Month: January 2025

Lovingkindness

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night His song shall be with me.” Psalm 42:8

Through the years I’ve heard story after story of persons who would describe God having commanded His lovingkindness on their life. Some described it as a miracle resulting from an earnest prayer. Others as the result of prayers they had prayed years before. Still others felt it came out of the blue until they later realized that an aunt, or wife, or grandfather, or neighbor had been passionately praying for them and they did not even know it. In each instance,

The Key Is Prayer. 

Throughout my youth, my will was no match for the prayers of my mother and grandmother. Although living in separate states and time zones, their prayers went out with the same faith that today’s Psalm 42 talks about. That the Lord would Command (with a capital “C”) His lovingkindness upon me. Together they laid my life on the alter of God’s love and trusted with every fiber of their being that the Lord would grab hold of my life. As a result I’ve learned first hand that there is nothing more powerful we can do in life than pray to God. If you are ready to have God command His lovingkindness upon your life, or the life of a loved one, the recipe is simple – it begins and ends with prayer.

Arise!

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“Jesus said to him, Arise, take up your bed and walk” John 5:8

From the preceding verses in John 5 we know there was a man, among many disabled people sitting by a pool called Bethesda in Jerusalem, who had an infirmity for 38 years. All would gather at the pool because an Angel of the Lord would regularly stir the waters and these who went in would be healed. As Jesus himself comes to the pool he sees this man and says to him, “Do you want to be made well?” The man simply responds, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming another steps in before me.” Jesus responds by saying, 

Take Up Your Bed And Walk!

Every time I read this story I’m reminded that it’s all about Christ, and not about us and our doubts. When asked a question if he wanted to be healed the man made an excuse. He didn’t say yes, he didn’t jump at the chance offered to him. Thirty eight years of disappointment had turned all thoughts negative. In his mind he wasn’t strong enough, or quick enough to make anything happen. None of this mattered to Christ. Jesus simply said “arise” and everything changed. Today you may be shouldering a mountain of self doubt. In your mind you are believing the lie that you are not good enough or strong enough for whatever you are facing. Today its time for you to take your eyes off your circumstances and place them where they belong, on Jesus. He’s softly saying to you today, Arise! For in Him all things are possible! 

Seeking…

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“For thus says the Lord…“And you will seek me and find me, when you search for Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:13

Many consider God a mystery. I hear things like, how do I know God’s will for my life? How do I know He is listening when I pray to Him? I’ve been there, but at one point during a dark period of my life so far away from God I remembered a single bible verse where God makes a promise. He said, “If with all your heart you seek Me,

You Will Find Me”

So I looked, and I found Him literally right in front of me. I simply said with all my heart, “God, I believe in you,” and suddenly He took it from there. Instantly I knew He was real. And contrary to popular belief, God is not passive. He neither slumbers nor sleeps. In fact, the greatest lie that you can ever tell yourself is that God is apathetic, disinterested or disengaged from you and your life. Nothing could be further from the truth. So don’t be shy or feel awkward. Just remember God’s promise, “if with all your heart you seek Me, you will find Me!”

 

Success in Progress

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“Master, we have toiled all night and caught nothing; nevertheless at Your word I will let down the net.” Luke 5:5

Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Believe you can and you’re half way there.” Einstein said, “Failure is success in progress.” Nelson Mandela said, “It always seems impossible until it’s done”. Life is seemingly filled with failure. And yet, in Luke 5, Jesus tells his disciples to

Try Again.

Simon’s response to Jesus was much like ours seems to be most of the time. “I tried that and failed.” And yet, Simon was also wise enough to take Jesus’ advice and try again anyway. What followed was a catch large enough to swamp their boat! Are you willing to look past yesterday’s failures and try again? Failure is only final if you give in to the negative thoughts flooding your mind that it will always be for you as it has been in the past. Jesus is saying to you today, “let down your nets for a catch!” 

Purpose Driven

/ James Penner / Leave a comment
“Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.” Hebrews 12:1

Albert Einstein once said, “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving.” Don’t give up, God has a purpose for you. Don’t believe me? Pick up a bible and start reading the book of Philippians. You’ll soon discover that you are more than a conqueror through Christ who loves you. That you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Even Jesus said in the book of Matthew that YOU ARE the light of the world and that YOU ARE the salt of the earth! Anyone seeing a pattern here? God is saying to you today,

Keep moving forward! 

Amazing things lay in store for you just around the next bend.

Clarity of Mind

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established.” Proverbs 16:3

Seeking wisdom is common theme in the Bible. Colossians 4 says, “Be wise in the way you act.” James 1 says, “If any of you lack wisdom you should ask God”. In Matthew 7 Jesus said, “The wise man built his house upon a rock.” When God said to Solomon,“Ask! What shall I give to you?” Solomon’s answer in 1 Kings 3:9 was, “Give to your servant an understanding heart to judge your people, that I may discern between good and evil.” The world was laid at his doorstep and yet Solomon chooses to ask for Wisdom. Of the many things we can pray for in life,

Pray For Wisdom.

And in his wisdom Solomon said, “Commit your works to the Lord and your thoughts will be established.” An amazing thing happens when we strive to live a life pleasing to God: Clarity of mind. I can’t explain it other than through my own life experience. Try it for yourself. Commit whatever it is that you do to the Lord, and then witness the results. Wisdom will come to you.   

Abundance

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“Let the peoples praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Then the earth shall yield her increase.” Psalm 67:5

Something amazing happens when we give our praise God. We received blessings. Blessings that will literally overflow your life. Psalm 67 is one example of this promise, but there are many many more. One of my favorites is from 2 Chronicles 7 where God says, “if my people who are called by My name will humble themselves and pray, and seek my face, I will forgive their sins and heal their land”. So if you are tired of fear and anxiety and circumstances pulling you in all different directions, always remember that

Praise Breaks Barriers!

I vividly remember my father going through the painful time of closing his business, yet I saw him in the choir loft every Sunday singing with a smile. I remember my grandmother slowly losing her husband to Alzheimer’s yet she would sing to the Lord from a heart of love. Today when life throws me curve balls, I swat them away by praising Jesus, saying, “Jesus, I trust you!” Be thankful in all situations. “Let all the peoples praise You,” the Psalmist says. “Then the earth shall yield her increase.” 

Safe Passage

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“When you pass through the waters, I (God) will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” Isaiah 43:2

Feel like you don’t have all the answers? Feel inadequate? Feel like life is passing you by, or powerless in your circumstances. It’s time to relax,

God Is In Control.

There is nothing we face that is too difficult for God to deal with. There is no circumstance that you are going through that He cannot deliver in just the perfect way. The question is, have you handed your life over to this great and mighty and powerful and merciful God who owns and rules the heavens and the earth? If you haven’t, simply start today. If you have, stop worrying and trust in His care!        

Goodness & Mercy

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life…” Psalm 23:6

“Surely” is an unambiguous and definitive word beholding a promise of goodness and mercy that trusting in God brings to us. God’s promises are very real, and

God’s Mercies Are Never Ending.

Contrary to what your life circumstances may lead you to believe, they are available to all who simply put their trust in Him. Look up.

Provision

/ James Penner / Leave a comment

“For the Lord your God has blessed you in all the work of your hands. He knows your trudging through this great wilderness. These forty years the Lord your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.” Deuteronomy 2:7

The children of Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, yet they never lacked water and they never lacked food.

God Provided, Every Day!

God is still in the provision business, for Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:25, “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing. Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you of not of more value than they?” God has no limitations and no lack of resources. Combine that with the fact that He loves you and cares about your needs and you have very little reason to worry, and a powerful reason to reach out to Him in prayer!