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Enlightenment

28 Sep

Enlightenment

Ephesians 1:17-18 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. 18 I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, (NASB)

If you have followed this ministry at all, you have likely read “open your eyes (and mind) through your heart,” my take on enlightenment. Enlightenment is a true gift of God on many levels, continually expanding by grace to those who pursue it. It is not found by the scholar, but by the humble heart, no matter the level of degree. God gives his gift of enlightenment to whomever he desires; many times children speak of him with a level of maturity that leaves us amazed, because God opened their minds through the eyes of their hearts that have remained pure. Enlightenment is God’s grace on display, a free gift from God to those who follow that tug on their heart to pursue him. Enlightenment is a response to a call God has placed on your heart.

In my study this morning, I came across this quote below I must share. It has a reference to another scripture, but meditate on the enlightenment found in these words.

Imagine if all the tumult of the body were to quiet down,
along with all our busy thoughts about earth, sea, and air;
if the very world would stop, and the mind cease thinking about itself,
go beyond itself, and be quite still;
if all the fantasies that appear in dreams and imagination would cease,
and there be no speech, no sign:
Imagine if all things that are perishable grew still – for if we listen they are saying,
“We did not make ourselves; he made us who abides forever” – imagine, then,
that they should say this and fall silent, listening to the very voice of him who made them
and not to that of his creation;
so that we should hear not his word through the tongues of men, nor the voice of angels,
nor the clouds’ thunder, nor any symbol, but the very Self which in these things we love,
and go beyond ourselves to attain a flash of that eternal wisdom which abides above all things:
And imagine if that moment were to go on and on,
leaving behind all other sights and sounds but this one vision
which ravishes and absorbs and fixes the beholder in joy;
so that the rest of eternal life were like that moment of illumination which leaves us breathless:
Would this not be what is bidden in the scripture, Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord?
– Saint Augustine

 
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Posted by on September 28, 2015 in Daily Devotions

 

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Encouragement

08 Apr

Encouragement

1 Thessalonians 5:9-11 For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, 10 who died for us so that whether we are awake or asleep we might live with him. 11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.(ESV)

Sunday’s sermon was a tough one; it was one of a call to repentance. I knew I was to preach it, and I knew it would bring with it spiritual warfare. Monday was the low, after the high of Sunday. I can’t begin to explain here what my life is like now; I honestly do not think the details matter, but God can show you generalities that you can relate and deal with in situations that you currently face too. We are all called to a daily repentance; we all fail daily and have that need to go before our Lord and ask for forgiveness. I felt that weight heavily yesterday. I thank God for those deep convictions of sin, but they hurt deeply also. I have to ask myself just as Paul did in Romans 7:15 For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. (ESV) But you must continue reading, and understanding as Paul, that you will never be perfect; you will fail daily, and therefore require daily repentance due to sin. 17 So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. (ESV)

Paul writes of the encouraging words that we can lean on in times of trouble above. The promise of eternal paradise with our Savior above. When we get entrenched in the woes of our sin state that binds us, we are of little use to the kingdom. We become so down and worried about ourselves we may miss the blessing from God, or the way he wants to use us for the day. We should focus our minds on heavenly things, living with a repentant heart that casts our sins at the foot of the cross. Colossians 3:2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.

Personally, my plea is for you to encourage your pastors and ministers in your life. This has been a tough lesson to learn for me; it is a very lonely place to be. Those that lead you at church every week need your encouragement. They may be your pastor, your youth leader, your worship leader, anyone involved in ministry is in battle for their servant hearts on the weekend. They need your encouragement; you would be amazed at how far a little will go. Paul knew these battles that the early churches faced; that was why he returned to them, sent letters to them, and constantly sought to encourage them with those he sent to them. Pray for those that serve the Lord by serving you; encourage them in some way, for I promise you they need it.

 
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Posted by on April 8, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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Pray for, flee from, draw near

24 Jan

Pray for, flee from, draw near.

1 Peter 1:13-16    Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior ; 16 because it is written, “YOU SHALL BE HOLY, FOR I AM HOLY.”

