Devotions - Prayer
Laying Down Our Life for the Bride
TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1 by Os Hillman
Thursday, November 05 2015
“Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father” (John 10:17,18).
Jesus was called to lay down His life for His bride, the Church. Men are called to emulate this same “laying down” our lives for our wives – our earthly brides. Men are to be a physical representation of what Christ has done for each of us. As we men do this, we experience the love of the Father. Wives will experience the love of the Father as husbands do this. Most of us men fight this process due to our own insecurities, independence, pride and ego. However, it is the very laying down our lives that allows us to connect to the Father just as Jesus connected to His Father.
It is in the sacrificial, free will act that this occurs. This activates in the woman a response of love that allows the man to experience a deep love that is rooted in the Father but channeled from the wife, the one we lay our lives down for. Jesus did not feel something was being taken from Him because He chose to give it willingly. Conversely, if husbands lay down willingly their lives, they will not feel something is being taken. It is when husbands defend, negotiate and withdraw from the needs of a woman that it negates this process. When we think we are being used or manipulated against our will, we believe others are trying to control us and we resist. Jesus did not do this. He gave willingly. Men must realize they are the initiators called to lay down their lives for their wives. Women respond to this sacrificial act by giving their heart and physical love to their husbands. Both husband and wife experience the love of the Father when this happens.
Giving up our lives for our wives feels like just that – giving up our life. We give up rights, privileges, and desires. We focus only on them. When we become dead, God loves us by giving us the desires of our heart. We give up life, in order to gain it. “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25).
This is what it means when Jesus laid down His life for His bride. This is what it means when Paul said: “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish” (Eph 5:25-28).
This principle is key to impacting the marketplace for Jesus Christ. The family has been greatly wounded by a failure to understand this principle. This has also led men and women to become slaves instead of sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. Today, if you are a husband, commit yourself to laying down your life for your bride.
Amen
Read More“And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.” (Hebrews 6:11–12)
*I see a call to endurance– to run the race (it’s a marathon) that has been set before us.
*To seek and strive for a closer and deeper relationship with our Savior and never be happy standing still.
*Spiritual sluggishness is a manifestation of unbelief.
*Spiritual sluggishness is a sign that there’s something about God that we doubt and it’s draining our hope, which means it’s draining our energy and drive.
**We’re not giving it all we have because –we doubt it’s worth the effort.
Spiritual sluggishness is not to be tolerated; it’s to be fought. (Hebrews 3:19).
Spiritual sluggishness is a weight that needs to be laid aside (Hebrews 12:2). So how do you do that?
1. Identify the doubt.
*Sluggishness has a cause. What is sapping your faith?
2. Repent. Unbelief is a sin.
*Seek to actively turn from it.
3. Target that unbelief with Biblical truth.
*Stop whatever else you may be doing for devotional reading and focus on and pray through texts that deal directly with this issue.
*Lay aside your other book reading and read things that address this doubt.
4. Don’t go it alone.
*Humble yourself and share your struggle with trusted counselors God has given you.
**Humility is not being humble when God does a miracle through you. It is when even before you do it and through it that it is all God none of you.
*Our great Coach often speaks through assistant coaches (Hebrews 3:13).
Spiritual sluggishness is common to man (1 Corinthians 10:13). We all experience it. In the slog of our long faith-race and the adversity we encounter from the world, our flesh, and the devil (Ephesians 2:2–3), there are times the reward gets obscured by confusion and discouragements.
” Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:5).
Jesus I ask in your name that you will keep me mindful of the opportunities to love others in my life. Open my mind and guide me to chances to follow those who have deep relationships with You. Grant me faith when things seem hopeless, and give me the endurance to run the race you have set before me. I desire to be spiritually sharp, and have a deep meaningful relationship with You. In Your Name I pray, Amen.
Read MoreThis is a word about affliction and the purpose of affliction.
• Why affliction comes in our lives.
• How we should respond to affliction.
After all, there’s nobody who won’t encounter affliction(suffering, burden, problem, pain, hardship, trouble, misery) at some time or another in his life. Listen to what the psalmist says about affliction and what he learned from it:
Psalm 119:67, 71, 75—Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I obey your word. It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees. I know, O Lord, that your laws are righteous and in faithfulness you have afflicted me.
