Devotions - Prayer
We all long to hear Jesus say “Well done, good and faithful servant!”
When we hear those words, it’s because of our intimate relationship and time spent with Him….more so than what we DID for Him!
“And I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.”. Jeremiah 24:7
One of the great tragedies of the Christian life is that if we fail to enter into a relationship with God that is born of the Holy Spirit, we are left with a religion, not a relationship.
John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Many a person today lives with an intellectual belief in God, but without a relationship that is based on two-way communication.
It is easy to fall prey to a relationship to God that never experiences His real presence; rather, it is based on knowledge only.
*This is a tragic place to be. I was there for a season-it is not joyful.
If this is where you have been in your Christian experience, ask God today to make Himself real to you.
Ask Him to show you His personal nature and love. He desires to do this.
Read Matthew 5: 3-12 the Character of Jesus which He wants us to be like. Jesus draws to himself people who realize how weak they are and how powerless they are.
Those whom He has called know His voice. He will show Himself to those who are His.
“He who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I too will love him and show Myself to him” (Jn. 14:21b)
Jesus didn’t call people to a new religion. He was calling people to a relationship with himself, and a new lifestyle with Him.
John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Lord: I wish to follow. Help me to follow You; learn from You; practice Your teachings. This transformation isn’t easy, so I plead for Your power at work in me to change me. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
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What if some were unfaithful? Does their faithlessness nullify the faithfulness of God? By no means! Let God be true though every one were a liar, as it is written,“That you may be justified in your words, and prevail when you are judged.” (Romans 3:3–4)
By John Piper
Our concern with truth is an inevitable expression of our concern with God. If God exists, then he is the measure of all things, and what he thinks about all things is the measure of what we should think.
Not to care about truth is not to care about God. To love God passionately is to love truth passionately. Being God-centered in life means being truth-driven in ministry. What is not true is not of God.
Ponder these four sets of texts on God and truth:
1) God Is the Truth
Romans 3:3–4 (God the Father): “What then? If some did not believe, their unbelief will not nullify the faithfulness of God, will it? May it never be! Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar.”
John 14:6 (God the Son): Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me.”
John 15:26 (God the Spirit): “When the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, that is the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness of me.”
2) Not Loving the Truth Is Eternally Ruinous
2 Thessalonians 2:8–12: “They will perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved.”
3) Christian Living Is Based on Knowledge of the Truth
1 Corinthians 6:15–17: “Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? May it never be! Or do you not know that the one who joins himself to a harlot is one body with her?”
4) The Body of Christ Is Built with Truth in Love
Colossians 1:28: “And we proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, that we may present every man complete in Christ.”
May God make us passionate for him and for truth.
Amen
Read MoreAll our flowery words about Jesus are not enough. Our actions must match our words in order for it to become truth.
*”Even so you too outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.”
Matthew 23:28
Psalm 147:2–3The LORD builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the exiles of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds.
The Lord is today building up Jerusalem. He is gathering the exiles of Israel. He’s healing the brokenhearted and binding up their wounds.
* That’s good news for all who will turn to God.
*It’s good news for God’s people, Israel.
*It’s good news for the church of Jesus Christ, because the same God that is gathering Israel is gathering the church back to Himself, bringing us into our inheritance, healing our wounds, binding up our broken hearts.
There’s a ministry of the Holy Spirit today that’s something very special –
*it’s a ministry to the brokenhearted.
*It’s a ministry to those who are wounded in their hearts.
If you carry a wound inside you, turn to God, say, “God, this is a time of restoration; it’s a time of regathering.
*You are healing the brokenhearted.
*You are binding up their wounds.
Lord, You know that wound I’ve carried so long in my heart; will You heal me?”
And the invisible finger of God, the Holy Spirit, will reach down where no surgeon can reach and touch that wounded place in your life and bring you healing and restoration.
God has placed all His majesty, glory and power in one source: Christ.
Colossians 2:2 I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.
*His glory is not made known in smart and powerful men or through brilliant plans and ingenious strategies.
*His glory is found in a single source: Jesus.
If we want Christ’s glory in our lives and in our churches, it is not going to come through our strength or schemes.
*It is going to come by emptying ourselves out that He may fill us.
*As we go deeper in loving Him we become more like Him.
We must say with John the Baptist, “He must increase, but I must decrease”. (John 3:30).
Father, Forgive me for the many times I have been too busy to see the needs around me. Break my heart for those who are brokenhearted in pain and feel hopeless. Encourage them through me, Lord. Fill my heart with Your love so that I can give it away.
In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Psalm 42:1–2As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
David speaks there about a thirst of the soul. He says, “My soul thirsts for God.”
