Devotions - Prayer
Our God is so great that every star is counted and named. And yet He cares about us personally. He cares about the little things and the broken hearted among us. What an awesome God to be able to worship.
“[God] determines the number of the stars and calls them each by name. Great is our Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit.” Psalm 147:4–5
Here the Scripture gives us a beautiful picture of the measureless wisdom, knowledge and power of the Lord.
*No human astronomer would dare to calculate the number of stars in the universe.
We know that it runs into millions and billions, but God knows the number of the stars and He calls each by name.
God’s understanding reaches out to the farthest corners of the universe and He knows exactly what’s going on with each star.
God controls its movements.
Astronomers can compute mathematically where each star was thousands of years ago or where it will be thousands of years from now because the stars are so absolutely accurate and reliable in their movements.
But don’t let us attribute that to some unseen, mechanical force.
The force, the wisdom, the power behind the movements of the stars is the force and the wisdom of our God. His understanding is infinite.
We marvel today at the achievements of computers, but let me tell you that God is greater than all the computers put together.
There’s nothing going on anywhere in the universe that He doesn’t know about, that He doesn’t control.
**He’s the Creator, He’s the Controller of the entire universe, and He’s our God.
As we learn to love God, He makes us an open, cleansed vessel so He can love others through us.
God has knowledge of all things at all times.
Isaiah 40:28 Have you never heard? Have you never understood?
The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth.
He never grows weak or weary. No one can measure the depths of his understanding. 29 He gives power to the weak and strength to the powerless.
God sees us as we really are. He knows our thoughts, motives, and desires. God Knows.
God is in control so what’s happening to me is happening for my good.
*Our God is a God of Love.
*He knows what’s best for us.
*It doesn’t matter what you are going through, “God Knows”.
If you give God a chance he can deliver you. God Knows.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me…Then I will teach transgressors Thy ways, and sinners will be converted to Thee.” Psalm 51:10,13 AMEN
Psalm 68:6 God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
To be lonely is a very sad condition; yet in today’s world there are millions and millions of lonely people.
Even though the population of the earth is increasing rapidly and even though so many people live in large cities, those large cities and this highly populated earth of ours are filled with lonely people.
• You see, it’s possible to be lonely in the midst of a crowd.
• It’s possible to be lonely in a big city.
• I know, because I’ve met so many people like that.
Now loneliness is not God’s plan for man’s life.
Right at the beginning of human history God said, “It is not good for man to be alone.” So for the first man he planned a mate. That’s God’s attitude.
• He wants to take us out of our loneliness.
• He wants to set us in the family of God.
• He wants to give us human friends and human fellowship.
• That’s His plan. God sets the lonely in families.
But there’s one kind of person that God cannot help out of loneliness: the rebellious live in a dry sun-scorched land.
So if you’re lonely just bear in mind that God cannot help you until:
• you lay down your rebelliousness,
• till you renounce your pride and your self-will and independence
• and turn to God for His mercy
• and then He’ll have mercy on you and He will set you in His family.
Step one of the 8 Truths to Master life:
1. I confess my spiritual and moral bankruptcy and agree with Jesus’ words: “without me you can do nothing.”
Result: I am fully accepted and welcomed into God’s Family.
I am “Accepted.”
*When this happens, I am fully accepted into God’s family. Upon receiving Jesus and His work on the cross, of bearing my sin and His victory over death through His resurrection—I have the gift of eternal life.
Isaiah 55:1. “Is anyone thirsty? Come and drink—even if you have no money! Come, take your choice of wine or milk—it’s all free!”
Luke 5: 31 Jesus answered them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do.
Romans 3:18-26, 2 Corinthians 5:17
Lord, thank you for the Body of Christ the Church which has helped be get rid of my loneliness. We all need relationships and I pray that if we are not in a small group we will reach out and get into one for Your Glory and our joy. Amen
Read MoreLuke 23:18 “And they cried out all at once, saying, Away with this man, and release unto us Barabbas:”
What happened to Barabbas is a picture of what happens when a person is born again. Barabbas was guilty; Jesus was innocent. Yet Jesus suffered the death that Barabbas should have experienced, and Barabbas went free.
Likewise, we were all guilty (Rom. 3:23) and condemned to death (Rom. 6:23), yet Jesus suffered our punishment so that we may go free (2 Cor. 5:21). Just as Barabbas didn’t ask for this substitution, so “God commended his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).
