⁸ The Lord says, “My thoughts are not like your thoughts.
Your ways are not like my ways.
⁹ Just as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways
and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.
¹⁰ Rain and snow fall from the sky
and don’t return without watering the ground.
They cause the plants to sprout and grow,
making seeds for the farmer
and bread for the people.
¹¹ The same thing is true of the words I speak.
They will not return to me empty.
They make the things happen that I want to happen,
and they succeed in doing what I send them to do.

Last week, I got an email from a blogging friend issuing a challenge. The challenge was to go to a public place and read Matthew chapters 5-7, which is the sermon on the mount, Jesus’ first public sermon.

As you know, I have committed to being more bold about being a witness for the Lord. I accepted the challenge. Today, I met a friend at the beach, at a public pavilion. We prayed and we read those chapters. It is a pretty stormy day today in south Florida. There were very few people at the pavilion. But we read from the Word of God. Our reading actually sent the people walking away, but we read from the Word of God. In the end, we stood alone, but we read from the Word of God.

What did we accomplish for God’s glory? We read from His Word. We proclaimed His message. It doesn’t matter if the people listened or walked away. We proclaimed the Word of God. The amazing thing is I accepted the challenge and I kept my promise and all the glory goes to God!

The Spirit of the Lord is convicting me and convincing me to proclaim His message whether the people listen or walk away. He is giving me courage and boldness to share His message. The Lord is with me and I have nothing to fear. He goes with me and follows behind me and I have nothing to fear.

I am praying about reading out loud from His word on a weekly basis. There are plenty of places and opportunities to make this a regular ministry. What is the worst thing that could happen? I have the privilege of living in the USA with all of it’s freedoms. I think I should take advantage of those freedoms while they exist. We don’t know how much time we have to read from the Word of God before this freedom will be taken away from us, especially since the country is progressing more and more towards secular humanism.

Won’t you join me while there is still time?

In Christ Alone

In Christ alone my hope is found;
He is my light, my strength, my song;
This cornerstone, this solid ground,
Firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
When fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My comforter, my all in all—
Here in the love of Christ I stand.

In Christ alone, Who took on flesh,
Fullness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness,
Scorned by the ones He came to save.
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev’ry sin on Him was laid—
Here in the death of Christ I live.

There in the ground His body lay,
Light of the world by darkness slain;
Then bursting forth in glorious day,
Up from the grave He rose again!
And as He stands in victory,
Sin’s curse has lost its grip on me;
For I am His and He is mine—
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.

No guilt in life, no fear in death—
This is the pow’r of Christ in me;
From life’s first cry to final breath,
Jesus commands my destiny.
No pow’r of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home—
Here in the pow’r of Christ I’ll stand.

Forever His!
Michelle