Devotions - Prayer

PRAYER IN DISTRESS

By Bob / March 9, 2024

“Contend, O Lord, with those who contend with me; fight against those who fight against me. Take up shield and buckler; arise and come to my aid. Brandish spear and javelin against those who pursue me. Say to my soul, “I am your salvation.””Psalm 35:1–3

That was a prayer of David in a time of deep distress, a time when he felt himself surrounded by enemies pressing in against him and he saw no way to keep them out.

 

So He cried out to the Lord and said, “Lord, take Your stand against my enemies. Take up Your mighty spiritual weapons and block the way against them.”

The great conclusive answer to that prayer of David came through David’s greater son, the Lord Jesus Christ, about a thousand years later.

 

On the cross, Jesus did just that.

  • He blocked the way against all the enemies of our soul.
  • He stopped the way.
  • He put an end to Satan’s claims.
  • He set a limit to Satan’s territory.
  • He created a boundary that Satan cannot pass over.

Remember this: the cross is God’s great stop sign.
The devil may be moving in against us at full speed, but when we put up the cross, he slams on his brakes and comes to a screeching halt because he cannot pass the cross. That’s where Jesus stopped the way against all our enemies.     Now that is victory!  SEE 1 JOHN 4:4
Eph. 6:11 Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.

 

2 Corinthians 10:3 We are human, but we don’t wage war as humans do. 4 We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments.

 

God will come to my rescue against my enemies.  But David also spoke to God about praying for his enemies.

 

*I will put faith in God regarding the evil powers of this world. I know that HE will protect me and my family.

*I will also pray for my enemies.

Lord thank you for this glorious day of your protection. Thank you for your unfailing love and your mercy never seize.   Again thank you and we love you. We bring back all the honor and glory through the beautiful name of Jesus Christ. Amen

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PRIDE DESTROYS RELATIONSHIPS

By Bob / March 7, 2024

Be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves” (Philippians 2:3b ).

Pride destroys relationships. It shows up in a lot of different ways, like criticism, competition, stubbornness, and superficiality.

The problem with pride is it’s self-deceiving. Everybody else can see it in us but us. When you have a problem with pride, you don’t see it in your life.

Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride leads to destruction; a proud attitude brings ruin”.     I love this verse in the Message paraphrase: “First pride, then the crash — the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.”

  • Pride destroys relationships, but humility is the antidote to pride.
  • Humility builds relationships.

The Bible says in 1 Peter 3:8, “Live in harmony, be sympathetic, love each other, have compassion, and be humble”.

How are you and I going to grow in humility?

It happens by letting Jesus Christ begin to control our thoughts and hearts and attitudes and reactions. He’s got to be a part of this. Ephesians 4:23-24 says, “Let the Spirit change your way of thinking and make you into a new person” .

How do you become a new person? How do you start to think in a different way?

The basic law of relationships is this: You tend to become like the people you spend time with.

  • If you spend time with grumpy people, you get grumpier.
  • If you spend time with people in addictions, you get addicted.
  • If you spend time with people that have gratitude, you have gratitude.
  • If you spend time with happy people, you get happier.
  • If you spend time with selfish people, you become selfish.
  • If you spend time with people who do not respect others, you will not respect others.

If you want to have more humility, spend time with Jesus Christ. He is humble. He wants a relationship with you. He wants you to spend time with him in prayer and reading his Word and talking to him. He is humble, and as you get to know him, you’ll become more like him.

“Be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves … You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to” (Philippians 2:3b, 5-6.

No one has done anything more humble than Jesus, coming from Heaven to Earth to become a man, live for us, give his life for us, and be resurrected for us.

When you spend time with him, it makes you more humble, and that builds your relationships.

 

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STRONGHOLDS OF THE ENEMY

By Bob / March 5, 2024

Join us tonight for communityfestmn.com    from 5 to 8 for prayer, healing free food and music!

A stronghold is a fortress of thoughts that controls and influences our attitudes.

Some of the things God brings up from our hidden chambers have been lifelong strongholds of the enemy. They may appear as “giants” when we seek to break free of them, but God is already the Victor! You will see His salvation if you faint not.
“But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.'” Exodus 14:13

Remember:*EACH person is given something to do that SHOWS who God is!  This gifting God has given each one of us is an OUTLET for the OVERFLOW of GOD’S LOVE in our lives for others.