You see, the psalmist didn’t view affliction as a disaster. He saw it as a kind of corrective medicine. It was something that he needed to adjust his life. He says, “Before I was afflicted I went astray and I paid for it, but now,” he said, “I obey Your word. I’ve learned my lesson. It pays to obey.”
And then he says at the end, “O Lord . . . in faithfulness you have afflicted me.” You didn’t do it because You were cruel or because You were angry with me. You did it to straighten me out, to bring me back from my own evil way into Your way, to find the way of peace.
Are you in the midst of affliction? Don’t fight. Don’t argue with God. Ask Him the reason. God is afflicting you in His faithfulness. He has a reason. He’s trying to turn you back from something, to bring you out of the wrong and bring you into the right – a life of obedience to His statutes.
If you have any affliction or know someone in it: Take time to read the verses below on what the Bible says about affliction. You will be blessed.
Bible Verses: John 9:1-3, John 11:3-4, John 21:18-19, Psalm 34:19, 2 Corinthians 12:9-10, Deuteronomy 4:30-31, Hosea 5:14-15, Job 36:8-9, Psalm 32:5, Proverbs 17:3, Deuteronomy 8:2, 1 Peter 1:7, Revelation 2:10, (2 Corinthians 12:7-Acts 12:23), James 1:3, (1 Peter 2:20-Hebrews 10:26), John 15:2, Hebrews 12:10-11, Philippians 1:12, 2 Timothy 2:9-10, 2 Timothy 4:16-17
HEBREWS 5:8 AND HOSEA 4:6
Lord, thank you for the Bible, your truth to freedom of affliction. Amen
Read MoreMan has revolted against God. We are all “sinners.”
Psalms 51:12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.
**Let’s Ask God through the day to cleanse us of sin.
*If you are recovering from a serous sin’ it’s hard to imagine teaching others or being spiritually helpful to others, yet that is what God desires and plans for us.
Not too soon—mind you, and not without the oversight of mature believers, but eventually God’s intention is for us to get back in the game.
*Everything-even our sin-can be used by God to help others and heal ourselves. (Romans 8:28 is a great read)
Psalms 51:17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.
*It is amazing how God looks beyond our mistakes and failures and find something worthwhile in us.
Yes God punished David for his mistakes but still, He looked beyond all that and found a right spirit, a repentant spirit and a man who was sincerely after His heart.
Perfection may be a tall order for us, but a heart after the heart of God is what moves God. A broken, contrite and honest heart is what he asks for. I’m convinced a lot of us take pride in our doctrine when what the Lord desires from us is just our affection. “To Know Him is to have Eternal life”(JN 17:3).
1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
*Steps To Personal Deliverance–Lifestyle evangelism.
1. Admit that you have a problem.
2. Confess with a repentant heart.
3. Ask God for forgiveness.
4. Turn away from your past life.
5. Obey the Holy Spirit by hearing and reading Scriptures.
1 John 1:10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
*We might deceive ourselves about our own sin by rationalizing or minimizing the wrong.
*We might blame other people or circumstances instead of accepting responsibility.
*No matter how we deceive ourselves, it is important to understand the dangers of deceit.
The most important danger of delusion is what it does to our relationship with God.
If we deny our sin, we are calling God a liar. We are blocking our own path to walking with him
Is there sins in our life that we’ve been denying? Ask God to help you admit the wrong, take responsibility for it, and turn to him for forgiveness. He will help you and me overcome.
Lord help me be a doer of your word–not a bench warmer. Teach me more and more of what Your love(agape) means and looks like for my neighbor as well as my marriage, my kids, my grandkids, my friends and myself. God, You are love and You are the only solid foundation upon which human love can be built. Help Love be a LIFESTYLE!. Amen
Read More1 Timothy 1:15 Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.
Romans 6:11 Consider yourselves to be dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus
Even though you are dead to sin, sin’s strong appeal may still cause you to struggle with feeling that you are more alive to sin than you are to Christ. But Romans 6:1-11 teaches us that what is true of the Lord Jesus Christ is true of us in terms of our relationship to sin and death.
God the Father allowed His Son to “be sin” in order that all the sins of the world–past, present and future–would fall on Him (2 Corinthians 5:21). When He died on the cross, our sins were on Him. But when He rose from the grave, there was no sin on Him. When He ascended to the Father, there was no sin on Him. And today, as He sits at the Father’s right hand, there is no sin on Him. Since we are seated in the heavenlies in Christ, we too have died to sin.
