Devotions - Prayer

WHY OBEY-WHAT DO I GET?

By Bob / September 13, 2024

Jesus said in John 15:14, “You are my friends if you do what I command” .

  • You can’t say you love Jesus and then go live like the devil.
  • You can’t say you’re a Christian and then keep on living a self-centered life.
  • You can’t say you’re a follower of Jesus and then pick and choose the verses that you want to listen to and ignore the ones you don’t.
  • Jesus says you’re his friend if you obey him and his commandments.

Why do we obey God? Nonbelievers get this wrong all the time. They say, “I don’t want to be a Christian because I don’t want to obey God. You believers obey him out of guilt or fear or obligation, and I don’t want that for my life.”

Why do we believers really obey God? Because he loves us! He wants the best for us. He loves you like nobody else will ever love you. The Bible says the only reason there’s love in the world is because God is love.

  • We don’t obey God out of fear or guilt or obligation.
  • We obey God out of love because he loved us and saved us.

Some people say, “Because you’re a Christian. You can’t do any of the fun stuff the rest of us do.”

Just look at them in the eye and say, “I could take all the drugs I want to take. I could get stoned all I want to get stoned. I could drink all I want to drink. I could go to all the parties I want to go to. I could go to bed with as many women as I want. I can disobey my parents.” But here’s the difference: Jesus changed my “want to.” I didn’t want to do those things then. I don’t want to do those things now. They are cheap, phony thrills that seem to give a temporary kick to life but then they kick back. They may look like freedom, but they don’t last, and they lead to despair, not dignity — depression, not delight.

John 15:9-11 says, “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me … When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!”

God doesn’t want you to obey him because you’re afraid of him. He doesn’t want you to obey him because you’re scared of punishment. God wants you to obey him because of love. It’s HIS love that leads to true joy.  AMEN

 

 

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The Secret To Eliminate Temptation

By Bob / September 12, 2024

We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ” 2 Corinthians 10:5b.

Here’s the secret to temptation: Don’t fight it. Just refocus. Whatever you resist persists.

Did you know that in the Bible, not once are you told to resist temptation? We are told to resist the Devil, and that’s a whole different issue.

But the key to overcoming temptation is not to push back. It’s to change your focus.

Whatever gets your attention gets you.

  • The battle for sin always starts in the mind. That’s why the Bible says in Psalm 119:6, “Thinking about your commands will keep me from doing some foolish thing”(CEV). Why? Because if you’re thinking about God’s truth, you’re not thinking about the less important stuff.

It’s true in every single area of life — good or bad.

  • If you focus on godly things, it’s going to pull you that direction. If you focus on the stuff that’s at the movies and in magazines, it’s going to pull you that direction.
  • Whatever you focus on gets your attention.
  • Whatever gets your attention is going to get you.
  • The key is to just change your mind.

Temptation always follows a predictable pattern: attention, arousal, and action. Your mind gets hooked, your mind kicks in, and then you act on it.

So you don’t fight a temptation; you just turn your mind to something else. “We capture every thought and make it give up and obey Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5 NCV).

The thing is, we’re not very good at capturing every thought and turning it to Christ, because it takes lots of practice. You can’t always control your circumstances, and you can’t even always control the way you feel. But you can control what you think about. That’s always your choice. And if you change the way you think, it changes the way you feel, and that will change the way you act.

Psalms 119:11 Your word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against you.

Psalms 119:67 Before I was afflicted I went astray: but now have I kept your word.‎

1 Corinthians 10:13 There has no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that you may be able to bear it.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

Hebrews 2:18 For in that he himself has suffered being tempted, he is able to succor them that are tempted.

James 1:12 Blessed is the man that endures temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him.

