Devotions - Prayer
People do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” Deuteronomy 8:3b .
When Jesus says we’re to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” he’s talking about far more than just bread. In fact, the Bible tells us that bread represents four things.
- Bread represents the necessities of life.
This is the economy of God. God says, “I supply it. You gather it.” When you pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” it doesn’t mean you sit on the couch and wait for God to throw you money. You’ve got to work! Even the Israelites had to go out and pick up the manna. Work is a part of God’s purpose for your life. It builds character. Proverbs 14:23 says, “Hard work always pays off; mere talk puts no bread on the table” (MSG).
2. Bread represents God’s Word. The Bible is spiritual food. Bread is a symbol for Scripture. The Bible says, “People do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” Deuteronomy 8:3b NLT.
When the children of Israel were walking to the Promised Land, God dropped manna from Heaven for the people to pick up because they had nothing to eat. God gave them this bread to teach them that people need more than bread for their life. Real life comes by feeding on every word of the Lord. You don’t just need physical nourishment; you also need spiritual nourishment.
3. Bread represents God’s family and fellowship. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:16, “Is the bread which we break not a sharing in the body of Christ?” (AMP) Bread is a metaphor for the family of God. You need God’s people in your life!(RELATIONSHIPS). Whether or not you have a physical family, God wants you to be part of his family that will last forever — the Church. It is to be a place of fellowship.
4. Bread represents salvation. Jesus chose bread to represent his sacrifice in communion. Every time we eat the bread and drink the wine or juice, it is a reminder of how much God loves us and the sacrifice he made so that we can go to Heaven.
Whatever your need is — physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual — God will take care of it if you will depend on him. Pray today, “Give us this day our daily bread,” and trust God to provide for you in every way. AMEN
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Psalms 139:
1 O Lord, you have examined my heart
and know everything about me.
7 I can never escape from your Spirit!
I can never get away from your presence!
16 You saw me before I was born.
Every day of my life was recorded in your book.
Every moment was laid out
before a single day had passed.
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Ruth Bell Graham once said, “A great marriage is the union of two forgivers.”
When you forgive your spouse, you are ultimately saying to them, “I choose to give up the right to punish you for how you have hurt me.”
When we forgive another person, it doesn’t mean we forget. And it doesn’t brush it away and pretend that it didn’t happen.
Forgiveness says, “I refuse to dwell on my anger and hurt.” It is an essential step to healing and restoring oneness.
Christ’s death on the cross—His forgiveness—restored our relationship to God. Trust that God can use your forgiveness to restore your relationship and change you both for the better.
Here are 4 steps that will help you express and experience forgiveness:
- Do it privately: Go to God in prayer and say, “God, I forgive _________ for hurting me. I choose to give up the right to punish __________.”
- Do it publicly and specifically: Go to the person and be specific, “I forgive you for ________.”
- Do it graciously: Keep the bigger goal in mind, which is restoring your relationship and rebuilding trust. That means giving up your right to punish!
- Do it generously: Acknowledge your own failings to maintain balance; not one of us is perfect! And once you’ve forgiven, refuse to bring up the matter again in a hurtful way.
Forgiveness gives us the opportunity to re-establish our relationship and make things right with our spouse or a family member.
It removes the issue that creates isolation in a relationship and empowers us to grow in oneness.
10 Keys to Forgiveness:(Emmett I. Aldrich)
1) Let Go of the Anger
2) Don’t be Stubborn
3) Stop Thinking of yourself as a Victim
4) Focus on the Future
5) Re-Learn to Trust
6) Be Reasonable in your expectations of Others
7) Expect that it will take time to Forgive
8) Examine your Heart
9) Let Forgiveness become an Everyday Practice
10) Ask God for Guidance
Lord, Help me see and experience forgiveness in my life, knowing You are the God of restoration. Help me be patient, knowing Your timing is Perfect!
Help us dear God to put aside resentment, hurt, hostility and bitterness so that we may have reconciliation with those who have offended us, and whom we have offended. Amen
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When the Lord finished speaking to Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, the tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God. – Exodus 31:18
Throughout the Bible, the word testimony is used in many ways. Testimony comes from the Hebrew word eduwth, which means “witness.”
