When Jesus sang...

He was signing from Psalms 113-118. This is what Jews did following their celebration of the Passover meal.

Mark 14:26 says, "And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives"

These Hymns, or Psalms are primarily about one thing. They are about the Mercies of God. Can you imagine Jesus singing there with the disciples about Mercy.

What is mercy? It can be explained by comparing it with some other attributes or characteristics of God.

Justice is when we receive what we deserve.

Grace is when we get what we don't deserve.

Mercy is not getting what we deserve.

God is merciful and He has been merciful to us, and He will continue to be merciful to us forever and forever.

Jesus said, blessed are the merciful for they will obtain mercy. Matt 5.

May today be a day where we are reminded of God's mercy towards us, and may we extend that same mercy to others. In fact, may it be a day where we at some point can sing like Jesus did about the mercy of God.

Pastor Bob Grenier

Calvary Chapel Visalia

P.S Some applicational thoughts.

1. Being merciful to others is a sure way to receive mercy ourselves.

2. Showing mercy to others is what we would want shown to us.

3 God is pleased when we are merciful to others.

4. Being merciful is being Christ like.

5 We can pray for and receive God's mercy today in our lives.

Have you stumbled?

The apostle Peter sure did. Jesus told the apostles that they all would be made to stumble that night recorded for us in Mark 14:27. Peter's response was , "Even if all are made to stumble, yet I will not be" Mark 14:29

Jesus then told Peter he would wind up denying Him 3 times before morning came. Peter then responded with, "If I have to die with you, I will not deny You!"

The word stumble as it's used here means, to trip up and to offend. And, to desert one whom he ought to trust and obey.

Well, that's what happened to Peter, he stumbled.

But.........that's not the end of the story, and it's not the end of the story if you have in some way stumbled. Look what happened to Peter after his stumbling. ( It's a picture of grace, and of how the Lord helps His own who have stumbled, so take heart if you have stumbled, the Lord is not through with you yet.

Here is what Jesus did with the apostle Peter

Jesus continued to love Peter.

Jesus appeared to Peter after He rose from the dead.

Jesus breathed on Peter giving him the Holy Spirit

Jesus restored Peter to fellowship with Himself

Jesus filled Peter with the Holy Spirit

Jesus used Peter to preach the first message in the Book of Acts ( 3000 were saved )

Jesus continued to use Peter throughout the book of Acts.

Jesus used Peter to write two letters found in the New Testament today.

While we are not the apostle Peter, we are nonetheless treated in a very similar manner by the Lord Jesus ( when we stumble )

Jesus restores, Jesus forgives us, Jesus blesses, Jesus uses us, etc, etc, etc.

Lord, we want to say thank You for Your grace in our lives.

Pastor Bob Grenier

Senior Pastor

Calvary Chapel Visalia

P.S.....a few more applicational thoughts for those who have messed up ( sinned and stumbled )

1. Don't give up

2 Look up.

3. Receive God's forgiveness.

4. Believe God's promises. ( He can't lie )

5. Be patient, God's plans don't just happen overnight.

6. Thank God in advance, because He is faithful, He will pick you up and bless you.

Rejoice in hope .....

Ro 5:2* through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Romans 5 tells us of many of the blessings we have in Jesus Christ. Not only have we been justified, ( made just in His sight ) but we also have access into the grace of God, and we are actually standing firm in that grace.

But, please notice something else as stated in Rom 5:2. Not just access, not just standing, but also a rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.

Rejoice means to to glory in, or to glory on account of, to boast in. We can rejoice in the glory of God. That is, we have a future and a hope.

Jesus will come back for us one day, and we will be taken with Him to heaven. Our bodies will be glorified together with Him. He will also bring us back in our glorified bodies, and we will reign and rule with him on the earth for 1000 years in His Kingdom.

The entire earth will be filled with the glory of God.

What a future we have, what a hope we have. It's sure, it's stedfast, it's not going to change, there is nothing that can separate us from the Love of God which is in Christ Jesus, and no one can take us out of His hand.

We truly can look forward to the future. And the 1000 year reign is just the start. God will forever be revealing to us the riches of His grace in Christ Jesus. On and on it will go, with no end. Eternity with our Lord, grace, upon grace, upon grace.

Father, thank You for the living hope we have in Christ. And, today, would You please help us to have our hope in mind, and would You help us to really rejoice today in what You have in store for us. In Jesus name.

Pastor Bob Grenier.

Senior Pastor

CCVisalia.com

Practical applicational thoughts..

1. Rejoicing is for you if you are a born again Christian

2. The Holy Spirit gives us joy.

3. You can set your mind on the Lord, and think about the hope you have in Him.

4. Joy is a real blessing to our souls and to other people as well.

5. Joy can be found even when we are in difficult times.

6. Remember where you have come from, and where you are going.

7. The Lord has promised to finish the good work He has started in you.

Giving brings blessing to the giver.

Proverbs 22:9 He who has a bountiful eye will be blessed, For he gives of his bread to the poor.

For the person who has a bountiful eye, or who is a generous giver, there is a promise. It's the promise of being blessed. The scripture goes on to say, "for he gives of his bread to the poor"

God has built into life this principle, that it is more blessed to give then it is to receive.

Ac 20:35* “I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Someone else has said, "You can never out-give the Lord"

What are the blessings of being a giver?

1. A personal joy in your own heart.

2. A renewed perspective on the use of our funds and material possessions.

3. A realization that others have needs that we may have once had.

4. A sense that the Lord is pleased with our giving.

5. A real act that is in keeping with how the Lord acted when on earth.

6. A knowledge that treasures are being stored up in heaven.

7. A desire to do more of the same. Be a consistent giver.

I'm sure you could add to the above list.