Barabbas was freed, but he had to choose whether or not to accept this new start and remain free, or go back to his old ways and come under the judgment of Rome again.
Likewise, we have all been freed through the substitutionary death of Jesus, but we have to choose whether to accept our freedom by putting faith in Jesus or to reject it, by denying Him.
Our death to sin and resurrection to life with Christ, is already a reality in our spirits but will only become a physical reality when we know and believe it.
In the same way that Jesus died unto sin once, and death no longer has dominion over Him, the person who recognizes their death with Christ unto sin, will not allow sin to rule over him anymore. Any Christian who is struggling with sin has not recognized that they are dead unto sin.
“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature – have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse” (Rom 1:19-20).
You can be a believer yet act as though there is no God.
*Whenever you fret over life circumstances, you immediately demonstrate unbelief.
*Whenever you move out of fear or anxiety, you believe a lie about God’s nature.
Each day your actions affirm or convict you of your belief system.
*It reveals who the central focus of your life really is – you or God.
*It reveals who you place your ultimate trust in – you or God.
It is one of the great paradoxes for believers. One day we can believe Him to move mountains. The next day we can question His very existence.
We’ve lost our passionate embrace of the magnificent. Our appreciation for noticing God and His provision had been strangled by what the world begs us to pay attention to.
But I’m not interested in what the world classifies as important.
I’m interested in where God wants to point my focus. I’m interested in humbling myself in childlike awe of all that He is.
How might we remember to embrace the magnificent on this ordinary day?
Dear Lord, I praise You today for Your magnificence in all things. Humble me as Your child and guide me as I follow hard after You instead of the world. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
Read MoreLet us test and examine our ways. Let us turn back to the Lord. Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven and say, ‘We have sinned and rebelled’”Lamentations 3:40-42a.
The path to a fresh start and a clear conscience begins with repentance. First, review every area of your life, and then repent of every sin.
What does it mean to repent? It means three things:
- First, you take responsibility for your sin.
- Second, you turn away from those things.
- And third, you turn toward God and his grace.
Repentance does not mean rationalizing your sin. You don’t say, “It was no big deal.” It was a big deal, or you wouldn’t have remembered it. You don’t say, “It happened so long ago” or “It was just a stage I went through” or “Everybody does it.” It doesn’t matter! You cannot rationalize sin, minimize it, excuse it, or blame others. That is not true repentance.
Pay attention to this: The greatest holdup to the healing of your hang-up is you.
You’re not waiting on God; you’re not waiting on anybody else. God wants to heal the hang-up in your life, but the greatest holdup to your hang-up is you.
The Bible says in 1 John 1:8, “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us”(NIV).
Would you like to get rid of the self-defeating habits in your life?
- You will stop defeating yourself when you stop deceiving yourself.
- It all starts with gut-level honesty and recognizing that something is wrong, no matter how much you want to rationalize it and excuse it.
- You need to admit it, confess it, and get it out of your life.
E’s of Decision Making”…Glorifying God in the Gray Areas…(got this from a Bible Study friend, not sure of author)
Edification…Will this activity produce a spiritual benefit?
Enslavement…Will this activity lead to spiritual bondage?
Exposure…Will this activity expose my mind or body to defilement?
Esteem…Will this benefit others, or cause them to stumble?
Evangelism…Will this activity further the cause of the Gospel?
Ethics…Will this activity violate my conscious?
Exaltation…Will this activity bring glory to God?
Armed with these basic principles every believer can navigate the gray areas with integrity. Amen
Read More
“Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You. Show me the way I should go, for to You I lift up my soul.” – Psalm 143:8
The morning time with God allows me the greatest opportunity to hear the small voice that directs my steps. If I refuse to “get connected,” I risk following my own ways of fulfilling the duties of my day.
*The morning time with God sets forth the opportunity for God to speak into my spirit what He desires for me each day.
*The morning time with God allows me to focus on God’s purposes, not mine.
The only way to KNOW someone is to spend time with him or her. (see JN 17:3)
The only way to DISCERN the voice of another is to hear that person’s voice.
Psalms 5:3 O lord, in the morning you hear my voice: in the morning I prepare a sacrifice for you and watch.
David, the author of this psalm, was a warrior, king, and businessman. He understood this principle of connecting with God in the morning.
