The Angel of the Lord Encircles Me

My prayer song "The Angel of the Lord Encircles Me" was inspired by Psalm 34:7
"The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear Him and delivers them."

According to the Strong's Bible Concordance, the "angel of the Lord" often referred to the "theophanic angel" ~ a divine visitation of God appearing in the form of an angel.


Many bible scholars believe that the theophanic angel was the pre-incarnate Christ. 
 The word means, "messenger of God, an angel, prophet, priest, or teacher."

  The words "encamp about" mean to "dwell in, or all around as in a circuit, on every side."
 The words in the definition convey the idea that the angel  (the messenger from God who is a teacher, priest, and prophet) is building a strong fortress all around the person he is guarding. 
 
If a person fears the Lord, (by fear, the Psalmist means, honors, is morally reverent, and afraid to dishonor or offend the Lord), and if they abide in God’s strong fortress with the angel, and if that Angel is the Lord Jesus Christ, then something truly wonderful is going to happen.

That Angel is going to deliver them.

According to the Strong’s Bible Concordance, the word deliver means: "to remove, to draw out, equip for war, rescue, be armed, to make strong, to brace, to be saved."
 
What are we going to be delivered from?

• Jesus is going to deliver us from whatever overwhelms, overcomes, or oppresses us.

• Jesus is going to remove whatever hinders us from advancing toward fulfilling His purpose in our life.

• First, Jesus saves our souls and forgives all our sins, washing them away as far as the east is from the west when we invite him into our heart to be our Lord and Savior.

“Therefore Jesus is able, once and forever, to save those who come to God through him. He lives forever to intercede with God on their behalf.” Hebrews 7:25

• Jesus is going to heal us from whatever soul sickness that blinds us and keeps us from knowing and growing in Him.

“He sent out his word and healed them, snatching them from the door of death.” Psalm 107:20

• Jesus is committed to equipping us for spiritual battle; God is on our side~ He wants us to succeed:

“God arms me with strength, and he makes my way perfect. He makes me as surefooted as a deer, enabling me to stand on mountain heights.
He trains my hands for battle; he strengthens my arm to draw a bronze bow.” Psalm 18:32-34

•  Jesus make us strong through helping us to read and understand His word, and giving us the grace and power to obey it:

“For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” ~Philippians 2:13

• Jesus delivers us so that we can overcome temptation.

“And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.” 1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT)

• Jesus is going to give us victory over what had formerly overcome us:

"For this is the victory that overcomes the world, even our faith." 1 John 5:4

• Finally, Jesus delivers us from our enemies when we put our trust in Him. He is committed to making us strong and whole.

"To them that have no might He increases strength." Isaiah 40:29

Prayer
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for sending Thy Son Jesus Christ to by my Protector and Guardian, Savior, Redeemer, and Friend, who ever guards me night and day through His Holy Spirit who lives inside my heart. May You help me to truly understand all of the wonderful things my Lord Jesus does for all who trust Him as their Savior and Lord, in Jesus holy name, amen. 

“The Angel of The Lord Encircles Me” is a comforting, inspirational 2 minute 45 second Video Produced, Directed & Narrated by SD Harden with additional videography by MC Harden © 2018 All Rights Reserved.
The Prayer Poem and Illustration are from "Paths of Love Illustrated Prayer Song Book: Prayer Songs Celebrating God's Love" ©  2015 All Rights Reserved.
The original piano solo,“The Angel of The Lord Encircles Me” used in the video is on the album “Paths of Love: Songs for Worship and Meditation” © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved.
Unto The Least of These © 2018 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved.

The Heavenly Servant

"Christ Washing Peter's Feet" by Ford Maddox Brown (19th C British Pre-Raphaelite Artist)

The Heavenly Servant

John 13:1, 3-10 (ERV)

It was almost time for the Jewish Passover festival.

Jesus knew that the time had come for him to leave this world and go back to the Father. 

