Song of Solomon 7-8; Psalm 127; 2 Thessalonians 2

I love how God invades my quiet time with His Holy Spirit to tell me just how much He loves me, and how much He likes me, and how much He desires to give me favour.

I belong to my love,
and his desire is for me. – Song of Solomon 7:10 HCSB

It reminds me of a Sunday School song from years gone by – I am my beloved and He is mine, His banner over me is love.

A simple message but one that I missed in my early years of family. I had started to show the traits of a workaholic. One of the amazing gifts from God is sleep. Sleep is a gift from my Father.

In vain you get up early and stay up late,
working hard to have enough food—
yes, He gives sleep to the one He loves. – Psalm 127:2 HCSB

When Jesus said that the truth would set me free, I can tell, by looking back over my life, that it has. In fact the love of truth is what started me on the road to becoming a follower of Jesus.

The coming of the lawless one is based on Satan’s working, with all kinds of false miracles, signs, and wonders, and with every unrighteous deception among those who are perishing. They perish because they did not accept the love of the truth in order to be saved.  – 2 Thessalonians 2:9-10 HCSB

I wonder how others can reject and have no love for Jesus and the message of His salvation. The gospel in one hand and lying and deceit in the other and the other hand is chosen.

Faith combines with a sweet and voluntary reverence for God. I cannot believe the word of God unless it is lovely and pleasant to me.

Father, I am thankful every day that I allowed the Holy Spirit to speak into my life the truth of who God is and the gospel of Jesus. I cannot imagine my life without You. Today, You are truly a banner of love over me. It is as if love has empowered me and protected me in my journey with You. I love that I can set my alarm, early in the morning to spend time with You, and that I can shut work off and get to bed in a timely fashion to ensure my body and mind have the rest it needs for a fruitful and productive day. I pray that You will give me wisdom to share Your gospel in such a way as for others to sense Your love and see the power of Your truth. May many be set free. Amen

Erwin (evanlaar1922)

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2 Kings 2; 2 Thessalonians 2; Daniel 6; Psalm 112,113

What do you think about Elijah trying to trick Elisha regarding his passing away – the where and when of it?

The time came for the Lord to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. – 2 Kings 2:1 GNT

What do you think about him using prayer as one of the means of tricking him into not following him?

One thing I do love about this event is the need for Elisha, far above all the tricky that Elijah threw at him, to have Elijah pray one more time with him, and to have the last prayer with him – to receive a blessing. Is that not what we want when a loved one or a friend is getting ready to leave us?

What will I be doing when the Lord comes back? I pray that I will be praying.

Concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to be with him. – 2 Thessalonians 2:1 GNT

Prayer is one of those deep spiritual activities that not only draw me closer to God but it draws me closer to others too.

Remember the story of Daniel and the issue of would he pray when he was forbidden to do so?

And so King Darius signed the order. – Daniel 6:9 GNT

“Suppose the law of the land were proclaimed, ‘No man shall pray during the remainder of this month, on pain of being cast into a den of lions,’ – how many of you would pray? I think there would be rather a scanty number at the prayer-meeting. Not but what the attendance at prayer-meetings is scanty enough now! But if there were the penalty of being cast into a den of lions, I am afraid the prayer-meeting would be postponed for a month, owing to pressing business, and manifold engagements of one kind and another.” – Spurgeon

Father, it is my hope that I have inspired people to pray. I know I could do much more. How much I pray alone does not compare to my need to pray with others. Even when it may be inconvenient or out of place or maybe one day, against the law, may You find me still faithful. For I believe Lord that Your Holy Spirit draws me into a relationship with You and I love spending time with You. Be honoured and glorified in my life. Amen.

Erwin (evanlaar1922)

2 Kings 1; 2 Thess. 1; Daniel 5; Psalms 110, 111

“Dear brothers and sisters, we can’t help but thank God for you, because your faith is flourishing and your love for one another is growing. We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering. So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him.” 2 Thess. 1:3-11 NLT

I am amazed at Paul’s faith and his ability to encourage when he is in prison. I think of when I am going through a trial. Sometimes I feel too stuck in my own pain, to reach out to someone else. But, when I do, I am reminded that I need other believers just as much as they need me. This letter could have been just what the Thessalonians needed to hear to keep going. They were human like me. I’m sure they were discouraged and hopeless at times. They needed wisdom from someone like Paul, who was stronger in his faith, to not give up. I wonder if Paul felt adequate for this position? I think he had to stay humble and ask God daily for wisdom. Isn’t this what I should be doing?

Who am I speaking life into today?

