Tag Archives: holy word

Devotions 5/19/21- Psalms

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“The ungodly are not so (prosperous), But are like the chaff which the wind drives away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous. For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, But the way of the ungodly shall perish.” Psalms 1: 4-6 (word added to explain context from verse 3)

You ever worked so hard at something and then saw it fall apart? I was like that during high school in a way but an image came to me just now. I worked so hard at Legos this one time. It was probably the only time I was dedicated to work at making something, only when my friend and a family member of his came by, they saw it too! (haha)

With seeming joy they had fun “tearing” apart my house. It was kind of like a farmer who works and works only then they realize their crop hasn’t grown, they had to struggle through the winter but there was still little to nothing to show for their work.

Maybe that farmer experiences a lot of “chaff” that blows in the wind.

I just looked up what that word is. There is apparently a part of the wheat that sometimes is found during threshing (grinding during harvest of wheat, etc. fields) and the chaff is part of the husk. It is completely unusable. Not worth having. No reason to save it from harvest.

So… what could this mean?

To be ungodly is like to be one who is not saved. Here it is talking about the kind of people that would refuse help or mercy. Or maybe people who refuse to believe there is something good like a God out there.

Hey I’ve got some testimony concerning that. I thought I knew it all at times. I have doubted too. But maybe God wanted me to mature more in Him through Christ. Or at the very least start to think that I should not have to live for only myself.

This is the importance to deliverance. Sin. We all have it. Sometimes we keep going back to some of it. It’s awful, awful stuff!

I believe that if the Christian does that too many times or too often recklessly then there are consequences. You might experience a form of punishment from God (like I have myself), like a tap on the behind because of being too much like the “ungodly.” Or if you do it too much when you kept following the Lord with all your heart, you might then lose the holy spirit.

The Holy Spirit which kept guiding you and helping you week after week and in your heart you kept being an adulterer or a person who could not stop thinking of and “tasting” things that were not good…

Sigh. That’s sad.

That’s why God wants us to live for Him fully and totally. Repentance. Living for Christ and not our ways. And following Him as much as we can is so important.

Then we look less like the “ungodly” and more like Christ.

Two paths. What you were and what you are now in Christ. One path has seeming easy paths. Those paths are longer than we at first assume but they are endless if one goes alone.

The other is like stones in the ground. They might seem broken and far apart but there is only one path. That path at times seems easy. The burden is light. Work doesn’t seem so hard. That is the broken road.

That is so much more worth living for.

Nightly Devotions- 5/18/21

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This was at 1 A. M.

Like it says in God’s Word in Psalms 119: 11:

“…I will hide Your word in my heart that i might not sin against You.”

Oh how man’s sin is! To conform or to make things as a believer that Christ is not is sad.

Page 105 of A. W. Tozer’s book The Pursuit of God says, “we insist upon trying to modify Him…bring Him… to our image.”

It says in God’s Word “His Word is true.” We must never make the Christian life what He isn’t and try all in honoring Him with all our heart. Let’s ask for a discerning heart to fully know Christ!

Devotions- 5/17/21

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“Blessed is the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful; But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper.” Psalms 1:1-3

Has anyone ever been with people who are only out to do harm? I sort of did when I was a kid. At the very least I was with people who mocked others, caused a ruckus, and even got in trouble at school by the authority. The teachers, maybe even the principal!

It is a terrible thing to follow people who want to go out with evil intentions. Plus the bible also says not to conform to this world… do not be like the world and at least a little more like Christ.

That is one reason it is good to at least try to devote time for church. There you (usually but not always) will find people who might be the best at trying to guide you towards the right path.

There are all kinds of things there that are “good” as well. There is bible study by hopefully great teachers who will guide you after deeply studying the word themelves.

We should also learn self-discipline. There are so many terrible vices out there, just evil things that are really just Satan’s pull to lure you in and keep you away from the goodness of God. We must remember that even if we think it might be no big deal, it is not! (Out with the old, in with the new, hehe)

But as we grow and mature more into Christ every day we learn to set aside our time to live for Him and obey His word. I can think of a former church member who has told me such deep lessons.

She said to have key verses. Memorize them when you can. As you grow those verses become not just things to have in the mind but will be become a part of you then, will be like a part of who you are!

That is why we should be part of or attend a “counsel” of the opposite of the ungodly.

