Jeremiah 33:3

February 09, 2025

Today's Scripture

Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.

Jeremiah 33:3

When you first get married, you think the two of you know how to talk with each other. It’s only after being together for a long time that you come to understand what’s being said when no one else hears a word. You come to a communication level where your spouse can talk to you without saying a word. They give you “that” look, and you go, “I’m in trouble.”

When you begin to talk with God in prayer, you develop a relationship and a pattern of communication with Him in much the same way you develop communication skills with people whom you’re close with. You begin to know that it’s God who’s speaking to you, and you become familiar with who He is, what He’s saying, and how He communicates. You get to know Him intimately through His Word, through worship, and through prayer. You discover that God will tell you things that no one else will pick up on, not because He doesn’t want them to know, but because they don’t know Him in the way you do.

Be encouraged today that your relationship with God must be developed. Make it your daily priority to deepen your relationship with Him.

Blessing

Now may the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you and give you His peace. May you live today knowing you are free—free from the past—receiving forgiveness by God’s amazing grace. Refuse to allow your yesterdays to control your tomorrows. Walk in the liberty and the love that God has given to each of His children because the best is yet to be in Jesus’ name, Amen!

Today's Bible Reading:?

Old Testament

New Testament?

Psalms & Proverbs

Hebrews 13:8

February 08, 2025

Today's Scripture

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Hebrews 13:8

Trust in another person is developed with two fundamental elements—consistency and capability. When you find someone who’s consistent, you can trust them to a point. When you find someone who is capable, you can begin to trust them. When you find someone who is consistently capable, you can trust them more, but you know they will falter eventually and disappoint you.

While all that is true, we have to remember that the God whom we serve does not change and is always capable of meeting our every need. He is the God who is from everlasting to everlasting. He is the One who said His consistent goodness and mercy will follow you all the days of your life; that His angels would walk before you, clearing a path in front of you; that He would open every door that was closed. He is the God who can move every mountain and calm every storm. He is the One who said that every weapon that is formed against you will not prosper. He promised you that every power and principality would be bound and muzzled in His mighty name!

Believe God to move even greater mountains in your future than the ones He has already helped you conquer—because He is always faithful.

Blessing

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you. And may the Lord be gracious unto you and give you His peace. May you walk in the confidence that God has given you total freedom; that the Cross has removed your past and guaranteed your future; that you are His and He is yours and your life is destined to be blessed and victorious because of the Blood of the Cross.

Today's Bible Reading:?

Old Testament

New Testament?

Psalms & Proverbs

Day 36: No Greater Love ~ Building Bridges of Friendship,

Part Three: A Sheltering Friendship

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Proverbs 19:20
“Listen to advice and accept instruction,

that you may gain wisdom in the future.”

The following quote from an unknown author speaks profound truth:?“To be a ‘safe place’ for others, one must have an open heart and a closed mouth.“? At the mid-point of our marriage, my husband and I discovered a strategy for communication. When I come to him with a problem I am dealing with, he asks this question so he can listen appropriately,?“Are you looking for sympathy or a solution?”?Many times, all I need to feel better is to voice the problem out loud, get a big bear hug from him, and move on. Other times I really do need his advice and am eager to hear his viewpoint.

This strategy works with friendships as well. We all want to be given an opportunity to be heard but, when the shoe is on the other foot, do we have a problem being a good listener or do we have a tendency to dominate the conversation? Are we guilty of interjecting a quick response, offering solutions rather than sympathy?

A more serious breach may involve a betrayal by a friend we trusted with what we thought was a confidential conversation. A study in Psychology Today* found that betrayal is the most common reason for the death of a friendship. We must always remember that invariably people will let us down at some point but Christ never will, so our faith should be in Him and not in any man or woman. Nevertheless, we all crave a safe, sheltering friendship, a place to share our emotions without being judged, a place to cry it out, a place to join together in prayer, and a friend with “skin on.” We desire a safe place to leave these things, entrusted to a sheltering friend who will not allow confidences to go any further, one who is trustworthy, to whom we can say anything and not worry that the information will be turned against us. Let us be known as sheltering friends who incline listening ears to hear, extend secure hands to hold, speak affirming words to lift up, and offer faithful prayers to the Father.

Heavenly Father, we praise You that because of our faith in Christ, You consider us Your friends. Thank You that You are the One who will listen, answer our prayers, and will never betray us. Thank you that in Christ we have the perfect sheltering friend in the storms of life. To You we lift our praise. Amen.

* “The Friendship Bond,” published in Psychology Today, October, 1979 p. 43
~ painting by Emily Mary Osborn

Evensong

Day 35: No Greater Love: Building Bridges of Friendship, Part II – a Secure Friendship

?by?

