Lamentations 3:22,23

Jeremiah also known as the weeping prophet is overlooking the destruction of Jerusalem. In this book he expresses his intense sorrow and pain over the devastation. Sin always brings sorrow! The pleasures of sin may be enjoyed for a season but no one can escape the consequences of sin forever. Jeremiah explains how he felt over the sin and devastation of Israel by seeing God as an enemy. God always brings chastisement upon His people over sin, but this time it was extreme that it was as if it had been a rival arch enemy that had destroyed them.  As Jeremiah laments, an amazing  transition takes place in chapter three. As he remembers God's goodness and recalls the source of his hope, his view of the circumstance change.  Now he see's God's mercy and faithfulness in all of it. He could be dead! Israel could be extinct! Instead Jeremiah see's the compassion of God. Thank God for His mercy! Thank God He is always faithful! Amen! His mercy never fails to be seen. His mercy never fails to deliver us. His mercy never fails to lead us. His mercy never fails to protect us. His mercy never fails to forget us. Great is Thy Faithfulness!

Deuteronomy 8:1-20

My Lord knows the way through the wilderness, all I have to do is follow, strength for today, His mind all the way is all I need for tomorrow!  God led the Israelite's into the wilderness, likewise there will be times in our life when we feel like we are in the wilderness. Our wilderness is a place of desertion. It is a state of bewilderment, loneliness, confusion and wandering. When you are in the wilderness in your life just remember God led thee into the wilderness.  And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no. God has a purpose for the times when we are living in the wilderness. God will use the wilderness first to promote a humble spirit. Its in the wilderness that you realize how much you need Him and learn dependency on God. Second the wilderness proves our character by teaching us Godly qualities and spiritual endurance. Third the wilderness prepares our heart. Time in the wilderness causes us to refocus and create the right desires. Also we learn compassion for others and the importance of expressing love. Next the wilderness produces obedience. As we decide to keep His commandments and follow Him, we will kill any rebellion in our lives. Finally the wilderness brings a performance of power. After Christ's temptation in the wilderness the Bible says in Luke 4:13,14  And when the devil had ended all the temptation, he departed from him for a season. And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee:  Listen my friend I have good news for you the wilderness that your in is ultimately for your good. God is leading you to become a more effective Christian. All you have to do is follow Him!

1 Corinthians 3:13,14

Your Christian life is a work in progress! Philippians, one, six says, "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" The day you got saved God began a work in you to conform you into the image of His son, Jesus Christ. You are a work in progress! God is making something out of you! Now In order to build you up sometimes God has to put you through the fire. 1 Corinthians 3:13,14  Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.  If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. Often times in life we will experience difficult circumstances, trying times and hard trials. This is God allowing our work (life) to be tested by fire to see if it is real.  The fire does not necessarily make you who you are but rather it just reveals who you are. As you go through a fire God is proving your faithfulness. Those who stick with Him and do not falter will be rewarded! The next time you feel like giving up or giving in, remember it is a test. God has allow those unpleasant events into your life to either bring you forth as gold or to expose your lack of faith. 1 Peter 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:  When the trials come you can be assured that He's still working on you to make you what you ought to be. And that work will continue until you reach Glory. 1 Corinthians 15:58  Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. Glory to God my life of labour, toil and trial is not in vain it is a work of Almighty God! Amen!

Psalm 46:10

We live in a fast pace world. Go here, go there, do this, do that, hurry up time's a ticking! In a world of rush and busy, busy, busy, we must on purpose stand still and hear from God. The psalmist here tells us during our times of calamity, trouble and uncertainty we have a refuge to retreat to. When everything her on earth seems like it is out of control, we must be reminded that there is a God in heaven who is still in control! When the earth is desolate and war is prominent, Be still and know that He is God! STOP! STAND STILL! REST! Don't get so busy, so caught up with the rat race of life that you fail to spend time alone, quietly, restfully in the presence of Almighty God! In Deuteronomy chapter five when God was giving Moses the law and commandments, He told him in verse thirty-one, "stand thou here by me, and I will speak unto thee..."  In 1 Samuel chapter nine as Samuel is about to anoint Saul as the King of Israel, in verse twenty-seven Samuel said to Saul, "but stand thou still a while, that I may shew thee the word of God."  Hey listen in all of our haste we must stop and get alone with God and stand still a while near Him and let Him speak! God wants to speak His Word to you, so stop and stand still! God wants to show His Will, so stop and stand still! You maybe feeling today that your troubles are too much to handle. You may be fretful about what the future holds. You may be confused about where God wants you. You may unaware of God's will, but if you'll just stop and stand thou there still before God and let Him speak and shew you His Word, then you'll know that He is in control. You don't have to know or understand everything when you know He is God! Amen!!