In God’s eyes, He probably wonders why though we might self-abate and put ourselves down because of sin. Well if He does see us and we know Christ or have experienced His love He sees someone complete, perfect (somehow… I still can’t get over this, haha! God who am I that You should love me?).

When we follow Christ with all our hearts we realize we have a foundation like a strong root firmly in the ground that was different than what was there when we began our walk in life. Mine was like sand. There was no footing no way to get anywhere until I one day followed Jesus. But to live in something greater than our personal expectations is so worth following.

Have goals for Him daily. Work for Him. Live in Him. All He wants us to live by the Holy Spirit and have a relationship with Him through His son. And He will prosper us spiritually in ways we might not even imagine….

Reader’s Note: I am excited about this new sub-category. I hope you enjoy the many things that appear here. And have a great day.

Blog Entry- Dwelling 5/13/21

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I am still not a fan of this newer version of WordPress, haha. Maybe I have to adjust. But come on, why can’t some things be the same?

Heading out to work it seemed like time was still yet choatic. I was trying to focus on doing what was needed. Doing what the Lord knows honors Him, not because anything I do of my own effort was great but because God is great! I should take every moment of my life and devote it and set it aside for Him and His glory.

I then knew I had to get to my devotions. I was only focusing on a memory verse from Psalms but instead I because I wanted to do that book for morning devos (hehe) I thought “God lead me to a verse.” It seemed as life in Him sought fit I saw Psalm 91 to read.

It spoke again and again of the dwelling of the “secret place” of the Most High.

Here’s a part I just noticed looking over it now:

“He who dwells… Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Part of 1st part then whole 2nd part of Psalms 91:1 NKJV

Is there a way here on earth we can see the Almighty as a place of refuge? A place to just rest and meditate on His promises…?

As I stepped outside I was waiting for the bus. It seemed like it wasn’t coming. Growing quickly impatient I started walking back and forth people honked at me like I was being a maniac I guess, haha!

After a while it seemed like the bus wasn’t ready to come yet. I thought I was in my sinful heart patient “enough.” So I prayed the bus would come soon. Then at the right “time.”

Oh man, did He answer that prayer. And in a way I could never expect!

The sky was peppered with clouds giving the sky a beautiful hue. Also the sun was not overbearing but beaming down its spring rays. If it kept up like this I was probably going to lightly burn if the sun kept doing its duty, haha….

I wasn’t used to the sun being this strong. Especially in the springtime because it was my favorite time of the year (fav season! Not too hot like the summer and not too cold like the winter).

But then I shifted my focus from myself to someone else. A person from my church with whom I know his struggles. The poor man seemed stuck in them; like if other people are growing he would ask them repeatedly for little “rays” of sunshine to help make his day! Didn’t he realize he had his own ray too…?

Just because he struggled in alcoholism doesn’t mean he was far way from the hopes and love of Jesus!

So I imagined singing him a song.

In His presence/ There is Comfort/ In His pre-sence/ There is peace/

I didn’t remember the rest of the song (haha!) but I at least hoped in prayer the Lord would touch His heart in the only way I knew how. By His Holy Spirit.

Then I realized that He does that with me too…

…and like a gentle shadow of a shelter dwelling there was a “shade” that covered the beaming sun…

then the bus came. Amen!

Father with a moved heart, I am amazed by Your love and mercy. I hope that so many will know that Your love to know through Christ doesn’t just “convert” people but it does amazing things that only people who have their eyes opened for God understand!

Oh Lord, Father in heaven, Your will be done to your people and also may they be impacted greatly by how amazing You are to the point that they will serve You out of gratitude and not out of grumbling, that they remember that God’s love is for everyone but can impact ones that they witness and minister to…. that God loves us so much that no one…. NO one… should perish.

By the loving blood of Christ who shed His blood for all sin, Amen.

Thank you for reading this. And I hope at the very least this moved you in a way only God can do…. 😀

Just Be Love- 4/27/21

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Three people died in my life over a period of about two years; I had another mental breakdown. I have had too many to count by now… sigh

Sometimes I’ve thought I’d known it all. I think I’ve gotten it all together yet God proves me wrong.

