see resources?

Do you think deeply about the characteristics of God as a source of peace and strength?

Do you know God loves you in any situation? Do you trust Him?

Do you believe His timing incorporates greater purposes than you can understand?

Our Heavenly Father gives His people peace and perseverance needed to endure suffering.

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Rewards and Punishment

lev-26-6-ww-notraceLeviticus 26

Rewards and Punishment

Leviticus 26:1-2, ”Do not make idols or set up an image or a sacred stone for yourselves, and do not place a carved stone in your land to bow down before it. I am the LORD your God. Observe My Sabbaths and have reverence for My sanctuary. I am the LORD.”

God tells the Israelites they are to have no idols and observe the Sabbath.

Leviticus 26:3: “If you follow my decrees and are careful to obey My commands, – God gives conditions. If you… then I will…I give you ground rules. If you obey them, I will reward you. There are seven different blessings/rewards: Plenty, Peace, Protection, Power, Prosperity, Provision, and Privilege.

Leviticus 26:4-5 (PLENTY) 4: I will send you rain in its season, and the ground will yield its crops and the trees their fruit. 5: Your threshing will continue until grape harvest and the grape harvest will continue until planting, and you will eat all the food you want and live in safety in your land.

Leviticus 26:6a (PEACE) 6: I will grant peace in the land, and you will lie down and no one will make you afraid.

Leviticus 26:6b (PROTECTION) I will remove wild beasts from the land, and the sword will not pass through your country.

Leviticus 26:7-8 (POWER) 7: You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you. 8: Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.

Leviticus  26:9 (PROSPERITY) I  will  look  on  you  with  favor  and  make  you  fruitful  and  increase  your numbers, and I will keep my covenant with you.

Leviticus 26:10 (PROVISION) You will still be eating last year’s harvest when you will have to move it out to make room for the new.

Leviticus 26:11-12 (PRIVILEGE) 11: I  will  put my dwelling place [among you, and I will  not abhor you. 12: I  will  walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people.

Leviticus 26:14-16  14: But if you will not listen to me and carry out all these commands,  15: and if you reject My decrees and abhor my laws and fail to carry out all my commands and so violate my covenant, 16: then I will

LEVITICUS 25:10“Consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; each of you is to return to your family property and to your own clan.”

I am God of rewards and this is what I expect from you. If you obey, I will reward you.

If you do not obey my commandments, I will punish you. God tells the Israelites what will happen if they are unfaithful and disobey God. The severity  of  the punishment increases. The ultimate punishment is exile from the land.

God rewards those who obey and He punished those who disobey.

How have I seen this in my own life? What blessings have I received because I obey? What hardship have I endured because of disobedience? Not every hard situation is discipline or punishment from God. We live in a fallen world that is full of sin. God never leaves His people in despair. God always brings hope.

God is always faithful even when His people are unfaithful.

Lord, thank You for all Your blessings! Help me to obey You every day.

Your obedience to the Lord will bring blessings on you!

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Merry Christmas to the one I love!

Merry Christmas

to the one I love,

the one

God brought to me!

Jeremiah 29:11

,,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.”

 

How blessed I am in knowing that our marriage is not about me or about you, but about us and the plan and purpose God has for our lives.

What a joy it is to discover it with you moment by moment, to live it with you day by day and to share it with you always, out of the treasure house of our love.

Merry Christmas my love!

May you have faith to inspire you,

Hope to sustain you,

Joy and songs to cherish you,

Peace to comfort you,

Love to bless you,

through a life time of caring and sharing together!

,,When God brings two people together in marriage, He not only reveals His loving plan, but He also establishes His glorious purpose for their future.”  –Roy Lessin

 

Merry Christmas my love!

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Merry Christmas to my pastor and his wife

I am happy to say:

Merry Christmas

to our pastor and his wife

and their children!

1 Tesaloniceni 3:9

,,Cum putem noi oare să mulţumim îndeajuns lui Dumnezeu cu privire la voi, pentru toată bucuria pe care o avem din pricina voastră, înaintea Dumnezeului nostru?”

,,For what thanks can we render to God again for you, for all the joy wherewith we joy for your sakes before our God.”

 

Lord,

Thank You

for bringing these  wonderful people into our lives.

Thank You

for all You have done through them so far,

and all You are yet to do.

We pray

they will always know they are loved,

appreciated, and supported,

not only by You,  but also by us.

May

Your hand be upon them

as they serve You,

and with each passing year

may they be blessed more and more by You.

You

are the Giver of all good things

and we are so thankful

that You have given these very special people

to our church.

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We bless you  all in the Name of Jesus!

May the beauty and joy of Christ(mas) fill your world!

May the peace of  Christ(mas) fill your heart!

May the love of Christ(mas) fill our church always!

At this Christmas,

we are thanking God for you,

and thinking of you

with joy and appreciation!

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I celebrate my Redeemer at Christmas!

Job 19:25

,,I know my Redeemer lives,

and that in the end

He will stand upon the earth.”

I know that my Redeemer lives!

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I see His love is everywhere.

I see it in the caring smiles and warmth that people share.

I see it in my family, friends, church and every answered prayer.

I know that my Redeemer lives!

I know His victory sets me free to live each day in joy with faith in all that’s yet to be.

I know I have a future! One day I will see Him and my joy will be complete.

And to know my way is safe because He always watches over me.

I know that my Redeemer lives!

I hope

your Christmas is blessed with a very real sense of just

how near the Lord always is to you,

and just how much He loves you!

 

Merry Christmas to you and yours!

May the Christ of Christmas fill

your life with joy and hope,

your soul with peace

 and your heart with songs.