What are you still hanging onto? What in your life is your vice? What do you still have that is your escape, your go-to, your idol that you place above your Lord Jesus Christ? These are battles that we surely face early in our new found life as a Christian. All these old habits that are still there, but now the convictions of these sins now are painfully evident. The Lord may have miraculously healed you from a demon of sin at your conversion, but there is also the process of Sanctification that is not so instantaneous. This is where God begins to prick on those things you hold dear, those things that you hold above him. This sanctification process will continue for your life as a Christian; the more your hearts desire to become a disciple, the more pricks God shows you. You will never attain perfection, but his goal with you is to conform you into the image of his Son.

Are those secret sins holding you back form drawing closer to your God? Surely they are! What does this passage above command? “Be Holy for I am holy!” God knows your heart. God knows what you are hiding, God even knows if you are truly trying. Set down that sin and pray for the strength only found in Him to never pick it up again; to never think those thoughts again; to never put it before him again as any crutch in your life. Colossians 3:23 And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men. You are not alone in this battle; Satan wants to convince you that you are. Do not let him deceive you.

I can promise you that when you begin to set down your crutches in life, your feel good sedatives, that you will draw closer to God. When you truly desire to flee any sin or idol that God has pointed out to you, he is showing you what it takes to draw closer to him. It is a divide that must be crossed to move forward in your relationship with your Savior. Romans 6:1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it? Pray for, flee from, draw near.

 
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Posted by on January 24, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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Comfort only in Him

22 Jan

Comfort only in Him

2 Corinthians 1:3-8    Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. 5 For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. 8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about the hardships we suffered in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. (NIV)

Yesterday as I worked on my sermon for this week, I received a message from church about someone who was in the middle of an extremely painful situation. A hurt so deep that it affected anybody that came to know about it; it truly gripped me. In the selfishness side of my position, I am clueless of what to say, to search for words of comfort when there are seemingly none. I worried about me, yet then God opened my heart to her. There is no way I can comprehend, or even begin to understand the pain of a mother. So many questions I cannot answer; big questions that rest in our faith of our Sovereign God. Through all the pain, we must know that He is in control.

In times like this I tend to reflect on how little I am. I think back at the incredible life story of Job; the pawn in a spiritual warfare; the guy who God so loved he let Satan sift him; he rewarded Job greatly for his enduring faith. When Job questioned God, God replied “who are you to question me?” Job’s mind just like ours was limited; we are simple and God is beyond intricate to the highest degree. Isaiah 55:8 “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord. We can never come to understand the plans He has laid out for us. We so many times question the painful trials He allows us to go through. We would never walk down these paths by our own choice, but we must know that He has walked this path ahead of us. When we are in the middle of these seemingly trying times, “draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you.”

 
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Posted by on January 22, 2014 in Daily Devotions

 

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The other 11 months

16 Dec

The other 11 months

Romans 13:10-14    Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. 11 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.

We are steadily approaching Christmas week, the celebration of the birth of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. I have been thinking, praying, and studying on the message for this coming Sunday. This coming week there will be the message of Christ’s birth 2000 years ago, but there will also be the message of his return; Lord willing he doesn’t return before then. If we are truly a child of His, we should grasp the grace that God bestowed upon us that day in that barn. We should grasp that our eternal lives were secured by that incarnation of God himself; humbled beyond description, destined to die for our redemption. All to pay for our sins for which we could not ever pay on our own. He came and died to provide what we could not ever accomplish by any good deed, or work, or sacrifice in any way.

Paul writes in Romans of this coming day, the day that Christ returns. He speaks of how we are to live our lives as an expression of love; 1 John 4:8 He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. This time of year we many times find ourselves doing our good deeds, showing expressions of our love for our fellow man, or those that are seemingly less fortunate. It brings about a good feeling inside when we perform these tasks; it shows a warm heart and hopefully an example of Christ living inside of us. But what about the other 11 months out of the year? Do we return to our worldly ways on January 1st and live for ourselves and our worldly pursuits? Do we  reflect Christ for those other 11months?

Paul is truly pointing the finger at us, he is reminding us that every day brings us closer to Christ return. Matthew 24:36 “But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only. In these days of office parties and New Years celebrations, take time to remember the true meaning of the season and how you are reflecting it. When He returns, we shall stand before him and give an account of our lives. It will be much better to live all 12 months out of the year in with the evidence of love that He gives us.