*His morning allowed him to connect with God’s love, renew his trust in Him, and hear His directions for his life.
Shouldn’t you and I do the same?
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. James 4:8
John 17:3 And eternal life means to know you, the only true God, and to know Jesus Christ, whom you sent.
Col. 2:2 I do this in order that they may be filled with courage and may be drawn together in love, and so have the full wealth of assurance which true understanding brings. In this way they will know God’s secret, which is Christ himself.
Lord help me obey the voice of Your Word. AMEN
Read MoreWhen we seek to please “self”, we open ourselves up to uncontrolled emotions, soulish thoughts and selfish desires.
“…for they do the lustful desires expressed by their mouth, and their heart goes after their gain.” Ezekiel 33:31
The apostle Paul says, “I think that God hath set forth us the apostles last, as it were appointed to death [handed over to death]: for we are made a spectacle unto the world, and to angels, and to men” (1 Corinthians 4:9).
Simply put, when godly saints full of the Christ-life are led into death situations, it’s never a private matter.
Scripture says we are on display to three different intelligences: angels, devils and humankind.
At times you may feel all alone in your struggle, but you are not involved in some secret battle taking place in a dark corner.
On the contrary, three realms are watching you with great interest.
Devils are watching you, angels are watching you, and people are watching you. And they are all wondering, “How is this servant of God going to respond to his trial?”
*What are such spectacle-trials all about?
*Why must we go through these deaths?
*What is in us that God is after?
*Our heavenly Father knows that certain unredeemed areas in our lives hinder the full manifestation of Christ’s life in us.
*God knows our stumbling blocks, our fears, our ambitions, our lusts—everything that blocks a full shining forth of Jesus.
So God allows us to be put into “death situations” to rid our hearts of these hindrances.
It happens because your loving Father is handing you over to death. He’s telling you, “Your fear of man hinders the precious flow of the Christ-life in you, thus it cannot produce life in others.
This fear in you must end. You have to die to it!”
Your cry to Him may be, “Lord, get me out of this!” But God responds, “No I’m going to let death do its work. I have arranged all of this so the life of Jesus might be manifest in you!”
Colossians 2:2 I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself.
We must protect our spiritual integrity and be willing to reject whatever takes us off course or diverts us from the path that the Lord has put us on. Anything apart from the Lord’s purposes will only lead you away from your walk in the Spirit. Be careful and be discerning.
Amos 3:3 Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?
*Sometimes God’s instruction won’t make sense but it will yield a remarkable and rewarding result..
*You are designed to go through life with God and not alone..
COME LORD JESUS AND LEAD THE WAY! THANK YOU FOR THE CROSS. AMEN
Read More“God knew what he was doing from the very beginning. He decided from the outset to shape the lives of those who love him along the same lines as the life of his Son. The Son stands first in the line of humanity he restored. We see the original and intended shape of our lives there in him”(Romans 8:29 MSG).
You are wonderfully complex (Psalm 139:14). To fulfill God’s purpose for you, you have to look at every dimension of your life and understand the factors that influence your identity.
The Bible says we are created in the image of God. No other animal was created in the image of God! Dogs have instinct but don’t know the difference between right and wrong. Elephants have no moral compass. But you get to choose to do right or wrong.
The freedom to choose is man’s greatest blessing and also his greatest curse, because we make stupid choices all the time that harm us and everyone around us.
The wild card can change the suit and number of the other cards you are dealt.
- You didn’t choose your chemistry, but you can choose what you do with your body.
- You didn’t choose your connections, but you can make new relationships and mend or nurture the ones you already have.
- You can choose how you respond to your circumstances, and you can choose to stop believing the harmful things people say to you.
Your identity is shaped by your choices. What choices will you make today that will positively affect the rest of your life?
Lord, thank you for your Holy Spirit and your word to teach me all the promises you have for me. Help me more each day to see “how You see me”, not what the world says. Amen
Read More
John 5:3–4 read; Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30-31 NIV).
We have all been made wonderfully complex and full of flaws, but until we embrace who we are — including our flaws — we cannot make the changes in our lives that will bring about true transformation.
The second factor that influences your identity is your connections. Your connections give your life purpose, meaning, and identity. If you grew up with dysfunctional relationships, then you question your purpose and struggle with identity.
