Devotions - Prayer
This Christmas Eve, I ask—
1.”What would be your best gift of all to receive?”
After much thought about material things it finally came down to: “the need to needed” and the “assurance of God’s love” for me as well as my wife and family members. ” TO BE LOVED ” WOULD BE MY GREATEST GIFT to receive.
2. “What would be your best gift to give to Others?”
My goal in this –is to give my love I have received from the Lord to others and be bold this season to Lift Up JESUS and His unconditional love He has for all that ask. “TELL OTHERS I LOVE THEM”
So my grown-up Christmas list would have one simple wish. That every person would truly understand the outrageous grace gift that God offers to each one of us. All we have to do is open that gift in faith.
Christmas is when the gift came to earth wrapped in swaddling clothes.
I wish that everyone who hears the Gospel message would comprehend the one way love that God demonstrated. Instead of turning His back on sinners who deserved just that God chose to reach out to His creation with a radical plan for forgiveness. A plan that is unlike any other religion in history.
Man made religion always demands something to earn salvation.
God’s plan for redemption requires the lost to bring nothing to the table other than their sin and the need for salvation. Nothing.
God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
This Christmas Serve your spouse, family and friends instead of waiting to be served by them. Everything starts with Love by responding in a Christ-like way.
Your- healthy relationships places focus on others and not yourself.
Father, open the eyes of my heart. I see that for that to happen there must be the bending of the knee, the imploring of the Spirit in prayer, so that truth becomes vital and compelling. Help me love my wife Laura and never treat her harshly. Help me Love from a Pure Heart Lord. Help me respond in a Christ-like way to love my children, Grandchildren, Family and friends. Amen
To walk with Christ is to walk in love.
“Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you…”Ephesians 5:1-2
Obedience To The “Heavenly Vision”
Acts 26:19 “So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven.
What is heaven’s mission “It is to spread the Gospel”
John 15:8 This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
Today people are non-stop in their daily lives, but are we really LIVING or EXISTING?
Life with each generation seems to become busier than ever, even with technology where we thought it would accomplish more with less, well, we all know where that has taken us!
If we lose “the heavenly vision” God has given us, we alone are responsible—not God.
We lose the vision because of our own lack of spiritual growth. We put down the Word of God and that is our start of backsliding.
If we do not apply our beliefs about God to the issues of everyday life, the vision God has given us will never be fulfilled.
The only way to be obedient to “the heavenly vision” is to give our best for His glory.
Jesus was never to busy.
It is essential that we live and “walk in the light” of God’s vision for us (1 John 1:7).
Personal Ambition and Pride must die.
We learn that we do not live to build up ourselves any longer.
***We live only to be an instrument of the working of Jesus Christ. And we must learn the truth which Jesus taught his own disciples when he was here in the flesh, “Without me you can do nothing…” (John 15:5b).
You can do what? “Nothing!” You may do a lot in the eyes of the world. What you do might be esteemed there.
**But in the eyes of God, without him it is nothing.
Lord, I pray that I will learn the lesson, and that I will be willing to be a person no longer holding onto control of the program myself but quite willing to follow where you lead, and to trust in your life in me to be all that it takes to do all that needs to be done. Amen
Read MoreHow do we stop stressing and stop living an excessively busy lifestyle?
God just wants us to be about “One Thing” – HIM.
God only wants the best for us, He had His Son Jesus lay down His LIFE for you and me.
John 10:10 The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.
Life is made up of hurdles that are invisible, that impact us and are undeniable.
Reading Psalms 46, 47, & 37. The Lord reminded me that no matter what battle I’m in, and how it looks, to always trust Him. Song praises, no matter what…REJOICE! because the Lord will provide the victory.
Psalm 47:1, 5–6 Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy. God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets. Sing praises to God; sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.
That’s the Bible’s picture of the response that’s appropriate to God in His power and in His glory.
The one specific word that sums up that which God’s greatness, grandeur should provoke from you and me is the word praise, but a very all-inclusive kind of praise, a praise that occupies every part of our physical body, a praise that occupies all our faculties.
“Clap your hands all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy.”
*That’s something more than just religious respectability.
*That’s a total response of our redeemed being to the Lord in His greatness.
*Clap our hands; shout to God.
Then it says, “God has ascended amid shouts of joy, … amid the sounding of trumpets.”
