Aches and Praise Five Hundred & Forty Nine

March 18, 2022
 
 
Dear friends,
 

How has your week been? If it’s anything like mine, it has been filled with many encouraging times and some challenging times. Last weekend, Karen and I were in Connecticut, where we enjoyed being with our daughter, Candace, her husband, Richie, and their three-month old daughter. How anyone can look at a baby and think that there is no God and life is a series of random events is beyond my understanding. On Sunday, Pastor Steve Thiel preached a tremendous sermon on the first commandment. I would encourage you to view this at: www.christproclamation.org

In his sermon notes handout, Pastor Thiel writes: “God is a God who saves and God is a God who sanctifies. So God desires a people who obey God’s Law. At the heart of His command to have NO other gods before Him is the need to worship God exclusively, to shun all forms of idolatry completely, and to trust in Christ uniquely!” How we need to remember that the Lord desires His children to be completely committed to living according to His Word, with the help of His Holy Spirit.

Yesterday I visited a friend in Montreal who phones me often. Jean-Pierre has lived in a facility for people with mental health challenges for most of his life. In the past year he has told me of his desire to move to another facility. Would you please pray that he will grow closer to the Lord as he reads the Bible and listens to Christian radio programmes?
          
In our Bible study this week on Zoom, we looked at Acts 10, where Peter was led by God to help Cornelius, a Roman centurion, understand that salvation is only possible through faith in Christ Jesus. After Peter was invited to go to Cornelius, he did not delay. Although Peter had spent his life avoiding Gentiles, he now understood that God loves all people – “God has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean” (Acts 10:28). He preached the gospel to Cornelius, declaring that “whoever believes in Him will receive remission of sins” (10:43) and had the joy of baptizing Cornelius and his household (10:48).

Let’s ask the Lord to lead us to share His Word with family, friends, and many who haven’t yet understood that the Creator of the universe loves us with an everlasting love and desires that we obey His Word and love Him with all our heart.

Scripture for the weekend: “For the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.” Psalm 84:11 (NKJV)

Thought for the weekend: “God’s chief gift to those who seek Him is Himself.” – Edward Pusey

 

By His grace,                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          
Steve

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