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About oneminuteministry

This blog will be a way for me to share where Christ is speaking to me, and how my relationship with Him is growing. My desire is to encourage you in your walk with Christ as the only Way. John 14:6 "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the father but through me."

Tell them

22 Feb

Tell them

Ezekiel 3:17-18    “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: 18 When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand.

Ezekiel was experiencing becoming a great prophet called by God. His vision captured in chapter two of Ezekiel are extraordinary; he fell on his face in the presence of God. The Holy Spirit lifted him up and he stood before God, about to become anointed as a prophet. God told him it would be a difficult ministry to a stubborn people; he commanded Ezekiel to eat the scroll of the commands of which God spoke. Ezekiel was filling himself with God’s words, literally, and he described it sweet as honey. God placed a great responsibility on Ezekiel, 17 “Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore hear a word from My mouth, and give them warning from Me: God told him that he must speak the words and warnings, no matter what they may be, for he is called to held accountable to God for following these commands.

We may find it easy to share the Good News of Christ. We may find it easy to tell the world of the hope of heaven that lies within us as a child of God. Are we also delivering the bad news; that a sinner who does not know, or does not accept Christ, will spend eternity in hell? There is no good news if you do not accept the bad first. “The present world is the only hell the Christian will ever know, and it is the only heaven the unsaved will experience.” (Dr. Wilmington). We are not sinners because we sin, we sin because we are sinners. As a child of God you are called to point out that sin; not to judge the sinner, but to tell them in a loving manner of the sin in their lives.

We live in a society that has no spine. We live in a society that has lost the understanding of the Absolute Truth of the word of God. We have become so worried to not offend, truth has become pliable to fit into all circumstance. We may see sin, we may feel the conviction of sin, but yet we do not point to the sin for fear of loss of friendship or pleasure of self. James 4:17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin. This is a sin of disobedience; the sin of “not doing” whatever God may be convicting you of, or showing you in others. How will they know if we do not tell them? 2 Timothy 2:24 And a servant of the Lord must not quarrel but be gentle to all, able to teach, patient, 25 in humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will grant them repentance, so that they may know the truth, 26 and that they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, having been taken captive by him to do his will.

 
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Posted by on February 22, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Heartfelt Faith

21 Feb

Heartfelt Faith

Hebrews 11:5-6    By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. 6 But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

This morning in prayer I seemed to go down a road of reflection on my life the past six or seven years. I remembered God stirring my heart, and that led to a desire to start reading my Bible every day. I remember God really convicting me of sin. I remember God really asking me for steps of faith. I remember my life changing so much in so many ways from just answering that tug on my heart to start reading my Bible every day. That is the root of my evangelism, my ministry, my calling from God. To share a life changed with you; to share Salvation through Christ with you; to share the need for time with Him every day with you. All of the troubles and questions you face are found in Christ, and a heart that truly desires to serve Him. You do not have to go to seminary to become a disciple for Christ.

Hebrews 11 is packed with the stories of the people who had great faith in the Bible. The stories many of us know; of those that stepped out into the unknown on the hope they would find God there. Every story, every time, never failing, God was there to provide for them. Enoch had such a heart for God that he did not even taste death’s sting; God took him alive into heaven. Enoch left a powerful testimony of a life dedicated to God. For 365 years he pursued God and the things of God with so much heart that God whisked him away into heaven, leaving Enoch an eternal testimony of a heart for God; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. Enoch could not see that eternal testimony that God had for him. He only had a heart for God and desired to please God for all his life. God had bigger plans for him.

Are you comfortable in your faith? Are you feeling good about your relationship with Christ? If you are not feeling challenged by Christ in acts of faith, you may need to examine your heart for Him. He detests the lukewarm Christian, the comfortable, the content. Revelation 3:15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. 16 So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth. We have so watered down the Gospel in today’s church that many who believe they are saved, are not. You cannot say a prayer, sign a card, and live your life for this world for the remainder of it and expect an eternal paradise. The conviction of sin that sets in upon true salvation brings a desire to serve the One who delivered it. That heart is moved into service; that heart is moved into acts of obedience; that heart is a heart that pleases God.