So many times I’ve thought I’ve unlocked the mysteries of God but then hardships happen that are beyond hard-to-take…

But we aren’t supposed to have all the answers. God is mysterious. There are things so mysterious about Him people try to comprehend them and don’t succeed. A pastor well-known on tv and has many books believes whole-heartedly in God yet doesn’t believe in the trinity. Another …. wait, I should say, and a so-called “pastor” I personally call an “over-comforter” only focuses on the good stuff in Christian life to the point I’ve found his way about things excruciatingly simple. Yet these people are human, people that are focused to do all they can for the glory of God. Maybe they are good at guiding anyone who loves Him or wants to improve themselves.

But hear this: God has mysteries we aren’t supposed to comprehend! I believe that is because He doesn’t want us to depend on ourselves or any worldly logic or even many “intellectual” discussions going from assumptions (science calls “theories” which according to a worldly intellect that has the highest I. Q., means something based on fact) etc. Scientific analysis that is proven to be a true about whether or not there is evidence in it, is still “but we believe THIS instead cuz this we believe is factual.”

God has many mysteries. Some people dubbed crazy religious nuts are the ones that are claimed incorrect and wrong. They might even be claimed “biased” or “incorrect based on data.” It’s not “fair.” Either thoughts, God is still the truth! Whether you think the world was founded by God or a huge round of trillion to one, hugely unfathomable circumstances.

God wants us to live for Him, and that’s that! God wants us not to have all the answers because we’re supposed to not have “everything to know” about the world and it’s many grand mysteries.

There is even a song I love. It’s an old hymn. It goes “if every stalk on earth a quill,” and a paper stretched out across the sky. Then in the tune you can picture ocean filled with ink, and if He wanted, could write about the love of God for anyone, for any people groups, for people just hurting for people suffering for people just wanting a friend, for people who just happen to label themselves “straight” or “gay” for people who struggle constantly fighting their drug habits, for people weary and sick of life giving their bodies away for people just sad they can’t do anything in life, for people who just want an ear to listen, for someone who listens to the news and is scared to death about Black Lives Matter and Antifa (Antifa though is worse. The founding of BLM has flaws but at least at the core of the people who are frustrated by it there is a people who are hurting, people sick of the horrible atrocities that happened during slavery, people sick of the injustices that they face in the world, awful prejudices and hate, being insecure to go out because they don’t want to be treated differently. That is understandable. But Antifa is just whiny bull-poop, haha!). God wants to show love to everyone, regardless of skin, creed, religion, even any form of struggle- to “drain the ocean dry.”

The love of God is vast and amazing. We’ve got to love not hate. We need to be for each other not be alone, we need to just love each other!

Lift up another in prayer. Show mercy and not judgement or seeing condemnation. We should not assume and think to judge, to condemn, before knowing each other but keep finding just how wonderful God, His people, His word, His majesty, His excellence, His patience, all things that are God’s that from whence He is, was, will work through and guide us, and many we just show love to one another.

Be a good example and love not hate. Be good to one another, not drive a stake in the middle of things, not shake things up when things are going well or to stir the pot and play things a certain agenda. Just be love!

Just please let’s all avoid the dern politics too, hehe! I myself became convicted of that. I’m a little ashamed more than I am about talking of things that really matter. I am a little ashamed to be a republican. Fanatics in the party sometimes drive a wedge between ones and not know someone by shouting at them before they truly know the issues. I am however not ashamed to be a Christian.

Just be love. Be love to and for each other. That’s all that God wants from us. And be love now because the world is ticking.

Something new to share!-6/28/16

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This is totally unexpected for me which makes it kind of exciting. I put the title as this because I looked back and saw I didn’t call the last time I called this a devotion but did tag it as “holy word” so hopefully it will be linked to this in the suggestions below the article after one clicks it.

My church had one class that just ended and before it did we went over Acts 17 (we went from verse 16 to 27). I might not get to that part here because something came up while getting to read the earlier part. I have not read much of the bible so getting into it for the first time for myself was nice. I hope to go over these parts again and again during my personal devotions in the future as they will be as exciting as these times right now!

When you read the bible you always find something new. As you grow more you will find something else that you hadn’t noticed; it is evident you are growing more in the Lord as God also blesses you when you read His word.

So to get on, I just wanted to read the earlier part of this chapter in case I was unfamiliar with it. Then this devotion came about. SO here we go…!

