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Heavenly Father

17 Jun

Heavenly Father

Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

As I searched for “Heavenly Father” this morning I was led to Matthew 6. That is one of my favorite chapters in the Bible, and so much of it speaks to our relationship with God, our Heavenly Father. It covers prayer, fasting, forgiveness, deeds, and the last 1/3 is about worry. It speaks of how we should not worry when we place our faith in Him. I openly struggle with anxiety and find myself returning much to this chapter. The entire chapters spine is our relationship with our Heavenly Father and how to pursue it. This is a “how to” book on developing an eternal relationship with God, and the value you have in His eyes when you honor Him with your faith and focus.

The love we feel for our earthy fathers should be small compared to our love for our Heavenly Father. He is the One whom gave us them. We all love our dads, and today is a special day to honor them. I have a Godly father Jim who has tried his best to point me to Christ all his life, and even in my rebellion he still tried. It is through the power of prayer and God’s grace that I returned home. I am including a link to Matthew 6 below, that I believe would be a great way to honor you Heavenly Father today, by spending time in His Word, and hopefully prayer.

http://www.biblestudytools.com/nkjv/matthew/6.html

2 Corinthians 13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

 
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Posted by on June 17, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Spinal Prayer

12 Jun

Spinal Prayer

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, 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.

My dad is having hip replacement surgery today which is a pretty big deal to him and all of us. Any surgery at any age always involves risks, but the older we get the higher the risks become. I ask for your prayers for the physicians hands to be guided by their abilities provided by God, and for them to rest on that understanding.

Although nervous, Dad will be at peace. He knows that whatever may come of this his eternal future is secure and that God has a plan in all of this. We all deal with trials and tribulations in life, and how we view them depends upon our faith. We can either see them as the “why me?”, or the “how God?”. God many times in His sovereignty will place our paths down the suffering road of life for His greater purposes. He grows our faith, strengthens our hope, and encourages those around us in our reflections of it. Romans 5:3-4  And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. How God can I glorify you in the middle of this trial I must endure?

Pray is the spine of enduring these trials of life. When you have nowhere to lean, lean on God. Is it possible that He knows that this is the way to draw you closer to Him? Is is possible that He knows your faith is strong and you will encourage others in how you handle the same things they do but under the shield of faith? All things that we endure can draw glory to Him, and all these things have passed through the Gods hands. Remember the story of Job, and of how Satan was allowed to test him; but all the while God knew His great faith, and the powerful testimony and blessings that came as a result of it. Pray to be that vessel in all things to draw glory to Him.

 
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Posted by on June 12, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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What have you given the kiddo’s?

08 Jun

What have you given the kiddo’s?

Ephesians 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him,

Ah the demon of anxiety rears his head, and mornings like these must be bathed in God’s Word and prayer. I awoke thinking of the graduations of all our children this week, the next steps in life for them, the changes that are coming. Many of them will be on their own in college and life, many are making the next steps. I awoke thinking of writing of Wisdom. Somewhere in my study, Satan creeped in and has made my morning difficult.

I pray that somewhere in your heart, you have shared the Greatest Gift with your children; the gift of an eternal Savior, Jesus Christ. How will they know if you do not teach them? They will be tugged away by the society that we live in that teaches self love and preservation at all costs. If they are headed off into the ‘real world’, have you prepared them, and their hearts?

Our greatest responsibility as a parent is to teach our children of what lies in the life after this, and that life is one of paradise or torment. Our eternal responsibility is to show them the Way through Christ for the forgiveness of their sins, and to a security that this world cannot steal away from them. This wisdom is eternal, and is gained at no expense but approaching God with a humble heart. James 1:5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind.

Invest in your children more than just parenting, or being their friend. Share with them eternity and the answer to it through Christ. You have less than 20yrs of their lives to make the impressions of them to last more than just this lifetime.

 
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Posted by on June 8, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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Works based Faith vs. Faith based Works

04 May

Works based Faith vs. Faith based Works

Hebrew 6:10-12    For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister. 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.

I came upon this scripture a few days ago, and it has taken me down many roads of study. At first I was thankful for the encouragement that it gave me for my “labor of love.” But as a read of how Paul was writing to argue against apostasy (the falling away of religion or belief in Christ), I have seen God take me elsewhere. As a Christian we are called to obey the commands of God. The spine is the Ten Commandments (The Law), and we are bound with faith, hope, and love as Paul preaches much. 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3 We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers, remembering without ceasing your work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of our God and Father. The desire to attain the law is a labor of love from deep within our soul. We cannot obtain to perfection the Law directs, but we can reside in the Grace that God has provided through the acceptance of Salvation through Christ.

Do you believe that your good deeds or even the denial of certain sins will attain you a key to Heaven? Do you believe that “at least I don’t do that”; or repentance of that earns your way into heaven? Your faith cannot reside in your works alone to earn your way into heaven. James 2:17-18 Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. 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. The Gospel teaches that the only way into Heaven is the repentance of sin, the acceptance of Christ as the only way, and the desire to let Him lead your life. This life will produce change, and that desire will produce good works by which others will see your faith. The works are simply living a life of following Gods Will and directions for your life. The commands of God are revealed to you in His Word and prayer. These produce the good works, strengthen your faith, and give you the perseverance to endure. This circle of life begins at Salvation and lasts an eternity.

 
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Posted by on May 4, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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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.

 
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Posted by on April 16, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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