“All your works shall praise you, O Lord, and your saints will bless you. They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and talk of your power, to make known to the sons of men His mighty acts. The Lord is righteous in all His ways and gracious in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call upon Him, to all who call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of those who fear Him and He also will hear their cry and save them. The Lord preserves all who love Him, but all the wicked He will destroy. My mouth shall speak the praise of the Lord and all flesh shall bless His holy name forever and ever.” Amen! “Let everything that hath breathe this morning, praise the Lord!”

Pray on, pray on, believing one, God’s promises are sure, and they shall overcome by faith, for those who will endure. Pray on, pray on, and weary not, the cross with patience bear, and though its burden weighs us down, the Lord will answer prayer. His eyes foresees our greatest good, while we at best are weak, and thus in wisdom He withholds, the gifts we often seek. And yet, His all sufficient grace, He bids us meekly wait, and in a way we least expect, the Lord will answer prayer. With anxious thoughts for those we love, our hearts are often filled, but soon the clouds are rolled away, and the troubled waves are stilled. Then murmur not, but trust in God, who knows our every care, and better far than we can ask, the Lord will answer prayer. Thank you Lord for this assurance, may it reach the ones who need it most this morning and blessed comfort give.

“Fierce witnesses rise up, they ask me things I do not know, and they reward me evil for good to the sorrow of my soul. But, as for me when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth, I humbled myself with fasting, and my prayer would return to my own heart, I paced about as though he were my friend or brother, I bowed down as one who mourns for his mother, but in my adversity they rejoiced and gathered together, attackers gathered against me and I did not know it, they tore at me and did not cease, they gnashed at me with their teeth. Lord, how long will you look on? Rescue me from their destruction, my precious life from the lions. I will give you thanks in the great assembly, I will praise you among many people.” There is none like you O Lord, who delivers the poor from those who are too strong for him, yes, the poor and the needy from him who plunders him. Thank you, Lord, for protection and deliverance. Continually watch over us.

Lord, we have all walked in our own willful way, we have been rebellious to your word, we have rejected your free gift of salvation, we call upon your name only in times of trouble, we are ashamed to profess you before others, we backbite and we curse, we put idols before you O God, we are not a thankful generation, yet, for all this your anger is not turned away, but your arm is outstretched still. Lord, you are awesome, you are willing to go to battle for us even when fight against you, you are merciful to us, even though we are undeserving,  we put stumbling blocks in the paths of others, we turn our backs away from you, yet, for all this your anger is not turned away, but your arm is outstretched still. Thank you, Lord!

“But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.” My brothers and sisters in Christ, since we now know that all these things will be dissolved, we should be looking for and hastening the coming of the Lord, for He also promised us a new heaven and a new earth in which righteousness dwells; therefore, we should be looking forward to these things, being diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless, and consider that the longsuffering of the Lord is salvation. The time to accept salvation freely given is now, for we know not the day nor the hour that these things will come to pass, many doubt that they will because the story has been told forever, but understand this, that God promised that the day will come as a thief in the night, Therefore, watch and pray, for with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years one day.  WATCH AND PRAY!

Because of God’s promises to us we could escape the corruption that is in the world through lust, and be joined with Him, therefore, “For this very reason giving all diligence, we must add to our faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of God, for he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore brethren, be even more diligent to make your election sure, for if you do these things, you will never stumble.” Praise the Lord! He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue. Thank you, Lord!

My brothers and sisters in Christ, God already knows your needs and mine and He has promised to supply. Will you trust Him? You may be despondent this morning, tired of your own groaning, fed up with the struggles of life, but hold on, because God promised to provide; it may not be your way or on your time, but trust Him and He will provide. Our God is an on-time God, He is a God who keeps His word, there was never a word that He has spoken that will ever be broken, therefore, trust in the Lord, and He will provide.

Jesus washed the feet of His disciples, but when He came to Peter who knew that he was about to betray Jesus, Peter said in disbelief, “Lord are you washing my feet!” He said to Peter, you are clean, but not all of you, and Simon Peter said, Lord, not my feet only, but my hands and my head. How many of us this morning are clean, but not all clean? How many of us need our hands, and head, and feet washed? My brothers and sisters in Christ, many of us appear clean on the outside but God knows our hearts, He knows the evil thought and desires within us, He knows that we are not always faithful to Him, but He is merciful and kind, He is willing to cleanse and make us whole, for He promised that, “Though our sins be like scarlet He will make white as snow, and though they be red like crimson, He will make them as wool. Wash us Lord in the cleansing blood of the lamb, create in us clean hearts and renew right spirits within us. Amen! Let us praise the Lord for His goodness and mercy towards us.

What a mighty God we serve! Who on earth is like Him? Many of us have been done wrong by others and even after they have confessed and begged forgiveness, we find it hard to forget. Yet, God in His mercy is calling on all of us who have strayed from Him to return, and He promised, that if we only acknowledge our iniquity and that we have transgressed, that He will be merciful, that He will not remain angry with us forever. If God is so merciful to us, we should also try to be merciful to others. Many of us have perverted ways, we have walked out of God’s way, we have devised evil against our neighbor, we have spoken and done evil things, but, we have the promise of God, that if we will return to Him, and put away all abominations out of His sight, that we shall not be moved. Help us Lord!