John 6:35-40

Jesus Christ came to do the will of His Father. The Father is not willing that any should perish but that all should  come to repentance.  Whosoever will may come. The great invitation of the Bible is Come unto me all ye who labour and are heavy laden. Jesus invites us to come unto Him and gives us this promise in John six, verse 37 ...and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.  Praise God there are no requirements to come to Christ! We are accepted in the beloved! Amen! We live in a world full of rejection. People are rejected because of color, social status, financial status, or just because they are different.  Thank God our Savior looks past our faults and failures. He looks beyond our appearance, beyond are accomplishments or lack of and see's a lost soul in need of acceptance. Through the blood we are able to come unto Him and be declared not guilty. If you have come to Jesus Christ through the blood of the Lamb He will not cast you out! Others may look down at you, others may snarl at you, others may kick you to the curb, but glory to God my Jesus will never say, "I'm sorry your not good enough!"  For He hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Just as I am--Thou wilt receive, Wilt welcome pardon, cleanse, relieve; Because Thy promise I believe, O lamb of God, I come, I come! Hallelujah What A Saviour!

Numbers 13:16-33

Moses sends twelve spies to search out the land that God had promised them. After forty days of searching the land they came back with the following report, "And they told him, and said, We came unto the land whither thou sentest us, and surely it floweth with milk and honey; and this is the fruit of it.  Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell in the land, and the cities are walled, and very great: and moreover we saw the children of Anak there."  Then stood up a man of faith by the name of Caleb who said, "Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it."  The ten spies who said it could not be done compare themselves to grasshoppers and the sons of Anak to giants. They saw the size of the obstacles and concluded that it was too hard, too big, too much! There problem was a faith problem. First they failed to believe the promise God had given them that this would be their land. Second they looked at this challenge through their own eyes apart from God. When we face obstacles in our lives do we act the same way? When something hard comes into our lives do we say we just can't do it, or do we take God at His word, and believe "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."   When difficulties come into our lives, how we look at them will determine our response. If we look at them through our own eyes we surely will say, "I am a grasshopper and this problem is a giant."  If however we put God into the equation we will see that, "With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible."   Every challenge, difficulty, hard endeavor in the Christian life is a trial of your faith. If you respond with, "I can't, its too much, its too hard," you are missing out on God's best. O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?  If we are going to grow our faith we must look at every situation with God in the equation. When we do, we will not say "I am a grasshopper, this is a giant," but rather we will say to our problem "your the grasshopper!" Where is your faith? I believe God's promise and have decided to face the giants in my life because He said,  I can do all things through Christ! Amen! How about you?

Psalm 78:37-39

In Psalm seventy-eight, God's patience and mercy  are clearly seen. Over and over the people rebelled and were unfaithful, yet God restrained His anger.  One reason for God's long-suffering towards us is the fact that in verse thirty-nine, "For he remembered that they were but flesh;"  I am so glad we have a Heavenly Father that is full of compassion and forgiveness.  God is so good to remember how weak and frail we truly are, "For he knoweth our frame; he remembereth that we are dust."  God has pity on us, for He knows the weaknesses and infirmities that we experience in this, O wretched man that I am! As a father has deep compassion on his own children when they fail, suffer or are mistreated, so too our Heavenly Father looks upon us with compassion and care. Casting all your care upon him: for he careth for you.  In the midst of our struggles, failure, trouble and sin we must remember that He wants to help us in our situation. I am so thankful that we have a God that sympathizes with us and feels sorry for us in our current sinful condition.  Praise be to God though that not only can He sympathize with us, He can empathize with us, that is to completely understand how we feel, "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."  Glory to God! Amen!! Hallelujah! What a Savior, Who can take a poor, lost sinner, Lift me from the miry clay and set me free! I will ever tell the story, Shouting glory, glory, glory!!!

