Devotions - Prayer

DOES ANYBODY CARE

By Bob / December 14, 2024

God’s Love for us is the same yesterday, today and forever.

“…you who have been borne by Me from birth, and have been carried from the womb; even to your old age, I shall be the same, and even to your graying years…I shall carry you…” Isaiah 46:3-4
Don’t lose hope. You might be hurting now, but out of every disaster, God can bring a new beginning. Believe in God, and watch Him show His glory in your life.

When you read the story of the death of Lazarus (John 11:1-45), you have to ask the question, “Why did Jesus delay in coming to see Lazarus?”

 

After all, Jesus had gotten word two days earlier that Lazarus was deathly ill. Why did he wait for two days to go see him? Did he not care?

Yes, Jesus cared. The Bible says he loved Lazarus. Then why did Jesus delay?
There are times when we pray and God doesn’t come through the way we expect him to come through. The healing doesn’t come. The answers don’t come. We cry, we pray, the tears flow, and we wonder, does God care about me?

Yes, he does!  The same one who wept at the grave of Lazarus weeps for you.   Jesus tears represent his sympathy to us as our Savior and High Priest.
***And not only that, Jesus went to the cross for you and me. He died for your sins. He’s prepared a place in heaven for you. What more could he have done to show his love and care for you and me?

 

In God’s own time and His own way, God will make a way when there seems to be no way. Whether you’re well or whether you’re sick… whether the answer comes as we expect it or not.

No matter how long you wait, GOD is never late.


There are 3 reasons God waits:


1. God is glorified.

*John 11:3 -it’s for the glory of God
– you can always pray,”God, be glorified in this.”

2. Faith is fortified.
*John 11: 26- Do you believe?
– God wants to use your trial to lead to more trust in Him.

3. Ministry is multiplied.  “Testimonies” for what God has done!

God, My heart is overflowing with the truth and wisdom you have placed there today! And with such massive love and gratitude for Your compassion and love and healing! Thank you for taking the sadness and replacing it with joy! May I glorify you each day above All else. Amen!

 

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PRAYER HELPS IN ALL CIRCUMSTANCES

By Bob / December 8, 2024

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God”(Philippians 1:9-11 NIV).

Think of somebody who irritates you — maybe somebody you’ve got a strained relationship with or who just rubs you the wrong way.    Two questions for you:

  1. One, do you pray for that person?
  2. Or do you just complain and grumble and nag and nitpick?

If you prayed more, you’d have a lot less to grumble, complain, nag, an$d nitpick about. It’s your decision.

Does nagging work? No. Does prayer work? Yes.

So why do you do more of the thing that doesn’t work than the one that does?

Pastor Friend of mine always says: “It is better to Bless others then Blast them”.

Paul says in Philippians 1:4,“Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy”.

Paul didn’t just pray for people in his life. He prayed with joy!

  • Positive praying is more effective than positive thinking. All the positive thinking in the world isn’t going to change your husband or your wife or your child or your friend or your situation.
  • Positive thinking can change you, but it won’t change somebody else. But positive prayer can make a difference in someone else.

Do you want to know the quickest way to change a bad relationship to a good one? Start praying blessings for the other person! It will change you, and it can change the other person.

Paul even told us how to pray for others: “And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ, filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9-11).

From these verses, we can learn to pray for the people in our lives in four ways:

  1. Pray that they will grow in love:“This is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight.”
  2. Pray that they will make wise choices: “… so that you may be able to discern what is best …”
  3. Pray that they will live with integrity: “… and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ …”
  4. Pray that they will become like Jesus: “… filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ — to the glory and praise of God.”

Pray these for yourself and anyone else in your life, and watch how God turns around the relationship you thought was hopeless. Nothing is impossible with God!  Amen

 

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The COST OF SIN

By Bob / December 7, 2024

…So that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. Romans 6:6

Christian, why would you play with sin?

  • Has it not cost you enough already?
  • Burnt child, will you play with the fire? What! When you have already been between the jaws of the lion, will you step a second time into his den?
  • Have you not had enough of the old serpent? Did he not poison all your veins once, and will you play at the cobra’s den and put your hand in the dragon’s lair a second time?
  • Did sin ever yield you real pleasure? Did you find solid satisfaction in it?
  • If so, go back to your old drudgery, and wear the chain again, if it delights you. But inasmuch as sin never gave you what it promised to bestow but deluded you with lies, do not be snared by the old fowler: Be free, and let the memory of your enslavement prevent you from entering the net again!

