September 17st
How to Defeat Sadness and Affliction!
By Trusting in God!By Riqui Ricón*
Lord of hosts,
blessed is the man who trusts in you. (Psalm 84:12,
KJV)
How amazing is the simplicity of the path that leads to human
happiness: Trusting in God!
And just as simple is the
key to walk this path of joy and happiness: Believe! Believe God, believing His Word!
In fact, without
faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone
who comes to him must believe
that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews
11:6, NIV)
If you think
about it, you’ll
realize that the only reason for human unhappiness is unbelief in the Word of
God. It’s that latent and persistent doubt that questions in your mind whether
God exists or not, whether His Word is the Truth or not.
The misery of humanity begins when we doubt the Word of God and ignore
the Truth.
Pilate
therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a
king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into
the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. (John
18:37 KJV)
Regarding the knowledge of the Truth and the search for
happiness, it is interesting to note that even though thousands of years have
passed, humanity’s dilemma is the same as Adam and Eve faced in the Garden
of Eden: my God and Creator
SAYS one thing, but this little animal (the serpent) SAYS something completely different. Which one is telling the Truth? Which one will I BELIEVE?
You know the end of that story very well: Adam and Eve
did NOT TRUST God and decided to believe the serpent. Adam and Eve denied the Truth to BELIEVE
a lie and allowed fear and unhappiness into their lives, and into the life of
all humankind.
Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
(Psalm 40:4, NKJV)
Trusting in God literally means believing Him; it means believing what He says, for every Word that comes from His
mouth is Truth. Remember that God CANNOT lie. Even if He wanted to, He cannot
do it.
You might protest,
“God can do EVERYTHING.”
Let me explain
why God CANNOT lie, even if He remotely wanted
to:
By faith we understand that the universe
was formed at God’s command,
so
that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (Hebrews
11:3 NIV)
Since the power of God’s strength is His Word, with which
He created the entire universe (the visible and the invisible), we can
understand that anything God says must come to pass. That’s why God cannot lie.
Even if He wanted to, He couldn’t, because
a lie is the exact opposite of the Truth, and as we’ve seen, every word that comes from God’s
mouth is Truth, because it fulfills itself.
And God said, “Let there be light,”
and there was light. (Genesis 1:3 KJV) For example,
if the Lord wanted to play a joke on you and appeared to
you
today, Tuesday, saying: “Hello, don’t you like the
beautiful Friday night I’m giving you?” you couldn’t argue
that He was mistaken, because,
as He is God, what do you
think would happen when the words “beautiful Friday night” came out of His
mouth? Of course! You’d have to change your schedule and adjust your clocks,
because, without any discussion, it would become Friday night.
But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart
rejoices in your salvation.
(Psalm 13:5 NIV)
God, the Almighty,
only asks you to trust Him, to believe His Word, to believe
that He keeps His Word of Honor, because, after all, He cannot lie.
So, indeed, there is only one thing
that Almighty God cannot do, and that is lie.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the
LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted
by the waters, and that spreadeth
out her roots
by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be
green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease
from yielding fruit. The LORD of hosts, blessed
is the man that trusteth in him.
(Psalm 84:5–7 KJV)
You’ll realize that it’s not about whether
God is trustworthy or not, since His
Word is the eternal
and infallible Truth.
What your life is really about is
whether you decide to trust Him or not. It’s about
whether you decide to believe His Word or not. And since
God is one hundred percent
trustworthy, it would be a
huge mistake not to believe Him. Right?
For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to
condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John
3:16–17 KJV)
God loves you so much that He preferred
to give up His own Son rather
than lose you!
By dying on that cross and rising again, conquering
death, Jesus not only paid for your sins to make you righteous
before God, but also imparted His own Life to you,
making you a genuine and authentic Born Again Child of God.
The
thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
(John 10:10 KJV)
He came so that you may have life, and have it abundantly!
Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But he no longer
has any authority over you. The only weapon he has is the lie. With lies, he tries to
sow doubt and fear
so that you stop trusting
your Heavenly Father. He uses circumstances to shout in your ear: you won’t be healed
this time; you’re going to die; you’ll run out of money and how will you feed your
family; your marriage is over, they don’t love you anymore; your child will be
lost, you didn’t know how to raise them, etc.
All those lies will start
to seem very real to you
as you begin to believe
them.