I suppose we are all familiar with what thirst is in our personal experience.
David speaks about a relationship to God that’s parallel to physical thirst.
He says, “My soul thirsts for God. When can I go and meet with God?”
• Do you know what it is to thirst for God?
• Have you ever felt that deep, inner longing that cannot be satisfied with anything less than God Himself?
If you have, I want to tell you that God is waiting.
You can go and meet with Him and satisfy that thirst in your soul, which cannot be satisfied by anything but God.
Deliberately deal with things that distract you from seeking Jesus’ face with a whole heart.
These are critical times in your spiritual development and supernatural progression. This is a time when you need to get your head screwed on straight–to become clear in your thinking and calm in your emotions so that your attitudes, motives and actions line up with the truth of God’s word. Become ONE with Him.
2 Corinthians 10:4-6 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.
Lord, I come to you with my thirst for You – Fill my cup of love to over flowing that I may give to others. Thank you for all Your promises to all of us in Your perfect Word. Amen
Read MoreRomans 3:10 As the Scriptures say, “No one is righteous—not even one. 11 No one is truly wise; no one is seeking God.
Every follower of Jesus has a certain hunger in his heart. It is a passionate zeal to be holy before God—free from sin, victorious over flesh, pure and spotless before the Lord.
The Holy Spirit actually plants this desire—an innate longing to live uprightly—in the heart of every human being.
*For nonbelievers, the spirit of this world can darken the mind to any sense of rightness.
*For believers, failure to live in a way that honors God can crush the spirit.
This desire to live right is behind the meaning of the word righteousness.
Righteousness means to be in right standing with God—to live with right motives, emotions and behavior—and establish right alignment with His purposes. (moral orderliness)
To truly be righteous, we have to know what it is and is not.
The Bible describes our righteousness in two words:
1. Justification-(our position, or right standing, with God).
*Romans 1:17 This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, “It is through faith that a righteous person has life.”
2. Sanctification-(our walk with God, our ongoing relation to Him).
*Romans 6:22 But now you are free from the power of sin and have become slaves of God. Now you do those things that lead to holiness and result in eternal life.
*Don’t try to impress yourself or others with what you do. Be impressed with what God does.
Jesus, may I remember your sacrifice and help me keep my humility so the focus can be on You at all times. May You receive All the Glory! Amen
Read More“We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.” 1 Corinthians 2:12
God desires for us to know what He has freely given to us.
One of the responsibilities of the Holy Spirit is to reveal His plans and purposes to us. They may be hidden for a time, but if we seek Him with our whole heart, we can know what He has given to us.
Once we understand what God has given to us, we can walk freely in our calling. However, if we strive to walk in a role that He never gave us, it will result in frustration and failure.
God wants to reveal His plan to us by His Spirit. This requires a willingness to seek and accept what He gives us. It may be different from what we thought. It may require adjustments to follow His path for our lives.
Ask God to reveal what He has freely given to you. Pray that you receive and embrace only those things He has reserved for you to receive and to accomplish in your life.
Then you can be assured of a life full of meaning and purpose, and you can look forward to hearing those all-important words someday, “Well done, My good and faithful servant.”
FOLLOW THE LEADING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT
The Lord is going to reward us based on how well we did, not on how much we did.
Those who are not governed by the Holy Spirit in their actions will see all their good works burned up on the day we stand before the Lord and He tries our works.
Those who acted only under the guidance of the Holy Spirit will find that their works will endure the test and they will receive a reward.
Many people choose to do good things thinking that God will be pleased. It is our positive response to God’s direction (faith) that pleases God (Heb. 11:6). We were created with a purpose and every individual has a God-given plan for his life. Unless our actions are in agreement with God’s plan for our life, they will not abide the test of God’s fire.
Thank you Jesus for the gifts you have given us. Help me to discern on how best to use them to Glorify You and not me. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Read MoreTrusting in God isn’t easy because there is no price we can pay for God’s love and favor.
“He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught.” – Isaiah 50:4b
The prophet Isaiah describes his relationship to God as a relationship that has two-way communication.
Have you ever felt that your communication with God was only one way – you to Him only?
Isaiah tells us, “The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary…. The Sovereign Lord has opened my ears, and I have not been rebellious; I have not drawn back” (Is. 50:4-5).
The key to Isaiah’s relationship with God lies in four important principles:
1. He had an instructed tongue.
* Isaiah had given over rule of his life completely to God’s purposes.
2. He knew the word of the Lord, which allowed him to sustain and encourage others.
3. He took time to listen.
4. He did not flee from the tough assignments. He didn’t shrink back.
Knowing and spending time studying God’s Word allows the Holy Spirit to bring to mind His instructions for what He wants for us.
