Wait for the Lord’s help. Be strong and brave and wait for the Lord’s help.
Psalm 27:14 (Life Application Study Bible)
Jesus Tells Us…Trust. Wait. Hope. These three little words are all connected – and they also connect you to Me. Your faith begins with trust. Each day, choose to trust Me and My way, more that you trust yourself. Trust Me to be there for you, to care for you, and to keep My promises. Then, wait on Me. I will answer your prayers, but it will be in My own perfect time. If you say, “I trust you” but you keep trying to make things happen right ways, then you are not really trusting Me. Real trust means waiting for My answer. But wait with hope. Don’t just wish for My answer; expect it! Expect your heavenly reward.
Jesus Concludes…Trust. Wait. Hope. Three little words, three keys to My Kingdom.
Psalm 27:14; John 14:1; Hebrews 6:18-20 Study Notes
Footnotes Psalm 27:14, David knew from experience what it meant to wait for the Lord. He had been anointed king at age 16, but he didn’t become king until he was 30. During the interim years, he had been chased through the wilderness by jealous King Saul. David had to wait on God for the fulfillment of his promise that David would reign. Later, after becoming king, he was chased by his rebellious son Absalom. Waiting for God is not easy. Often, he doesn’t seem to be answering our prayers or understanding the urgency of our situations. That kind of thinking implies that God is not in control, or is not fair. But God is worth waiting for. Lamentations 3:24-26 calls us to hope in and wait for the Lord, God often uses times of waiting to refresh, renew, and teach us. Make good use of your waiting times, by discovering what God may be trying to do in you while you are in them.
Passage John 14:1, Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God, believe also in me.
Footnotes John 14:1-3, The disciples were obviously worried about death, and what happens afterward. Jesus’ words still comfort us today. We know from what Jesus said, that the way to eternal life, though unseen, is secure for us if we trust him with the future. He has already prepared the way to eternal life. The only issue that may still be unsettled is our willingness to believe him.
Passage Hebrews 6:18-20, 18God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. 19We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, 20where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.
Footnotes Hebrews 6:18-19, These two unchangeable things are God’s nature and his promise. God embodies all truth, therefore, he cannot lie, and we can be secure in his promises. We don’t need to wonder if he will change his purposes and plans. Our hope of heaven stands secure and immovable, anchored in God, just as a ship’s anchor holds firmly to the seabed. To someone truly seeking who comes to God in belief, God gives an unconditional promise of acceptance. When you ask God with openness, honesty, and sincerity to save you from your sins, he will do it. If this truth gives you encouragement, assurance, and confidence, grasp it. Don’t let go, no matter what happens around you.
Jesus Tells Us is from the Jesus Calling 365 devotions for kids.
THE WORLD…we see history
Confucius CIRCA 551-479 B.C.
Depictions of Confucius usually reflect, as this one does, a teacher wise and serene.
For more than two millennia, the straight forward, appealing an highly moral philosophy of this often misunderstood man, dictated the political behavior of his homeland, China. His adages – care for your fellow man, honor your ancestors, don’t do to others what you wouldn’t want done to yourself, were both piquant and useful as a basis for governing a nation. With their ethical underpinnings, Confucius’s sayings also seemed obliquely and sometimes not so obliquely religious. Some excerpts from Confucianism – “Forget injuries, never forget kindness”, can real like Christian teachings, written five centuries before Jesus was born. But Confucius was not strictly a spiritual leader, he was a teacher and philosophical statesman. Born into poverty, and raised by a widowed mother in northeastern China, Confucius served briefly in government then dedicated 16 years to his teaching. Word of this philosophical fellow spread, and he was tapped for a high post in the administration of his home state, Lu. Confucius lasted only four years before being ousted by adversaries, and he returned to teaching. Confucius continued to ask his fellow citizens about their obligations to the nation and to one another, and this message resonated with the Chinese people.
The WORD…we see Jesus, His Story!
After Confucius dies in 479 B.C., his writings lived on and his ideas spread throughout Asia. More recently, 20th-century communist leaders backed away from Confucius, and Mao Zedong attacked Confucian traditions as feudal dregs. But today, the ancient sage’s ideas, are once again embraced in his homeland. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, has made admiring references to Confucius, and in 2014, Mr. Xi visited Qufu, Shandong province, where Confucius was born to “send a signal that we must vigorously promote China’s traditional culture.