August 26
“WHO GOD IS TO ME”
MY HOPE
Psalm 71:5 (LLV) —
“For You are my hope, O Lord GOD; You have been my trust since my youth.”
Hope
is often
spoken of
as something
we wish
will happen.
“I hope
things get better.”
“I hope
everything works out.”
“I hope
tomorrow
will be easier.”
But biblical hope
is different.
It is not
a wish.
It is
confidence
placed
in Someone.
“For You
are my hope,
O Lord GOD.”
The psalmist
does not say,
“My hope
is that
my circumstances
will improve.”
His hope
is God.
Then he looks
backward.
“You have been
my trust
since my youth.”
There is something
beautiful
about faith
that has lived
long enough
to remember.
Years
bring memories.
Some joyful.
Some painful.
Some we would
gladly live
again.
Others
we are simply
grateful
to have survived.
But when
we look back,
we can often see
something
we could not see
while we were
living through them.
God
was there.
Through doors
that opened.
Through doors
that closed.
Through prayers
answered
as we hoped.
Through prayers
answered
in ways
we did not
understand.
Through beginnings.
Through endings.
Through laughter.
Through tears.
God
was there.
And yesterday's
faithfulness
becomes
today's reason
for hope.
The psalmist
does not pretend
the future
holds no uncertainty.
Later he prays,
“Do not cast me away
when I am old;
do not forsake me
when my strength
is gone.”
He knows
life changes.
Strength fades.
Tomorrow
contains things
we cannot predict.
But God
does not change
with our seasons.
The God
who held us
when we were young
does not become
less faithful
as the years
pass.
So hope
does not require us
to know
what happens next.
Hope says,
“I know
who will be there.”
Perhaps
that is why
this is
the right place
to finish
our journey.
We have called Him:
My Rock.
My Shepherd.
My Light.
My Refuge.
My Strength.
My Keeper.
The One
who walks
with me.
My Hiding Place.
And now,
after remembering
all those things,
we can look
toward whatever
comes next
and say:
You are
my hope.
A new beginning can face an unknown tomorrow because it remembers a faithful yesterday:
I may not know what lies ahead, but I know the God who will be there.
Reflection: When I look back over my life, where can I see God's faithfulness giving me reason to trust Him with what still lies ahead?
Prayer: Heavenly Father, You have been faithful through every season of my life. Thank You for the times I recognized Your hand and for the times You were working when I could not see it. When tomorrow feels uncertain, help me remember yesterday's faithfulness. You have been my trust, and You remain my hope. Whatever years or days lie ahead, let me face them with confidence—not because I know what they hold, but because I know You will be there. In Jesus' name, Amen.

# Psalms were the original spoken word
That's exactly right, and it's why they still hit so hard on a phone screen today.

Psalms were never meant to be quietly read. They were lyrics, prayers, protest songs performed out loud. Ancient Hebrew culture didn't have books everywhere, so poetry was memory technology. Over a third of the Old Testament is poetry for that reason — Job, Proverbs, Psalms, most of the prophets.

And Hebrew poetry doesn't work like English poetry. It doesn't rhyme. It uses parallelism, where the second line echoes, contrasts, or expands the first.

Like "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." That's synonymous parallelism — same idea, said twice, bigger the second time.

You get antithetic too — "The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously." Or synthetic, where the second line completes the first.

That A-then-B expansion is literally what modern faith spoken word does. When someone says "from storms to raindrops" or "from scarlet sins to snow-white grace" — that's straight out of Isaiah 1:18 and Psalm structure. Terseness, vivid image, repetition. C.S. Lewis nailed it when he said the Psalms must be read as poems, as lyrics, with emotional rather than logical connections.

It's also why they work on Reels. Psalm 25:4 is three Hebrew words then two. No intro, no fluff. Psalms were sung with just a voice, no production — same as a one-take spoken word video today.

