Words of encouragement from Pastor Jeff Perry.
He will cover you with His pinions, and under His wings you may seek refuge; His faithfulness is a shield and bulwark. Psalm 91:4
1. GOD’S PROTECTION. Though Psalm 91 was written for Israel thousands of years ago, it is just as pertinent for us today. The Bible informs our faith, shows us who God is, what He will do, and how His amazing provision covers us. God’s pinions (v. 4) represent His arms which are your refuge and your shield. God has your back!
From Pastors Jeff & Patsy
Be hospitable to one another without complaint. 1 Peter 4:9
1. ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR FEELINGS. We love the beauty and togetherness of the holidays, but this time of year can also bring up feelings of loss and lack. Understand you are human and keep everything in perspective. Lift your eyes to Jesus the Rescuer who came to push aside the darkness and set us free from sin.
For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. 2 Chronicles 16:9a
1. RESTORATION. A life with God is the most wonderful life. God sent Jesus to redeem sinners and to restore that close connection between God and humanity. When we humble ourselves and commit to following Jesus, He sets us free, gives us a new nature, and shows us His purpose for our lives. It’s really amazing, isn’t it!?
Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-19
1. REMEMBER WHAT GOD HAS DONE. God is inviting us into a lifestyle of expressing thanks and praise to Him. We have a lot to be thankful for! God sent Jesus to rescue us from sin and death. The most precious gift you have is your fellowship with God. When we give thanks, we’re acknowledging God has done something for us!
“Because he has loved Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him securely on high, because he has known My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will rescue him and honor him. With a long life I will satisfy him and let him see My salvation.” Psalm 91:14-16
Faith, love, and confidence in God grow with the continual confession of His Word. Take time to read Psalm 91 out loud and see the amazing promises distilled in this chapter.
1. HE WILL DELIVER YOU. God has designed and fashioned us to love Him. As we love Him, He will deliver us — even from temptation.
Continue reading “Eight Things God Does for Those Who Love Him”
He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall remain stable and fixed under the shadow of the Almighty [Whose power no foe can withstand]. Psalm 91:1 AMPC
1. THE SECRET PLACE. We have a breathtaking invitation into a close relationship with God. There is a secret place where we can draw near to Him and know Him; where we will become stabilized and immovable against any pressure or enemy.
Peace I [Jesus] leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. John 14:27
Jesus told us not to let our hearts be troubled or fearful because He knew there would be opportunities to do so. The cure for despair is to take practical steps to move from fear to faith. When confronted with a challenge, we have a few options: (1) be apathetic; (2) freak out; or (3) get busy in faith.
HOW GOD IS OUR REFUGE
God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea; though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains quake at its swelling pride. Selah. Psalm 46:1-3
GOD IS . . .
STRONG AND SOUND. When circumstances get weird, you can run to God and find safety. He has not given you a spirit of fear, but He has given you a spirit of power, love, and a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV).
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust!” For it is He who delivers you from the snare of the trapper and from the deadly pestilence. Psalm 91:1-3
1. BE AWARE OF THE SNARE. The devil is the enemy of our souls and he wants to keep us from doing God’s will. Just knowing there are snares to avoid puts us in touch with reality and reminds us that we can’t save ourselves. Thankfully, God is our deliverer! He is trustworthy and has a plan to protect and guide us.
I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1-2
HE IS YOUR ANSWER. Mountains represent whatever is looming in your life—they are images of problems or difficulties. So whatever you are dealing with, look at it and ask yourself, “Where does my help come from?” It comes from the Lord! He is your answer. He is your help. He will never leave you or forsake you.
Lift up your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who leads forth their host by number, He calls them all by name; because of the greatness of His might and the strength of His power, not one of them is missing. Isaiah 40:26
1. LOOK AT THE STARS. When you look up at the clearest and brightest starry night, remember that God has named every single one of those stars. God told Abraham and Sarah, a senior childless couple, that He was going to create a nation through them as numerous as the stars in the sky. Abraham lifted up his eyes to a faithful God, and the Jewish nation was born out of that moment of obedience and faith.
But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return; and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High; for He Himself is kind to ungrateful and evil men. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:35-36
1. DRIVEN BY LOVE. God is interested in our growth. He wants us to be relatable, loving, genuine, and effective through the course of our lives. When Jesus was on earth, He gave us an example of how to walk out this life — not driven by the dictates of our flesh, but by the promptings of the Holy Spirit and the direction of God’s Word.
Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my rock and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14
1. WATCH YOUR WORDS. Life and death are in the power of the tongue (Proverbs 18:21). If we guard our mouths, we can actually guard our soul from trouble and worry (Proverbs 21:23). We will have to give account for every careless word we speak (Matthew 12:36-37). So, let’s carefully consider our words, and speak life instead of worry and fear.
