Words of Faith

Lord, help me live in the light: full fellowship with You And all who follow You in Spirit and in Truth. Purge from me all that would hinder True fellowship; enable me to be All You desire, all You have planned for me.

Koinōnia: fellowship. The Light of the World Shone into our darkness, Exposing, expunging Our sin and shame, Making us Yours.

For some of you, this word might bring up pleasure at the thought of the home that you have. Perhaps it calls to mind memories of joy and comfort from the home you grew up in. Or maybe, this word feels like a weight on your heart or an empty hope. Home. We long for a place of love and safety, yet so often the peace doesn’t last, or the ideal falls terribly short. In John 14, Jesus tells us of a different kind of home that we have to look forward to.

As the book lays out the roadmap to rightness with God, I can hear Him saying to Israel, “I want to be with you.” Every step and sacrifice listed was intended to bring His people closer, deeper into relationship with Him. How wonderful is our God! How gracious He is to give us everything we need to be close to Him, which is our ultimate good. And this “good” is beautifully summarized in Leviticus 26.

The phrase “The joy of the Lord is your strength” has been going over and over in my mind lately. It’s a beautiful verse — but what does it really mean when you’re overwhelmed, facing difficulties at work, or struggling in relationships? What does the strength of the joy of the Lord look like in the middle of a trial?

I would have never put drunkenness and worry in the same category, and yet Jesus seemed to suggest that they should be. Why? What could He mean? The phrase “weighed down” in the original text is a translation of the word bareo. It means “to burden, weigh down, depress.” This single verb also pinpoints the cause of this stress: “oppressed with external evils and calamities.” What was happening to bring such a word of warning?

In Scripture, when God calls you beloved, what do you think He actually means? Did you know that beloved is how your heavenly Father describes you? If we were to put this concept of being beloved into everyday English, it would be something like this: 
“You are the one I love deeply with all my heart. I have chosen and claimed you. You are worth more to me than you can possibly imagine or comprehend. You belong in my love.”

Have you ever lost heart from the exhausting difficulties before you that seem to stretch on forever? The hardships that seem impossible to overcome? Or maybe you have had victory over something, but then the next day it seems like there is a whole new mountain to climb, and you’re not sure you have the strength. We hear the gospel preached and we believe it! Christ died for our sins, and we have salvation in Him which means a future in heaven; hooray! But where is the salvat

Because of Jesus, we are beloved. Because of Jesus, we are dear to God’s heart. Because of Jesus, we have been made worthy. Because of Jesus, we are beloved.

Lord, don’t let my heart cool Towards You, fill me with holy Passion, let my lips sing praise Of You, only You. And fill My heart with worship of You.