The Ark of the Covenant contained the Ten Commandments, written and inscribed personally by God and given to Moses on Mount Sinai. These became known as the testimony. The ark was a divinely inspired structure that was to be used as a witness to the people of Israel and the whole world of God’s power and majesty.
These divinely created tablets were a witness of God’s activity on earth with man.
Throughout the Bible, God looked to create testimonies with His people.
-At the Red Sea, He created a testimony through Moses.
-God created a testimony through Joshua when He parted the Jordan River and allowed the people with the Ark to cross on dry land.
-When Lazarus lay dead for days, Jesus came and created a testimony of His ability to raise the dead.
Jesus is still looking for those who are willing to have a testimony created through their lives. One of the major characteristics of a God-ordained testimony is for something to happen that cannot be explained in the natural.
In other words, if you can make it happen through your abilities, it is not a testimony about God, but about you.
God wants to create a testimony in every aspect of your life – your family, your work, your church, and in your community. He is waiting to put His finger on your next endeavor to reveal His power through your life.
Look carefully at the events where God might want to create a testimony out of an impossible situation.
He delights in using His children for this purpose because it brings Him glory.
I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead. Philippians 3:10-11 – Acts 21:11-12 Amen
John 5:3–4 read; Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31 NIV).
We have all been made wonderfully complex and full of flaws, but until we embrace who we are — including our flaws — we cannot make the changes in our lives that will bring about true transformation.
The second factor that influences your identity is your connections. Your connections give your life purpose, meaning, and identity. If you grew up with dysfunctional relationships, then you question your purpose and struggle with identity.
Jesus said that the most important thing we should do is love God and love other people (Mark 12:30-31). Life is not about your accomplishments or acquisitions, your popularity or prestige. It’s about how well you love.
Romans 13:10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law(commandments).
Love is defined by the law and law is defined by the revelation of God in the 10 Commandments.
There are three problems that keep us from loving fully as God intended:
- We’re all imperfect. There are no perfect relationships because there are no perfect people.
- Sin disconnects us. Adam and Eve had the first broken relationship and disconnected themselves from God and from each other. We’ve been excusing ourselves and accusing the people we love ever since.
- The more disconnected we are, the more fearful we become. We crave intimacy, but we fear vulnerability. We crave acceptance, but we fear rejection.
You may not have had a say in the hand you were dealt in life. But God sent his son as your Savior to transform your cards into a winning hand. No matter what connections you’ve made in life, you will be held responsible for what you do with your connections today.
- Will you let God affect your connections?
- Will you trust him for your future in spite of a difficult past?
- Will you nurture, protect, and build relationships so that God is more fully glorified in your life?
Resolve today to build healthy and not hurtful relationships with God’s help.
Lord, thank you so much for showing me through a three year old that one of the best ways to show love to someone is: “TIME”. Time spent with someone is a degree of how much you truly love. JN 17:3 Jesus says “to Know me is to have eternal life”. To get to know someone takes much time. Lord help us all to get rid of business in our lives. Amen
Read MoreWhen we seek to please “self”, we open ourselves up to uncontrolled emotions, soulish thoughts and selfish desires.
“…for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain.” Ezekiel 33:31
The apostle Paul says, “I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death [handed over to death]: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men” (1 Corinthians 4:9).
Simply put, when godly saints full of the Christ-life are led into death situations, it’s never a private matter.
Scripture says we are on display to three different intelligences: angels, devils and humankind.
At times you may feel all alone in your struggle, but you are not involved in some secret battle taking place in a dark corner.
On the contrary, three realms are watching you with great interest.
Devils are watching you, angels are watching you, and people are watching you. And they are all wondering, “How is this servant of God going to respond to his trial?”
*What are such spectacle-trials all about?
*Why must we go through these deaths?
*What is in us that God is after?
*Our heavenly Father knows that certain unredeemed areas in our lives hinder the full manifestation of Christ’s life in us.
*God knows our stumbling blocks, our fears, our ambitions, our lusts—everything that blocks a full shining forth of Jesus.
So God allows us to be put into “death situations” to rid our hearts of these hindrances.
It happens because your loving Father is handing you over to death. He’s telling you, “Your fear of man hinders the precious flow of the Christ-life in you, thus it cannot produce life in others.
This fear in you must end. You have to die to it!”
Your cry to Him may be, “Lord, get me out of this!” But God responds, “No I’m going to let death do its work. I have arranged all of this so the life of Jesus might be manifest in you!”