Jesus had always loved the people in the world who were his. 

Now was the time he showed them his love the most...

The Father had given Jesus power over everything. 
Jesus knew this. 

He also knew that he had come from God. 
And he knew that he was going back to God. 
So while they were eating, Jesus stood up and took off his robe. He got a towel and wrapped it around his waist. 
Then he poured water into a bowl and began to wash the followers’ feet. 

He dried their feet with the towel that was wrapped around his waist. 

He came to Simon Peter. 

But Peter said to him, “Lord, you should not wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “You don’t know what I am doing now. 
But later you will understand.” 

Peter said, “No! You will never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “If I don’t wash your feet, you are not one of my people.” 

Simon Peter said, “Lord, after you wash my feet, wash my hands and my head too!” 

Jesus said, “After a person has a bath, his whole body is clean. He needs only to wash his feet. And you are clean...” 

In this Scripture passage, Jesus is giving His disciples a powerful visual metaphor of His mission on earth, who He is and why He has come.

The Apostles will not understand the full scope of His mission until after His death on the cross and resurrection though.

"So while they were eating, Jesus stood up and took off his robe." 

Here Jesus is showing that He laid aside His Heavenly Throne temporarily and in the words of St. Paul,  "although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men." (Philippians 2:6-7 NASB)

"(Jesus) got a towel and wrapped it around his waist. Then he poured water into a bowl and began to wash the followers’ feet. He dried their feet with the towel that was wrapped around his waist."

Jesus, their Master and Lord, performed this humble task of washing His disciples feet, a menial chore that normally a slave or common household laborer would have done, in order to graphically demonstrate His mission from the Father. 

He also wants to remind them that He is their example in all things. Whatever He does, they must likewise do. 
Be humble. Love one another. Serve one another. 
Why? Because He is their Lord and has asked them to, just as He is now on His earthly mission because His Father has asked Him to do it. 

You can never have love without obedience in true worship.

Why does Jesus need to clean the disciple's feet? 
Because they are stained with sin. 

Jesus is showing them that His mission is to cleanse people of their sins. 
What would have been the filthiest part of the body in a time when most people walked everywhere over rugged roads and basically wore sandals? 

Jesus came to cleanse the filthiest part of each of us---our hearts. 

Matthew 15:19-20 (NASB) "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. These are the things which defile the man...” 

Jeremiah 17:9 (NASB) “The heart is more deceitful than all else

And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? 

Jesus came to cleanse away the stain of sin that each of us are born with and to  make us whole, to redeem us from the curse of death and hell and to give us His own righteousness which we could not ever earn by being good enough on our own. 
Only Jesus Christ can wash our sins away.

Detail: Ford Maddox Brown Artist 19th C British

Peter said, “No! You will never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “If I don’t wash your feet, you are not one of my people.”

Jesus Christ told Peter that if He did not wash him, he could not be one of His people. 

Only the shed blood of Jesus Christ can wash away the stain of our sins. 

Jesus Christ was the spotless Lamb of God sent to bear our sins on the cross as a blood sacrifice. He died in our place so that our sins could be forgiven. 

In Christ's demonstration to His disciples He had wrapped the towel of a slave around Himself and washed their feet as a slave would have. 
We are all slaves of sin apart from salvation in Christ.
Sinless Jesus took off His beautiful Heavenly spotless sinless robe and put on our robes stained with the slavery of sin and bore them on the cross.

"For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ." ~2 Corinthians 5:21

Hebrews 9:22 "And according to the Law, one may almost say, all things are cleansed with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."

On the third day God raised Christ from the dead. All who receive Jesus into their hearts as their Lord and Savior will be raised from the dead and given eternal life with Christ in Paradise.

John 11:25-26 (NASB) "Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” 

By washing their feet, Jesus wanted to leave His disciples with a powerful visual reminder of what His earthly mission was all about.

His humble, selfless act still speaks to us today about our need for His cleansing from our sins.

