Thursday of the Second Week of Easter

Acts 5:27-33

29: But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

We cannot expect to be redeemed and healed by Christ, unless we give up ourselves to be ruled by him. Peter and the Apostles were persecuted for teaching God’s word, but their faith and love towards God allowed them to find peace in the fact that it was better to obey God and Not man. God is what sustains us, and in these last days we too are persecuted and mocked because of our beliefs, we are mocked because we do God’s will and choose to live a holy and just life before the eyes of God. Today like Peter we can stand firm and say it is better to obey God before men and earthly rulers because we have a hope in Christ our Savior that through his Son we will have Eternal Life. Knowing that all the things good and bad that we experience in our earthly lives can’t compare to the promises we have in God, Standing firm in our beliefs and obeying God Above all things will one day give us our Greatest Reward!

John 3:31-36

36: The one who believes in the Son has eternal life, but the one who disobeys the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.

What a wonderful promise to know that because we believe in the Son of God, we will have eternal life. Yet it remains that we have to live a just and pure life before our God, each day a new dedication and new commitment needs to be made with God. We need to make sure that we are always in the right path; and that our hearts are pure and open to always obey God’s word and always hold his promises in our hearts. (this is not always easy) We need to increase in our faith through our trials and tribulations and be watchful not to offend God when things do not turn out the way we want. We must be open to his will daily seek his forgiveness so that we too can partake of this Eternal Life!

Psalm 34:2
My soul shall make boast in the Lord, the humble shall hear and rejoice.

David promises to persistently praise his God (based upon a personal specific event in his life). He is committing himself to the praise of God at every opportunity and in the midst of mind spirit and body. Just as we are to pray without ceasing and constantly in all circumstances. Praise can be private or public worship with the congregation. Praise him with music and song, expose your soul to the power of sacred music and at all times we must be uplifted and inspired. We must also take time to notice and praise God daily for the goodness in out lives.

Prayer is the key to each morning and the lock to every evening. A famous holy man of our time once said “prayer is the sacred alliance between God and us, and, in order to be delivered from the clutches of the prince of darkness, we have to choose either to ally ourselves with the forces of evil, or the forces of good. Daily prayer praising God will add something new to our lives of which there is no equivalent to be found anywhere”.


Psalm 34:18
The Lord is near to the broken hearted and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit.

The fear of the lord is the basis of a relationship between God and man. God is described as being near the brokenhearted. His eyes and ears are ever attentive to the cries of the righteous .The righteous trust in the Lord as evidence by their cries to him for deliverance, they are humble and brokenhearted, the contrite spirit are dependable upon God as David was looking to him for deliverance rather than trusting in his own strength. Heart break always presupposes love other people can infuriate you - annoy you – disappoint you, falsely accuse you, but no one can break your heart except the one you love. To lose a loved one is extremely sorrowful. To bring a child to life to want the best for the child, to pray for him or her every day, to work hard and find the child chooses the worst this is heartbreaking. I know a Mother has to teach her child not only to walk but to walk away. St Paul says when God looks for love – joy – peace – kindness - patience forbearance - courtesy and self- control in our lives and when he does not find these things he too is brokenhearted.


Psalm 34:9
O fear the lord ye his saints: for there is no want to them that fear him.

Those who fear the Lord are not only assured of God’s protection in the adversities of life, but will be plenty rewarded. When David sinned through his deception and violence, it revealed that he had allowed his fear of God to wane, replacing it with the fear of Man. God graciously delivered David not due to his righteousness, but because of his relationship in response to God’s merciful deliverance. With David’s humble petition for deliverance, God was moved with pity and answered David’s cry. His fear of the Lord was renewed, as a result he could not only praise God, but he also shared what he had learned with others urging them to experience the blessings of God in a richer and fuller way. God is gracious, he has chosen to use fallible men (like David and Peter) to serve and to worship him, yet it is often through our failures, that the greatest lessons of life are learned, yet what we can do is to praise God with them for his gracious deliverance. We should learn from David that God is a gracious deliverer for us as well.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.


Psalm 34:17 34:19
The righteous cry, and the Lord heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles. Many are the afflictions of the righteous: but the Lord delivereth them from all.

In our lonely lives, we sometimes think when we have grey days and dark nights that God has forgotten or abandon us. The righteous must expect affliction in life He knows about our pain and suffering and betrayal and misunderstandings. There is no pain of mind , soul of spirit of the body that we have endured that God has not experienced. God does deliver he promises the righteous will not suffer. He will keep us in our affliction, and he will ultimately deliver us from all adversity in his own time. Those who fear the Lord are not only assured of God’s protection in the trials and adversities of life but are also kept from divine retribution and wrath. We must remind ourselves that if we were the only human being he would love us as if there were no one else on earth, and is willing to die again for us (regardless of race or status in life) so that we wont be lost, and only by faith and a contrite heart will God deliver us from our afflictions. Oh God, for you are my God, for you I long for you; my soul is thirsting.

Rose Marie Marlin