Day 1 - Week 42 - Post #217

Over the past 41 weeks, there have been 216 posts to "Hiding Your Words in My Heart."  That averages out at 5.25 posts a week.  I aim to post at least 5 times each week, so that is holding up.  I cannot tell you how good this discipline has been for a very undisciplined person like me!  I have no  idea how meaningful these words of mine are to those of you who read them on a regular basis, but I do have a very strong sense of accountability to you.  Again, if anything is ever said here that you feel is contrary to God's Word, please speak up with a voice of correction.  I am so very, very open to re-looking at any statement made as I am very, very aware of my fallibility!

So, enough about that!  We're hiking on down the road.  If we continue with the allegory of the Appalachian Trail (which I now cannot get out of my head), we have would now be coming out of the northern edge of the Shenandoah National Park in the northern part of Virginia.  I've chosen a picture from that area at this time of year...wouldn't this be a beautiful site?  (Really beautiful if you were viewing it through a window of a nice cozy lodge with a cup of hot cocoa in your hand!)  But that would not be the case if we were hiking!  We would have to be bundled up, prepared for our journey.  Winter hikers are very determined people and don't face their adventure without having the right gear and protection.  That reminds me of Paul's exhortation to us as Christians in Ephesians when he tells us of all the gear that we need in our earthly hike toward eternity.  (Read Ephesians 6:10-18)

So - recapping our journey to date:

The Gift of Prayer (3)

Hebrews 4:16 Therefore, let us approach the throne of grace with boldness that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us at the proper time.

1 John 5:14   Now this is the confidence we have before Him, whenever we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

1 John 5:15   And if we know that He hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked Him for.

The Gift of Assurance (10)

1 John 5:11 And this is the testimony:  God has given us eternal life and that life is in His Son.

1 John 5:12-13  The one who has the Son has life.  The one who doesn't have the Son of God, does not have life.  I say these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know you have eternal life.

John 14:1  Your heart must not be troubled, you believe in God, believe also in Me.

John 14:2  In my Father's house are many mansion, if it were not so, I would have told you.  I go to prepare a place for you.

John 14:3  And if I go away and prepare a place for you, I will come back and receive you unto Myself, so that where I am, you may be also.

John 14:6  Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father, except through Me.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you.  I do not give as the world gives.  Your heart must not be troubled or afraid.

Isaiah 26:3-4  You will keep in perfect peace the mind that is dependent on You, for it is trusting in You.  Trust in the Lord forever, for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting strength.

Isaiah 53:5 But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed . (KJV)

Isaiah 53:6  We all went astray like sheep; we all have turned to our own way; and the Lord has punished Him for the iniquities of us all.

Praise and Thanksgiving (4)

1 Peter 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  According to His great mercy He has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.

Psalm 100:4  Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise.  Give thanks to Him and praise His name. 

Psalm 100:5  For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Revelation 4:11  You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.

Promises of God (10)

Matthew 6:33  But seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. (ESV)

Romans 8:28 We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God: those who are called according to His purpose.

Jeremiah 29:11  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

1 Corinthians 10:13   No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity.  God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.

1 John 1:7  But if we walk in the light as He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

1 John 1:9   If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Proverbs 3:-6 Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight.  (NIV)

1 Corinthians 10:13   No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to humanity.  God is faithful and He will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation He will provide a way of escape, so that you are able to bear it.

Psalm 55:22   Cast your burden on the Lord, and He will support you.  He will never allow the righteous to be shaken.

1 Peter 5:7  Casting all your care upon Him, because He cares for you.

We've closed out another section - our section on Promises of God. These have been especially sweet verses to me and ones that I know I will come back to often.  They are great to have in our hearts when people need to hear one of God's promises for them, right at that moment, to give them confidence that God is near and with them.  I hope we share these promises on a regular basis now that we carry them with us.

Our next section is on Obedience.  Boy, right off the bat I think want to go back to God's Promises instead!  But just as if we were hiking the Appalachian Trail, not all sections are easy.  Some of them point out to us that we need to get in better shape---some of them require us to stretch and climb and watch our footing so that we don't slip along the way.  This may be one of those types of sections of the trail!  Let's see how we start out with our first verse.  It is one that is often quoted when people are making a call for our nation to return to a higher level of Christian faith, but I'm going to ask each one of us to apply it to our personal lives, individually....

2 Chronicles 7:14

If my people who are called by My name humble themselves, pray and seek My face, and turn from the evil ways, then I will hear from heaven, forgive their sin, and heal their land.