To think of God’s faithfulness is amazing. To think He is perfect, He is apart from evil, and He brings people into His world in heaven from His son Jesus Christ is amazing. He could have not given us the chance at eternal life to live for Him and to spend with Him in heaven which we would have deserved because of our sin but He still wanted us with Him.
He is faithful to His word in letting an ultimate “lamb of God” come to earth one without blemish to die for our sin which we could have died and been a part of God’s wrath. He then put that wrath on His Son, His only Son, to die and go in our place!
I can’t fathom what God the Father would dwell on when He looked at His son and saw the world’s sin and turned away. He was seen as sin to God because every sin was laid on Him.
He bled and then died taking our punishment and rose again, bodily and is one day coming again!
To think He has done so much in people’s lives in the bible and in our lives as well, how great is God’s faithfulness!
I keep falling short of Him. I must realize though also because I keep depending on my strength that even if I am faithful it is God’s glory I should depend on because I still can’t make things “right” with Him. I still have sin no matter what I do but I can sin less because there are things I can avoid as I know what is right and wrong.
I must remember what He has taught me up to this point in my life and to resist the devil’s plans which is to avoid living for God.
But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.II Thessalonians 3:3
I should use my body as a living sacrifice to God.
To have my body to be to serve Him totally and fully. And treat it like it is an instrument of “righteousness” to God like when Paul encouraged the people He wrote to which we find in Romans 6:13.
I miss the intimacy that I used to have with relationship to God and I want to return to that because it is what He desires of all of us, to be close to Him.
God may we all see how awesome it is to live for You. Thank You Lord for Your faithfulness and may we be established in Your will and keep guard so You can keep us from the evil one Satan. Amen.
Why is it so easy to take our eyes off of God? Either through sin or by sin in the forms of being afraid of things in life. We have some daily challenges but there is no reason to not trust in God because He wants to there for us!
We must not be afraid or have emotions that guard us from really trusting.
I just thought about Peter crossing the ocean during a terrible storm. He sees while he is on a boat out that Jesus is out walking on the water and after he walks on the water himself(!) he looks over at the waves and the horrors happening from the storm and falls into the ocean.
Jesus then has to rescue him.
Should we have to fear because of what we curently see in life?
Here is an extreme example.
In Mark 5 in the NKJV (New King James version) of the bible a man who runs a synagogue comes running up to Jesus knowing He has done miraculous things.
With a daughter who is dying he with desperation tells her to please lay healing hands on her. After Jesus is sidetracked by a different situation (a separate miracle) a man who lives with Jairus the one of the synagogue who lived with him informs him that his daughter has now died and he shouldn’t bother the “Teacher” any further.
Then this verse is as such:
As soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken, He said to the ruler of the synagogue, “Do not be afraid; only believe.”Mark 5:36
What troubling news when you go to a man who people say can heal others and the person you are worried about is passed away already.
But Jesus goes to the man’s house with a few of His disciples and then brings the daughter back to life!
That is a wonderful miracle tanks to God and Jesus who glorified His father.
We must never take our eyes off of God just because of things happening in our lives.
One other verse is more minor than the former part of the bible.
There Jesus tells the multitudes many things to follow His father. He spoke of the beatitudes and also things that they can struggle with and tells them about daily issues.
We must not be so bothered about tomorrow that we worry. I have worried about big stuff before but I also knew the truth so I shouldn’t have been so deeply afraid and emotional about it.
But here Jesus talked about being concerned of what to wear or food to take the next day.
Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.Matthew 6:34
As I said this one is not as big as the earlier story but it is important to our daily life.
It okay to be concerned about these things but not to be so bothered by it. If we worry to a point we take our eyes off of Jesus and lose trust.
And how can we then seek His way if we are so “afraid” about these little things?
We must live for Him and trust in Him fully. Hopefully people will see our example and will be led to follow Jesus as well.
God, glorify us and may we conform to Your will not our own or fleshly ways. May we learn not to worry or to be afraid and may we keep our eyes on Your ways and realize how much You are in control. Amen.
Got up kind of late today. I need to hammer in a time to go to bed and wake up.
Hello. I hope you are doing well.
How easy is it do you think to depend on your own strength versus God’s? I think it is too easy.
Especially when you have been young and think you’ve “got it” and can pretty much do anything, have you realized now how wrong you were?
