“Oh how great is your goodness Lord, which you have laid up for those who fear you, which you have prepared for those who trust in you. You shall hide them in the secret place of your presence, from the plots of man you shall keep them safe in your pavilion. Many sorrows shall be to the wicked, but, he who trusts in the Lord, mercy shall surround him. Be of good courage all you who hope in the Lord, and he shall strengthen your heart.”

Many say the Lord’s ways are not fair, but the fact is this, it is our ways that are not fair. We have done wrong, time and time again, yet, the Lord says, if we turn away from our transgressions and return to him, none of the transgressions we have committed shall he remember and we shall live. Is God’s way fair, or is our way not fair? Think about it!

Have you ever wondered why you are faced with the same struggle over and over again? The reason why we are so tested is because we follow our deceitful hearts and we lack God’s grace to overcome. Unless we overcome the struggle we will continue to experience it. Are we able to overcome on our own? Oh no! We need God’s help; we his grace that will sustain us in our times of weakness. Let us take comfort in knowing, that, God is our very present help in times of trouble, that we could do all things through Christ who strengthen us and he will help us to overcome. All we need to do is ask.

One song-writer said, “Goodbye world, I’ll stay no longer with you, goodbye pleasures of sin, I’ll stay no longer with you, I’ve made up my mind to go God’s way the rest of my life.” If all of us could submit to God, the devil will flee from us, and God will draw near to us. But it takes a commitment, it will mean us turning away from the pleasures of this world which brings us nothing but heartaches and worries and hold onto God’s unchanging hand and he will help us to overcome by his grace.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, we are reminded in Matthew 18:16, that, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be drowned in the depth of the sea.” Many of us are not only going astray, but we are leading others away from God. Through our own rebelliousness we are causing so many of God’s children to stumble. Many who follow the popular crowd will have nothing to show for their faithfulness in following after sin; but, those who follow the unpopular crowd who are throwing out their life line to reel in souls for God, will not catch many, but for every soul that is won for God, there is a great reward.

Oh God, only you can tame our unruly minds, tongues and hearts, only you could stem the flow of the evil that comes from within us. Lord, our hearts are filled with evil treasures, create in us clean hearts, renew our minds and put out the evil fires burning within us. Lord, the tongue is small but deadly and we use it each day to hurt one another, we use it as a weapon to control each other, but Lord, set us free from this bondage, release us from the fiery furnace trapped within us and save us from lying lips and deceitful tongues. Lord, help us to understand that what goes into our mouths does not defile us, but what come out of our mouths, that is what defiles us. Help us, Lord!

My brothers and sisters in Christ, there is a judgment day coming and every one of us will be judged according to all that we have done good or bad. May God strengthen our hearts to do what is good and right, so that we will be found blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.

Lord, “Your kindness to the wicked does not make them do good. Although others do right, the wicked keep doing wrong and take no notice of your majesty. See, it stands written before me: I will not keep silent but will pay back in full; I will pay it back into their laps.” But, Lord, you have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence do not hold them against us. Forgive us, good Lord.

“Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.” Will you repent and return to the Lord before the day of reckoning? The time to begin is now, the place to begin is here!

“By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.”