For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. James 3:16-18
1. AVOID STRIFE. Strife is a weed and can quickly take over to become a lifestyle of resentment, jealousy, unforgiveness, and quarreling. But God is calling us to pull up any weeds of strife — forgiving quickly, resolving issues, walking in love, and stopping quarrels before they start (Proverbs 17:14).
A wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries. 1 Corinthians 16:9
1. THE IMPOSSIBLE IS POSSIBLE. Whenever you hear people say something is impossible, then you can celebrate, because God said all things are possible to those who believe (Mark 9:23). Let the Word of God push aside unbelief and fear, because God has called you to speak to the mountains and command them to be moved (Mark 11:23).
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts . . . “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways,” declares the Lord. “For as the heavens are higher than the earth so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:6-9
1. FORSAKE WRONG THINKING. Instead of thinking our own unrighteous thoughts, we are invited to actually think the thoughts of God—to trade our thoughts for His and actually view life the way God views it.
Make my joy complete by being of the same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose . . . Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus. Philippians 2:2-5
MAKE JESUS CENTRAL. The chief project of life is cultivating closeness with Jesus.
For a wide door for effective service has opened to me [Paul], and there are many adversaries. 1 Corinthians 16:9
1. WALK THROUGH THE OPEN DOOR. Opportunities are often disguised by obstacles. With every promise there will be inherent challenges and problems. Paul knew he was going to have challenges, but he kept forging ahead anyway. Instead of shrinking back or hesitating, we must seek God about what opportunity He has for us in the midst of difficulty.
Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to accomplish His work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.” John 4:34-35
GOD’S AMAZING PLAN. Jesus lived to do God’s will. There is nothing more fulfilling than to follow God’s plan for our lives. God has called us to be a culture of effective workers who do our work heartily to Him and have genuine impact in the lives of others around us.
Jesus was going through all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and every kind of sickness. Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Matthew 9:35-36
1. FOLLOW THE SHEPHERD. When Jesus saw the crowds, He wasn’t moved with disdain but with compassion. He went about “doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38). Because God has poured out His love in our hearts, we actually have a capacity for compassion. Like our Shepherd, we are made to be carriers of this type of love. Take time to listen to what God is saying to you: repent quickly and forgive quickly.
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. Ephesians 5:1-2
1. IT’S GOD’S LOVE. Walking in love is a process that involves sacrifice, commitment, and follow-through, but it doesn’t originate in our humanity. We are born with a tendency to act selfishly, but the moment we receive Jesus, God’s love is deposited within us and we can move into a new dimension of becoming considerate and valuing others.
The law of the Lord is perfect, restoring the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart. Psalm 19:7-8a
1. GOD’S WORD RESTORES THE SOUL. There is such a battle for our thinking, and what goes into our minds will come out. When the Word of God gets inside us, life flows out of us. When garbage gets in, garbage comes out. Weapons of mass distraction are vying for our attention and bombarding our minds and hearts. But as we constantly feed on the Word of God, we will be renewed and restored (Romans 12:2).
“Yield now and be at peace with Him; thereby good will come to you. Please receive instruction from His mouth and establish His words in your heart.” Job 22:21-22
1. YIELD. A yield sign is a beautiful thing–it tells us to look and acknowledge traffic and people around us. We yield and listen to the Holy Spirit, not to be reticent or fearful, but instead to become aware of what He is saying in order to move forward.
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and manifests through us the sweet aroma of the knowledge of Him in every place. 2 Corinthians 2:14
LIFE TRIUMPHS OVER DEATH. When Jesus died on the Cross, everything looked like a failure. But when He rose from the dead, it turned into victory over death and sin! Whatever you have been through, however you have messed up, Jesus wants to forgive your sins, give you a fresh start, and lead you in triumph.
Most of the crowd spread their coats in the road, and others were cutting branches from the trees and spreading them in the road. The crowds going ahead of Him [Jesus], and those who followed, were shouting, “Hosanna to the Son of David; Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; Hosanna in the highest!” Matthew 21:8-9
1. HONOR JESUS. Jesus is the Messiah and He fulfilled every prophecy about Himself, and some day soon Jesus is going to come back. In the meantime, we are to exalt and acknowledge Him. And just like the crowds cried out “Hosanna!” (“Save us!”) when Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey, we are also coming into a time when our city, our nation, and our world will be stirred to ask for God’s salvation.
Contact Us
Email: info@slfc.org
Phone: 636 · 532 · 3446
St. Louis Family Church
17458 Chesterfield Airport Road
Chesterfield, MO 63005
