Tag: Gracious

Shine Your face upon us

“May God be gracious to us and bless us and make his face to shine upon us”

“Make your face shine upon your servant, and teach me your statutes.”

“LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.”

Psalms 80:3  Restore us, O God; let your face shine, that we may be saved!

Psalms 85:4    Restore us again, O God of our salvation, and put away your indignation toward us!

1 Kings 18:37    Answer me, O LORD, answer me, that this people may know that you, O LORD, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.”

Jeremiah 31:18  I have heard Ephraim grieving, ‘You have disciplined me, and I was disciplined, like an untrained calf; bring me back that I may be restored, for you are the LORD my God.  For after I had turned away, I relented, and after I was instructed, I struck my thigh; I was ashamed, and I was confounded, because I bore the disgrace of my youth.’

Lamentations 5:21    Restore us to yourself, O LORD, that we may be restored! Renew our days as of old—

Psalms 4:6     There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O LORD!”

How do we know if our hearts are not in line with God and His plans and purpose?  What does it take to turn our hearts back to God?  How far do we have to drift away from Him before we realize the need to turn back to Him?  Tough questions to answer.  Let’s look at it another way.  What if we chose to stay close and continually grow in our knowledge and understanding of Him, Jesus Christ.  What if we determined to commit each day to humbly serving, honoring, following, and obeying Him.  What if we devoted time each day to know Him more.  What if we listened for His whispers of guidance and leading?  What if we ?????  There is so much we can and should do to keep from drifting away.  The first of which is to have a heart desire each day to know and love and honor and obey and listen and follow Him.

Cheating God

“Thus says the LORD concerning this people: “They have loved to wander thus; they have not restrained their feet; therefore the LORD does not accept them; now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins.”

Malachi 1:8   When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts. And now entreat the favor of God, that he may be gracious to us. With such a gift from your hand, will he show favor to any of you? says the LORD of hosts. Oh that there were one among you who would shut the doors, that you might not kindle fire on my altar in vain! I have no pleasure in you, says the LORD of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand. For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.  But you profane it when you say that the Lord’s table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. But you say, ‘What a weariness this is,’ and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD. Cursed be the cheat who has a male in his flock, and vows it, and yet sacrifices to the Lord what is blemished. For I am a great King, says the LORD of hosts, and my name will be feared among the nations.

Hosea 8:13    As for my sacrificial offerings, they sacrifice meat and eat it, but the LORD does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity and punish their sins;

Romans 2:11   For God shows no partiality.

1 Peter 1:17    And if you call on him as Father who judges impartially according to each one’s deeds, conduct yourselves with fear.

What does it mean to give our all to God?  Would this not include our time, our thoughts, our actions, what we say, what we are in possession of?  Our definition of our “ALL” is diluted by many things.  The first and biggest deception and lie affecting us is that we think we can make it on our own and only come to God when things get sideways.  Another lie we believe is that we can know and understand God without being in His word.  Another lie we hang on to is that what is in our possession is ours and we can do with it as we please.  Another lie tied to this is our giving to God is from what we have left over and not from the commitment of right off the top.  I recently was talking with a young man who looked after his grandfather and grandmother’s estate when they passed away.  There was little the family had wanted.  An estate sale was conducted to clear their possessions from the house.  All of what his grandparents had kept and cherished was now being sold for pennies on the dollar.  In less than a couple of weeks all was gone.  Such is life we come into it with nothing and we certainly leave with nothing yet we hang on to it as though it was coming with us.  In reality we are only stewards of what God has allowed.  It is all His.  Shouldn’t we be seeking what His will is for this and be willing to give the best of what we have when His quiet small voice calls to us.  Being ready and willing to give the best of our time and possessions to God is a heart that pleases Him.

God honoring life

“Her priests have done violence to my law and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they taught the difference between the unclean and the clean, and they have disregarded my Sabbaths, so that I am profaned among them.”

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge; because you have rejected knowledge, I reject you from being a priest to me. And since you have forgotten the law of your God, I also will forget your children.”

Malachi 1:6  “A son honors his father, and a servant his master. If then I am a father, where is my honor? And if I am a master, where is my fear? says the LORD of hosts to you, O priests, who despise my name.

Jeremiah 5:30  An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land:  the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule at their direction; my people love to have it so, but what will you do when the end comes?