 

 

Paul went through Amphipolis and Apollonia and ended up at a synagogue in Thessalonica. Then as his custom he spoke to them about the scriptures for three Sabbaths. (verse 3 para.) explaining, Christ had to suffer, die and rose from the dead: “This Jesus whom I speak to you is the Christ.” (verse 4 para.) Some responded and then a huge group of devout Greeks and more than few of the leading women, joined Paul and Silas.

But the Jews who had not responded in a positive way, had taken people from the marketplace, set all the city in an uproar and attacked the house of Jason. They sought to bring the people out from there. But they could not find them so they dragged Jason and some of the brethren to the rulers of the city. They were mad that they had harbored the people who were against what they believed, they spoke of a king named Jesus and that was not their king Caesar. And they troubled the crowd and the rulers of the city when they heard these things spoken. (verse 9) So when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go.

(finally, verse 10-15 para.) The brethren sent Paul and Silas by night to Berea. There they went to the synagogue at that location and the response there was blessed. They responded greatly, many examining the scriptures to see if what was said about those things were true. They reacted better than the ones who were at Thessalonica. Yet the people from Thessalonica heard this was happening in Berea, so they then went there and stirred up the crowds. So the brethren sent Paul to the sea while Timothy and Silas remained there in the land. So Paul was then conducted by a group to go to Athens. Then after a command Timothy and Silas would soon be headed there also.

 

It’s so sad when people get so stubborn or bent on “attacking” others over belief. Here in America it seems to happen all the time. People pull bibles out of school, take the Ten Commandments out of any governmental building, are outraged when God is mentioned just inside their comfort zones.

To many people it seems belief in God “stirs up” the feelings of people in response of sin. This is unresolved sin. We all have been enemies of God, easily grown by our own way separate from Him.

When all people want to argue on what they feel is the truth people get passionate but they can get the wrong kind of passion. This here seems to be a response by Satan. Every time truth was extolled, there were these people ready to pour in, stir up people to get them angry, and they were making trouble in the land; in this case did so in two places, at first in Thessalonica, then they travelled to continue this kind of anarchy into Berea.

God always helps the ones who want to serve and live for Him. While we see things here that might be discouraging to Paul, Silas, and the others serving for Christ we also see that they get refuge and are protected within all of it as well. It’s such a wonderful image.

If you want to serve Him, delve into a ministry. Surely you won’t like the barrage of the devil’s attacks but greater the wisdom in you as you trust in Christ, by His blood and be guided by His way. There is an amazing journey if you want to live by serving and also seeking for the kingdom of God, let His light shine in your heart and you will see.

Trust in love and He will guide you Amen.

 

 

Tight and Secure- 5/11/16

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It is nearly late, almost 5/12 so this might be inaccurate in a moment. Lately I have been going through tough stuff due to my disability. I was having tough things go on like  flashbacks and I nearly let fear and anxiety almost overwhelm me. I am getting better praise God and as long I look to Him in all ways, I can no longer feel discouraged. Praise God for Him and all the things He has taught me and so many others. Thank you Jesus.

Isn’t it tough to trust in God?

Let me rephrase that: isn’t it tough to trust in God because of our sin nature?

Sometimes doubt, being unhappy about our current state, depression, and loneliness get to us…. but none of those things are ideas the Lord gives us.

We can get wrapped in our own world, forgetting about the things that He has told us through His Word and from His people: that He’s always there, He knows the future, and He can meet us where we struggle. And we can trust in Him.

We can do that by holding fast as it says in the book of Philippians.

We are ensured the ability to be blessed by whatever we do for Him. God can do amazing things right now if you want to live for Jesus.

If one wants to live for Jesus what does one do? Well first of all, we have to remember that Christ died for our sin, that we cannot do anything in our power to be in Heaven because it was God that paid for it, not us.

It is God who shows us the way and we just simply need to accept His son into our hearts and we can believe and trust in Him. If we believe then we can be in Heaven because of God’s gift to us.

It was His great love that sent Him to the cross for our punishment. Jesus then rose again and is one day coming back.

There is hope and that is found in Jesus.

Amen?

So the words “hold fast”… I had wondered what that meant.

In the book of Philippians Paul addresses a church that has been disagreeing on certain things. He was wrote letters to the church of “Philippi” to tell them to be of one mind, a body of believers because they make up the body of Christ.

This group of people is united because of God’s love and Christ’s intercession for their sin. The church was fighting over differences in beliefs but what does God say? His word is true. We should know that always because sometimes our hearts even want to change what God says is true.

