And I will give her her vineyards from thence, and the valley of Achor (door of trouble) for a door of hope: and she shall sing THERE…. (Hosea 2:15).

This is a message that will open the door to a lot of wonderful thoughts, if you study it carefully. Please take your time, consider the context, and ask God to show you hidden treasures that will bring great comfort to your troubled heart. You can rejoice in the Lord “there”, wherever “there” is. It might be at a funeral, during a fuss, after a failure, when we are frail, in financial disaster, or any place else on God’s earth. There is never a time or a place where a child of God cannot rejoice in the Lord. Focus on Him and you will find exactly what you need! –HDS

For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.– Romans 8:18

“What is to be compared with the salvation of the soul? What are riches, honors, health, long life? What are all the pleasures which the world can offer, sin promise, or the flesh enjoy? What is all that men call good or great? What is everything which the outward eye has seen, or natural ear heard, or has entered into the carnal heart of man, put side by side with being saved in the Lord Jesus Christ with an everlasting salvation?

For consider what we are saved from, as well as what we are saved unto. From a burning hell to a blissful heaven; from endless wrath to eternal glory; from the dreadful company of devils and damned spirits, mutually tormenting and tormented, to the blessed companionship of the glorified saints, all perfectly conformed in body and soul to the image of Christ, with thousands and tens of thousands of holy angels, and, above all, to seeing the glorious Son of God as he is, in all the perfection of his beauty, and all the ravishments of his presence and love.

To be done forever with all the sorrows, troubles, and afflictions of this life; all the pains and aches of the present clay tabernacle; all the darkness, bondage, and misery of the body of sin and death; to be perfectly holy in body and soul, being in both without spot, or blemish, or any such thing, and ever to enjoy uninterrupted union and communion with the Father, Son, and blessed Spirit–O what a heaven lies before the believing saints of God as the end of their faith in the salvation of their souls! “(Daily Portions)

I told you–For the Christian the best is always yet to come! The future always looks bright if you look far enough ahead. Regardless of how good things are at the present they will be even better, much better, in the future. And regardless of how bad things are at this moment, someday all will be perfect. Anyway you look at it, there is no comparison between the way things are and the way they shall be. If you don’t mind, I’m going to say it again–“the best is yet to come!”– HDS

We often hear the phrase, “keeping it real”, but in most cases it has to do with something of no great importance. However, the same could be said about matters that are of the greatest importance. We need to get it right and keep it real. Most of the time we don’t. For example, we live in a day where man has a created a god in his own image, rather than thinking about the fact that God created man in His own image. When we talk about the God/ man relationship we tend to make it more about man than God. We talk much about what we want God to do for us, but little about what we should do for Him. Then we go to the other extreme where we put more emphasis on what we do rather than what God does for us. If we are going to get it right and keep it real we must always keep our focus on the person and work of Christ. It’s fine to speak about your love for Christ, but we should do so in the context that “We love Him, because He first loved us”(1 John 4:19). It is not about you, nor me–it is always all about Him. This short article by Michael Horton helps us get it right:

The gospel transforms us in heart, mind, will, and actions precisely because it is not itself a message about our transformation. Nothing that I am or that I feel, choose, or do qualifies as Good News. On my best days, my experience of transformation is weak, but the gospel is an announcement of a certain state of affairs that exists because of something in God, not something in me; something that God has done, not something that I have done; the love in God’s heart which he has shown in his Son, not the love in my heart that I exhibit in my relationships. Precisely as the Good News of a completed, sufficient, and perfect work of God in Christ accomplished for me and outside of me in history, the gospel is ‘the power of God unto salvation’ not only at the beginning but throughout the Christian life. In fact, our sanctification is simply a lifelong process of letting that Good News sink in and responding appropriately; becoming the people whom God says that we already are in Christ.

It is for this reason that I prefer to sing “Jesus Loves Me” to “O How I Love Jesus”. Both are true, but the emphasis should always be more on His love for me than my love for Him. Without the former the latter would be impossible. So, let’s get it right and keep it real. –HDS

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.  And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labors; and their works do follow them– Revelation 14:12-13

The first thing we see about the dead who are blessed is their position: they are in the Lord. They are in the Lord by choice because He elected them.  They are in the Lord by blood because He redeemed them.  They are in the Lord by calling because He drew them to Himself.

Then we see their description: they are called saints and they are described as being obedient. They keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Only those who fit this description can lay hold of the comfort and assurance in the rest of the passage. Are you striving to obey God? Are you a faithful contender for the glory of Jesus?

Finally the text speaks of their rest—all trouble ended, all conflict over—eternal rest with the Lord. It is not a rest following a lifetime of laziness, but a rest after a life of labor in His kingdom. Such labors—do not miss this—follow them, even after they are gone.

Do you want to make a difference, to leave behind you something that matters? Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord, because their lives continue to touch and change and bless people, even long after they are gone. (From “A Good Thing”)

Living in the Lord should lead to laboring for the Lord, because we are leaving to be with the Lord, where we shall be like the Lord. That’s where love for the Lord leads!–HDS

Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.–1 John 2:15-17

“The possession of the whole world, and all that it contains–will never make a person happy. Its pleasures are false and deceptive! Its riches, rank, and honors, have no power to satisfy the heart! So long as we have not got them–they glitter, sparkle, and seem desirable. The moment we have them–we find that they are empty bubbles, and cannot make us feel content.

And, worst of all, when we possess this world’s good things to the utmost bound of our desire–we cannot keep them! Death comes in and separates us from all our property forever! Naked we came upon earth, and naked we go forth–and of all our possessions, we can carry nothing with us.

Such is the world, which occupies the whole attention of thousands!

Such is the world, for the sake of which millions are every year destroying their souls!” (J. C. Ryle)

In other words that which we crave, “the lust thereof”, shall fade, “passeth”, away. So why should we waste our time and energy in the pursuit of bubbles, things of no eternal value, instead of things that are of no eternal worth? May we pass this day with that question in mind. In doing so we will make wiser decisions and be all the better for it. –HDS