It is contrary to the designs of eternal love, which are all focused on your purity and holiness; therefore do not run counter to the purposes of your Lord.  1 Thess. 4:4-5

Another thought should restrain you from sin. Christians can never sin cheaply; they pay a heavy price for iniquity. Transgression destroys peace of mind, obscures fellowship with Jesus, hinders prayer, brings darkness over the soul; therefore do not be the serf and slave of sin.

There is still a higher argument: Each time you serve sin you are “crucifying once again the Son of God . . . and holding him up to contempt.”(hebrews 6:6)  

Can you bear that thought? If you have fallen into any special sin during this day, it may be that your Master has sent this admonition this day to bring you back before you have wandered very far.

Turn to Jesus afresh. He has not forgotten His love for you; His grace is still the same. With weeping and repentance, come to His footstool, and you shall be reunited in His love; you will be set upon a rock again, and your goings shall be established.  Because Jesus Loves You-He made You to bring Him Glory and in return we will have PEACE! Amen

Read 1 Thess. 5:16-19 and see God’s will for you!

 

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When Red Lights are Flashing

By Bob / November 11, 2024

The Book of Proverbs Are For Work, Life and Living 

The writers of proverbs want the readers to:

internalize God’s truth. OR: get God’s Word in your heart. 

Below are thoughts on books 5, 6 & 7 of Proverbs.

 

Proverbs 5 – Watch Out for . . . . . . . Look forward to . . . . !

  • Watch out for sex without love.   Proverbs 5:1-14
  • Look forward to true love in God’s ways.  Proverbs 5:15-23

This is a very abbreviated statement of the Song of Solomon

Don’t wait to see what happens. Prepare for temptation by deciding NOW how you will act when you face it.  (11-13)

Strategy For Effective Living

Begins with … God’s Wisdom ….. Respecting and appreciating who God is; reverence and awe toward God.

Requires …  Moral Application …. Trusting in God and his Word; allowing his Word to speak to us personally; being willing to obey

Requires …  Practical Application …. Acting on God’s direction daily

Results in … Effective living …. Experiencing what God does with our obedience

 

Proverbs 6 –  Get up and get going – BUT – Watch out!      

  • These verses are not a plea against generosity, but against overextending one’s financial resources and acting in irresponsible ways that could lead to poverty. Need a balance between generosity and good stewardship.(1-5)
  • That which God hates! Proverbs 6:16-35

Things God Hates

  1. Violent People……………………Proverbs 3:31-32
  2. Haughtiness, lying, murdering, scheming, eagerness to do wrong, a false witness, stirring up discord  6:16-19
  3. Those who are untruthful……………………12:22
  4. The sacrifice of the wicked…………………15:8
  5. The way of the wicked………………………15:9
  6. Evil plans……………………………………15:26
  7. Those who are proud………………………..16:15
  8. Those who judge unjustly…………………..17:15

Proverbs 7 – The seductive nature of seduction. (Lust a warning sign of danger ahead)

  • There is no new temptation! (Romans 12:2-renew the mind)
  • Know:  1 Corinthians 10:12-13 – 2 Timothy 2:22

God has given us His Truth to experience His Blessing in life.

 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) AMEN

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A HARD HEART

By Bob / October 31, 2024

Jesus was first and foremost a “servant”, and God has called each one of us to follow His example.

  “Be hospitable to one another without complaint. As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.” 1 Peter 4:9-10


The world is shouting to us, “You can show us a miracle!

* It isn’t the Red Sea opening up that impresses us.
* It’s not seeing the blind given sight or the lame healed.
** It’s that you can look at the darkest hour of your life, a situation that’s hopeless to all human reasoning, and yet smile with joy, singing praises to God.
**That’s the miracle we want to see.”


Mark 6:52, “For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.”

Most of the time, we think of a person with a hard heart as being someone who is in terrible rebellion to God.
*While it is true that a rebellious person does have a hardened heart, in this instance, the Word is referring to the disciples’ hearts being hardened.

