Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 55:7a
Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts.
(Who are the wicked? Any of us who veer away, whether by action or thought,
from God's holy way or God's holy purposes.
When we do fall into, step into, or are thrown into evil ways, as we repent,
our merciful and forgiving God wraps us in His mercy and forgiveness,
in His provision and purpose, and restores our relationship with Him.
We are always in need of surrendering our ways and embracing the ways of God.
We always need to turn away from our own selfish desires
and our own stubborn ways and turn to the Lord.
We need to examine our will and recognize
that we often attribute our own will as being God's will.
Rather, as we renounce and relinquish actions and thoughts
that even hint at being disobedient to the Lord's way,
we can turn aside from those places in our lives
that are displeasing to the Lord.
As we repent and call on Him for forgiveness,
He is always, always ready to forgive when we ask Him.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!
Sally
513 254 3874

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 55:6
Seek the Lord while He may be found;
(And the Lord may be found right now.
He encourages us to seek Him for He has promised He will be easy to find.
He yearns to be found by us, for us to seek Him.
When we sense the Lord nudging us, prompting us,
when we sense that still, small Voice calling us,
as we heed those calls, the Lord is seeking us, urging us to find Him
so that He can reveal Himself today in new ways to us,

so that He can show Himself strong on our behalf,

so that He can impact the places of need in our lives today.)

call on Him while He is near.
(And He is always near, always close by,
The great good news is that He can be found nearby,
always close enough to listen, to provide, to heal, to save.
The awful implication is that He may not always be so.
Our imperative today, our generous and loving invitation today,
our persistent call today, is to call on the Lord
for He hears the cries of His people
and those in need of Him and His intervention.

When we sense that still, small Voice inside our heart and head

and wonder if that is really God speaking to us....it is!

We need to respond to Him when He calls,

for He is always ready to listen, to provide, to heal, and to save.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!

Sally
513 254 3874

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 55:5
"Surely You will summon nations You know not,
and nations You do not know will come running to You,
because of the Lord Your God, the Holy One of Israel,
(The Lord God will establish His Own Son,
not only as Israel's Messiah and the King over Israel,
but also over nations that do not presently acknowledge Him as Lord.
As He calls to Himself the Gentile nations
that exist and extend beyond His people Israel,
these same nations will not only be open to His call,
but will also eagerly run to His promise of love and salvation.
In a more individual and personal application,
the Lord has set Himself Lord of our lives,
adopting us into His chosen family,
and He also opens His arms to us who run to Him in our need
and who know that He is our only answer.
Even as He invites us who have never known Him
as Savior and Lord to come to Him,
He also calls us who do know Him to open to Him the places of need
where we have never yet experienced the Lord's salvation and deliverance.
He summons us to release those places to Him today.)
for He has endowed You with splendor."
(God has conferred splendor and majesty and honor
on Christ His Son, the One Whom He has designated Savior.
In Him He is well pleased.
Since we are the begotten of the Lord,
since we have received Christ's mercies of salvation and redemption,
God looks on us with His favor, as well,
and confers on us the reflected splendor and honor
of His Own Son's dazzling righteousness.
In us today, the Lord is well pleased.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!
Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Psalm 100
Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before Him with joyful songs.
Know that the Lord is God.
It is He Who made us, and not we ourselves;
we are His people, the sheep of His pasture.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise;
give thanks to Him and praise His Name.
For the Lord is good and His love endures forever;
His faithfulness continues through all generations.
(What a mighty God we serve! This mighty God of Creation,
the omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent,
unstoppable, unchangeable, awesome Lord God Almighty,
having created us and given us life,
invites us to share in the bounty of His provision,
invites us into His courts of praise, invites us into His Own family
as adopted and beloved sons and daughters
to join in with the angel throngs to worship Him.
In this time of Thanks-Giving, may we offer praise and honor to Him
Whose Name is above every name and Who has made us His very Own!)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!
Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Psalm 103:1-5
Praise the LORD, O my soul;
all my inmost being, praise His holy Name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits—
(On this day of Thanks-Giving, Lord,
help us to focus on Your many, rich, and boundless blessings!)
Who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
(We honor You for Your blessings of forgiveness, salvation,
and freedom from the bondage of sin.
We praise You for Your gift of healing and restoration and wholeness.)
Who redeems your life from the pit
(We give You praise for Your blessings of redemption and deliverance from
and protection and provision through the dangerous and broken places.)
and crowns you with love and compassion,
(We honor You for Your great blessings of love, mercy, grace,
the crown of life that You give us as Your great reward,
and the rich inheritance You grant us in Christ.)
Who satisfies your desires with good things
(We thank You for Your blessings of contentment and satisfaction,
for molding our hearts so that You can give us the desires of our hearts.)
so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
(We praise You for Your blessings of strength and renewal in You,
for stamina, energy, endurance, and resilience even in our later years!
You, Lord, richly supply all our needs and wants!
Thank You, Lord, for your mercies that You give us anew each morning!)