And how easy is it to wait on things in your life if you hope in God’s timing?
Waiting on Him is seeking Him on what can happen in your life. Waiting on answers for your life on things hoped for.
Listen to this verse from Isaiah:
But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.Isaiah 40:31
This is a very well-known inspirational verse.
To be renewed in strength, the strength only He can give us through knowing Christ.
But I wondered what exactly could it all mean. So I looked up some context and this is what I found.
For most of the rest of the verse it said about mounting up with wings as eagles “This is the measure of strength the LORD gives us – strength to soar above everything else.”
We can “soar” over our situations knowing He is in control and to live depending on Him which is His strength.
They shall run and not be weary,They shall walk and not faint. “This is the purpose of the strength the LORD gives us – strength to move forward and progress for Him. It isn’t strength to show off, but strength to go forward in.”
To live for Him is to be shown His strength by Him. We must day to day see ourselves developing in His love and mercy through Christ so that we not fall again and again into peril for our hearts.
Following God is the one option that leads only to life everlasting and that can only be helped by other fervent followers of Christ.
God, may we find our strength in You alone so that we will see You in our lives impacting us daily. Amen.
“Seek His face always.” Hmm. Need to remember that again.
There’s always an excuse to not live a life more for Jesus. Something to fall back on, reasons to not read the Word of God, giving reasons not to witness.
Yet the entire time God is there waiting for us to want a relationship with Him.
A lot of people nowadays who call themselves Christians also don’t even read the bible! It’s like we are living in times where we are going to church and doing rituals yet not even thinking about Him in our spare time.
For many years I have done that. Yet God has so much to offer when we read His word. He wants to tell us so much and we don’t want to use our “ears” to listen to it.
There is more than we might think about what God offers. Thanks to Jesus we have a path open where we can speak intimately to God and He can do things in our lives we might not even realize.
One of those is to ask for wisdom.
It says in James we must do so:
But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.James 1:6
The context explaining before that verse “If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him.”
Wow so we must learn to ask God for wisdom to applied to our lives?
I’ve actually asked for wisdom and He answered my prayer.
That is only because God loves us so much and wants us to live in Him as much as we can. It’s like an adventure to live for Him! There is always something good that comes from it and a life worthwhile living.
This is all possible because of an intimate relationship is something that is worthwhile living for and He wants us to desire that above all other things.
It is worth it to live for Him and to be close to Him in so much of our daily life.
Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.James 4:8
Why does it seem we desire to sin and turn away while Christ wants to take us in in love?
We must desire the truth and have the God of love fully in our hearts.
Wow seeing the phrase “double-minded” hit home! Before I looked it up I felt I already understood what it could mean.
In valdosdailytimes.com it says it means “To be double-minded is to be inconsistent, vacillating, to be and act one way today and be and act some other way tomorrow.”
Living the life like people during Paul’s is not the way to go. Why can’t we fully immerse ourselves in the life of a follower of Jesus?
What is holding us back to really live in Him?
Sometimes I had trouble answering that because I was so steeped in self.
But to really “live” we must be mindful of not just the ones we pick and choose but all of His commandments. Amen!
I actually got sleep! Wow, who’d have thought it was possible?
Why is it so hard to fully trust God? Just a few months ago I got to experience a lot of amazing stuff that God had done for my life. And yet during times around then I would be filled with a lot of fear kind of like Peter taking his eyes off of Jesus while crossing the ocean.
We might go through a lot in our lives but one thing we must not forget is that there is no reason to not trust in God. He is good and is not out to harm you (“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’” declares the LORD, “’plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11).
My strength is so weak I need God and to be more like Christ every day. And to also trust Him to guide me and forget what is in my life currently is not what I should only “see” or expect.
Sigh, there seems to be so much chaos in my life. The one things driving me forward is that He knows my heart so I shouldn’t fear often as so much is Satan dividing and turning things (or trying to) his way. But the prince of lies is not the victor here. The one who conquers hearts and lifts ones up in help and saving is Jesus. He will be the victory!
Psalms 118 is such a wonderful chapter. It praises God constantly and speaks of how eternal His love is. It also is kind of what I just spoke about. Read below:
The LORD is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me? Psalms 118:6
Man can only take me out. God is there to deliver me. I should only trust in God who will help me through whatever craziness in is my life right now that the evil one is shaking up.
