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BFF

03 Apr

BFF

John 15:13-15 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.

His friend….really? How do we move from humbling ourselves before Him, to becoming what He would call a friend. Christ was speaking to the apostles here in John and encouraging them from how their relationship has grown. We cannot call someone a friend that we have had one chance meeting, maybe at a time of despair, and then never spoke again. Friendships are really cultivated relationships that develop and grow together. Friendships are highly valued to us by the way God wired us at creation, and no other friendship should carry the value that Christ does. He is the only One who can truly promise to be our BFF (Best Friend Forever). After our first meeting with Him upon Salvation, how do we grow into becoming friends of Christ? It is through time with Him just as in any relationship, and becoming intimidators of Him, to live as He lived.  Ephesians 5:1-2 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma.

It is a fact that those we spend the most time with, we begin to resemble. They rub off on us, and unknowingly we become more like them in how we conduct ourselves. When we begin to seek God, and the things of Christ, we begin to spill out the love of Christ in our thoughts and actions. God is a God of love and Christ set the example of love through his humble servant heart for us to follow. John 13:15 For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.   We begin to think and speak differently for we begin to see things as Christ sees them through the eyes of God’s plans for redemption, and the sacrifices He made for us. A peace comes over our lives and we seek to do the Will of God in our lives to follow His plan and play a small part. Matthew 12:50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother.” To become a friend of Christ, you must first humble yourself and accept Him into your heart for eternity. At that point, for eternity, you can begin to develop your friendship with the Creator and Savior of the universe of whom all blessings flow.

 
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Posted by on April 3, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Well, after I..

02 Apr

Well, after I...

Exodus 20:3 You shall have no other gods before Me.

What is holding you back? After hearing about Christ, what has the grip on your soul that you cannot release to Him? Is it pride? Is it something worldly that you hold so close, that deep within you know is wrong, but yet you cannot let go? Those things become Gods to you, for typically you begin to idolize them and your world revolves around them. Mine was racing dirt bikes for about 20 years. But all throughout the Bible God tells us “You shall have no other gods before Me.” (Exodus 20:3).  We also want to live our life in many ways, and then promise to commit our lives over to Him before it is too late. James 4:14 whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. We are not guaranteed another breath, much less the promise of deciding when we have fulfilled our expectations here, and then decide to rest in the assurance of Salvation.

We all must answer to God in the day of judgement that will come. We all must account for how we lived our lives here, and how did we reflect Christ for our time here. “Well God I was going to after. I…”  All those things that we are placing before committing our lives to Christ have become a God to us, for they are before the “after I” in that statement. The word judgement is found 186 times in the Bible, much of which is speaking of that day to come. Matthew 16:26 For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? All the things that you are seeking pleasure in will fail you in due time. Eternity is a place that will reflect your priorities and decisions you make here every day, and what you put before God. Christ has paid the price that you cannot pay, but you can receive by humbly repenting your sins, accepting the gift, and living your life as a disciple of His spreading the Good News you now possess. You will not see those things before God any longer, for you will see Him for who He is, the great “I AM.”

 
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Posted by on April 2, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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War & Peace

01 Apr

War & Peace.

 
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Posted by on April 1, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

War & Peace

01 Apr

As you can probably discern, this has been a rough week. I hope she will not kill me, but I must let you know that we are facing the battle many of you are facing. Dana lost her job this week and all the stability that comes with it after 16 years. This comes as a prequel to me entering seminary in a few weeks, and slowing down my business of 20yrs to focus my life on God. Now I am the sole provider for my family. But we are understanding that God is in the details and He has well laid out plans for all of this. We will survive as a family, strengthen our faith, and watch Him work. I am still committed to seminary, and we are committed as a family to Christ. Satan fired the darts, but our shield of faith can withstand the attack.

 

 

War & Peace

Philippians 1:28-29 and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake,

This morning I was returning to Philippians and spending time reading about suffering. I won’t go into all the details, but the pressures and strains of life have greatly increased on me this week. Well laid out plans have been thrown into the fire, what matters most has become questioned, and the provisions have been removed. A great weight has been placed on my shoulders, almost impossible to mentally bear, and without Christ and my daily time with him, I believe the stress of it could physically break me. I am truly suffering for my dedication to Christ, but it is with “joy” as in James, and humble honor to not let my adversary see my terror, but to rest in the Lord. The terror will push us to withdraw to worldly comforts, and not the peace that comes from Christ indwelling in us.

I returned to the gospel of John for comfort. John 14:26-27 But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. I have said many times I can describe my “religion” in one word – Peace. My peace has been attacked this week in a large assault, but I will not retreat, I will stand and war within. Ephesians 6:11-13 Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. 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. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. When you know that you are headed down the path of your life following God’s Will for your life, Satan will do the best he can to blast you off God’s highway. You must pick up the armament of prayer, His Word, and faith to continue down the righteous pathway to eternal paradise. With the eternal security of Salvation, you can rest in that peace that Christ has given you that He resides in you, and the armies of Hell cannot darken where His Light lies.

 
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Posted by on April 1, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Broken Easy Button

31 Mar

Broken Easy Button.