May the Lord richly bless you this day! Have a joyous and Happy Thanksgiving!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!
Sally
513 254 3874

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Psalm 66:1-12
Shout with joy to God, all the earth!
Sing the glory of His Name; make His praise glorious!
(Like David who praised the Lord with all his might,
as we give praise to the Lord this Thanks-Giving season,
our praise rises to Him and becomes a powerful song to the Lord.)
Say to God, "How awesome are Your deeds!
So great is Your power that Your enemies cringe before You.
(Not only do the spiritual forces of darkness in the heavenlies,
vanquished and conquered, cower before Him, the only God,
but because God is our God, those same enemies
that manifest themselves to us in the form of fear, anger,
lack of forgiveness, hopelessness, worry, financial issues,
and health and relationship problems, also bow in defeat before Him.)
All the earth bows down to You; they sing praise to You,
they sing praise to Your Name. Come and see what God has done,
how awesome His works in man's behalf!
(We give God thanks and praise specifically and with certainty
for His mighty and powerful work of salvation and redemption
and provision and victory in our daily lives.
He is always, always at work in our lives.)
He turned the sea into dry land, they passed through the waters on foot—
come, let us rejoice in Him.
(Still today, as the stormy waters in our lives
block the way forward and threaten to overwhelm us,
the Lord provides dry land and deliverance through the storm.
As we call out to Him and ask Him to turn back the waves,
He makes dry land for us to cross over today.)
He rules forever by His power, His eyes watch the nations. . . .
Praise our God, O peoples, let the sound of His praise be heard;
He has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping.
(In all ways, in all situations, God's provision is abundant and complete.
Not only is His sovereign power supreme over the nations,
but His purposes also prevail in our own individual lives.)
For You, O God, tested us; You refined us like silver.
You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs.
You let men ride over our heads; we went through fire and water,
(Just as the refining process turns the silver into a molten mass,
causing all the impurities to rise to the surface to be skimmed off and removed,
so, too, the Lord as our Refiner allows situations in our lives
to reveal what separates us from faith and obedience to Him.
At those times when the Lord has allowed
pressing challenges and profound pain into our lives,
He uses those very issues and situations
to refine us and grow us and discipline us, to mature us,
and to deepen our walk with Him and to reveal His mighty power to us.)
but You brought us to a place of abundance.
(Just as surely as troubles come, He will see us through the valley
and bring us into His victory, into His abundant life of healing and wholeness!)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!
Sally
513 254 3874

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Ephesians 1:3
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
(As we approach this season of Thanks-Giving, Lord,
help us be mindful of the deep gratitude that is due You.
We praise You Father God and joyfully lift our voices to speak aloud
our worship and adoration to You Who have mercifully provided salvation
and graciously adopted us as Your very Own through Your Son.)
Who has blessed us in the heavenly realms
with every spiritual blessing in Christ!
(Through our relationship with Your Son,
You have extended to us today every blessing
that is available in Your Kingdom, both on earth and in the heavenly realm!
You have made us Your honored beneficiaries
of all that You have to offer us from Your endless riches in glory
through Your greatest blessing of Jesus' salvation and atonement for us!)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!
Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Psalm 92:1-5
It is good to praise the LORD
and make music to Your Name, O Most High,
(As we reflect on our many blessings,
we have the high privilege during this Thanks-Giving season
to give praise to the One Who is worthy of all praise
and Who is the very Source of all our blessings--
not because He needs our praise, but because our act of praise lifts us,
focuses us on truths about The Most High
that reveal to us our absolute and fundamental need of Him.)
to proclaim Your love in the morning and Your faithfulness at night. . . .
(We are blessed with His love to guide us through each day
and with His faithfulness to protect us through the dark of night.

Whether in good times or difficult challenges,

we are surrounded in His love and faithfulness.)