This is a portion of Scripture that offers comfort and promises God’s abiding presence, strength, and help during times of fear and anxiety, for our God is faithful and righteous.
We are commanded "do not be afraid" because we have no reason to worry or fear; all we need to do is place our full trust in our Lord Jesus without hesitation, confident that God is always with us.
If you do not know how you will get through the day, God is right there beside you to provide the strength and help needed to overcome whatever you are facing in life. Let us always fix our eyes on what God is doing in our lives; He will surely take away all hardships and fears. God’s promises never change. Yet, we often blame God for the events of our lives, when in reality, we are the ones responsible for remaining stuck in problems so overwhelming that we hardly know what to do. Nevertheless, God’s faithfulness is great and steadfast, for He keeps His promises.
God says, "For I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand"—meaning, it is God who holds us. and in this verse It means God offers personal support, divine strength, and active protection so a person will not fall or give in to fear during hard times. God is with us!
#GodNeverChange
#HeIsFaithfulAndMighty
#LordsBook

The Lord is able to save anyone! No one is too far gone for him

Isaiah 1:18 NKJV
“Come now, and let us reason together,” Says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.

August 26, 2026 (day 238/365)
WEDNESDAY

GOD'S WORD FOR THE DAY

“Celebrate God’s Faithfulness”

Nehemiah 12:43

“Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy.”

This is the Word of God. Nehemiah 12 describes the dedication of Jerusalem’s rebuilt wall. After years of hardship, opposition, and hard work, the people gathered to celebrate what God had accomplished among them. Their joy was not merely because the wall was finished, but because they recognized God’s hand in their restoration.

Sometimes we become so focused on our next challenge that we forget to stop and celebrate what God has already done. Every answered prayer, every difficulty He has carried us through, and every blessing He has provided is a reason to give Him thanks.

True Christian joy comes from recognizing God’s faithfulness. When we remember His goodness, gratitude replaces complaining and praise replaces discouragement.

May we never become too busy to stop and thank God for His faithfulness. May our lives be filled with grateful hearts that rejoice in all that He has done. Amen.

Have a blessed day with the Lord.

-- Pastor Emmanuel Serto

Why does a Christian need to cultivate Biblical discernment?
Three reasons why you need Biblical discernment:

Sometimes you hear the right voice (a believer) say the wrong thing. When this happens, if you exercise Biblical discernment, then you’ll understand that the person simply mis-spoke. We’re all human and we all make mistakes. Mis-stating something doesn’t make someone a bad person. It simply means that they’re human…like you.
Sometimes you hear the wrong voice (a non-believer) say the right thing. When this happens, if you exercise Biblical discernment, then you’ll understand that the person didn’t say the right thing to help you; they said what they said to try to mislead you because…
The wrong voice NEVER says the right thing for the right reason.
Now that I’ve stirred up a hornets nest, let me make some clarifications.

The insights I’ve shared in this post only apply to true Christians - followers of Jesus - who live the way they live to glorify God and point people to the Savior, Jesus Christ. And just to be perfectly clear: Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world. In fact, He’s the only Savior, which means that there is NO way to connect to God the Father apart from Jesus.
The Biblical discernment I’m referring to is developed over time by making God’s Word (the Bible) a priority, along with praying regularly and fellowshipping regularly with other believers. Biblical discernment is NOT available to unbelievers. So if you want Biblical discernment, but you have not yet surrendered to the Lordship of Jesus, then your next step is to do what the Bible tells us we have to do to connect with the Father through Jesus:
Believe in God the Father and in His only Son, Jesus Christ.
Confess that Jesus is Lord and that the Father raised Him from the dead.
Repent of your sin (your wrongdoing - we’ve all done wrong).
Surrender control of your life to Jesus, who will then become the Lord of your life.
Accept by faith the forgiveness that God offers freely through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.
Believe that you are now justified before God (put in right-standing with God), and that He’s forgiven you of EVERY wrong thing you’ve ever done.
Believe God’s Holy Spirit is now living in you (that’s a mystery, but it’s true), and purpose in your heart to live as God intends, with the help of His Spirit.
Learn to enjoy being in God’s “forever family”, and share with others what’s happened to you. Discover God’s gifts to you, and then use them to make a difference in the lives of other people. Become an ambassador for Jesus! Tell everyone you meet about how He’s changed your life and given you a purpose (a reason for living).
I hope these insights inspire & motivate you to open yourself up to all that God is and all that He has for you! God bless!

