"Paul and Timothy, servants of Christ Jesus, TO ALL GOD'S HOLY PEOPLE
IN CHRIST JESUS at [fill in your City and State] ...Grace and peace to
you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ......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 1:1-2 and 9-11)
This may have been written centuries ago but it was also directed
to us centuries later. Paul prayed for US, that our love and knowledge and
depth of insight would abound so that we could live blameless and righteous
until we go home to be with Jesus. What an awesome prayer!
"Pray for the peace of Jerusalem: 'May those who love you
be secure.'" (Psalm
122:6)
God's chosen people are the Jews. I'm thankful He grafted us
into their vine. Our lives are entwined with theirs and so the USA is entwined
with Israel. When the Bible tells us to Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,
we are also praying for the peace of the United States.
"It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, proclaiming Your love in the morning and Your faithfulness at night." (Psalm 92:1-2)
Praising God morning and night are like bookends for our day. A
great 24-hour day!
"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of
God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to
God--this is your true and proper worship." (Romans 12:1)
Our living sacrifice might be just to have the courage to speak
to a stranger and share the Good News of the Gospel. Or it might be to confront
a person with what they don't want to hear. Or maybe it’s to give up something
you want to hold on to. We all have to examine the sacrifice God calls us to
because it’s always for our good and our obedience pleases Him.
"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives
generously to all without fault, and it will be given to you." (James 1:5)
We all lack wisdom...probably in any and every area of our
life--from what to eat to when to go to bed for a good night’s sleep. I fail in
both of those areas for sure!
Looking for wisdom in other areas of
importance: finances, relationships, decision making, prayer life and Bible
reading, church attendance, tithing, etc. Some are personal, some are
spiritual. Whenever we are at a loss, ask of God and He will give us answers
for our good...generously.
"In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it
were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for
you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and
receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." (John 14:2-3)
That reminds me of the house my sister lost in the CA wildfires
(Oct 2017). It was impressive by some standards (middle-class), with extreme
affluence by some standards (low income), but it was a shack by Heaven's
standards, for God has prepared us a mansion. The Good News for us here on
earth is that we already have Him in our heart, living/abiding with us....AND
He will also come and take us home to live with Him. It's a win-win situation.
Hallelujah!
"Love the Lord your God with
all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These
commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them
when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when
you lie down and when you get up." (Deuteronomy 6:5-7)
Loving the Lord with all our heart, soul, and strength is something
to be pursued for sure but impressing them on our children is hard because they
have a mind of their own. I remember trying to have devotions with my children
when they were old enough to sit still and listen. What a challenge. I wish I
had started when they were born so they could have grown up from the cradle but
I didn't become a Christian until they were 10 and 4.
The second part of that scripture, is to
just sit at home and talk with them in a normal setting. That's where our
opportunity lies. Just in normal day-to-day settings with family. Look for
those precious moments to declare God's love.
"From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work." (Ephesians 4:16)
I know we are not saved by works, but when saved, there is work
to be done for the Kingdom...six days of work and we rest on the seventh. We're
all gifted by God in the area He wishes us to work; that's why He gave each of
us our own particular gift. And using our gift we each do our part to support,
grow, and build up the Body in love. When someone isn't using their gift, it
leaves a big gap in the work to be done. I don't do children's ministry but I
do office work. I send out an email every week with announcements of what is
going on at my church, what is needed, etc. If I volunteered for children's
ministry I would probably scare the kids to death. I know they would scare me
to death!
"So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11 NAS)
As a new believer, someone told me I should "pray the
Word" over situations because God's Word would be the perfect prayer, straight
from His mouth to His ear. His Words would go forth and accomplish what He
desires and there would be great success over the matter. That's when I began
to personalize scripture and insert specific names into it. Try it!
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." (Acts 1:8)
For us today that means being a witness to our family/friends,
our neighborhood/state, our country/USA, and to the mission field. But there is
no fear for the Holy Spirit will open doors and give us the words to
speak.
"I
thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you,
I always pray with joy." (Philippians 1:3-4)
Imagine praying
with joy. How wonderful and excellent to have such a relationship with someone
that nothing is remembered but joy. Would that we all could have such
relationships with family and friends and neighbors. Cultivate and covet joy in
all our surroundings.
"And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints." (1 Thessalonians 3:12-13)
Increase and
abound in love; establish our heart blameless...That's a tall order when we
have to live in this world and deal with those who walk into our lives. We can
only take care of our heart, establish love in our heart, examine our heart
that we're not holding anything against anyone so that we're blameless before
God, and let Him take care of the rest. Still, a pretty tall order!
"Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you--unless, of course, you fail the test?" (2 Corinthians 13:5)
We are to test our own selves so that our faith will be proven.
Does our life match our walk, our words, our deeds? The challenge is, are we
walking in the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22). With Christ
Jesus IN us we have a better chance to pass the test. But then again, there is
only One Who is perfect...Christ Jesus our Lord!