Maybe you are going through a lot right now. Did you know God can help you right where you are and change you? He is the one who guides my life and has saved me through the blood of Jesus Christ.
It might seem hard to but to trust in Christ is like a huge burden is gone from your life. You no longer feel like you have the weight of life on your shoulders, it is like a light burden has taken its place. I will leave you with one more bible verse:
Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.Proverbs 3:5
To trust in the Lord is not some mere “belief.” It is something that drives the very soul. It starts with a relationship, one where the God of love is waiting for you to accept the gift He has waiting for you.
To get that gift you need to know that we all have sin. You have sin and cannot go to heaven by your own effort.
The bible says the “Wages of sin is death” (from Romans 6:23) that means that one who lives by their own effort cannot enter heaven but to die a second death and go to hell.
But there is hope! That is that Jesus Christ died for all the sin of the world. He also took your sin and died in your place so that you might not go to hell. And He rose again giving us the hope that He is coming again one day.
All God wants is to have a relationship with you because He loves you so much. Will you learn to trust in Him?
Pray something like this:
God, I don’t know what is going on with my life right now. I don’t know what to do. I need you God. I know that I cannot have life one day with you in heaven because of my sin. But I have heard that You sent Your son Jesus to die in my place so that no person who knows You may die without You. I want that gift of eternal life and so I trust You in my life today. Thank You for hearing me. Amen.
I have one tidbit for you friend. Want to know the whole verse? While people use the first part of the verse the rest goes like this. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
If you prayed that prayer leave a comment because I want to pray for you in your life with Him. May you experience first hand the “Trust” that is worth it. Amen.
I read Psalm 51 before work yesterday. Had very little time to do any deep study or meditating on it before the bus showed up. Guess what we are going over now…?
What does it mean to be “pure?” Does it mean completely untainted by the world? Or is it that one is on a path that they wouldn’t normally be on because they are apart from a direction that is their own sin?
We can only be pure by the blood of Christ. It is His life where He gave it by dying on the cross for our sin that we can be set apart for the will of God.
He died for us, was buried, and rose again so that we can have a relationship with God that couldn’t happen before that time.
After Jesus’ physical life on earth we can know Him but also be restored during our walk with Him. Sometimes we get “dirty” from old habits and the world sticking on us like some gross grit. We feel we might not be worthy to be servants of God. But He loves us so much and wants us to want to stay with Him in relationship He will if we ask bring us back and be refreshed in the spirit.
I feel like daily I need His restoration. I know I’m not alone in that as even if we might not do habitual sin we unintentionally sin too. We need God even if we think we might be “good.” We are not as we need the strength of Christ from the heavenly father every day!
Prayer to be right with God is needed as also is being in tune to knowing God’s will. We must have pure intentions to live a godly life. It is important as we then know what we can do for Him also.
If you learned about King David from the bible you might think he had it all together. But he was a representative for a king who followed God and he fell into bad things, to put it lightly. He did some bad actions! I have already touched on those in a previous entry but will reiterate it here.
While he was supposed to be a man of God leading Israel he went out of his way to peer out on the roof of his house. There he spotted a beautiful woman and desired her. He coveted her so much he sent her husband out to the frontlines in war to ensure he would die so he could then marry her!
God punished him for being so wrong in those actions.
His family then faced a lot of consequences and David for years as if in grief watched as ones he loved saw terrible things because of what he did.
It seems Psalm 51 touches a little on his sin about sending a man out to die (“Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,…” Psalm 51:14). It is in part of that verse.
I don’t think God released Him from that but He was able to keep David in focusing fully on Him. Psalm 51 almost seems like a lamentation, a crying out to be healed.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.Psalm 51:10
It was inspired into being a very catchy hymn that many might know but at its core it is a reflection of God changing the heart of the sinner.
The song goes “Create in me a clean heart, O God/ And renew a right spirit within me.”
Even in our own perils we need God to rescue us and help us. We can be our own enemies. Not just that but actions do have consequences.
We need Christ daily to rescue us from the pits that we put ourselves in. And if we do well enough in keeping our old habits at bay it is as if we are dead to sin and alive in Christ as it says in the book of Romans 6:11.
What could keep that from being so is to hate that sin because it no longer rules us as it did when lived completely in sin. We must live in His way and see that living for God is a blessing and better than when we lived for ourselves.