2 Timothy 2:15 Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.
When we begin to lose the relationship, we are susceptible to becoming rebellious, going our own way.
Invest your life in this relationship so that you may continue to hear His voice and sustain the weary ones around you.
John 17:3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
*His eternal gift was the relationship, everything else is the blessing.
*The gift is the opportunity to know God, to allow Him into your heart, to free you from all sin, wiping you clean and making you new. Appreciate the gift more…
Lord Jesus, make me like you so that everyone else can see, not so I stand out, but so that You get ALL the glory You deserve. Amen.
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The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed.” (Psalm 34:18)
I don’t know what pain you’re in this season. I certainly don’t know what caused the pain. But I know that God understands it.
God is not some distant force. Nor is he callous. The Bible teaches that God enters into our pain. And he doesn’t just care about your pain; he feels it, too. He shares your pain. The Bible says, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; he rescues those whose spirits are crushed”(Psalm 34:18).
I can know this even though I don’t know anything about your pain. Why? Because I know God. And I know the Trinity — Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. Each part of the Trinity is active in your life as you experience pain.
First, your heavenly Father shares your pain.
God understands and shares your pain because he wired you. He’s the one who gave you the ability to experience pleasure and pain. The Bible says it like this: “He who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do” (Psalm 33:15).
He understands emotions because God is an emotional God. The only reason you have emotions is because you’re made in God’s image. If God didn’t have emotions, you wouldn’t have emotions.
Second, Jesus understands your pain.
Jesus understands your pain because he’s been there. He’s suffered, too. He’s been betrayed, abandoned, and fatigued — just like you. He came to Earth and lived a fully human life. He experienced everything we experience in human form. The Bible says of Jesus, “This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do” (Hebrews 4:15a).
Third, the Holy Spirit prays for you as you experience pain.
The Bible says, “The moment we get tired in the waiting, God’s Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don’t know how or what to pray, it doesn’t matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayers out of our wordless sighs, our aching groans” (Romans 8:26 MSG).
The Bible says when you’re in pain, the Holy Spirit makes prayers for you out of wordless sighs and aching groans. He understands your pain. He knows what you’re feeling. And he turns those feelings into prayers.
If you’re hurting, you don’t have to go through it alone.
• God understands your pain because he created your emotions.
• Jesus knows your pain from firsthand experience.
• Holy Spirit is praying for you.
Studies show that expressing emotions greatly reduces the body’s stress. With that in mind I believe we all need to be in some kind of Christian group to share and experience good safe relationships.
Lord, thank you for the groups I am currently in. Amen
Read More“But remember the LORD your God, for it is He who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your forefathers, as it is today” (Deut. 8:18).
“The greater our success, the greater the risk of us thinking too highly of ourselves.”
“Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity there are a hundred that will stand adversity.”
Oswald Chambers wrote, “Sudden elevation frequently leads to pride and a fall. The most exacting test of all to survive is prosperity.”
• Each of us must view success as a gift from God.
• We must learn to see all of our successes as a gift from God, not our own achievement.
The Lord is the source of all success, all elevation, all blessing.
If you have a good mind and a healthy body, if you live in a land of opportunity, if you have a good education, if you’ve had a few breaks go your way, then you have much to be grateful for – and no cause for arrogance.
You didn’t achieve success; you received it as a gift.
I have learned it is better to learn humility voluntarily, than involuntarily!
True Meaning of Workplace Success
5 Truths for our Work being our Worship
1. Belief in the reality of God who has spoken, making the word of God the basis of our understanding and action.
2. Therefore, operate by faith in the Word of God, knowing life in the workplace is just as spiritual as the time we spend in worship.
3. The result is, having confidence in God’s calling and His gifting’s, that makes work worth while and fulfilling.
4. So, God is glorified in the workplace.
5. Resulting in, success being measured by faithfulness to Christ, following him in obedience.
Nothing that happens on earth can ever change the Word of God.
“Heaven and earth will disappear, but My Words will never disappear”. Mark 13:31
5 Myths When Missing God as our Pilot
1. Belief in self – it is all about me!
2. Therefore, we operate from one’s limited perspective.
3. The result is, self-confidence with arrogance leading you.
4. So, the workplace centers on man’s achievements alone.
5. Resulting in, success being measured by pride in material wealth.
Paul tells us: “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you” (Rom. 12:3).
Read More“But when they cried out to the LORD, he raised up for them a deliverer. . .” (Judg 3:8-9).
I often receive requests to help someone whose life is in a difficult place.
After a few questions my prayer is that I am able to discern if the Lord has called me to get involved.
