RSS

Tag Archives: faith

Dad, can I pray?

16 Apr

Dad, can I pray?

Matthew 6:6 But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly.

Yesterday on the way home from a great afternoon with my oldest son, he said “Dad can I pray?” It did surprise me a little but I said sure you can. He just gave God a prayer of Thanksgiving for the great afternoon, all the fun, and with the innocence of a child. It warmed my heart to say the least. So many of us don’t pray with the excuse of not feeling as though we know how to pray. This doubt is a direct influence of Satan and the sin in our lives. There is no right or wrong way to pray if you set your heart humbly before the Almighty God. The Lord Jesus Christ gave us an outline in the Lords Prayer (Matthew 6:9-13). This is the model prayer and leads into a deeper relationship with our God. Once you set your heart before God, your desire is to spend more time with Him in communication through prayer and His Word.

I grew up with many repetitious prayers in church and in life. I believe the older we get, the more we begin to feel our prayers should sound Holy with all the “Thou Art” and some of the beautiful language that honors God. All of your prayers should honor God, and the closer you draw to Him the more God honoring your prayers become. Don’t pray for others to hear you to impress them with your prayers. Matthew 6:7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.  Prayer is not to impress anyone but to draw our hearts near to our Sovereign God. Just as with that intuition that we feel as parents when our children ask, He knows on a much grander scale what we are going to ask even before we ask it. Matthew 6:8 Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. Humble yourself today in some quiet time with the One who gave you breath today, and give thanks to Him. Your every day is a gift, and the thanks for that gift is an easy place to start. Matthew 18:4 Therefore whoever humbles himself as this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on April 16, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Tags: , , , , ,

I want to change

15 Apr

I want to change

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Most of us want to change ___________. Yep, fill in the blank. We all have something that we want to change about ourselves. But any and all change is only accomplished through Christ first. Nothing can or will change you eternally except Salvation. Without Christ, there is nothing but temporal change that will always leave you unsatisfied. Upon Salvation, and the indwelling of the Spirit within you, there comes a yearning for more, or should I say change. We begin to want to improve our lifestyle, to grow closer to God, to become a better person. These are only accomplished through Christ and through seeking His guidance as in Matthew 6:33. True change is accomplished through seeking and following God’s Will for our lives.

If there is one thing I can speak to you outside Salvation, it is to live this lifestyle of Matthew 6:33. Put God first and into everything of your life. Spend time every day in His Word and prayer to see your life evolve. All these things you plan are futile if they do not fall under His leadership. All these things you plan will fall into place if you truly seek Him, and you may find out your plans were not as well thought as His for your life. 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. God will reveal Himself to you once He sees the honor you place on Him with your heart truly seeking Him. When we put Him first, and don’t move without seeking His guidance, He is there for us. The more time we spend with Him every day, the more we begin to understand what His Will is for our lives. Once we begin to understand that, the rest falls into place.

I tell you this because it is my testimony of change that started with Salvation, and led to wanting to simply start reading my Bible every day. Change happens through the Word of God and prayer. A few minutes every day has turned into hours, and that has changed my life. What I once valued most, I now value least, and I see things that truly matter. God will open your eyes through your heart once you begin to seek Him first in all things. All you must do to change is to accept Him, then seek Him, and follow His Will for your life.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on April 15, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Worry? Only for a day, if that!

14 Apr

It is hard to condense a favorite verse into a OneMinuteMinistry. It is hard to decide which road to go down when God has spoken to me so many times in so many ways in these scriptures. How it is a spine of my belief system to Seek Him First. How if I could tell anyone anything next to Salvation, it would be to live your life as in Matthew 6:33. If you will truly put God first in every avenue, every detail of your life, the rest of your life will fall into place. Today I touch on anxiety, which I have been open with my struggles with anxiety and depression before, but I have found the best medicine was between the pages of the Book that is the strength He gave me. I may spend a few days here in Matthew, so bear with me as God reveals my heart to you to encourage you to seek Him in all things!

 

 

Worry? Only for a day, if that!

Matthew 6:33 But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.