Coming Out of the Stronghold

“Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the
land of Judah“… – 1 Samuel 22:5

David and his fighting men had been hiding in the cave of Adullam. He was fleeing Saul. Many of life’s down-and-out had come and joined David’s army.
David was content to stay in the stronghold of safety.
Then, God’s prophet came to David and told him that he must leave the stronghold and go into the land of Judah.
When life beats down on us and we get to the place where we want to hide in a cave, God often places people around us who prod us into moving in the right direction.
God does not want us to remain in the place of discouragement. He wants us to move into the land of “praise.”
Judah means “praise.”


Our attitude must move from discouragement to praise.
*
It is when we move past discouragement to praise that we begin living above our problems.

The way is open for you to come boldly before the Lord’s throne of grace.
Do not be afraid or hesitate.  Come and let Him speak to your heart, for you need wisdom and direction for the days ahead.
Listen for the Lord’s still small voice, and you will hear.  “I will guide your steps, and lead you to  victory.”
Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of  grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

God help me to put my trust in You today. To trust in my relationship with You and my knowledge of Your love, justice and righteousness. Amen

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THE PAYMENT FOR OUR SIN

By Bob / March 4, 2024

1 John 2:2  And he(Jesus) is the propitiation for our sins: and not for our’s only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
*Jesus  is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
*Jesus Christ, is our advocate who pleads our case before God when we sin. He is the ONLY atonement that satisfies God. So NO WORKS OF THE FLESH can atone for our sins.

What Does “Propitiation” Mean? Propitiation is a big word that means satisfaction.
Because God is a holy God, His anger and justice burns against sin. And He has sworn that sin will be punished.

 


There must be a satisfactory payment for sin.

*But God said, “If I punish man for his sin, man will die and go to hell.
*On the other hand, if I don’t punish man for his sin, My justice will never be satisfied.”

The solution?

*God said that He would become our substitute.
*He would take the sin of mankind upon Himself in agony and blood—a righteous judgment and substitute for sin.

His wrath burned out on the cross when His only Son died as man’s propitiation for sin. And this is love.

 



1 John 4:10 This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the means by which our sins are forgiven.

Rejoice and be glad for the Lord has wonderful plans for you fulfilling His eternal purpose through you!
Isaiah 43:19  Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
Dear Jesus, I will never know what you suffered and felt, and for that I am grateful. My heart hurts when I do try to wrap my brain around what was truly done to you. Yet, I know that the pain was temporary, as massive as it was. And I love you SO much for taking the pain of my sins so that I can have the promise of eternal life. I ask that you walk with me through this life, helping me to avoid sin. Sin leads to damnation, and the pain you suffered was the pain of our collective damnation! If I think that my sins would lead to my eternal suffering, I know that I never want myself or my loved ones to face that forever. I want to live with you forever! Amen.
John 17:3 And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you 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.

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TAKE UP THE CROSS

By Bob / March 2, 2024

The Cross has been forgotten in many Christian homes and churches, simply because we have chosen to place our human happiness above God’s Will.

  “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”. 1 Corinthians 1:18

Take Up His Cross Daily

Can you recall Jesus’ radical philosophy: “Be a servant, give to others”?

The basis of that statement is tucked away in Luke 9:23.

Following Christ is a costly, unselfish decision. He says: “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me.”
When you look closely at Jesus’ statement, a couple of things seem important.
*First, those who desire to follow Him closely must come to terms with self-denial.
*And second, this decision to give ourselves to others (taking up our cross) has to be a daily matter.

 

Some questions we must ask and answer ourselves are:

*Am I serious about being a follower of Jesus Christ?

*Do I think of others to such an extent that self-denial is becoming the rule rather than the exception in my life?

*Is my walk with Him a daily thing?

*A thorough self-examination is one of the requisites for following closely. Paul tells us to abound in generosity, be givers, be people who excel in unselfishness. That’s costly stuff, terribly expensive. Can we pay the price?

2 Corinthians 2:14 Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in  Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.

When I believe the Good News of the cross the power of God becomes a reality in my life.

