September 27, 2025

We absolutely love having our family together to such an extent that we devise plans to entice them to gather with us. We’ve had a lot going on and have missed a few birthday gatherings, so we decided to do a combined party to celebrate several at once. It really is just a ploy to be near our children and grandchildren. One thing we’ve all enjoyed lately is Bingo. A local establishment occasionally hosts a Bingo night for charity, and we invite our family to join us. However, it’s always on a school night, so our younger grandsons have to get to bed early. As a compromise, we decided to obtain the necessary materials for a home Bingo game and provide all the prizes. What’s better than a game with tacos and birthday cake? Did you know that God considers children and grandchildren a blessing? God also says that enjoying the fruits of your labor leads to happiness. Work is exhausting, and raising children can be difficult, but it’s worth every minute of toil; I can attest to that, being that I’m beyond that stage of life. Work hard, play hard, and put God at the center of everything, and you will live long and prosper.

A Song of degrees. Blessed is every one that feareth the LORD; that walketh in his ways. For thou shalt eat the labour of thine hands: happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee. Thy wife shall beas a fruitful vine by the sides of thine house: thy children like olive plants round about thy table. Psalms 128:1-3

September 26, 2025

Even though we face the heavy burden of taxes and working our fingers to the bone with little reward, what awaits us is true freedom. The children of Jacob had such a time as this when they came out of the captivity in Babylon, rejoicing and praising the Lord. Even then, there were still some left there that hadn’t been released, so they offered up prayers for them. It sounds very familiar to being saved through Jesus, and wanting so much for our family and friends to feel that freedom. Living under the stress of a structured environment such as we have can make us wonder what the purpose of all of this is, but when you have a relationship with Jesus, you can see the reason for our existence because we were made to love and cherish God, and to guide others to see Him in His true light, the Father of all creation, a compassionate being, wanting nothing more that our love and for us to love others. Jesus told us that loving God and loving others is the culmination of the law and the prophets. Such a commandment may seem very simple until you meet people who don’t follow those simple rules; that’s why He gave us instructions on how to overcome adversity through the words recorded in the Bible. Eventually, with our prayers and God’s grace, they will feel the kind of love and freedom that only God can give. Rejoice today using the word of this sweet song, lifting your voice to God and praising Him because He is worthy of all honor and glory.

A Song of degrees. When the LORD turned again the captivity of Zion, we were like them that dream. Then was our mouth filled with laughter, and our tongue with singing: then said they among the heathen, The LORD hath done great things for them. The LORD hath done great things for us; whereof we are glad. Turn again our captivity, O LORD, as the streams in the south. They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. Psalms 126:1-6

If you read this far, give yourself a hand; you read an entire chapter of the Bible today. 

September 25, 2025

The promises of God are trustworthy and true. Psalms 125 gives us three promises that we can count on:

1. Those who trust in the Lord will live forever. We know this is true because Jesus bought and paid for our lives through his sacrifice. “They that trust in the LORD shall be as mount Zion, which cannot be removed, but abideth for ever.” Psalms 125:1
2. Though we may go through trials, we are surrounded by God’s fortress of protection. “As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the LORD is round about his people from henceforth even for ever. Psalms 125:2
3. Our troubles will not last forever. “For the rod of the wicked shall not rest upon the lot of the righteous; lest the righteous put forth their hands unto iniquity.” Psalms 125:3

Keep your eye focused on the Lord; turning away from Him toward wickedness comes with a caveat: He will count us among the wicked. However, a prayer was offered that we should recite to help us overcome adversity: “Do good, O LORD, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts.” Psalms 125:4

September 24, 2025

Have you lost confidence in man yet? When something familiar, that has been on the shelves for years and recommended by doctors as the only safe pill for headache relief when pregnant, you’ve got to wonder what else they have sold us that is poison? If the scientists cannot get this right, what else are they getting wrong? They don’t know; they are only guessing and making chemicals to sell for a profit. We would probably all be shocked at how accomplished we could be if we were whole, back to our authentic selves, and functioning in the way God intended us to. We don’t know what we’re doing to ourselves and our children by taking a pill for this and a pill for that. We expect people to be good, but obviously they are not, and have been experimenting on us our entire lives. We know who is behind such atrocities and pulling the strings and orchestrating his desire to rule and reign over the people. The pit of hell is not deep enough! Even though the devil is on the loose, he is still under the thumb of Jesus, who is King and is seated on the throne. Satan and his cronies will pay for what they have done to the people. When you pick up your prescriptions, pray! We must pray over everything we put into our bodies. 