 
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Posted by on December 16, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Big things

05 Dec

Big things

1 Corinthians 1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. (NIV)

We have entered the month of the celebration of our Lord Jesus Christ’s birth. The holiday season if you will; the point in which all of time centers around. There is no point of which to argue that our time stamp revolves around the birth of Christ no matter your belief; there is a marker set in history of BC (before Christ), and AD (after death). Even with that historical marker some argue who and what Christ was and is. Such a big deal…..that He divided time. My heart this week has been wrapped up in big picture things in my life; at the church, at my business, in my life, and in my study of the Word. So many big things with so many levels of cause and effect. These things are likened to these divisions Paul speaks of here; the opposite of unity. I cannot begin to open the roads my mind is going down, but I have included a passage that I pray the Holy Spirit will speak to you. It is one of of unity, of the centrality in Christ, in the One who divided the time that our world revolves around.

1 Corinthians 1:10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.18 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” (ESV)

 
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Posted by on December 5, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Rubber Bands

22 Nov

Rubber Bands

2 Corinthians 1:3-4   Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.

I am mentally exhausted….the past couple months have been a whirlwind of emotions, incredible highs and lows. I, in trying to describe what things have been like, have told others to pick an adjective and likely I have experienced it. The amazing personal thing to me, knowing my own struggles with anxiety, is that I have not experienced an anxiety attack. Now don’t get me wrong, worry has abounded, but their is a huge difference in the two; apples and oranges let’s say. I have been a Thanksgiving recipe for an attack with these strains, but yet none have come. In all of it, I have been seeking God; in all of it I have been praying, even with a few daily fasts. In all of it He has been my rock, my fortress, my comforter, my hope, my security, my enabler, my guide, my father, my God. I have been told through Godly wisdom that the reason for my missing anxiety attack is that I am in the center of God’s Will for my life; Satan can’t touch me. That is far from a prideful statement, it is a humbling example of what you can have too when you truly seek God. It is a means that I can share of the hope that lies within me; a tangible way I can articulate the power of God in my life to those that are struggling with life. It is the power of God in my life; it is the power of God when you truly seek him every, single, day; every day to remain in his Will for your life for that day. If you will do this one thing, He will do the rest. Matthew 6:33 Seek Ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.

There are so many in my circle of friends, family, and influence that are really hurting right now. So many of them have had great big things land in their laps this week. Some closest to me have been at their wits end with the daily demands and troubles of life. It can be great mental strains and even physical strains. Many of them are truly hurting inside, and I am so thankful that so many of them are so strong in their faith. My sermon last week was one about the trials of life and how they serve as distractions to take our eyes off Christ; we have countless examples in each of our live that we can recognize as such. But when in the middle of them, when we receive the comfort of our faith in them, we are blessed by and through them. We are able to see God in them, and witness of our faith through them, This scripture above is the witness to what God does in each of them.

 
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Posted by on November 22, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Grace + Faith = 0 Debt Due

05 Nov

Grace + Faith = 0 Debt Due

Romans 5:1-2    Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2 through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.

Justified in it’s simplest meaning would be get out of jail pass; a paid ransom due to a Holy God. Your sin debt has been paid by Jesus Christ. This debt is due to all of mankind due to the imputed sin of Adam in the Garden of Eden. Christ shed blood for you paid your eternal debt. Our faith in that understanding of Grace frees us from the bondage of sin eternally. Think of the Holy Court that God will hold on Judgement Day; when we all, whether we believe in him or not, will stand before him and give an account of our lives. We will either stand guilty and pay for our sins eternally in Hell, or we bow forgiven by our faith in the understanding of the grace and justification of our sins by Christ dying to pay that sin debt due that Judgement Day. Like it or not, believe it or not, we all will meet together on that day and the truth shall be revealed. Did you understand Grace in your life, or did you feel in any way your earned your Salvation? If you feel that you earned it by going to church, being a good person, or any list of good works to earn God’s favor, Christ died in vain, and you will pay eternally for not understanding Grace.

When you come to understand what these scriptures say, the Gospel message that Paul is speaking of here, you gain that peace and hope that the world does not comprehend. The Holy Spirit living inside of you grows your faith and opens the truths of God to you in time cultivated in God’s Word and prayer. Romans 5:5 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. The more you seek God the greater your faith, your peace, and the hope that lies within you grows. You begin to have peace in an out of control world, where by the world standards peace is not found. The world teaches self, the Word teaches selflessness. This going against the grain of the world is what gives you the peace that it cannot steal away. Paul speaks of what the world will throw at us , and how it strengthens us when we are strong in our faith. Romans 5:3 And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; 4 and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. In that growing relationship with your eternal Father, you will possess a hope that others see, that he uses to draw them to himself. They will not understand how you are the way you are, but when they ask, you can share Him with them.