Christ already died to sin, and because you are in Him, you have died to sin too. Sin is still strong and appealing, but your relationship with sin has ended. I’ve met many Christians who are still trying to die to sin, and their lives are miserable and fruitless as a result because they are struggling to do something that has already been done. “For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death”(Romans 8:2). see too 1 John 4:4
Romans 6:11 summarizes what we are to believe about our relationship to sin because of our position in Christ. It doesn’t matter whether you feel dead to sin or not; you are to consider it so because it is so. People wrongly wonder, “What experience must I have in order for this to be true?”
The only necessary experience is that of Christ on the cross, which has already happened.
When we choose to believe what is true about ourselves and sin, and walk on the basis of what we believe, our right relationship with sin will work out in our experience. But as long as we put our experience before our belief, we will never fully know the freedom that Christ purchased for us on the cross.
Prayer: Lord, teach me not always to believe what I feel about my relationship to sin, but to believe the truth that I am dead to it. “Therefore, my brothers, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.” Acts 13:38 Amen
Read More“Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (1 Corinthians 13:7 NLT, second edition).
The kind of love that really makes a difference in this world requires a big effort on your part, but you’ll enjoy huge rewards.
Sometimes you just don’t feel like you have any more love to give. Maybe you’re in a people-intensive job, such as teacher, salesman, or waitress, and you come home and think, “I just can’t face another need, another problem, or another heartache.” So you just shut down.
Or you need to show love to a particular person who is demanding, selfish, and never returns your love. And you just think to yourself, “I’m done. No more.”
While that’s perfectly natural and perfectly human, it’s not the standard of love God calls us to in the Bible. The Bible says, “Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (1 Corinthians 13:7 NLT, second edition). Love never gives up.
How can you have that kind of patient love for another person? You get refueled.
To give the kind of patient love that God wants you to give, you have to refuel your love tank. Look around at society, and you’ll see it’s littered with debris from relationships that have crashed and burned because people didn’t refuel their love.
How do you refuel your love tank? You start by letting God love you. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19 NIV).
When you’re worn out, tired, and can’t imagine showing love to anyone else, remember that God loved you so much that he sent his Son to die for you. Read John 3:16-17
Now that’s real fuel. That’s what keeps you going when you want to quit.
Thank You Jesus for the Love you have given us all. May we show Your love to all we meet by our actions as well as our words. Amen
Read MoreAnd now, just as you accepted Christ Jesus as your Lord, you must continue to follow him”(Colossians 2:6 ).
The Bible often compares life to a walk, because life is a journey; we’re not sitting still. Throughout the New Testament, we are told to walk in wisdom, love, light, and obedience. We’re told to walk as Jesus walked. We’re also told to walk alongside other people.
Here are three reasons we need to walk with other people:
- It’s safer. Have you ever walked alone at night through a dark alley or down a lonely country road? It’s a little scary. But if you have another person with you, you feel safer.
- It’s supportive. Life is not a 50-yard dash; it’s a marathon. Walking with other people gives you the energy to keep on going until the end.
- It’s smarter. You learn more by walking with others than by walking alone. If you’re walking alone in the wrong direction, you may never realize it. But if you have a friend beside you, one of you is likely to recognize you’ve veered off the path and need to find the right direction.
We also learn some important lessons when we walk alongside other people. We learn how to get along and cooperate with others.
We also learn how to love. Genesis 2:18 tells us, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (NIV). God hates loneliness, and community is God’s answer to loneliness. When we walk alongside other people, we find a community where we learn how to love.
Walking alongside other people also teaches us hospitality. The Bible says in 1 Peter 4:9, “Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling.”What’s your grumble? What’s your excuse for not opening your home to friends?
Maybe you’ve said, “My home is dirty!”—Well, clean it up!
Or perhaps your excuse is, “My home isn’t big enough.”
Can you put three people in it? Jesus says, “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them” (Matthew 18:20).
Everybody has a longing for belonging, because God made us for relationships. When we walk alongside other Christians in community, we find that longing satisfied.
Lord, Thank you for the Body of Christ. Help me plug more and more into your family. Amen.
Read More
“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required” (Luke12:48, ESV).