With the attitude that Paul would beseech with the Ephesians, we must not have hearts that are stuck in what can dishonor God. He said in NIV (New International Version) that that those believers must not even “let” even a “hint of immorality” be a part of their lives. That was because they were deep in the fleshly desires that made them seem more like the world and less like believers who shine the light for Christ.
Do you have a “pure heart?” Do you want one? To live for Him means we must first know that we cannot live any way to get to heaven.
There is no way for man (man or woman) to get to heaven by their own means. That means that we all fall short because of sin. And that also means to fall short of sin means one will go to hell if they die.
But you must know there is a hope. That hope to live to one day to go to heaven is Jesus! Jesus Christ died in our place, He was the perfect “lamb of God” who died for our sin, was sacrificed for the world so that we could one day know Him and live in Heaven forever.
Do you want to know that life? I encourage you then to pray this prayer:
God, I heard that I can have a pure heart if I can know You. But I can’t have that relationship because of my sin. I can’t do that because there is no way of my own effort I can go to heaven. But I know Your Son gave His life, dying for my sin so that I can have that relationship with You. My sin died on that cross because Jesus paid the ultimate price for it. I want to live for You Jesus but to know You God every day so that I can seek Your will in what You want for me. Thank You for the privilege of getting to know You. Thank You for Your son Jesus Christ.
I pray You will be restored to find a church that can be true and You follow Christ and know what God wants for You.
And thank You Lord for knowing what is on my heart and for Jesus who makes hearts pure!
Saw the angel again Saturday. Someone challenged me recently saying what is the reason for it. I am thinking about that more now.
How important is it to seek what God wants in our lives versus selfish ambitions? I guess it’s like the kind of question that may be where you already know the answer.
It’s good to be passionate about living life but if one wants to live for God, what should be their goals, their desires, and what they should do about ministering to others if they want to seek God’s Will?
My church recently had a great thought about something along these lines. They said that a lot of churches now keep planning things because of how the environment has changed recently but seem to think less about praying. Praying is important! But even people at church sometimes will want to create “revival” yet don’t first seek what God wants in the church life. We need to be in prayer to be in tune to asking God, not building what we think is the course of action and figuring this is what we should do.
Also reading His word and thinking on those things is important too (meditating). In order to seek what God wants we must first look to what His word says (His speaking to us) and also talk to Him in prayer like an open communication.
We also must be careful about what is right or not in our lives.
The NIV (New International Version) says this from the book of Proverbs:
Above all else guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23
It is important to seek His Will because we might be wrong in our own. Also we need to be careful of doctrines and other things in this world that may warp our thinking in our path in following God.
It is also a good thing to be a speak of Jesus but to in our life have His will conformed to pretty much everything we do.
While we have a heart that struggles to focus on God let us see what we can do in His name in as much as we actually do.
This must be with our very being if we shine God’s light in life:
In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.Proverbs 3:6
We respect God if we revere Him in showing how much we are grateful in what He’s done for us.
A healthy life in prayer and sacrifice of time in our life may lead to supplication so that we can live a life God can honor.
If we go His way in as much as possible there is no wrong way as long as we are deep in His Will.
To ask as long as it is in His will and it will be given you (“If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.” -John 15:7).
Also we must remember what we are thankful of what He does day to say and think on His tremendous blessings.
If we reflect a servant’s heart to Jesus there is only blessing and hope in our lives and a journey we will never forget.
God has us in His Will totally and fully. We might not feel He is here at times or struggle in life to the point we feel we don’t know if we are “worthy” as believers but He is there. Always.
It is through His Son that He saved us and we trust in Him for our day to day lives.
We must not think only of the worries of our lives but remember that He is there with us and will help us through everything we are going through. He gives us strength and joy and peace.
He is also praiseworthy. Check out this verse:
My flesh and my heart fail; But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalms 73:26 NKJV
We might become so weak in our sin but He is there. We must depend on Him always but to follow Him is much more that that!
I looked up what the bible meant by the writer saying God is his “portion.” It is mentioned not just here but a few other times as well.
Here is what it said:
the writer means that God is the source of his happiness and blessing content with all that the Lord is and provides. partial source: http://www.gotquestions.org Answer to question: “What does it mean to say that God is my portion?”