 
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Posted by on February 21, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Fathers Arms

20 Feb

Fathers Arms

Mark 10:13-16      Then they brought little children to Him, that He might touch them; but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. 14 But when Jesus saw it, He was greatly displeased and said to them, “Let the little children come to Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God. 15 Assuredly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will by no means enter it.” 16 And He took them up in His arms, put His hands on them, and blessed them.

As I sat down this morning, I wrapped a warm blanket around my shoulders to get warm. It made me think of how great it is to feel as though at times in your life, you just know you are in Christ’s arms. You know you can’t bear the load you are under, you know that the strength you seemingly have is not your own; you know that He is caring for you just as a good father would. The strength and peace that comes with the understanding of the eternal security you possess is not understandable to those outside the faith. To be in the arms of Christ is to know that your heavenly Father will never let you go, never fail you, always protect and provide for you, and never leave you, you are eternally secure.

My study Bible says of this scripture, “Children exhibit sincerity, eagerness, a trusting attitude, and total dependence on their parents. Thus childlikeness is a fitting comparison for the qualities a disciple should have.” In our faith in Christ we must come to the humbleness and dependance such as a child. We must place all our faith and trust in what our Father takes us to, and delivers us through. In teaching my boys I continually tell them I will not tell them to do anything that I know will get them intentionally hurt. They may be uncomfortable in the challenge, but the grow in their trust. When we are uncomfortable where God has us for the day, we must understand that he is growing us in our trust of Him through it.

A disciple for Christ should depend on him totally for their every need. Their relationship should be abiding so close that their is no doubt of where their feet are for today. John 15:7 If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. Abiding is a state of being; so entwined in your faith and God’s Word that you are at one with Him. He is indwelling in your heart, and your are carrying His Word there. When you need it most, He provides it for you, pulling it from the memory you did not know you had. He has provided for you just as a father would a child; for as a child you should be just as dependent upon your Savior for everything.

 
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Posted by on February 20, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Yes I can! No, you can’t……

19 Feb

Yes I can! No, you can’t……

John 14:6 Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

I am a man who’s testimony is built in pride. I am just like you, I think I can do anything I put my mind to. It starts early in life, with parents breeding that self confidence that helps us to focus and persevere. It grows from youth into adulthood, the idea of the American Dream; you can succeed in this world if you try hard enough. If you don’t it is your own fault; if you do it is of your own self. Only you get the glory for your own success. The disappointments in people and life only bring about more independence and focus; the strive to succeed. This drive may produce success by worldly measure, but that measure is not eternal; and that eternal measure has no tolerance for pride. God showed me this in many ways of my life; He brought me to my knees so that I only could look up; He showed me I had no part in my supposed success; it all was a gift from God.

Pride is at the root of so many religions and false teachings today on how to reach God. Pride is at the root of believing you can do ANYTHING to earn God’s favor on your life; to earn your way into heaven; to do enough good deeds to outnumber the bad. Good deeds are a product of your Salvation, not a means to earn it! If by any means we could earn our salvation, then God sent his Son to die on a cross for nothing. James 2:18 But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” What would that act of grace represent in the ideal that we can do it without that provision? Pride is the root of why Satan was cast out from heaven; he thought he could be God. Pride is at the root of our sin in the Garden of Eden; we thought we could be like God. So our pride steers us to believe we can earn our way to God?

There must come a point in your life that you are humbled before God. There must come a point in your life that you realize your lost without God; without the sacrifice that Christ made for you on the Cross at Calvary. You must realize that the pride of yourself, the religious rituals you practice, the prayers you pray, the feel good feelings of going to church on Sunday; these you will die in and possibly pay for that mistake in eternal punishment for that pride. Ephesians 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. Pride is the ticket to hell on which Satan smiles with you as his passenger. Pride will keep you from ever receiving the free gift of grace that is available to the humble heart. Swallow your pride, repent of your sins and plea for forgiveness; and let Christ into your heart as the only way to obtain hope of heaven for eternity. Ask God to daily remove the stumbling block of arrogance that Satan has placed in you from the beginning of time.