This kind of thing has been happening everywhere and even in the church today. It’s unfortunate but that is why defending what God says is important when talking to others about Him.

We live in a day and age that is vastly drifting from God and His love. Why are people doing this? Because their hearts are turning from Him.

We must not feel afraid if we want to share God’s Word with others but we must also do it with the right heart. We must stay grounded on God’s Word which is true, not take in the world’s values just to increase member numbers and just simply show the love of Jesus to each other.

Church love is great, I gotta tell ya. When I first came to a new church I wondered why people were so loving toward one another. I was eight and around then just accepted Christ. But as I grew more spiritually and saw that the lifeblood of the church was the “people” and not the “building” I couldn’t get enough of learning about Jesus. I have experienced times of great frustration, things that were going on in my life, and realized I could just give it up to God. I would go through so much some days but I would learn to be more like Christ every day.

A lot of this was because of a wonderful church of people holding onto the Word of truth and living in Christ.

We as a church must hold fast the word of life… but what does that mean?

“Hold fast” means to remain tightly secured.

I thought about a board and a drill fastens a screw into it. The board which is sturdy strong, built well (thank you God, hehe), and keeps that screw held on well.

That strong piece of wood ain’t going to let that screw go anywhere, as long as it doesn’t get removed by the drill for whatever reason. It is fastened there: firm, strong, and can’t be undone.

But sometimes we think “But what if God can’t impact my life?” or “What if these things happening right now are going on because there is no God?”

I say quench that thought from your mind and realize that He is in your heart today!

Sometimes Satan gets us into a corner. But sometimes it is us that makes us doubt and our hearts stray. Sometimes we do this by depending on what we feel (“I’m depressed… can I ever love?) and we crowd our minds with nonsense.

Circumstances also have us feel we should disregard God’s truths. But don’t be discouraged, you have a wonderful God by your side, and Jesus who can help you see a future in Him. Just trust obey, live it out and seek His truth.

Also share the Word with others, and don’t let discouraging words or verbal abuse get you down. Did you know you are blessed when that happens? Because you are like a screw fixed in a firm piece of wood, holding on to His truth.

Once you have Jesus in your life you are secure in Him and nothing you do can separate you from Him. God gave us Jesus to open the door to a relationship to Him.

His Word helps us and talking to Him can do wonderful things you might not see at the moment but, baby, if you’ve done it in the right heart God answers prayer you may not right now believe!

Remain tightly secure in what God says, what you want to do for Him and He can secure you a future. Amen.

 

 

Deep Impact-11/2/2014

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Going to a class these past few weeks that have been encouraging while at the same time restricted. Can cause a huge impact on the worlds around us. I wish that we had at least 40 minutes to spare to have full effect. It is worth it though many people don’t seem to find it important or are intimidated at its subject. Hope they take the “risk” and try it out with the rest of us, our small number of people.

Happy November! I know I am a little late in wishing everyone well but I hope that people will not mind that much. It is probably one of my favorite celebrations coming up. Thanksgiving. I hope everybody here does not try to make this “holiday” alone but will stay with friends or family just for personal fellowship or for pure fun.

Okay off topic. Now I will try to hone in what I want to talk about.

If you lived during the 90’s as a young teen or younger like I did you might remember the movie. I am not sure which film ripped off of which other film, all I know is one movie aped another’s premise. Those films were Armageddon, a movie about a giant piece of rock headed toward Earth’s atmosphere possibly ready to take out any or all life on it.

And a second film released the same year called “Deep Impact.”

While slow-going in a way throughout the entire pace of the story Deep Impact is a pretty good epic, disaster movie. It is more but mainly about a huge piece of space debris slowly heading to earth and the people including the president of the United States fight with fervor to do ways to do away with this “evil” all-destroying rock.

The other part involves families trying to reconnect or reconcile past dysfunctions and some getting together or trying to as this doomsday scenario hangs above their heads.

Isn’t it great comfort (I know you do if you believe) to know this is not the way the world will end? To merely get along with others because everything is ready to be wiped out and work things out human perspective-wise before we all “bite the dust”?

It must be, person reading, that you have to know of real comfort. There are conflicts with family, there are spiritual battles, there are even deaths due to life’s circumstances happening every day. But do you also know there is Jesus who makes all the at times terrible things we go through worth it?