Colossians 2:2 I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.
We must protect our spiritual integrity and be willing to reject whatever takes us off course or diverts us from the path that the Lord has put us on. Anything apart from the Lord’s purposes will only lead you away from your walk in the Spirit. Be careful and be discerning.
Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
*Sometimes God’s instruction won’t make sense but it will yield a remarkable and rewarding result..
*You are designed to go through life with God and not alone..
COME LORD JESUS AND LEAD THE WAY! THANK YOU FOR THE CROSS. AMEN
Read More1 Thess. 4: 7 God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.
*One must understand that sex is good under the covenant of marriage.
Live holy lives not impure lives. To Reject living holy– means rejecting God.
*God gave us his Holy Spirit and the power through His Spirit so believers can live holy lives.
2 Timothy 2:22 Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.
*You once lived a life you don’t want to go back too. You accepted Jesus, the Lord almighty, as your Savior. Don’t go back too your old ways. (see Eph. 2;1-10)
MOVE FORWARD–— Jesus put your sin to death and you are to keep your sin at death.
Our purity will determine the extent to which God will use us and demonstrate His power in us.
Those who truly love God will seek to obey him, which is really what purity is.
Holiness is not the absence of sin, but the presence of God in your life.
*If we are slaves to sin, we will never be free. Jesus’ standard is the one to live up to.
John 8:31 Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
We must proclaim God’s holiness on earth, just as it is proclaimed in heaven.
*The Enemy Will Cause You To Believe That Holiness Is Too Restrictive.. That Doing Things His Way Will Be More Fun.
•Holiness is a way of you saying “God I love you”
•Holiness is not the absence of sin, but the presence of God in your life.
***Holiness Is A Choice, Your Choice
•True holiness is not marked by what we don’t do, but by what we do.
•If we do not have a balanced look at holiness, we will end up with a lot of baggage.
Col. 3:5 So put to death the sinful, earthly things lurking within you. Have nothing to do with sexual immorality, impurity, lust, and evil desires. Don’t be greedy, for a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world. 6 Because of these sins, the anger of God is coming.
“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” (John Piper)
Father, I choose right now to reject an impure life and ask by faith that the Holy Spirit would take control of my life so I would honor you as holy before all men. Thank You for all your gifts. In Jesus name – Amen
Philippians 2:5 states our ideal position:
“Your attitude should be the same as Christ Jesus”.
Our one motive should be to follow Him and become more like Him. That’s the motive that should supersede and reign over any others. How do we practically live that out?
I think the clue is in the following verses.
“Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Philippians 2:6-7).
Our focus has to be on becoming nothing. Nothing is not our status or worth. We are always holy and dearly loved children of the King.
Nothing is to be our chosen position as a servant.
How does this look in everyday life? Jesus is our perfect example. He is everything: the Lord of lords and the King of kings. He is so incredibly powerful and important that Colossians 1:16 says “all things were created by him and for him” .
Despite His exalted position, Jesus showed the purity of His motives toward us by giving up all He had.
As I’ve thought about how to imitate Jesus in my motives, I ask myself two questions when making choices:
• Does this put me or others first?
• Is this a choice to be more or to be nothing? Am I Bankrupt to self?
These two questions expose any twisted motives and bring me back to my chosen position of nothing. Day by day, my motives are refined. I keep thinking of the Eternal Perspective vs here on earth. It’s a painful process sometimes, but it’s a good process that ultimately produces pure motives with divine outcomes.
While the Beatitudes of Jesus (Matthew 5) provide a way of life that promises salvation, they also provide peace in the midst of our trials and tribulations on this earth.
*Jesus teaching is of Transformation of the INNER Person.
*Only God’s Divine Love can give us the identity and purpose we need to live life to the fullest.
Lord God, You are the only One with uncontaminated motives. I confess mine are often mixed with pride, emotion, or personal opinion. Please purify my heart. Forgive me and help me move forward with a pure heart. Amen
Read More“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I lift up my soul.” – Psalm 143:8
The morning time with God allows me the greatest opportunity to hear the small voice that directs my steps. If I refuse to “get connected,” I risk following my own ways of fulfilling the duties of my day.
*The morning time with God sets forth the opportunity for God to speak into my spirit what He desires for me each day.
*The morning time with God allows me to focus on God’s purposes, not mine.
