Category: Love

Psalms 19:12 NIV[12] But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
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Psalms 19:12 NIV[12] But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.

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Psalms 19:12 NIV
[12] But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults.
We all have hidden faults and errors. Pride, arrogance, anger, complaining, it goes on and on. Sometimes we even have faults and sins we do without thinking of it. Not a willful sin, but a sin that has crept into our lives and personalities in some cases. There are many great things about God, but one of them is that He does not just search the depth of our hearts to judge what’s there, He also brings to our attention what’s going on inside that might be wrong. Best of all, He forgives us. We do not even have to be specific, look at the simplicity of David’s prayer; God hears that, knows what you are talking about and forgives. He’s amazing!

Take away:

God searches our hearts and knows the depth, but He doesn’t just sit back and be judge of our mess, He comes to us and helps us see it and clean it up!

Psalms 18:1 NIV[1] I love you, Lord, my strength.
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Psalms 18:1 NIV[1] I love you, Lord, my strength.

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Psalms 18:1 NIV
[1] I love you, Lord, my strength.
When was the last time you told God that you love Him?
He loves us so much! Yet we tend to only ask for things, sometimes we thank Him, but when do we say “I love you Jesus”?
Tonight take some time. Even if it’s just a few minutes. Tell Jesus that you love Him -Let Him know from your words as well as your heart that He matters to you.

Take away:

With all we “love” in our day, let us remember to count Jesus in our list. No one loves us more than He does, we should love Him most in our lives as well.

Psalms 17:8 NIV[8] Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings
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Psalms 17:8 NIV[8] Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings

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Psalms 17:8 NIV
[8] Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings
Soak that in. We are the apple of God’s eye and He hides us in the shadow of His wings.
Who in your life is the apple of your eye? Who means more to you than anything on this earth? What would you do to protect them? What would you give up?
Jesus gave up Himself. Nothing could satisfy the need for sacrifice for the amount of sins we people held, so Jesus gave up Himself. That’s how much we mean to Him.
In the world we live in, seeing all this darkness spread and grow around us it is easy to feel frightened, angry, and sad. Yet Jesus covers us with His presence. When we remember how much we mean to Him it helps us to feel safe because we know we are loved.

Take away:

We are so important to God that He gave up His son for us.
We are so important to Jesus that He have up Himself for us.
How important to us Is God? Are we willing to give up our lives for Him?

Psalms 15:2 NIV[2] The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart;
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Psalms 15:2 NIV[2] The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart;

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Psalms 15:2 NIV
[2] The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart;
David speaks here about who can enter God’s holy mountain. One whose walk is blameless, a person who does not sin, does not slander, hates all that is vile.
I would like to take a moment just to think on that. I have slurred people’s names several times today. It was a rough day for it, it seemed like everywhere I looked people were being a problem. I don’t like to use the word slander for this because slander includes the words you use being a lie. But what if all the terrible things you say about people are completely true, should we say them?
Before we say ‘no’ and walk away feeling good about ourselves let us remember something, we are all guilty of talking behind people’s backs and embellishing events to improve our story. As far as I have met, there is only one person I know who I would say most likely never did this, and even then I am not positive.
When it comes to most sin it is generally fairly straightforward when comes to avoiding it. But pride and slander come circling around with ease. Some are more prone to it than others, but none are immune.
Yet here David reminds us that those who are this way cannot abide upon God’s holy mountain. He says only the blameless can stand before God. And he’s right. Which means that absolutely no one can stand before God, except one.
Jesus is blameless of all sin and He alone stands freely before the Father.
The amazing thing is that Jesus then looks at us. We struggling little beings living on His earth. And He invites us to join Him, all we have to do is ask. If that isn’t amazing I don’t know what is.