Most Christians are powerless. To some readers, this statement will sound bold and to others it will sound obvious.
Consider what “normal” Christianity in the typical believer looks like today.
This person is a bit self-seeking and a little materialistic, and most
of his daily choices are about improving his life. ( that was and is me at times)
That includes his spiritual pursuits, from his church groups to the pod casts he downloads, to the seminars he attends.
There is nothing wrong with any of these things. Our Lord wants our lives to be blessed, but for some Christians these are nothing more than worldly pursuits.
****They are about self-improvement, not the kingdom of God, and they can drain a believer of true gospel power.
God calls the sin of unbelief “going back to Egypt.” “Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help . . . but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the Lord!” (Isaiah 31:1).
“Woe to the rebellious children . . . that take counsel, but not of me . . . that walk to go down into Egypt” (Isaiah 30:1-2).
Isaiah was dumbfounded when he saw many of Israel’s leaders mount their horses and gallop to Egypt to try to get counsel on national policy and security.
These were the same men who told the prophet they had no time to seek the Lord or consult with Him.
But God didn’t take their actions lightly. He called it all rebellion and pronounced woe upon them!
Today, nothing has changed. Multitudes of Christians crisscross the country attending seminars and conventions with a “go to Egypt” mentality. They are networking, strategizing, borrowing worldly methods, getting flesh-inspired counsel. In short, they are looking for any new thing that might excite them. Read Amos 5: 21-27
But the praying servant who trusts God wholly knows he has no time for Egyptian concepts. The place he runs is to his secret closet—where he gets his counsel on his knees!
God who promises that vengeance is His, and He will repay—then taking matters into our own hands shows a lack of faith in God and His integrity.
“Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord” (from Dt. 32:35-36; Rom. 12:19; Heb. 10:30). Striving to vindicate self actually shows a lack of faith in God keeping this promise. It also indicates spiritual “nearsightedness” which is only looking at the present moment instead of seeing things in view of eternity.
Thank You Jesus that You are the counsel I need on a daily basses. Thank You for Your Holy Inspired word that can lead us all. Give us the hunger and Time to read and meditate daily on Your Word-to Know You and Your guidance and then put what we learn into action! Amen
Read MoreHave you ever had a spiritual mountaintop experience with Christ?
I hope you have. We need glimpses of Christ in all his glory to fill us with faith and boldness.
And yet, as wonderful as mountaintop experiences are, you and I are called to more!
In [Mark 9:2] Jesus has taken disciples Peter, James, and John up on what we call the Mount of Transfiguration, because it was there that they saw Jesus transfigured in all of his resplendent glory.
The disciples could see everything that Christ was on the inside demonstrated on the outside.
*For that dazzling moment his inherent, incarnate glory was revealed.
Now having seen Christ’s glory, Peter wanted to stay right there on the mountain.
Jesus had been talking about dying for the sins of mankind. So Peter said, “Lord, let’s just stay here. Let’s build a church and we’ll stay here and worship.”
Well, Peter is like many believers today, but that’s not what God had in mind.
We must translate our faith from the mountaintop to the valley!
God doesn’t intend for us just to buy ascension robes and wait on a roof somewhere for Jesus to return.
You and I are called to a mission! (Matthew 28:19-20) Not just to bask in his glory on the mountaintop, but to share his message with a lost and dying world.
Sometimes failure is what is needed in order to move us to the next level of faith with God. see James 1.
However, we must be willing to fail and let God rescue us.
The Lord delights in this process. His motive for His children is always love. It is always to bring us to a new level of trust and dependence on Him.
This is a time when you can establish or re-establish good personal boundaries so that you neither take advantage of someone else, nor allow others to take advantage of you. This process is vital in obtaining and maintaining good relationships.
And, relationships with one another is only secondary to your intimate, personal relationship with the Lord. Set your priorities in order.
Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
Dear Lord, forgive me for all of the times I’ve stayed on the mountain top way to long and compared myself to others. I know that You have hand-picked all of my qualities and You know what I’m suppose to do. Help me to see these things as beautiful reminders of Your great love in creating me as Your son. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Read More
Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts, to sexual impurity, for the degrading of their bodies with one another. Romans 1:24 (read Read the Scripture: Romans 1:18-32)
The wickedness at work among human beings follows a process which is identified in this passage by the three time repeated phrase, “God gave them over.”