It tells us to follow His example of obedience and love to His Father and to serve one another humbly out of our love, obedience and worship to Him.

John 3:16-17 (NASB) “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for sending Thy only Son to cleanse us from our sins. 

Thank You, Lord Jesus, for laying aside Your Heavenly Throne for a season so that You could suffer & bear our sins on the cross & die in our place; 

Thank You Holy Spirit for making Thy truth known to our hearts,

We love You, Lord,  in Jesus' name, amen. 

"The Heavenly Servant" © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved. //Bible Illustration by Ford Maddox Brown, 19th century British Pr-Raphaelite Painter, //Photo of Jesus holding Lamb via Pinterest//Scripture Quotations (NASB) New American Standard Bible, © 1995 The Lockman Foundation All Rights Reserved.// (ERV) © 2006 World Bible Translation Center All Rights Reserved. /"Nothing But The Blood" Music Video & Vocals © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden

Wait On The Lord

My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from Him." ~Psalm 62:5 

The Strong's Bible Dictionary defines the word that the Psalmist uses for "wait" in this passage as "to be dumb, to be astonished, to stop, to hold your peace, keep silent, be still, tarry, be cut off..."

Such a definition carries several implications. 

Meditate for a moment on what it means to "be dumb..mute, silent & hold your peace before the Lord. 

Have we ever just worshiped the Lord in silent prayer; cut ourselves off from every distraction so that we can completely focus on listening to the Holy Spirit? 

This is what the Psalmist is saying. 

"For my expectation is from God..."

The word expectation means "hope, outcome, the thing that I long for."

We will not find our hope in our work, mobile devices, on the Internet, social media, or any of a number of other things that distract our hearts away from God. 

We must go into our prayer closet and get alone with Jesus Christ and worship. 

In that quiet place our Lord will whisper His truth to our hearts.  Our love and knowledge of Him will grow as we practice waiting on Him in the silence of the holy place of our hearts. 

For He is our heart's truest desire and we will find all of our deepest longings fulfilled in Him.

PRAYER

Dear Heavenly Father, draw us closer to Your holy heart and help us learn to be still before You in prayer as we worship You; to wait on You, to listen for Thy still, small voice. We love You, in Jesus' name, amen.

Unto The Least of These "Wait On The Lord" © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved. Bible Verse King James Version

Rejoice In The Lord Always

"Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say rejoice." Philippians 4:4

St. Paul wrote those words even though he had a terrible affliction of some sort he called "a thorn in his flesh." 

In 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 he wrote: "Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 

Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 

That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong."

Paul was beaten, stoned, persecuted, imprisoned, and suffered much abuse for his faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet he wrote, "Rejoice in the Lord always..."

What does that word "rejoice" mean? 

The Strong's Bible Dictionary defines it:

χαίρω khah'-ee-ro

Definition: to be "cheer"ful, i.e. calmly happy or well-off; impersonally, especially as salutation (on meeting or parting), be well

Usage:  be glad, God speed, greeting joy(- fully), rejoice.

Paul is saying, "Don't despair! Don't be discouraged! Instead, choose to be happy, choose to rejoice. To rejoice in spite of our discouragements, trials, and sufferings is a choice we can make. 

The apostle James told us to rejoice despite our circumstances. 

James 1:2-4 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 

Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything."

Instead of being discouraged by our challenges, we need to focus on our blessings. There is always something we can be thankful for. 

It is good to keep in mind that no matter how much we are suffering, there is always someone somewhere who is suffering far more than we are, and we should pray for that person. 

The prophet Jeremiah saw terrible tragedy all around him. Yet he wrote in Lamentations 3:22-23: 

"Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for His compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness."

Gratitude is a wonderful antidote for discouragement and will bring the blessing of joy into our hearts. 

Starting today may it be our choice to "Rejoice in the Lord always!"

