Hope Wins

04/14/2026

Ps. 103:14-16

14 For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust.
15 As for man, his days are like grass; As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
16 For the wind passes over it, and it is gone, And its place remembers it no more.

This portion of the Psalm should give us all pause. It speaks to our Creator having full knowledge of our frailties and our need for Him. It adds to the understanding of His pity in yesterday’s passage. It also should encourage us to be grateful for every day God gives us breath and to live our life without regrets as the Lord enables us.

I am now 70 years old and my body feels every bit of it as I have lived with an autoimmune disease for over 40 years, but still my mind feels much younger and the memories of raising my children often seem like yesterday. Our life truly is a v***r and I am thankful that God taught me early in my life to count my days. If this passage was all of the Psalm we might be discouraged, but praise be to God, there is more to go! Tomorrow, we will get more of the full picture of where David is heading with this particular Psalm and why he encourages his soul to bless the Lord.

Official Video | Sovereign Grace Music Written by Dave Fournier and David ZimmerFrom the album Unchanging God: Songs from the Book of Psalms, Volume 1Listen ...

04/13/2026

Ps 103:13

13 As a father pities his children, So the LORD pities those who fear Him.

According to Google pity is: “to feel sadness, compassion, or sympathy for someone else's suffering or misfortune”

Spurgeon considered the many ways God may pity His children:

“ He pities our childish ignorance.
He pities our childish weakness.
He pities our childish foolishness.
He pities our childish naughtiness.
He pities our childish stumbles and falls.
He pities the pain of His children.
He pities the child when another has wronged him.
He pities the fears of His children.”

Prior to my receiving Christ as my Lord and Savior, at almost 21 years of age, I only envisioned God as a punishing God who was just waiting to screw up again. I believed God was the Creator of the universe, I believed Jesus died for my sins, and that the Holy Spirit was the third person of a triune God. I had been sent to church for most of my childhood and went to church with my grandparents when we stayed with them. I prayed many fire insurance prayers over the years. I feared God and did not want to go to hell, but I did not understand the depth and love of God and His ability to help me walk with Him by the power of the Holy Spirit. Once I got a glimpse of His grace, mercy, and unconditional love and my complete inability to walk according to His holiness without the blood of Jesus atoning for my sins, I surrendered my life to Jesus. I received the gift of a new life hidden in Christ without hesitation and have never looked back. Praise be to God! It was His kindness and mercy that brought me to repentance. Also, it is noted that pities is in present tense, so this means His mercy and loving kindness continues to cover me and keep me. Hallelujah!

Praise song.

04/10/2026

Ps. 103:11-12

11 For as the heavens are high above the earth, So great is His mercy toward those who fear Him;
12 As far as the east is from the west, So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

I am going to assume that the heavens David is referring to is the dwelling place of God which during David’s time was considered beyond the galaxies. Pretty awe inspiring to consider God’s mercy towards us in that context. And then David adds verse 12:

“ As far as the east is from the west is much greater than saying as far as the north is from the south, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. If you travel north on a globe, you begin to travel south as soon as you go over the North Pole. But if you travel east, you will continue east forever. Given the true shape of the earth, east and west never meet — and this is how far God has removed our sins from us!” (Guzik)

Let that sink in.

Be blessed!

Awesome God by Rich Mullins w/ lyrics :DOur God is an Awesome God and he's Awesome, so totally Awesome, and this is so awesome, that God is Awesome! :D

04/09/2026

Ps 103:8-10

8 The LORD is merciful and gracious, Slow to anger, and abounding in mercy.
9 He will not always strive with us, Nor will He keep His anger forever.
10 He has not dealt with us according to our sins, Nor punished us according to our iniquities.

Yesterday, I shared in my flesh, I am low on mercy and all about justice. God has had to temper me in this area of my walk with Him. I am all about wanting His mercy and grace, when I fall short and must remind myself of all that God has forgiven me. I am forever grateful that He saved me when I was at my lowest. He did not leave me in the pit. He surely has not punished me, even though I lived a life far from Him prior to my salvation. Instead, has blessed me abundantly according to His riches in Heaven. Glory be to God!