This phrase identifies what is going on in our culture.
The first mark of wickedness in a godless society is widespread sexual immorality — the degrading, or the dishonoring, of the body.
Because men run after other gods and refuse the testimony of their own hearts and do not glorify or thank the true God, God removes his restraints from society so that what is done in secret is allowed to break out into openness and acceptability.
That is the mark of the wrath of God at work.
The first sign of wickedness in a civilization is that sexual immorality becomes widely accepted.
You may ask, “Why is it that sex always seems to be singled out as the sign of God’s judgment”?
Romans passage above begins with sexual impurity and proceeds to sexual perversity.
But, the final result is not sexual sins, but sins of the spirit.
We all have witnessed how our current society has switched the labels that believers call sin to make sin seem less sinful.
• We call lying, exaggeration.
• We call fornication, safe sex.
• We call murder, a right to choose.
• We call drunkenness, illness.
• We call jealousy, ambition.
• We call pride, self-esteem.
• We call humility, weakness.
• We call money happiness.
• We call entertainment relaxing
People really want a sense of total fulfillment, a oneness, an identity.
- Only God can give that fulfillment.
- Only God can satisfy that deep sense of longing for complete identity and unity with another person.
That is why the highest description of the relationship with God possible to a believer is found in the words of Jesus in John 14-15, “You in me, and I in you” (John 14:20).
When people think that they are going to find that fulfillment in sex, God says to them,
“Look, it won’t work. But you won’t believe that until you try it out.”
So he removes the restraints and allows immoral sexual practices to become widely accepted, understanding that men indulging in these things will finally find themselves just as dissatisfied, empty and hopeless as they were when they started.
Thus they will learn that worshiping God is the only way by which people find fulfillment.
Worship is the submission of all of my nature (conscience, mind, imagination, heart & will) to God.
Father, thank you that You have not forsaken this world, and that the message of Truth and Light is still as available as ever. Help us all see, hear and know that YOU are the only Way, the only Truth and the only Life. Let us all Worship you! Amen
Read MoreHow I LOVE My MOTHER!/Even though it’s been 5 years since she went home to the Lord!
1. I Love her verbally
2. I Love her physically
3. I Love her patiently
4. I Love her attentively
5. I Love her gratefully
6. I Love her generously
7. I Love her honorably
Eph. 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2 “Honor your father and mother”—which is the first commandment with a promise— 3 “so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth.”
What does it mean to obey your parents “in the Lord”? I think “in the Lord” means as Christians. Without Christ you can’t obey your parents.
Nobody is perfect in raising their kids! We all make mistakes. The greatest gift anyone can give their mother is the words:
“I LOVE YOU MOM”
***How love is rekindled if you have backslide over the years.
1. Ask forgiveness
2. Make the choice to forgive
3. Don’t hesitate to get help
4. Give yourselves time to heal; be patient
5. Share Life stories with each other again
6. Fall in Love with Christ again
“Be still and know that I am God…” (Psalm 46:10).
As we grow in relationship with our Creator, we may be amazed to find that our desperate and heartfelt need for love has already been filled…by God Himself.
“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind” (Rom 12:2).
Psalms 139:13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother’s womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born.
This reading gets us to re-direct our focus on the eternal God and reminds us to look upwards to the omniscient Creator for the answers WE are looking for instead of looking at the created; ourselves and the world around.
Y0u are the masterpiece of God made in Christ Jesus. Eph. 2:1-10.
1. Created for the Master’s purpose
2. You have everything you need to do to do what God wants you to do.
*Stop looking at what you cannot do and look at what you can do.
3. As God’s masterpiece He uses everything in your life to bring about his purpose.
Lord thank you for my Mother Ruth and all she has done to teach me Your truths, and loving me unconditionally and Praying for me daily over all the years. Thank you Lord for the 60 years I had with her. Lord, Bless all the mothers this day in a VERY special way, in them Knowing YOU are there with them, You Love them unconditionally and want to have a Personal Relationship with You JESUS! Thank You Jesus for my Mother and her love and patience with me! Thank you for the example she set for me. In Jesus Name, Amen!
Read More We need to be willing to walk God’s Way of Agape, even if our circumstances never change.
