"Hope through Scripture, for those facing temptation"

Four positives about temptation.  

1. Because Jesus was a human being ( as well as God ) He is able to understand what you are going through when it comes to temptation. 
2. Ultimately, You will be blessed as you go through the temptation. 
3. We are promised that you can endure temptation. 
4. One day, You will be rewarded because of the temptations that you have gone through while down here on earth. 

A prayer for those going through a time of temptation

Father, we would first of all like to thank You, that You not only sent Jesus to die for our sins and thereby provide forgiveness of our sins, and salvation for anyone who will turn to Him, and believe in Him, and receive Him, but, You have also provided a Savior, who understands what it is to be tempted, and can help us when we are being tempted. Thank You for that Lord.

Also, as with everything You allow in our lives, You wind up bringing a blessing into our lives as we abide in You. So, even through temptation, there comes blessing. And, not only that, but we thank You, for the promise that we can endure temptation. You are greater then we are, You are greater then sin, and You have given us faith in the greatest of all persons, Yourself. You are able to cause us to endure. Thank You Lord.

Finally, Lord, this world and life, which is so full of temptations, is not all there is. There is a hereafter. And in the hereafter, we thank You for the sure promise of rewards. We are not sure what the crown of life is, but we know it will be good, and eternally a blessing from You. We love You, and we look forward to being with you when we leave this world, and we thank You in advance for the "Crown of Life" which you have promised to us. 

In Jesus name. 

Pastor Bob Grenier.

“HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE FOR HURTING MARRIAGES"

“HOPE THROUGH SCRIPTURE FOR HURTING MARRIAGES"

Genesis 2:18 "And the LORD God said, “It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him.”

Proverbs 18:22 "He who finds a wife finds a good thing, And obtains favor from the LORD."

Matt 7:24* “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock:

Matt 7: 25 “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.

Matt7:26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand:

Matt 7: 27 “and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall.”

A thought:

We all have storms that come into our lives, there is no question about that. You may have a storm that is blown into your marriage at this time. Jesus taught about how we survive storms. It's by being wise, and taking His Word to heart, and acting upon it. If we do, then, our house, i.e our life, our marriage will stand, because it is built on the rock of Jesus Christ, and His Word. Lord, it's our prayer today, that we are thankful for the spouse You have given to us, and that we are not alone. As men, we would say thank You for giving us our wives, You have given us favor. And, as couples, we would say,

A prayer:

Father, we humble ourselves today, before You, and acknowledge that we cannot live any part of this life alone, and apart from You, we need You. We especially need You in our marriages. Give us grace today, as we humbly admit our need for You, and take control of our lives, and let us walk in obedience to You this day. Help us to show love to our mates, and to serve them in sincere love. In Jesus Name. Amen.

"For those suffering according to the will of God"

"So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good. 1st Peter 4:19 NIV

There are two things that Peter says to those who are suffering according to the will of God. First of all, they are to commit their souls to Him. The fact is that God does allow suffering, and we are to place our souls in God's charge during that time of need. The word "commit" means just that. Let God be in charge of you, let Him have full control of your life, surrender to Him. And, just like you would deposit something in the bank for safekeeping, so you can deposit your soul to Him.

Second, we are to do good in the midst of our suffering. It's very easy to want to fight back, especially when someone is treating you unfairly or bringing trouble into your life when you don't deserve it. But remember that God wants us to keep doing what is right and what is good even when we are mistreated.

Last, notice what's said about God in this verse. He is a faithful Creator. That means He is dependable and trustworthy. You can count on Him today in the midst of your suffering.

May God make His face shine upon you, especially if you are suffering and in need of His loving grace. He has as much as You need. And, He loves You more then You know.

"HOPE FOR THOSE WHO HAVE LOST LOVED ONES"

Sharing Hope through Scripture 

Job 1:21 He said, "I came naked from my mother's womb, and will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD" NLT

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you says " says the Lord. "They are plans for good and not disaster, to give you a future and a hope" NLT

Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever" NLT

"One Reason To Believe God"

There are many reasons to believe God, that is, to believe what He has told us in His precious Word, the Holy Bible.