James 1:13 Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempts he any man:

James 4:7 Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

AMEN

 

 

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A NEW BIRTH

By Bob / September 10, 2024

Jesus replied, Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. (John 3:3)

A new birth is absolutely essential to enter the kingdom. John points to a radical new beginning which comes from above.
• It signifies God must do this.
• It is speaking of something radical, a new beginning.
• It is a second birth, but it comes from above.
• It is God that does it, not man; and it results in a new creation, a new beginning.
This idea appears many times in the New Testament.
• Paul speaks of babes in Christ, (1 Corinthians 3:1).
• Peter says, as newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may grow, (1 Peter 2:2).
• Again Peter says we are born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, (1 Peter 1:23).
• And he speaks of being born to a living hope, (1 Peter 1:3).
• Paul speaks not only of being new creatures in Christ but of a new creation; of passing from death unto life, of a new, radical start.
Jesus makes clear that this is the only way to enter the kingdom of God.
To be in the kingdom of God, of course, is to belong to God; it is to be a part of his rule, his reign, his domain. Paul speaks of being transferred from the kingdom of darkness, ruled by the god of this world, into the kingdom of the Son of his love, (Colossians 1:13).

Thus, Jesus was referring to a transfer of citizenship, a radical departure from what we once were.
Jesus sensed in Nicodemus (John 3) a deep hunger, an emptiness. Here was a man who was doing his level best to obey what he thought God wanted, yet he had an empty and unsatisfied heart that led him to seek out Jesus by night, at the risk of the displeasure of his peers, to talk with him about the kingdom of God.
Sensing this our Lord immediately puts him on the right track, saying to him, in effect, You are wasting your time if you think you can enter the kingdom of God the way you are. You cannot do it. You must be born again.
Father, thank you for the miracle of new birth which comes only from above. It is only through your great power and love that such a thing could happen to me. Amen (See Ephesians 2:1-10 too)‎

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THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

By Bob / September 7, 2024

Psalm 23:1-3  The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters. He restores my soul; He leads me in the paths of righteousness For His name’s sake.

Psalm 23 is one of the most beloved and memorized Psalms. King David’s personal experience as a shepherd gave him unique training to be king and special insight into God’s role as our Good Shepherd.

These first three verses highlight God’s gentle and generous care for us.

  • Green pastures mean plenty to eat without the constant struggle of moving from place to place in search of food.
  • The still waters provide abundant water without the fear that fast-moving streams might evoke.
  • The paths of righteousness are the safe and beneficial routes God leads us in life.

God’s spiritual sheep enjoy all these blessings in abundance through God’s Word (our food), the Holy Spirit (our water) and God’s righteous and beneficial way of life.

Lord, Thank You for being our Shepherd and help us to allow You to Shepherd us each and every hour through your voice, your word and Christian relationships.  Amen

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WHAT ARE OUR VALUES

By Bob / September 6, 2024

Only as we’re willing to “empty” ourselves are we ready to be “filled” with God.
*  “I shall lift up the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.”Psalm 116:13
 Are You Living a Divided Life?

I see so many of us Christians today who divide up our lives into tightly packed little compartments: the sacred and the secular.
The sacred is what we do on Sunday, and the secular is up for grabs.

It’s just whatever happens! So we have our sacred life at church, and we do our business with the world the rest of the time.
But the real Christian lifethe Jesus lifeis to do all things in word and in deed to the glory of God.

There’s no difference between what you are on Sunday and what you are every other minute of the week!

That’s why this commandment in [Matthew 22:37] is just so important. It’s Jesus’ reminder to you and me that when we truly love God, it will be with every fiber of our being.

 

*It’s not that we just give Him one day a week and live however we want the rest of the week.

No, we seek to glorify Him with our entire lives. That’s real love!

Maybe you’ve found yourself at times acting like a different person depending on whether you’re in a “religious” or “secular” setting. But in reality, you should be the same person in both settings.

So lets not let the day of the week dictate how devoted we are to following Christ.

Honor JESUS every day with your entire being!

Our need to love is every bit as strong as our need to be loved.

 

Dear Lord, thank You for calling us Your children – And for making a home within us, so we may rest secure in You.  Because You are our dwelling place, we are never alone.  Help us have Your Value system be the Same 24/7 for Your Glory and our Joy.   In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

 

 

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WHY DOES GOD DELAY

By Bob / September 5, 2024

Have you ever felt like you have been obedient to the Lord for something He called you to do and all you get are more roadblocks?