Christ can make the worst things that happen in and to our families worth living for. I can tell you I have not grown up in what observers would call a “Christian” household. At least as of my late understanding it was not what people would describe as high in morals or pure and always ready for church.

I grew up until the age of 8 years old not knowing Christ. Anytime my father tried his hardest to bring us to church in general there was a fit or certain family members deliberately lagging behind. That battle still goes on today. I hope to continue this habit but I can think of times my youngest brother watched me avoid church. And though that was partly his will to not go, I think I am to blame at least partially for why he does not go to this day.

I think it is possible if we give Him the chance through us to make great things. How? Not by our own power, no pride, or even sometimes not by the things we want. We must be small to make God great in our lives. We must realize that we don’t have God by our side because we don’t let Him in our daily growth. Just like milk is good for us, we must read His word and find out what He wants for our lives. We must “drink” it because it is good spiritually for our hearts and minds.

If you don’t know what Christ wants for your life ask yourself this first. Have you accepted Jesus personally into your heart? Did you ever reach the point in your life that you realized you could do nothing and could not live without Jesus? Did you pray so that this relationship could begin?

If you answered possibly all of these you must know that you might have sin in your life that is keeping you from reaching your goals for God. Or maybe He has another thing planned for you that you don’t know yet. Maybe a door has closed and a window of opportunity has been opened in effect.

And we must remember that Jesus Christ gave His life for all of us. We did not deserve what He did. The sin of the world had to be laid upon Him or else we would not find salvation through Christ’s sacrifice. Like a spotless lamb, he was crucified and after three days He rose again, showing God’s authority over death. He wants us to have life by the action of His Son Jesus because without Him we can’t live.

Well you might not agree with that but I know I can’t live without my Jesus. I don’t even think I’d be alive to this day if God altogether hadn’t existed.

And that’s what helps make the existence of God great. We can know Him, trust in Him, and because of that we can honor and show our love to Him just because He first loved us. Knowing God is in no way a “religious” thing (ew, you might hate that word…). It is a relationship, it is personal, it is individual, and while this world is going gray and heading slowly into darkness know that Jesus still loves you and you can either surrender to His love today or re-commit your love to Him for His glory.

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Because who knows what kind of deep impact you will have on other individuals if you just take up your cross and follow Him.

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Weakness in God’s Strength-10/11/14

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I felt blessed today going to a Bible Study and a man from a far off land came to tell the Gospel. Praise God in all He is doing… I wanted to post something like THIS for a while but now I really am going to since he shared it as part of the message.

I have always felt I am not a very strong man. Not used to labor I kept assuming that I don’t have much strength. That is not the kind that I am talking about though.

Close to what I mean I realize that without God in our lives we can do nothing.

If you are really “Broken” before God you know that you cannot live without Him. We are weak without His help, His guidance, His conversation with us through the Bible.

With all of my heart and with God’s help I hope I can deeply encourage you today. The Holy Spirit has laid some things on my heart and I want to share this with you.

Where do I start? I know; I could focus on the verse one of my favorites from the bible and see if this helps draw you toward a wonderful path.

“Ephesians 4:29 ‘Let no unwholesome talk come from your mouths but only what is helpful in building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.”

Do you want to live for God? Do you want to be in Him in all that you do? Are you there yet to that realization that people need the Lord in their lives just as much as you need Him?

If so, that is wonderful! People need Him so much and sometimes all people will need is just a person who will help them or show a good example to ones when there are others who are not like that.

Do you know what your calling is? A pastor, just a preacher, do you just want to share the gospel with others? Do you write, draw, or want to do crafts or et cetera for the Lord? If so listen up.

First off if you are into serving I hope you see or get the idea of the film “The Second Chance.” (I hope to review this sometime soon). Know that all it takes is real heart for God and He can use you in all things and for whatever your calling could or is going to be.

Just a quick suggestion (and hopefully more than a plug for a future article, haha).

But if you want to be a doer of the word know that humility must come with it. Being humble is like a king who bows to a higher one, a husband saying to his wife “I don’t know why you ended up loving someone undeserving like me,” a wife who tells loved ones in public her married one is her “better half.” And they all sincerely mean it!

We also must realize that we can nothing apart from God. But the best part of this is that in Christ you can do anything!

The Lord will guide you and the father watches over you as you do His will and who knows what can happen? All of this is wonderful and amazing and worth it.