Here is just one of them.

It's impossible for God to lie. He cannot tell a lie.

Titus 1:2 says, "In hope of eternal life, which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began"

What God is not lying about is hope and eternal life. Rather, He is telling us the truth about it, because He cannot tell a lie.

And, this hope of  eternal life which He has promised, is something He promised even before time began.

So, He was not lying then, He is not lying now, He will never lie in the future, and that's no lie. It's the truth.

I'm personally, very, very comforted in this truth about God, because it means that everything He says to me is absolutely true.

There is not even the slightest chance of it not being true.

I can rest in completely what He says, I can trust in Him without any reservation.

P.S to tell a lie, means to intentionally tell a falsehood.

By the way, the Devil can't tell the truth at all, all he does is lie.

Joh 8:44* “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it.

Pastor Bob Grenier

Why does God allow trouble?

Well, this of course, is one of the questions that people ask especially during times of great difficulty and trouble in their lives. 

In this passage, Paul does not ask the question, but he does explain in great detail what happened to him when he was in a very difficult situation, and his explanation is very helpful to us in our own times of trouble.

Please notice what Paul says in 2nd Cor 2:8 "For we do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, of our trouble which came to us in Asia: That we were burdened beyond measure, above strength, so that we despaired even of life"

In the Amplified version of the Bible, it says, "we were so utterly and unbearably weighed down and crushed that we despaired even of life" 2nd Cor 2:8, 

Going on, Paul says in verse 9, Paul says, Indeed, we felt within ourselves that we had received the very sentence of death"

By the way, Paul does not give us the specifics of the trouble which came to them, but we know itwas while they were in Asia, that is on one of his missionary journeys recorded for us in the Book of Acts. 

Now, here 2nd Cor 1, is Paul's answer to why the Lord had allowed this trouble to come into their lives. It's in the last part of verse 9. And, again, from the Amplified version, it reads, 

"But that was to keep us from trusting in and depending on ourselves instead of God Who raises the dead. 

So, Paul had come to understand that God's purpose in all of this trouble, was to help Paul and his ministry companions not to trust in themselves, but in God. 

Sound familiar? Of course. The Bible is chock full of stories and teaching for us to trust in God and not ourselves. But, what sometimes happens to us, is that we do trust in ourselves , and it takes the loving hand of our Great God to remove those things which we are trusting in, and then, when we have nothing to trust in, we can once again place our trust back in Him. 

So, you may be going through some very painful troubles in your life at this time. Perhaps it's an illness, or it's a financial matter, or maybe it's work related, or it has to do with a relationship with others, or something in your extended family, and or the family of God in your church body. 

Which ever it is, there is perhaps some comfort and consolation and explanation for you in today's little devotional. I pray so. 

May God's great grace be upon you today in abundance. 

Many blessings to you. 


Bob Grenier

"Two things God does for His people"

See Hosea 14:4

"I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely"

God's people, the children of Israel had backslidden. That is, they had gone away from God, and had given themselves over to idolatry. The had cast the Word of God behind them, and would not listen to the prophets that God sent to them, and consistently rebelled against God. They intentionally, over and over again, refused to listen to God. And, as a result they came under the judgement of God by the Assyrians. 

But, look at what He said He would do for them. "I will heal their 

backsliding " God is the great healer, not only of bodies, but more importantly of hearts. He heals hearts and He forgives sin. 

But, there is one other thing mentioned in this verse, as to what God does. "I will love them freely" The word freely here, has the idea of voluntarily. It's something God wants to do. We don't have to earn, nor can we purchase His love. He will love us freely. 

Thank You Lord for the things You do. There are so many more then what we have mentioned here. But, these two are so significant. We love You, and thank You, in Jesus name. 

Blessings to you.

Pastor Bob Grenier