Psalms 121- 

1 I will lift up my eyes to the hills—From whence comes my help? 2  My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. 3 He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. 4 Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. 6 The sun shall not strike you by day, Nor the moon by night. 7 The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. 8 The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.

I Will Lift Up My Eyes

Isn’t it wonderful to know where to go for help in any situation that we find ourselves in? Maybe you are starting a new job and you are very nervous, because you are not sure where to go when you get there. You don’t know anyone. You know you are qualified for the job, but you don’t know the ropes yet. Then, when you walk in the door on your first day, there is that one person who seems to just take you under his/her wing. This person says to you, “If you need anything, you just come to me. I have got your back.” You breathe a sigh of relief! That person has no idea what they just did for you, right? You think to yourself…..”okay, I got this. I’m going to be okay”. I have had people do this for me in new situations, and I have tried to do this for other people as well. But sisters in Christ, don’t we have someone who has our back 24/7? We have the Creator of the universe in our corner on our side in every situation we come up against. He is our ultimate help. 

“I will lift up my eyes to the hills– From whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.” (Psalm 121:1-2) How comforting those verses are to me!! I look out at the beauty around me and I know with all my heart who is in control of all things. The leaves are getting ready to change color just like they do every year at this time and the air will eventually get cooler. The smell of fall is in the air and I know that my God is in control of all of it. I can count on Him to keep everything on this earth going for as long as He sees fit. It is all on His terms and in His time. Our planet will stay on its perfect invisible path around the sun, turning on its perfect invisible axis for as long as He allows it to do so. How can anyone say there is no God with all this perfect order? How could an explosion or big bang cause anything except destruction? An explosion causes chaos. Our planet is organized in all things. Can you imagine the mind that it takes to keep our earth going? To keep every living thing going? To keep us going?

Sisters, let’s never forget that God never sleeps. He watches over us day and night. What do we have to fear? Nothing that happens to us here on earth will matter, because when we leave this earthly home, we will be with God. And if we fully put our trust in Him while here on earth, He will not allow us to stumble. “He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.” (Psalm 121:3-4) When I read this, I picture Jesus holding my hand as I am hiking down a steep trail, with slippery rocks. I picture the trail to be narrow. I have to walk carefully or I will stumble and fall. But my Jesus is beside me all the way, holding my hand, helping me keep my balance so I won’t fall. The side of the trail drops off like a cliff. But He keeps me away from the edge. He keeps me away from danger as long as I hold on to Him. The trail that I am on represents my life. It is slippery, steep and rough sometimes. It can be exhausting. It is not an easy road to travel. Jesus tells us what road or trail we need to travel in Matthew 7:13-14. “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” And ladies, we can all walk it with Jesus. I know that as long as I am holding on to Jesus, I can walk down that trail. Sometimes Jesus may even have to carry me down that trail in some seasons of my life. Believe me, He has carried me many times. But you know, I am human, and sometimes I let go of Jesus’ hand, because I get the idea that I can walk this trail on my own. I don’t lay everything at His feet. I don’t allow Him to help me. Or maybe I want to go in a direction that Jesus doesn’t want me to go. Maybe I step a toe into that easy wide way of destruction where Jesus will not travel with me. This is when I stumble and fall over the edge of that narrow trail. But am I completely lost and without hope because I stumbled and fell? No, of course not. This is why I have Jesus. And like Peter, when he was sinking into the sea, I needed only to reach toward Jesus and He would lift me up and we would keep going down that narrow way…together. You see we may get off the path and stumble if we let go of Jesus, but with Him, we will not stumble. Hang on to Jesus for dear life, my sisters.

Sisters, God is our keeper and protector every single day of our lives. “He is your keeper; The Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.” (Psalm 121:5-6) When I read those verses, I picture Jesus as my right hand man. He will be there whenever I need Him and He will never let me down. I also picture God shielding all of us from the sun by giving us the ozone layer to protect us from its rays. I picture Him placing our planet at the perfect distance from the sun so that we have just enough heat for survival. He keeps the moon at the perfect distance from us for its gravitational pull to somehow help keep the ocean tides in check. Tell me an explosion did that. No way. Now think about this ladies, if God protects the entire earth from the sun, while at the same time using the sun to sustain us with heat and light, don’t we believe He will be with us individually every day? Will bad things happen? Yes….they will. But God will be with us and keep His promise to save us for eternity. We just have to keep our commitment to Him. The suffering that we go through now is only for a short time. And then……paradise. Hang in there ladies. It will be worth it.   

Sisters, our God preserves us in every way. All we have to do is cling to Him. “The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore.” (Psalm 121:7-8) When I read these verses I think of how my mom and both my grandmothers would can vegetables and fruits from their gardens. They would preserve all of their vegetables so that none would go to waste. Inside the sealed jar, the vegetables’ original state would be preserved, to keep them from becoming rotten and decayed. God begins preserving our souls the moment that we are baptized into Christ. He will continue to preserve our souls if we remain faithful in our commitment to Him. Jesus’ blood will continually preserve us from the sin that can cause our lives to become rotten and decayed. His blood will keep us in our original sin-free state that we were in the moment we came up out of the waters of baptism. We will remain new and preserved if we remain faithful. What a beautiful thought. God also watches our comings and goings. He is concerned about where we are going in our lives. Just as we as parents are always watching our children’s comings and goings, God is always watching ours. I could never rest until my children were home safe and sound. Even now that they are married adults, I still like to know that they are home safe from wherever they have been. That will never stop for me as a mom. As long as I’m breathing, I’ll be a momma to my babies. My babies, they will forever be. God never stops watching over us. When we are faithful, He is watching. When we are wayward, He is watching. He is with us through all our ups and downs and everything in between. He never stops. He is interested in each one of us as individuals. 

I’m so thankful for my God. He is so faithful to me. He is my helper and my protector. He preserves me through His Son’s blood. He watches over me in every stage of life that I  go through, even the stages that, I’m certain, have not been pleasant for Him to watch. He has seen me through it all. He has seen me at my very best, and He has seen me at my very worst. And He will continue to see me through the rest of my days here on earth until I get to be with Him. Sisters, He is our Heavenly Father, our God, our Creator and our sustainer. Let’s not let life get in the way and keep us from recognizing how wonderful God is and how lucky we are to belong to Him. Slow down, take in each moment and be still and know that He is God. (Psalm 46:10)

This chapter really spoke to me and made me really think about how much God loves all of us. It is such a beautiful chapter. I hope this has been an encouragement to you today. Thank you for reading!! Love you all!!

God’s Plan of Salvation

If anyone ever needs help in learning the truth of the gospel, please reach out and I can help you or put you in contact with someone who can. Below is the plan that God has set forth in His word, for mankind to receive His grace that leads to salvation and an eternity with God in heaven. 

We have to hear His word. (Romans 10:17) 

Upon hearing the message of Jesus, we believe it. (Mark 16:16) 

Then, we confess Jesus’ name before men. (Matthew 10:32) 

Next, we repent of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Acts 3:19) 

Finally, we are baptized into Christ for the remission of our sins. (Acts 2:38, Matthew 28:18-20, Mark 16:16, Romans 6:3-4, Acts 22:16, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Galatians 3:26-27) After baptism, God adds us to His church. (Acts 2:47)

Then, we remain faithful in our commitment to Christ until death. (Revelation 2:10, 2 Peter 2:20-22)