1 Samuel 2:28  Did I choose him out of all the tribes of Israel to be my priest, to go up to my altar, to burn incense, to wear an ephod before me? I gave to the house of your father all my offerings by fire from the people of Israel.  Why then do you scorn my sacrifices and my offerings that I commanded for my dwelling, and honor your sons above me by fattening yourselves on the choicest parts of every offering of my people Israel?’  Therefore the LORD, the God of Israel, declares: ‘I promised that your house and the house of your father should go in and out before me forever,’ but now the LORD declares: ‘Far be it from me, for those who honor me I will honor, and those who despise me shall be lightly esteemed.

Jeremiah 2:21  Yet I planted you a choice vine, wholly of pure seed. How then have you turned degenerate and become a wild vine?  Though you wash yourself with lye and use much soap, the stain of your guilt is still before me, declares the Lord GOD.

1 Peter 2:17  Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.  Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust.  For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.

Rejecting knowledge of God leads directly to not honoring Him.  There are many ways for us to honor Him.  We can start with a desire deep in our heart, mind and soul to know Him.  We can live with a committed choice to follow and obey Him.  We can seek first how to give the best of what we have with purpose to honor Him.  We can endure sorrow and suffering unjustly.  We can love others more than ourselves.  We can confess our sin and rely on His forgiveness.  Honoring God begins in the heart and mind.  The manifestation of this want to honor Him can be seen and heard in what we say and do throughout our day.  Choosing to neglect Him does not honor Him.  Choosing to serve and live for self interests does not honor Him.  Choosing not to give generously does not honor Him. We have a choice to make every moment of every day.  Joshua put it best “as for me and my house we will serve the Lord” 

Those who know Your name

“ And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.”

“But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.”

“ for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.”

Psalms 57:1  Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.

Psalms 142:1   With my voice I cry out to the LORD; with my voice I plead for mercy to the LORD.

Psalms 56:1    Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me; all day long an attacker oppresses me;

Psalms 69:13  But as for me, my prayer is to you, O LORD. At an acceptable time, O God, in the abundance of your steadfast love answer me in your saving faithfulness.  Deliver me from sinking in the mire; let me be delivered from my enemies and from the deep waters.  Let not the flood sweep over me, or the deep swallow me up, or the pit close its mouth over me.  Answer me, O LORD, for your steadfast love is good; according to your abundant mercy, turn to me.

Psalms 119: 76  Let your steadfast love comfort me according to your promise to your servant.  Let your mercy come to me, that I may live; for your law is my delight.

Psalms 125:1   Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be moved, but abides forever.

Psalms 17:7  Wondrously show your steadfast love, O Savior of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand.  Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings,

Psalms 36:7    How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Psalms 61:4    Let me dwell in your tent forever! Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings!

Isaiah 50:10   Who among you fears the LORD and obeys the voice of his servant? Let him who walks in darkness and has no light trust in the name of the LORD and rely on his God.

Luke 13:34    O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing!

Zechariah 1:4   Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.

Nehemiah 9:30  Many years you bore with them and warned them by your Spirit through your prophets. Yet they would not give ear. Therefore you gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

Proverbs 1:24  Because I have called and you refused to listen, have stretched out my hand and no one has heeded,  because you have ignored all my counsel and would have none of my reproof,  I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when terror strikes you,  when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.  Then they will call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently but will not find me.  Because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the LORD,  would have none of my counsel and despised all my reproof,

You can see the heart of man that calls out to God, has these attributes: relies on God, trusts in God, clings to God, believes in God, obeys God, seeks God, delights in God, and finds comfort, rest, peace, joy and hope in God.  On the other hand we can see the heart of those who choose not to stay close to God and do exactly the opposite. How much do we rely on God?  Do we delight in His word and the direction it gives to our daily lives?  Do we discern what it is saying and rejoice in the promises of God?  Do we acknowledge God’s reproof and conviction in our lives?  Do we choose to hear His voice? Do we seek His leading?  Replace the “We” in all of the questions above with “I”.  Truthful answers will expose where we are lacking in humbly serving, giving, following, honoring, and obeying God. Every commitment starts with a purpose/goal and choice to change and prioritize time for it, frequent reflection and focus.  Commit to Him and His word.  Commit to humbly serving, honoring, following, obeying Him with all you heart, soul, and mind.

Earnest Counsel

“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.”

“Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”

“And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.”

Psalms 37:30  The mouth of the righteous utters wisdom, and his tongue speaks justice  The law of his God is in his heart; his steps do not slip.

Deuteronomy 6:7  You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

Proverbs 10:31   The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom, but the perverse tongue will be cut off.

Proverbs 15:7   The lips of the wise spread knowledge; not so the hearts of fools.

Proverbs 25:11  A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.  Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold is a wise reprover to a listening ear.  Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters.