Psalm 71:8

The desire of the psalmist here in this verse should be the goal of every Christian, that is to live everyday with a grateful heart towards the Lord. Matthew 12:34 "...for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."  Whatever is in the heart will come out of the mouth. A grateful heart will speak words of praise and an ungrateful heart will criticize. This verse also teaches us that when we praise God we are honoring Him. Likewise when we grumble, murmur, complain and criticize we dishonor God. I can't stand complainers, neither does God. God killed more people in the Old Testament for complaining than for any other sin. We live in an ungrateful, unhappy, criticizing world but sadly that type of spirit has made its way into our churches. Anybody can be a critic, that takes absolutely no character at all, but to be a grateful, uplifting, praise-filled Christian takes some effort. The simple solution is what you choose to magnify?  All of us could be murmurs if we choose to focus on the negatives and look to nit pick. The answer lies in your attitude towards God and what He has given you. Your attitude determines your altitude. If we criticize what we have or the people God has placed into our lives than we are actually showing God how ungrateful we are towards what He has given us. Be grateful for your family, friends, church, job, freedom, and health. Stop finding fault and start filling your mouth with praise! Amen!

Psalm 124

We are in a battle! In our fight against Satan and his demonic spirits we got to have God on our side. If God be for us who can be against us? Greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world. Amen! Here in this Psalm the Israelite's finally came to the conclusion that had it not been for LORD fighting for them they certainly would have been swallowed up. Many years ago when Moses drew a line in the sand and asked, "Who is on the Lord's side?, " the Israelite's wisely chose God. We must continually decide in our lives who's side we are going to be on. How foolish it would be to go against the one who is fighting for us. In our lives today we must come to rest in the mighty hand of God working for us. As you think back in the past do remember the times when you almost drowned in your sorrow? Do you remember when the attacks of Satan were relentless? Do you remember when tragedy struck? Do you remember when that trial came? Do you remember when your way was distorted and confused? Do you remember the time when someone you loved, let you down? Do you remember the health issue you battled with? Do you remember when that heavy burden first came? In all of these tough difficult times we can stand steadfast as more than conquerors through Christ Jesus who loved us and gave himself for us. Hallelujah, Almighty God is on my side! No matter the number of people against you, if God is on your side, you are in the majority. Let's decide to stay on His side, then trust and rest in His strength as He fights the battle for us. If it had not been for the LORD on our side, were would we be today? God is good! Amen!

1 Samuel 10:6

Samuel takes a vial of oil and anoints Saul as the first King of Israel.  Samuel then tells Saul that on his journey he will be provided two loaves of bread from three men in the plain of Tabor.  After that Samuel tells Saul that when he arrives at the hill of God, which is actually his hometown called Gibeah, that a group of prophets will meet him there. These prophets are also musicians as a great choir plays as they come down the hill toward Saul. When they reach Saul they begin to preach to him and one of the prophets tells Saul that when the Spirit of the LORD comes upon him, that he would start preaching too. Here is the need in our country: For Spirit filled men of God who will preach! Amen! There is something interesting that the prophet also tells Saul and that is that he would be turned into another man. You see when you are filled with the Holy Spirit of God you are a different person. Others will notice. The anointing of the Spirit of God changes a person. That anointing brings power, holiness, boldness, influence and confidence in almighty God!  The old man will be locked up and the new man will have full control. You will look different, act different, live different and see different! Here is the great need for preachers and church members alike to be filled with the Spirit of God! Come on now, lets get back to Spirit filled Christianity where the power of God is evident and where lives are changed! Amen!!!!!

