THE LORD’S JOY
Today’s Reading: Matthew 25
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion).
"Mr. and Mrs. Goat" on the West hillside of the Galilee. One never knows when a goat will decide to "butt." These two have caused me to think that if I am to be a "good and faithful servant" I should never say "But" to my Lord! The response should always be, "Yes Sir!"
Key Verse: Matthew 25:21
His Lord said to him, “Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.”
God has given you at least one gift and perhaps many more. With His gifts come responsibilities. Never hide a gift. Invest in others. You grow what God has given you. What has God given you? Think about it. Talk to your Pastor and a trusted friend about it. Call the Crossroads toll-free Prayer Line and pray with someone (1-866-273-4444). Of course, pray about it yourself. Make decisions and move on those decisions. Ask God to stop you if you are moving in the wrong direction. God is Faithful. He’ll guide you. Move forward with your decisions.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Dear Lord God, Give me the grace to invest in my family, my community, my church, my friends and aquaintances, and even in far off places. Keep me faithful over the “few things” You’ve given me. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I was 16 the first time I tried to preach. I had given my life fully to Christ about two months earlier. The youth leader, Greta O’Brien, asked me to bring the message at a youth service. As I spoke, they said my face got red, and I lasted all of five minutes. Several months later, I was baptized with the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). The next time I preached I studied the Word of God diligently, reading my text and the surrounding verses over and over. I prayed for a long time, making sure I was filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit. The words flowed from my heart, mind and mouth. There was no struggle or embarrassment. I knew that God had given me a gift of preaching His Word!
Thanking God for His gifts,
David
P.S. In this, the beginning of the second two-year period of 100words.ca, I’m trying to keep to that number of words in each section. I couldn’t help but notice that as I reviewed my blogs from the first 730 days, my comments were becoming longer. Patient, loving readers wrote to me saying things like, “Don’t worry David if you go over.” So I relaxed and each morning between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. I just typed what I believed God had given me. Most days I will revise and refresh what I wrote two years before. Let’s remember to keep the “main thing the main thing.” That is the faithful daily reading of God’s Word, not necessarily my words about God’s Word!
Every time we read scripture something new and relevant pops out for us. I find it is not necessary to understand everything we read, to move forward. The Holy Spirit feeds us according to our needs for the day. So let’s not be anxious we have not got it all figured out. As John 15:4 proclaims, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me.” May His strength and blessings be yours always!
Amen!
Amen David, thank you for your encouragement.
I enjoy reading God’s word but I find my self understanding God’s word better with your thoughts, brief explanation and stories, so I love it:) please fellow bloggers pray for me, I feel like I am falling short of the glory of God. And most times, when I feel that way, I can not even pray as much as I would normally pray and I critic almost everything I do. I know it’s not a good thing but I think the problem here is that I currently have issues with my Husband to be and I have insisted on getting proof from him before forgiving him completely. It’s been six days now. Most of the time I feel like it’s wrong but other times it almost feels like I am doing the right thing. Please help
I will tell you the same thing the Holy Spirit told me early in my faith walk when I was beating myself up for not living up my Christian call and struggling with my weakness and failings.
He said to me “Donna, if you could be Jesus, you wouldn’t need Jesus.”
Meaning don’t try to impress God with your goodness, but rely on God’s goodness instead. Understanding we cannot be who God created us to be on own just yet only strive towards it; expect and accept that our failures and mistakes are a part of the growth process. But most of all realizing our utter dependence on our Lord– never act independent of Him, but allow Him to act in you.
As for your personal situation — based on my experience in life and scripture, I found it always best to forgive a person regardless what they do or don’t do. Forgiveness isn’t earned it is given– but trust that is a different matter.
In prayer you must discern with the Lord’s help whether or not you can or are willing to trust this person. What has he done to prove he is trustworthy, or what has he done that proves he is not? And if he broke your trust already what is he willing to do to earn it back?
The Lord will guide you on whether or not you can trust this person before moving forward into marriage– perhaps He is calling you seek counselling to help figure that out, if you haven’t yet —
Keeping you in my prayers — trust God for He is Trustworthy.