Proverbs 27:9  Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

Matthew 12:35   The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil.

Proverbs 4:3  When I was a son with my father, tender, the only one in the sight of my mother, he taught me and said to me, “Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live.

Deuteronomy 11:18  “You shall therefore lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes.  You shall teach them to your children, talking of them when you are sitting in your house, and when you are walking by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates,

Hebrews 8:10   For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

Isaiah 51:7   “Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear not the reproach of man, nor be dismayed at their rivilings.

God has written His laws/commands into our minds and on our hearts.  There are four reasons for this. 1. So that we will know Him.  2. So that we can teach them to our children.  3. So they can be used as encouragement / counsel to others. 4. So that we will know how to serve, honor and obey Him.  He has also given us His Holy word filled with many promises and warnings.  We would do well to spend time in His word being able to use it for building our faith and encouraging /counseling others.

Troubled Heart

“Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”

Psalms 30:2  O LORD my God, I cried to you for help, and you have healed me. O LORD, you have brought up my soul from Sheol; you restored me to life from among those who go down to the pit.

Psalms 6:2  Be gracious to me, O LORD, for I am languishing; heal me, O LORD, for my bones are troubled.

Psalms 51:8   Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice.

Psalms 103:2  Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Psalms 118:18  The LORD has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death.

Psalms 147:3   He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.

Exodus 15:26  saying, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of the LORD your God, and do that which is right in his eyes, and give ear to his commandments and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you that I put on the Egyptians, for I am the LORD, your healer.”

2 Kings 20:5   “Turn back, and say to Hezekiah the leader of my people, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD,

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you, declares the Lord

Throughout our life we will encounter many different trials and go through many uncomfortable circumstances.  Think back and look at your life.  I read something once that said look at all of those “Worst Days of your Life” and know that you have survived them all!!!  Do we think for a minute that God was not in control or have our best interest in mind for His honor and glory?  We are human and like David, while in these times of troubles we have questions, concerns, worries, anxious thoughts, doubts, and sleepless nights. David cried out to God with all of these and after doing so he came to a place of proclaiming God’s promises.  Whatever you are going through God is much bigger than it.  He is more powerful that it. He is able to do more than we ask and much more than we can imagine.  So how do we find peace in and through these times?  Trust in, cling to, rely on, and wait for God.  He has given us great and precious promises so that by them our faith and hope maybe found complete trusting in His sovereignty, power, strength and steadfast love.

Guilty

 “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty,”

“The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty”

 

Psalms 20:5  May we shout for joy over your salvation, and in the name of our God set up our banners! May the LORD fulfill all your petitions!

Micah 7:18    Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love.

Matthew 12:31  Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.

Acts 5:31  God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Exodus 34:5-7 The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.  The LORD passed before him and proclaimed, “The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

Romans 4:7-8   “Blessed are those whose lawless deeds are forgiven, and whose sins are covered; blessed is the man against whom the Lord will not count his sin.”

Ephesians 1:7  In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace,

1 John 1:9   If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Romans 2:4-9  Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. He will render to each one according to his works:  to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;  but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

Isaiah 45:21   Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me.

Nahum 1:2-3  The LORD is a jealous and avenging God; the LORD is avenging and wrathful; the LORD takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The LORD is slow to anger and great in power, and the LORD will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet.

Read these verses again.  God’s steadfast love, forgiveness, slow to anger, pardoning, grace, mercy, and faithfulness are all proclaimed in light of our sin and His salvation.  Yet we also read  “the Lord will by no means clear the guilty,” and “He will render to each one according to his works.” How are we to look at such opposing outcomes?  Scripture tells us that we all have sinned and fall short.  It also says that God so loved the world that He gave is only son and whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have everlasting life. The outcome of not believing we have any sin or need for God, which leads to no need for God or trusting/believing in the redemption/salvation of Jesus Christ.  We will not be cleared of our guilt based on God’s love, mercy, and grace without repentance, belief, and obedience.  Today is the day of salvation.  A day when God is withholding His wrath.  We know that when we die we enter into eternity and if we enter eternity without repentance, belief, and obedience we will certainly experience God’s wrath – thrown into a lake of fire where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth forever and ever.  Scripture states it is fearful to fall into the hands of God’s anger. Our lives, (words, and actions), can be used to lead people toward God.  Stay in His word, listen for His leading, and obey.

Humble Service

“They refused to obey and were not mindful of the wonders that you performed among them, but they stiffened their neck and appointed a leader to return to their slavery in Egypt. But you are a God ready to forgive, gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and did not forsake them.”