Jesus said that the most important thing we should do is love God and love other people (Mark 12:30-31). Life is not about your accomplishments or acquisitions, your popularity or prestige. It’s about how well you love.
Romans 13:10 Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law(commandments).
Love is defined by the law and law is defined by the revelation of God in the 10 Commandments.
There are three problems that keep us from loving fully as God intended:
- We’re all imperfect. There are no perfect relationships because there are no perfect people.
- Sin disconnects us. Adam and Eve had the first broken relationship and disconnected themselves from God and from each other. We’ve been excusing ourselves and accusing the people we love ever since.
- The more disconnected we are, the more fearful we become. We crave intimacy, but we fear vulnerability. We crave acceptance, but we fear rejection.
You may not have had a say in the hand you were dealt in life. But God sent his son as your Savior to transform your cards into a winning hand. No matter what connections you’ve made in life, you will be held responsible for what you do with your connections today.
- Will you let God affect your connections?
- Will you trust him for your future in spite of a difficult past?
- Will you nurture, protect, and build relationships so that God is more fully glorified in your life?
Resolve today to build healthy and not hurtful relationships with God’s help.
Lord, thank you so much for showing me through a three year old that one of the best ways to show love to someone is: “TIME”. Time spent with someone is a degree of how much you truly love. JN 17:3 Jesus says “to Know me is to have eternal life”. To get to know someone takes much time. Lord help us all to get rid of business in our lives. Amen
Read MorePeople do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” Deuteronomy 8:3b .
When Jesus says we’re to pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” he’s talking about far more than just bread. In fact, the Bible tells us that bread represents four things.
- Bread represents the necessities of life.
This is the economy of God. God says, “I supply it. You gather it.” When you pray, “Give us this day our daily bread,” it doesn’t mean you sit on the couch and wait for God to throw you money. You’ve got to work! Even the Israelites had to go out and pick up the manna. Work is a part of God’s purpose for your life. It builds character. Proverbs 14:23 says, “Hard work always pays off; mere talk puts no bread on the table” (MSG).
2. Bread represents God’s Word. The Bible is spiritual food. Bread is a symbol for Scripture. The Bible says, “People do not live by bread alone; rather, we live by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” Deuteronomy 8:3b NLT.
When the children of Israel were walking to the Promised Land, God dropped manna from Heaven for the people to pick up because they had nothing to eat. God gave them this bread to teach them that people need more than bread for their life. Real life comes by feeding on every word of the Lord. You don’t just need physical nourishment; you also need spiritual nourishment.
3. Bread represents God’s family and fellowship. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 10:16, “Is the bread which we break not a sharing in the body of Christ?” (AMP) Bread is a metaphor for the family of God. You need God’s people in your life!(RELATIONSHIPS). Whether or not you have a physical family, God wants you to be part of his family that will last forever — the Church. It is to be a place of fellowship.
4. Bread represents salvation. Jesus chose bread to represent his sacrifice in communion. Every time we eat the bread and drink the wine or juice, it is a reminder of how much God loves us and the sacrifice he made so that we can go to Heaven.
Whatever your need is — physical, emotional, relational, or spiritual — God will take care of it if you will depend on him. Pray today, “Give us this day our daily bread,” and trust God to provide for you in every way. AMEN
Read More
John 1:23, John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.'”
John knew who he was and what he was called to do. This was one of the keys to his success.
Unlike most of us, John did not have an identity crisis growing up. He knew God’s plan and purpose for his life from the beginning and he spent his entire life preparing for it.
God has a plan for your life just as surely as he did for John the Baptist.
To succeed in life, you must find God’s plan for your life and then devote yourself to fulfilling that plan.
It is not enough to simply “do your own thing” and then ask God’s blessing upon it. Once you know you are doing God’s will, you never have to ask for God’s blessing. God’s will is already blessed.
The Lord created you with a purpose in mind. Your talents and abilities were given you to fulfill His purpose. Although you may find limited success using these talents for your own uses, you will never find your true potential until they are directed by and for the Lord.
The good news is that God wants to reveal His perfect plan for your life to you more than you want to know it. You can rest assured that if you ask for knowledge of His plan for your life, you will receive (Mt. 7:7).
He will show you His good, acceptable and perfect will (Rom. 12:1-2)
When we understand God’s love for us and His plan for us, then we can begin to realize the doors that He wants to open for us.