 
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Posted by on March 31, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Broken Easy Button

31 Mar

Broken Easy Button

Philippians 1:6  being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ;

But I want it to be eeeaasssyyy. Why would God let these things happen in my life? Why are those that are living for their time in the world, full of blessings? Because God loves you so much He desires to make you more like His Son. That gift will last you more than maybe 100 years, but will last you an eternity in paradise with Him. They have their time now, and we have ours for eternity. When God is working on you in a sort of stress or tribulation, be glad that He loves you enough to be performing that work, molding you into the image of His Son. James 1:2-3 My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Those scriptures go against the worldview of consistent self gratification in all things. The world preaches do whatever feels good at whatever cost; Christ preaches faith in Him to control all things and His Will to be done. Once you humble yourself and submit to His authority over your life, you have told Satan you are no longer a pawn in his team. He will ask God for permission to test your faith through many means, and plans to draw you back to the dark side. God knows that your faith can be strengthened through his tests, and Satan’s plans backfire. Paul who endured much suffering for Christ, spoke of these things in prison in Philippians 1:12: But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel. When we are up against all that life throws at us, let us lean on the One whom it all filters through His hands. Let it build us up as He plans, not tear us down as our enemy plans. Take it all to God as in Romans 12:12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer. Thank you Lord for where you have me today, your plans for me today, and the hope for tomorrow.

 
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Posted by on March 31, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Tired or Weary?

30 Mar

Tired or Weary?.

 
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Posted by on March 30, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Tired or Weary?

30 Mar

Tired or Weary?

Galatians 6:9-10 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith.

We all become tired, and a synonym for tired is weary, but it seems as though weary has a much heavier meaning. Weary to me leans towards exhaustion, and exhaustion can lead to failure. We must charge ourselves to not slip from simply tired into the failure of weariness. Weariness can come through the tribulations that are confronting us, and the drag they put upon us. We must forsake them to God whom will shoulder our burden and make it light. Matthew 11:28 Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. The load that we carry can be shouldered by God, and giving Him our worries through prayer and seeking His guidance.

I love how Isaiah puts it in verse 50:4 The Lord God has given Me The tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak A word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned. Isaiah awoke every morning by Gods grace, and he sought Him for the recharging of himself, so that he could encourage others to draw near to Christ. That is how I feel out here every day in my quiet time alone with God, recharging my soul, and the product of that is encouraging you for the same. The large trials of life will make us weary, exhausted, but through the strength He provides we can press on to encourage others in their times of need. Do you think what you are facing is without purpose? God can use where you are today to draw you closer to Him, and possibly others will be drawn also seeing His Glory shine through you.

I must include this commentary by Matthew Henry:

Those that would hear as the learned must be awake, and wakeful; for we are naturally drowsy and sleepy, and unapt to hear at all, or we hear by the halves, hear and do not heed. Our ears need to be wakened; we need to have something said to rouse us, to awaken us out of our spiritual slumbers, that we may hear as for our lives. We need to be awakened morning by morning, as duly as the day returns, to be awakened to do the work of the day in its day. Our case calls for continual fresh supplies of divine grace, to free us from the dulness we contract daily. The morning, when our spirits are most lively, is a proper time for communion with God; then we are in the best frame both to speak to him (my voice shalt thou hear in the morning) and to hear from him. The people came early in the morning to hear Christ in the temple (Lu. 21:38 ), for, it seems, his were morning lectures. And it is God that wakens us morning by morning. If we do any thing to purpose in his service, it is he who, as our Master, calls us up; and we should doze perpetually if he did not waken us morning by morning

 
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Posted by on March 30, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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When one opens, it also closes

29 Mar

When one opens, it also closes.

 
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Posted by on March 29, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

When one opens, it also closes

29 Mar

When one opens, it also closes

Acts 6:14 for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.

We are creature’s of habit that resist change. We rest in our ways feeling through ourselves we can accomplish the goals set before us. Stephen had been chosen as one of the first deacons by Christ’s apostles to aid in the duties of the growing church spreading the Gospel of Christ. His diligence and great faith stirred up those who were against the change of which he was speaking. They felt if they followed the law of Moses, they could attain heaven through the power of themselves and their ability to follow the law. But they did not understand the law was there to point them to Christ whom had already come, and now provided the way to heaven through the grace of God. This caused them to blasphemy and plot, and ultimately kill Stephen.

Matthew 18:11 For the Son of Man has come to save that which was lost. Those words reflect the biggest change presented to us, that will affect us for an eternity. In the eternal lostness that you reside in your pride without Christ, your resist to change will haunt you to no end. We all have heard of “When one door closes, another door opens.”  What if that door was the door to your soul and only you have the key to accept change by opening the door to follow Christ? When you open that door to your heart, you close the door of hell forever behind you. No change in life has the impact of Salvation, and no change in life that you make to feel you have earned your way there opens that door. You have the key, but Christ is the lock that opens and shuts it behind you. John 14:6 “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No man comes to the Father but by Me.” Humble yourself, repent your sins, and accept He has the ability to change you like you have never experienced before, before it is too late to have the option.

 
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Posted by on March 29, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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