 

Psalms 18:22
For all his rules were before me, and his statutes I did not put away from me. I was blameless before him, and I kept myself from my guilt. So the LORD has rewarded me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.  With the merciful you show yourself merciful; with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;  with the purified you show yourself pure; and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.  For you save a humble people, but the haughty eyes you bring down.  For it is you who light my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness.

Psalms 119:13
With my lips I declare all the rules of your mouth.

Psalms 119:128
Therefore I consider all your precepts to be right; I hate every false way.

John 5:14
Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

Psalms 119:112
I incline my heart to perform your statutes forever, to the end.

Psalms 119:117
Hold me up, that I may be safe and have regard for your statutes continually!

Psalms 11:7
For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face.

Psalms 17:3
You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night, you have tested me, and you will find nothing; I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress

Psalms 37:27
Turn away from evil and do good; so shall you dwell forever.

1 Samuel 26:23
The LORD rewards every man for his righteousness and his faithfulness,

1 Chronicles 29:17
I know, my God, that you test the heart and have pleasure in uprightness.

God saves the humble.  When I read this I think of the time I was humbled  through His word.  I had people speaking Christ into my life and sharing His word with me for over a year.  Through these acts of discipleship God’s word became alive.  I became aware of what God required to be right with Him.  I learned that I could not be good enough to gain His forgiveness.  Then one night God opened my heart and mind to His forgiveness through believing in the redemptive work of His son.  I was humbled and knew there was nothing I could do to be right with God and had to trust His word that by believing in His son I was saved from my sin.  I was made new.  All my past sin was forgiven.  All the guilt and shame was taken away in that single moment.  I dug into His word, learning, training, wanting to know more and more of Him.  I would like to say that I grew and grew and never lost sight of honoring and glorifying Him in my daily life.  However, after some years I became  a very luke warm follower of Him.  Playing the role without much of His word being active in my life.  I was very good at pretending but the fact of the matter was I was not growing at all.  I had stopped reading His word on a regular basis.  I became complacent.  I was not listening for His voice leading me.  I was going through life with no thought of humbly honoring and glorifying God everyday.  It was more about me and what I wanted.  Things of this world seemed to have grabbed my attention and I lost sight but God did not leave me there.  Through His great plans and purpose He humbled me and then used my wife to place scripture back in front of me.  She would place His word on my computer screen.  He used her because she was listening and obeying when she could have easily followed my lead.  I tell you all of this so you know that following God is not a one day a week.  If you find yourself where God does not seem to be very near it is not because He is not there.  It is because His word is not active in your life.  Go back to that first desire.  Read His word.  Commit to being His humble servant ready to listen and obey His leading. Don’t waste a single day apart from Him.

He is faithful

“If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness”

 

Joe 2:12
“Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the LORD your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the LORD your God?

Deuteronomy 4:29-30
But from there you will seek the LORD your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul. When you are in tribulation, and all these things come upon you in the latter days, you will return to the LORD your God and obey his voice.

1 Samuel 7:3
And Samuel said to all the house of Israel, “If you are returning to the LORD with all your heart, then put away the foreign gods and the Ashtaroth from among you and direct your heart to the LORD and serve him only, and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.”

Acts 26:20
but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

Hosea 14:1
Return, O Israel, to the LORD your God, for you have stumbled because of your iniquity.

Zechariah 1:3-4
Therefore say to them, Thus declares the LORD of hosts: Return to me, says the LORD of hosts, and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts. Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets cried out, ‘Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return from your evil ways and from your evil deeds.’ But they did not hear or pay attention to me, declares the LORD.

“Do not be like your fathers – even when I cried out to them they continued in what they were doing and rejected my pleas”  How would you feel if this is what God is telling your wife, your children, your husband about you? I am confident it is impossible to hear His cry and pleas to return when we spend no time in His word.  We will not seek Him for guidance for our day, we will forget what purpose there is in this life, we will be influenced more and more by what seems right in our own eyes or is socially accepted, we will become deaf and blind to His leading.  God knows all of this and proclaims in His word over and over again “Return to me and I will return to you,” “I will deliver you,” “You will find me,” “Search for me with your whole heart,” “Repent,” “I know your heart, thoughts, and intent,” “I love you so much that I will sacrifice my son for you,” “I will give you peace,” “I will give your strength,” “I will be your rock,” “I will guide your path,” and so many more words of warning and blessing.  Be the father, mother, son, daughter that is spoken of by God as one who did right in His eyes.  Be the one who is a light in the darkness.  Be the one who is able to rightly proclaim God’s word.  Spend time in His word today.