Lord I thank you for your indwelling presence in my life made possible by the work of Christ on the cross. Amen

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Want to Change?

By Bob / February 28, 2024

Change requires making choices.

  • It’s not enough to dream of changing.
  • It’s not enough to desire change.
  • In order for you to change, you will need to make a decision.
  • You must choose to change.

Change is intentional.

  • Are you going to be any different in six months?
  • Are you going to be better a year from now?
  • Are you going to be healthier, stronger, and more mature?
  • Are you going to be happier?
  • Are you going to be less in debt?
  • Are you going to be more like God wants you to be?

I can tell you the answer right now: It will only happen if you choose to change, because it isn’t going to happen accidentally.

It requires a choice.

A lot of times we think we’re waiting on God to change us. No! God is waiting on you. He’s waiting on you to say, “Yes, Lord, I’m willing to make these changes.”

We have to make intentional choices in order to grow. There is no growth without change, there is no change without loss, and there is no loss without pain.

If you are going to grow, you will have to change, and change means you let go of some old things in order to grab hold of some new things.

It’s like swinging on a trapeze. The trapeze artist swings out on one bar, and then he has to reach out and grab the other one. At some point, he’s got to let go of one to grab on to the other, or he’s not going to make it to the other side. If he thinks he can hold on to both, what happens? He gets stuck in the middle, and he’s going down.

Some of you are stuck in the middle, and you’re going down because you haven’t let go of the old patterns, the old habits, and the old ways of thinking. You have to let go of your old ways.

The Bible says, “Throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life” (Ephesians 4:22a ). In other words, let it go. Those old habits, those old hurts, those old patterns, those old sins in your life — let them go. The Bible says to throw them off and trust that God is working in you “to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose” (Philippians 2:13b NIV).  Amen

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Turn Back To God

By Bob / February 27, 2024

Let us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the Lord. Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say, ‘We have sinned and rebelled’”Lamentations 3:40-42a.

The path to a fresh start and a clear conscience begins with repentance. First, review every area of your life, and then repent of every sin.

What does it mean to repent? It means three things:

  • First, you take responsibility for your sin.
  • Second, you turn away from those things.
  • And third, you turn toward God and his grace.

Repentance does not mean rationalizing your sin. You don’t say, “It was no big deal.” It was a big deal, or you wouldn’t have remembered it. You don’t say, “It happened so long ago” or “It was just a stage I went through” or “Everybody does it.” It doesn’t matter! You cannot rationalize sin, minimize it, excuse it, or blame others. That is not true repentance.

Pay attention to this: The greatest holdup to the healing of your hang-up is you.

You’re not waiting on God; you’re not waiting on anybody else. God wants to heal the hang-up in your life, but the greatest holdup to your hang-up is you.

The Bible says in 1 John 1:8, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us”(NIV).

Would you like to get rid of the self-defeating habits in your life?

  • You will stop defeating yourself when you stop deceiving yourself.
  • It all starts with gut-level honesty and recognizing that something is wrong, no matter how much you want to rationalize it and excuse it.
  • You need to admit it, confess it, and get it out of your life.

E’s of Decision Making”…Glorifying God in the Gray Areas…(got this from a Bible Study friend, not sure of author)

Edification…Will this activity produce a spiritual benefit?

Enslavement…Will this activity lead to spiritual bondage?

Exposure…Will this activity expose my mind or body to defilement?

Esteem…Will this benefit others, or cause them to stumble?

Evangelism…Will this activity further the cause of the Gospel?

Ethics…Will this activity violate my conscious?

Exaltation…Will this activity bring glory to God?

Armed with these basic principles every believer can navigate the gray areas with integrity.  Amen

 

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JESUS FREED US FROM SIN

By Bob / February 26, 2024

Luke 23:18 “And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas:”

What happened to Barabbas is a picture of what happens when a person is born again. Barabbas was guilty; Jesus was innocent. Yet Jesus suffered the death that Barabbas should have experienced, and Barabbas went free.

 

Likewise, we were all guilty (Rom. 3:23) and condemned to death (Rom. 6:23), yet Jesus suffered our punishment so that we may go free (2 Cor. 5:21). Just as Barabbas didn’t ask for this substitution, so “God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

 

Barabbas was freed, but he had to choose whether or not to accept this new start and remain free, or go back to his old ways and come under the judgment of Rome again.

