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All ye that hope in the LORD...

Psalms 31:19-24 Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men! 20 Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues. 21 Blessed be the LORD: for he hath shewed me his marvellous kindness in a strong city. 22 For I said in my haste, I am cut off from before thine eyes: nevertheless thou heardest the voice of my supplications when I cried unto thee. 23 O love the LORD, all ye his saints: for the LORD preserveth the faithful, and plentifully rewardeth the proud doer. 24 Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the LORD.
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God’s goodness...how often do we think of it? How often are we thankful for the smallest things...that we have “new” shoes, or that we have shoes at all? How grateful are we to God that our family loves us or that we have access to a Bible? God is so good to us and Psalm 31:19 tells us that He has laid up “special” goodness for those who fear Him and has “created” special goodness for those who trust in Him before other people.

Our faith is based upon relationship...the husband and the bride, or the father and the child, but in either case there are ways that the husband or the father desires to bless us simply because they love us. It’s the same way with God...when we fear Him (reverence/respect/stand in awe of Him) and trust in Him He has special blessings for us. What are they? Verse 24 gives us a “hint”: He will preserve us and strengthen our hearts (increase our faith, manifest His joy, increase our hope – all of which strengthen our hearts).

Why does He do this? Because HE LOVES US! Christianity is NOT a religion, it’s a relationship based upon love and all that we have and are is because God loves us. We should be destined for Hell – eternally separated from God but because of HIS love for us, He sent HIS only begotten Son to die in our place that we might live forever with Him. It’s His love that saved us and it’s His love that draws us closer and it’s His love that blesses us when we fear and trust in Him.

Pray with me that we always have the desire to “crawl into the lap” of our heavenly Father and simply love Him...



Email me (Pastor Jim) at pj-brown@sbcglobal.net or visit our website at:www.calvarychapel.com/hcfw

posted by Pastor Jim @ 7:06 AM