Refuge and Strength
Month: April 2025
God’s Will Be Done
In Jesus’ example prayer “Your will be done” follows “God’s kingdom come”. The two statements are tied together. One of the first things about God’s will is that He wants everyone to repent. Modern pride contradicts the need for repentance. However, God is very patient and gives many chances for us to join His kingdom.
For those who don’t know what that is about, I’d like to share a couple of resources. Here is a video from Christianity Explored that gives a broad overview of what Christianity is. They have a study that takes you through the gospel of Mark (you can find churches that go through the study with you). This study focuses on who Jesus is. https://www.christianityexplored.us/what-is-christianity/
This video that tells you about the gospel by sharing the good news and bad news.
There are so many opportunities to learn about Who God is. I pray that you learn the truth if you do not already know.
Dear Heavenly Father, please work in the hearts of those who have not reached repentance. Please help those of us who have to share the truth with others. Please guide our conversations.
I pray this in Jesus name.
God is so good.
Oil of Gladness
Proper Freedom
As I continue to write about the Kingdom of God, I have to talk about freedom. I am very thankful to live in the United States where I have great freedom. However, I have watched over the years as Americans – many times even Christians, take advantage of that freedom.
Today’s verse reminds us that we are not to use that freedom “for the flesh”. Our freedom is supposed to be used to serve others. We will need God’s help to use our freedom correctly.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminders in Your Word of how to use the freedom You give. Please help us to seek opportunities to serve others.
I pray this in Jesus’ name.
God is so good.
Remembering Deeds of Old
God’s Temple Today
In the Old Testament we learn about the temple Solomon built for God to dwell in. At Pentecost (in the book of Acts), the Holy Spirit came to dwell in people. 1 Corinthians reminds us that our physical bodies belong to God because of this.
Jesus’ example prayer can help us remember that God’s kingdom, including His residence of our physical bodies, is more important than our own desires. This should give us the desire to take care of our physical bodies to the best of our ability.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder that our physical bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. Please help us to live with that thought in mind.
I pray this in Jesus’ name.
God is so good.
Hope in God
God’s Pleasure
Jesus’ example prayer reminds us to pray that God’s kingdom would come. This refers to the earthly kingdom that God tells us about in the Bible. God gives us many commands to follow, which fit into His ultimate purpose. Unfortunately, as flawed human beings we want our own way. Too many don’t like Philippians 2:13, because it talks about God’s work being for His pleasure. We want our own pleasure. We want good for our own sake. However, if we take the time to study the Bible, I think we will find the benefit of God’s way. We also need to consider the eternal benefit. We will learn more of that by studying the Bible.
I hope that my readers will put time and effort into reading God’s Word and finding out what God’s good pleasure is. I think we will find it pleasurable ourselves.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank You for choosing to work in us. Thank You for sharing Your pleasure with us. Please help us to seek Your way and not our own. The selfish pleasures of this world can have a strong pull. Please give us the strength to say no as well as the knowledge of how much better Your way is.
I pray this in Jesus’ name.
God is so good.
Led by Truth
Pleading in Prayer 