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Priceless

10 Mar

Priceless

Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

How many times were you about and saw a penny lying on the ground, but it seemed unworthy to take the effort to lean down and pick it up? I mean it is only a penny, not a $100 bill right? How much effort was it really worth? I seriously doubt that you would lay down your life, or ask your son to lay down his for the sake of it. But look at what God did for you while you were still living in sin in Romans 5:8 above. What if we are that penny? 1 Corinthians 6:20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. We are worth so much more to God. Look at all the promises He makes to us in Luke 12:22-32.

The Message translates Romans 5:7 “We can understand someone dying for a person worth dying for, and we can understand how someone good and noble could inspire us to selfless sacrifice.” We can grasp the nobility in dying for a cause, but what if they were living far from our cause, and opposing it consistently? Wouldn’t we consider it a waste of our time and move on? That realization of what God has truly done for you in the greatest act of love EVER, should move you to a humble heart out of thankfulness of the eternal forgiveness He provided while you are still in sin. John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. Thank you Jesus!

 
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Posted by on March 10, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Christ – Death & Taxes

09 Mar

I was listening to Dr. Adrian Rogers speak Wednesday of Hebrews 11, and I found myself there today. What a great chapter in the bible of the patriarchs of great faith. Those men and women who had stepped way outside the box of understanding and seen the power of God and the blessing of God as a result. Somewhere during this I felt led to the promise of Him never leaving us…….I love how God works when we spend time in His word. Thank you Jesus for that eternal security that only you can provide.

 

 

Christ – Death & Taxes

Deuteronomy 31:6  Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the Lord your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.”

We have all heard the only two things we can count on are death and taxes. While truth lies in that statement, there is another, and they are numbers two and three. We can count on Christ never leaving us above all. Death will come unknowingly, and taxes are the largest variable for us all. But Christ and the Holy Spirit we are given are promised even from the first book in the bible to never leave us.  Genesis 28:15 “Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have spoken to you.” Christ’s promises ring throughout the Old and New Testaments.

We live in a society that is volatile, unsure, and constantly evolving right now. Not even the stability of jobs in large corporations is available any longer for they have only become corrupt on a larger scale. All of this volatility breeds selfishness and wanting more, doing whatever brings happiness for the time, the security of the moment, yet insecurity in the future. We live in a state of fear of tomorrow and beyond. But look at the promise and security for eternity that you can rest on in Hebrews 13:5-6 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” So we may boldly say: “The Lord is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” In a world that is crumbling before you, you can possess an eternal security they can never kill or tax. You can live today in a peace they do not understand, but desire. It is all found through Christ and His Spirit that He places in you upon Salvation, that you are eternally secure and promised a paradise with Him once this world passes away. Where else can you find a promise such as this?

 
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Posted by on March 9, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Stresses and Strains

07 Mar

I am under a huge stress and strain myself right now. Being stretched to my mental limits in many ways, being pulled down many roads, many of them difficult in ways I cannot describe here. All of these culminate in how I feel every day. By the end of the day, I am mentally spent, and many time retreat to bed. But the glue, the Enabler, is right here every morning very early with God. If it were not for my glue, I would be back to my old ways, back to how I dealt with the stresses of life. This time every day enables me to recharge to face the battles and enemies of the day with the strength He has given me to start the day. You can have it too!

 

Stresses and Strains

 

Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

 

We all feel and deal with the pressures of life every day. These pressures effect how we handle every situation that we encounter every moment of every day. The stress of the first pressure wells into the next encounter, and may well into the remainder of the day depending on the stress of the first situation. It falls into the “more to see, than what you see” understanding. Much of what arises is the forks in the road, which deflect our well thought out plans so it seems. Proverbs 16:9 A man’s heart plans his way, But the Lord directs his steps. God’s direction for our lives most likely will take a different path than we would intend, but that will enable us to reach where He intends, that which we alone could not attain.

 

Satan will try to thwart God’s plans for us by many means, both by evil and many ways that which seem to make us feel good about ourselves, but do they take our eyes off Christ? Satan is the pinnacle of deception, but always motivated to “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy” (John 10:10). The key to discerning the deception is spending time with God and taking all things to God. The more time you spend, the greater the discernment you are given. Jeremiah 33:3 Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know. When we take all our trials of life to Him in prayer and His Word, He will open our eyes, and we will hear Him in our hearts. All things happen for a reason, and they all pass through His hands. Romans 5:3-5 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

 
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Posted by on March 7, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Do you have a heart to hear?

06 Mar

Such an awesome morning with God, wishing I did not have to stop. Ohhhh how I hope you will respond to that instant when He knocks at your door. It is never too late, until it is.

 

 

 

Do you have a heart to hear?

1 Corinthians 1:18  For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

Do you have an ear to hear? When you hear things of God, do you immediately put up a wall, or does something first stir inside you before put up your fight, or your reasoning for dismissal? That instant, that second of stirring before your pride steps in, is God knocking at your door. If you never have that second of curiosity, then my prayer is that one day you will.  We are told in 1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. God must first seek you, and you must respond, as an act of free will to His invitation by humbling yourself before Him. These things are the first things to changing your life for an eternity.