Nehemiah 4:1-6

After the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity, under the leadership of Nehemiah they began a huge project of rebuilding the wall.  During their course of rebuilding the wall they experience opposition. A man by the name of Sanballat was furious and began mocking the Jews to discourage them from continuing to build. Then came a man by the name of Tobiah and he attempted to also discourage the Jews from building the wall, by saying that if a fox were to jump on top of it, that it would surely crumble to the ground. Nehemiah wisely responded by prayer in order to encourage the workers to continue and to ask for God's strength.  After that prayer they continued to built and in just fifty two days they finished the wall. It is said of the workers in verse six that "the people had a mind to work."  Our church is currently taking on a huge task of painting our building. This old building needs a lot of prep work before paint can even be applied, it is a huge job. Yesterday a man named Allen and I were working hard and looking at the task ahead of us we could have easily let discouragement settle in. I believe the highlight of the day was when Allen had enough wisdom to ask me to pray for strength. We stood along the side of the highway in front of the church and prayed and then went to work. Needless to say we barely scratched the surface on the huge project, but if we continue to have a mind to work and with the help of others I believe we can finish it. In life we are going to face opposition the secret lies in having a spirit of prayer and a mind to just keep on working! Whatever issue you are working on in your life the answer is seeking God through prayer and a perseverance to just not quit!

Psalm 9:15-20

All aboard! My son loves trains. This past summer we took a train to the city and he enjoyed a whole bunch.  A couple of times we have been to an amusement park where there was a train ride and he was so eager to go on it.  There is however another train that I wish we could avoid and that it is the train ride that our nation is currently on.  America is on a fast track towards Hell. No longer can we except God to put up with our sin and wickedness. The Bible says "Blessed is the nation whose God is Lord," and for many years we could claim that verse. Today that is no longer true "The Lord" has become a curse word in our country and those who claim Him as Saviour are the bad guys. Our country is ready to perish for any nation that forgets God has that destiny! It is time for us to wake up or there will be another 9-11 in our country, but it will be much worse than what terrorists could do, it will be God's hand of judgement!  It is time all Christians stand strong and firm in their beliefs and pray for God's mercy or Lord Jesus come quickly!

Matthew 11:28-30

Tomorrow is Labor Day! This holiday in our area is known for the conclusion of the summer vacation. The county fair ends on this day and the break from school as well. Most people will enjoy the day off resting, having a cookout and say goodbye to summer. This holiday was created for workers to enjoy a special day off.  In 1894, many states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.  Our Lord has given us a weekly day off called the Sabbath in which we have time to rest from our labors, but here in this verse we see another special way to have rest from our work.  In this life there are many troubles and burdens in which we must carry, but God in his love and mercy has granted us an invitation to come unto him and take His yoke upon us in order that he may pull our weight. The trials and cares you carry will be borne with His help and grace.  Today take the time to rest in God's strength and provisions.  May God bless you as we make the transition into the Fall months. 

Proverbs 28:26

Here in this chapter Solomon teaches us of the wisdom in keeping the law. When God's people forsake the law they praise the wicked, but those that keep the law are contentious to the wicked. Solomon goes on to say that those who reject or refuse to listen to what the law says, not only will they have their prayers rejected but their praying will be an abomination, a sin!  It seems to me that God takes this thing of obeying His Words seriously!  To compromise our commitment to God and His Word by participating in even a few sinful pleasures will render our prayers ineffective. God has given us the law to be our guide, but many Christians foolishly make their heart their guide. People say, "follow your heart." WRONG! Wrong answer, we can not follow our heart for the heart is deceitful and desperately wicked according to Jeremiah and here Solomon says the following: Proverbs 28:26  He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.  We are not to trust in our heart when deciding what is right or wrong, the Bible is our Final Authority! If we trust our heart we are a fool, but if we walk wisely we shall be delivered from the destruction of sin and Satan.  So I challenge you to walk wisely. In order to do that you must first be wise. So I give you Proverbs 28:7a  Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son...  Friends there is great wisdom in using the law as our standard for living. Of course you'll never be perfect but if you set the standard high, when you do miss, you still will be better off than being deceitful and desperately wicked. Walk wisely in obedience to His Word today. Amen!

Colossians 3:1-4

As Christians are lives should be lived above and beyond!  Due to the fact we are risen with Christ and seated in heavenly places our desire should be on things up there. First we ought to be seeking or Looking to involve ourselves in things that remind us of heaven. We should have a heavenly outlook on life her on earth. Second we ought to be setting our affections or Loving that which is above. We should have a love for things of God and desire in our hearts for things that are in heaven. Last we ought to be storing up or Laying up treasures in heaven.  We need to remind ourselves that when we give our time, talents and tithes to the cause of Christ we are investing in the work of heaven. If we look, love and lay up things in heaven we will keep Christ at the center of our lives, seated on the throne of our hearts. This should be the desire of every Christian, that Christ who is our life shall appear through our lives as we seek His glory. Let's live our lives above and beyond. Amen!