*But we’ll only realize these things when we’re constantly talking with Him, listening to His voice through His Written Word, and growing deeper in our relationship with Him.
God, remind me to bring my problems to You. I’m tired of living in my own strength. I need Your guidance and Your direction. As I seek You daily, I will put my trust in You. Amen
Read MoreMatthew 13:44, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure that a man discovered hidden in a field. In his excitement, he hid it again and sold everything he owned to get enough money to buy the field ”
I would interpret this parable as this:
1. the field is the people of the world,
2. the man buying the treasure is God,
3. the treasure is the true believers in Christ. (we are His Masterpiece Eph. 2:10)
4. The price that was paid was the very life of Jesus on the cross.
Jesus saw, through His foreknowledge, a remnant of people who would receive Him as Lord, and “for the joy that was set before him,” He endured the cross (Heb. 12:2) and purchased us unto Himself with His own blood (Acts 20:28).
Jesus purchased the whole world, but not everyone will receive what He did.
*Therefore, the Church (body of Believers) is hidden (scattered among the world) today.
We were chosen in Christ before the world began. We are holy and without blame because God sees us through Christ.
It was predetermined that we would be God’s children. We have been accepted by God.
Our Father would no more reject us than He would reject Jesus, because we are accepted by the Father through Christ.
THE CHOICE IS OURS! WE ARE THE TREASURE!
We are redeemed and forgiven. We are truly blessed!
#2 of 8 truths to master life.
I honestly admit and regret that I have failed God, my family, myself and others.
*Result: I receive God’s forgiveness and thankfully rest in His Peace.
*I am “Forgiven.”
*This expresses the difference between-“I am truly sorry for my sin” versus I’m sorry I got caught.”
2 Corinthians 7:10. “For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death.”.
Everything that manifests outwardly begins in the heart. Don’t allow your heart to become defiled by hardness or bitterness of soul. Be purified and liberated from everything that would hold you in bondage.
Father, I lay my cares before You. I trust Your love for us. In Jesus’ name, amen.
1 John 4:4 But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
Read More
This is such an important question that it deserves a careful answer.
The Bible clearly teaches that the moment a person turns from his sin and trusts in Jesus to be forgiven of his sin, he is saved (Acts 2:37-41).
*He has passed from spiritual death to spiritual life (John 5:24) and been declared not guilty in God’s court of law (Rom 3:21-26).
*From God’s perspective his salvation is an objective reality that cannot be changed (Rom 8:28-30).
The apostle John wrote his first letter to address this very question:
“I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:13).
So when we read through John’s letter, we see that he answers this question from several different angles.
The starting point is the person and work of Jesus Christ. He describes Christ as our advocate (1 John 2:1), meaning that he pleads our case before the Father when Satan accuses us. Through his sacrificial death on the cross for our sins Jesus has satisfied God’s righteous wrath against us (1 John 1:7; 2:2; 4:10). By confessing that we believe that Jesus is the Son of God who came in the flesh to save us from our sins we can be confident that we have eternal life (1 John 4:2, 13-15; 5:13).
Therefore “Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:12).
John does not stop there, however. He builds on the foundation of ongoing trust in the person and work of Christ by reminding us about the testimony of the Holy Spirit living inside of believers (1 John 3:24).
The Spirit reminds us of the truth of who Jesus is and what he has done for us (1 John 4:2, 6).
Those who are children of God show their true identity by pursuing a pattern of turning away from sin and towards a life of righteousness (1 John 3:4-10). And when we inevitably fall short of perfect obedience, we have the promise that God is faithful to forgive and cleanse us (1 John 1:9).
So our salvation depends solely on the person and work of Jesus Christ.
*As we continue to trust in him we will experience the power of the Holy Spirit at work in our lives to make us more like Jesus.
God is already the Victor! (1JN 4:4)
Thank You Jesus. Help me be become more and more like You! Amen!
1 Thess. 4: 7 God has called us to live holy lives, not impure lives.
*One must understand that sex is good under the covenant of marriage.
Live holy lives not impure lives. To Reject living holy– means rejecting God.
*God gave us his Holy Spirit and the power through His Spirit so believers can live holy lives.
I need to remember always to allow the Holy Spirit to have control over my life and reject the impurity of sin especially impure thoughts.