Prayer

Heavenly Father, may You help us choose to rejoice always in You and to be grateful for all the ways You have blessed us and been so faithful to us throughout our lives. We love You, in Jesus' name, amen.

"Rejoice in The Lord Always"© 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved. Scripture Illustration © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved.  Scripture References King James Bible, Strong's Bible Dictionary, NIV Bible Translation © 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® All Rights Reserved. Unto The Least of These © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved.

Our Brief Sojourn

Recently, a friend told me the sad news that she'd had a death in her family. Yesterday my son called to ask for prayer and told me that his precious wife, our daughter-in-law, had been hit head on by another vehicle as she was pulling out of their garage on her way to work. 

Miraculously, she sustained only minor injuries, but her car was totaled and she could have been killed.

I praise our merciful God for sparing her life!

Our sojourn on this earth is so brief. Moses wrote in Psalm 90:10, 12: 

"Our days may come to seventy years,or eighty, if our strength endures;

Lord, Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom."

Life is also so random. Anything can happen at any time any day. But when you know and walk with the Lord Jesus Christ you have full assurance of your eternal dwelling place. You know that His word promises He will never forsake those who have put their hope in Him. All those who have committed their lives to Christ are sealed with the living Spirit of Christ. They are eternally inseperable.

Copyrighted//Source: Pinterest

Charles Haddon Spurgeon is one of my favorite Bible teachers. A reformed Baptist preacher, he lived and preached in England during the 19th century. He wrote many sermons, devotionals and inspirational books. 

The following excerpt is from his devotional "Morning and Evening." May it bless and comfort you as much as it did me.

Morning, June 29

"Them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him."

1 Thessalonians 4:14

Let us not imagine that the soul sleeps in insensibility. 

"Today shalt thou be with me in paradise," is the whisper of Christ to every dying

saint. 

They "sleep in Jesus," but their souls are before the throne of God, 

praising him day and night in his temple, singing hallelujahs to him

who washed them from their sins in his blood.

The body sleeps in its lonely bed of earth, beneath the coverlet of grass. 

But what is this sleep? The idea connected with sleep is "rest,"

and that is the thought which the Spirit of God would convey to us. 

Sleep makes each night a Sabbath for the day. 

Sleep shuts fast the door of the soul, and bids all intruders tarry for a while, 

that the life within may enter its summer garden of ease. 

The toil-worn believer quietly sleeps, as does the weary child 

when it slumbers on its mother's breast. 

Oh! happy they who die in the Lord; they rest from their labours, 

and their works do follow them. Their quiet repose shall never be broken…”

__________________________________________________________________________________

PRAYER

Heavenly Father, please bless and encourage all those who have suffered the loss of loved ones or friends this week, or who will soon face such grief. Thy word says You are close to the brokenhearted and that You bind up their wounds. Fill their souls with rivers of Thy love, grace, peace and hope; give them faith to know that their loved ones are safe with You. Thank You, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. 

Excerpt From: Charles H. Spurgeon. “Morning and Evening: Daily Bible Readings for Every Day of the Year.”

Unto The Least Of These © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved.

God Is My Refuge

GOD IS MY REFUGE

In Psalm 91:2 the Psalmist wrote,  

 "I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust." 

The word here used for "refuge" according to the Strong's Bible Concordance is מחסה makh-as-eh'

The word means a shelter (literally or figuratively).

The Psalmist is saying that God is his place of hope, place of refuge, his shelter, and trust. 

No matter what trial we may face along our life's path, if we make God our refuge from the storm, from danger~ even when it comes pouring down like rain all over our lives, He will shelter us and keep us safe.   

But there is also another interesting aspect about the word  "makhaseh" ~ God can be our refuge from falsehood or deception. 

In John 10:4-5 Jesus Christ said, 

"And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep follow him: for they know his voice. 

 And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the voice of strangers."

The word for "know" according to Strong's means "to understand, perceive, have certain knowledge of, are sure of."