 
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Posted by on February 19, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Open eyes & giving heart

18 Feb

Open eyes & giving heart

1 John 3:16-18    By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? 18 My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

I have been spending a lot of my time in a church project; a remodeling project in an old church where my best friend was called to be the pastor. God placed on my heart to step up and take some of the responsibilities off his shoulders as the project manager, so that he could concentrate on his pastoral duties. I have seen an outpouring of servant hearts in this restoration project. I have seen tireless hours cleaning, painting, polishing, and pouring love back into that old church. I have seen clothing and food donations to start those ministries. I have seen people pour themselves into this project; I have seen their hearts for Christ in the service and skills they provide in the giving of themselves.

John uses four different forms of the word love a total of 46 times in the short epistle of 1 John. He speaks of what do we hold dear; do we place our love in our possessions? Do we love the things of this world? I lived by the motto “The one who dies with the most toys wins” for most of my life. I worked hard to achieve what I thought was happiness in all that I could obtain. That false security, happiness, and pursuit only brought debt, and the realization that it all was meaningless in eternity. 1 John 2:15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world–the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life–is not of the Father but is of the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. There was a point in my growth as a Christian that Christ showed me the truth; that all of this stuff was idols in my life that I placed above Him; with that understanding came a change of heart.

If you have, and you see a brother that is in need, there should be a conviction to help that person in need. That outpouring of love in a deed is a means to show your love of Christ to all that see. That outpouring of your heart is a means to show that the hope you have is in Him, not in the stuff you once held dear. It may be monetary, it make be a good deed, it may be an encouraging word, but it all shows a heart for Christ and the desire to share the hope that lies within you. 1 Corinthians 13:13 And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love. Open your eyes and give with your heart. Christ may use you to make an eternal difference in someones life by filling that need He shows you.

 
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Posted by on February 18, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Field 4 Sale

16 Feb

Field 4 Sale

Jeremiah 33:2-3   “Thus says the Lord who made it, the Lord who formed it to establish it (the Lord is His name): 3 ‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

Jeremiah was a great prophet of God. He was under house arrest at the king Zedekiah’s palace for speaking against the king. He had prophesied to the king of the coming fall of the kingdom, and it was taking place outside at that time. God’s wrath was bearing down on Israel for turning their backs on God; they had lived in idol worship and sin for generations in the land God had promised them. It was time to pay the price for their sin; yet in the middle of this siege God had delivered a promise of restoration to Jeremiah. He had told Jeremiah to purchase a field, and God would use that in the future for the coming restoration of Israel. It made no sense to Jeremiah, but he also know God had told him to do this, and he was obedient to that calling of God.

When God places something on your heart, sin tries to insert logic into the pathway of faith. Logic tries to wrap our minds around what God is telling us. “Buying a field that is about to be captured in war? Throwing money away for something surely to be lost?” Satan takes that little thing called pride, and inserts it into the idea of we may understand what God is showing us. That hinders our step of faith, which in reality the hindrance is disobedience.  Delayed obedience is still disobedience. Jeremiah went to God in prayer; poured out his heart to God, and God gave him a glimpse of His plan. How will we know if we try to reason on our own? How will we know if we don’t step out in faith to see what is the result of that obedience?

When Jeremiah was praying for understanding, God’s first response was simply encompassing: Jeremiah 32:27 “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for me?” Logic is halted in the understanding of God’s power in that statement. Our minds simply cannot understand the plans of God; we are not called to understand, we are called to obey. Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.” My God is placing a call on my life similar to Jeremiah’s. I feel God is telling me to sell my field in a time that the world says not to. My God is telling me to be faithful in what He is showing me; to not try to reason with Him, but to be obedient to Him. In these acts of obedience we will see God at work; God’s plans revealed; God’s loving arms woven throughout our lives in the acts of obedience to what he places on our hearts.

