Daily Bible Verses for 8/18/2016

Bible Verse
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart.

Reading Notes
The Bible promises several blessings that stem from our faith in Christ. The most important of which is eternal life spent with Jesus in Heaven and fellowship with God. Because of our faith in Christ, our relationship with God has been restored. Through Jesus, we receive adoption into God’s heavenly kingdom. We become children of God and joint-heirs with Christ through our faith in Jesus. In addition, these blessings also include peace of mind and joy in our hearts knowing our salvation is secure. This doesn’t mean we won’t face tribulation; but it does mean we will face those trials as a new creation in Christ, because our sins were crucified with Him on the Cross of Calvary. And we will face those trials with the Holy Spirit by our side to strengthen and guide us.

James the brother of Jesus reminds us, that by faith, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we have what we need to remain steadfast, trusting in God during a trial. And thereby we build up perseverance, which in turn strengthens our faith in Jesus. And as we grow in Christ, through the study of God’s word and by submitting to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we learn that God’s promise to, “work all things for good to those who love God and are called according to His purposes” applies to our lives no matter the difficulty or trial. We should always remember Jesus told us, “in this life we will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” This means no matter what we face, as bad as bad can be, it does not change the fact that we have eternity waiting for us and we will forever be with the Lord.