Holding On To The Good

Psalm 138:8

2009-11-02T19:04:00.000-08:00

The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me;
your love, O Lord, endures forever...

Psalms

2009-09-11T06:00:00.001-07:00

Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens. Psalm 68:19

But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more. My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure.
Psalm 70:14-15

Romans 15:4-5

2009-07-23T12:56:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure if anyone's reading this anymore, but it's good for me to keep going. Typing in the verses or excerpts helps me focus on the good. And today, I need it!

Romans 15:4-5

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, WE MIGHT HAVE HOPE.
May the GOD WHO GIVES ENDURANCE AND ENCOURAGEMENT give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus.

Isaiah 30:18

2009-06-17T04:33:00.000-07:00

Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion.
For the Lord is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him!

John 14:23, and more people finding HOPE

2009-04-25T04:47:00.000-07:00

Jesus replied: "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."

More people turning to HOPE: www.townhallforhope.com
"God is still on his throne, and He's still crazy about you..." - Dave Ramsey

Not the only one looking for good news

2009-03-15T12:58:00.001-07:00

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/090306/tv_nbc_good_news.html?.v=1

from "The Shack"

2009-02-24T14:40:00.000-08:00

by William P. Young

God speaking to the main character:
"The real underlying flaw in your life, Mackenzie, is that you don't think that I am good. If you knew I was good and that everything - the means, the ends, and all the processes of individual lives - is all covered by my goodness, then while you might not always understand what I am doing, you would trust me."

A Modern Day Miracle

2009-01-29T14:54:00.000-08:00

If you want to be moved to tears by the story of a couple's faith and of God answering the prayers of hundreds - read here:

http://thetuleys.blogspot.com/

John 15: 9-11

2009-01-18T08:50:00.000-08:00

The words of Jesus:

"As the Father has loved me , so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete."

II Corinthians 1:20-22

2008-12-27T16:35:00.000-08:00

"For all the promises of God in Him are YES, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.
Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has also anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the spirit in our hearts as a guarantee."

Oh Holy Night

2008-12-18T07:33:00.000-08:00

really think about these words:

Oh Holy Night

The stars are brightly shining

It is the night of the dear Savior's birth

Long lay the world in sin and error pining

'Til he appeared

AND THE SOUL FELT ITS WORTH

A thrill of HOPE

The weary world rejoices

For yonder breaks and NEW and GLORIOUS MORN!

FALL ON YOUR KNEES...

Let all within us praise his holy name!!

Trust and Obey

2008-12-01T12:06:00.000-08:00

"When we walk with the Lord in the light of His Word,
What a glory He sheds on our way.
While we do His good will, He abides with us still,
And with all who will trust and obey.

Trust and Obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey.

Then in fellowship sweet, we will sit at His feet,
Or we'll walk by His side in the way.
What He says we will do, where He sends we will go,
Never fear, only trust and obey.

Trust and Obey, for there's no other way
To be happy in Jesus, but to trust and obey."

Psalm 5:12

2008-11-28T12:16:00.000-08:00

"For surely, O Lord, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield."

All Things Through Christ

2008-11-20T12:14:00.000-08:00

"I rejoice greatly in the Lord that at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength."

Philippians 4:10-13

Joy

2008-11-06T03:08:00.000-08:00

"Joy is at the heart of God's plan for human beings. The reason for this is worth pondering awhile: Joy is at the heart of God himself. We will never understand the significance of joy in human life until we understand its importance to God. I suspect that most of us seriously underestimate God's capacity for joy....Jesus came as the joy-bringer. The joy we see in the happiest child is but a fraction of the joy that resides in the heart of God."
John Ortberg - The Life You've Always Wanted

"You have filled my heart with greater joy...I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety... Let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy." Psalm 4:7,8, 5:11

Full Assurance of Hope

2008-10-22T19:15:00.000-07:00

"And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence so as to realize the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises."--Hebrews 6:11-12

"This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us, having become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek." Hebrews 6:19-20

Brothers and sisters, it is this "hope both sure and steadfast" which keeps us going, keeps us fighting. No matter what trials or challenges we face in this life, no matter the struggles with sin, no matter the struggles with things we cannot control, we have this "anchor of the soul", our "forerunner" Jesus Christ, who walks by our side with every step, bringing us closer to our heavenly home.

And so, we diligently pursue the full assurance of this hope by imitating those who have gone before us. Those like my beloved Pappaw, who went home to be with his Maker this past week. Pappaw devoted his life to the Gospel, and to encouraging us all to love Christ and His church, and I have no doubt that he has now "inherited the promises." I am amazed by his diligence, and I hope to imitate his faith and patience in my own life.

May God bless all who read this blog, all who seek a special measure of the peace that only God Almighty can offer. And God bless us all in our journey of faith.

From "Way of Perfection" by Teresa of Avila

2008-10-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

"I have said this before and I would say it many, many times, for fear seriously constrains people who do not wholly understand God's goodness by personal experience, although they know it by faith. It is truly a wonderful thing to know by experience the friendship and the tenderness with which He treats those who go by this road and to see how he defrays, as it were, all the expenses of the journey....This is the wonderful thing about the journey: one is given more than one ever asks for or even dreams of desiring. This is absolutely certain; I know it to be true. If you should find it untrue, never believe anything else I tell you."

Psalm 25:8-10,14

2008-10-10T04:42:00.000-07:00

Good and upright is the Lord; therefore he instructs sinners in his ways.
He guides the humble in what is right and teaches them his way.
All the ways of the Lord are loving and faithful
for those who keep the demands of his covenant.
The Lord confides in those who fear him; he makes his covenant known to them.

VICTORY!

2008-10-07T12:36:00.000-07:00

"For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of POWER, of LOVE, and of a sound MIND. " I Corinthians 15:57

I'm fighting back. I'm tired of being timid. Ok, maybe writing a blog that may not reach many other people is not exactly bold, but I have to do something. It has to start somewhere.

We are all innundated every day by bad news - fear in the face of a crippled economy, rising gas costs, the prevalence of evil in horrid criminal acts. I'm tired of laying in bed at night worrying about how I'm going to protect my baby boys from predators, what we'll do if my husband loses his job, how we're going to be able to send the kids to college, and on and on. I'm tired of feeling powerless in this huge world that seems to be falling apart.

My God says, "Take heart! I have overcome the world!" Why do I have to be reminded of that over and over and over and over again? Because I'm distracted. I'm unfocused and distracted. But I'm fighting back.

God has told me what to do: think about what is good. HOLD ON TO THE GOOD. That's my purpose in this blog. I want to consciously think (and type - maybe it will sink in a little further!) about how He's already won the victory!

I'm no Bible scholar, but I'm a Bible lover. There are some amazing words of hope in that book. I've also found some other books in the last few years that do a good job of making me think of scriptures in a new way. That's what I want to share here: some good stuff, some stuff that makes us SMILE, some stuff that reminds us that God is in control and He is GOOD!

I hope that maybe some other folks will want to share some "right, pure, lovely,excellent, praiseworthy" things here too, so that we can draw encouragement from each other and spur one another on. If you do, leave a comment or e-mail me at sarawalkerpt@hotmail.com and I'll give you the password so that you can log on and contribute to this effort too. Let's fight back against the negativity. Let's spread some hope!!