CuteTails

Today's description is mostly from the YouVersion Bible app and if you want to read more, you can click the link after the description. The definition of the word lamination is "the passionate expression of grief or sorrow; weeping." Chapters 3 and 4 of Lamentations are alphabetic poems "talking about the terrible things that had happened in Jerusalem. (God let Jerusalem be destroyed and conquered by the Babylonian Empire because of the people's sins.) They continue talking about the pain and anger of the people of the southern kingdom. Yet there are words of hope in the middle of chapter 3. This is the centre of the book. God didnʼt completely destroy his people. This was a sign that he was still committed to them. God had promised to forgive his people if they repented and turned away from their sin. He had promised this in the Mount Sinai covenant. So the speaker invited Godʼs people to pray to God and return to him. They could do this because they trusted that God is good. They trusted that he loved them. They believed that God was concerned about them and was faithful to them (even during the hard times)..." 
            
            https://bible.com/bible/116/lam.3.22-23.NLT

Jesus expresses in Luke 13:34 that He always wanted to gather us together. We, the church, born-again Believers, are not meant to be separated. If all born-again Believers have the spirit of Christ living in them, no matter what they look like, why be separated? The body of Christ has faced attacks, separation from loved ones, discrimination, and, yet, can see the Kingdom of God coming. God commands for us to love our neighbor AND our enemies; to show mercy, compassion, and love to one another. We should love each other and forgive one another just as Jesus loves us and we love ourselves. God's love is not just for the righteous or the supposed "non-sinful", but for EVERYONE. No one is more worthy or better than everyone else. Not even Christians are more worthy than criminals, atheists, or people of other religions. Those capable of repentance have a place in the Kingdom of Heaven. For the ones who are incapable of change, judgement has already been made against them. Evil and separation will NOT win against God. People need healing of the soul, a mind transformation to break isolation from each other, which is not of God. You're God's household, fitted together, growing as a temple of the Holy Spirit. When Christ goes into the deepest part of our being, we experience Him. We stumble a lot without God's guidance. We must be born-again to love each other truly as God loves, and to truly begin to live together, in unity. If you say "I don't need healing", you probably need it. Healing is available today. Our many wounds can be healed by Jesus, not just physically,  but also mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Receive the healing Jesus gives today and let go of any grudges in your heart. Share the TRUE love of God with others today. God bless .

Then in verses 6-7, David remembers God's goodness in the midst of his troubles. As Paul once said, the Bible is like a double-edged sword that can be used as a defense. Whenever you feel like you're in the midst of trouble too, try to pray over Psalm 4. Cry out to God for help. Trust Him and remember His goodness and faithfulness. This psalm, especially verse 8, can also be a source of comfort for those who struggle with sleep.
            
            Adults need 7-9 hours of sleep every night, but many struggle to fall asleep and stay asleep, causing symptoms of Sleep Deprivation, which are impaired judgment, feeling sleepy during the day, irritability, and more. Being able to sleep instantly and without waking up during the night is a gift from God. Even though he was dealing with trouble, in verse 8, David choose to trust in God for security and safety, even as he sleeps. 
            
            When Jesus and His disciples were in a boat at sea and were suddenly hit with a fierce storm, the disciples were panicking and questioning if He cared that they were about to die, but Jesus slept in the middle of it all before they woke Him up, shouting. He slept because He trusted His Father and knew what the outcome would be despite being in a storm.
            
            However, in Matthew 26:40, Jesus returned to the disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane after praying alone, only to find them sleeping when they needed to stay awake, asking Peter, couldn't he stay up for just one hour. Know the difference between the times when you can sleep in a storm or should stay awake and alert, crying out to the Lord for deliverance. The Lord is a mighty fortress where the righteous can be saved. Jesus said He will never leave us nor forsake us. Jesus and His Holy Spirit is in you, and you are never truely alone. He is able. Able to deliver you from trouble and strengthen you during hard times. Don't allow anyone to stop you from pursuing Him. Have a blessed day/night, everyone, and God bless you!

Hi,everyone! Today's devotional may be face-paced and long, but I wanted to share notes taken during yesterday's sermon in my church. Tried my best to make the notes understandable, but let me know if there's any confusion. This was written when David was on the run from his enemies. In the first verse of this psalm, David first cried out to the Lord, unashamed, when he was in destress. In verses 2-3, David cried out to the sons of man; questioning them, saying why they keep fasely accusing and lying about him, ruining his reputation. 
            
