My brothers and sisters in Christ, let us call upon the name of the Lord and be saved from our transgressions, for there will not be found salvation in any other name under heaven by which we must be saved. “Repent therefore and turn from all your transgressions, so that iniquity will not be your ruin, cast away from you all transgressions which you have committed and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit, for the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life. The Lord has no pleasure in the death of one who dies. Turn and live says the Lord.”

“Thanks for thy word O blessed Lord, open our eyes its beauty to see, grant us the grace to study it wisely and draw every heart to thee. Thanks for the Bible which so freely offers, pardon and peace to all who believe, help us O Lord, its counsel to follow, meekly by faith and in truth receive. Thanks for thy word of precept and promise, lamp to our feet and light to our path, blessed are those who keep its commandments, they shall abide forever with thee.” Amen!

We know that God causes all things to work together for our good. How then are we not faithful enough to endure the things we go through, so that God could work our purpose out? God has assigned a purpose to every one of us. Some understand that purpose early in life; some find that purpose through adversity; some find that purpose in helping others, but many never experience it because they are afraid to embrace it. My brothers and sisters in Christ, God loves us, and as we love and trust Him more he will cause all things to work together for our good, for he made us, he knows what we are capable of and that is why we may experience tough times and come out smiling, because God will never place a burden on us that we are not able to bear. Endure all things for Christ’s sake; for he knows you as you are, He knew you before you were, and He predestined you for His good work. Walk in it!

Lord, this morning, I surrender all thee, all of my secret faults, and all of my weaknesses. Subdue every vain desire that threatens my love for you, and instill in my heart a deeper love for you, O God, so that no earthly joy can lure me away from you. Lord, I will look to thee with steadfast hope, and draw closer to you. Lord, I want to continually experience the fullness of your love, so guide my thoughts, my ways, my tongue and my heart, so that all I do and say may be pleasing to you. Lord, I gladly surrender all to you this day and put my trust in you, and I pray that your word will always be a light unto my feet and a lamp unto my path, as I travel along the pilgrim way. Thank you Lord!

It sounds so easy, yet, we find it so hard to do – Ask. “Whatever you ask the Father in my name He will give you.” Many of us ask, but like we read in the book of John, we ask, but we ask amiss, we ask, but we do not ask the Father in Jesus’s name, we ask and we do not believe, so we do not receive. Jesus said unto them, “Have faith in God, for  assuredly I say to you, whoever says to this mountain be cast into the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore, whatever things you ask for when you pray, ask of the Father, in the name of Jesus, and believe that you receive them, and you will have them, and your joy will be full. Lord, teach us how to pray aright!

Father, we thank you for this morning for life and love. We thank you for your innumerable blessings which you will pour upon us this day. They are not earned or deserved, but we know that you are a father who loves his children, and no matter what we have done or where we have been, you are still there. Show us how to love you, show us how to honor you so that our days may be long, so that, our cups will be full and running over, so that, our ways may be pleasing to you. Lord, we will continually call upon your name and give you thanks, and declare to the world all your wonderful deeds. Thank you Lord!

When we are reconciled to God our minds have been renewed, our ways have been channeled in the ways of the Lord, and therefore, we should walk worthy of the calling to which we have been called. We should not receive God’s grace in vain; we should not touch what is unclean; we should daily cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit and perfect holiness in the fear of God. All of us who have been born again were borne out of sorrow, but godly sorrow, we are here because in the accepted time God heard our cries and in the day of salvation he helped us, so that we could give him the honor and glory for our godly sorrows which produced repentance in us and led us to salvation. Thank you, Lord, for new birth, thank you for mercifully accepting us as joint heirs with you, help us to never look back, but to look ahead, beholding the all things that have become new to us in Christ. Praise the Lord!

Just like Paul’s experiences, Satan sends messengers to stop our blessings, but we only see the trouble,  and not the blessing in it, sometimes the burdens we bear seems intolerable, and we ask the Lord to deliver us, but, the burden is not lifted, it is increased. Why? Because God is saying to us, “My GRACE is sufficient for you, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.”  So I am encouraging those who are weak this morning, to shout out, “I am strong in the Lord, for his strength will perfect my weakness.” Help us, Lord, to take pleasure in our infirmities, in our reproaches, in our needs,, in persecutions and in our distresses; help us to persevere knowing that the discomfort is only for little while; that God is perfecting us, that God is increasing our faith; therefore, be of good courage and know that God will strengthen your heart for any problem that you will face; boast in your infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon you. Praise the Lord!

God has called each of us not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ before time began. Therefore, if we have been called to his purpose we must serve Him without fear or shame, we must be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus, we must be confident in whom we believe, and be persuaded, that the God whom we serve is able to make us fit for any task he has set before us and see it to completion. Therefore, be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth; be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.

Scripture reminds us that now abideth faith, hope and love, but that the greatest of these is love. Many of us profess to be faithful, and hopeful, but are we lovely? Faithfulness is between you and God, so is hope, but to be lovely involves loving ourselves and others. It is easier to love from the lip than from the heart, because loving from the heart makes us vulnerable and open to being hurt and deceived, but God says without love we are nothing. It’s no wonder that scripture encourages us to be kind to strangers, for if we are kind to strangers we expect nothing in return, and our reward will be greater in heaven, but many are reluctant to love or be kind to strangers because there is no earthly reward, but know that when we give from the heart to those we know and love, we expect to have it returned to us and we are most times disappointed. Why? Because true love is not puffed up, does not parade itself, nor seeks its own, and therefore, if loves is puffed up, paraded or self-seeking, it becomes nothing more than a sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. Let us then pursue the things that make for peace and love and build up the common life. Amen!