For You make me glad by Your deeds, O LORD;
(His extraordinary deeds of provision, of salvation,
of redemption in our lives, redemption of even the blackest situations
and the most desperate challenges, give us hope
and pour over us all the blessings of the riches of His glory.)
I sing for joy at the works of Your Hands.
How great are Your works, O LORD.
(The mighty works of the Lord abound around us
as we see the beauty and magnificence of His creation.
His works also show forth in us
through His rich and glorious blessings of salvation,
salvation that is revealed in all the areas of need in our lives.
We as His Own sons and daughters are also the mighty work of His Hands,
and He invites us to walk out His remarkable purposes in our lives today!)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!
Sally
513 254 3874

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 55:3-4
Give ear and come to Me; listen, that you may live.

(The Lord tells us to listen to Him and His message,
not just because He, God Almighty, is speaking
--although that is reason enough--
but because doing so benefits us, more than benefits us,
actually provides the words of life to us.
In Him, in His message to us, is the very fabric of life itself.)

I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
My faithful love promised to David.

(God's eternal and unchanging covenant with us
is based in the same one He made first with His servant David,
a metaphorical picture of His later Messiah,

a covenant in which He has declared and vowed to be our God,

to provide His people forever with a godly King,

to provide the salvation and redemption that He knows we need,

to establish us in the Promised Land of His provision and rest,
and to call us His inheritance and His friends.)
See, I have made him a witness to the peoples,
a ruler and commander of the peoples.

(The Lord has given us a real-life picture through David
of His great and endless love and saving power to a servant of His.
The Lord also shows us through David a picture of His future Messiah
Whom He will set over His people to rule in integrity and victory.
Today, in Christ, we are the recipients of the Lord's covenant with us
and His complete spiritual and physical provision for us.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!
Sally
513 254 3874

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 55:1a-2
"Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.
(The Lord Himself beckons and summons us, even the very poorest of us,
even those of us who have walked our lives into complete destruction,
even those who have been stricken by the world's weapons,
even those of us who are poor in spirit and hope,
even us, He invites to come to His banquet table
and to buy the choicest goods He lays before us.
In our need and poverty of spirit,
although we have nothing we can exchange for them,
He invites us to buy all His choicest courses.
He gives us His love and grace as our purchasing power at His feast!)
Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?

(We try to make our own time and energy and strength
the currency to exchange for the goods the Lord offers.
But the Lord pleads with us to turn away from our persistent search
for meaning, for worth, for value, through our own performance,
through our own efforts, through our own attempts to be in control.)

Listen, listen to Me, and eat what is good,
and you will delight in the richest of fare."

(His promise to us is that when we yield to His Voice,
when we follow His ways, He gives us all that we need,
and what He gives us is rich in goodness and blessing.

He sets a great feast before us of His salvation,
His healing, victory, hope, peace, comfort, wisdom, and courage.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!
Sally
513 254 3874

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 55:1a 
""Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;
(The Lord is calling us, beckoning us, summoning us.
He knows the need, the thirst in our life,
the parched, dry yearning for salvation and redemption from the cares of our life.
He invites us to His refreshing rivers of plenty, of provision and support.
He invites us to drink long and deep from His river
of mercy and provision and grace and love.
His river of love holds the source of thirst-quenching answers to all our needs.)
and you who have no money, come, buy and eat!"
(The Lord offers us a feast, a banquet table filled with all the goodness
of His strength and joy and hope and encouragement.
He pleads with us to come to His banquet table.
He knows we have nothing to offer in payment for the banquet He lays before us.
His buffet, though costly to Him through the death of His Son,
is absolutely free of charge to us.
It is His gift of grace to which we can contribute nothing except our acceptance.
He invites us to come and dine with Him as the son and daughter of the King,
to bless us so mightily that we stagger
under the weight of the wealth of our relationship with our Lord.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!
Sally
513 254 3874

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 54:17
"No weapon forged against you will prevail,
and you will refute every tongue that accuses you.
(An absolute promise of ultimate victory, this declaration of the Lord vows
that even when evil does come upon us, when evil does invade us,
when troubles attack, when people speak ill of us,
when our very reputation is at stake,
when the courts of this world charge us and pronounce us guilty,
He will cause us to withstand both the attack and the accusation
and to overcome them in victory.)
This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord,
and this is their vindication from Me," declares the Lord.
(The Lord our God promises us an inheritance
that is ours at the very core and the very moment of our need,
an inheritance of unspeakable value, that God is with us
at all times, in all ways, through all circumstances.
He gives us a priceless inheritance
of His vindication and exoneration and acquittal,
a justification not only before Him, but also before those
who falsely accuse us and who desire our downfall.
He reminds us that when God is for us, who can be against us.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!
Sally
513 254 3874