            In verses 4-5, David then says that he will put his trust in the Lord. Trust is an experience with someone. Trust, in human terms, is something that is developed. Trust is developed through the experiences people can have with others or the history they can share with someone, but that doesn't mean people won't mess up. Forgive those who've wronged you and don't hold those past falts against them. Everyone should be able to say "I have history with God", and trust Him. This history proves that He is faithful and trustworthy with your life. 
            
            John Bunyan (the author of Pilgrim's Progress) was imprisoned for 12 years in England for preaching the Word of God, several years ago. He was given many opportunities to be freed if he stopped preaching, but he refused. He rather live imprisoned and remain faithful to God, instead of being free and staying silent  about the risen King.

Hi, everyone. I don't want to go deep into details, so long story short, I feel like I've been experiencing some spiritual attacks lately resulting in lots stress, maybe anxiety, and feeling like me trying to do what's pleasing to God isn't not good enough. But when opening YouTube, these videos were some of the first ones I saw (the first one was days prior). I believe that God wanted me to see these and I pray that anybody who's experienced something similar remembers something the Lord reminded me: We are saved by grace through faith, not our own works. God's enough for us when we are not. And being Christian doesn't mean living a perfect happy life here on earth where we will always get things our way. It means loving, trusting, having faith in, and following God no matter what you're going through just like David, who was a man after His own heart even though he sinned, and like Jesus, who followed the Father's will all the way to the suffering He went through on the cross to save us from our sins. As Walt Disney said, "keep moving forward". Don't give up no matter how hard things get and know that true strength comes from the God who loves you dearly. Hope this helps those who are also going through trials in their lives and God bless .

Hi, everyone! Quick disclaimer: Because I'll be starting my classes soon, I won't be able to post Bible verses as often as I used to. I'll at least attempt to make a Bible verse post every Saturday, Sunday, or Monday,  but I'll see later how that turns out. Anyways, here's today's devotional and verse from the YouVersion Bible app. You can see the full devotional in the link below if you like.
            
            "The greatest measure of who we are and what we love is how we spend our time. 
            
            Where do you spend most of your time? Most of us spend our days with family, at work, or on hobbies. All of those are important things that we should invest in, but Jesus says there’s another thing that we need to spend time doing.
            
            There are a lot of different ideas people have for when Jesus will return but, ultimately, Jesus says that nobody will know the time and date. He will come at a time when we least expect Him.
            
            So until He does come, He says that we should be ready. We tend to spend most of our time working on finding the right career, or pursuing certain relationships, or building wealth and possessions. And yet, none of those things will prepare us for when Jesus returns.
            
            So what can we do to prepare? 
            
            The first thing is to put your faith in Jesus, by believing that He gave His life so that you could have eternal life. Next, commit to spending time with Him, confessing your mistakes and being transformed by His presence. Finally, continue to tell others about the great love that Jesus has for them. Continue to grow in your faith every day, and be faithful with the gifts God has given you.
            
            We shouldn’t spend our time worrying about when Jesus will return, but rather what we should be doing until He returns. 
            
            Spend some time in prayer right now and consider who in your life needs to hear about the love that Jesus has for them. Who can you share that great news with today?"
            
            https://bible.com/stories/29969

https://youtu.be/UI-PehitKKU?si=ZZyXs6yyc4uEMQYf

These are the Words said by the Lord to His people through the mouth of the prophet Isaiah when he foretold that Isreal would be sent into exile and subjugated by the Babylonian Empire. Even though this was referred to the Israelites at the time, the message here can still be applied to us today. For anyone out there who might be in the lowest point of their lives or needs words of encouragement right now, here's something for you and please send this to someone who you know needs to hear this:
            
            We are His. We are all considered to be children of God, His people while He is our Father in Heaven, our Savior, our God, and more. We don't have to be afraid or fear anything anymore. If our God is for us, who can be against us? God's got you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He will never allow more than He knows you can handle in life. His power will shine brightest through your weaknesses. He has a plan for you and knows your every need. He knows you, to the point where He calls you by name; He knows the real you and sees who you will become. He sees all of your flaws, and still loves you and desires to save you. He wants you. In a different translation, this verse says "redeemed" instead of "ransomed". You no longer have to feel like you're unworthy of His love and blessings for you because He has redeemed you. You are made right with God because of what Jesus did for you on the cross out of love. He forgives you of every mistake you've made in the past. He died to save you from sin, and resurrected to make a way for you to enter into His Kingdom of Heaven, instead of being condemned to Hell. He loves you when the world rejects you not because of what you've done or will do, but because of who you are to Him. Own this fact. You now have freedom because of Him and that He loves you more than you can ever imagine. Have a blessed day/night everyone and may the Lord bless you and keep you .

