God’s promises were not just for Jerusalem but for all people and for all time. Our best hope, our only hope, is in the promises of God. His gift of Jesus changes everything.

We must remember we point or prepare the way for others to see Christ. And we likewise must remember we are not asked to do the work that only Christ came to do.

Is there something I need to repent of? Do I live in a way that suggests that the kingdom of Heaven is real, so real that my life consistently aligns with the Lord’s Prayer that things be done here, in me, as they are done in Heaven?

I wonder if Mary and Joseph might have prayed this psalm regularly.  I can imagine them praying these verses over Jesus as he slept each evening.

There is good news in these two psalms! We have choices. We can choose to live our lives in the light of Christ and thereby bring others to see and receive the steadfast love of God.

Since God is steadfast in his love and with him comes plentiful redemption, I am confident he is in the process of redeeming our prayer lives so that we will more naturally and joyfully come to him.

I have read these three verses over and over. As I read them and think about their implications, I have found myself reassured in many ways.

No matter what is going on in your life or mine, there is nothing so horrible that it cannot be redeemed and used by God.

Over and over and over again we discover that God keeps his promises. Not just some of them but all of them. And God delivers on his promises regardless of whether we believe them.

Maybe we shouldn’t be surprised that as we surrender ourselves to God and are faithful in doing what is in front of us, God may very well choose to do something extraordinary with our lives.

I’ve read the end of both Bible Testaments, and the good news I find there motivates me to savor all of Scripture.

I will confess that over the years the last week of the year and the first week of the new year tend to keep me restless and stressed. It doesn’t take long for the worry and stress over things I can’t control to start backing up.

There is good news this year! In Psalm 146 and 147 we see many reasons to have hope, and we can gain perspective on where we can and must place our hope, no matter what the candidates tell us.

Just as David wrote that God had prepared his hands for war and his fingers for battle, we can also be prepared for our battles by spending time in prayer, in praise, and even by lifting our hands to God in worship.

Knowing that God was at the beginning and will be at the end of our lives, we can be confident he will not abandon us here in the middle.

A few years ago I began a new practice of picking a few Scriptures to read and pray each day. I have picked as many as seven and as few as two the last few years.

Maybe some are eager to tear the last page off of 2023 while we hope and pray for better times in 2024. And maybe in these last couple of days of the year, we should have an honest and bold conversation with the Lord.

Yesterday I wrote suggesting that when we give, our focus should be on the kingdom and not about our own recognition. The same must be said about every kind of Christian service.

It’s not uncommon to think about last year’s spending, next-year’s budget, and this year’s contributions as we come to the end of December. When it comes to giving, the question we might ask is, “Why?”

When someone says these words there has been a failure to meet expectations.  Whatever the past looked like needs to change now.  One thing is necessary for that to happen.