* “Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines…Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”
Habakkuk 3:17-18
It is important that we understand the motive out of which our obedience
springs, because if the spring is not pure, everything that flows out of it
will be polluted.
The sad truth is that many Christians in these last days obey God only because they are afraid of going to hell.
* They fear their Father’s wrath and their obedience to Him is “legal” only.
*They have no genuine desire to please Him.
Hebrews 5: 8 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.
* If we persevere in this pain, daily and even hourly submitting ourselves to God obedience is born. Obedience is needed to live a clean and righteous life before God. No one will be perfect. But we must each run the race that is set before us without stopping.
Jesus did everything out of love and a desire to bring pleasure to His heavenly Father:
“Then Jesus said to them, When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him” (John 8:28-29).
*This was the rock, the foundation upon which Jesus built His life of obedience.
*It was the spring, the motive, out of which the flow of His obedience came. It is to be our rock, as well.
“For I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of him that sent me” (John 6:38).
Jesus shut Himself up in prayer on the mountaintops, in quiet places, often all
night long in fellowship with His Father. Jesus one great prayer was, “Father, what do You want? What will bring You pleasure? What can I do to fulfill the desire of Your heart?”
That is the attitude of a person who has the Spirit of Christ and that should be our attitude—that we might be one who builds on the rock.
* The foundational motive of all our obedience must be: “I do all things because I want to please my Lord; I want to bring Him great pleasure!”
“In the thirty-ninth year of his reign Asa was afflicted with a disease in his feet. Though his disease was severe, even in his illness he did not seek help from the LORD, but only from the physicians. Then in the forty-first year of his reign Asa died and rested with his fathers” (2 Chron 16:12-14).
What we learn from Asa is that whenever we place our trust and obedience in the Lord, God becomes our source for security and prosperity. However, when we move away from trusting God, that security is removed and we fail to receive those things God intended us to have.
We can’t give away what we don’t possess. We need to personally know the love of Christ in an experiential way before we try to share it with others. Let Him love you, and let His love flow through you to others. The world is hungry for love, real love.
Lord, Fill my cup of love to over-filling with Your Love– so I have some love to give to others. Amen
Read More If we are not loving with God’s Love, we are spiritually dead.
“He that loveth not…abideth in death.”1 John 3:14
The Bible without the Spirit leads to a dead, institutional Christianity. The Spirit without the Bible leads to groundless devotion. We need both the Spirit and the Word to effectively Adventure through the Bible.
God has made available to us the riches of this Bible — His Word — which reveals to us the riches of His kingdom and of our eternal life in Christ.
God longs for us to know Him, and has revealed Himself in His Son. He has redeemed us through the blood His resurrected Son shed on the Cross, and has called us into a Spiritual relationship with Him.
Into our soul and our life He pours all the riches of heaven — “good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over,” as Luke 6:38 tells us. But we must get to know Him as He reaches out to us through the pages of Scripture, led by His Holy Spirit. We cannot imagine a greater adventure!
A Few Results of the Resurrection!!!
* A savior who can never die again.
“For we know that Christ being raised from the dead will never die again.” Romans 6:9.
*Repentance.
“The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel.” Acts 5:31.
*New birth.
“By his great mercy we have been born anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.” 1 Peter 1:3.
*Forgiveness of sin.
“If Christ has not been raised, your hope is futile and you are still in your sins.” 1 Corinthians 15:17.
*The Holy Spirit.
“This Jesus God raised up, and of that we are all witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this which you see and hear.” Acts 2:32–33.
* No condemnation for the believers.
” So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus.” Romans 8:1.
“Who is to condemn? It is Christ Jesus who died, yes, who was raised from the dead, who is at the right hand of God.” Romans 8:34.
*The Lord’s personal fellowship and protection.
“Lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age.” Matthew 28:20.
*Proof of coming judgment.
“God has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all men by raising him from the dead.” Acts 17:31.
*Salvation from the future wrath of God.
“We wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, Jesus who delivers us from the wrath to come.” 1 Thessalonians 1:10; Romans 5:10.
*Our own resurrection from the dead.
“We know that he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus and bring us with you into his presence.” 2 Corinthians 4:14; Romans 6:4; 8:11; 1 Corinthians 6:14; 15:20
Re-establish your spiritual focus. I am alive, says the Lord, and My kingdom is already established. It is finished. It is real, and the way has been provided
for you to be one with Me in the invisible realm of the Spirit. Come and commune with Me in the secret place. Rise above your worldly concerns and let us have sweet fellowship together. Don’t delay. Come now that your joy may be full.