Amen Donna. Some great advice Patricia…
Thank you Donna. For reasons I can’t explain, after holding on for do long and thinking I was doing the right thing, this morning after writing that comment, I just had this strong feeling in my mind to pick up my phone and tell him I forgive him completely. 🙂 i felt great afterwards, it’s almost like I got rid of this heavy burden I was carrying and I thank God , for I couldn’t have done it without Him! This voice was just telling me, Patricia, LET GO AND LET GOD! Thank you all for your comments, Donna, you are blessed!
Amen, David. Was thinking about talents early this morning and the fact that the man with the one talent was afraid and went and his his talent in the earth. Lord give us courage to exercise our talents and increase your kingdom. Proverbs 3:5-6 is always a good one to meditate on, Patricia. Blessings!
Great parables in Matthew 25. Jesus’ parables are more like stories instead of lectures. People don’t like being lectured to if they’ve done something wrong.
Adorable pic of the goats. They ARE unpredictable “butters”:-)
Always enjoy your “words” Rev. DM. You are a Godly man so what u have to say is valued by me for certain. Keep up the great work and let the comments flow.
You will be the servant with five bags of gold.
Shalom.
When God leads, follow. So Pastor David once again I am sure everyone will agree, it is quite fine to go over 100 Words.
I so enjoy the parables of Jesus and then your guidance Pastor David.
Thank you on the advice about our gifts. Sometimes we hide them under a basket, but knowing they come from a loving God, spurs us on to using them for The a Kingdom.
Thank you David for every day’s blog. It is prayerful, inspirational and informative. You are a good example of living the christian life in its fullness with All mighty and All loving God’s help, and always giving the glory to Him.
I love the ‘historical, geographical and cultural explanations’ as we go through specific situations.
It is good to read Bible Sections every day.
God Bless.
Jeannine
I don’t mind when you go over your 100 words, and don’t think others reading this blog do either. I wish you would have called it 200words.ca this time around.
LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, I thank you for your word that says in Psalm 23:3 “He restores my soul: He leads me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.
Thank you Lord, I pray and trust that you keep me in the way I should go!
I like those two goats, thank you Reynold. What a picture of togetherness. That should be so in our midst in the church and in our families relying on the Lord and on each other, reaching out in love to those in need.
The scripture about the 10 virgins brings me back to the need to
“Watch and Pray” and daily be in God’s word.
Please go over 100 words when you need to. We will all enjoy & do enjoy & appreciate all that you writer. God Bless!
So glad to have you home safely!!
I am always on the watch for the coming of the Lord!!
Nancy xoxo
We all have so much to learn about the scriptures even after years of studying them. Please don’t worry about how many words you write. We are in no hurry and not counting words, but looking for a deeper understanding of God’s Word.
God bless you
Since I subscribed to 100 Words my wife has been chronically ill. We have been through deep waters and God has met us all along the way. I thank God for your encouragement through the various posts. I remember back in the early 1980’s when 100 Huntley Street was doing a telephone fund raiser. I was working evening shifts, getting home at 1:30 am and then going to my church, Evangel Assembly in Fredericton NB, for the 9:00 am shift. I remember so vividly one morning how tired I was, having gotten home at 3:30 am and getting up for 7:00 am. My phone rang and a woman’s voice on the other end said “this call is for you, are you Bill McLaughlin?”. I replied yes, “well God is going to do something special for you after the phone-in this week because you have sacrificed your time to man the phones.” Then she said good by. The following week I was called in by my supervisor and was told that my transfer request to a day shift had been approved. A miracle, as I had been turned down many times before. Thank you for continuing to blog, you still are an encouragement to me and my wife. Blessings,,,Bill McLaughlin.
I was disappointed when you started this second year journey through the Bible with such a short commentary. I think we bloggers would rather hear your complete thoughts instead of just a few words. I have been doing your Bible studies since you started doing them. It’s made an amazing difference in my walk with the Lord.