Then
said Jesus to those Jews which believed
on him, If ye continue
in my word, then are ye my disciples
indeed; And ye shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free.
(John 8:31–32 KJV)
Only the Bible,
which is the Word of God and does not lie, has the power to set you free from doubt and fear. Only
the Truth can set you free!
Oh, how blessed are those who put their trust in you, O Lord,
who find their strength in you. They walk through the dark vale of weeping,
but they come out
with shouts of joy; the yelping may last through the night, but joy comes in
the morning. (Psalm 84:5–6 NLT)
Blessed is the man or woman who knows they are a beloved Child of God—and believes it! For all their trust
is in their Heavenly Father, Almighty God. Instead of suffering and enduring this valley of tears
(which is what Satan intends), you
are destined by God to transform your life into an oasis blessed by the early rain.
This is what your adversary, the devil, fears most: that
you discover and BELIEVE your true purpose in this world:
That you are a spring
of Eternal Life in a world dying of thirst.
For
the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing
will he withhold
from them that walk uprightly. (Psalm 84:11 KJV)
To be blameless means to know who you are; it means to
believe it and live it. To be blameless means
to live according to the Truth. And the Truth is that you are a Born Again Child of God.
Everyone who believes
that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God. (1 John 5:1a NIV)
The Truth is that you were Born Again from the incorruptible seed, which is the
Word of God.
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,
through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1:23
NIV)
The Truth is that you are greatly
loved by your Heavenly Father.
See
what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called
children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know
us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1 NIV)
Let us pray aloud:
Beloved Heavenly Father, today I come before You to
assure You that I have put my trust in Your Word. Lord Jesus, I trust in You.
Thank You, because by Your death and resurrection I have passed from death to
life, You have transferred me from the darkness I was in to Your marvelous
light. By Your Love, by Your Blood, and by Your Word I have been Born Again to
receive Eternal Life as a Child of God. Thank You, Lord Jesus! Thank You so
much! My heart trusts in You. My soul rejoices in You. My being rests in You. I
can be happy, for even though I walk through
the valley of the shadow
of death, I will
fear no evil, for You, Lord, are with me. I believe and declare that I,
(your name here),
dwell in the shelter
of the Most High and abide
under the shadow of the Almighty. I say to You, Jesus: My hope and my fortress;
my God, in You I will trust. You will deliver me from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence. You will cover me with Your feathers, and under
Your wings I will find refuge; Your truth will be my shield and buckler. I will
not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor
the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the
destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at my side, and ten
thousand at my right hand; but it will not come near
me. Surely with my eyes I will look
and see the reward of the
wicked. Because I have made You, Lord, my refuge, the Most High my dwelling
place, no evil shall befall me, nor shall any plague come near my dwelling. For
You will command Your angels concerning me, to guard me in all my ways. They
will lift me up in their hands, so that I will not strike my foot against a
stone. I will tread on the lion and the cobra; I will trample the great lion
and the serpent. Because I have set my love upon You, Jesus, You will deliver
me; You will set me on high, because I have known Your name. I will call
upon You, and You will answer me; You will be with me in trouble; You will
deliver me and honor me. With long life You will satisfy me and show me Your
salvation. So, Abba! Father! I am Yours, and in Christ Jesus I have already
overcome, for greater are You, Holy Spirit, who lives in me and with me, than
he who is in the world. Father, all and every one of Your Promises are in me,
yes and amen! I submit to You, my God and Father, I submit to Your Word, I
resist Satan and he has to flee from my life. I do not receive doubt, nor fear,
nor sickness, nor poverty, nor anguish, nor depression. I am healed!
I am free! I am
prosperous! I am blessed! In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Important Note:
How do I become a Child of God? How do I establish a relationship with the
Almighty?
Just say the following prayer aloud, putting
all your attention
and heart into what you are saying to God:
Lord Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of God. That
You came into this world, born of the virgin Mary, to pay for all my sins, and I have been a sinner. Therefore, today I say that I
accept. I accept Your sacrifice on the cross! I accept Your precious Blood shed to the last drop out of love for me! I open my heart
to You and invite You in
because I want, Lord Jesus, that from today and forever You be my only and sufficient
Savior, my God, my King, and my Lord.