Take some time to enjoy worshipping our great God 😊

Praise and Worship SongsTo God Be The Glory

04/08/2026

Ps. 103:6-7

6 The LORD executes righteousness And justice for all who are oppressed.
7 He made known His ways to Moses, His acts to the children of Israel.

“Justice may at times leave the courts of man, but it abides upon the tribunal of God.” (Spurgeon)

You may have had the same reaction to verse 6 that I did. That is; God I know what your word says about justice, but I am going through something right now that it appears that the wickedness and vileness of certain people are going unchecked and I want to step in and pound them into the ground. I know that is not a godly response, but being transparent here. I had to camp around that verse for a bit and let it marinate in my heart and mind. I sought out others’ thoughts and comments on this verse. I decided Spurgeon summed it up most succinctly.

From my youth I have been highly justice oriented and have struggled with demonstrating mercy. I am the oldest of four and one of my greatest role models in life was my grandfather who served in law enforcement in several capacities. I want swift action taken on those who offend the weak and I want to see it happen. Well, in life that doesn’t always occur and at times I have found myself questioning God regarding this matter. It is hard for me to be satisfied to wait for justice, but God…

He is the final authority. He is sovereign and just. I must trust His ways are higher than mine. This does not mean I don’t take a stand, it just means things may not always work out immediately as I hope it will. That is hard, yet true.

“Observe how prominent is the personality of God in all this gracious teaching—"He made known." He did not leave Moses to discover truth for himself, but became his instructor. What should we ever know if he did not make it known? God alone can reveal himself. If Moses needed the Lord to make him know, how much more do we who are so much inferior to the great law-giver?” (Spurgeon)

Once again I went to Spurgeon to help me sort my thoughts. God has not hidden Himself from us. All through Genesis to Revelation God has demonstrated His love for us and His desire for us to know Him. He could have left us in death and destruction, but He didn’t. Bless the Lord!

Psalm 103 is a call to remembrance, gratitude, and awe—a sacred summons for the soul to bless the LORD and never forget His benefits.🕯️This Davidic worship ...

04/08/2026

Ps 103:4-5

4 Who redeems your life from destruction, Who crowns you with lovingkindness and tender mercies,
5 Who satisfies your mouth with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Today’s list of His many benefits.

I would encourage you to count your many blessings and name them one by one. Gratitude is at the heart of worship. We so often go through our day oblivious to the many perils we escaped because of God’s grace and mercy. We more often than not take for granted the abundance we enjoy living in this country; the tangible and intangible. Being grateful is a way to bless God and surely makes your own life more enjoyable as well as the lives around you.

Watch the lyric video for “Counting My Blessings”! Listen to Music: https://Seph.lnk.to/countingmyblessingsID/applemusicAmazon Musi...

04/06/2026

Psalm 103:1-3

1 A Psalm of David. Bless the LORD, O my soul; And all that is within me, bless His holy name!
2 Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget not all His benefits:
3 Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases,

Starting this week, I want to look at Psalm 103 for a few days, because…

“It is perhaps the most perfect song of pure praise to be found in the Bible.... Through centuries it has been sung by glad hearts, and today is as fresh and full of beauty as ever.” (G. Campbell Morgan)

Today, I am focusing on verses 1-3. David uses self-talk to remind his soul to bless God not once, but twice at the beginning of the Psalm and then ends the Psalm with four more Bless the Lord statements. This type of blessing is not like a pronouncement of your blessing on God, but you blessing God by worshipping Him with a grateful heart filled with praise for what He has done for you.

David provides a long list of benefits he has received from God. In doing so, David sets a good example for us to follow when we come to worship the Lord. How many times have you come to church and just go through the motions during worship? Your mind is elsewhere and you go on autopilot. I have most certainly been guilty of this. David was making a deliberate effort to center himself on God’s goodness in order to truly worship God in spirit and truth.

Today, we are only looking at the first two benefits in verse three. The first benefit David lists is that God forgives not some, but ALL our iniquities. David didn’t even know how God would provide through Jesus Christ, but He trusted God that He would. That must be why David was known as a man after God’s own heart.

