GRATEFUL FOR THE PAST AND CONFIDENT ABOUT THE FUTURE
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1. WE MUST REMEMBER WITH GRATITUDE EVERYTHING THAT THE LORD HAS DONE FOR US. WE MUST REALISE HOW FAR THE LORD HAS BROUGHT US .WE MUST REMEMBER WITH HUMILITY OUR BEGINNINGS LIKE KING DAVID DID. WE ARE PROTECTED BY HIS MERCY. WE MUST REALISE ALL THE EVIL THAT COULD HAVE HAPPENED TO US IF THE LORD HAD NOT BEEN WITH US.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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I SAMUEL 7:12
" Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us."
2 SAMUEL 7:18
" Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said: "Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?
LAMENTATIONS 3:22-23
" Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "
PSALM 103
" 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-
who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion,
who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.
The LORD works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses, his deeds to the people of Israel:
The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever;
he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;
for he knows how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field;
the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.
But from everlasting to everlasting the LORD’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children-
with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.
The LORD has established his throne in heaven, and his kingdom rules over all.
Praise the LORD, you his angels, you mighty ones who do his bidding, who obey his word.
Praise the LORD, all his heavenly hosts, you his servants who do his will.
Praise the LORD, all his works everywhere in his dominion. Praise the LORD, O my soul."
PSALM 124
" If the LORD had not been on our side—let Israel say-
if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us,
when their anger flared against us,they would have swallowed us alive;
the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us,
the raging waters would have swept us away.
Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler’s snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth."
2. THE LORD WILL ANSWER OUR PRAYERS IN THE TIME OF DISTRESS AND HELP US . HE WILL REMEMBER ALL OUR OFFERINGS AND GRANT THE DESIRES OF OUR HEART. HE WILL GRANT US VICTORY IN ALL OUR BATTLES.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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PSALM 20
" May the LORD answer you when you are in distress; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.
May he send you help from the sanctuary and grant you support from Zion.
May he remember all your sacrifices and accept your burnt offerings. Selah
May he give you the desire of your heart and make all your plans succeed.
We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the LORD grant all your requests.
Now I know that the LORD saves his anointed; he answers him from his holy heaven with the saving power of his right hand.
Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.
O LORD, save the king! Answer us when we call! "
3. THE LORD WILL NEVER LEAVE US NOR FORSAKE US . HE WANTS US TO BE STRONG AND COURAGEOUS BECAUSE HE IS WITH US. THE LORD WILL BE WITH US AS HE WAS WITH OUR FATHERS. OUR PRAYERS ARE BEFORE GOD DAY AND NIGHT AND HE WILL GRANT US JUSTICE ACCORDING TO EACH DAY’S NEED. HE WILL BE WITH US UNTIL WE COMPLETE THE TASK HE HAS GIVEN TO US. THE LORD WAS PLEASED TO MAKE US HIS PEOPLE AND WE CARRY HIS NAME AND FOR HIS NAME’S SAKE HE WILL NOT FORSAKE US. WHEN WE OBEY THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD AND WALK IN HIS WAYS , HE WILL NOT FORSAKE US. IF WE ARE SUFFERING BECAUSE OF OUR DISOBEDIENCE TO GOD, WE CAN TURN TO GOD WITH OUR WHOLE HEART AND THE LORD WILL BE MERCIFUL TO US . HE WILL NOT FORSAKE US NOR FORGET THE COVENANT HE MADE WITH OUR FATHERS.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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JOSHUA 1:5
" No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. "
HEBREWS 13:5-6
" Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you."
So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
DEUTERONOMY 31:6-8
" Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you."
Then Moses summoned Joshua and said to him in the presence of all Israel, "Be strong and courageous, for you must go with this people into the land that the LORD swore to their forefathers to give them, and you must divide it among them as their inheritance.
The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
I KINGS 8: 56-61
"Praise be to the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel just as he promised. Not one word has failed of all the good promises he gave through his servant Moses.
May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us.
May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers.
And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each day’s need,
so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God and that there is no other.
But your hearts must be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time."
I CHRONICLES 28:20
" David also said to Solomon his son, "Be strong and courageous, and do the work. Do not be afraid or discouraged, for the LORD God, my God, is with you. He will not fail you or forsake you until all the work for the service of the temple of the LORD is finished."
I SAMUEL 12:22
" For the sake of his great name the LORD will not reject his people, because the LORD was pleased to make you his own."
I KINGS 6:11-14
" The word of the LORD came to Solomon:
"As for this temple you are building, if you follow my decrees, carry out my regulations and keep all my commands and obey them, I will fulfill through you the promise I gave to David your father.
And I will live among the Israelites and will not abandon my people Israel."
So Solomon built the temple and completed it."
DEUTERONOMY 4:29-31
" But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.
When you are in distress and all these things have happened to you, then in later days you will return to the LORD your God and obey him.
For the LORD your God is a merciful God; he will not abandon or destroy you or forget the covenant with your forefathers, which he confirmed to them by oath."
4. THE LORD WILL BE WITH US IN EVERY BATTLE THAT WE FACE AND GRANT US VICTORY. WE NEED NOT FEAR THE ENEMY BECAUSE THE LORD IS WITH US LIKE A MIGHTY WARRIOR. NO WEAPON FORMED AGAINST US WILL PROSPER.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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JEREMIAH 20: 11-13
" But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.
O LORD Almighty, you who examine the righteous and probe the heart and mind, let me see your vengeance upon them, for to you I have committed my cause.
Sing to the LORD! Give praise to the LORD! He rescues the life of the needy from the hands of the wicked "
ISAIAH 41:10-13
" So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
"All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish.
Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.
For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.
ISAIAH 54:17
" no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD.
5. ALL THE PROMISES OF GOD ARE TRUE FOR US . THERE IS NO DOUBT ABOUT THEM. THEY ARE ’YES’ AND ’AMEN’ FOR US SO THAT GOD WILL BE GLORIFIED IN OUR LIVES.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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2 CORINTHIANS 1:20
" For no matter how many promises God has made, they are "Yes" in Christ. And so through him the "Amen" is spoken by us to the glory of God."
6. THE LORD WILL BUILD HIS CHURCH AND THE ALL THE FORCES OF HELL CANNOT STOP THE PROGRESS OF THE CHURCH. THE LORD HAS GIVEN US THE KEYS OF THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN. WE CAN BIND THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL AND WE CAN LOOSE ALL THE BLESSINGS OF GOD IN OUR LIVES.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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MATTHEW 16:18-19
" And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
7. WE CAN BE CONFIDENT THAT THE LORD WHO BEGAN A GOOD WORK IN OUR LIFE , WILL NOT LEAVE US UNFINISHED OR INCOMPLETE . HE WILL CONTINUE TO WORK IN OUR LIVES UNTIL HE COMES . WE ARE A WORK IN PROGRESS. THE LORD WHO LED US SO FAR WILL CONTINUE TO LEAD US TILL THE DAY OF CHRIST.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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PHILIPPIANS 1:6
" being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus."
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