 

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

I Chronicles 16:8-12
Give thanks to the Lord, call on His name;
make known among the nations what He has done.
Sing to Him, sing praise to Him; tell of all His wonderful acts.
Glory in his Holy Name;
let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.
Look to the Lord and His strength; seek His face always.
Remember the wonders He has done, His miracles,
and the judgments He pronounced. . . .
(As we prepare for the national Thanksgiving holiday this week,
instituted from the early beginning of our history as a nation,
a time where we as a people pause to give thanks
to the One Who gives us life and breath,
the One Who provides for us through trials and hardships,
and sustains us with His strength,
may we also prepare for a personal time of Thanksgiving
where we raise our hearts in Thanks-Giving to Him
to Whom all our praise belongs.
May we pause to give the Lord honor and glory for all He has done.
May we give special thought this week to Him and think on Who He is.
May we rejoice in the beauty and power of our God
and the blessings He has bestowed on us!)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!
Sally
513 254 3874

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 54:16
"See, it is I Who created the blacksmith
who fans the coals into flame and forges a weapon fit for its work.
And it is I Who have created the destroyer to wreak havoc."

(Even those among us who set out to do evil,
even those who create weapons of evil,
whether of word of mouth or of literal weapon,
who determinedly forge plans to destroy and hurt,
still, even then, they remain under God's sovereign, absolute reign.
Nothing they plan or do is beyond the boundaries
in which the Lord allows them to function.
He is Lord over everything, even the hurt and death wreaked by evil.
Even evil itself yields always to the Lord's limits for it.

While the Lord allows us to exist in the world,
He allows evil to exist in the world
because, until we take on the righteousness of Christ,

we are subject to creating our own contributions of evil.

Yet, even in our worst embrace of our sin nature,

the Lord has complete dominion over His world and all that is in it, even us,
who are created by Him and always sustained by Him.
He has overcome the world and all that exists in it,
and He has chosen to make us His emissaries to His world,
to invite us into partnership with Him, and to help us choose Him over all else.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!
Sally
513 254 3874

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 54:14b-15
"Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear.
Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you.
If anyone does attack you, it will not be My doing;
whoever attacks you will surrender to you."
(The Lord declares to us today that His rule and reign in our life
is so complete that nothing can infiltrate or lessen His protection.
In fact, even when attacks and trouble come,
and we know it is not if they come, but when they come,
the Lord promises that He does not author those attacks.

He does promise, though, that He Himself will use those attacks and troubles
to allow them to draw us near to Him
so that He can use them to refine and mature us and grow us,
He promises that the enemy, no matter who or what that is,
will be defeated and that we will see the defeat right before our eyes.
His promise to us is that we will, in fact, overcome the enemy,
that we will be over-comers and victorious,

and that He will be our strength and make us conquerors
over even the strongest attacks.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!
Sally
513 254 3874

Good Word for Today!

The Lord Be With You Today!

Isaiah 54:14
"In righteousness you will be established:
(Because the Lord is the foundation of our lives,
He says He will establish us on His Own unchanging righteousness
and that we will produce righteousness as well,
both of which come about because of His goodness
and having nothing to do with our own.
As we face the uncertainties of today and tomorrow,
the Lord promises us we will not have to continue
to build our lives on the shallow foundations of our own efforts and abilities.
Rather, He will establish us and set us in His Own deep and firm foundation
of redemption, salvation, and relentless love for us.)
Tyranny will be far from you; you will have nothing to fear.
Terror will be far removed; it will not come near you."
(When we do fall into fear, we are choosing to believe the lies of the enemy
whose only goal is to destroy us and fear is one of his most potent weapons.
When we fall into fear, we are actually agreeing with the same one
who desires our complete destruction.
In Christ, we have nothing to fear.
Because the Lord is our source, our salvation and foundation,
no tyranny or terror can shake us from His sovereign Hand.
Because He is our source, our salvation and foundation,
we have nothing to fear from any attack of the enemy.
He has declared we belong to Him,
and He will allow nothing to separate us from Him.)

May the Lord richly bless you this day!

In Christ's love,

Blessings!
Sally
513 254 3874