The only way to KNOW someone is to spend time with him or her. (see JN 17:3)
The only way to DISCERN the voice of another is to hear that person’s voice.
Psalms 5:3 O lord, in the morning you hear my voice: in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
David, the author of this psalm, was a warrior, king, and businessman. He understood this principle of connecting with God in the morning.
*His morning allowed him to connect with God’s love, renew his trust in Him, and hear His directions for his life.
Shouldn’t you and I do the same?
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:8
John 17:3 And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
Col. 2:2 I do this in order that they may be filled with courage and may be drawn together in love, and so have the full wealth of assurance which true understanding brings. In this way they will know God’s secret, which is Christ himself.
Lord help me obey the voice of Your Word. AMEN
Read MoreIt is easy to be frightened by the wickedness we see all around us and to be overwhelmed by the problems we face.
“One day the evil spirit answered them, ‘Jesus I know, and I know about Paul, but who are you?'” – Acts 19:15
Are you a threat to the kingdom of darkness?
Ephesians 6:12 For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places.
If we truly believe that we war against rulers and principalities that cannot be seen, then we must realize that their mandate is to hinder any believer who is seeking to walk in the fullness of God.
However, “greater is He that is in you, than he that is in the world” (1 Jn. 4:4b ). WE FIGHT FROM VICTORY NOT FOR VICTORY!
• If you are seeking to fully follow the Lord, you can expect harassment from the enemy.
• God permits temptation because it drives us deeper into the soil of God.
• These times reveal God’s power to keep us and walk us through the temptations.
• Our message becomes fruitful when it is born out of obedience and suffering for His name.
• We face a powerful army whose goal is to defeat Christ’s church. When we believe in Christ, these beings become our enemies, and they try every device to turn us away from Jesus and back to sin.
• Although we are assured of victory we must engage in the struggle until Christ returns, because Satan is constantly battling against all who are on the Lord’s side.
Do not consider it strange if you find yourself fighting major battles the more obedient you become to the Master.
When you begin to feel harassed, chances are you are beginning to affect the kingdom of darkness, and satan doesn’t like this.
Put on the whole Armor of God which is supernatural power to defeat satan . God Has provided this by giving us his Holy Spirit within us and giving us His armor to surround us. (Read Ephesians 6:10-20).
May God’s grace be eternally upon all who love our Lord Jesus Christ. Help us Lord to submit to Your leadership and humble service to one another to build unity in the Body. Amen
This world is not our home. In Christ, we are destined for the Heaven of GOD.
Col. 3:2 Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 3 For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God.
Hebrews 13:14 For this world is not our permanent home; we are looking forward to a home yet to come.
Hold lightly to the things of this world that are temporary, saints of GOD, and grip tightly the things of GOD that will last forever in His EternalKingdom.
Let your heart and mind be focused on eternal reality instead of allowing your current situation and circumstances to sap your strength and vitality. Yield to this mighty work of redemption.
Ephesians 6:10 Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
You may be wondering, “Lord, why is my job so upsetting to me? Why do I always feel like an outsider? What’s wrong with me?”
There is nothing wrong with you. God is at work!
*He is keeping you sick and tired of this dying world.
*He is saying, “You can’t get too involved in ‘making it’ here because it is all going up in smoke.
***Set your affections on things above— on the new world that is coming.”
You answer, “But what a waste. I’m so full of energy. I have talent, ideas, a sharp mind, a desire to accomplish much. Yet I feel stifled, stymied. It’s so
frustrating.”
I have good news for you: When it all ends and your scoffing friends are cut off—their work melted to nothing, their careers dissolved, their money
burned—your work is just about to begin.
God has everything under control.
You see, heaven is not a retirement center. Rather, our eternal home is a place of great action, full of new horizons and incredible plans.
God is going to fully use ALL your gifts, talents and desires there.
*God is not going to waste a thing He has given you.
*On the contrary, your gifts will be magnified many times over.
God is going to use you for His glory in eternity!
What a relief my heart experiences as I stop looking to others to fill me and find Jesus as my constant, day after day, contentment.
Take time today to go to Him and ask Him to fill up the empty places and refresh the areas of your heart that are dry.
Jesus is The One and only who can fill and complete us.
“God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.”