The revelation of that stirring inside you, that the Creator of the universe is pursuing you, should provoke humility and acceptance on it alone. How could you deny the one whom breathed the stars into existence, and life into your lungs? How could pride step in and deny that stirring you feel is greater than Him? 1 John 4:19 We love Him because He first loved us. With the understanding of Whom is knocking at the door of our souls, comes an eternal gift of spiritual wisdom from the Holy Spirit that will reside in you, and reveal God to you for eternity. Your ears will be opened through the ability to hear the voice of God in your heart, not entering as all the static this world brings to our ears. Do you have a heart to hear?

 
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Posted by on March 6, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Yep, we can’t do it ourselves

05 Mar

Much of what I have been watching and listening to recently has dealt with this. The feelings in today’s society of the “deaf ears” to sin. The idea that we are living overall good, overall better through our good deeds, and finding ourselves in Gods favor. There is even the idea out there that all ways lead to God, that Coexist idea. All ideas do not lead to God, and that idea is WRONG. Their is only one way, through Christ, and all others will pay for their mistakes for eternity.

 

Yep, we can’t do it ourselves

 

Romans 3:23   for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

I say this in love, or as Adrian Rogers says in anguish, we really are all that bad. We all have, and all will sin every day of our lives. If we awake a day determined to make that day perfect we fail and sin in that beginning thought. There was only One, that could and did achieve that, Christ. We must realize and accept our depravity, for we are born into sin from the great falling away in the Garden of Eden. But if God only accepts perfection, He also provides the Way to become justified in His sight. Justified is a legal term that means declared righteous, or not guilty.

Romans 24-25 being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over the sins that were previously committed. Through the sacrifice of His perfect Son, the door was opened for us to spend eternity in paradise with Him. We must realize our sin, and the unattaiaibility  of our justification through any good works that simply make us feel better about ourselves. That comfort that you feel when you do your good work to attain Gods favor outside of the acceptance of His Son as the only pathway; that comfort is from Satan. Satan wants you to feel as though you can earn your way into heaven. He places those thoughts inside your head. Once you humble yourself realizing you cannot obtain God’s grace outside Christ through any good deed, you can accept Christ knocking at your door as the only Way. John 14:6 I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father but through Me. You can’t do it by yourself….you can’t.

 
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Posted by on March 5, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Spring storms in Winter?

03 Mar

This morning it seems amazing how God has led me around the bible learning of the weather. I could not believe I ended up in Job. I personally believe that all this weather craziness that has been escalating the last couple years is a sign from God. The weather is an undeniable event that affects everyone, every day. If He uses it to raise awareness, then it brings Him glory and draws those of us closer to Him. I would urge you to let God speak to you in these chapters below I have listed. Spend this rainy day in the best book, and the only book that can change your life for an eternity, before you miss the signs laid before you.

 

 

Spring storms in Winter?

Job 37:11-12    Also with moisture He saturates the thick clouds; He scatters His bright clouds. And they swirl about, being turned by His guidance, That they may do whatever He commands them On the face of the whole earth.

Can even the lost soul deny the weather, the seasons, seem to be changing? Tornado’s all winter; spring storms in winter; the lack of a winter? The events are happening out of sync with what the calendar would project? Weather is unavoidable, it affects us all. Read the chapter of Job 37 entirely for an awesome description of God’s power, “God thunders marvelously with His voice; He does great things which we cannot comprehend. For He says to the snow, ‘Fall on the earth’; Likewise to the gentle rain and the heavy rain of His strength.” Matthew Henry spoke of  “it is not for us to know, no, not that concerning the times and seasons.” The undeniable truth is that they are changing, and many speak of that as a sign from God for the end of time.

Matthew 24 is Christ’s discourse of the coming end of times. He was speaking to his disciples, and their curiosity of what to look for to prepare. I urge you to spend time in this chapter.  Matthew 24: 6-8 And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. All over the world, these things are happening. All over the world there are signs being set before us for the coming days. In Matthew 16 Christ stood before those religious leaders speaking of who He was standing before them. Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven. He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. I hope and pray that you will see all these signs set before you to prepare you for what is to come. There will come a time, when you will look back and be glad the signs were given, or a day you will regret you denied the signs for an eternity.

 
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Posted by on March 3, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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You can’t understand

02 Mar

This morning I am still in thought about the things facing me at registering for school, and the daunting tasks that lie ahead. The title of this post easily describes me.

 

 

You can’t understand

John 18:4     Jesus therefore, knowing all things that would come upon Him, went forward and said to them, “Whom are you seeking?”

“Knowing all things”, outside the traps of time, outside our finite minds, we simply cannot grasp the Omnipotence of God. Webster’s dictionary description is an ‘almighty or infinite in power, as God’. There is none other than our heavenly Father that can carry such a title. In the garden that night Christ knew the fate that faced Him. He knew all the sufferings that He was about to endure, and He approached the Roman detail in peace. He had hidden when early in His ministry  the Jews sought to make Him a king (John 6:15), yet at this time of suffering He stepped forward to meet His fate as He understood was the plan laid out by His Father.

Matthew Henry says of our suffering “it will do us good to expect suffering in general, so that when they come we can say, It is what we looked for, the cost we sat down and counted upon.” God limits our ability to understand, therefore that is where our faith and our reliability of His omnipotence comes in and grows. If we understood many of these things, would we face them as Christ, or take another path that would lead us away from Him? Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Rely and rest in the power and design of the plans He has laid out for you. You cannot and will not understand what you may face today or tomorrow, but you can rest if you are a child of His that as Romans 8:28 says And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. It is in these things I rest, and describe my walk as Peace.

 
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Posted by on March 2, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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