So the writer’s portion means that God is all that the writer needs and is his joy and happiness. We must reflect that!
Though our hearts get distracted and our flesh leads us to sin we must depend on Him for all of our happiness.
His goodness, His holiness is the way to live. Sure we can have hobbies and even do things that involve passing the time (just to follow God doesn’t mean we must stay in all Christian things at all times) we can do all for the glory of God.
I pray dear reader you continue to or will follow the Lord with all your heart. To be in His love means to have a special one on one time, a spiritual intimacy with God in the relationship.
I’m learning more and more to be like Christ because my heart fails me if I’m not. My flesh does not lead to anything good or to be worth doing.
To be content on what God has given me should be enough. My flesh provides nothing. God amazes me and I am humbled Jesus has guided me all this time. Amen!
God is my portion and He leads me toward His way which is only to be glorified endlessly in this life.
Thank you reader I hope that you are blessed by this.
Wow, context means a lot when it comes to the bible. This has been kind of a surprising experience alone!
What can we do when we feel burdened or deep in worry? What can we do when we are probably not doing the right thing?
Should we depend on our own expectations?
In all things we should depend totally on Jesus and God the father.
I know that is easier said than done but it is a great life lesson.
Jesus said to the people what to do in His word:
Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
We can find so many things in God: peace, freedoms from anxiety, love after growing through His son.
The bible says that the people come to Christ who labor and are heavy laden, and will find rest.
Can this rest mean from being weary?
Seems like it. I will share some other verses (I honestly forgot to share the last time this blog spoke of being “weary,” haha…) since I didn’t get to though with this one.
The bible encourages us to not be weary in doing what we are commanded to do as Christians. “And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up.” Galatians 6:9 “As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good.” 2 Thessalonians 3:13.
We must not be discouraged though it is hard because of the way our worries and life events keep us from sometimes seeing the full potential of living for God.
We also must know that we don’t know everything and submit to others especially in the church what know more in life of what to do:
…casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.1 Peter 5:7
Our lives involve a lot but God is always there to guide the way. We must trust in Him, be open when we pray to Him because He really does care for you and for the ones you are concerned about. Amen.
It feels like we kind of compromise all the time about what to do in life, whether it be our rebelliousness to not do His Will or if someone is stubborn about their wants and will make sure you give in because they will not have things a different way.
Parents go through this. They have a tough job of not only keeping a child or more from danger but to in a lesser but important effort keep them to know what they can and can’t do.
Yet the child may not want to listen.
That is when you have to be like an anchor! Unmovable on your stance on the matter.
If you give in they will see your weakness. They might even try and try again to get you to that stage because they know what to do now to push your buttons.
But to be standing our ground is also on the world as well.
Every day we stray further from truth in God and also in our lives if we don’t stay anchored to His word.
Matthew 7: 24-25 talks about having a “house” built on a rock, a firm foundation compared to say sandy hills or a place where storms come and and it will not stay up.
After horrid storms came other types of houses would fall from this yet with this one “it did not fall because it had been founded on the rock” (last part of 25).
Also we must think just what keeps us strong. Is it self-confidence? No.
We have great strength that doesn’t come from us or this world:
This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil.Hebrews 6:19
I was a little unsure about the many aspects of this verse though to be honest.
I started breaking it down by looking up the word steadfast.
“Steadfast” means: firmly fixed in place : immovable. also : not subject to change the steadfast doctrine of original sin (Source: merriam-webster.com)
To be immovable. That sounds like the “anchor” mentioned above. It is the hope that is not from us that makes us firmly fixed in place.
Also I have some commentary on the other apsects.
Interestingly there was some info on anchors from a bible standpoint in this source too:
It is about having a sense of confidence in Christ. “the inner place behind the curtain” represents the way in which Christ precedes us
Put together these images create a powerful message of reassurance. Christ has “anchored” our hope of “refuge” in the very presence of God: the “inner place.”
The anchor was usually not in the exact place as the ship itself (was usually carried far away from the ship) our hope is not in this world. (www.bibleref.com, paraphrased)
So in all we must remember the confidence we have in Christ. Also we need to not be moved about aspects of the Christian life. Our life is built on hope and true strength. If it was built on our strength it would not last a single “storm.”
It is all through the love of God by sending His son Jesus to die for us and we in turn are revived and must reflect the living for God that He showed.
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