Shouts and clapping of hands and musical instruments are all required to sound forth the praise of God.
And then it goes on, “Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.”
You know, it’s a theme, “Sing praises, sing praises, sing praises.” That’s how we have to respond to God.
John 10:12 “I (Jesus) am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep (us sinners).”
Thank You Lord for deliverance, for shining your light on the areas that I need to work on while praising You, “the good shepherd”. Amen
Read MoreGod’s Love for us is the same yesterday, today and forever.
“…you who have been borne by Me from birth, and have been carried from the womb; even to your old age, I shall be the same, and even to your graying years…I shall carry you…” Isaiah 46:3-4
Don’t lose hope. You might be hurting now, but out of every disaster, God can bring a new beginning. Believe in God, and watch Him show His glory in your life.
When you read the story of the death of Lazarus (John 11:1-45), you have to ask the question, “Why did Jesus delay in coming to see Lazarus?”
After all, Jesus had gotten word two days earlier that Lazarus was deathly ill. Why did he wait for two days to go see him? Did he not care?
Yes, Jesus cared. The Bible says he loved Lazarus. Then why did Jesus delay?
There are times when we pray and God doesn’t come through the way we expect him to come through. The healing doesn’t come. The answers don’t come. We cry, we pray, the tears flow, and we wonder, does God care about me?
Yes, he does! The same one who wept at the grave of Lazarus weeps for you. Jesus tears represent his sympathy to us as our Savior and High Priest.
***And not only that, Jesus went to the cross for you and me. He died for your sins. He’s prepared a place in heaven for you. What more could he have done to show his love and care for you and me?
In God’s own time and His own way, God will make a way when there seems to be no way. Whether you’re well or whether you’re sick… whether the answer comes as we expect it or not.
No matter how long you wait, GOD is never late.
There are 3 reasons God waits:
1. God is glorified.
*John 11:3 -it’s for the glory of God
– you can always pray,”God, be glorified in this.”
2. Faith is fortified.
*John 11: 26- Do you believe?
– God wants to use your trial to lead to more trust in Him.
3. Ministry is multiplied. “Testimonies” for what God has done!
God, My heart is overflowing with the truth and wisdom you have placed there today! And with such massive love and gratitude for Your compassion and love and healing! Thank you for taking the sadness and replacing it with joy! May I glorify you each day above All else. Amen!
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JOHN 17: Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!
God the Father had the plan of salvation worked out before He even created the world.
*Most of us would not have created the world and man if we knew the heartache and terrible sacrifice it would cost.
*But God is not man. In His judgment (which is the correct judgment) the prize was worth the cost.
We were chosen in Christ before the world began. (see Psalms 139)
The Lord did not choose us by our merit, but solely by our acceptance of Christ which His foreknowledge allowed Him to do before the foundation of the world.
Acts 16:31 Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.
In the strictest sense, we were not personally chosen, but Christ was chosen and all those who are “in Christ” partake of His being chosen by His Father.
Just as we are the beneficiaries of the covenant between God the Father and His Son Jesus, so we are chosen because we chose God’s chosen, i.e. Christ.
The Father would no more reject us than He would reject Jesus because we are accepted by the Father through Christ.
None of us can claim that we are without blame in the sight of men because man looks on the outward appearance (1 Sam. 16:7) and all of us have sinned (Rom. 3:23).
But the Lord looks on our born-again spirit which has been regenerated in Christ and He sees us holy and without blame.
*If you look at any color through a red glass, that color becomes red.
*The same thing would happen if you looked through a green glass. Everything would become green.
In a similar way:
* God looks at us through Christ and everything in our life becomes covered by the blood of Jesus.
*We are holy and without blame before God because of His love expressed through His Son Jesus.
Thank You Jesus for the kind of gladness I have for being satisfied with all that God is for me in YOU! Amen
Read MoreMany believers become so overwhelmed by their failures that over time they feel trapped beyond any help.
Isaiah wrote of such believers, “O thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not comforted” (Isaiah 54:11).
Some eventually get mad at God.
They grow tired of waiting for Him to move and they cry accusingly, “Lord, where were You when I needed You? I cried out for deliverance, but You never answered. I’ve done everything I know how to do, yet I’m still not free. I’m tired of repenting and crying, without ever seeing any change.”