Thank You,
Almighty God, because with this simple prayer and profession of faith I have passed
from death to Life, I have been transferred from darkness
to Your marvelous Light. Today I have been Born Again! God, now I am Your
Child! Now You are my Father! I will never be alone again! I will never live
defeated again. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Three Recommendations:
What just
happened by you recognizing Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of your life, according to God's Word, is that you have been Born Again. No longer
as an ordinary human being, subject to the law of sin and death, but now as a
legitimate and authentic Child of God, Born Again, exactly like Jesus Christ, who is now your Older Brother. Therefore,
I give you these three, very important, recommendations:
1.
Pray. Praying is talking with God. So, find a quiet
place where you can begin talking to Him about everything. Do it out loud, and you will notice
how God always responds to your heart.
2.
Read and meditate
on the Word of God. The Bible is the Word of God, so get a Bible
and start reading
and meditating on it. How do you begin? It’s very simple. Depending on the day,
look up the reading program “The Bible in
One Year” and do the corresponding readings. You can get this program at: Through The Bible In One Year
(palabradehonor.org). You will notice that the program is set up so you can
print it as a booklet.
3.
In prayer with God, your Father, look for and join a
Christian church or congregation where the Word of God is taught based on the Good News, which are the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Ricardo C. Peredo Jaime © 2020
Reading and Meditation on the Word of God
Do these daily readings, and by the end of one year you will have
read the entire Bible.
September 17 John 18:19–38 / 2 Chronicles 27–28 / Psalm 84
The High Priest Questions Jesus
19 Meanwhile, the high priest
questioned Jesus about
his disciples and his teaching.
20 “I have spoken openly
to the world,” Jesus replied.
“I always taught
in synagogues or at
the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 21 Why question me? Ask those who heard
me. Surely they know what I said.”
22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. “Is this the way
you answer the high priest?” he demanded.
23 “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied,
“testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” 24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
Peter’s Second
and Third Denials
25 Meanwhile, Simon
Peter was still standing there warming himself.
So they asked
him,
“You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it, saying, “I am not.”
26 One of the high priest’s servants, a relative
of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?”
27 Again Peter denied it, and at
that moment
a rooster began to crow.
Jesus Before
Pilate
28 Then the Jewish leaders
took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace
of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid
ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted
to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you
bringing against this man?”
30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”
31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”
“But we have no right to execute anyone,”
they objected. 32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of
death he was going to die.
33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned
Jesus and asked
him, “Are you the
king of the Jews?”
34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others
talk to you about me?”
35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied.
“Your own people
and chief priests handed you over to me.
What is it you have done?”
36 Jesus said, “My
kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now
my kingdom is from another
place.”
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered,
“You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason
I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.
Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
38 “What is truth?” retorted
Pilate. With this he went out again
to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a
charge against him.
Jotham King of Judah
27 Jotham was
twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years.
His mother’s name was Jerusha
daughter of Zadok. 2 He did what was right in
the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Uzziah
had done, but unlike him he did not enter the
temple of the LORD. The people, however, continued their corrupt practices. 3 Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the
temple of the LORD and did extensive work on the wall at the hill of Ophel. 4 He built towns in the hill country of
Judah and forts and towers in the wooded areas.
5 Jotham waged
war against the king
of the Ammonites and conquered them. That year the Ammonites
paid him a hundred talents[a] of silver, ten thousand cors[b] of wheat and ten thousand cors[c] of barley. The Ammonites brought him the same amount
also in the second and third
years.
6 Jotham grew powerful because
he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God.
7 The other events
in Jotham’s reign, including all his wars and the other things he did, are
written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. 8 He was twenty-five years old when he
became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem
sixteen years. 9 Jotham rested with his
ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Ahaz his son succeeded him
as king.
Ahaz King of Judah
28 Ahaz was twenty
years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years.
Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. 2 He followed the ways of the kings of
Israel and also made idols for worshiping the Baals. 3 He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom
and sacrificed his children in the fire,
engaging in the detestable
practices of the nations the LORD had driven
out before the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned
incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.
5 Therefore the LORD his God delivered him into
the hands of the king of Aram. The Arameans
defeated him and took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to
Damascus.
He was also given into the hands of the king of Israel,
who inflicted heavy casualties on
him.
6 In one day Pekah
son of Remaliah killed a hundred and twenty thousand soldiers in Judah—because
Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their ancestors. 7 Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed
Maaseiah the king’s
son, Azrikam the officer in charge of the
palace, and Elkanah, second to the king. 8 The men of Israel took captive from their fellow Israelites who were from Judah two hundred thousand
wives, sons and daughters. They also
took a great deal of plunder, which they carried back to Samaria.