May God bless us today, and in the days ahead to take His Word to heart, and be generous givers.

Pastor Bob Grenier

Calvary Chapel Visalia

3 things we can find today............

Proverbs 21:21 says, "He who follows righteousness and mercy Finds life, righteousness and honor.

The fact is stated here, that He who follows these 2 things, righteousness and mercy....will find 3 things. To follow, is to pursue, to chase, to be behind, to run after, and to attend closely upon. And, can mean to aim eagerly to secure.

In other words, we can aim diligently today, to run after 2 things, ( and the result will be, we will find 3 things in our lives )

To pursue righteousness, is to pursue what is right and just. To follow after what is ethically right. And, of course to pursue mercy, is to follow after kindness, and goodness.

If we are following righteousness and mercy, then we are promised to find, life, righteousness and honor. We will find ourselves with spiritual prosperity, going in the right way, and enjoying honor.

God has built into our lives certain laws, that we may not be able to explain, or even understand, ( like gravity, electricity etc, ) but we experience them everyday. They work.

So do these laws of life.

Lord, Today, would You help us to pursue these things in our lives, and we want to thank You in advance for what You will bring into our lives.

Thank You for giving us the best way to live down here, while we wait for you to come from heaven. We love You. In Jesus name, amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier

Calvary Chapel Visalia

P.S........a few applicational thoughts.

Deciding what to do, is up to us.

Believing in God, and His Word is possible through faith.

God never lies, and He blesses those who follow His Word.

Let's forget what's behind, and look unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.

If we pursue God's ways, we will find God's ways more and more in our lives.

FINALLY...........

Jesus is all of the things listed above.........He is Righteousness, He is mercy.........so, to follow Jesus is to follow those things............

What can separate good friends?

Proverbs 17:9 He who covers a transgression seeks love, But he who repeats a matter separates friends.

We looked at this verse on Wed, in our through the Bible Study.

It talks about 2 kinds of people, or 2 kinds of actions, with 2 kinds of results. It speaks of love and it speaks of separation. It speaks of transgression, and it speaks of what might be done with that transgression, that is to cover it.

The wisdom of God here, tells us that the person who covers a transgression, is seeking love. To cover, means to hid, to conceal, to clothe, to spread over. Transgression, means sin, or rebellion, either against God or against people.

So, if someone sins, we don't have to go and tell anyone about it, but, we can cover it, we can conceal it, we can keep it to ourselves. And by doing so, we are seeking love. Being loving towards someone in their transgression, is exactly how the Lord is towards us. He seeks to bring His love into our lives when we have sinned. He does everything He can to cover it, to forgive it etc, etc.

On the other hand, if a person becomes aware of someone else's sin, and they repeat it, or "do it again" that is to tell it to someone else, can wind up separating the best of friends.

The meaning could also be, that if you sin, and your friend is gracious towards you, and seeks to cover your sin in love, but you continually take advantage of their graciousness, that you could lose that friendship. That's one way to separate the best of friends, by taking advantage of their love.

But, surely, the other meaning is something we see all the time in life, that someones sin gets spread around by word of mouth, and it gets back to someone, and a friendship is lost. Good friends are separated.

Lord, help us to be like You are towards sin, and towards sinners. Help us to be towards others the way that You are towards us. Full of Grace, Full of Mercy, and Full of Forgiving Love. May we make friends and not separate friends.

In Jesus name ....amen

Bob Grenier

Senior Pastor Calvary Chapel Visalia

P.S.......some practical applicational thoughts.

God has plenty of love to give us to give to others.

Others need the love of God just as much as we do.

Friends are a blessing, let's bless them, and help them be better friends.

Covering someone's transgression, can be done by just bringing it to the Lord and asking for His help.

Let's leave others transgression with the Lord, He will take care of it, and of them.

Where can you run to be safe?

Proverbs 18:10* ¶ The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe.

So, what the Lord tells us in this verse, is that "the name of the LORD is a strong tower" and, that "the righteous run to it and are safe".

When the Proverbs were written, most cities had a wall around them, and that wall included at various points a tower. Those inside the city, would run up into those towers during times of attack, because, the tower gave them a place of safety against their enemies. The mere height of the tower was helpful, it made it all the more difficult for the enemy to shoot arrows higher then normal, and to throw spears that high also. The height gave the advantage, and thus protection, they were safe.

When the Bible says the "Name" it means the Lord Himself. And, here we are told that the Lord is a strong tower. Not just a tower, but a strong tower.

The Lord is strong, or powerful, mighty....He is in Himself these things, and He is all of these things for us. In fact, the Bible teaches us to find our strength in Him, to be made strong by Him, to trust in Him, not ourselves. So, the Lord is strong, and He becomes our strength.

We can run to Him and be safe. Running is different from walking. When you run, you are making a specific effort to go somewhere in a faster fashion then normal. in this case, the word run can be translated, guard, speedily, run swiftly, to dart....to hurry, and to move quickly.

And, once we run to the Lord, ( who is our strong tower ) we are then safe, or, inaccessibly high, we are too high for capture, we are safely set on high, we are secure.

By the way, not only is it a place of safety, but it makes you more effective in the battle against the enemy.

Some practical applicational thoughts.......

God simply is our tower.

God invites us to come to Him.

God will protect you.

God will receive you today.

God will give you strength.

God will give you safety.

You can run to Him today.

You don't have to go it alone.

You are righteous in His sight ( In Christ )

You will find Him always there night and day.

Thank You Lord for what You are to us. We do go through times of battle, and what a comfort it is to have a place to go for safety in the battle. Thank You for always accepting us, and never abandoning us. Give us strength today, in the name of Jesus Christ . Amen.

Pastor Bob Grenier

Senior Pastor

Calvary Chapel Visalia