 
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Posted by on February 16, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Hold on. Wait a minute!

15 Feb

Hold on. Wait a minute!

Luke 9:57-62   Now it happened as they journeyed on the road, that someone said to Him, “Lord, I will follow You wherever You go.” 58 And Jesus said to him, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head.” 59 Then He said to another, “Follow Me.” But he said, “Lord, let me first go and bury my father.” 60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and preach the kingdom of God.” 61 And another also said, “Lord, I will follow You, but let me first go and bid them farewell who are at my house.” 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.”

“Hold on, wait a minute. I just gotta ___________” Let me FIRST get a few things done, a few items in order, a few questions answered, a plan assembled; and then I will follow you. “Oh yes Lord, I want to follow you, but first tho…….” When you are a planner by nature, breaking that mold on the seemingly big things is hard to do. When you want everything to be in order, the freedom of it not being in order, is seemingly not a freedom at all. Letting go, and letting God, is a hard thing to do. We speak of our faith, but when our faith is taken outside of our comfort zone, the level of our faith is at question; these things I personally understand.

Jesus was on his way to Jerusalem, and this text takes place on a seemingly dirt road through towns where you know Christ attracted attention as he passed through. People were drawn to Him and wanted to be a part of the group. They had no idea of the cost of discipleship. There are many great books out there that speak about this; Christ plainly states the cost of it here; that it demands total commitment and His authority in one’s life. There is nothing that must come before Christ in the heart of a disciple. You say you want to be His disciple, but you cannot command the terms of an agreement to it. It requires great test of the heart and faith. It requires an eternal focus. It requires the denial of self, not the exception; ““Lord, I will follow You, but…” (61)

Living for Christ demands a focus on the future. It demands a heart that is in the now, living in the present for Christ, and not stuck in the past. God has you where he wants you today; for today to live your life for him in that moment. It is not to worry about the things that He has delivered you from in the past; it is for today and the present tense with him. Our past should be looked at as only our testimony; of our life before Christ, and the means of it to share what He can do for others in those same struggles. If you are grabbing ahold of his plow and looking back, the furrow you are digging will be out of the center of His Will for your life. 62 But Jesus said to him, “No one, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.” Only by keeping your eyes on Him will you remain in the center of His Will.

 
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Posted by on February 15, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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14 Feb

Can’t reason with God

Genesis 12:1-4    Now the Lord had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” 4 So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken to him, and Lot went with him. And Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.

“Just do it. Just do the thing I am placing on your heart. Just do the thing that requires great faith in Me, and not your own abilities. You don’t have all the answers, but I do.” That still small voice has the ability to be very loud and clear sometimes. You cannot run from your conscience speaking to you, for His Spirit is the one there. He seemingly comes in waves; He will press these things upon your heart, then lighten the load, and see how you respond. Do you go back to “normal” and act like nothing happened? Do you act like God has not spoken to you regarding anything he has set before you? Oh yea…..I have too. I justify it over and over again, but in reality is is plainly being disobedient. I am saying no to God.

Abram is known as the great patriarch of faith. He was blindly obedient to all the calls God placed on his life. He was far from perfect in many of his decisions, especially those that seemingly always revolved around his wife, but when God said “go”, he went, always. Abram picked up and left all that was coming to him in the family inheritance. God was telling him that he would bless all his descendants, yet his wife was unable to have children. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great; And you shall be a blessing. Abram was leaving everything to follow the call the Lord had given him. He simply could not make sense of it all; but his faith was so strong, how could he say no? Even later in his life he took the step of seemingly sacrificing his only son; in the understanding that the Lord will provide. Genesis 22:14 And Abraham called the name of the place, The-Lord-Will-Provide; as it is said to this day, “In the Mount of The Lord it shall be provided.”