John 15:9-11 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love.
If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”
Jesus tells us that when we are living in Him and following His commands we will have great joy.
* Christians should be the happiest people on earth, we have Christ and all His promises and on our very worst day we get to meet Him face to face.
God thank you for Your resurrection, Our own resurrection from the dead and Your promises and love— give me strength to find joy in all things, in Jesus name, Amen
Read MoreDO WE HAVE CONFIDENCE IN THE WORD OF GOD?
In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God”. John 1:1
God’s Love for us is unstoppable, unshakable and eternal.
* “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39
Christ is the living Word of God and when you are shut in with Him in prayer, the Holy Spirit will always lead you to God’s revealed Word. He will build up your faith by feeding you from the Bible, even while you are in the secret closet!
We are commanded: “Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. . . . Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand in the evil day. . . . And take . . . the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God” (Ephesians 6:11, 13, 17).
Often when you receive specific instructions from the Lord, His Spirit will
whisper, “Now turn to . . .” and you will be directed to a passage of Scripture.
God’s Word will speak to you directly, telling you how to get through your crisis.
Many Christians reading this message simply must hear a word from the Lord.
Nobody on earth can help them. The only way for them to get through their trial is by staying in Christ’s presence until He gives them direction from His Holy Spirit inspired Word.
God must tell them the way through—what to do and when and how to act.
God’s exclusive direction to them, through the Word, will not come one minute too early or too late. It will all be in the Holy Spirit’s timing!
*Jesus is “meek and lowly in heart,” and wins us by love. Jesus pulls more than His “share” of the load; therefore, our burden is light.
The most loving father in the world cannot compare with the love our Heavenly Father has for us. And yet, many times we find it easier to believe in the willingness of a father or mother or mate to help us than in the willingness of God to use His power on our behalf.
Relatively few people really doubt God’s ability, but rather, it is our doubt of His willingness to use His ability on our behalf that causes most people to do without.
*Jesus assures us that God’s love, and His willingness to demonstrate that love, is far greater than we can ever experience in any human relationship. *Not only does He want our love, but wants you to let Him love you today.
Today, there is no need for you to worry about your trial. God is faithful to
respond to your every need and request. Simply pray, “Lord, I come now not just to have my needs met but I come also to meet Your need!”
We were made for fellowship with Him even in our heaviest times. I ask you: Do you love to be with Him? Let your heart cry out, “Jesus, You are my everything!
You are my soul’s great pleasure and I love Your company!”
*It is important, though, for our own personal benefit that we be aware that the children of the Wicked One are placed among the true believers.
*Our best defense is to preach and teach the Word of God without watering it down. False brethren will not endure sound doctrine. They leave when the Word, which is sharper than any two-edged sword, begins to expose the thoughts and intents of the heart. Stick to the Word!
Father, help us to listen closely to Your Spirit and put all our confidence in
Your revealed Word. Amen
“ All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17)
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Those who trust in the Lord will walk in the light of His Love.
* “They looked unto Him and were radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”. Psalm 34:5
*Where there is compassion, a miracle will come!
We need to be willing to walk God’s Way of Agape, even if our circumstances never change.
* “Though the fig tree should not blossom, and there be no fruit on the vines…Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.”
Habakkuk 3:17-18
God has made available to us the riches of this Bible — His Word — which reveals to us the riches of His kingdom and of our eternal life in Christ.
God longs for us to know Him, and has revealed Himself in His Son. He has redeemed us through the blood His resurrected Son shed on the Cross, and has called us into a Spiritual relationship with Him.
Into our soul and our life He pours all the riches of heaven — “good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over,” as Luke 6:38 tells us. But we must get to know Him as He reaches out to us through the pages of Scripture, led by His Holy Spirit. We cannot imagine a greater adventure!
Do you feel frustrated because you are just getting by and are not really experiencing the abundant life that Jesus came to give? (Jn. 10:10).
Examine your lifestyle and see if the cares of this life, deceitfulness of riches, or pleasures of this life could be choking God’s Word.
The High Call of Suffering
2 Corinthians 1:2 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5 For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ.