Many times I’m shown this person has not experienced enough pain to want to do anything about their situation, they are not hungry enough yet at that time.
Until they are really ready to cry out to the Lord for a solution to their situation, they will simply talk about desiring change but never take the necessary steps needed for change.” (A Vision Without Action is Only a Delusion.)
If you invest time and time and time into someone who has not yet come to the place of wanting a spiritual solution to their problem, you will become emotionally exhausted.
The apostle Paul understood this principle when he actually turned such people over to Satan for the destruction of their flesh (I Cor. 5:5).
The people of Israel were finally in enough pain to cry out to God for relief from their oppression.
Like so many times throughout the scriptures, God answered by raising up a deliverer. (Judge 3:8-11).”
*Are you in a difficult place in your life?
*Are you only talking about changing or are you really ready to cry out to the Lord for a solution?
Start now the process of changing your situation for the better and asking for help if needed.
God wants us to receive His Love with the open-hearted trust of a little child.
“Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it at all.” Luke 18:17
God will sometimes let us encounter great difficulty, but he never abandons us.
*He never leaves us all alone.
*He always gives us the power and courage we need to face our opposition.
*He finds a way to work it all out and uses it for his glory.
**God never abandons his people!
I Thank you, Father, of how you give courage and boldness to the one’s who are in great trouble. Grant to me the boldness to cry out to You Lord! Amen
Psalms 139
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Eccl. 7:14 Enjoy prosperity while you can, but when hard times strike, realize that both come from God. Remember that nothing is certain in this life.
Distractions prevent us from giving our undivided attention to the messenger.
So too, God has His way of taking us aside to get our undivided attention.
*For Moses, it was 40 years in the desert; for Joseph, it was 13 years in Egypt; for David, it was many years of fleeing from King Saul.
God knows the stubborn human heart. He knows that if He is to accomplish His deepest work, He must take us into the desert in order to give us the privilege to be used in His Kingdom.
In the desert God changes us and removes things that hinder us.
He forces us to draw deep upon His grace.
The desert is only a season in our life.
When He has accomplished what He wants in our lives in the desert, Jesus will bring us out.
He has given us a mission to fulfill that can only be fulfilled after we have spent adequate time in preparation in the desert.
Fear not the desert, for it is here you will hear God’s voice like never before.
*It is here you become His bride.
*It is here you will have the idols of your life removed.
*It is here you begin to experience the reality of a living God like never before.
Someone once said, “God uses enlarged trials to produce enlarged saints so He can put them in enlarged places!”
He brought me out into a spacious place; He rescued me because He delighted in me (2 Samuel 22:20).
May you soar in the spirit like an eagle today as you dwell on God’s goodness bountiful benefits in your life!
“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of His benefits…Who redeems your life from the pit; Who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle.” Psalm 103:2-5 Amen
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Psalm 51:6 Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Those words are addressed by the psalmist David to the Lord Himself.
What is it that God really looks for in our lives?
First and foremost, it is not the external practices of religion – not necessarily churchgoing or other religious acts.
*God looks much deeper than those. (Amos 5:
*God looks right down into the innermost depths of our hearts and our lives.
Elsewhere, the Bible tells us that God does not see as man sees because man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks on the heart.
So David says, “Surely you desire truth in the inner parts.”
What does God want? What is truth in the inner parts?
God wants to see if we are sincere, open, and transparent in our relationship with Him.
*Do we say the same thing with our mouths that we are thinking in our minds?
If we come to that place, then we can say, like the psalmist, “You teach me wisdom in the inmost place.”
There is a secret place in our innermost being where we can begin to hear the voice of God and learn from Him and He teaches us wisdom there.
If you listen and pay attention, you will know that the Lord is showing you ways to improve your circumstances that will ultimately result in a better quality of life.
The Lord is revealing things that need to be changed and can be changed that will be very beneficial to you.
However, this benefit will not come if you do not do what is necessary.
2 Chronicles 7:14 “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.
Lord I humble myself this day and pray to hear Your voice for Your perfect direction in my life and giving me wisdom while giving You all the Glory! Amen
The book of Proverbs is the Wisdom book. Read a chapter a day for a couple of months and see what the Lord has to say to you.
Read MoreIf you ask a friend or family member who you are? How would they describe you? Or better yet how would you describe yourself?
What defines you?
Matt. 6:21 Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.
Today(Praise God) I am no longer confused about who I am. We are God’s children, and our citizenship is in heaven. I am grateful to have found my true identity—my identity IN Christ.