Lord, help me to recognize You are The One my heart is looking for. Each and every day, teach me to look to You to fill the love gap in my heart. Thank You Jesus for Eternity being with You! Amen
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“Whoever loves money never has money enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with his income….” – Ecclessiastes 5:10
The void in our heart cannot be filled with anything, only a real relationship with God can fill this Feeling Of Emptiness.
Because we do not know God’s heart to be with us, we try to fill this void with stuff, pretty man or woman, notable career ETC.
Not knowing that once we gain these things we still won’t be fulfilled.
3 myths about money
1. Money brings satisfaction
2. Money brings peace of mind
3. Money solves all your problems
* Realize that God is the owner of all we have.
Only when we know God’s heart will we feel everlasting peace and joy and the Feeling Of Emptiness will be gone.
Scripture tells us that if we are having our basic needs met for food and clothing, we are considered to have riches.
Jesus cautioned us against living a lifestyle that required more than our basic necessities. However, it is clear that Jesus was not against wealth, but against a dependence on wealth.
Jesus continually taught that a dependence on anything other than God was evil.
Whenever Jesus determined that money was an issue for an individual, He addressed it and found that the individual could not let go.
*This was true for the rich young ruler. When talking about what he must do to inherit the Kingdom, Jesus told him to do the one thing that would be the most difficult – to give away his wealth and follow Him.
Jesus was not saying this was what every person must do, only the rich young ruler, because Jesus knew this was his greatest stumbling block.
For others of us, it could be something else Jesus would ask us to give up (see Mt. 19:16-30).
“The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful” (Matthew 13:22).
If we are not careful we gradually begin to acquire and walk the treadmill of material gain. I was there for a period of my life and it was not rewarding—It was EMPTINESS!
*Those around us begin to expect more and more.
*Soon we begin expanding our lifestyle.
*Before we know it, we are worrying about how to take care of what we acquire.
*Our emphasis becomes what we own versus our relationship with Jesus and His Kingdom.
The greater independence money gives us, the less dependence on God we need.
Lord keep us from greed but rather keep us on Your path, desiring You day in and day out to be one like You! Thank You Jesus when we know God’s heart we feel everlasting peace and joy and the Feeling Of Emptiness IS gone.
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Ever Felt like you are not GOOD-ENOUGH for God?
Never feel embarrassed to tell him how bad you have sinned .
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
*God’s forgiveness is complete, entire, whole, immediate.
When you don’t come to God to be forgiven, it is as if you refuse to listen to Him.
By not hearing God, you separate yourself from Him.
Psalm 32:5, “I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the Lord’ — and you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
*When you ask for forgiveness, God forgives you. It is as if He removes the earplugs from your ears, and you can hear Him again.
I’ve been told for years that when I forgive myself I’ll be free.
1 John 1:9 offers a promise. When we hold up our sin before God, He is faithful and just to forgive ALL our sins.
Faithful to us? Yes, to us. But also faithful to who He is, and His plan for our forgiveness through Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross as JESUS bore OUR sin.
But it doesn’t end there. You see, when we are forgiven, our sin is re-framed.
*Yes it still happened.
*But God removes it from us as far as the east is from the west.
Psalm 103:12 He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. 13 The LORD is like a father to his children, tender and compassionate to those who fear him.
Perhaps you carry shame, guilt or fear. You’ve been trying to forgive yourself, but realize you can’t undo the past.
You’ve said you’re sorry. You have changed. But the guilt or burden remains.
Hand that shame to your Savior today, and allow Him to hurl it as far as the east is from the west.
It’s not your burden to carry any longer.
Romans 8:1 So now there is NO condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.
Read More“Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12
For so many years, I had the ability to move from success to disappointment in a heartbeat. I’d built my identity on the shaky foundation of my circumstances and abilities.
Only the enemy wants us to find our identity in what we do, because he knows when the lights dim and the “success” is gone, so is our value.
God, however, has another identity for us, one that’s unchanging and independent of our actions. It’s as His chosen and beloved child. John 1:12 says, “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”
When I first learned this truth about my identity, it took a long time to accept. Romans 5:6-8 tells me the truth: “You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us” .
God’s acceptance of us, and hence our identity, is NOT defined by our actions.
So we will never be a “failure” when our performance doesn’t match our expectations.
When we reassign the source of our value and worth to its rightful place,
• We will be free from the fear of failure or the opinions of others.