*We cannot understand our suffering or His silence to our passionate pleas.
*We endure loss, loneliness, rejection, financial hardship, grief–all sorts of painful things and wonder why we have to be the one enduring this trial.
*We entreat the Lord for healing and it doesn’t come.
*We request prayers from family and friends and there is still no respite from the Pain we are experiencing.
“Why, Lord, why must I go through this wretched time? Why, Lord? Why? I don’t understand.”
Then, quite unexpectedly, some hurting person–possibly someone you’ve never met before–enveloped in despair and fear and confusion comes into your life and you find yourself saying, “Oh, come sit down and let me talk to you.
* I understand! I’ve been through that very same thing. Let me tell you what happened and HOW the Lord brought comfort and strength and understanding to me”.
II Corinthians 1: 3-4 (above) has just become a part of our life and we suddenly grasp that through this suffering, Jesus has prepared us to minister to someone else. He is allowing us to share His unfathomable love with others. And they will listen. Why? Because we’ve been there. We understand. We have Wisdom.
*How special you are to God as He patiently, lovingly teaches you, knowing that someone who is hurting just as you have been hurting will be crossing your path before too long.
Somehow the Lord will bring that person into your life and you will be able to answer the questions they ask from the darkness of their desperation and suffering.
That sense of Pain and sorrow that you have experienced is about to give way to fresh excitement and new adventure. You will experience yet another shift where doors will open in the Spirit to provide new opportunities for development in both the natural and spiritual realms.
Don’t be afraid to let go of what has been in order to Move Forward to what is ahead.
Feeling Pain and sorrow is more often than not a precursor to change.
Be prepared to hear from the Lord through His Word and start anew Moving Forward, for the Lord’s Glory.
Exodus 40:36 Whenever the cloud was taken up from above the tabernacle, the children of Israel would go onward in all their journeys.
Glory is found in the Bible 402 times! Glory means to bring light to. All glory comes from God but it also belongs back to God.
Main Point: Gods glory, His presence and power, will guide us throughout life!
* Remember that Gods glory now resides in us. 1 Corinthians 6:19
* Realize that God’s glory is our Power. 2 Peter 1:3-4
* Recognize that God’s glory gives us constant Direction. Proverbs 16:9
Proverbs 3:5-6
*I will run to my God FIRST when I am in need of comfort and I will use that to comfort those around me.
Galations 2:20 – “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me…”
*All our flowery words about Jesus are not enough. Our actions must match our words in order for it to become truth.
*Do we long for God’s glory to fill our tabernacles? For Him to dwell with us? For Him to speak to us directly, to guide us in such a tangible way?
Believers in Jesus Christ , washed by the blood and being the temple of the Holy Ghost have to wait on God for divine guidance in every aspect of our lives. Simply because God knows what is best for us!
Now you’re dressed in a new wardrobe. Every item of your new way of life is custom-made by the Creator, with his label on it. All the old fashions are now obsolete.
So, chosen by God for this new life of love, dress in the wardrobe God picked out for you: compassion, kindness, humility, quiet strength, discipline. (Colossians 3:10, 12 MSG)
**Aren’t you thankful it’s been completed—The plan of salvation? So we can be right at home with our God! I am!
*It’s been done!
*It IS finished!
Take time to evaluate where you’ve been and to remember the things that you learned through your experiences.
Do not give in to the temptations that come for you to be a victim of the difficulties you have endured, but rather use those lessons as a platform and a launching pad into greater wisdom and spiritual effectiveness.
Those things have made you stronger and have the potential to increase your faith if you maintain a proper perspective.
Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.
As you read this do you wonder, “Is God at work in my circumstance? Is Jesus really triumphant — in me? Can He really save me from this situation? I just don’t see a way forward.”
I tell you, God is on the move in your life at this very moment. The stone is being rolled away. Light is breaking forth and your Hope stands there in the doorway: Jesus! He has triumphed over all the powers of darkness and His victory is yours by faith.
Lord, help me to see that my times of Pain-Sorrow and Trouble are used for good- they will glorify You if I choose to let them. Help me to Move Forward and put my Faith and Hope in You. Help me to praise You IN every situation not necessarily FOR every situation. God will give us the glory in the New Jerusalem where we will be filled with GLORY forever! Amen and amen! Glory to HIS name!
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