Isaiah 40:31 is a wonderful verse: “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint” (KJV).

One spring Jean and I were parked in our car on the south end of Waskesiu Lake in Prince Albert National Park, Saskatchewan, Canada, having our prayer time. There were 6 or so golden eagles feasting on dead fish out on the melting ice. After a while the eagles took off and gave us 30 minutes of the most glorious flying and gliding display right in front of and over our car. What amazing, powerful and graceful creatures; such colors and majesty, such strength. Isaiah 40:31 truly came alive for us.

God is so obvious to all in His creation (Rom 1:20). This is the strength He has for us. "Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteous." (Isa 41:10). It's God that does the strengthening and holds us with His hand. God tells us not to fear, He is the one who fights our battles for us (Deut 31:6).

And, yes, this is New Testament as well: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phil 4:13). Did you notice that was all things, not some things! Trust God, cast your cares on Him and lean on His strength today. We can't do it on our own; my, how we need our God. Pass this on to someone.

In Ephesians 5:18 we are encouraged to be filled with the Holy Spirit and then in verses 19-21 we are told of ways that demonstrate this. One of those things is: "Giving thanks all ways for all things".

We are all very familiar with the fact that we are supposed to be thankful; however, it is easy to go through our day without remembering to do this! If we want to live a spirit led and spirit controlled life, then we need to develop this attitude of thanksgiving because apparently there is a connection.

In 1 Thesalonians 5:17 we are told to: "pray without ceasing" and then right after that, in verse 18, we are told again to thank God in everything, despite the circumstances. According to these two verses then, giving thanks is as important as praying. (by the way, please note, it says to thank God in everything not for everything).

Colossians 4:2 says almost the same thing, that we should continue in prayer and be vigorous with thanksgiving. Let's not forget Philippians 4:6, which tells us not to be anxious but to pray with thanksgiving. There seems to be a definite connection here between prayer and thanksgiving. Finally, Psalms 100:4 and 95:2 tell us to come into His presence with thanksgiving.

When we pray we are coming into God's presence, so what better way to begin our prayer times each day than with praise, worship and thanksgiving.

Our bible is God’s word to us as Christians; it was written down under God’s inspiration: - “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works” (2 Tim 3:16-17; KJV).

The bible is the Christians manual or handbook, just like a new car comes with an operator’s manual. The bible tells us how to live to please God, what He has for us and how He wants to use us.

God’s word is truth (John 17:17) and in John’s Gospel we are also told that the truth will set us free (John 8:32); free to live an abundant life as God lives it (John 10:10). In Proverbs we are told that God’s word brings life and health (Prov 4:22). God’s word is powerful (Heb 4:12); God spoke the word over creation and there was light (Gen 1:3).

The Bible is not a book to be read as literature but prayer fully, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit (John 14:26) The Holy Spirit will reveal God’s truths to our spirit; we call this revelation and not just head knowledge. The word will guide us through all the challenges of life (Ps 119:105).  

Meditating the scriptures (Ps 119:15) causes our faith to grow (Rom 10:17); faith to receive from all God’s promises found in His word. To meditate is simply to dwell on parts of the bible and roll then around in our minds.

We can rely on God’s word; it is settled in heaven (Ps 119:89) and it will never return to us void (Is 55:11). It will never let us down. Spend time in the Bible and God’s presence today: “My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart; for they are life unto those who find them, and health to all their flesh" (Prov 4:20-22; KJV).

In 1 Cor 10:13 the word “temptation” does involve being tempted to sin but it also includes the broader sense of the tests and trials (pressures, circumstances and the hostile opposition of people) that come against us every day.

So often the devil tries to make us feel that it is only me as an individual that has a particular problem. What’s the matter with me? How come everyone else has no problem with this? But praise God this passage from Corinthians goes on to show us that all our tests and trials are common to man, in other words, we all experience the same tests and trials!

Even more exciting is the last part of the verse where God says He won’t allow the pressure to get beyond what we can bear and He will provide the way of escape. Not any way but the way, His way! So often we try to dig our way out in our own efforts, or is that only me that does that?

In 2 Cor 12:9 God tells us that His grace is sufficient for us and when we are weak He can be strong in our lives. In other words, when we back off and say: “God I can’t deal with this, you are going to have take care of it”, He can come in and show us the way.

Be at peace today and be sensitive to His voice, “casting all your cares on Him for He cares for you” (1Peter 5:7) and He will show you the way and lift you up.

Halleluiah, I think I just preached myself happy!

Jesus said: “do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing?” (Matt 6:25) The Apostle Peter told us to cast every care on Jesus as Jesus loves us (1 Peter 5:7.) That’s every care.

In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus illustrated Gods ability to care for us and to meet our needs. Jesus said why would you worry? Look how God feeds the birds! They don’t even farm; God feeds them. Look at the flowers in summer time. Not even Solomon with all his wealth and resources could get clothes to match the beauty of a flower garden.

In Philippians Chapter 4 and verse 19 Paul said: “and my God shall supply all your need according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus”. Notice that God supplies all of your need according to His resources! It gets even better; Paul told us that God can do more that we can think or ask (Eph 3:20).

Again, in our main passage from Mathews Gospel, Jesus said that if we seek God and walk in obedience to Him, then: “all these things shall be added to you” (Matt 6:33). Now that’s good news, not something to worry about!