he will answer

160319The LORD answer you in the day of trouble!
The name of the God of Jacob protect you!
May he send you help from the sanctuary,
and give you support from Zion.
May he remember all your offerings,
and regard with favor your burnt sacrifices.
May he grant you your heart’s desire,
and fulfill all your plans.
May we shout for joy over your victory,
and in the name of our God set up our banners.
May the LORD fulfill all your petitions.
Now I know that the LORD will help his anointed;
he will answer him from his holy heaven
with mighty victories by his right hand.
Some take pride in chariots, and some in horses,
but our pride is in the name of the LORD our God.
They will collapse and fall,
but we shall rise and stand upright.
Give victory to the king, O LORD;
answer us when we call.
(Psalm 20, NRSV)

Now I know that the Lord will help his anointed.

Now I know that the Lord will save his anointed.

God is good to His promises. He will be with those who are His and lead them down the paths that are set for their lives.

Take pride in the name of the Lord and put your trust in Him, for He will save His anointed!

provided

160318His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust, and may become participants of the divine nature. For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For anyone who lacks these things is nearsighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins. Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you. (2 Peter 1:3-11, NRSV)

Jesus Christ richly provided for you, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t anything for us to do.

Jesus gifted you with grace and a life and we must make the effort to support that gift in faith.

We can make the gift thrive, or die. We can choose to follow after Jesus and do what He is calling us to, or to squander the gift.

It has been provided, so what will you do with it?

know

160317I have heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love toward all the saints, and for this reason I do not cease to give thanks for you as I remember you in my prayers. I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know him, so that, with the eyes of your heart enlightened, you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance among the saints, (Ephesians 1:15-18, NRSV)

This is a wonderful prayer, one all of us should pray for everyone around us.

I pray that God, the Father of our Lord and Savior, will give you a spirit of wisdom and reveal to you who He is and how He will work in your life. I pray that God will open the eyes of your heart so you may see Him and be enlightened, so you will see and understand the hope that He gives to all of us. So we all may be counted with the saints in light.

May this be our prayer for all of our brothers and sisters!

fragrance

160316But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads in every place the fragrance that comes from knowing him. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing; to the one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life. Who is sufficient for these things? For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many; but in Christ we speak as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God and standing in his presence. (2 Corinthians 2:14-17, NRSV)

The aroma of Christ is spread throughout the world by us. We are sent out from God to be heralds of His message and His fragrance to the world.

So allow His life to permeate yours and allow His fragrance to envelop you, so you can share it with the world!