9 But a prophet of
the LORD named Oded was there, and he went out to meet
the army when it returned
to Samaria. He said to them, “Because
the LORD, the God of your ancestors,
was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand. But you have slaughtered
them in a rage that reaches to heaven.
10 And now you intend to make the men and women of Judah and
Jerusalem your slaves. But aren’t you also guilty of sins against the LORD your God? 11 Now listen to me! Send back your
fellow Israelites you have taken as prisoners, for the LORD’s fierce anger
rests on you.”
12 Then some of the
leaders in Ephraim—Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth,
Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai—confronted those who were arriving
from the war. 13 “You
must not bring those prisoners here,” they said, “or we will be guilty before the LORD. Do you intend
to add to our sin and guilt? For our guilt is
already great, and his fierce anger rests on Israel.”
14 So the soldiers gave up the prisoners and plunder in the presence
of the officials and all the assembly. 15 The men designated by name took the prisoners, and from the
plunder they clothed all who were naked. They provided them with clothes and
sandals, food and drink, and healing
balm. All those who were weak they put on donkeys. So they took them
back to their fellow Israelites at Jericho, the City of Palms, and returned to
Samaria.
16 At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings[d] of Assyria for help. 17 The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried
away prisoners, 18 while the
Philistines had raided towns in the foothills and in the Negev of Judah. They
captured and occupied Beth Shemesh, Aijalon and Gederoth, as well as Soko, Timnah
and Gimzo, with their surrounding villages. 19 The LORD had humbled Judah because of
Ahaz king of Israel,[e] for he had promoted
wickedness in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the LORD. 20 Tiglath- Pileser[f] king of Assyria
came to him, but
he gave him trouble instead
of help. 21 Ahaz took some of the things from the temple
of the LORD
and
from the royal palace and from the officials and presented them to the king of
Assyria, but that did not help him.
22 In his time of trouble King Ahaz became
even more unfaithful to the
LORD. 23 He
offered sacrifices to the
gods of Damascus, who had defeated
him; for he thought, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped
them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they were his
downfall and the downfall of all Israel.
24 Ahaz gathered
together the furnishings from the temple of God and cut them in pieces. He shut the doors of the LORD’s temple
and set up altars at every street
corner in Jerusalem. 25 In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices
to other gods and aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of his ancestors.
26 The other
events of his reign and all his ways, from beginning to end, are written in the
book of the kings of Judah and
Israel. 27 Ahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city
of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And
Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.
Psalm 84
For the director of music. According
to gittith.[b] Of the Sons of Korah.
A psalm.
1
How lovely
is your dwelling
place, LORD Almighty!
2
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
3
Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
LORD Almighty,
my King and my God.
4
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.[c]
5
Blessed are those whose
strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6
As they pass through
the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.[d]
7
They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
8
By Riqui Ricón*
Lord of hosts,
blessed is the man who trusts in you. (Psalm 84:12,
KJV)
How amazing is the simplicity of the path that leads to human
happiness: Trusting in God!
And just as simple is the
key to walk this path of joy and happiness: Believe! Believe God, believing His Word!
In fact, without
faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone
who comes to him must believe
that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him. (Hebrews
11:6, NIV)
If you think
about it, you’ll
realize that the only reason for human unhappiness is unbelief in the Word of
God. It’s that latent and persistent doubt that questions in your mind whether
God exists or not, whether His Word is the Truth or not.
The misery of humanity begins when we doubt the Word of God and ignore
the Truth.
Pilate
therefore said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a
king. To this end was I born, and for this cause came I into
the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. (John
18:37 KJV)
Regarding the knowledge of the Truth and the search for
happiness, it is interesting to note that even though thousands of years have
passed, humanity’s dilemma is the same as Adam and Eve faced in the Garden
of Eden: my God and Creator
SAYS one thing, but this little animal (the serpent) SAYS something completely different. Which one is telling the Truth? Which one will I BELIEVE?
You know the end of that story very well: Adam and Eve
did NOT TRUST God and decided to believe the serpent. Adam and Eve denied the Truth to BELIEVE
a lie and allowed fear and unhappiness into their lives, and into the life of
all humankind.
Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, and does not respect the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.
