Matthew 5:17-18   “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.  For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.”

Every Old Testament prophecy about the Messiah came true in Jesus.  All of them, completely accurately, just as they foretold. Jesus was born, lived, suffered, died and rose again just as the Scriptures said He would.

We can trust the Bible to be true in every detail, because it has already proved to be true in miraculous ways.  We know that God is sovereign, and that everything throughout history and in our world is in His control.

So, can't you trust Him with your life, too?

Isaiah 55:8-9    For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.  For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Don't limit God by saying that He can't or doesn't work in a certain way.  He decides, and He does as He desires.  Trust Him to do what is right and good, but remember that He will do it in His way and in His time. 

In other words, remember this:  God is God.  And you and I?  We are not!

John 14:23   Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. 

The proof that you love Jesus is in keeping His word.  if you love Him, you will live for Him.  Then you will know the Father's love.  What would it be like to have God the Father and Jesus Christ come and make their home with you?  Wouldn't you love to know?  You can.  Love Jesus, and keep His word by obeying Him, living for Him, and putting His will above your own desires.  

​Then, welcome home!

Romans 8:26-27   Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.   And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

When you go to your quiet place to pray, don't worry about what you will say.  In fact, don't worry about saying anything.  Just spend time being in the presence of God, and listen.  He has the words of life and hope.

Trust the Holy Spirit to speak on your behalf, and to pray as you and I never could.  Pour your heart out to the One who loves you enough to die for you.  And then listen as He tells you of His love, as He comforts you and draws you to Himself.  There is no better place to be!

James 1:22-25   But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.  For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror.  For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.  But the one who looks into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and perseveres, being no hearer who forgets but a doer who acts, he will be blessed in his doing.

What do you see when you look into the mirror of God's Word?  What needs to change?

Psalm 99:1-5   The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble!  He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake! The Lord is great in Zion; he is exalted over all the peoples.  Let them praise your great and awesome name!  Holy is he!   The King in his might loves justice. You have established equity; you have executed justice and righteousness in Jacob. Exalt the Lord our God; worship at his footstool!  Holy is he!

Who is your King?  Does every part of you belong to Him?  He is worthy of our worship and He is worthy of our lives.   Give yourself to Him today.

Deuteronomy 30:19-20   ... Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him, for he is your life and length of days…

The "life" talked about here is living for God, obeying Him and loving Him with your whole life.  We have a choice to live for God and have real, abundant, eternal life in Him, or to choose death by living for ourselves.  

So choose life.  Love the Lord your God.  Obey His voice.  Hold fast to Him.  For He and He alone is your life and your length of days.

Judges 21:25    In those days there was no king in Israel. Everyone did what was right in his own eyes.

I know.  It's a strange verse for a blog of this sort.  But doesn't it describe our day when even many churches re-interpret the Bible to mean what they want it to say?  And we are not entirely innocent.  We pick and choose.  Instead of taking all of God's Word at His Word, we soften the language, we polish the meaning, we sweeten the consequences, and we live lives that don't have the significance for the Kingdom that God calls us to.

How would your life change if you took all of God's Word as truth to be lived out?  How do you think your community would change if you lived your life only and completely for the glory of God?

Psalm 118:5-6   Out of my distress I called on the Lord; the Lord answered me and set me free.
The Lord is on my side; I will not fear.  What can man do to me?

The answer?  Nothing.  Man can do nothing that hasn't gone through God's hands first.  So don't fear.  Just trust!

Luke 6:37-38   “Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”

What you and I do for good or for evil comes back to us multiplied.  Do you judge others?  You will be judged.  Do you condemn them?  You will be condemned.

But when you forgive, you will be forgiven.  And when you give, it comes back many times.  I'm not talking about financial or material gain.  That's a distortion called the "prosperity gospel".  When we give in the name of Jesus, God gives us more of Himself in our lives.

And that's better than money any day!