Predators abound on the Internet who try to deceive unsuspecting people all the time. There are many false teachers today who are teaching error concerning the Bible. Straying from the foundational Truths of the Christian faith, yet calling themselves Christians, they are leading many astray who are not abiding in the word of God nor making Christ their Refuge.

The only way we can come to know our Good Shepherd's voice is to spend time with Him, to make Him our Refuge. That choice is up to us.

When we make Him our refuge He will be a shelter from every storm we face and protect us from every deception of the enemy that tries to lead us astray. 

The Lord gives His children His Holy Spirit. Jesus said in John 16:13,

 "But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth."

The Holy Spirit gives us discernment as we abide in Christ, read God's word, pray, and worship regularly. This is daily making God our  Refuge.

This is how we get to know Him as our Good Shepherd and learn His voice. And He makes this promise to us in John 10:27-30 

"My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, I pray you will be my Refuge, my Fortress, my God in who I trust today and every day. 

Lord Jesus, my Good Shepherd, teach me to know Thy voice, shelter me from every storm, protect me from every deception, and keep me always close to Thy heart, filled with Thy love and light, in Jesus' name, amen. 

"God Is My Refuge" © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved. Scripture Illustrations via Pinterest

Happy New Year's Prayer

Psalm 20:1-5 

"The Lord will answer you in times of trouble.

The name of the God of Jacob will protect you. 

He will send you help from his holy place and support you from Zion...

He will give you your heart’s desire and carry out all your plans. 

We will joyfully sing about your victory.

We will wave our flags in the name of our God.

The Lord will fulfill all your requests."

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Precious Friends, I am so thankful for each of you! Not a day goes by when you are not included in my prayers. I don't know where you are on your journey right now but God knows.  Psalm 33 says 

"The Lord looks down from heaven.

He sees all of Adam’s descendants.

From the place where he sits enthroned, he looks down upon all who live on earth. 

The one who formed their hearts understands everything they do." Psalm 33:13-15

The One who numbers all the stars and calls them all by name, who measures the dust of earth, does not measure out His love for you. He loves you as if you were the only one He had to love. 

Your Creator sees you not as you see yourself but as His masterpiece. 

You are His treasure and He cherishes you.

My prayer for you in 2015 is that God will open your eyes to see and know the wonder of His measureless love for you. 

May the Lord protect each of you from all evil, harm, and danger, make you healthy, strong and sound in every way, fill you to overflowing with peace and hope and joy from Heaven's streams, and grant you wisdom, knowledge, and discretion in all your ways.

I ask that God would help you to come to know Him better, and draw you very close to His holy heart. May you know His will for you and be given the courage to carry it out.

May the Lord give you faith and hope when the storms of life arise and try to snuff out your dreams;

May He hold you very close when all is dark and you can see no light, 

may you feel His comforting arms of love about you and hear His still small voice whispering in your heart that He is with you and will never leave or forsake you; that you are engraved upon the palms of His hands and that your walls are ever before Him. 

May His song ever be with you and may you know that He is always for you no matter what the circumstances may appear to be. God is for you and is working behind the scenes to give you a hope and a future beyond anything you could ever have imagined. 

May you never stop trusting Him because He never lies and He has never failed you and He never will fail you. May you know and always remember that God keeps every promise forever. (Psalm 146:6)

May you be given all these comforting assurances in the coming year, in Jesus' holy name, Amen. 

Love & Prayers,

Suzanne

Unto The Least of These, Happy New Year's Prayer, © 2015 Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved./ Photo/Pinterest/ Scripture Quotations: God's Word Translation © 1995

My Child, Trust Me

My Child, Trust Me

My child, will you not trust Me 

When Heaven won't make sense, 

And let your heart come near Me 

When you'd rather build a fence? 

My child, will you not hear Me

In the stillness of your soul?

Do not misunderstand the pain;

I long to make you whole.

My heart is broken for you;

Yes, I can feel your pain;

Oh, I know all about you,

For I bore your sin and shame.