For the root of impure thoughts comes from the heart and influence my actions.
2 Timothy 2:22 Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.
*You once lived a life you don’t want to go back too. You accepted Jesus, the Lord almighty, as your Savior. Don’t go back too your old ways.
Our purity will determine the extent to which God will use us and demonstrate His power in us.
Those who truly love God will seek to obey him, which is really what purity is.
Holiness is not the absence of sin, but the presence of God in your life.
Impurity has both long term and short term effects, especially if we continue to let it linger in our lives, and God isn’t happy with that.
2 Timothy 2:22 Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts.
*If we are slaves to sin, we will never be free. Jesus’ standard is the one to live up to.
We must proclaim God’s holiness on earth, just as it is proclaimed in heaven.
*Holiness Is A Choice, Your Choice
We live in an environment that is driven by sex, money and power!! That’s a problem
Ephesians 5:3 Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you. Such sins have no place among God’s people.
* Lust produces bad sex, because it denies Relationship.
*Lust turns the other person into an object, a thing, a non-person.
***Jesus condemned lust because it cheapened sex; it made sex less that it was created to be.
God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.
Father, Grant me power to reject impurity and not just in actions, but thoughts too. I choose right now to reject an impure life and ask by faith that the Holy Spirit would take control of my life so I would honor you as holy before all men. Thank You for all your gifts. In Jesus name – Amen
Read More“I will live in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:6b).
Someday your body is going to die, but you aren’t!
Your body is going to end, but that’s not going to be the end of you. You’re going to live forever in one of two places: Heaven or Hell. They’re both real places. Your body is going to die, but you’re not going to die, because you were made to last forever.
How long is forever going to last? Forever!
Why should Christians be the most confident about the future?
“Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord”(2 Corinthians 5:6, 8).
You’re not ready to live until you’re ready to die. You don’t know how to live until you’re ready to die. Only a fool would go through life totally unprepared for something that everybody knows is inevitable. Read Romans 1:18-22
You’re going to die someday. If you’ve accepted Christ, then you’re going to go to Heaven. You’ll be released from pain, from sorrow, from suffering, from depression, from fear. “He’ll wipe every tear from their eyes. Death is gone for good — tears gone, crying gone, pain gone — all the first order of things gone” (Revelation 21:4).
For Christians, death is a transfer, a promotion. It’s on to better things and no more problems. Amen
Death: Luke 16:19-31 Choices. All of us have.
The same choices to make. Lazarus(Luke 23:43). The Rich Man. We can Choice Christ or we can live for ourselves with no hope for the future. Jude 24-25 too.
Read MoreSelf-centered pride latches to our hearts as we might refuse the forgiveness of God and others.
This can cause us to live in self-pity. Saying to ourselves …”I deserve it”.. “God’s trying to punish me”.. “I shouldn’t have done this or that”
The Bible says, “Watch out for such bitterness!”
“See to it that no one misses the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many.” Hebrews 12:15
In life the opportunity to harbor bitterness for a wrong suffered is great. We are given plenty of opportunities to grow bitter from relationships that bring hurt and pain.
Nothing hardens the heart more than love which has turned to bitterness. God specifically commands that we not become bitter.
The writer of the Hebrews passage above admonishes us not to miss the grace of God so that we won’t take up bitterness as a response to life’s pain.
* God cautions us against this because he knows that a bitter root grows and grows until it eventually defiles many others through a wake of bitterness.
If bitterness is allowed to take root, we become imprisoned to it.
*God’s grace will no longer have as great an effect in our lives.
*We become ineffective, insensitive, and spiritually dead.
*We can even become physically ill from it.
**God does not live in bitterness. God lives in grace. He has provided grace for every person to walk in.
The grace of God is God blessing, healing, delivering and prospering you because of Jesus.
*The grace of God is His unearned, unmerited and undeserved favor toward you simply because of Jesus’ finished work at the cross.
*Because God’s grace is based on Jesus’ work and not yours, the only way you fall from this grace is by believing that you can earn, merit and deserve it through your obedience and good works.
*Grace is the absolutely free gift!
* Law says this “I must do it.”
*Grace is this “God will help me.”
1 John 1:9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
You have to have a forgiving heart before you can be at peace with yourself.
Lord, Thank You for the Freedom From Bitterness! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
1 John 4:20 If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?
Read More