**Many such believers simply give up trying and give themselves over to their lust.
**Others fall into a fog of spiritual apathy.
They are convinced that God does not care about them anymore. They tell themselves, *“My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God” (Isaiah 40:27).
* “The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me” (Isaiah 49:14).
Still others end up focusing all their attention on their sin, trying to keep themselves in a constant state of conviction.
This only causes them to be bewildered, crying, “If . . . our sins be upon us, and we pine away in them, how should we then live?” (Ezekiel 33:10).
*The fact is, feeling conviction is not an end in itself.
*When we are humbled by guilt and sorrow over our sin, we are not supposed to rest in those feelings.
*They are meant to drive us to the end of ourselves—and to the victory of the cross.
After all his weeping and crying out to the Lord, David ended up testifying,
*“But there is forgiveness with thee” (Psalm 130:4). The Holy Spirit began to flood his soul with memories of God’s mercies and he recalled all he had learned of the Father’s forgiving, pardoning nature. (the renewing of his mind: Ro. 12:2-3)
*God is patiently waiting for us to run to Him and embrace forgiveness. It is our choice to run to Him.
*If I am not grateful and I forget His wonders in my life pride and an ungrateful heart and attitude will shape my life.
Soon David was rejoicing, reminding himself, “For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; and plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee” (Psalm 86:5).
*The key point here is we still must call on God. It does no good for God to be loving and forgiving if we just wait for it to be handed to us. We must cry out to God.
Lord, Great is Your steadfast Love and today I pray Psalm 86………………Amen
Read MoreI praise You because You made me in an amazing and wonderful way. What You have done is wonderful. I know this very well. You saw my bones being formed as I took shape in my mother’s body. When I was put together there, You saw my body as it was formed. All the days planned for me were written in Your book before I was one day old (Psalm 139:14-16).
We tend to find our identity and worth in the fact that we are chosen by someone.
The knowledge that I am chosen frees me to serve Him whole-heartedly and boldly without bowing to the unrealistic expectations imposed by others.
The knowledge that He created me allows me to embrace the gifts He has given me and encourages me to strain every choice, every decision through the filter of God’s perfect plan for my life.
Knowing whose I am draws my attention away from both the critics and the cheerleaders in life, and fixes my gaze on the only one I have to please … God.
We come to Jesus alone. There are no “group rates” when it comes to knowing God. It’s always one-on-one and very personal.
Just think of it! God Himself supervised our formation. We were created in love – for love – with a specific and holy purpose in mind.
We can rejoice with the Psalmist who wrote, “Know that the Lord is God. He made us, and we belong to Him; we are His people, the sheep He tends” (Psalm 100:3 ).
Knowing whose we are settles our souls and directs our steps toward the path God intended when He shaped us. You and I were created as a living, fleshed out representation of God’s love.
Romans 14:17 For the kingdom of God(That holy religion which God has sent from heaven) is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness(Pardon of sin, and holiness of heart and life) peace(in the soul, from a sense of God’s mercy; peace regulating, ruling, and harmonizing the heart.)and joy in the Holy Spirit(In a word, it is happiness brought into the soul by the Holy Spirit, and maintained there by the same influence).
John 17:3 Now this is eternal life(The salvation purchased by Christ, and given to them who believe): that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Father, I want to know You and find Your plan for my life. I choose to see myself through Your eyes of love, forgiveness and grace. I want to be the person You created me to be. Thank You for loving me. Help me to walk each day in the knowledge that I am Your child. Amen.
I wonder what those ten men, those ten grown sons of Jacob, talked about during that journey from Canaan to Egypt. I have an idea that it might have been the same things we would have talked about had we been in their sandals. I also believe these men were beginning to be broken. Perhaps they spoke of how much they missed their brother, Joseph. With Benjamin now among them, maybe they felt this was a good time to express their sorrow over their past actions and, together, sincerely request God’s power and protection.
I so want to believe that God was starting to melt their hearts before Him! In fact, that’s the beauty of this story as it progresses. We’re led to wonder what exactly they were thinking.
We so desperately want to cut to the chase to see the happy ending, but we must wait. Because there’s always something to learn along the way.
When we’re on our journey from Canaan to Egypt:
- We tend to be negative rather than positive.