1 Corinthians 3: 10-11

“According to the grace of God, which was given to me, like a wise master builder, I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

The orders from the Navy sending us to England for exchange duty with the Royal Navy gave us only two weeks to pack up our family’s belongings, find a new home for our little dachshund, say our goodbyes to friends and family, and fly into the great unknown. As brand new Christians, we were leaving behind an invaluable support system of friends who had helped to guide our first baby steps of faith. With a limited amount of time to prepare, we knew little what to expect, where we would live and if anyone would be there to greet us and give us some direction. By God’s gracious care, we were met by another Navy friend, Bill, also on exchange who, along with his wife, Marty, who were both Christians and more than eager to help us get settled in right next door to them! During those years, Marty offered me friendship, discipleship and mentoring built upon a shared, secure foundation.

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Any friendship is only as good as its foundation. Before becoming the type of friend God desires us to be, we must have a secure foundation on Jesus Christ. God has specific laws for building solid structures that also apply to building solid relationships. Our scripture passage for today reminds us that, “Each one should be careful how he builds. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.”

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We live in a fallen world as a result of sin entering the world through Adam and Eve. The breach caused by sin hurt their relationship as man and wife as well as their relationship with their Father God. That same sin brought mistrust, greed, betrayal, resentment, and fear which has created a chasm between human beings ever since. But, there is Good News! Built into the foundation of the world was the Cross of Christ—a BRIDGE—that gives us a way back to the faithful, unconditional love of God when we place our faith in Jesus. Building our relationships and our friendships on the solid foundation of Jesus Christ, provides a safer and more secure footing. Friendships can reap wonderful blessings, but the surest friendship we have can only be found in Jesus!

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May this beautiful song by Charles Wesley be our prayer today:

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Jesus, my Savior, Brother, Friend,

On whom I cast my every care,

On whom for all things I depend,

Inspire, and then accept my prayer.

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If I have tasted of Thy grace,

The grace that sure salvation brings;

If with me now Thy Spirit stays,

And hov’ring hides me in His wings.

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Still let Him with my weakness stay,

Nor for a moment’s space depart;

Evil and danger turn away,

And keep, till He renews my heart.

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When to the right or left I stray,

His voice behind me may I hear,

“Return, and walk in Christ Thy way,

Fly back to Christ, for sin is near.”

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Jesus, I fain would walk in Thee,

From nature’s every path retreat;

Thou art my way, my leader be,

And set upon the rock my feet.

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Uphold me, Savior, or I fall;

O reach me out Thy gracious hand:

Only on Thee for help I call;

Only by faith in Thee I stand. Amen

Day 34: No Greater Love ~

Building Bridges of Friendship, Part One

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John 15:13-17
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are My friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from My Father I have made known to you. You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in My name the Father will give you. This is My command: Love each other.”

As I get older—probably by virtue of the fact that I have lived longer and continue to meet new people—I have a beautiful bounty of friends, some new, some cherished for years, some local and others long-distance friends. My dearest friend has been a long-distance friend for 37 years. For many of those years we managed only once-a-year visits with long talks on the phone every month or so, but our limited times have always been purposeful, meaningful, and a worthwhile investment.

My guess is that most would agree that having devoted, loyal friends is a pretty important part of life. But, do we sometimes look upon the time we spend with a friend as a luxury, a reward after getting everything else done, as a lovely extravagance to fill idle hours and enhance our enjoyment? In days when we run from the urgent to the imperative, using e-mails, Zoom, texts, messenger, Instagram, Amazon, microwaves, and remote controls, many of us find we don’t get around to this “luxury” often enough, though we intend to. However, there is no way Amazon can mail you a friend. Many of us will never invest the time or take the risk of building lasting friendships until we are convinced they are essential, not an extra.

Jesus’ years of ministry on earth leave little doubt that loving others and investing time and energy in their lives was His number one priority—more important than earning an income, owning a home, or living to retirement age with a healthy nest egg! He chose twelve common men and loved them so effectively that He transformed them from sinners to saints, from enemies to friends of God. Together they fished, ate, walked, talked, worked, celebrated, slept, taught, traveled, rejoiced, cried, prayed, and grew. Jesus made friends with the lovely and the unlovely, loved and unloved, the poor, wealthy, sick, healthy, religious, and influential. His love for others was and still is redemptive, healing, and life-changing.

In Him, our love for one another can be the same. To do that, we must be committed to building bridges of love and friendship as He was committed to building His bridge of love to us. In the coming days, I’ll be sharing ways we can extend this love—this bridge-building love—with friends the way Jesus has done for us.

Dear Father, thank You for sending Jesus, our greatest friend, to be the bridge to life, love, and friendship. May we be reminded each day that He gave us the model for true, faithful, lasting friendships. Help us to be the kind of friend who puts others’ needs above our own. In the name of Jesus, our best friend. Amen.
~ painting source unknown