What I can hone in on is that we are weak if we think we can do it on our own strength. There were times I said “God keeps me strong” but there was more pride to that statement that I was so-called quote unquote “fine.”

Could I share the Gospel effectively with that? Not really.

I praise God for doing so much for me that I didn’t deserve, my heart wasn’t always into going to church. My dad was consistent with making sure I definitely went to church whether I wanted to cry, didn’t want people to know how I was feeling, didn’t realize that through anything God still loved me… once, even went while covered in bugs and felt like they were eating me alive! (Seriously, they went into places they shouldn’t have!!).

Slight kidding aside my dad showed God’s patience by knowing that I needed to hear His word when I wasn’t listening to His ways, didn’t think God had enough mercy to care about me, and realized best of all, Jesus’ heart through it all. My father still loved me.

And whether you believe it or are struggling in heavy guilt and just don’t feel like even going to a bible study instead of a church because of that believe me… He still does.

The father has always loved you. When you didn’t even know what love was, He first loved you.

With His redeeming power He can transform you too. He can do amazing things if you trust in Him and by His will lead you on a way that is not meant to harm you but help you.

But sometimes Satan leads you into thinking you won’t be able to do enough or that God doesn’t really love anyone that much. Or maybe you think that one day… just one day… you will be used by God. Guess what, shed that last belief because He has strength for you today. He may not love the sin you sometimes do but He cares for you and knows the way for your journey to go.

God does. In His strength there is no power from evil, nothing from anywhere that will separate you from the love of Christ. Amen?

Listen to this story of the power of Christ’s transforming power:

This was a man that believed he was doing God’s will by killing people who believed in Christ. He went to prisons that were kept in harsh ways, rats, all kind of lack in upkeep. Then as he went down the road to Damascus when he encountered a light that shone around him.

 

A voice then said “Why are you persecuting me?”

In his state he this man Saul probably had nothing to say but he had fallen to the ground after hearing this.

 

Saul said, “Who are You, Lord?” The one he called Lord in that moment said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.”

 

He was trembling and astonished. “Lord, what do you want me to do?” Then the Lord said to Him “Arise and go into the city and you will be told what you must do…”

 

The men who journeyed with him heard a voice but saw no one. Saul arose from the ground and when he opened his eyes and saw no one. But they led him by the hand into Damascus.

 

Three days he had no physical sight, and did not eat or drink.

 

Ananais was then called by the Lord in a vision to see a person, one called “Saul of Tarsus” for behold he is praying.

 

And in a vision sees a man, you, coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he will receive his sight.

 

Ananais seemed troubled about Saul because of the deaths he caused in Jerusalem and there in Damascus had authority from chief priests to tie up ones who call on Him.

 

But the Lord wanted Him to go because he was a chosen vessel of the Lord’s to bear His name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel.

 

So after all of that Ananais did a wonderful thing by following the Lord’s orders. When that happened ‘scales’ fell from Saul’s eyes and he could see again! He arose and was baptized.

Do you know what he changed as? He became a fully devoted believer in the Lord. More than that because of his weakness as being known as ‘that Sanhedrin’ who was leading people to murder, he was changed. The people who belonged to God and followed Him faithfully kept him protected because he was a light for the Lord though there were many Jewish people who as a twist, wanted him dead!

But the Lord through His people did not let that happen… and much later he was known as “Paul,” a disciple long after Christ’s death and resurrection but as real to him as you or me of Christ today!

Isn’t it amazing that Jesus wanted Him to live even though he didn’t deserve God’s mercy? That is just like us (or me anyway…). We do not deserve His mercy though we may go to church, have fellowship with people who are devoted to God… the Lord loves us though he has to show us new mercies every day. We must ask God for forgiveness from things going on from our old life, or that we might think we can do things in our own power, well guess what? We can’t!

We just can’t do it.

Maybe you already show His strength in your weakness or you see other examples and you want to be like that. Do you know of a blind man who has passionately memorized scripture? Do you have a heart for God but because you can “do it” on your own you don’t know where to start? Do you think that you don’t know what God’s love is?

Well you can once you just ask Him. Maybe He can reveal wisdom if you want to love Him but we must “die” first, let the old man pass by, maybe tell others of His great love about things you have struggled with in the past… something for God!