Take away:

Even the most righteous of us fall to certain sins. None of us are holy enough to stand before God. But because Jesus died for us we can repent and be given the same blameless purity He has. That is an amazing gift! How can anyone say Jesus does not love them, when His whole book is about how much He loves us!
All we have to do is repent and try and change and do better, that’s all He asks, is for us to keep trying. He knew we would mess up and need forgiveness every moment of every day, so opened the tapestry and said ‘come in and ask.’
Nothing we can do deserves such love as to be able to be forgiven each time we mess up because the only one who was pure died in our pl

Psalms 8:1 NIV[1]  Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.
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Psalms 8:1 NIV[1]  Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.

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Psalms 8:1 NIV
[1]  Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens.

There are no small miracles!
How often do we ask God for something that is really important to us, but after He answers we never tell people because we have gotten it into our heads that it was small. I think we have this feeling due to certain testimony expectations. Someone who survived a car wreck unharmed seems to have a testimony that is greater than the girl who was praying for her senior dog to be able to jump up on the couch by himself again. Yet both are equal! Yes. The fact that God answers us at all is the amazing thing, but the lost earring and the broken foot both hold the same weight with God. Nothing we ask for is hard for Him, it’s our mind which make things big. Inside my mind my exams are HUGE! But to God they are nothing, they are so simple to Him. In my mind protection from a terrible storm is MASSIVE! But it’s easy for God.
There are no small miracles. What we ask for is only big or little inside our own minds.
I would like to see us walk away from this and begin boasting on God for EVERYTHING He does, not just for the things that seem big to us.
In the Psalm above, David speaks on how majestic the name of the Lord is; then he goes on to ask God what are we that God Himself cares for us?
We are so small in the whole of things, yet we mean so much to God.

Take away:
We undermine God’s goodness when we speak of how only certain things He does are miracles and others are only little blessings. Yet every work of God’s hand is a miracle, everything He does for us. Because the true miracle is the fact that God loves us and cares about us.
Even if we simply stub our toe, Jesus cares.
So when the things we think are big happen, let’s remember that, to God, they aren’t big at all.

Psalms 7:17 NIV[17] I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.
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Psalms 7:17 NIV[17] I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.

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Psalms 7:17 NIV
[17] I will give thanks to the Lord because of his righteousness; I will sing the praises of the name of the Lord Most High.
Here we have David again praising God; honoring his savior because of His righteousness. It seems from this verse that David is in a moment of great joy. But look at the verses above this one and you will see that David is not only in anguish but is being pursued. Despite the danger and all David was going through he not only honors God as sovereign, but he also declares that if he has done anything to wrong the person who is after him that God should permit him to be overtaken.
We like to focus on David’s big failures. His mistake with Bathsheba. His terrible parenting. Yet he was always a man who sought God with his whole heart, throwing himself at the mercy of God even if it brought him pain. God does not overlook our sins, but He does forgive. This same verse where David declares he will sing praises to God, he also acknowledges and accepts that the same weapons God uses to punish his enemies, He will use to punish his followers if they are unrepentant. Can we praise God when are confused and afraid? Can we give Him glory and at the same time know that if we sin without remorse we will be punished?

Take away:

God is always good. He is also always pure. He will not permit sin to run unchecked. Yet when He punishes our enemies He is avenging us, but when He punishes us He is loving us. Just like a parent who protects and disciplines his or her child everyday. Yet God does not hold to His anger. He forgives when you call on Him.

Psalms 4:7 NIV[7] Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound.
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Psalms 4:7 NIV[7] Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound.

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Psalms 4:7 NIV
[7] Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound.

Welcome to lent 2026! This lent we will mostly be spending time in Psalms and learning from the various authors and artists.
Today we look at Psalm 4:7 where David is lamenting about his people. He asks how long they will ignore God and chase idols. The big thing to always learn from David is this: Feel your feels and then let them go.
Feel your emotions- acknowledge them- turn them over to Jesus.
David begins by feeling disheartened and ends in praising God and saying to Him, “let me see you do something wonderful.”
The very end of this chapter has the beloved verse about lying down and sleeping in safety because of God watching over us.