- We tend to view life horizontally rather than vertically. We tend to be resistant rather than open to that which is new and unexpected.
- We need some course-correction techniques to break those habits!
Three techniques that will help:
- Recognize and admit your negative mentality. So much of the cure is in the confession. Immediate correction begins with honest admission.
- Force a vertical focus until it begins to flow freely. I have never seen a habit just lie down, surrender, and die; we have to make a conscious effort if we hope to break longstanding habits. If you are negative today, chances are very good that when you wake up tomorrow morning you’re still going to be negative. Force a vertical focus. Look to Jesus!
- Stay open to a new idea for at least five minutes. Don’t try it for an entire day; you might panic. Just take on your day five minutes at a time. When something new, something unexpected, confronts you, don’t respond with an immediate “Nope! Never!” Wait five minutes. Hold off. Tolerate the possibility for five minutes. You will be surprised at the benefit of remaining open. Every sin starts with a lie.
I’ve not seen a habit just lie down and die. It takes conscious effort to break it. But we do fight From Victory, not For Victory. (1JN 4:4) Jesus had Victory over all at the Cross for you and I. We must Choose Him as our Lord and Savior! Amen
Get your mind right,then you will overcome!!! (Ro. 12:2)
How Can I Have Eternal Life?
Each of us faces the same dilemma.
*We have a sin debt that we owe to God but no way to pay for it.
*None of our solutions – living a moral life, being religious, or doing more good deeds – can take care of our problem.
God Himself has provided the solution – one that both satisfies His justice and grants us mercy.
God sent His Son to pay the penalty we owed.
*Jesus was qualified to be our substitute because He never sinned (2 Corinthians 5:21).
*Jesus willingly took our place on the cross and experienced the full measure of the Lord’s wrath against our sinfulness.
*In dying for us, Christ secured our salvation by paying the debt for all our past, present, and future sins.
When we trust in Jesus and surrender our life to Him, He becomes our personal Savior and Lord.
The great tragedy is that many have heard the gospel and rejected it.
*Some are like the rich ruler who placed his trust in material possessions and turned his back on the truth.
*Others have refused to even listen.
*Another group is convinced they are heaven-bound, based on erroneous confidence in their own good deeds.
Only those who have entered into a relationship with Jesus through faith in Him will be welcomed into heaven.
If you’re wondering, How can I have eternal life? there is only one answer: through faith in Jesus Christ (John 14:6).
We have an Enemy who actively seeks to blind people to the truth (2 Corinthians 4:4).
Pray that many who are separated from the Lord will trust in the Savior and gain everlasting life.
John 17:3 And this is eternal life, that they KNOW you the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.
* Eternal life requires entering into a personal relationship with God in Jesus Christ. When we admit our sin and turn away from it, Christ’s love lives in us by the Holy Spirit.
Put On the New Self
Colossians 3:1 If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above(Eternal Perspective), where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your MINDS on things that are ABOVE, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
We must do it out of love for Christ, not fear of hell.
Set our sights on things above, that is what we must do.
Look to Christ, while He may be found. Amen. (see Colossians 2:2-3)
Read More“For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap.” – Malachi 3:2b
The Lord has a specific manner of preparing His people for useful service.
*God desires to turn His children from rough, hard-edged stones into gems of gold and silver.
“He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; He will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years” (Malachi 3:3-4).
The refiner’s fire can only accomplish its purposes when the heat is turned up to extraordinary temperatures. It breaks down the metal in order for it to become moldable and shapeable.
*Only when the temperatures reach this level can the work be fully accomplished.
***So it is in our lives.
Why does God allow impossible situations in our lives? And how to deal with it?
When you pass through the fire it will not burn you.
Problems come because of the anointing of the Lord and it is attracted to you. If you find your self in problems it’s because God is preparing for something great.
Until the Lord completes His refining process, the offerings we make are not made in righteousness and cannot be acceptable.
Thank God that Jesus is our righteousness and that there is no righteousness apart from Him.
Still, the Lord continues to purge all that is not of His righteousness out of our lives.
*This comes through trials that bring each of us to the end of ourselves in order that He may only reflect that which is Himself.
When God takes you through the refiner’s fire, be encouraged because it is His overriding commitment to turn you from a rough, hard-edged stone to a precious metal.