Why do Christians ignore the fact that there are many people named Jesus?
We don’t ignore it. It’s actually of no consequence because there are many people named James, John, Peter, Andrew, etc. The important thing is that there is only one person known as Jesus Christ, because He’s the only Messiah - the only Savior. His name - Jesus Christ - is above every other name, and at that name, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus (Christ) is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. This stuff isn’t hard. Stop complicating the issue. Of course, the reason people do this is to avoid getting to the heart of the matter, which is this: have I believed in and trusted in Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of my sins, so that I can be put in right-standing with God the Father? That’s the issue!

Great Blessings Hidden in Small Acts of Obedience

“Obedience in the small things leads to great success.”

God often tests our obedience in small places that no one notices before He lifts us up. Because before a success that is visible on the platform, God looks for character that is formed in the secret place.

Noah built the ark exactly as God commanded, even when there was no visible sign of rain. His long-term obedience became the reason for the salvation of his family. (Genesis 6:22)

When Naaman was told to wash himself seven times in the Jordan, it seemed like a very simple instruction. But when he obeyed, he was cleansed. (2 Kings 5:10–14)

Obedience to a small instruction can bring a great transformation.

Obeying even when we do not understand is an expression of faith.

Obedience is never wasted, even when the answer is delayed.

God sees the obedience we offer in places where no one else is watching.

Today’s small act of obedience can become tomorrow’s great testimony.

God is less concerned with asking, How great was the thing you did? and more concerned with, How faithful were you to do what I told you?

Never consider a small act insignificant.
A small act of obedience placed in God’s hands can become the beginning of a great blessing.

> “He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much.”
— Luke 16:10


Hepsi Sam

There are different levels of friendship . You can have friends 🏾‍🏻‍🏻‍🏽‍who are with you for a season. Then there are friends 🏽‍🏻🏾‍🏼who stick around for a reason. Your true friends however are the ones who stay for life . Those ones will be there no matter what happens to you. In good times and bad times. The problem however is that, sometimes we can't tell the difference between the three. We confuse the seasonal and reason -based friends with the lifelong friends. This creates shock waves that can hinder progress. Until you learn to distinguish the levels of friendship, you will get heartbreak upon heartbreak . In John 6:67, Jesus asked His disciples if they will leave Him too. This was after some people 🏾‍🏻🏽‍🏽‍turned and walked away from Him. You would think that Jesus would try and pamper the rest to stick around... but He asked if they will leave too. This is because He understood that not everyone will go with you to the end (If people walked away from Jesus they will walk away from you too). Therefore He didn't handle them all the same way. Among the 12, there were times He selected only Peter, James and John(the 3) 🏻🏾‍🏾‍to be with Him. Even among the 3, John🏻 was called the beloved apostle who could put his head on Jesus' chest(JN.13:23). Learn to distinguish between the levels and types of friends in your life and save yourself trauma ‍ upon trauma ‍. If you don't do that, you can even lose the ones 🏻‍🏾‍🏻‍who will want to stay with you for a lifetime because you will end up treating them like everyone else. Friendships are supposed to make our lives better but can really be a problem if you don't know how to handle it. Know how to treat people based on these differences and your life will be so much better. Have a lovely day .

Did you know?
Praying to the dead is not a harmless tradition. It is communication with the dead — and God plainly forbids it.

The Bible does not say, “Seek the saints.” It says, “Should not a people seek their God? Should they seek the dead on behalf of the living?” (Isaiah 8:19).

That is the issue.
You can call it veneration, intercession, or honour — but if a living person is directing requests to the dead, it is still seeking the dead on behalf of the living.

God explicitly condemned this practice:
“There shall not be found among you anyone… who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead.” (Deuteronomy 18:10–12)

And Scripture gives us no reason to pray to the dead in the first place:

The dead do not know anything (Ecclesiastes 9:5)
Their thoughts perish (Psalm 146:4)
There is one Mediator between God and men — Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 2:5)

So the biblical pattern is simple:
Seek God, not the dead.
Pray to the Father, through Jesus Christ.

If the dead cannot hear you, your prayers are wasted. And if something does answer, it is not holy.