This is the way Moses felt. When Moses went to tell Pharaoh to release the people because God said so, Pharaoh simply got angry and made the people make bricks without straw.

Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and You have not rescued Your people at all. – Exodus 5:23

*Moses caught the blame for this from the people.
*Moses was just learning what obedience really means in God’s Kingdom.

*You see Moses had not even begun to release plagues upon Egypt.
*He hadn’t even gotten started yet in his calling, and he was complaining about his circumstances.

 

Why would God tell Moses that He is going to deliver them and not do it?


It was all in timing
. God never said when He was going to deliver. He just said He would.
In the next chapter, we find Moses arguing with God about not being capable of the job God had called him to:

But Moses said to the Lord,
“If the Israelites will not listen to me, why would Pharaoh listen to me, since I speak with faltering lips?” Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron about the Israelites and Pharaoh king of Egypt, and He commanded them to bring the Israelites out of Egypt (Exodus 6:12-13)

 

God had a good reason for His delays. He said,

“And the Egyptians will know that I am the Lord when I stretch out My hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it” (Ex. 7:5).
God not only wanted the people of Israel but also the Egyptians to know Him. It would be the greatest show of God’s power on earth.

 

God often causes delays in our lives that we cannot understand. Sometimes it seems our obedience is not getting rewarded.

 

Jesus said He learned obedience through the things He suffered (see Heb. 5:8).
Imagine that – Jesus having to learn obedience.
What does that say for you and me?

Sometimes God’s delays are simply because He wants more glory in the situation, more recognition, more Christ-likeness in you and me through greater patience and obedience.

Faint not, for the promise may yet come.

Are you in need of hope today? Will you choose to remember God’s faithfulness, love, and mercy, despite the despair and destruction around you? Today, dare to hope.

 

Dear Lord, I want to dare to hope, but life around me seems uncertain and tentative. Will You help me remember Your faithfulness, love and mercy? Thank You in advance for what You are going to do. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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KEYS TO SUCCESS AND VICTORY

By Bob / September 4, 2024

What is the key to success and victory when the enemies aligned against us seem too great to overcome? It may seem unlikely, but here is one answer: giving thanks.

 Revelation 12:11 tells us we defeat the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of our testimony. What might that testimony sound like? “Give thanks to the Lord, for His lovingkindness is everlasting.”

 Thanksgiving is our song for every battle. It is a key to our victory!
Do you see the tremendous potential of giving thanks to release God’s miracle-working power in our lives?

A beautiful example of this principle is in the story of the ten lepers who met Jesus in Luke 17, verses 12–19….

  • All ten lepers were cleansed.
  • All were healed physically.
  • But something completely extra—and the most important thing of all—happened to the one man who returned to give Him thanks.

Jesus said to him in verse 19: “Rise and go, your faith has made you well.”

So you see, there was an important difference between the nine who were healed physically and the tenth who came back to give God thanks.  He was not merely healed physically, but he was saved. His soul was saved He was brought into a right eternal relationship with God.

The same is true in our lives. Giving thanks for blessings already received sets the seal of permanence upon them.

Lord, I want to commit myself fully to this principle of giving thanks in all situations.  I offer my thanksgiving as my victory song to You, O Lord. Amen.

 

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A Broken Spirit

By Bob / September 3, 2024

*We will be confronted with suffering, pain grief and trouble.
*We must be prepared.
**We prepare by spending time with God.
***Our brokenness allows God to work.

Psalm 51:16–17 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

What is David the psalmist telling us there?
Surely he’s telling us that first and foremost God is not interested in externals.
*Sacrifice and offerings are not necessarily things that God does not want, but they are things that He does not want first and foremost.
*And if that’s all there is in our lives – the external practices of religion – then God takes no pleasure in them.

*God looks below the surface
*God looks to the heart
*God looks to the motives
*God looks to the attitude.
*And it says that the sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: “A broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.”
Those are strange words to our ears today.

What does it mean that God desires a broken spirit?
*Does He want to crush us?
*Does He want to beat us down?
*Does He want to humiliate us?

No, I’m sure that’s not it.