(Psalm 40:4, NKJV)
Trusting in God literally means believing Him; it means believing what He says, for every Word that comes from His
mouth is Truth. Remember that God CANNOT lie. Even if He wanted to, He cannot
do it.
You might protest,
“God can do EVERYTHING.”
Let me explain
why God CANNOT lie, even if He remotely wanted
to:
By faith we understand that the universe
was formed at God’s command,
so
that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. (Hebrews
11:3 NIV)
Since the power of God’s strength is His Word, with which
He created the entire universe (the visible and the invisible), we can
understand that anything God says must come to pass. That’s why God cannot lie.
Even if He wanted to, He couldn’t, because
a lie is the exact opposite of the Truth, and as we’ve seen, every word that comes from God’s
mouth is Truth, because it fulfills itself.
And God said, “Let there be light,”
and there was light. (Genesis 1:3 KJV) For example,
if the Lord wanted to play a joke on you and appeared to
you
today, Tuesday, saying: “Hello, don’t you like the
beautiful Friday night I’m giving you?” you couldn’t argue
that He was mistaken, because,
as He is God, what do you
think would happen when the words “beautiful Friday night” came out of His
mouth? Of course! You’d have to change your schedule and adjust your clocks,
because, without any discussion, it would become Friday night.
But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart
rejoices in your salvation.
(Psalm 13:5 NIV)
God, the Almighty,
only asks you to trust Him, to believe His Word, to believe
that He keeps His Word of Honor, because, after all, He cannot lie.
So, indeed, there is only one thing
that Almighty God cannot do, and that is lie.
Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the
LORD is. For he shall be as a tree planted
by the waters, and that spreadeth
out her roots
by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be
green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease
from yielding fruit. The LORD of hosts, blessed
is the man that trusteth in him.
(Psalm 84:5–7 KJV)
You’ll realize that it’s not about whether
God is trustworthy or not, since His
Word is the eternal
and infallible Truth.
What your life is really about is
whether you decide to trust Him or not. It’s about
whether you decide to believe His Word or not. And since
God is one hundred percent
trustworthy, it would be a
huge mistake not to believe Him. Right?
For God so loved the world, that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not
perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to
condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John
3:16–17 KJV)
God loves you so much that He preferred
to give up His own Son rather
than lose you!
By dying on that cross and rising again, conquering
death, Jesus not only paid for your sins to make you righteous
before God, but also imparted His own Life to you,
making you a genuine and authentic Born Again Child of God.
The
thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
(John 10:10 KJV)
He came so that you may have life, and have it abundantly!
Satan comes to steal, kill, and destroy. But he no longer
has any authority over you. The only weapon he has is the lie. With lies, he tries to
sow doubt and fear
so that you stop trusting
your Heavenly Father. He uses circumstances to shout in your ear: you won’t be healed
this time; you’re going to die; you’ll run out of money and how will you feed your
family; your marriage is over, they don’t love you anymore; your child will be
lost, you didn’t know how to raise them, etc.
All those lies will start
to seem very real to you
as you begin to believe
them.
Then
said Jesus to those Jews which believed
on him, If ye continue
in my word, then are ye my disciples
indeed; And ye shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free.
(John 8:31–32 KJV)
Only the Bible,
which is the Word of God and does not lie, has the power to set you free from doubt and fear. Only
the Truth can set you free!
Oh, how blessed are those who put their trust in you, O Lord,
who find their strength in you. They walk through the dark vale of weeping,
but they come out
with shouts of joy; the yelping may last through the night, but joy comes in
the morning. (Psalm 84:5–6 NLT)
Blessed is the man or woman who knows they are a beloved Child of God—and believes it! For all their trust
is in their Heavenly Father, Almighty God. Instead of suffering and enduring this valley of tears
(which is what Satan intends), you
are destined by God to transform your life into an oasis blessed by the early rain.
This is what your adversary, the devil, fears most: that
you discover and BELIEVE your true purpose in this world:
That you are a spring
of Eternal Life in a world dying of thirst.
For
the LORD God is a sun and shield: the LORD will give grace and glory: no good thing
will he withhold
from them that walk uprightly. (Psalm 84:11 KJV)
To be blameless means to know who you are; it means to
believe it and live it. To be blameless means
to live according to the Truth. And the Truth is that you are a Born Again Child of God.
Everyone who believes
that Jesus is the Christ
is born of God. (1 John 5:1a NIV)
The Truth is that you were Born Again from the incorruptible seed, which is the
Word of God.