Our soul is escaped as a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken, and we are escaped. Our help is in the name of the LORD, who made heaven and earth. Psalms 124:7-8

September 23, 2025

As we feel our way through these trying times, we know that we can count on the Lord our God to help us. While we wait on our redemption, fix your eyes upon Him and don’t allow the cares of the world to distract you from revering Him. Make Him the first thing you think about in the morning and the last One you think about as you lay your head down to sleep. We don’t know how long He will keep us mixed among our enemies, but we do know that He is refining us like gold. Remember you are precious to Him, so precious that he gave His only begotten Son to take the punishment for our sins. Because Jesus is God, the grave couldn’t hold him, and he rose from the dead to defeat our enemy. Though we are not worthy of such love, He still considers us and lavishes such a pure love upon us so that all it takes is faith and belief in him to receive it. Take a moment today to thank Him for the powerful love we receive from Him every day. 

1. A Song of degrees. Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.
2. Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.
3. Have mercy upon us, O LORD, have mercy upon us: for we are exceedingly filled with contempt.
4. Our soul is exceedingly filled with the scorning of those that are at ease, and with the contempt of the proud. Psalms 123:1-4

Give yourself a hand if you read all the way to here… you read an entire chapter in Psalms. 👏🏼 

Today is the first day of the Feast of Trumpets.

September 22, 2025

Do not neglect meeting and fellowshipping with other believers. Not only for the sake of having a Christian support system to help and to lift us in prayer, but to raise our voices to God in communal worship together. Now is the time to pursue the knowledge of the Holy; every day that passes, our freedom of religion is slowly being eroded. One day, we may look back in regret that we didn’t spend as much time as possible with the people who mattered the most: our brothers and sisters in Christ. Don’t get me wrong, this message is to me! As an introvert, I can become a habitual homebody and enjoy my peace away from others. However, God wants us to be in the company of believers to encourage and strengthen one another. David wrote Psalms 122 about his joy in going to the house of the Lord. David didn’t build the temple; it didn’t exist until Solomon, so he is referring to Jerusalem and the tabernacle. We should be glad, just as David was, to go to the house of the Lord. The constitution gave us the freedom to worship; we need to use it before we lose it. One day, we will fall down and worship within the walls of the New Jerusalem and be ever so glad to be in the presence of Jesus. 

A Song of degrees of David. I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Our feet shall stand within thy gates, O Jerusalem. Psalms 122:1-2

September 21, 2025

It is an unfortunate state of affairs when you cannot believe anything you see or hear. We are not alone in feeling this way. All the way back in biblical times, David felt that way about his circumstances, too, and poured out his heart into a song. This situation is nothing new; consider that our entire history is likely fabricated to disguise reality. What’s worse is that the enemy will tell us the truth in a song or a movie, and then call it a fairytale or fiction. The enemy has overwhelmed us with so much confusion that we can no longer distinguish what is real from what is fake. However, the principalities of earth didn’t take into consideration the power and strength of the Holy Spirit, who makes known the truth about God, so that even though we may not know precisely what is authentic and accurate, we can count on him to point out the fantastic design of creation to give us clues into His deity and so we might discern reality. It’s a shame that we cannot believe what we see and hear anymore, but the Almighty has gifted us with a powerful companion to help us expose all of it. Knock on God’s door every day, asking for discernment and help to sort through the lies with confidence.

A Song of degrees. In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me. Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. Psalms 120:1-2