I am your forgiveness

And your eternal life;

I knock upon your inner door

To bring you hope and life.

I knock upon your inner door

To bring you faith and truth,

Know your soul is knit to Mine

And I will always love you. 

Heavenly Father, please give us the grace to trust You with every challenge that comes to try our faith on our path in this life. May You fill our hearts with Thy holy peace that passes all understanding through every storm. May we trust in You, who knows the beginning and the ending of all things, that You are weaving every detail of our lives into something beautiful though it may not be readily apparent right now. Thank You, dear Lord, for Your immeasurable love towards each of us. Help each soul reading these words to feel Thy love in their hearts. In Jesus' holy name. Amen.

"My Child, Trust Me" © 2010 S.D. Harden All Rights Reserved. Unto The Least Of These Photo Illustration/Via Pinterest

Trust in God With All Your Heart

"Trust God" © Suzanne Davis Harden All Rights Reserved.

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."~ Proverbs 3:5-6

In this detail from my painting based on Proverbs 3:5-6, Jesus, the Good Shepherd is leading one of His little lambs along a path He has chosen for her.

He lovingly looks down at His child and gently holds her hand as He leads her. He does not force her to follow Him.

 He seems to be asking her to make the choice, "Will you follow Me down this path I have chosen for you?"

 However, the child does not seem eager to follow her Shepherd, but reluctantly holds one hand behind her back while her feet stay planted on the shores of indecision.

Her head hangs down unwilling to meet the eyes of her Lord.

Something is preventing her from wanting to pursue the path He's chosen for her. Is it fear, doubt, worry, insecurity?

She cannot really see a path before her at all---only the ever relentlessly shifting waves of the endless sea before them.

Perhaps she wonders how she can walk upon such an unstable foundation?

If only she could see an end to the murky path before her! But she sees only an endless horizon of water whose depths she can't even fathom.

Her faithful Good Shepherd whom she has always trusted now seems to be asking her to plunge with Him into a depthless pool where there is no footing.

He seems to be asking her to leave behind everything she's always been able to depend on, and embark upon a path where she will have only Him to rely on for all her needs. 

He seems be asking her to simply trust Him; to trust His word no matter what her eyes and ears may tell her to the contrary, because He is faithful to all His promises and He cannot lie. 

He asks her to just believe that He will take care of her no matter what challenges come up. If only she will keep her hand in His and trust Him, nothing shall be able to overtake her.

Trust Me

"Will you trust in Me, My child?

I'll not lead you astray.

Will You trust in Me, My Child,

Though all the earth gives way,

I'll shield you from all harm, My child,

Your heart I'll not betray;

Although My path for you seems dark

An endless, depthless sea,

Strewn with wind & stormy waves,

Your safe always with Me.

And though you cannot see the end

I see it and I know,

That you will be all right, My child,

So never give up hope.

Never lose your faith in Me,

But Trust, oh trust always,

Know I love you, little one,

And in your heart remain.

© 2014  Suzanne Davis Harden

Prayer:

Lord Jesus, Thank You that You love us and will never lead us down a path where You won't also be with us, guiding us by Your indwelling Holy Spirit. You are our Good Shepherd who leads us in paths of righteousness for Thy name's sake. You are working all things out in our life for our good. May You reassure us of these truths when we are challenged by the storms of life. For Thy word promises that You, Oh Lord, are FOR us, and if God be For us, who can be against us?!

You are our Hope and our Victory no matter what the world throws at us. For in the end, as You triumphed over the world, we too shall triumph as long as we abide in You.  For You have promised us, "Greater is He that is in us, than he who is in the world."

We love You, Lord! In Thy great name dear Jesus, we give thanks and pray, amen.

Notes

A Small 5" x 7" inch double-matted print is available of the Painting "Trust God" by Suzanne Davis Harden. 