“The Lord stands at your right hand to protect you. He will strike down many kings when his anger erupts. He will be victorious. How amazing are the deeds of the Lord! All who delight in him should ponder them. Everything he does reveals his glory and majesty. His righteousness never fails. Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom. All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom.” Psalms 110&111 NLT

Dear Father, I pray for wisdom. Thank you that you are a generous God. You give me more than I ask for. Thank you for always being with me. Amen.

Amy(amyctanner)

Amos 1-3; 2 Thessalonians 1; Psalm 80

Father God, you are just. You notice wickedness and wrong-doing, and You promise that it will not go unpunished. You defend what is good. Behind Your mighty words, there were people broken by injustice: those sold off in slavery, those holding broken promises, those chased down and slashed relentlessly in anger by relatives–merciless. Oh, you will send down fire (Amos 1-3).

Paul, Silas and Timothy write encouragement. What follows is a big block of copy–and my heart craves brothers like them who would stand and pray on my behalf in my walk with the Lord, to remind me and encourage me to persevere well, to speak of Kingdom and focus and purpose. I take these words and hold them close.

⁴ We proudly tell God’s other churches about your endurance and faithfulness in all the persecutions and hardships you are suffering. ⁵ And God will use this persecution to show his justice and to make you worthy of his Kingdom, for which you are suffering. ⁶ In his justice he will pay back those who persecute you.

⁷ And God will provide rest for you who are being persecuted and also for us when the Lord Jesus appears from heaven. He will come with his mighty angels, ⁸ in flaming fire, bringing judgment on those who don’t know God and on those who refuse to obey the Good News of our Lord Jesus. ⁹ They will be punished with eternal destruction, forever separated from the Lord and from his glorious power. ¹⁰ When he comes on that day, he will receive glory from his holy people—praise from all who believe. And this includes you, for you believed what we told you about him.

¹¹ So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of his call. May he give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. ¹² Then the name of our Lord Jesus will be honored because of the way you live, and you will be honored along with him. This is all made possible because of the grace of our God and Lord, Jesus Christ (2 Thessalonians 1:4-12, NLT, emphasis added).

An enemy would tear down and destroy, to pronounce worthlessness and abandonment upon the persecuted. But the Lord takes what was meant for harm to call one worthy for His kingdom.

Lord, You are defender, provider, protector. You are sovereign and mighty. You are just. Help me to keep my eyes on You and not to be deceived by an enemy’s words of worthlessness. Thank You that You give me power to do what is right–help me to always keep a Kingdom focus.

Courtney (66books365)

Song of Solomon 4-6; 2 Thessalonians 1

I have read some 55 marriage books in my lifetime – almost one per year of my life.  Currently I am reading one that has been out there for a while but I just picked it up on sale (Dutch men can be like that).  It is authored by Dr. Emerson Eggerichs and it is called, Cracking the Communication Code.

Pretty sure that I have shared before that my wife and I have been married now for 37 years.  I read books on marriage because I want to grow and keeping growing.  Do not think for a moment that an adventure will pass me by – no way.  I want everything possible from my marriage and more and I am not afraid to engage others in sharing what they have learned.

One key ingredient in a healthy marriage is the ability to say, as often as possible and as creatively as possible, I love you to each other.

My darling, you are lovely,
    so very lovely—my darling, you are lovely
    in every way. Your love is sweeter than wine. – Song of Solomon 4:1,7   CEV

Young women of Jerusalem,
    he is my lover and friend.  – Song of Solomon 5:16

So it is not that odd when I think of our Church family and in particular, my small group, in the same way.  If I am surrounded with faith, hope and love and the greatest of these is love, then I too, as part of the Church family, should be growing in my love for them too.

My dear friends, we always have good reason to thank God for you, because your faith in God and your love for each other keep growing all the time. – 2 Thessalonians 1:3  CEV

That is a lot of loving.  It challenges me every morning to meet with God and tell Him how much I love Him too.  The one difference from my spouse and my Church family is that God always tells me He loves me too.  In fact, He sustains me with His love, carries my through the day, gives me the Holy Spirit to do what He asks me to do and mostly that means loving other people. What a joy to grow in my love of Him every day – He nourishes my life.

Father, thank you for meeting with me each time I call out Your name.  No matter where I am or what I am doing You come and enter my world and fill me with Your love.  I never have to operate out of my own energy or expect anything from anyone else – You alone are all I need.  Thank you for continue to change me, cause me to grow, for allowing me to see You differently each day.  You have blessed me with Your love and I am so very thankful.

Erwin (evanlaar1922)