 

Likewise, we have all been freed through the substitutionary death of Jesus, but we have to choose whether to accept our freedom by putting faith in Jesus or to reject it, by denying Him.

Our death to sin and resurrection to life with Christ, is already a reality in our spirits but will only become a physical reality when we know and believe it.

 

In the same way that Jesus died unto sin once, and death no longer has dominion over Him, the person who recognizes their death with Christ unto sin, will not allow sin to rule over him anymore. Any Christian who is struggling with sin has not recognized that they are dead unto sin.

 

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Rom 1:19-20).

You can be a believer yet act as though there is no God.

*Whenever you fret over life circumstances, you immediately demonstrate unbelief.

*Whenever you move out of fear or anxiety, you believe a lie about God’s nature.

 

Each day your actions affirm or convict you of your belief system.

*It reveals who the central focus of your life really is you or God.

*It reveals who you place your ultimate trust inyou or God.

It is one of the great paradoxes for believers.  One day we can believe Him to move mountains. The next day we can question His very existence.

 

We’ve lost our passionate embrace of the magnificent. Our appreciation for noticing God and His provision had been strangled by what the world begs us to pay attention to.

But I’m not interested in what the world classifies as important.

I’m interested in where God wants to point my focus.   I’m interested in humbling myself in childlike awe of all that He is.
How might we remember to embrace the magnificent on this ordinary day?

Dear Lord, I praise You today for Your magnificence in all things. Humble me as Your child and guide me as I follow hard after You instead of the world. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Hope for the Lonely

By Bob / February 24, 2024

Psalm 68:6 God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
To be lonely is a very sad condition; yet in today’s world there are millions and millions of lonely people.
Even though the population of the earth is increasing rapidly and even though so many people live in large cities, those large cities and this highly populated earth of ours are filled with lonely people.

• You see, it’s possible to be lonely in the midst of a crowd.
• It’s possible to be lonely in a big city.
• I know, because I’ve met so many people like that.
Now loneliness is not God’s plan for man’s life.
Right at the beginning of human history God said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” So for the first man he planned a mate. That’s God’s attitude.
• He wants to take us out of our loneliness.
• He wants to set us in the family of God.
• He wants to give us human friends and human fellowship.
• That’s His plan. God sets the lonely in families.

But there’s one kind of person that God cannot help out of loneliness: the rebellious live in a dry sun-scorched land.

So if you’re lonely just bear in mind that God cannot help you until:
• you lay down your rebelliousness,
• till you renounce your pride and your self-will and independence
• and turn to God for His mercy
• and then He’ll have mercy on you and He will set you in His family.

Step one of the 8 Truths to Master life:

1. I confess my spiritual and moral bankruptcy and agree with Jesus’ words: “without me you can do nothing.”

Result: I am fully accepted and welcomed into God’s Family.

I am “Accepted.”

*When this happens, I am fully accepted into God’s family. Upon receiving Jesus and His work on the cross, of bearing my sin and His victory over death through His resurrection—I have the gift of eternal life.

Isaiah 55:1. “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it’s all free!”
Luke 5: 31 Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.
Romans 3:18-26, 2 Corinthians 5:17

Lord, thank you for the Body of Christ the Church which has helped be get rid of my loneliness.   We all need relationships and I pray that if we are not in a small group we will reach out and get into one for Your Glory and our joy.  Amen

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Why Repentance

By Bob / February 22, 2024

Psalm 66:18  If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear.

Does God hear the prayers of sinners? Yes and no.

  • Yes, our merciful God always loves us and works with us, and Jesus Christ even died for us “while we were still sinners” (Romans 5:8).
  • We were all sinners (Romans 3:23), so if God did not hear our cries for forgiveness, there would be no human He would hear.
  • After sinning, David prayed, “Hide Your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities” (Psalm 51:9). God heard that prayer.

But without repentance, as Isaiah wrote, “Your sins have hidden His face from you, so that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).

Psalm 66:18 talks about sin “cherished” in the heart. “If I have known it was there and encouraged it,” then God wouldn’t listen (Adam Clarke’s Commentary on Psalm 66:18).