He will do this through certain events in your relationships, and other circumstances in your life. Our job is to avoid trying to blow out the fire.
2 Chro 20:15 says the battle is not ours but the Lords, vs 17 says you will not need to fight in the battle but stand firm, hold your position and see the Lords salvation work, do not be afraid nor dismayed the Lord will be with you. Vs 20 says believe in the Lord your God and you will be established.
Lord, Continue to refine me each and everyday. Help me to never be comfortable or stagnant! Amen
See Psalms 139:23-24 for an additional prayer
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Read the Scripture: Romans 8:35-39
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Romans 8:35a
How do you love God__You love him by answering this question.
- Who or what is going to separate us from the love of Christ?
- Is there any force, anywhere, that can come between you and Jesus?
- Who can remove us from Christ, once we fully come to him?
Paul’s answer is,“Let’s take a look at the possibilities.”
First, can all the troubles and dangers of life separate us from his love:
“Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?” (Romans 8:35b)
- That is life at its worst. Will that do it?
- Will hardship do it? That means the tight, narrow places we have to go through sometimes.
- Will persecution do it? That is hurt deliberately inflicted on us because we are Christians.
- Will famine, lack of food and money do it?
- Will nakedness, or lack of clothes?
- Will danger, or threat to our lives?
- Will the sword (war, riot, uprising) do it?
“No,” Paul says,“In these we are super-conquerors.”
Why?
- Because rather than dividing us from Christ, they draw us closer to him.
- They make us cling harder.
- They scare us and make us run to him.
When we are independent and think we can make it on our own, these things strike, and we start whimpering and running for home, and we cling all the closer. We can never be defeated then, so we are more than conquerors.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)
There is nothing left out of that list, is there? Everything is there — demons and dark powers, black magic and angels, truth and error, death and life — whether in this creation or any other creation.
Paul takes everything in and says that nothing, no being or force, is capable of separating us from the love of Jesus Christ our Lord.
So we love God when we say, “If God be for us, who can be against us?”
We love God because of what he himself has done for us, and the nature of that commitment is that he loves us.
Father, thank you for the security you give in your great love. Let your love be the thing that fuels my own love for you through the challenges of life. Amen
Read More“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Hebrews 12:15
The enemy of our souls has a very specific strategy to destroy relationships.
Whether these relationships are in business, marriage, or friendships, the strategy is the same.
A conflict arises, judgments are made, and feelings are hurt.
What happens next is the defining point of whether the enemy gains a foothold, or the grace of God covers the wrong.
When a root of bitterness is allowed to be planted and grown(Time does not heal all wounds!), it not only affects that person, but it also affects all others who are involved.
Root of bitterness is like a cancer (A root is a part of a tree that cannot be seen, and it will have small roots springing from it).
** Breaking Satan’s foothold requires at least one person to press into God’s grace.
*It cannot happen when either party “feels” like it, for none of us will ever feel like forgiving.
*None of us feel like talking when we have been hurt.
*Our natural response is to withdraw or lash out at the offending party.
*You have to have a forgiving heart before you can be at peace with yourself.
1 John 4:20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?
It is only obedience that allows God’s grace to cover the wrongs incurred.
*This grace prevents the parties from becoming victims who will seek compensation for their pain.
Even Jesus learned obedience through what He suffered. Hebrews 5:8.
The next time you are hurt by someone, realize the gravity of the crossroads where you find yourself.
**Choose grace(Humility releases grace) instead of bitterness. Then you will be free to move past the hurt, and a root of bitterness will not be given opportunity to grow.
Ephesians 4:32 Instead, be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.
Dear LORD, I choose to let the struggles of life make me better and not bitter. I forgive those who have hurt me, and refuse to hold a grudge. I will look for the good in every difficult situation and think the best of others. I know that a bitter heart produces bitter fruit, and I refuse to allow my heart to get caught in that trap. Now, Lord, help me accomplish what I have just confessed. In Jesus name, amen.
‘So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” (Romans 8:15).
Living a Balanced life is evidence of a Spirit-led life.
*Seek God and He will answer you. He will set you free from all your fears.
*If we hold to Jesus’ teachings, we are his disciples and will know the truth which will set us free.
People work long hours for many reasons which can lead to significant problems in our lives.
One reason people over work is that they often think they must work longer hours to keep up with their workload.