Christians IN CHRIST are people who:
*follow Christ (Matthew 4:19)
*Receive Christ (John 1:12);
*Believe in or trust Christ (John 3:16)*Stay joined to Christ (John 15:5);
*Know Christ (John 17:3);
*Love Christ (Ephesians 6:24);
*Obey Christ (Hebrews 5:9);
*Glory in or take pride in Christ (Philippians 3:3).
*Have Christ (1 John 5:12).
“To all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, not of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12, 13).
As children born of God, Jesus shares with us:
*His friendship—”I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you” (John 15:15);
*His love—”As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love” (John 15:9);
*His joy—”I have told you this so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (John 15:11);
*His glory—”I have given them the glory that you [Father] gave me” (John 17:22);
*His risen life—”Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God…When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory” (Col. 3:1);
*His inheritance—”If we are children, then we are HEIRS—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share his sufferings IN order that we may also share IN his glory”(Romans 8:17);
*His—”To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne” (Revelation 3:21).
What GREAT WORD’S of TRUTH and HOPE- TO KNOW OUR TRUE IDENTITY IS IN JESUS Christ
He lives within each one of us.
Eph. 2:10 For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Hebrews 13:20-21 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus from the dead, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
Read MoreBoundaries are based on truth and we each need to know our limits in each area of our life.
Setting boundaries is an essential skill in life, especially for people like us in recovery who are addicted to a sin (which we all have in one form or another: worry, over eating, gossip, anxiety, chemical dependency, etc. etc).
Addicts for example, often grow up in dysfunctional homes, where boundaries were either too rigid (leading to suppressed emotions or distant relationships) or too enmeshed (depriving them of a sense of personal identity).
Later in life, their interpersonal relationships may continue to be defined by old roles and patterns, increasing the risk of depression, anxiety and addictive or compulsive behaviors.
THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE!
John 8:31-32: Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
*Does our life look like someone who’s on the same page with Christ?
*Do we tend to believe our negative feelings more than the positive truth of God’s Word?
Four Components for Successful Boundaries: YOU GET WHAT YOU WORK FOR!
1. Vision: Do you know what you want as an outcome? Define your specific expectations in writing.
2. Communication: Do you thoroughly communicate and address the specific expectations, your purpose and results and if broken the consequences?
3. Application: Do you follow through with the message, consequences (good or bad).
4. Action: Develop your plan, determine how to hold yourself accountable to your plan.
Ephesians 6:14 “Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist.”
Why are boundaries important?
They keep you safe from being manipulated, abused or taken advantage of, while also protecting other people from harm you may consciously or unconsciously inflict.
They prevent both parties in a relationship from blurring the lines between self and others.
With healthy boundaries in place, you can begin to tune in to your inner voice(Holy Spirit) and trust those thoughts and feelings, and then communicate those to other people.
Romans 2:8 “But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”
*If we strive for God, we will receive mercy.
*If we seek eternal life, we will find it.
*BUT if we seek the world, we will be left in the world.
Lord, help us all to seek You and set good and healthy personal boundaries in our lives to be able to create more of Your Character in us for others to see and follow. Help us to see and know more and more of Your Truths. Amen
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We mustn’t say, “I will choose to love this person if it kills me,” but rather “I will set myself aside and allow God to love this person through me.”
“But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven…”Matthew 5:44
A pure and contrite heart is being formed within us as we continue to walk out our eternal sanctification.
“Before destruction the heart of man is haughty, but humility goes before honor.” Proverbs 18:12
A negative thought first crossing our mind is not sin. But if we choose to bury that thought in our hearts or turn it into a negative action, sin is the result. We need to take that thought captive and immediately relinquish it to God.
“…we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ…” II Corinthians 10:5
Painful memories grow strangely dim when we allow the Holy Spirit to light the candle of God’s Love within our hearts.
“…but one thing I do, forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13-14
Paul chose to look at life from a heavenly perspective. That’s why he could write:
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body (2 Cor. 4:8-10).
Paul had experienced a level of opposition and suffering that you and I can scarcely imagine. People said they would do things but did not follow through. He could not depend on certain people. Yet he was not crushed, and he refused to give in to despair. He viewed his life as a continual process of dying. His goal was to live in such a way that the life of Jesus would be revealed in his response to adversity.
Beware of placing too much expectation on others. Realize that people will let you down from time to time, but do not let that impact your faith. Trust God to work even through these disappointments.
The Bible is clear that humans do not achieve greatness without having their sinful will broken. This process is designed to create a nature change in each of us, not just a habit change. The Bible calls it circumcision. Circumcision is painful, bloody, and personal.
JN 17: 3 Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.
Thank You Jesus for the gift of eternal life. Help me always see the Eternal Perspective in all my circumstances to bring You Glory and me Hope. Amen
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