To be assured God will hear and answer us, we must repent and work to root sin out of our heart with God’s help.

Thank you Jesus for the Cross which gave us all Victory if we choose to walk with you.  Amen

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How Make Good Choices?

By Bob / February 21, 2024

“Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes” (Ephesians 4:23 ).

Change requires new thinking. In order to change, we must learn the truth and start making good choices, but we also must change the way we think.

The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel determines the way you act.

If you want to change the way you act, you start by changing the way you think. In addition, if you want to change the way you feel, you must start with the way you think.

For instance, you can say, “I need to love my husband more,” but that isn’t going to work. You can’t fight your way into a feeling. You must change the way you think about your husband, about your kids, about your wife. That will change the way you feel, which will then change the way you act. The Bible says, “Let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes” (Ephesians 4:23).

The battle for sin, the battle to deal with those defects in your life that you don’t like, starts in your mind. If you want to change anything in your behavior or anything in your emotions, you start with your thoughts and your attitude.

The renewal of your mind is related to the word “repentance.” I know repentance is a dirty word for a lot of people. They think it means something bad, something they don’t really want to do, something painful. They think of a guy standing on a street corner with a sign that says, “Repent! The world’s about to end!”

Repentance is about more than changing your behavior. It is about changing your mind and learning to think differently. “Repent” simply means to make a mental U-turn.

  • You turn from guilt to forgiveness.
  • You turn from frustration to freedom, from darkness to light, from hatred and bitterness to love.

You may also need to change the way you think about God. He’s not mad at you; he’s mad about you! You’re deeply flawed, but you’re deeply loved.

Start with your mind, and change the way you think about your relationships, the economy, the world, and your past, present, and future.

Changing the way you think will then affect your emotions and your behavior.

Read Romans 12:1-3. Amen

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CARRYING THE CROSS

By Bob / February 17, 2024

Galatians 3:5   Does God give you the Spirit and work miracles among you because you do what the Law requires or because you hear the gospel and believe it?

“Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly. But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit'” (Matt 1:19-21).
The Cost of Miracles
There is often a cost associated with a miracle.
*Mary carried a miracle in her belly.
*No other woman in history had the distinction of birthing the Son of God.
*It was a one-time event in history.

*However, for 30 years she was viewed as a woman who was often judged, shamed by public opinion, rejected by her own, and thought to be an adulteress by her townspeople.

 

I can only imagine her cries at night, “You are God, you can help them understand I am not an immoral person.

*I am doing the will of God!
*Why must I be shamed and judged the same as a prostitute!”
God’s silence must have been difficult. She would not be accurately viewed for years to come.

*In many ways, she was called to the same path as Jesus was.
*Jesus was rejected by His own people too.
Her finance Joseph was going to break off the engagement when he discovered she was pregnant.
*Had he not had a visitation from an angel, he too would have rejected her. *However, he married her and also carried the stigma associated with a pregnancy that most assumed was immoral.
Sometimes we are called to experience rejection for the Son of God living in us.

 

When we carry the cross of Christ, the world and even our families sometimes look at us as though we have a few marbles out of place.

Jesus said that He did not come to bring peace. Even our families would judge us and think wrongly of us.
Yes, a miracle often has a cost. But that miracle is the seed for something imperishable.
**It is the seed of eternity in our hearts.

2 Timothy 1:9  (Jesus) has  saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but  according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus  before time began.

Thank you for calling us Jesus.  May we always be obedient to Your voice as You lead us through  this life here on earth.  Help us to keep an Eternal Perspective on all we do and say.  Amen

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IN A DANGEROUS PIT?

By Bob / February 14, 2024

Psalms 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord’s help; then he listened to me and heard my cry.
2 He pulled me out of a dangerous pit, out of the deadly quicksand. He set me safely on a rock and made me secure.

We all have pits we fall into—that’s just life—but God’s Word shows us that as Christians we are to face our pits through eyes of faith.

Maybe you are stuck in a pit right now.

*It could be a difficult relationship, a financial hole, an illness—something you’ve been caught in for a while—and you wonder if you’ll ever be able to climb out.