Matthew 6 is one of my favorite chapters in the bible. The Lords Prayer is found there, the scriptures about time alone with God, fasting, and then it ends in the passages about anxiety. I struggle with anxiety and must press into these scriptures often. Just as a lawyer in a trial would issue their closing statement, Matthew says if we put God first in all things, nothing else will matter. Verse 34 even closes that argument stronger in the avenue of worry. “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” We must understand the frailty of life and spending the day worrying about the next day that may never come is an exercise of wasted effort. James 13-14 Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; 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.

Matthew 6:33 is a scripture that represents a lifestyle. It represents what you value, what you place before God. How big is your problem, or how big is your God in the avenue of everything that occupies your thoughts? When Satan enters in through doubt, he gains a foothold in the weakening of your faith. He begins to undermine your faith and continues the attack. But you must realize that God gave you the power to overcome him, and this is accomplished through prayer and time in the His Word. There is strength in the Bible that will push Satan down when worry comes and I can personally promise you this. Matthew 6:31-32 Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. The world worries about how their needs will be met. As a child of God you can rest in His assurance that He will provide for you today, and you will have no need to worry about tomorrow. That is the description of biblical peace that you can obtain by Salvation through Christ, and a relationship with Him through daily time with Him, that nothing can take from you.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on April 14, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Even that?

11 Apr

Even that?

Philemon 1:4-7   I thank my God, making mention of you always in my prayers, hearing of your love and faith which you have toward the Lord Jesus and toward all the saints, that the sharing of your faith may become effective by the acknowledgment of every good thing which is in you in Christ Jesus. For we have great joy and consolation in your love, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed by you, brother.

Yesterday I was sharing my love for God with a customer. He is a brother in Christ and we were just having a great talk. But the reason we started talking was the prompting of the Holy Spirit to do so. When you feel those nudges inside to share your faith, do you respond or immediately begin to argue why this is not the time? Many times we get scared or “cold feet” when we feel led to share out faith. But we are actually saddening the Spirit that lives inside us, for He seeks to edify and share Himself with others. Ephesians 4:29-30 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Christ told the disciples in Matthew 4:19 Then He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” This was and is not accomplished by remaining silent.

God can use you in ways you don’t realize, understand, or maybe even conscious of. In Philemon Paul was making a plea to him regarding someone whom had wronged Philemon. Paul was also edifying him for he knew of his love for God and even had a local church meeting at his house. Paul was pleading for forgiveness for the one who had sinned against Philemon. When we speak with someone it should always reflect the love that Christ has instilled in us. These are accomplished through our deeds also. In 2 Corinthians 9:8-15  Paul is speaking of giving to the poor and sharing Christ with them in doing so; how the sharing of our faith through deeds all brings glory to Him. But it is accomplished in our daily routines of life also. Those every day meaningless tasks that occupy time can are even used by God to draw those surrounding you to Him. Nothing is wasted in every breath of your life if you live to glorify Christ. This life in pursuit of Him will not grieve, but please Him that lives within you.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on April 11, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Don’t Go

10 Apr

I have been asked about my testimony recently, and the reflections of my 44 years have been flooding my mind. A life full of sin, a poster child for many great sins, for I even sinned to the best of my ability I presume. But now it sickens me and I strive to live a better life, to walk in the Light as He is in the Light (1 John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.)  This has become a daily pursuit, a life seeking to abide in Christ. It does not come from Sunday’s alone, but from putting God first in all things. It means that Satan is making my life real hard trying to steer me off God’s path. But it means that I also have the power and plan of God to use these trials of life for His glory and my understanding of that. His Will be done, not mine.

Don’t go

Romans 13:11-12    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. 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.

You have accepted Christ and the gift of Salvation, and you are back to work on Monday morning. Life goes on and you wonder what is next on the to do list. You know something has changed inside you, but yet the world leaps out at you and presents all those old sins that seem much more enticing than before. Satan seems to have wrapped them up as gifts and hopes to draw you away from your new found life. That is a spiritual battle that you now have entered but you have the assurance through Christ you are playing in a game that is already won through Him. He defeated Satan and sin at the cross for eternity, but Satan wants to convince you otherwise. You must seek God and His Word for the His strength to fight this battle. Galatians 5:16-17  I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh.