Just do something. The supposedly little thing you can do in His will can become great for His Kingdom. You just might have to realize you are “weak” first and by that moment He will shine the way.

 

 

 

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Hello. I hope to talk to you more about something great that I hope is happening or hopefully will happen in your life. God’s grace, love and mercy. May His glory shine all over!

Just wanted to share part of a devotion with you. This is from a book by apostle Paul. He was writing to a group of believers that were called Ephesians. That was people from Ephesus.

In Chapter 4 it says:

I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called.

The word beseech means “ask urgently” which is telling the reader that what he is saying is of great importance! I will continue:

With all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing one another in love, …

He was speaking to a group of people that make up a church. As a church or a people who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ we must share each others’ burdens and in effect lift each other up in the Lord. Though there is pause it continues starting with verse three:

endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

As our nature we always seem to not get along or maybe have differing beliefs. But if we believe in the same wonderful, holy God, set apart from us but loves and wants to be with us and part of us why should we? God loves us and we should not let Satan separate us not from fellowship, from sharing His Word to each other, from your immediate family, from doing what God has made you for (I am getting a little ahead from the lesson. Sorry. :))

There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling’s one Lord, one faith, one baptism;

If you have become a believer in the wonderful Jesus Christ then you are baptized in the Holy spirit just like your brethren, your brothers and your sister. Amen? (I can’t hear you from your heart so I will say “Amen.” Thank you brother/sister). Here is now verse  six:

one God and Father of all who is above all, and through all, and in you all,

What encouragement to the “church” of Ephesus! And it relates to us as well. He is above all in authority we should look to Him, obey Him (that word always brought me back and refreshed me during times I wasn’t), devote time to Him, and want to know Him more (our choosing though). He is “through” us all so if you know Him He can live and do amazing things through you! He is in you all.

But to each of us grace was given (forgiveness and what we did and do not deserve) according to the measure of Christ’s gift.

Grace. Grace. God’s grace! Such wonderful grace that we did not deserve when Jesus died on the cross, the ultimate sacrifice to end all sacrifices that only before served people to believe in Him. God is amazing. His mercies are new every morning. Has he done amazing things for you? Did you deserve His grace? Well let others know that He loves them so much because His love is amazing, He loved us before we got to realize we needed to love Him and by the grace of Jesus we can all know the wonders of the life of Christ. The beauty of His love and the ways of showing His love to others are endless. We don’t know who will find out wants the Lord or is prepared by God by the Holy Spirit but we know we must share it. Tell it from the rooftops the heights, depths, and amazing grace of His love!

I will skip to part of 8. It says “He says:”

When He ascended on high He led captivity captive, And gave gifts to men.

Verse 11 &12:

And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers,

for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry for the edifying of the body of Christ.

Verse 13:

till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ:

The next verse says the church should no longer be tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting.

Wow the church really had some spiritual attacks, didn’t it during the biblical times? They must have had false prophets and other people just trying to deceive others. We still have them now. We must keep Christ in our lives, choose to be bound to His ways, live by His strength (even if we fall spiritually His amazing mercy keeps us going! Another reason we should tell of His love! People can learn His wonders of mercy and the reality of because of His blood He can free us all from the debt of sin, spiritual death!) we must love always, remember His joy and that it gives us strength.

Though we have false teachers, schools that want God explicitly taken out of schools (not just in America but now in other countries that never even had the issue arise before), lovers of adultery, fornication, false doctrine, people that want to mislead others from the truth, there is the love of God! We need to tell the world people because now there is heavy attacks from another side that is causing people to be murdered as well. Must we shine God’s light? If we didn’t before, is it now too late? It is not too late. God will bless us no matter and as long as we don’t stray from His word when we share His ministry which is SO important to others we can lead ones to Christ and tell others about the wonderful faith of Jesus.

The truth of Jesus is important. His word is complete! Must we be built up in His word and use knowledge and wisdom, apply what we know to what we do, be not just listeners of His word but doers too?

Must we be called to be like apostles, evangelists, and some be built up to be pastors and teachers for Him not because we want to make it up to God because we are guilty or that we are working our way to heaven, but that the truth is simply He first loved us? That we will do things for Him out of our gratefulness in all and all He has done and will do?

God, I pray so. Be to your wondrous glory in all we do. God, praise you and everything that you will do this day, this week, and onward, Amen.

(Bible citations all taken from NKJV)