What is a broken spirit?
I think it’s a spirit that has come totally to the end of itself.

*All independence, all self-will and all self-righteousness have been purged out. (A Bankrupt Spirit)

We’ve come to the place where we have no hope but in God; we’ve come to the end of our own resources.

We have no claims upon God, we simply turn to Him for His mercy and His faithfulness, not trusting our own merits, but clinging only to God.

God can create a pure heart in anyone!

Therefore repent and ask God to make you a new creature and live for him and him alone…

Isaiah 42:16 I will bring the blind by a way they did not know; I will lead them in paths they have not known. I will make darkness light before them, and crooked places straight. These things I will do for them, and not forsake them.   AMEN

 

 

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GIVE ALL THE GLORY TO GOD

By Bob / September 2, 2024

John 17:18 “As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.”
We are not from the world. Through the new birth, we come from God and should constantly remind ourselves of this.

It is not good to be too “at home” in the world.

We are in the world but are not of the world.

Great men and women of God have always had this attitude.

 

Christ Followers are not to isolate themselves from the world.
*Jesus did not isolate himself from the world, rather He came to the world to hang out with the sinners of the world.

The primary reason that God chooses to use those who are nothing by the world’s standards, is so no one else can take credit for the great things that are accomplished.

If the Lord used those who had it “all together” in the natural, then they would share the glory that rightfully belongs to God alone.

But when the Lord works miraculously through someone who obviously has no talent or ability, then everyone says, “This must be God.”

Not only does this keep others from misdirecting the glory that belongs to God, but it keeps the person who God uses from swelling up with pride.

 

One of Satan’s greatest weapons against someone who is being used by God is to tempt them to think that the Lord is using them because they possess some superior virtue.

God uses “nobodies.” If we think we’ve become “somebody” (in our flesh), then we will cease being used.
*He will not share His glory with anyone else (Isa. 42:8).

 

For what is Jesus praying?
*To make them so clean in all aspects of their lives that they can draw people to God. For God will never force ANYTHING on us, for like the angels in Heaven we to have free will.

We are not here just to be good people. We are here to work to advance God’s Kingdom!!!!

Teach me, O Lord, the way of Your commands, and I shall keep them to the end. Give me understanding that I may keep Your law. Help me stay on the path of Your commandments, for in them I delight. Amen.

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HOW TO RESTORE A BROKEN RELATIONSHIP

By Bob / September 1, 2024

For One Cause—CHRIST!  

 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.” (Colossians 2:2)

 HOW TO RESTORE A BROKEN RELATIONSHIP

1  Talk to GOD before talking to the person.

In doing so, you may find a change of heart or the other person may have changed without your help.

This may provide you the clarity you need.

2.    Always take the initiative.

Make the first move; don’t wait for the other party. By delaying it deepens resentment and makes matters worse.

Acting quickly reduces the damage.

3.    Sympathize with their feelings.

Listen first. Hear what they are feeling. Focus on their feelings and not the facts.

Begin with sympathy; not the solutions.

4.    Confess your part of the conflict.

Admit your own mistakes. Determine how much of the problem is actually your fault or issue.

5.    Attack the problem, not the person.

You cannot fix the problem if you are fixing blame. Choose between the two.

How you say things is as important as what you say.

6.    Cooperate as much as possible.

Sometimes it costs us our pride; often our self-centeredness.

Do your best to compromise, adjust to others and show preference to their needs.

Lord, help me guard my heart above all else, for it determines the course of my life.  Help me restore relationships that I may serve the Body of Christ as You have intended me too.  Lord, continue to teach me about Your perfect Character through the Beatitudes in Mat. 5:3-12.  Help me to become more and more like You each day.  Amen

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Forgiveness

By Bob / August 30, 2024

Ephesians 4:30-32  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.  And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ forgave you.

  What a marvelous understanding of the nature of sin and the character of God’s forgiveness is found in these verses!

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions. Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin (Psalm 51:1-2).

There are three things David asks for.

1. First, he understands that sin is like a crime.
If criminals are to be delivered from the effects of their crime, they do not need justice but mercy. Sin is an illegal act, a violation of justice, and an act of lawlessness and rebellion and therefore requires mercy.