*This is often the surface reason people give to the question of working long hours.
Like any compulsive behavior, there is usually something beneath this behavior.
As a former workaholic myself, I can tell you the root of overworking is often:
1). A fear of loss!
2). A need for self-acceptance created by performance.
We are looking to gain self-esteem needs from our performance instead of being secure in our position in Christ.
*Romans 8: 6 So letting your sinful nature control your mind leads to death. But letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life and peace.
So, in order to avoid work becoming an idol and a compulsive behavior, we must maintain a “Balance” that provides time to spend quality time with the Lord, our families and fellow believers.
Be reminded that “NO” is an anointed word, and you don’t have to apologize for using it as often as is necessary. The enemy will accuse you of being heartless and will send a hefty dose of guilt and condemnation your way, but this attack is a seduction.
* It is designed to lure you into countering a haughty spirit with haughtiness and control with a power struggle when “NO” is sufficient.
*Saying NO, doesn’t have to be a fight, just stand your ground and maintain good boundaries.
James 5:12 And since you know that he cares, let your language show it. Don’t add words like “I swear to God” to your own words. Don’t show your impatience by concocting oaths to hurry up God. Just say yes or no. Just say what is true. That way, your language can’t be used against you. Amen
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The “new willpower” we receive when we’re born again is the key to our Christian walk. We can now choose to either live God’s Life…or our own.
“So choose life in order that you may live…by loving the Lord your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding fast to Him.” Deuteronomy 30:19-20
“He’s the centerpiece of everything we believe, faithful in everything God gave him to do.” Hebrews 3:2 (MSG)
The author of the book of Hebrews wrote.
These believers were in danger of losing their focus on Christ as their deliverer. People had begun putting their trust in prophets, angels, and even Moses. So in Hebrews 3, the people are reminded that Jesus is the only one worthy of trust and is where our faith should be centered.
The writer of Hebrews wanted Christians to stop putting themselves, other people, or material items, at the center of their attention, and instead draw their gaze back to Jesus.
Just like the people of that time, we can quickly get distracted, become busy, and inadvertently make our obligations and celebrations the focus of our attention.
We gradually become self-centered instead of Jesus-centered.
“Jesus said to him, ‘If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.’ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, ‘Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!’“ (Mark:9:23-24).
*Unbelief in Jesus (NOT believing in Jesus) is a turning away from Jesus in order to seek satisfaction in other things.
And BELIEF in Jesus is coming to Jesus for the satisfaction of our needs and our longings.
It’s one thing to believe in Jesus. It’s another to make Him the center of our lives.
When we make that important choice and remember to focus on Him and be thankful in all things, our hearts and lives stay in balance.
This Thanksgiving (and every day), let’s praise God and commit to making Him our focal point—“our centerpiece”.
When we choose to make Jesus the emphasis of our holidays and our lives, we are blessed with the most beautiful centerpiece of all.
See Colossians 2:2-3 and 1 Thess. 5:16-19 in your Holidays.
Lord, I never intended to put You on a shelf and allow life’s distractions to alter my attention on You. Give me the spiritual desire to stay intently focused on You during this holiday and into the new year. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Read MoreIn everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:18
One of the things that made people such dynamic Christians is the fact that they chose to see life from God’s perspective.
In the worst of situations, they find new insights to praise and thank God.
The Bible tells us that we are to give thanks in everything, the good things AND the bad things. In Psalm 50:23, God says, “He who offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving honors Me.”
In the hard times, thanksgiving is difficult. It is definitely a sacrifice to thank God in our troubles, but it is so very necessary.
Thanksgiving honors God, and when you and I honor God, He honors us (1 Samuel 2:30).
How is your thanksgiving factor? Are you facing tough times? Have you been griping and complaining about the things in your life that are hard, lonely and frustrating? Jesus is there:
- He knows about it,
- He is over it, and
- He cares for you.
Without question, Jesus has a purpose in every trial and tribulation.
Start today to live a life of thanksgiving. If you will do it, your attitude will change, the people around you will be blessed, and Jesus Christ will be glorified and honored.
Thank You Jesus, Help me share this joy of thanksgiving this Holiday with all I encounter. Amen
Give THANKS ALWAYS! Ecclesiastes 7:14 “Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life.”
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