The word “hardened”
as used here, means “to make calloused, unyielding or cold in spirit, or insensitive to.”

The disciples were not God haters, but rather they had become so sensitive to the natural world and its limitations that they were overwhelmed to see Jesus supersede these laws.
*Therefore, they had a hardened heart.

If they had kept in mind the miracle they had just seen Jesus perform (the feeding of the five thousand), then they wouldn’t have been amazed to see Jesus walking on the water toward them.

Many of us are more sensitive to fear and doubt than we are to the truths of God’s Word.

This is because we have thought more on things that minister fear and doubt.

When our hearts are hardened we don’t realize the goodness of God and how powerful He is.


Romans 1:18 The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness,
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened.


Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Isaiah 26:3  You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.

Jesus, You are the only Way, Truth and Life. So I ask, “what “truth” is being suppressed”?  Yes- Reality, as defined by God.  Thank You Jesus. Amen

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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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ALL THINGS POSSIBLE WITH GOD

By Bob / September 8, 2024

” My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ. ” Colossians 2:2


Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God” (Mark
10:27).

Are there things that make you laugh when you think of the miracle that would be required for it to take place?

Ask God for the miracle you need today.

“Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest” (Mt. 11:28).

God reveals His truths to us in stages and not all at once (Isa. 28:9-10).

The truths of God are mysterious only to those who do not soften their heart by seeking God with their whole heart. As Jeremiah 29:13 says, “And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”

The piece of armor known as the “sword of the Spirit” is the only piece of armor that has the ability to cut, wound, and hurt our enemy, the devil. (Read Armor of God Eph. 6)

 

It’s not the Bible lying on your coffee table that makes the enemy flee, but it is the Word of God hidden in your heart, activated by the power of the Holy Spirit, and spoken in an appropriate situation.
*The Word by itself doesn’t make us free. It is the Word we know and speak that will deliver us (Jn. 8:32).

 

Why is the Word so effective? It’s because it is the WORD of God. It has authority, because it is indeed the WORD of God.

*God’s Word supersedes all authority of the church, of reason, of intellect, and even of Satan himself.

*It is the Holy Spirit that wields this Word as it is spoken in faith.

*Speaking God’s Word in faith brings the Holy Spirit into action.
In Luke 4, when Jesus was tempted of the devil for forty days, it was the Word of God, that Jesus used to defeat the enemy in the time of His temptation.

*Jesus constantly met His temptation by quoting from God’s Word as He repeatedly stated the phrase, “It is written.”
Likewise, the Christian soldier must avail himself of God’s Word by placing it in his heart, so that the Holy Spirit may bring it forth at the appropriate time to accomplish a complete and total victory. It’s yours.

 

Thank You Jesus–that through You – We Fight FROM Victory—-not For Victory. Amen! (see 1 John 4:4)

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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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THE DIFFICULT ROAD

By Bob / August 12, 2024

“No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear” (1 Corinthians 10:13a).

 

At times the road before me seems long, steep and challenging. I can feel lost. Uncertain. Afraid. Sometimes I’m not sure I have the strength for the journey.

It’s in those times that God wants me to remember I’m not traveling alone. He is my ever-present guide.  He knows where the road leads. He can see what lies ahead. And that’s not all.

God also knows my concerns. He knows what I feel. The pain I cannot explain to someone else … God knows. The fear of the unknown—He knows.  And He offers me Himself.

Perhaps you feel overwhelmed today. You may be experiencing some sadness, loss or worry. You may find that God has called you to a difficult path. “Surely,” you think, “God has an easier road for me to travel.”

The truth is, we aren’t wise enough to assume another path would be best for us.

*Maybe the easier road won’t make us into the person God intends us to be.

*Perhaps the difficult road is a path of grace—protecting us from the worst.

*Maybe this road is about learning something new about God or ourselves.

*Could it be the difficult journey is the path that prepares us for a greater purpose or a greater faith in God?

 

Out of all the possible paths, God knows the best path.

Our key verse reminds us, “His ways are higher than our ways. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts.”