2. Then he says, “Blot out my transgressions,” and thereby he reveals that he understands sin is like a debt.  It is something owed, an account that has accumulated and needs to be erased.
3.  Finally he cries, “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.”
He understands that sin is like an ugly stain, a defilement upon the soul.
Even though the act fades into the past, the dirty defiling stain remains a stigma upon the heart. So he cries out and asks to be delivered from these things.

 

Notice that David understands well the basis for forgiveness. He asks on the basis of two things:

First, “according to your unfailing love.”

He understands that he himself deserves nothing from God, that God is not bound to forgive him.

Some people are never able to realize forgiveness because they think they deserve it, that God owes it to them. But David knows better. He realizes that only because of God’s love may he even approach God to ask.
On the basis of that unqualified acceptance, that marvelous continuing love-that-will-not-let-me-go, he says to God, “I am coming to you and asking now for this.”

Second, as David appeals to God “according to your great compassion,” he again indicates his understanding of the character of God.

When God forgives, He forgives beyond our utmost imaginings.

 

What relief comes when we begin to understand this fullness of God’s forgiveness.

Father, thank You that I can come to You with my sin and cry out for mercy and love. Your love is steadfast; your mercy is abundant. I trust that You are always willing to forgive. Amen
READ PSALMS 32 AND GET SOME FREEDOM FROM THE WORD!

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Why Read the Bible

By Bob / August 29, 2024

To know the mysteries Christ has for us.

 

We can know the mysteries Christ has for us and they will be revealed as we dig deeper into the Word.
* It doesn’t matter where you are God has a plan for your life. God sees all- no matter what.

Hosea 4:6 my people are destroyed from lack of knowledge.
“Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests;

In Psalms 43:3-4 — The truth is God’s Word; the Light is your understanding of it.
The psalmist cries out for an understanding of the Word as he reads it and for light, which breaks out of these marvelous promises to encourage and strengthen his heart.

1 Corinthians 4:6 Now, brothers and sisters, I have applied these things to myself and Apollos for your benefit, so that you may learn from us the meaning of the saying, “Do not go beyond what is written.” Then you will not be puffed up in being a follower of one of us over against the other.

* So many Christians over-complicate the Bible by looking for hidden meanings, praying for “special revelations” or “new understandings”, or they think you have to go to Bible college to understand God’s Word.

*The Bible is written in a way that speaks clearly to anyone who is seeking the truthyou don’t have to be an “expert”. The most important thing is to OBJECTIVELY seek the truth, keep in mind the context of the passage as well as the entirety of the Bible, and allow the Holy Spirit to give understanding.

To the Ephesians he said, “When you read you can understand my insight into the mystery of Christ” (Ephesians 3:3).

Romans 15:4 Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for God’s promises to be fulfilled.


*Scripture speaks in numerous passages about “our light and momentary troubles that are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all” (2 Corinthians 4:17).

Lord,” Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts.” Col. 3:16 Amen

Read a Proverb a day for a year if you are hungry to receive additional  Godly Wisdom, Knowledge, Discernment and the will of God for you.

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A HEART OF GRATITUDE

By Bob / August 28, 2024

God wants us to be intentional about our thankfulness every day.

God wants us to develop this spiritual habit, one that is reflected in the life of a radical believer.

The truth is, the more deeply you understand God’s love, the more grateful you’re going to be.
The Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus”. That’s radical gratitude. In all circumstances give thanks, because it’s God’s will for you.
You can thank God in every circumstance because God is in control.

He can bring good out of evil. He can turn around the stupid mistakes you’ve made. No matter what happens, God isn’t going to stop loving you. There are a hundred things to be thankful for in any circumstance, even when the circumstance stinks.
Radical gratitude — being thankful in all circumstances — is God’s will because it creates fellowship. Gratitude always builds deeper relationships between you and other people and between you and God.
Whoever you want to get closer to, start expressing gratitude to that person.