So repent, or make deliberate change in your life to gouge out sinful habits, and return to Him. And once you have started doing so, trust in His ways which are higher than our ways, as well as His thoughts which are higher than our thoughts. Trust in His perfect plan for you, and have faith that He will always be there for you, in your highest and lowest moments, and will never leave you nor forsake you. Stay dedicated and close to Him even when life gets hard and many would starts to go against you for your beliefs, and the reward in the end, eternal life with Him, will be worth it. God Bless .

In Psalm 34, David, the second king of Israel, mainly expresses how trustworthy, faithful, and good the Lord is to those who put their trust and faith in Him. In this specific verse, he goes on to say that the Lord is close to not the popular, not the rich, not to "perfect" people who has their lives figured out, but to the brokenhearted and crushed in spirit; those filled with great sorrow, lost all hope, given up, whose hit rock bottom, and are broken. It's in these moments where the Lord is closest to you even if you don't see or feel it. And it's in moments like these where he will deliver His people from all trouble. The Bible never says that living the life of a Believer; living the life of a Christian would mean that you'll never have any more problems in your life and that life here on earth would be perfect. In fact, the truth said in Scripture is the opposite; persecution, trouble, hard times, and spiritual attacks are guaranteed for those who follow, serve, and have faith in the Lord; for those made righteous in the eyes of the Lord. But the difference between those who follow Him vs those who oppose Him is that those who serve the Lord with reverence and fear can go to God for refuge in times of trouble with the guarantee that He always will listen to and answer your prayers, will forgive you of your sins and save you from condemnation, and that He will come to the rescue in your time of need. While those who oppose Him will have no one to turn to, live life with many problems and in fear, will have God also oppose them, and will someday be punished for their sins.

Although there are dire consequences for sin, we can rejoice for God made a way for us to be easily forgiven and return to Him after falling to sin through Jesus' sacrifice on the cross. Because we are now made clean from the stains of sin by His blood, sin no longer has power over our lives and we no longer have to be ashamed by our past mistakes. We are free from sin because God loves you so much, that He gave His only Son to die for you; taking your punishment upon Himself. Return to Him, ask for His forgiveness, then let it go and commit such sin no more. When you feel God calling you to do something, or if you get the "gut feeling" to do the right thing, do so immediately without delay. Trust and have faith in His blood shed for you. The punishment of sin which is eternal death has been taken from you and is instead replaced with the gift of eternal life with Him in the Kingdom of Heaven, so that even though we die, our souls will live forever. And this is the Gospel message that is to be spread throughout the world. Please share this with someone today and never forget that Jesus loves you! Have a blessed day/night everyone!

This is a verse written by James, the brother of Jesus, who gave wisdom on how to truly live. The verse is pretty self-explanatory with James describing what exactly a sin is. It's when we know what God wants us to do; the right thing to do, and yet deliberately choose not to do it. It's when God calls us to do something, but we choose to delay it; stall, or not do it at all. It even counts as a sin when we only do part of what God wants us to do. Half-obedience is the same as disobedience, which can still have its consequences all the same. An example is in 1 Samuel 15 when King Saul, the first king of Israel, was told by God to kill all of the Amalekites, a corrupt enemy nation at the time, and take nothing. But Saul thought it would be better to keep their king alive and steal their livestock to make sacrifices with them. Because he disobeyed God. He took everything from Saul. His legacy, his throne, his family, and his life, along with anointing a child named David to be the new king after Saul.

https://bible.com/videos/43922?utm=video&language_tag=en

This verse is when Paul wrote a letter to the church of Philippi while he was imprisoned for his beliefs and evangelism. When Paul said to think about these things, it can look like thinking about anything and everything excellent and praiseworthy in your life; anything positive, instead of focusing on the negatives; anything that you can praise and thank God for. Letting your mind dwell on such things and carefully examining them. For example, your family and friends, the time spent with them, good music, your favorite restaurant, the serenity of nature, and more. But above all, focus your mind on God and His Word. If you were to think about anything that fills these categories, then you will not only experience peace of mind, but also would feel the presence of the God of peace. Especially if you set your mind on and align it with God, who truly fits this description, and not on the many things in this world that can cause and bring you anxiety and fear. Scripture says to "Set your mind on things above, not on things on earth." Before this verse, Paul even says in verses 6-7, "Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." Set your mind on God by continually staying connected to Him through prayer, and spending time with others who loves Jesus, then you will feel His perfect peace and eventually start to reflect His character for others to see. Spend time with someone who you believe has been very influential and helpful to you during your walk with God, like a family member, a close friend, or a pastor; anyone. May your anxious hearts be filled with the perfect peace of God, and have a blessed day/night everyone .