1 Peter 2:11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul. Your old life and your old sins will try to tempt you to come back to them. Satan is the author of all that temptation for God will never tempt you to sin and God will provide you a means of escape. 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it. That means of escape can simply be a conscious move on your part to remove yourself from the possibility of the sin. Remove yourself from that person or place where that sin has a opening to your soul.. Romans 13:14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. Escaping from that sin can be very simple for there is a place where the sin takes place. Do not go there.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on April 10, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Tags: , , , , ,

He is Alive? He is Alive INDEED!

08 Apr

He is Alive? He is Alive INDEED!

Mark 16:4-6   But when they looked up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away–for it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side; and they were alarmed. But he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He is risen! He is not here.

He is Alive? He is Alive Indeed! The women had went to the tomb, only to find Christ gone, and an angel there. They were terrified as the angel told them of His rising from the dead. Christ appeared to Mary Magdalene, and later the two disciples on the road, and they gathered and told of their experiences, but the hearers had much doubt. Luke 24:33-34   So they rose up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven and those who were with them gathered together, saying, “The Lord is risen indeed, and has appeared to Simon!” The gospels are full of Christ’s appearances after the grave prior to His final ascension. The last words Christ spoke to them was called  The Great Commission found in Matthew28:18-20.  The gospel of Mark summarizes it in Mark 16: 15-16  And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.  He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.  Then He ascended to sit on the right hand of the throne of God. Luke 24:51 Now it came to pass, while He blessed them, that He was parted from them and carried up into heaven.

So what does it mean to you? It is the culmination of the entire Old and New Testament fulfilling of the scriptures for  God’s plan for the redemption of the human race from sin. It enables you to spend eternity at the feet of God, and not the pit of hell.  Life is a choice of placing your hope in worldly means that will perish; or in eternal things of Christ that mean paradise forever after your time here. Once you begin to humble yourself and repent of your sins asking for forgiveness, you take on a new Spirit that lives inside you that brings a new outlook on life. This ultimate sacrifice enabled the Holy Spirit to live in you as a gift from God. The Spirit is called the Enabler, for He opens the doors for you to understand the scriptures and the things of God. All this came as a result of Christ dying on the cross paying the price for sin, rising from the dead. and ascending into heaven. You can have all He has offered by just asking for the free ticket, for He has already paid it all for you.

He came, He died, He arose, He ascended, He is coming back. Thank you Jesus!

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on April 8, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Tags: , , , , ,

The day between

07 Apr

This morning I have been seeking answers on this day between Christ’s death and Resurrection. The shock of His death has left those followers in disbelief and great sorrow. They are in wonder of what is next. They are even about to return to their old jobs and go back to life as they knew it before Christ. They feel like life is over. The hours and days following death are traumatic

The day between

Mark 15:42-43 Now when evening had come, because it was the Preparation Day, that is, the day before the Sabbath,  Joseph of Arimathea, a prominent council member, who was himself waiting for the kingdom of God, coming and taking courage, went in to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus.

They day between death and Resurrection. Christ is in the grave. Joseph of Arimathea had gotten the nerve to go before Pilate and ask for the body of Christ. Courage is doing what you must do even when you fear the consequences. Joseph was held in high regard, but may have feared what could have been said or done by him placing honor on the dead Christ. Matthew Henry spoke of him saying, “Those who wait for the kingdom of God, and hope for an interest in the privileges of it, must show it by their forwardness to own Christ’s cause and interest, even then when it seems to be crushed and run down.” Joseph put his great faith before anything man could do to him and honored God. This even as all Christ’s disciples had abandoned him over the last hours of His life. God raised up Joseph to honor His Son.

