Each week Lou Lamothe shares his thoughts on various passages of Scripture. Read and reflect on the passages and commentary. See what God's Word has to offer.

April 25, 2010

Psalm 21:1-6
O LORD, the king rejoices in your strength. How great is his joy in the victories you give! You have granted him the desire of his heart and have not withheld the request of his lips. You welcomed him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head. He asked you for life, and you gave it to him-- length of days, forever and ever. Through the victories you gave, his glory is great; you have bestowed on him splendor and majesty. Surely you have granted him eternal blessings and made him glad with the joy of your presence. (NIV)

If the joy of our salvation has diminished over time, we need to restore our happiness by remembering that blessed moment when Jesus first picked us up out of the mud, washed us clean with His spotless blood and held our polished souls up to the light of Divine Perfection.

In the presence of our Lord, the strength of Solomon is ours to experience; the crown of victory is ours to wear; the gift of eternal life is ours to claim. Jesus will withhold nothing from us if we, in turn, give our hearts to Him.

Penitent sinners are crown jewels to the glory of our Savior: each soul saved is like a sparkling gem woven into His splendid Robe of Righteousness.

And, oh, how majestically we shine.

Love in Christ
Lou Lamothe

April 18, 2010

Titus 3:8-9
This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone. But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless. (NIV)

Pilate meant to mock the truth with the sign he fastened upon the cross; but our Savior would not have the Son of God, "Jesus of Nazareth, The King of the Jews," be ridiculed. "It is finished," said Jesus, and, with His Holy and ineffaceable blood, inscribed our names into the book of life.

Our Savior fulfilled God’s law, thereby restoring the proper relationship between God and man. On the morning of His glorious resurrection, Jesus proved this truth about which there is no debate: All our sins have been forgiven.

By faith, we understand that we have received full pardon for all our transgressions. And by grace, we keep ourselves from arguing about useless contentions and meaningless assertions to the contrary.

Love in Christ
Lou Lamothe

April 11, 2010

Titus 2:12
You must teach what is in accord with sound doctrine. Teach the older men to be temperate, worthy of respect, self-controlled, and sound in faith, in love and in endurance. (NIV)

Extreme sacrifice for the sake of justifying our self is unreasonable, even perverse. So too is the manner in which we beat ourselves up for past mistakes.

Friends, the blood of Jesus has washed us clean. And it is common obedience to the Word of God that our Savior desires, not self flagellation.

Temperance, the heart’s surrender of worldly excess in genuine humbleness, is what the love of our Savior imparts to us as we walk with Him. This virtue makes it possible for us to "Go now and leave our life of sin." John 8:11 (NIV)

And it is while traveling on foot with Jesus that we naturally learn the most important lessons in life, becoming, along the way, respected, self-controlled, faithful, loving and enduring children of God.

Love in Christ
Lou Lamothe

April 4, 2010

Genesis 1:16-18
God made two great lights-- the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. (NIV)

The moon is made to look as though it has the ability to dispel the darkness by its own energy, but it isn’t so. When it appears brightest, it is only because the light of the sun is bouncing off its dusty surface. It has no spark of its own with which to illuminate the darkness. However bright it shines, it will never be like the radiant star it faintly mirrors. It can’t approach the source of power of the solar system without ceasing to exist. Fact is, it must maintain separation or risk complete incineration.

Like the moon, we too are made of dust; but we share a completely different reality in relationship to the proximity of our spirits with the Supreme Source of eternal life. The fate of our souls is not annihilation but assimilation. The purpose of our lives is to change, to become, like Jesus, completely powerful and power filled - to conquer sin and death!

God created us to cross the great expanse from darkness into the brilliant realm of heaven where all the saints shine with the luster of The Redeemer of this world.

Jesus Christ, our risen Lord and Savior, is the beacon that draws us ever closer to our destiny. And isn’t it wonderful that on this Easter morning His love has enabled us to bathe in the warmth and glow of "The Light?"

Love in Christ
Lou Lamothe