 
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Posted by on November 5, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Pahleeessse get it…..

01 Oct

I had a sleepless time in the middle of the night last night. This morning I simply went to God in prayer; I have a lot on my mind. I decided to look back one year ago today, and I remembered this urgency that I felt. In the middle of the night I had read; 2 Thessalonians 1:11 With this in mind, we constantly pray for you, that our God may count you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may fulfill every good purpose of yours and every act prompted by your faith. 12 We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you, and you in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ. 

See any similarities?

Pahleeessse get it…..

01 Oct

Pahleeessse get it…..

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”

As I laid in bed this morning listening to the rain I was silently thanking God for it. We have been blessed all summer in a year of drought with plentiful rain here in the south. As I came into my study God began to press on my heart the lost and the Living Water that they are without for eternity. Sometimes I get so passionate I want to grab those close to me and just shake them asking “why don’t you just get it?” Our world right here in America is experiencing a falling away in every area from the God centered nation that we were founded upon. Our president to our preachers are not standing upon the ground of Christian morals; with only Christ as the way to eternal paradise. The ideas that all roads lead to God will lead many straight to hell.

Do you understand that no matter how good you think you are, you are eternally lost without the realization of your sin under God as the righteous judge whom we will all stand before? You only have one way for your sin debt to be paid for; through a humble repentant heart and a plea for forgiveness by Christ sacrificial death for you. 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. You will stand guilty before a righteous God in an eternal court and either headed to paradise or hell; we all will stand before Him regardless of our lives or faith. But you can stand before Him as a child of His covered by the blood of the sacrifice He gave for you under His Son. Imagine if you gave your sons life for someone; only for them to say it did not matter and they denied that sacrifice you gave for them.

The women at the well in John above was an outcast of society and all she desired was water. Her encounter with Christ changed her life as she found someone who truly loved her, not as the men that had passed through her life before Him. She found a hope in Christ and what He spoke to her. John 4:13 Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.” 15 The woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw.”

I would encourage you to take a few minutes and visit this link:

http://viewthestory.com/viewer/?c=6765&p=t&quality=high&t=false

 
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Posted by on October 1, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Don’t be bashful

09 Sep

Don’t be bashful

Colossians 1:1-8    Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, 2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ who are in Colosse: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. 3 We give thanks to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, praying always for you, 4 since we heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of your love for all the saints; 5 because of the hope which is laid up for you in heaven, of which you heard before in the word of the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth; 7 as you also learned from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on your behalf, 8 who also declared to us your love in the Spirit.

Paul was in prison writing this letter to the Colossian church. It is believed that on his third missionary journey to Ephesus, a person named Epaphras was converted and returned home to Colosse to begin evangelizing his hometown. We are told that the church was composed mainly of Gentiles, and just like many early churches it had it’s problems. There were many that were leading others astray, preaching and teaching different ways to heaven; mixing the Jewish beliefs and forms of mysticisms that placed Jesus at a higher plain, but not as Deity, not as God. Paul starts out his letter to the Colossians to refute those false teachings. Paul begins speaking of their faith, hope, and love.

Do you see this as the prayer that it is? Do you see how Paul was praying for those that had just come to faith in Christ? He was interceding for them, he was going before God and praying for His strength for them. Paul knew that when they came to know Christ, they were going against the world. They needed other believers to pray for them. They needed the strength to endure the trials, the discernment from the Holy Spirit to recognize the false teachings; the truth of the gospel, 6 which has come to you, as it has also in all the world, and is bringing forth fruit, as it is also among you since the day you heard and knew the grace of God in truth. They must take that which He gives them, and spread the hope that lies within them. When we pray for, and are prayed for, God grants us wisdom through His Word and our prayer.

Do you have that faith? Do you have that hope, and that love? If you do have genuine faith in Jesus Christ as your Savior, there will be a natural outpouring of love, spreading that hope that lies within you. The book of James puts it bluntly; 2:17 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 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. Is there evidence in your life of that faith? Epaphras had heard the Gospel, and returned home to tell everyone, He had sought to share that hope that lied within him, for others to have what he now possessed. Don’t be bashful, tell someone the difference Christ made in your life today, the same thing He can do for them.

 
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Posted by on September 9, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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