1 John 2:12 I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake. Most of us have lost someone close, and in those first hours and days questions fill our minds of the why’s and where they are now that they have left their earthly body. Most all of Christ’s followers were in disbelief of the events that had taken place and were in great sorrow. They were gathering together and trying to understand the events. Questions filled their minds. When we loose someone now to death, Christ has brought us the possibility of the understanding the answers to many of these questions. This price He paid on the Cross for our sin, gives us the assurance of passing into heaven with Him, and can remove much of the sorrow and doubt we feel if those we loose are Saved. Hebrews 6:11-12 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end, that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Rest in the assurance of the promise of this day between.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on April 7, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Snatched from the fire

06 Apr

This morning I have been spending time in the four gospels reading the accounts of the last days of Christ. Each author telling his story of betrayal, trials, and Crucifixion. It stirs my soul and I cannot grasp the selflessness of Christ, and the understanding of His fathers Will, even to the point of asking if there was any other way. The weight of what He bore for us is impossible for us to understand for even the heavens were blackened for hours. The weight of sin bore down on one Man for eternity….wow. I could not help but feel led to gratitude for what He did for me. How can we not do all we can for Him, when we realize what He did for us? My hope is that you respond to the weight you may feel this Easter in the realization of the events. That the stirring inside you provokes a response and movement towards a change in your relationship with your Savior. May you respond to that gut feeling inside you as never before, for it is never too late, until it is.

 

Snatched from the fire

Romans 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.

Over 2000 years ago today represented a mark in history that forever changed eternity like none other. The mark in which lives are given the ability to pass into eternal paradise, or hell if they choose to deny Christ. Before the day of the ultimate sacrifice we all would have died in sin. Today Christ has paid the price for all of us that we cannot pay through any good deed and earn our way into heaven. Hebrews 12:2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Today we should be draw to rejoice and humble, grateful thanksgiving for what was given for us.

If you were asleep with your home on fire, and someone rescued you from sure death, you would naturally forever feel gratitude and obligation to them for giving you life. You have been asleep in sin, and Christ rescued you from your sin, providing you a path from eternal fire. Isn’t it natural once you realize that to feel obligated to Him? 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. The realization of what Easter brings is humbling and should draw out from you a spirit of gratitude of what Christ did even for those who hated Him. I cannot fathom sacrificing my sons for anybody, much less to a world that hated me. That is a depth of love from a God of love that should stir your soul. Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Let the weight of what Easter represents press on you, and let the Spirit stir you to begin His work in you for living your life as a sacrifice to Christ, whom paid the ultimate sacrifice for you. Thank you Jesus.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on April 6, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Tags: , , , , ,

Yes that is God stirring this week

04 Apr

Yes that is God stirring this week

Romans 10:8-9    But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Before Christ I was living a life so full of sin I am ashamed. I don’t believe in glorifying the sin, but in my typical fashion I even sinned to the greatest of my ability too. But somewhere along the way God began to stir my heart and I began to listen. Then I began to respond and things started to change, and the conviction of those sins bared down on me with a weight I was ready to release. Acts 2:21 And it shall come to pass That whoever calls on the name of the Lord Shall be saved.  I did not want to walk in the middle of the road, I wanted to fully commit my life to Christ, and I prayed for Him to take my sins and guide me to fully following Him with all my might. I cannot accurately pen the indescribable difference that Christ has made inside me, but everything I have is available to you too.

This Holy week celebrating our Risen Lord stirs the hearts of many of you which may spur you into going to church. No other religion in the world celebrates a Risen King which separates Christianity from all others. Romans 8:34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. There is nothing that you have done that you cannot be forgiven for by One whom conquered death and presented life eternally. He is praying for you and submitting His prayers to God His Father on your behalf in hope that you will recognize your sin and allow Him to rescue you from an eternal punishment. No good deeds will ever rescue you from paying the price tag with pride of believing you can attain what is unattainable without Him.

Let God stir in your heart this week and respond to that invitation. Humble yourself before Him, repent and know there is eternal forgiveness, and let Him into your heart. You will attain a peace and a new outlook in life in a world that is far from God. Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on April 4, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Tags: , , , , ,

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.”

 
Leave a comment

Posted by on April 2, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

Tags: , , , , ,

← Older posts
Newer posts →