For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,
through the living and enduring word of God. (1 Peter 1:23
NIV)
The Truth is that you are greatly
loved by your Heavenly Father.
See
what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called
children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know
us is that it did not know him. (1 John 3:1 NIV)
Let us pray aloud:
Beloved Heavenly Father, today I come before You to
assure You that I have put my trust in Your Word. Lord Jesus, I trust in You.
Thank You, because by Your death and resurrection I have passed from death to
life, You have transferred me from the darkness I was in to Your marvelous
light. By Your Love, by Your Blood, and by Your Word I have been Born Again to
receive Eternal Life as a Child of God. Thank You, Lord Jesus! Thank You so
much! My heart trusts in You. My soul rejoices in You. My being rests in You. I
can be happy, for even though I walk through
the valley of the shadow
of death, I will
fear no evil, for You, Lord, are with me. I believe and declare that I,
(your name here),
dwell in the shelter
of the Most High and abide
under the shadow of the Almighty. I say to You, Jesus: My hope and my fortress;
my God, in You I will trust. You will deliver me from the snare of the fowler
and from the deadly pestilence. You will cover me with Your feathers, and under
Your wings I will find refuge; Your truth will be my shield and buckler. I will
not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor
the pestilence that stalks in darkness, nor the
destruction that wastes at noonday. A thousand may fall at my side, and ten
thousand at my right hand; but it will not come near
me. Surely with my eyes I will look
and see the reward of the
wicked. Because I have made You, Lord, my refuge, the Most High my dwelling
place, no evil shall befall me, nor shall any plague come near my dwelling. For
You will command Your angels concerning me, to guard me in all my ways. They
will lift me up in their hands, so that I will not strike my foot against a
stone. I will tread on the lion and the cobra; I will trample the great lion
and the serpent. Because I have set my love upon You, Jesus, You will deliver
me; You will set me on high, because I have known Your name. I will call
upon You, and You will answer me; You will be with me in trouble; You will
deliver me and honor me. With long life You will satisfy me and show me Your
salvation. So, Abba! Father! I am Yours, and in Christ Jesus I have already
overcome, for greater are You, Holy Spirit, who lives in me and with me, than
he who is in the world. Father, all and every one of Your Promises are in me,
yes and amen! I submit to You, my God and Father, I submit to Your Word, I
resist Satan and he has to flee from my life. I do not receive doubt, nor fear,
nor sickness, nor poverty, nor anguish, nor depression. I am healed!
I am free! I am
prosperous! I am blessed! In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Important Note:
How do I become a Child of God? How do I establish a relationship with the
Almighty?
Just say the following prayer aloud, putting
all your attention
and heart into what you are saying to God:
Lord Jesus, I believe that You are the Son of God. That
You came into this world, born of the virgin Mary, to pay for all my sins, and I have been a sinner. Therefore, today I say that I
accept. I accept Your sacrifice on the cross! I accept Your precious Blood shed to the last drop out of love for me! I open my heart
to You and invite You in
because I want, Lord Jesus, that from today and forever You be my only and sufficient
Savior, my God, my King, and my Lord.
Thank You,
Almighty God, because with this simple prayer and profession of faith I have passed
from death to Life, I have been transferred from darkness
to Your marvelous Light. Today I have been Born Again! God, now I am Your
Child! Now You are my Father! I will never be alone again! I will never live
defeated again. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Three Recommendations:
What just
happened by you recognizing Jesus Christ as the Lord and Savior of your life, according to God's Word, is that you have been Born Again. No longer
as an ordinary human being, subject to the law of sin and death, but now as a
legitimate and authentic Child of God, Born Again, exactly like Jesus Christ, who is now your Older Brother. Therefore,
I give you these three, very important, recommendations:
1.
Pray. Praying is talking with God. So, find a quiet
place where you can begin talking to Him about everything. Do it out loud, and you will notice
how God always responds to your heart.
2.
Read and meditate
on the Word of God. The Bible is the Word of God, so get a Bible
and start reading
and meditating on it. How do you begin? It’s very simple. Depending on the day,
look up the reading program “The Bible in
One Year” and do the corresponding readings. You can get this program at: Through The Bible In One Year
(palabradehonor.org). You will notice that the program is set up so you can
print it as a booklet.
3.