*Visit Suzanne's Etsy Shop  Wings Publications to see more information about this product:   Trust God 

Use this code GD1S8WS0M3 at checkout throughout the month of July to get this Beautiful Print at Half Price with your purchase of $25.00 or more.

"Trust in God with All Your Heart" Prayer Poem © 2014 and Illustration "Trust God"  © 2009 by Suzanne Davis Harden; All Rights Reserved. 

Message Originally Published in Peaceful Prayer Songs, Messages of Hope: Peaceful Prayer Songs

Nothing Can Separate You From God's Love

"In Thy Tender Care" © Kathy Lawrence LDS ART.com

Nothing Can Separate You From God's Love

Even if all the demons in hell were to join forces and line up side by side and pull with all their might, they still would not be strong enough to pull you from the almighty grip of Your Heavenly Father's strong hands. 

No power in all the universe is stronger than the love of God revealed in Jesus Christ our Savior. 

Jesus Christ said, "My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. 

And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. 

My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and My Father are one." (John 10:27-30)

We can completely trust every word that Jesus spoke for this is what St. Peter wrote about Him: "Christ committed no sin, nor was deceit found in His mouth” ~(1 Peter 2:22)

St. Paul wrote in the book of Romans 8:35-39:

"Who then can ever keep Christ’s love from us? 

When we have trouble or calamity, when we are hunted down or destroyed, is it because he doesn’t love us anymore? 

And if we are hungry or penniless or in danger or threatened with death, has God deserted us? 

No, for the Scriptures tell us that for his sake we must be ready to face death at every moment of the day—we are like sheep awaiting slaughter; 

but despite all this, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ 

who loved us enough to die for us. 

For I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from his love. 

Death can’t, and life can’t. 

The angels won’t, and all the powers of hell itself cannot keep God’s love away. 

Our fears for today, our worries about tomorrow, or where we are—

high above the sky, or in the deepest ocean—

nothing will ever be able to separate us from the love of God 

demonstrated by our Lord Jesus Christ when he died for us." 

Those are powerful promises, as valid today as they were two thousand years ago when they were first penned by the apostle who faced death at the hands of a cruel Roman emperor who considered the killing of Christians an exciting sporting event. 

As I read the Gospels and epistles of the New Testament and consider what the early church suffered in its love for Jesus Christ, and yet how faithful those servants of God remained to Him despite overwhelming trials, I think how else could they have remained so loyal to Christ but by the Almighty hand of God! 

He was entirely faithful to keep them in His love, to keep them from falling away no matter how much they were persecuted and opposed by their enemies, spiritual and human. 

St. Jude wrote,  "And He is able to keep you from slipping and falling away, and to bring you, sinless and perfect, into His glorious presence with mighty shouts of everlasting joy." 

(Jude 1:24-b)

"And now—all glory to him who alone is God, who saves us through Jesus Christ our Lord; yes, splendor and majesty, all power and authority are his from the beginning..."~(Jude 1:24-a)

~Yes, praise our almighty God! No matter what battle we may be struggling with today, 

our God is able to bring us out of it victoriously. For He will never fail or forsake us!

 "He keeps every promise forever."~(Psalm 146:6)

Prayer

Heavenly Father, thank You for Your assurance that nothing can ever separate us from You once we have accepted Christ as our Savior and Lord. 

Thank You for Your amazing love that sacrificed Your only Son for our sins so You could clothe us with His righteousness.

We acceptYour beautiful gift of Your precious Son Jesus Christ into our hearts and desire to live for You and be clothed evermore with His righteousness. 

We ask You to take all our sins away forever as far as the east is from the west. 

And we thank You for doing this. 

Thank You for making us new creatures in Christ that can never be separated from Your holy love. 

Thank You for filling us with Your Spirit.

We Love You, Lord.

In Jesus name. Amen.

Unto The Least of These, Nothing Can Ever Separate You From God's Love © 2013 Suzanne Davis Harden, All Rights Reserved. Illustration by © Kathy Lawrence, LDS ART.com