“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.”(Isa. 41:3 ESV)

God calls His own by name!

“To him the gatekeeper opens. The sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.” (Ohm 10:3 ESV)

Jesus knows His own!

“I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.” (John 10:14-15 ESV)

Before you were born, God knew you!

“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” (Jer. 1:5 ESV)

Jesus will confess your name before the Father!

“The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.” (Rev. 3:5 ESV)

“While we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:18 NIV)

Everything we see is temporary!

In my early childhood I lived in the Northern California redwoods in the little community of Alton. It was a wonderful place to live! It was located next to the Van Duzen River, which ran along a lush mountainside with blue-green pools of water for us to swim in. A row of beautiful walnut trees grew next to our house. My brother David and I would climb them to build amazing tree houses and pretend we were Tarzan. At age twelve, I moved from there to Alaska. Many years later I returned to Alton for a visit, but I could barely recognize it. Everything had changed! Our house and walnut trees were gone. The river had shifted from its original location and no longer ran alongside the mountain. The beautiful swimming holes no longer existed. It looked nothing like the wonderful place I had loved so dearly in my childhood. There was nothing familiar left except for my memories! It was shocking and very sad.

But, it's a picture of the way things are going to be here on earth eventually; nothing we can see now is permanent. But, this world is not our true home. We are only passing through!

The Word of God is permanent!

“Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.”(Matt. 24:35 NASB)

“For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Matt. 5:18 NASB)

People are like Grass!

“A voice says, "Call out." Then he answered, "What shall I call out?" All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, When the breath of the LORD blows upon it; Surely the people are grass.” (Isa. 40:6-7 NASB)

We have a permanent home in heaven!

“For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.” (Heb. 13:14 NLT)

"Oh, how great is Your goodness, which You have lqaid up for those who fear You, which You have prepared for those who trust in You in the presence of the sons of men!" (Psalm 31:19, NKJV)

 "And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am." (John 24:3 NIV)

"Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created." (Rev. 4:11 NASB)

Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God

“Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” (Matt. 16:16 ESV)

Worthy is the Lamb!

"Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing." (Rev. 5:12 KJV)

“That they may know that You alone, whose name is the LORD, Are the Most High over all the earth.” (Psalm 83:18 NASB)

You abide in His shadow!

“He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High Will abide in the shadow of the Almighty.” (Psalm 91:1 NASB)

Do not dread anything because He is in your midst!

 “You shall not dread them, for the LORD your God is in your midst, a great and awesome God.”  (Psalm 47:2 NASB)

He accomplishes all things for you!

“I will cry to God Most High, To God who accomplishes all things for me.” (Psalm 57:2 NASB)

Sing praises to the Lord most high!

“I will give thanks to the LORD according to His righteousness And will sing praise to the name of the LORD Most High.” (Psalm 7:17 NASB)

“For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.”(Heb. 4:12 NLT)

It is God breathed!

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” (2 Tim. 3:16-17 NIV)

Do what it says

“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” (Jam. 1:22 NIV)

Preach the Word

“Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage--with great patience and careful instruction.” (2 Tim. 4:2 NIV)

"When he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he gave no answer. Then Pilate asked him, 'Don’t you hear the testimony they are bringing against you?' But Jesus made no reply, not even to a single charge—to the great amazement of the governor." (Matt. 27:12-14, NIV)

Don't respond to negativity

I have a friend who has a very large, successful, and public ministry. Along with it comes much criticism and many personal attacks. There are entire blogs and sites dedicated to negativity about him and his ministry. The attacks are often hateful and filled with character assassination. But, my friend doesn't respond to a single charge! He totally ignores them. When asked why he or his staff don't answer his critics, he says, “I have an important job to do, which is to reach as many people in the world as I can with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have no time to give to meaningless distractions." He is right! You only give energy to accusations when you add fuel to them with any kind of an answer. Jesus, in the passage at top didn't answer his accusers, either. “Not to a single charge” (Matt. 27:14 NIV).  Billy Graham had a similar policy, he said, “We don't accuse or excuse. Period!"

“Fearing people is a dangerous trap, but trusting the LORD means safety. (Prob. 29:25 NLT)

“But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” (Luke 6:35 NIV)

God has a different standard of behavior than most

Most of us behave like goats. If you push on a goat, it pushes back hard. If you pull a goat's horns, it will pull back hard. Most people react negatively to those who act negatively towards them. It's human nature. But God has a different way. He forgives those who are negative towards Him. He gives love to the ungrateful and wicked. In fact, He expects, even commands, the same kind of behavior of us toward others.

Love your enemies!

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.  Do to others as you would have them do to you.

“If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that.  And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.” (Luke 6:27-36 NIV)

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Rom. 15:13 NIV)

We have a different kind of hope

A Biblical definition of hope is far superior to that of the world’s definition of wishing or hoping for something to happen. A believer knows for sure that their hope is solid, concrete evidence because it is grounded in the Word of God. And, we know that God cannot lie (Heb 6:18; Num 23:19). The Christian has a hope that is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb 11:1). It is a hope that is like faith, which cannot be moved by circumstances or by what the eyes see, because our God is faithful to His Word and you can have a solid hope in it!

"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:8 NIV)

A multitude of sins is a lot!

Multitude is defined as a great number; host; crowd; throng, horde, a mass, a swarm, an abundance, a profusion; scores, quantities, droves; slew, lots, loads masses, stacks, heaps, piles, tons, dozens, hundreds, thousands, millions, gazillions, bajillions, and more! But, no matter how many, love has them more than covered!

Love is defined in the Bible this way

“Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. ... Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.  (1 Cor 13:4-7, 13 NLT)

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8 KJV)

Now that is very, very, very, good news for all of us, indeed!