Take away:
Acknowledge problems and things that upset you. Then take a deep breath and hand them to Jesus. After you do this you can open your eyes to His goodness and look forward to the way Jesus cares for you.

You may wonder what the Psalms have to do with lent. Lent is a time of opening your mind to Jesus and all He has done for us. That means taking extra time everyday to be with Him. The Psalms are a great place to look at God’s wonder and how He cares for His people. Making time for a little more Jesus and a little less me is what lent is for as we prepare to remember the sacrifice of Easter.

Refuge
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Refuge

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Psalms 121:1-2 NIV
[1] I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? [2] My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
David found his hiding place within the mountains when he hid from Saul. He knew perfectly well how safe a cave could feel. Yet he reminds us here that his rescue did not come from the mountains. His safety and hiding place was in God.
Too often we find comfort in things of this world. In our jobs, in our studies, in health care, in our homes, so on. All these things are very good but they do not replace God. How often throughout the book of Isaiah did God warn the people about setting up thing as idols, about relying on earthly strength instead of on Him? Just like the Israelites then we seek strength for anything we can touch and see because we fear relying on God.
Yet David saw it. My safety is not from these mountains around me, my safety is from the God who made these mountains.
Our safety and strength and success does not come from anything we can touch or see, sure we will have put out effort on our part, but our salvation from all around us no matter what we face, is in God Himself.
These strongholds cannot save me, but God can!

But you said no anyway
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But you said no anyway

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But you said no anyway

I was listening to soft piano music and this title came up. It reminded me of times with God where we have done all the right things. We have been kind to people who would be easier to be mean to. We have given even when we were poor ourselves. We have gone to church each Sunday when all we want to do is sleep in. Yet God said no to our desire anyway.
Times like those are so hard, and many walk away from their Faith during such days because it hurts too much to keep holding on.
But God’s answers to our prayers aren’t based on how good, kind, and giving we’ve been, they are based on His will and timing.
C.S. Lewis said something once along the lines of:
“It is not that we doubt that God has a plan, it’s that we fear how painful His plan will be.”
The days when God says ‘yes’ it is easy to trust in Him. It’s those days when He says ‘no’ that we stumble.
God never promised sunshine, never once did He say we would never walk in storms, but He always promises that He loves us and that His plans are for our good.
Sometimes He says no and it makes no sense. It may never make sense. That’s why we need faith. Because Faith says to keep holding on, when everything else says to fear and despair.
Jesus has never once dropped you or left you alone to suffer, and He isn’t about to start now.

Before the beginning it began
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Before the beginning it began

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The whole event began centuries before the  manger and the star. It began with God speaking the world into motion. With the world falling into sin. With God’s great love for His people. With our transformation from sinners to children of the King of Kings.
Mary and Joseph would have had a long journey on foot. The distance is roughly 90 miles and they would have chanced facing dangers from snakes, wild cats, wild dogs, bandits and even Samaritans. They would also most likely have been required to rest of the Sabbath, making the journey even longer.
The dangers were amidst them, but so was the power of God, and where God’s power is, so is peace and safety. Until it was His time, nothing could harm Jesus. But it is not likely that Mary knew that. She would have had many reasons to fear, and yet she still traveled. Because she was confident that the same God who sent angels to her to deliver an ancient promise, would also guide her and her baby to safety.
Bethlehem was known for it’s perfect, spotless lambs for sacrifice. One night, over two thousand years ago, a baby came to the small city of David to be born the last and greatest sacrifice for all of our sins. Whenever we go through our days, let us remember that we are free, saved and forgiven, only because Jesus came to be born in a stable, hated by so many, killed for the sake of us, forsaken by God until He rose blameless from the grave. All because of us.
What can we give Him in return? Nothing. Nothing is worthy. Yet all He asks for is our hearts.