If you’ve taken for granted your husband or your wife, or your parents or your friends, you need to start doing what you did when you first met them: Express gratitude.  Write little notes of kindness and encouragement.  Make calls or text during the day, just to tell him or her that you’re thankful. Do the things you did at first. The reason you’ve lost that lovin’ feeling is because you stopped doing the things that created that lovin’ feeling early on, and you take each other for granted.
Do you want to build your small group? Don’t just go to small group. During the week, text them, email them, call them, write them. Say, “I’m grateful for you, and here’s why.” You’ll find that the more grateful you are for your group, the more your group will bond.
The Bible tells us to “encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thessalonians 5:11).

As you build others up, you’ll find that God builds into your life as well through your deep relationships with him and others.‎

Lord, give me a deeper respect for you and the encouragement you instruct us to give others in building up of your body.  Help me to have a heart of gratitude in all circumstances.  Amen

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LOVE COMES FIRST

By Bob / August 27, 2024

In the body of Christ, we are told to  love others as Christ loves us.  It is our responsibility to get informed, to love as Christ did through the knowledge He has given in His Word.  It is a Choice!

John 13:35 “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

Jesus didn’t say that all men would know we are His disciples by our doctrine, our rituals, our hatred for sin, or even by the way we express our love for God.

Jesus  said very clearly, that the one characteristic that would cause the world to identify us as His followers, is our love, one for another.

The only way that Christ’s body will be one as the Father and Jesus are One, is through God’s kind of love.

Unity of believers, that can only come through a genuine God-kind of love, is the greatest tool for evangelism that the church has or will ever have, according to Jesus.

*The early church didn’t have the massive organizational structures that we see today or the ability to travel anywhere in the world in just a matter of hours.

Before we can ever fulfill the great commission of Matthew 28:19-20, there must be a revival of love in the church, where doctrine and ritual take a “back seat” to love for one another.

Let us weep and mourn for those who once walked with Jesus and have turned again to their own foolishness.
*Their eyes have grown dull and their hearts have grown cold to the reality of His kingdom.
*Let’s pray that Everyone, hear the Lord’s call to wake up and know the times and seasons and understand the futility of carnal living.

*Let’s Stir up our faith and rise again to acknowledge the Lord’s presence and power.

Let’s Trust in the Lord to direct us and keep us on the right path.

2 Peter 2:21-22 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

What a life it would be without our Lord Jesus Christ.  If we do not CHOOSE Christ what a serious and deadly problem we would have.

All the Bible just like all life is a history of choices and the consequences of those choices we individually make.

Lord, open my eyes daily to make the right choices and help me bring others into the light by BEING  a living light myself.  Help me understand your 10 commandments more each day and encourage us all to get them back into practice.   Amen

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Our Work Versus Our Value

By Bob / August 26, 2024

“The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.” Genesis 2:15

Man was created to have seven basic needs. Each of us has a need for dignity, authority, blessing and provision, security, purpose and meaning, freedom and boundary, intimate love and companionship.

When we go outside God’s provision to meet these needs, we get into trouble.

Every man has a need to work and gain satisfaction in caring and seeing something come from his efforts.

Many of our basic needs are derived from our work; it was one of the first acts God did for man in the Garden of Eden.
He gave him responsibility to care for and work the Garden.
God knew man needed to be productive. He needed to gain satisfaction from his work.

The danger of this is when we allow our work to be our complete source of purpose and meaning in life.

*This leads to a performance-based life. A performance-based life says, “As long as I perform in my work, I am acceptable to myself and others.”

This is a subtle trap for all of us. It can lead us to become workaholics if we are seeking acceptance through what we do. Sometimes this can be on a subconscious basis.

**Our value must be centered in Christ, not in what we do.

 

If we lose our job or our business, this should not devastate us if we are centered in Him.
It will certainly create difficulties, but God is the orchestrator of all the events in our lives for His purposes.
Even difficult times have purposes.

 

Hebrews 5:8 Even though Jesus was God’s Son, he learned obedience from the things he suffered.

 

-Today, ask the Lord if you have a proper balance in your work life.

Is Christ the central focus?

 

Lord, guide my steps daily and bring  about the balance I so need.  Amen

 

 

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