*Your situation may look fatal & terminal but God’s saying you won’t die; you’ll live to declare the goodness of the Lord.
James 1:2  My friends, consider yourselves fortunate when all kinds of trials come your way, 3 for you know that when your faith succeeds in facing such trials, the result is the ability to endure.

One type of pit is the kind we create for ourselves.
*We may fall back into an old sin habit or unhealthy life pattern that keeps us going in circles.
*We find ourselves drifting, wandering, moving farther away from the abundant life God has provided.
*But it does not matter what kind of pit we are in. Our merciful Lord makes a way for us out of every one of them.

Psalms 34:19 Good people suffer many troubles, but the Lord saves them from them all;

“Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?” (Matthew 12:11).

Jesus says, “It doesn’t matter if you created your pit. Even the law won’t stop Me from coming to lift you out of it.”
 
2 Corinthians 5:17 Anyone who is joined to Christ is a new being; the old is gone, the new has come.

Today, make the decision to shake off any negative, self-defeating mindsets.

*Choose to cooperate with God.
*Trust that He is preparing you for promotion.
*As you keep an attitude of faith, expectancy and thanks giving, He will lift you up out of the pit and set you on the solid path of victory He has in store for you!

 

Thank You Lord, for using every situation in my life for my good. I bless You today no matter what is going on around me, knowing that You have a good plan for me in Jesus’ name. Amen.

” We know that in all things God works for good with those who love him, those whom he has called according to his purpose.” (Ro. 8:28)

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GOD KNOWS

By Bob / February 12, 2024

Our God is so great that every star is counted and named. And yet He cares about us personally. He cares about the little things and the broken hearted among us. What an awesome God to be able to worship.

“[God] determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.” Psalm 147:4–5    

Here the Scripture gives us a beautiful picture of the measureless wisdom, knowledge and power of the Lord.



*No human astronomer would dare to calculate the number of stars in the universe.
We know that it runs into millions and billions, but God knows the number of the stars and He calls each by name.



God’s understanding reaches out to the farthest corners of the universe and He knows exactly what’s going on with each star.

God controls its movements.

 

Astronomers can compute mathematically where each star was thousands of years ago or where it will be thousands of years from now because the stars are so absolutely accurate and reliable in their movements.
But don’t let us attribute that to some unseen, mechanical force.
The force, the wisdom, the power behind the movements of the stars is the force and the wisdom of our God. His understanding is infinite.   

We marvel today at the achievements of computers, but let me tell you that God is greater than all the computers put together.
There’s nothing going on anywhere in the universe that He doesn’t know about, that He doesn’t control.
**He’s the Creator, He’s the Controller of the entire universe, and He’s our God.

As we learn to love God, He makes us an open, cleansed vessel so He can love others through us.



God has knowledge of all things at all times.
Isaiah 40:28 Have you never heard? Have you never understood?
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. 29 He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.

God sees us as we really are. He knows our thoughts, motives, and desires. God Knows.

 

God is in control so what’s happening to me is happening for my good.
*Our God is a God of Love.
*He knows what’s best for us.
*It doesn’t matter what you are going through, “God Knows”.

If you give God a chance he can deliver you. God Knows.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me…Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners will be converted to Thee.” Psalm 51:10,13  AMEN

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My Soul Thirsts for God

By Bob / February 11, 2024

My Soul Thirsts for God
By John Piper
As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? (Psalm 42:1–2)

What makes this so beautiful and so crucial for us is that he is not thirsting mainly for relief from his threatening circumstances. He is not thirsting mainly for escape from his enemies or for their destruction.

It’s not wrong to want relief and to pray for it. It is sometimes right to pray for the defeat of enemies. But more important than any of that is God himself.

When we think and feel with God in the Psalms, this is the main result: We come to love God, and we want to see God and be with God and be satisfied in admiring and exulting in God.

A likely translation of the end of verse 2 is: “When will I come and see the face of God?” The final answer to that question was given in John 14:9 and 2 Corinthians 4:4. Jesus said, “Whoever has seen me has seen the Father.” And Paul said that when we are converted to Christ we see “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

When we see the face of Christ, we see the face of God. And we see the glory of his face when we hear the story of the gospel of his death and resurrection. It is “the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

May the Lord increase your hunger and your thirst to see the face of God. And may he grant your desire through the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

 

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