Category: Christian Thoughts

ISAIAH 12

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Lord Is My Strength and My Song
You will say in that day:
“I will give thanks to you, O Lord,
for though you were angry with me,
your anger turned away,
that you might comfort me.

2 “Behold, God is my salvation;
I will trust, and will not be afraid;
for the Lord God is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation.”

3 With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation. 4 And you will say in that day:
“Give thanks to the Lord,
call upon his name,
make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted.

5 “Sing praises to the Lord, for he has done gloriously;
let this be made known in all the earth.

6 Shout, and sing for joy, O inhabitant of Zion,
for great in your midst is the Holy One of Israel.”

The day my mum passed away I wanted to read to her from the bible but was unsure of what to read so I prayed for guidance on the way in to talk to her and then I opened my bible on Isaiah 12 and I read it to my mum over and over. I couldn’t think of anything more fitting and although she couldn’t talk, she seemed to find comfort in the words.

I trust in the Lord God Almighty for her salvation and pray that her soul rests in peace forevermore.

If all you have today are tears? Bring those.

I’ll be honest… for years I struggled during difficult times with what to say when I prayed. I thought I had to find the perfect words to connect with the Lord.

But one day, I discovered… if I’m going through something hard, I can pray prayers where I don’t speak at all.

I can just sit with Jesus — making no suggestions, offering no solutions. Sometimes, I have nothing but quiet tears and a heavy heart. The beautiful thing is, the Bible promises when we sit with Jesus like this, the Holy Spirit lifts up the exact right prayers for me. And eventually, I sense God and there is peace.

What are you going through today? Whether it’s a difficult issue with one of your kids or financial stress or just feeling overwhelmed by life, I encourage you to sit with Jesus. You don’t have to pray perfectly crafted prayers for the Lord to hear you or for Him to move on your behalf.

And if all you have today are tears? Bring those.

Lysa TerKeurst

Straining Toward the Goal

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 3:12-14 ESV

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you are not where God wants you to be in Christ. You have some growing up to do yet. There are flaws in your character that the Lord needs to change. There are problems yet with the way you think about things. But guess what, the same thing is true of me and every other child of God. We will always come up short while we are living in the flesh. There is coming a day in which we will no longer need to grow and change, but now is not that time. Our response to this truth is to not give up trying. We must determine in our hearts to press on with all the effort we can muster to be better than we are today, with a clear vision of Christ before us.

Strain to grow. It is not an easy process. Growing in Christ takes much persistence, perseverance, and patience. It doesn’t happen overnight. The journey has many twists and turns, ups and downs. There are many victories along the way as well as battle scars. If it were easy, everyone who professes to be a child of God would become mature and be easy to get along with.

Forget the past and all that is there; press on. As long as you are looking behind you, you are not moving forward. You can’t press on when you are strapped down with your past. You cannot keep your eyes fixed on what lies before you when they are fixed on what is behind you. What is under the blood stays there. When Christ forgives us of our past and lets it go, we must do the same.

There is a wonderful day ahead of us in which we will be with our Lord. Keep your eyes focused on that day and live for it with all the energy and determination you can muster. The Lord is ahead of you, waiting for you. He’s got your back covered so give Him all you’ve got.

The First Two Commandments

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Matthew 22:37-39 ESV

Today as we spoke James taught me that “Mitemo” is shona for “Rule” or in this case we joked about it being The Lord’s commandments so I suppose these are our first two mitemos from God.

The Birth of Jesus Foretold

Luke 1 New International Version (NIV)

26 In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, 27 to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. 28 The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.”

29 Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 30 But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. 31 You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. 32 He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, 33 and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”

34 “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?”

35 The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. 36 Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. 37 For no word from God will ever fail.”

For no word from God will ever fail. Luke 1:37
For no word from God will ever fail. Luke 1:37

38 “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.