• We will be free from the labels we place on ourselves.
• And free from the shifting sands of our self-worth.
The only thing that matters is what our Heavenly Father thinks about us. And that is unchanging. We can rest knowing we are safe and secure in God’s unconditional love.
And once we really believe this truth, our identity will be unshakable.
And once we really believe this truth, our identity will be unshakable.
Colossians 2:6-7, “So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.”
Heavenly Father, thank You for embracing me as Your beloved son/daughter. Knowing You will never turn away from me, nor forsake me, fills my heart with joy. I want to love You and serve You more each day, free from the lies that hold back my potential in You. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.:
Spiritual Warfare Verses: John 12:31, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, 1 John 4:4, Ephesians 6:1-16, Philippians 3:10 and 1 John 5:4.
Psalm 139:14-16, Ephesians 2:10.
Even when we blow it badly and fail to remain an open, cleansed vessel for the Lord, He doesn’t stop loving us.
“The steps of a man are established by the Lord…When he falls, he shall not be hurled headlong; because the Lord is the One who holds his hand.” Psalm 37:23-24
” Then he(Jesus) said to them(disciples), “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”” (Mt 26:38).
*Jesus shares his burden with his disciples. He cared about his disciples and valued His relationship with them. Relationships are important to Jesus. Even as a leader, He shows His humility.
*In times of sorrow and despair Jesus prays.
Even Jesus, who has a perfect relationship with God, still needs to pray..how much more do we need to pray to remain in the Fathers will?
*When we pray we align our will to His. It’s accepting God’s call….not changing God but me.
*Can we tell God that it’s ok to do things His way? Do we trust Him enough? Can we submit? And obey? (Read Psalms 139:23-24)
*Obeying God is a decision WE make.
Hebrews 5: 8 Son though he was, he learned obedience from what he suffered.
Often the place of our greatest pain becomes the place of our greatest triumph.
Gethsemane was the place of Jesus’ greatest trial.
Three times He asked the Father to let this trial pass. It was not to be.
*The Father sent His Son to the cross to pay a debt owed by humanity.
*It was a personal battle to persevere.
The Word of God makes it clear that “whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Rom. 10:13); “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Rev. 3:20); and “whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely” (Rev. 22:17). No one has ever been denied the opportunity to accept salvation (Ti. 2:11).
“We Fight FROM Victory—Not FOR Victory!
John 4:4 You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
Thank You Lord that You are always there for us, watching over us, protecting us, and giving us strength. No matter what we’re facing today, Thank You that I can just turn to You. Help me Believe and Know that Jesus will pull us through anything because He will without question. (Col. 2:2-3). Amen
Read MoreThe bow is seen in the clouds. Genesis 9:14
The rainbow, the symbol of the covenant with Noah, foreshadows our Lord Jesus, who is the Lord’s witness to the people.
When may we expect to see the token of the covenant? The rainbow is only to be seen painted upon a cloud. When the sinner’s conscience is dark with clouds, when he remembers his past sin and mourns and laments before God, Jesus Christ is revealed to him as the covenant Rainbow, displaying all the glorious hues of the divine character and declaring peace.
To the believer, when his trials and temptations surround him, it is sweet to behold the person of our Lord Jesus Christ—to see Him bleeding, living, rising, and pleading for us. God’s rainbow is hung over the cloud of our sins, our sorrows, and our woes, to prophesy deliverance. By itself a cloud does not give a rainbow; there must be the crystal drops to reflect the light of the sun.
So, our sorrows must not only threaten, but they must really fall upon us. There would have been no Christ for us if the vengeance of God had been merely a threatening cloud: Punishment must fall in terrible drops upon Him.
Until there is a real anguish in the sinner’s conscience, there is no Christ for him; until the chastisement that he feels becomes grievous, he cannot see Jesus.
But there must also be a sun; for clouds and drops of rain do not make rainbows unless the sun shines. Beloved, our God, who is as the sun to us, always shines, but we do not always see Him—clouds hide His face; but no matter what drops may be falling or what clouds may be threatening, if He shines there will be a rainbow at once.
It is said that when we see the rainbow, the shower is over.
It is certain that when Christ comes, our troubles withdraw; when we look on Jesus, our sins vanish, and our doubts and fears subside. When Jesus walks upon the waters of the sea, how profound the calm! Amen
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