In prayer with God, your Father, look for and join a
Christian church or congregation where the Word of God is taught based on the Good News, which are the Gospel of Jesus
Christ.
Ricardo C. Peredo Jaime © 2020
Reading and Meditation on the Word of God
Do these daily readings, and by the end of one year you will have
read the entire Bible.
September 17 John 18:19–38 / 2 Chronicles 27–28 / Psalm 84
The High Priest Questions Jesus
19 Meanwhile, the high priest
questioned Jesus about
his disciples and his teaching.
20 “I have spoken openly
to the world,” Jesus replied.
“I always taught
in synagogues or at
the temple, where all the Jews come together. I said nothing in secret. 21 Why question me? Ask those who heard
me. Surely they know what I said.”
22 When Jesus said this, one of the officials nearby slapped him in the face. “Is this the way
you answer the high priest?” he demanded.
23 “If I said something wrong,” Jesus replied,
“testify as to what is wrong. But if I spoke the truth, why did you strike me?” 24 Then Annas sent him bound to Caiaphas the high priest.
Peter’s Second
and Third Denials
25 Meanwhile, Simon
Peter was still standing there warming himself.
So they asked
him,
“You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” He denied it, saying, “I am not.”
26 One of the high priest’s servants, a relative
of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?”
27 Again Peter denied it, and at
that moment
a rooster began to crow.
Jesus Before
Pilate
28 Then the Jewish leaders
took Jesus from Caiaphas to the palace
of the Roman governor. By now it was early morning, and to avoid
ceremonial uncleanness they did not enter the palace, because they wanted
to be able to eat the Passover. 29 So Pilate came out to them and asked, “What charges are you
bringing against this man?”
30 “If he were not a criminal,” they replied, “we would not have handed him over to you.”
31 Pilate said, “Take him yourselves and judge him by your own law.”
“But we have no right to execute anyone,”
they objected. 32 This took place to fulfill what Jesus had said about the kind of
death he was going to die.
33 Pilate then went back inside the palace, summoned
Jesus and asked
him, “Are you the
king of the Jews?”
34 “Is that your own idea,” Jesus asked, “or did others
talk to you about me?”
35 “Am I a Jew?” Pilate replied.
“Your own people
and chief priests handed you over to me.
What is it you have done?”
36 Jesus said, “My
kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now
my kingdom is from another
place.”
37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.
Jesus answered,
“You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason
I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth.
Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
38 “What is truth?” retorted
Pilate. With this he went out again
to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a
charge against him.
Jotham King of Judah
27 Jotham was
twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years.
His mother’s name was Jerusha
daughter of Zadok. 2 He did what was right in
the eyes of the LORD, just as his father Uzziah
had done, but unlike him he did not enter the
temple of the LORD. The people, however, continued their corrupt practices. 3 Jotham rebuilt the Upper Gate of the
temple of the LORD and did extensive work on the wall at the hill of Ophel. 4 He built towns in the hill country of
Judah and forts and towers in the wooded areas.
5 Jotham waged
war against the king
of the Ammonites and conquered them. That year the Ammonites
paid him a hundred talents[a] of silver, ten thousand cors[b] of wheat and ten thousand cors[c] of barley. The Ammonites brought him the same amount
also in the second and third
years.
6 Jotham grew powerful because
he walked steadfastly before the LORD his God.
7 The other events
in Jotham’s reign, including all his wars and the other things he did, are
written in the book of the kings of Israel and Judah. 8 He was twenty-five years old when he
became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem
sixteen years. 9 Jotham rested with his
ancestors and was buried in the City of David. And Ahaz his son succeeded him
as king.
Ahaz King of Judah
28 Ahaz was twenty
years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem sixteen years.
Unlike David his father, he did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. 2 He followed the ways of the kings of
Israel and also made idols for worshiping the Baals. 3 He burned sacrifices in the Valley of Ben Hinnom
and sacrificed his children in the fire,
engaging in the detestable
practices of the nations the LORD had driven
out before the Israelites. 4 He offered sacrifices and burned
incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree.
5 Therefore the LORD his God delivered him into
the hands of the king of Aram. The Arameans
defeated him and took many of his people as prisoners and brought them to
Damascus.
He was also given into the hands of the king of Israel,
who inflicted heavy casualties on
him.