Matthew 27:62-66

After the crucifixion of Christ, a rich man named Joseph requested the body of Jesus from Pilate. Joseph took the body of Jesus and laid it in a new tomb that he had purchased for himself.  A great stone was rolled in front of the tomb to secure it!  Well that was not secure enough for the chief priests and Pharisees. They went to Pilate and requested that the tomb be guarded by Roman soldiers to prevent the disciples from coming and stealing the body of Jesus. Pilate granted their request with these words, "make it as sure as ye can."  The chief priests and Pharisees did just that by sealing the stone(most likely with mortar) and putting guards in place to watch over it. It does not get more surely secured then that!  However we know the rest of the story, nothing could stop the resurrection of the Saviour!  Up from the grave He arose with the mighty triumph over His foes! No matter how hard they tried to abolish this man and His teachings they could not! Humanly speaking they did everything they could to prevent the spread of this sect.  As a result of that tomb made as sure as it could be ended with making the truth of the resurrection as sure as it can be! Years later one of their own a Pharisee and Doctor of Law named Gamaliel gave this advice, "Refrain from these man, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: But if it be of God, ye cannot over throw it.."  Yes, how true and now 2,000 years later the gospel of Christ is still changing lives. No matter how hard they tried to snuff Him out, no matter how hard they tried to silence Him, no matter how hard they tried to abolish His followers, the truth is still marching on! Amen!!!  I am so happy to be a Christian, how about you? Don't ever lose the joy of your salvation for we serve a risen Saviour, He is in the world today and I know that He is living whatever men may say. Hallelujah!

Matthew 19:13-15

Praise the LORD!  We just finish a great week of Vacation Bible School at our church and it was a blast!  What a privilege it is to serve Christ by ministering to his children. We had a great group of kids and were able to see four of them trust Jesus Christ as their Saviour.
In this text, we see Jesus after a long days journey still had time for little kids. The disciples did not want the kids to bother Jesus, but Jesus's heart of love instead took the children into His arms and embraced them.
Today we still have Christians like the disciples who are bothered or ignored by children.  We treat the kid with a behavior ignorantly by not understanding the reasons behind it.  We get annoyed with the kid who does not know how to sit still and we ignore the kid that is less lovable than the others. Jesus Christ loved the unlovable, He went after the down trodden, the less fortunate, and those who had issues.  Now it is our job to allow the Christ living within us to love the unlovable, to seek the wayward and to help those whom society has written off.
Dwight L. Moody said, "If I could relive my life, I would devote my entire ministry to reaching children for God."  This great hero of the faith realized that children are the hope for a society. I thank God for the children He has allowed us to minister too. The hard work of VBS is done but the task of reaching our kids for Christ is still at hand. Pray with me! May we not lose one of them!

Matthew 15:1-20; 23:25-28

It's dinner time! As the kids come inside from playing they are told to go wash their hands before dinner. Perhaps your out to eat at a restaurant and after you place your order you go to the restroom to wash your hands. In an attempt to safeguard ourselves from consuming germs we often do these things.
The Pharisees were always concerned about appearance and the exterior. They condemn the disciples for eating with unwashed hands. At this point Jesus uses this opportunity to expose their Pharisaical teaching. We are not defile by what we come into contact with, but rather by what we allow to enter into our hearts. Proverbs tells us to "Keep thy heart with all diligence," because that is the true source of our defilement. Jesus said, "But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man."
In this wicked, evil, sinful world we live in, as much as we try, it is impossible to avoid coming into contact with things that could defile us. So the key is to make sure those things never make it down into our heart. In order to keep our heart clean we must first guard it. Keep watch over what your allowing into your heart. If by chance something sneaks into your heart, God has given us a great cleansing agent called Confession. Confession is spiritually washing your hands. Confession is not informing God our your defilement, He is already aware of that. Confession is cleansing your heart.
Jesus rebuked them..."Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess."  Let's heed Jesus teaching to cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside may be clean also.

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The Pastor's Morning Light is the blog-spot of Pastor Bill Erickson from Flat Brook Baptist Church in Canaan, New York.  The Morning Light blog-spot is your source of a Daily Devotional from the Pastor's own private time with God.

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