Heavenly Father, we praise You today and every day for your great love and grace and mercy. Please lead us this week as we focus our minds and hearts on you. We desire to do your will, and to fulfill our calling to be salt and light to the world around us. Fill us, Holy Spirit, so that the character of the living God shines through us, allowing you to do a mighty work in and through our lives. We give our lives to you and pray that you use them for your glory. In Jesus’s name we pray, amen.
“So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. In his defense Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.’ For this reason they tried all the more to kill Him; not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” (John 5:16-18)
Salvation does not depend on being a good person, going to church, owning a Bible, or being an American.
It depends on Who we say Jesus is. Some say he was just a good man, maybe a prophet. He said He was God. Either He was crazy, a liar, or speaking the truth. If He was telling the truth, then what we do with that truth will determine where we spend eternity. If we reject it, we reject God, for the Father and the Son are one.
Jesus Himself said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)
Without accepting Christ and His payment on the cross for our sins, we will stand before God at the end of our mortal lives and the beginning of our eternal ones with no excuse, and we will receive the just payment for our sins – eternity apart from God and the love and peace that originate in Him and flow from Him.
But, if we accept that Jesus is who He says He is, that He is God, and by accepting Him we accept His sacrifice on the cross as payment for our sins, then there is no condemnation for us, and will be no judgment for our sins as we stand before God, since Christ paid it all.
Salvation isn’t dependent on what we do or who we are, but what we believe. If we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we are forgiven, and we will forever live in His presence and all that He is – love, joy, peace, goodness, grace, mercy, kindness…
Who do you say Jesus is?
Could there be anything more wonderful, more gracious, more astounding and life-changing than being called – by God Himself – into fellowship – not just a knowledge of, not just an acquaintance with, but into a partnership, a daily, ongoing, communicating fellowship – with His Son, that we might live in oneness with Him, allowing His Spirit to flow through us, bringing our hearts and minds and lives into alignment with God’s will, allowing us to live an abundant life far above all we can imagine?
Lord help us to not waste a day…
If you need a love that never gives up, a hope that never fades, mercy that never ends, grace that knows no bounds, and life everlasting, look no further than Jesus Christ. In Him, and ONLY in Him will you find all those things and so much more. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is your Creator, your Father, your Friend, your Co-laborer. The world will never hold a candle to the power of His life-giving Light, and no other love can do what His can.
Today is a new day. He stands ready to forgive you, embrace you, and clasp your hand as you walk this walk together. Will you?
“For God so loved the world, that He sent His only begotten son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life in Christ Jesus the Lord. John 3:16
Friends,
Tomorrow, Thursday, May 5, is our National Day of Prayer.
If our beloved country were ever at a crucial crossroads, it is now. And if we ever needed an opportunity to come together on one day to lift up fervent prayers to Almighty God on behalf of our cracked and crumbling nation it is tomorrow.
I am personally brokenhearted at the direction I see our country moving, at the lives being destroyed and the hatred being shouted. We cannot continue to live as though there is no God, as if we can govern it or riot it or picket it or troll it all away. We cannot continue to just hope it will somehow get better. Hearts must be changed and only God, through faith in Jesus Christ, can do that.
It is time to humble ourselves and repent of our own sins first, and then pray for God’s mercy on this land.
I believe there is still hope for God’s peace to return IF we will each – in faith – seek Him for grace and forgiveness.
I believe He is waiting for us to do just that.
May His love and wisdom and discernment in prayer go with each of you.
“…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.”
2 Chronicles 7:14
Moses did it when God’s people turned away from Him and worshipped an idol of their own making. Nehemiah did it when the city of God had been overrun and lay in devastating and shameful ruins.
Esther, together with God’s people, did it when they faced annihilation by God’s enemies. Gideon did it when the Israelites had turned away from God and their enemies continually sought to oppress them.
Ezra did it when God’s people turned away from Him yet again.
And Daniel did it when the years of Babylonian captivity were coming to an end.
All these, and many others – men and women just like you and me – lifted up prayers to the God of all mercy to save and protect them and their beloved city, always when their enemy seemed stronger, when evidence seemed stacked against them, when they were few and weakened.
But God loves to show Himself strong on behalf of those who will humble themselves and seek Him with repentant hearts.
He is still El Roi – The God Who Sees Me, and El Shama – The God Who Hears Me.
He is still El Channun – The Gracious God, and El Hanne’eman – The Faithful God. He is still El Nasa – the God Who Forgave, and El Mauz – God My Strength.
He is still El Yeshuah – God of My Salvation, and Immanu’el – God With Us.
I believe God gave this land that we would be a people who would give Him glory and who would stand with His beloved Israel. But we’ve turned far away from Him.
It’s time to look up like so many did before us, and pray for forgiveness and mercy. I can’t imagine this country in another twenty years if we don’t come together and turn our hearts back to Almighty God and live holy lives worthy of the calling we’ve received.
Only God can do this and I believe He wants to. I believe He is standing by waiting for us to call on Him with sincere hearts.
Tomorrow I’ll be fasting and praying for the future of our country and for the body of Christ to rise up and be a light in this dark and dying world. If anyone wants to join me, we can lift our voices together to El Elyon – the Most High God.
