—-The will of the Lord be done.–Acts 21:14
As we face the mysteries and miseries of life we must ever be mindful that the will of God is the main thing–regardless of circumstances, cost, or consequences. J. R. Miller once told a story that illustrates this. He said, “I sat  one evening with a father and mother beside the bedside of their little child, who seemed about to leave them. We talked of the will and love of God, and before offering prayer I asked the parents,’ What shall we ask God to do?” There was a moment of silence, and then the father, with deep emotion said,”We would not dare decide. Leave it to Him.’ Only God knows what will be best–to live in this world, enduring its wintery weather, or to be taken to the summerland of heaven, to grow up there, getting the crown without the conflict. We are not wise enough to decide what will be best; we would rather leave it to our Father.”

Dear friends, why is it that we act as though the will of God is a bad and undesirable thing? Is He not always good? Does He not know what is best? Is He not to be trusted? Well–you know the answers. So, let’s act like it. Let us accept with joy the things He sends or allows–knowing they will work together for good. Let us neither murmur nor repine, but put ourselves in the center of His will– believing that it is the safest, best, and right place to be. My intent is not to minimize your problems, but rather magnify the Lord whose grace is always sufficient.

“The LORD is thy keeper“– Psalm 121:5

“The LORD shall preserve thee”– Psalm 121:7

We are in the most danger when we do not see any danger. Many are so proud of their strength, intellect, and ability that they fail to see that they are headed for a fall. Perhaps these words from James Smith will serve as a warning against such folly:

What being in creation needs such close and constant keeping–as a Christian—
Our foes are so powerful;
our spiritual maladies so numerous;
our dangers so great;
our depravity so deep!

O to keep this fact daily before the mind, that we may evermore cry unto the Lord to keep us! He has promised to do so–but He will have us plead with Him, and daily cry unto Him.

We are never out of danger–while we are out of heaven!

If we are healthy this morning–we may be diseased before night.

If we are sound in the faith today–we may be led away by some pernicious error tomorrow.

If we are walking at liberty now–we may be entangled with the yoke of bondage before long.

How kind, how gracious then, for our Lord to undertake to keep us, and to promise to preserve our souls.

Let us therefore, this day, feel . . .
  that we are in danger,
  that we need an omnipotent preserver,
  that the Lord preserves through fellowship with Himself,
  and let us endeavor to walk closely with God.

“Hold thou me up, and I shall be safe!” Psalm 119:117

All of us have times when we need encouragement, and almost all of us have known the experience of not finding anyone with a good or kind word to say. In that situation where do we turn for help? I’ve heard about some pretty heated board meetings, but I’ve never heard of one where they were ready to vote on stoning the leader. Yet David’s men were so distraught that they were ready to kill their leader.

At that crucial moment, without the help of friends or encouragers, the Bible tells us that David encouraged himself “in the Lord his God.” This is not the humanist notion of telling ourselves that we are good and things will get better, but rather the biblical truth of resting in the faithfulness of God even when we cannot see Him at work. No matter what our circumstances, we can always find strength and encouragement in His nature.

What we believe about God is never really put to the test until we face difficult days. It is easy to proclaim a strong faith when things are going well. It is something else entirely to be encouraged rather than defeated when everything is going wrong and even those who should be friends turn against us. The one source of encouragement that never fails is your loving Father in Heaven.– God is working in your life today, and His faithfulness can encourage you even when all others fail.(Dr. Paul Chappell)

“Thy shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.” Mark 12:31

What is it to love our neighbor? It is the loving that is hard. We could do almost anything else, short of loving unpleasant neighbors.

But love is the word–and no revised version changes it. No matter how disagreeable, unlovely, unworthy, our neighbors may be–still the commandment persistently and relentlessly says to us,”Thou shalt love thy neighbor”.

Our neighbors are around us all the time, needing our love. Indeed, they touch our lives so continually, that we must guard our every look, word, and act–lest we hurt some sensitive spirit.

Some people seem to forget that other people have feelings. They are constantly saying words and doing things which give pain. True love is thoughtful. We ought to train our hearts to the most delicate sense of kindness, that we may never, even jokingly, give pain to any other human being.

Our neighbors have hearts, and we owe to every one of them–the beggar we meet on the street, the degraded wretch we find crawling in the mire of sin’s debasement, the enemy who flings his insults in our face–to every one, we owe the love that is thoughtful, gentle, and gives no hurt.

Our love ought also to be patient. Our neighbor will have his faults. But we are taught to bear with one another’s infirmities. If we knew the story of men’s lives, the hidden burdens they are often carrying, the unhealed wounds in their heart–we would have most gentle patience with them. Life is hard for most people, certainly hard enough without our adding to its burdens–by our criticisms, our jeering and contempt, and our lack of love.–J. R. Miller