**Because of this, we can take the path God has laid out for us today. We can trust, and not fear, in His infinite wisdom and love. And we can be certain that God will never lead us down the wrong road.

 

Do not be troubled by these times of perplexity. They are normal experiences coming to all in the life of faith.
Lord, because You will never lead me down the wrong road, I can trust You when I need to make decisions about my family, my career, and my health. Thank You for Your wisdom and guidance. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

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Overcoming Our Past

By Bob / August 1, 2024

“Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah.” – Judges 11:29a

 

We’ve all heard stories of individuals who have overcome extreme hardship during their childhood years.
*Children of alcoholics, orphans who never have parents, loss of parents to a fatal crash, childhood disease – these are all difficult circumstances to overcome.

 

Jephthah was a man who overcame his obstacles and refused to allow his circumstances to prevent him from becoming great in God’s sight.
*He was born to Gilead, a result of his father’s adulterous encounter with a prostitute.
*Jephthah’s half-brothers decided to reject Jephthah, and drove him away from their home saying, “You are not going to get any inheritance in our family because you are the son of another woman.”
*Imagine the rejection this young man felt as he was cast away from his own family.
This experience taught Jephthah to become a hardened warrior. Today he probably would have been part of a street gang?
As he got older, his reputation as a warrior became known to those in his country, so much so that when the Ammonites made war on Israel, the elders of Gilead went to Jephthah and asked him to be their commander.

Jephthah had to fight off those feelings of rejection from previous years.

“Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house?” he responded.   He overcame his hurt and pain, and responded to the call God had on his life.

 

It is said that if we were to help the butterfly remove itself from the cocoon, the butterfly would not be strong enough to survive.
**It is the struggle that prepares the butterfly to become strong enough to fly.
**Without the struggle in the cocoon, it could not survive as a butterfly.

The Lord prepares each of us in similar ways.
*Some of our childhoods seem to have been harsh and born from a seemingly unloving God.
*However, the Lord knows our struggle and will make our life an instrument in His hand if we will choose to follow Him with an upright heart.
*Jesus does make all things beautiful in His time if we are willing to be patient.

 

Lord, I’m so glad I don’t have to say that right thing to get Your attention. Thank You for Your Spirit that lives in me and leads me—in my daily activities and even in my prayers. Please show me verses You want me to pray so I can see Your Word come alive in my circumstances and become active in my life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

1 Thessalonians 5:16 Always be joyful. 17 Never stop praying. 18 Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

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EVER FEEL LIKE A FAILURE?

By Bob / July 14, 2024

 Two wonderful absolutes.

1. The first absolute: GOD REALLY LOVES ME.
*God is not in the business of condemning His children, failures or not. He is a loving Father, wanting only to lift us out of our weaknesses.
*Sometimes we recognize His great love only when we hit bottom. You will have won a great victory if you can be convinced God loves you even in your wounded, crippled condition.
*Our strength is renewed by His everlasting love.
*Just rest in that wonderful love. Don’t panic. Deliverance will come.

2. The second absolute: IT IS MY FAITH THAT PLEASES HIM THE MOST!
“Without faith, it is impossible to please him” (Hebrews 11:6).
*God counts our trust as righteousness.  “Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness”. (Romans 4:3).
God delights in using failures—men and women who think they can do almost nothing right.
**God sends us to conquer nations but the first battle we have to win is the one against ourselves.
*That’s when we get to know him and we build the foundations of our relationship with him!   (JN 17:3)

*His strength is perfected in our weakness, our inability to obey His commandments in our own strength.

*God calls us to a life of holiness and separation.
*God tells us we can be free from the bondage of sin.

When our heart begins to cry, “Lord, how can we do such great, holy things?”

That is when our Lord takes over!
God comes with such a comforting message:

-”Lay down your weapons.
-Quit trying to be so self–sufficient and strong.
-I am your weapon and your strength.
-Let Me do what you never can do.
-I will give you My righteousness,
-I will give you My holiness, My rest, My strength.
You cannot save yourself or please Me in any way other than by receiving the blessings of the cross by faith.
Let Me be in charge of your growth in holiness.”