“Unless the LORD builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.” Psalm 127:1
“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
“One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!” John 9:25
Up until the very moment I was saved, I had always believed two things: that God and satan were equal powers at opposite ends of the spectrum of good and evil, and that abortion was acceptable.
But the second I believed in Christ and was filled with the Holy Spirit, my spiritual eyes were opened and I knew those things I had believed were lies.
In Christ, through the Holy Spirit, we have been given a second set of eyes, if you will, that gives us the vision to see, to walk, to know, to trust, in the Spirit. That spiritual vision allows us to see the truth that is Christ, and to walk this journey in the light of God.
We have a choice every day to use only the eyes in our head by feeding our flesh, or to use the spiritual eyes of our hearts by feeding our spirit.
While on the island of Patmos, John wrote that he was in the Spirit as he was given a revelation of Jesus Christ, a vision of Him in all His glory in the heavenly realm. He saw Him dressed in holy robes with a golden sash, eyes blazing like fire, feet like bronze glowing in a furnace, voice like the sound of rushing waters, a face like the sun shining in all its brilliance. He was the One Who had the authority to hold the angels and the churches in his hand, and also the keys of death and Hades.
When John wept because no one was found worthy to break the seals and open the scroll that would unleash the timely events of the future of all things, an elder comforted him with this, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” Revelation 5:5
When we, too, are walking in the Spirit – praying, worshipping, taking in the Word of God, obeying, forgiving, fellowshipping, loving – our spiritual vision will become clearer, and our foundations stronger. We will see Christ for who He is, high and exalted, with authority over all things. We will believe and experience the depth of His power and love in our lives, along with His wisdom and discernment, and no puny trial will take us down.
It’s easy, though, with all that goes on in our busy lives to forget to feed the spiritual life, and then our dim, human eyesight prevails again, the flesh follows it, and we revert back to seeing and living and believing like the world.
We see (and judge) others by how they look outwardly instead of by the beauty of their souls. We see them through their worldly wealth or poverty instead of by the riches of their inherent value as one made in the image of God. We see them through their sins instead of as people whom Christ died for and who are in need of prayer and a Savior.
John told us that “…anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.” 1 John 2:11
We can choose, instead, to see with our spiritual eyes – the vision we’ve been given through the power of the Holy Spirit. Just as we’ll see and know Christ more clearly, we’ll see others through His eyes, the spiritual lens of His grace and mercy and forgiveness.
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and His worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24
Holy Spirit, please interrupt our busyness and remind us to seek you in all we do. Remind us to stay in prayer about all things at all times; remind us to be thankful; remind us to feed on the bread of your Word; remind us to fellowship with other believers, that we might encourage and be encouraged. Help us to see with the unique vision You give us, to love You, Your people, and even those who consider us their enemies. Help us to walk in You, that we might grow in faith and grace, and not stumble when the enemy comes.Help us to be disciplined to allow Your light to shine through us in this ever-darkening world. Help us to discern Your still, small voice, that we might follow You on our constantly winding journeys, that we might one day hear “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
In Jesus’ Precious Name, Amen.
“Never stop learning.”
“Keep learning.”
“Don’t give up learning.”
I must have heard this admonition at least three or four times over the past couple of weeks. Heaven help us if we ever come to the place where we think we have it all figured out. Or that we’re too old or too young or too busy, or too anything to learn new things.
There is no where that is truer than in our walk with Christ on our journey through life.
God is always speaking, as long as we’re listening.
In Peter’s second letter to those living in faith in Christ, he writes:
“For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.” 2 Peter 1:5-7
Faith is not a badge we put on at the moment of conversion as if the race were over and the rewards already given. Faith is the starting point. Then, with our faith in hand, we run the race.
Virtue
Live with high moral standards. That is a daily, conscious effort in this morally-declining world. Up is down, right is wrong and wrong is right. But we know where to go to cut to the chase and find the absolute truth, and that is always God’s Word.
Knowledge
God tells us in scripture that we are to grow in the knowledge of Christ, grow in the wisdom and knowledge that Christ gives, and, interestingly, that husbands are to live in an understanding (knowledgeable) way with their wives.
Self-control
The more we allow the Holy Spirit to rein in our hearts and lives, the more we will learn to restrain ourselves from the things of the world that create division from Him, and vice versa.
Steadfastness
This is a cheerful, patient endurance through all our trials, ever-increasing in hope that through it all our God is molding us into the image of His Son. We learn to wait – to wait for direction, to wait for discernment, to wait for rescue, to wait for healing, to wait on our God and know that He hears, He loves us, and His timing and ways are perfect.
Godliness
Simply, less of me and more of Him.
Brotherly affection
Daily we are to grow in our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Love
This is agape, the highest form of love. It is the pinnacle of sacrificial, unconditional love that puts ourselves on the alter to serve another.
To grow in these godly qualities takes a willingness to be humble. It takes being able to admit when we’re wrong so we can repent and grow. It is taking regular stock of our hearts through scripture as the Sword “penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” (Heb 4:12)
It takes walking out of the shadows into the bright and baring light of Christ and letting Him examine us, burning off those ungodly traits through the fire of trial, and knowing that those same flames burn with His love and grace and mercy and forgiveness.