The second benefit listed is the healing of ALL our diseases. Now this benefit is one that has caused great disagreement among believers throughout the years. I will not get into such entanglements here. I will simply state my understanding of God’s word. Since God’s word says it, I believe it. God can heal naturally, supernaturally or through the resurrection. All three ways are God’s doing. He is sovereign and how He chooses to heal is up to Him and is for His purposes.

I would venture to suggest that since forgiveness of sin was listed first it is considered the most important benefit we receive from God. Jesus stated as much in Luke 5:17-26 when He forgave and healed the paralytic man whose friends lowered through the roof. This is because without forgiveness of our sin we cannot stand before a Holy God.

We will look at additional benefits God provides to those who put their trust in Him in the next few days. I hope that the next time you go to worship the Lord whether in your personal devotion time or corporately at church, you would encourage your soul to bless the Lord for all His benefits.

Matt Redman - Ten Thousand Reasons (10,000 Reasons) (Bless the Lord), New Album - 10,000 reasons, Year: 2011Bless the Lord, O my soulO my soulWorship His hol...

04/03/2026

Another encouraging message in song. Enjoy!

Official music video for “Sunday Is Coming” from Phil Wickham.Stream or download the song here: https://fts.lnk.to/SundayIsComingDon't forget to SUBSCRIBE: h...

04/03/2026

Love this message:

IT’S FRIDAY, BUT SUNDAY’S COMING!

My fellow followers of Christ, be encouraged and remember He is coming again!

S. M. Lockridge (born Shadrach Meshach Lockridge, March 7, 1913 — April 4, 2000) was the Pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, a prominent African-American congr...

04/02/2026

Matt. 28:1-8

1 Now after the Sabbath, as the first day of the week began to dawn, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to see the tomb.
2 And behold, there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and rolled back the stone from the door,fn and sat on it.
3 His countenance was like lightning, and his clothing as white as snow.
4 And the guards shook for fear of him, and became like dead men.
5 But the angel answered and said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified.
6 “He is not here; for He is risen, as He said. Come, see the place where the Lord lay.
7 “And go quickly and tell His disciples that He is risen from the dead, and indeed He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him. Behold, I have told you.”
8 So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to bring His disciples word.”

HE IS RISEN AND IS COMING AGAIN

God’s word is true and you can count on every bit of it from Genesis to Revelation.

04/02/2026

03/30/2026

Matt. 21:4-5

“4 All this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophet, saying:
5 “Tell the daughter of Zion, ‘Behold, your King is coming to you, Lowly, and sitting on a donkey, A c**t, the foal of a donkey.’ ”

The triumphal entry is recorded in all 4 gospels and the prophecy that was given was by Zechariah found in chapter 9 verse 9 of his book in the Old Testament. It was written over 600 years prior to this event. The Jewish people were even given the exact date this would occur in Daniel 9:24-27. This is how dependable God’s Word is.

The people were expecting a conquering King that would set them free from the Roman rule over them. Instead, they were given a servant King who came to sacrifice His life for them. He would conquer much more than a Roman army, He would conquer Death, Hell and the Grave. But because He did not come in the way they wanted or expected, many of those very same throngs of people were crying “Crucify Him!” only days later.

If I don’t keep my heart grounded in God’s word and my eyes fixed on Jesus, I too am prone to miss out on what God is actually doing in my life. When life takes a much different turn than I expected, I must learn to seek the Lord and trust His purpose. I must remember His ways are higher than mine.

I cannot imagine the utter despair that overtook those who followed Jesus felt when He was taken away, tortured, and crucified. Although, Jesus tried to prepare them; they couldn’t imagine the horrific events that took place. But three days later for some and several days later for others, their eyes were opened and they beheld Him and understood. What joy filled their hearts!

Today, you may be going through a difficult time. It is my prayer that you don’t despair, but turn your eyes upon Jesus. He is risen and is sitting and the right hand of the Father. Seek Him and trust Him. He is faithful and true. In Him there is peace. In Him is hope.

LISTEN TO THE ALBUM: https://streamlink.to/hymns-of-the-sonChord Chart and more worship resources for Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus: https://www.reawakenhymns.co...