O Lord,
"You know my
sitting down and my rising up..." (Psalm 139:2)
"You
number my wanderings; put my tears into Your bottle..." (Psalm 56:8)
"The
very hairs on [my] head are all numbered." (Matthew 10:30)
"How
precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God..." (Psalm 139:17)
"I
will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made..." (Psalm 139:14)
Amen...
"This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all...But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin...If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." (1 John 1:5, 7, 9)
What a
declaration and hope from God that we can walk in the Light of Jesus Christ and
His blood cleanses us from all our sins. First step is to recognize that we are
sinners. He wants us to realize in our heart (in thought, word, or deed) that
we've missed the mark and we need to come to Him for cleansing and forgiveness.
Staying in the darkness of our sin draws us back and away from our Savior. As
we walk in the Light of His Love and forgiveness we have fellowship with Him
and with each other; clean hands and a pure heart...there's nothing like it!
HALLELUJAH!
"...that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, be[...] rooted and grounded in love..." (Ephesians 3:16-17)
Paul's prayer
for the Ephesians and now FOR US down through the centuries is that we also be
strengthened in our inner man (resolve, character, integrity, etc.), that
Christ may dwell in our heart (allowing the Holy Spirit to transform us into
the image of Christ), that we be rooted and grounded in love (not tossed to and
fro by our emotions). Good prayer Paul... thank you!
The Lord is speaking to Moses, "My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." (Exodus 33:14)
What a promise to Moses and to us. We are never alone. We never face each day or each night alone. Besides the presence of the Lord within and without, His blessed rest and peace surrounds us. Lay your head back, shut your eyes, breathe deeply, and pray wherever God leads you.
"And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord's people." (Ephesians 6:18)
Praying in the
Spirit (tongues) is the perfect prayer...from the Spirit in you to God Almighty...bypassing
your intellect and input. When I can't even form the words in my own mind what
to pray, I pray in the Spirit knowing it is the exact way to reach God's ears;
knowing I can leave it with Him and 'It is finished.'
"Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:6-7)
To humble is to
make low (our part); exalt is to raise up (God's part). I can see how our pride
might get in the way of God's care for us because we tend to want to handle things
ourselves. What we hang onto, God does not take away; surrendering
our burdens into God's hands (casting care) is how we let go and let
God.
Do "not giv[e] up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:25 NIV)
I always think
of this scripture if I don't want to get dressed and go to church. And if I
don't, then I hear how great it was and I missed something wonderful. But the
scripture also says we need to encourage one another so
going means I can give an encouraging word and I can receive an encouraging
word. It's a win-win experience.
"How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" (Isaiah 52:7)
Every time we
share the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, our beautiful feet have
taken us there. It is not our job to "save" anyone. It is our job to
share Jesus Christ and then He builds on the seed we've planted. Someone else
may water it but God reigns over it. Hallelujah.
“Dear
friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they
are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the
world." (1
John 4:1)
What amazes me is
that if there were false prophets in the disciple's day, how much more are
there false prophets in our day. That's why its so important that we let the
Spirit of God within us "test the spirits" around us. Why? Because deception is a key tool of the
enemy. We can trust God to give us fair warning because "we have the mind of
Christ." (2
Corinthians 2:16)
"So do
not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will
strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right
hand." (Isaiah 41:10) What a wonderful promise. God takes us from fear and
dismay to strength, help, and holding His hand. In whatever situation we may
find ourselves, He wants us to move from the first half of this scripture into
the last. God wants us to TRUST that He will hold our hand.
FOUR KEYS TO HEARING GOD’S VOICE
1. Stillness (quiet
yourself
down)
2. Vision (fix
your eyes on Jesus)
3. Spontaneity (tune
in to God’s voice)
4. Journal (write
it down; two-way journaling)
I was meditating in prayer and asked God
this: Please reassure me of Your presence and increase my faith. He
gave me a vision of being laid down in a warm recliner with a comforter all
bunched up around the edges like I was in a bassinet. I did not lay myself down
but I was being laid down. It happened three times. Then God closed a shield
over me like I was in a warm cocoon. I saw myself as a child in the womb
surrounded by the fluid of life and the love of God. Wow, was that special. We
are His children and He is our most loving Father. God will show us great
and mighty things of which we know not. (Jeremiah 33:3) Just ask Him and He
will give it to you.
Find the hole in the whole of your life and fill
it. Eventually you will look outward instead of inward.
Everything is in God's timing. You'll know it when it happens and you'll
refocus your eyes. Just be aware and take heart...it will happen!
Regrets! I would not dwell on what you should or should
not have done. Nothing will change that and all you'll do is create more
heartache. Look to what you can do now. Create memories and live in that
moment, not in the past. Let your light shine before people so they can see
your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Life is
just day-to-day. Ups and downs. Sleep and awake. Joy and sorrow. Sunshine and
rain (Matthew 5:45).
Peaks and valleys. Smooth sailing and then a storm and the only one Who calms the storm is Jesus saying, "Peace, be still" and great peace comes (Mark 4:35-41).
Peaks and valleys. Smooth sailing and then a storm and the only one Who calms the storm is Jesus saying, "Peace, be still" and great peace comes (Mark 4:35-41).