Why? Why do we want to do these things instead of just coasting through life, knowing that we have salvation at the end of it? Peter tells us in the next verse:
“For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” 2 Peter 1:8
I don’t know about you, but I want to be effective. I want my life to count for good. It was used for enough pain and sorrow before Christ graciously invaded my life. I want to learn and grow and trip and get back up and try again, trust more, pray more, yield more, love more.
In this one life I get, I want Christ to have His way in and through me. I want to learn the way of my Master and be prepared and unashamed when I meet Him face to face.
But it won’t come by osmosis.
So I take the faith handed to me by the Holy Spirit, and together we run…
Grace and Peace in Abundance,
“Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: ‘It is mine to avenge; I will repay,’ says the Lord. On the contrary:
‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head. (Proverbs 25:21-22)’
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”
Romans 12:9-21
The term “to heap burning coals on someone’s head,” is not, as it might seem at first glance, an act of vengeance. It’s actually an act of kindness. People needed to keep their home’s fire burning during the night to cook food in the morning. If it died out, they would go to a neighbor and ask for live coals to relight their fire. The neighbor would have to get out of bed and give some of their own fire’s coals. The coals would be heaped into a container on the person’s head to carry home.
This is love. We are to go our of our way to bless our enemies even when it’s an inconvenience, even if we don’t feel like it, and even when it causes us a degree of suffering. In this way we introduce our enemies to the love of Christ, and bring the kingdom of heaven to their door. It is, after all, God’s loving kindness that brings us all to repentance.
Grace and Peace,
“For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us.
If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.” Romans 12:4-8
If you knew me very well you might think it funny that I have a strong desire to encourage people. I don’t feel encouraged a lot of the time. I feel a lot of other things like exhausted, frustrated, distressed and sometimes depressed.
But through all that haze of human struggle God has given me a gift of encouragement. That, to me, is amazing.
God delights to show Himself strong where we are weak.
And because it’s very obviously not my nature, but God’s, He gets all the glory.
Once the Holy Spirit placed that gift in my heart, it was up to me to yield myself to Him and allow Him to shine that light of encouragement through me. And yet sometimes all I have to do is walk through a check-out line.
I was doing just that once years ago when I was a fairly new believer. The store was crazy busy, all the lines were long, and I stood in one of them holding my new pair of shoes.
I finally…finally…finally reached the front of the line, and the poor cashier looked frazzled. Her head was down, finishing up from the last customer. As she looked up and into my eyes, she stopped, smiled, chuckled a bit and said, “I felt better when I saw your face.”
Now, it was not me and it certainly was not my face, per se. There were plenty of other perfectly nice faces that had gone through that line, and there was nothing about mine in particular that would comfort this overworked girl, except that it was the face of someone who was in love with Jesus and had been given the gift of encouragement.
It was the Holy Spirit, graciously and mercifully using that gift to shine His light of comfort from one of His children to, quite possibly, another.
That’s what spiritual gifts are for: the building up of the Body.
“Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and He distributes them to each one, just as He determines.” 1 Corinthians 12:7-11
So, lest any of us think we have no spiritual gifts, God’s Word tells us that if we are part of the body of Christ – if He is our Lord – then the Spirit has given each of us at least one gift for the benefit of the body. It’s not to keep for ourselves and it’s not to hide, but to share.
The Church is weakened when all its members are not fully using their God-given gifts for the benefit of one another.
One issue is that many times talents and gifts are misunderstood, and human talents are being used rather than spiritual gifts. Gifts of the Spirit are being minimized in favor of works of the flesh; pride is trumping humility and submissiveness to the Spirit of God. And when that happens, the church becomes nothing more than a sing-a-long, but not true praise; nothing more than an inspirational teaching, though not Spirit-inspired; nothing more than a religious duty, but not actual worship. And we all suffer for it.
Human talents rely on our own personal knowledge, practice, understanding, strength and power.
Spiritual gifts are given and used strictly by the power of the Holy Spirit and our yieldedness to Him.
God can give gifts to complement the talents He’s given us, but His gifts still work solely in the power of the Spirit.
Gifts are given to us, not because of who we are, but in spite of it.
The Church needs our gifts. We are each a brick in the Church of God with Christ as its Cornerstone. Remove just one and though the foundation stands, the building falters.
If you don’t know what your gift or gifts are, I encourage you to pray and ask the Lord to show you. There are some tools that, with prayer, can help you find your spiritual gifts. This is one: http://www.spiritualgiftstest.com/
And once you find your gift(s), ask the Lord to show you how He would have you use it for the building up of the body. Beside our personal relationship with Christ, being used by the Lord and fulfilling His plan for us is perhaps the most rewarding blessing on this earth.
And may I add – let’s encourage each other in our gifts and allow ourselves to be built up by one another. We need each other right now, and we need the gifts God’s given to all of us. There may be darker days coming for believers than we’ve seen in recent headlines and we need every spiritual gift to prepare and empower us and spur us on to victory.
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11
Grace and Peace,