Great Comfort in the Lord

There is such a great comfort in belonging to the Lord. I honestly don't know how people without the Lord even get out of bed in the morning.  Sometimes the world just seems to be too much and I want to hide in a hole, but with the Lord I have the strength to crawl out and start again.

I was talking to a friend the other day and we learned that each of us had been victim of the rumor mill.  She told me how much it hurt to be accused and I agreed.  I'd been falsely judged--accused of words that never came out of my mouth.  Worse still, in both cases, it wasn't the world judging us, but rather Christians.  Christians who should have known better, because I thought they knew me.

A dear sister in the Lord listened to me ask for prayer at our Monday morning Bible study and she sent me a connection with these wonderful Scriptures.

I Corinthians 4

 This, then, is how you ought to regard us: as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the mysteries God has revealed. ² Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. ³ I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. ⁴ My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. ⁵ Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart. At that time each will receive their praise from God.


Aren't those awesome verses?  I found such comfort in them and I know my friend did too.  I'm so grateful to the woman who sent me this reminder.

I'm not without faults - just like the verse says, but God knows my conscience is clear and that I will let Him deal with the pain caused me by brothers and sisters. I will let Jesus hold me. 

Most of all, this set of verses reminded me to be very cautious about jumping to conclusions or listening to gossip and rumors.  It reminded me that often things are said, even in the church, that has no purpose but to degrade and wound.  The tongue is definitely a sword with which we can wound and I want to be very careful about the things I say and the accusations I throw around. I want to remember that even on the cross, Jesus forgave the things that others said falsely about Him.

I'm so very comforted in belonging to the Lord.  He is my stronghold and I hope He's yours as well.  I think Psalm 141:3 will be my prayer:

Set a guard over my mouth, Lord; keep watch over the door of my lips.

P.S.  Check out this website interview:
http://www.christianfictionsite.com/1/post/2013/02/featured-author-interview-with-tracie-peterson.html