My brothers and sisters in Christ, let us press on towards the goal, serving Christ without fear or shame, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are ahead of us. Let us glory in the cross of Christ, being mindful that he laid down His life for us, therefore we should be able to stand up and defend His name, a name that is above all other name. Let us never put anything or anyone before Him, because these things which are worthless will draw us farther away from God and the end thereof will be destruction. All the things that you and I have gained in sin could never be compared to what we have gained with Christ within. Praise the Lord!

^“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits.” How could we ever forget to thank the Lord for all His goodness and mercy towards us? He forgives all of our iniquities; He heals all our diseases; He redeems us from destruction; He crowns us with loving-kindness and tender mercies; He satisfies our mouth with good things; He daily renews us so that our youth is renewed like the eagles. The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and plenteous in mercy. He has not dealt with us as we deserve, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities.  For the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting upon them that fear him, and his righteousness unto children’s children, and to such as keep his covenant, and to those that remember his commandments to do them. How could we ever forget to thank the Lord for all His goodness and mercy towards us? “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.”

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia! Our triumphant holy day, Alleluia! Who did once upon the cross, Alleluia! Suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia! Hymns of praise then let us sing, Alleluia! Unto Christ, our heavenly King, Alleluia! Who endured the cross and grave, Alleluia! Sinners to redeem and save. Alleluia! But the pains which he endured, Alleluia! Our salvation have procured; Alleluia! Now above the sky he’s King, Alleluia! Where the angels ever sing. Alleluia!

Up from the grave He arose, with a mighty triumph o’er His foes, He arose victorious from the dark domain and He lives forever with His saints to reign. He arose! He arose! Allelujah! Christ arose! Death and the grave could not hold him, He arose! Allelujah! Christ arose! No more will sin and sorrow and unforgiveness reign in our hearts, for He has raised up a mighty horn of salvation for us. He arose! Allelujah! The Lord is risen indeed!

Lord, we are not deserving of the kind mercies you show us, but we are thankful that we serve a God of compassion, a God who knows our hearts, a God who understand our ways, a God who is able to show us mercy so that we also could show mercy to others. Lord, we have been blind to your goodness, we have not been patient with others as you have been patient with us, we have been unforgiving and relentless in doing evil, we continue to put stumbling blocks in the path of others, but Lord, let not your anger consume us, let us search out and examine our ways and turn back to you, let us lift our hands to you, let us fall prostrate at your feet and ask for forgiveness, for you O lord, will not cast off forever, for though you show grief, yet, you will show compassion according to the multitude of your mercies. Thank you Lord!

When Jesus knew that is hour was drawing near, he went into the garden of Gethsemane to pray, and he asked his disciples to watch and pray, for he was exceedingly sorrowful, he was deeply troubled and distressed, and he prayed to the Father that this cup will pass from him, but he was alone, he had no one to watch and pray for him. Lord, we are thankful that in the midst of trouble and anxiety that we have you, that we are never alone. You said that we should cast all of our anxieties on you because you care for us, that we must be of sober spirit, being vigilant, for the devils prowls around seeking to devour us, but that we must be strong in the faith and resist him knowing that the same experiences of suffering are being faced by our brethren in the world. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. Let us therefore submit ourselves, to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from us.

God will use anything that was mean to hurt you for your good, even your affliction. The Lord has his way in the whirlwind and the storm and clouds are the dust of his feet. When we are afflicted, many times we become rebellious rather than drawing closer to God, but many of us find God in the midst of our afflictions. I have learned to say, “Thank you Lord,” in my afflictions, I talk to him more, I am on knees more, I meditate on his word more because I know that the enemy does not attack those he already has, he attacks those who belong to God. If we remain faithful to God in the midst of our afflictions, he will be faithful to us and deliver us through whirlwinds and storms, and we will give him all the glory and praise and will come to understand that if it was not for the affliction that we would have strayed farther from God. Let us learn to praise God in the midst of trouble and affliction knowing that he is very present and will deliver us.

“He who does not enter the sheepfold by the door, but climbs up some other way, is a thief and a robber, but he who enters by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.” My brothers and sisters in Christ, let us not allow the thief to enter the door of our hearts, for he comes only to steal and to kill and to destroy, but follow the good shepherd who daily lays down his life for us, He is the door of the sheep. If you hear His voice this morning, harden not your heart, but follow Him, for all who have come before Him are thieves and robbers, do not listen to them. When the good shepherd brings out His own sheep, He goes before them and the sheep follows him for they know His voice. The good shepherd willingly lays down His life for us, but the thief destroys us. God promised that as our good shepherd He will never leave us nor forsake us, but the one who is not the shepherd, when he sees the wolf coming, leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf catches the sheep and scatter them. Will you allow yourselves to be scattered or to be led into the sheepfold of God?

Many times we are so hard to forgive others for petty things, but we expect God to forgive us for our multitude of transgressions and he does, because he loves us, and will not give up on us, until we return to him. We read in the book of Isaiah that God will blot out our transgressions like a thick cloud, all we need to do is to return to him. He promised that if we do, that He will open before us double doors, that He will go before us and make the crooked places straight, that he will break in pieces the gates that hold us captive and cut the bars of iron that restrain us, that we may know that He is the Lord, who called us by name. He said he will gird us even though we have not known Him that we may know from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is none besides Him, that He is the Lord, and there is no other. What a mighty God we serve! He is a God of second chances. Thank you, Lord!

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, and to sing praises to His name, to declare His loving kindness in the morning and His faithfulness every night.” The Lord does so many wonderful things for us no matter how undeserving we are because He cares for us. How should we thank Him for all His many blessings on us? “Oh, let us give thanks to the Lord, call upon His name, make known His deeds among the peoples, sing to Him, sing Psalms to Him, remember all His wondrous works and talk about them, write them on the doorposts of your heart, enter into His gates daily with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise, be thankful to Him and bless His holy name, for the Lord is good and his mercy is everlasting and His truth endures to all generation. Oh Lord, how manifold are your works, in wisdom you have made them all. Bless the Lord, oh my soul and forget not all His benefits.” Thank you Lord!