June 29, 2026 – Together
Grandfather and grandson.
Prevail #180 – Lamentations 3:22-23 – “The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.” The love and faithfulness of a grandparent can help us understand God’s blessings and mercies. Larson reminds us that, “Our sin would consume us…. Our enemy would devour us…. Our troubles would swallow us whole if not for the mercies of God. Jeremiah looked at a nation and people in ruins – a consequence of their blatant sin and disregard for God. He was tempted to be overrun by the destruction before him. But then he called to mind the mercies of God…. And do you know what rose up within him? Hope. Because God’s heart beats so compassionately for us, our trials will not have the last say in our lives.”
Days – “He dwelleth with you and shall be in you” (John xiv. 17). Chambers makes an important distinction, “Do not fail to mark these two states in Christian life. The one is the Spirit’s work in us, the other is the Spirit’s personal coming to abide within us. All true Christians know the first, but few, it is to be feared, understand and receive the second. There is a great difference between my building a house and my going to reside in that house and make it my home. And there is a great difference between the Holy Spirit’s work in regenerating a soul – the building of a house, and His coming to reside, abide, and control in our innermost spirit and our whole life and being. Have we received Him Himself not as our Guest, but as the Owner, Proprietor, and Keeper of the temple He has built to be ‘an habitation of God through the Spirit’?”
JC – “As you get out of bed in the morning, be aware of My Presence with you. You may not be thinking clearly yet, but I am…. Invite Me into your thoughts by whispering My Name. Suddenly your day brightens and feels more user-friendly…. You gain confidence through knowing that I am with you – that you face nothing alone. Anxiety stems from asking the wrong question: ‘If such and such happens, can I handle ?’ The true question is not whether you can cope with whatever happens, but whether you and I together can handle anything that occurs.” See Psalm 5:3, Psalm 63:1, and Philippians 4:13.
Power – Ephesians 3:19 – “[That you may really come] to know [practically, through experience for yourselves] the love of Christ, which far surpasses mere knowledge [without experience]; that you may be filled [through all your being] unto all the fullness of God [may have the richest measure of the divine Presence, and become a body wholly filled and flood with God Himself]!” Joyce explains, “According to this Scripture, we are supposed to be full of God! We should get ourselves off our minds…. We can do this by thinking about Him, talking about Him, and letting our actions glorify Him.”
Streams – Numbers 13:33 KJV – “There we saw the giants.” Cowman had almost three pages of thoughts to share today (in part “from a tract”), but this is what I felt drawn to, “Yes, the Israeli spies saw giants, but Joshua and Caleb saw God!” Looking back at the 10 who doubted, we tend to judge their lack of vision and bravery, but think about some of the wars and skirmishes we have heard about throughout our lives and the ones going on currently. There are plenty of folks in the military, political, and even personal arenas who often press the pause button on actions that are being considered.
Cowman continues, “Giants represent great difficulties, and they stalk us everywhere. They are in our families, our churches, our social life, and even our own hearts. We must overcome them or they will devour us…. We should exhibit faith as did Joshua and Caleb…. In effect, they told the others, ‘We will be stronger by overcoming them than if there had been no giants to defeat.’ In fact, unless we have overcoming faith, we will be swallowed up – consumed by the giants who block our path…. We encounter giants only when we are serving God and following Him. It was when Israel was going forward that the giants, appeared, for when they turned back into the wilderness, they found none.”
Utmost – Matthew 5:30 – “And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one thy members perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” Chambers explains more about serving and suffering, “Jesus did not say that everyone must cut off the right hand, but – ‘If your right hand offends you in your walk with Me, cut it off’…. When God alters a man by regeneration, the characteristic of the life to begin with is that it is maimed…. There never has been a saint yet who did not have to live a maimed life to start with. But it is better to enter into life maimed and lovely in God’s sight than to be lovely in man’s sight and lame in God’s.”
JL – “Triumphant God, Your Word poses the rhetorical question: ‘If God is for us, who can be against us?’ I trust that You are indeed for me since I am Your follower. I realize this verse does not mean that no one will ever oppose me…. No matter how much adversity I encounter on my journey to heaven, nothing can ultimately prevail against me! …You are teaching me not only to seek Your Face and follow Your lead but to enjoy this adventure of abandoning myself to You…. In Your magnificent Name, Jesus, Amen.” See Romans 8:31, Psalm 27:8, and Psalm 46:1.