6 In one day Pekah
son of Remaliah killed a hundred and twenty thousand soldiers in Judah—because
Judah had forsaken the LORD, the God of their ancestors. 7 Zikri, an Ephraimite warrior, killed
Maaseiah the king’s
son, Azrikam the officer in charge of the
palace, and Elkanah, second to the king. 8 The men of Israel took captive from their fellow Israelites who were from Judah two hundred thousand
wives, sons and daughters. They also
took a great deal of plunder, which they carried back to Samaria.
9 But a prophet of
the LORD named Oded was there, and he went out to meet
the army when it returned
to Samaria. He said to them, “Because
the LORD, the God of your ancestors,
was angry with Judah, he gave them into your hand. But you have slaughtered
them in a rage that reaches to heaven.
10 And now you intend to make the men and women of Judah and
Jerusalem your slaves. But aren’t you also guilty of sins against the LORD your God? 11 Now listen to me! Send back your
fellow Israelites you have taken as prisoners, for the LORD’s fierce anger
rests on you.”
12 Then some of the
leaders in Ephraim—Azariah son of Jehohanan, Berekiah son of Meshillemoth,
Jehizkiah son of Shallum, and Amasa son of Hadlai—confronted those who were arriving
from the war. 13 “You
must not bring those prisoners here,” they said, “or we will be guilty before the LORD. Do you intend
to add to our sin and guilt? For our guilt is
already great, and his fierce anger rests on Israel.”
14 So the soldiers gave up the prisoners and plunder in the presence
of the officials and all the assembly. 15 The men designated by name took the prisoners, and from the
plunder they clothed all who were naked. They provided them with clothes and
sandals, food and drink, and healing
balm. All those who were weak they put on donkeys. So they took them
back to their fellow Israelites at Jericho, the City of Palms, and returned to
Samaria.
16 At that time King Ahaz sent to the kings[d] of Assyria for help. 17 The Edomites had again come and attacked Judah and carried
away prisoners, 18 while the
Philistines had raided towns in the foothills and in the Negev of Judah. They
captured and occupied Beth Shemesh, Aijalon and Gederoth, as well as Soko, Timnah
and Gimzo, with their surrounding villages. 19 The LORD had humbled Judah because of
Ahaz king of Israel,[e] for he had promoted
wickedness in Judah and had been most unfaithful to the LORD. 20 Tiglath- Pileser[f] king of Assyria
came to him, but
he gave him trouble instead
of help. 21 Ahaz took some of the things from the temple
of the LORD
and
from the royal palace and from the officials and presented them to the king of
Assyria, but that did not help him.
22 In his time of trouble King Ahaz became
even more unfaithful to the
LORD. 23 He
offered sacrifices to the
gods of Damascus, who had defeated
him; for he thought, “Since the gods of the kings of Aram have helped
them, I will sacrifice to them so they will help me.” But they were his
downfall and the downfall of all Israel.
24 Ahaz gathered
together the furnishings from the temple of God and cut them in pieces. He shut the doors of the LORD’s temple
and set up altars at every street
corner in Jerusalem. 25 In every town in Judah he built high places to burn sacrifices
to other gods and aroused the anger of the LORD, the God of his ancestors.
26 The other
events of his reign and all his ways, from beginning to end, are written in the
book of the kings of Judah and
Israel. 27 Ahaz rested with his ancestors and was buried in the city
of Jerusalem, but he was not placed in the tombs of the kings of Israel. And
Hezekiah his son succeeded him as king.
Psalm 84
For the director of music. According
to gittith.[b] Of the Sons of Korah.
A psalm.
1
How lovely
is your dwelling
place, LORD Almighty!
2
My soul yearns, even faints,
for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and my flesh cry out
for the living God.
3
Even the sparrow has found a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young—
a place near your altar,
LORD Almighty,
my King and my God.
4
Blessed are those who dwell in your house;
they are ever praising you.[c]
5
Blessed are those whose
strength is in you,
whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
6
As they pass through
the Valley of Baka,
they make it a place of springs;
the autumn rains also cover it with pools.[d]
7
They go from strength to strength,
till each appears before God in Zion.
8
Hear my prayer, LORD God Almighty;
listen to me, God of Jacob.
9
Look on our shield,[e] O God;
look with favor on your anointed
one.
10
Better is one day in your courts
than a thousand elsewhere;
I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house
of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.
11
For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does
he withhold from those whose walk is
blameless.
12
LORD Almighty,
blessed is the one who trusts in you.
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