 
* Father take over the battle of my life ……… Isaiah 41:14-16

*God, Your Word speaks hope and life to me. It is always right on target and speaks into my life and current situation. I hold onto Your Word and pray for Your strength and courage, for health and peace as I walk through this. And I raise it all up to You, I lift it up to You, trusting and believing in You for what is to come. So I give You the praise, the honor, and the glory, in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

 

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HEAVENLY PERSPECTIVE

By Bob / July 9, 2024

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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FREE FROM BONDAGE

By Bob / June 17, 2024

Loving God with “all our heart” doesn’t just mean inviting Him into our hearts. It also means allowing Him to be the motivation for all our choices.

“Nevertheless I am continually with Thee; Thou hast taken hold of my right hand. With Thy counsel Thou wilt guide me, and afterward receive me to glory.” Psalm 73:23-24
How to stay free from bondage and captivity.

*How can we stay in victory?
*How can we walk in a constant flow of not having to return to the things that once plagued us?
Sometimes the emotional baggage that we grew up with can cause us to have certain patterns of living.
For instance, some might have experienced a series of disappointments that must be fought against.

*Is there a way not only to break free but to stay free?
*Is there a way not only to gain the victory but to keep the victory?
*Is there a way for us to find glorious, overcoming, sustained, powerful, lifelong victory in Jesus Christ?
You might think it will take ten years of counseling to attain victory, or twenty years for the maturation process to take place in your life, but Jesus can come in and instantly set you free.
Jesus will not only set you free but He will keep you walking in that freedom.
We need to have the kind of mindset that says,

***“It’s not about me, it’s all about Jesus.
*** It’s not about my purposes, plans and ambitions, it’s all about Him.”

 

Set your eyes on Jesus and He will cause you to be raised up and set free and He will enable you to stay free in the things of God.

“We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us” (Romans 8:37).

Hebrews 12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. 2 We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne.  Amen

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STRONGHOLDS OF THE ENEMY

By Bob / June 14, 2024

Some of the things God brings up from our hidden chambers have been lifelong strongholds of the enemy.

They may appear as “giants” when we seek to break free of them, but God is already the Victor! You will see His salvation if you faint not.

“But Moses said to the people, ‘Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today; for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you will never see them again forever.'” Exodus 14:13

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

*Strongholds color how we view certain situations, circumstances, or people. When these thoughts and activities become habitual, we allow a spiritual fortress to be built around us.


Coming Out of the Stronghold


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

When life beats down on us and we get to the place where we want to hide in a cave, God often places people around us who prod us into moving in the right direction.
God does not want us to remain in the place of discouragement. He wants us to move into the land of “praise.”
Judah means “praise.”

 

God is preparing each of us to be the vessel He wants to use in the life of another person, but we will never be that vessel if we give up and hide in our cave of discouragement.

God has no favorites-–we are all equal and have Gifts that need to be used for the Kingdom of God.


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

 

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

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OUR PAST

By Bob / June 8, 2024

How can we lay down our lives for God if we’re not really sure He loves us?
* “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loves us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ…” Ephesians 2:4-5

“Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” Philippians 3:13b-14
Our PAST can be a hindrance or a help in moving forward toward God’s purposes for each of us.
*For some, the past has meant pain and heartache, and grace is required so that we do not let our past dictate our responses to the future.

*If we allow our past to make us a victim, then we have not entered into the grace that God has for us.
*If we live on memories of past successes and fail to raise our vision for new things, we again are victims of our past.

Our past should only be viewed for what we can learn from it.
We must move forward and avoid viewing the negative or the positive for more than what we can learn.

Many have allowed their past to dictate their future.

God is always about doing new things in our lives. He gives fresh revelation of His purposes in our lives.

*Do not live in the past.
*Do not hold onto bitterness that may hinder God from doing new and exciting things in your life.

Put aside such thoughts and allow God to do a new thing in your life. Ask Him to help you see the new things He wants to do in and through you today.
“When your memories are bigger than your dreams, you’re headed for the grave” [Author unknown]

 You can do nothing about the past, but you can be strengthened and encouraged in the present with the Lord.

Romans 8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit.

God, regardless of what’s happened in the past, help me to look up from where I am now. I thank You for Your new beginning for me. I will boldly step into it and walk out Your calling for Your Glory and my Joy. Amen

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