The Lord has been speaking to me in this season of my life regarding these leaps of faith. He has placed something on my heart that is outside my capability to reason through. He brought it before me and pressed; he let it lie in the undertone; he is pressing again because I went back to “normal”. It is no coincidence that he has had me spending so much time with His servant he has used to teach me obedience. I feel trapped and cannot reason of a means escape, yet I feel God is showing me a door that requires a leap of faith. I think things to death, but I cannot reason with God. Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways, And My thoughts than your thoughts.

 
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Posted by on February 14, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Preach the Word!

13 Feb

Preach the Word!

Romans 13:11-14     And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. 12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

Sometimes the wars in my head make me feel as thought I am loosing my mind. The battles of good and evil; the focus of life; the direction of life; the state of life. Big things that war in the spiritual battle of my mind. Fought on a plain that I cannot fight; fought in a means that I cannot understand, yet I understand I play the pawn they are fighting over. Ephesians 6:12 For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.These things preoccupy the mind, take me places with both the highs of victory, and the depths of defeat. There has come the feeling of a new urgency that has settled in; a feeling of an elevated war; a battle that is key in the strategies of warfare. It is creating anxieties in underlying tones, for I feel the importance of it. God is at work, in control, and is the victor; Satan is a defeated enemy as I am a child of Christ.

There is an urgency in the air in the world that we live in. This urgency is the signs that God is placing before us in all areas of life. The world as a whole is dark, Satan is peaking before his final fall. Our governments are turning their backs on God, and religions are teaching that all ways lead to God. There are consequences for both upon societies, much more than individuals. Paul spoke into Timothy this urgency in his final words to him in 2 Timothy 4:1 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. Do you too see and feel this urgency that Paul speaks of?

I hope and pray that you will take some of what I share with you of my personal walk with God, to draw in closer to Him yourself. I pray that Christ is knocking at the door of your soul and that you are answering the call. I pray that you also see and feel the urgency of this I describe. I pray that God is using me to encourage you to begin to deepen your walk with Him; to share your faith with those He places before you. I pray that you are becoming more than a Christian; I pray that you are becoming a disciple. 2 Timothy 4: 2 Preach the word!

 
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Posted by on February 13, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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It is all in there

12 Feb

It is all in there

Romans 11:36-12:2     For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

It is almost impossible to single out a few scriptures in the book of Romans to write on. Romans is Paul’s pinnacle writing, steep in theology, God’s sovereignty woven throughout the epistle, chapters hinge on preceding chapters. It must be read in context; as all the Bible should; but the understanding of it is deep in the meanings of all that is laid out prior to where God is speaking to you in it. Paul had been pointing to the sins of Israel, and the relation of that sin to the Gospel going out to the Gentiles; all of this in God’s sovereign plan for mankind. The pieces of His puzzle all coming together in a way that makes little sense to us; yet there can be peace in us that understand He is in control of it all. Romans 11:36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever. Amen. God’s sovereignty explained in one simple sentence.

When you come to understand, to grasp that you are one of the elect, one of a chosen child of God’s, their is a humbleness in your heart that draws you to rest in peace. God has prepared your heart for that understanding. He has given you the ability to possess that peace and joy that the world cannot steal away. He has given you the ability to see all things as temporal; he has given you the ability to possess peace when all around you is failing. Philippians 4:7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. This world is in chaos right now in all areas; political, economic, rumors of war, poverty, social, weather phenomena; the list could be detailed right down to each of us. We are all living in a world out of control, a world turning their backs on God.

God is really pressing on me. I do not know what his plans are, but I feel him pressing on me. When times get tough, and believe me right now they are, I find myself just wanting to spend more time with Him and His Word. I also find that Satan through the world provides every seemingly distraction possible. Those things speak to my heart as confirmation I am hearing and headed in the right direction. Dig into God’s Word if you want to possess more of God. He has given you all you need there. The way to way to transform your mind and body as the scriptures above speak, is found in a heart that desires to spend time with God every day in prayer and his word.

 
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Posted by on February 12, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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