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A passage that stands out

11 Jul

A passage that stands out

 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. 2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

There are times in the Bible that you wish were more than even the words of Christ that may be highlighted in red. The scriptures that stand alone; key passages that give you key points of how to live your life as a Christian; Romans 12 is one of those passages. You must “get it” to learn to live how God desires you to live. I love how The Message translation describes this passage:
Romans 12:1 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life – your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life – and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. 2 Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Anytime that you see a “therefore” in a passage, you must read the prior scriptures to understand it’s meaning. Romans 11:36 For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.  Amen. Paul summed it up in 11:36, but my ESV commentary points out that the Therefore is really pointing to all of Paul’s argument thus presented in Romans. Christ speaks to John in the Book of Revelation with that same summary that Paul speaks of in 11:36. Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” You must come to a point in your life that you truly begin to grasp how great God is; how great is his mercy for not giving you what you deserve; how great is his grace in giving you what you do not. How great he is as the Sovereign Ruler of the universe; the Creator and the Sustainer. Only in this understanding will come a life that desires to life as a Romans 12 Christian. You must grasp Paul’s argument in the book of Romans prior, to move to that level of sacrifice He desires that Paul speaks of in Romans 12.

The New Living Translation puts it like this: Romans 12:1 And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice — the kind he will accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask? 2 Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will know what God wants you to do, and you will know how good and pleasing and perfect his will really is. I have given you three different translations for this scripture, but I cannot speak to your heart. Prayerfully seek God in this scripture on your own; ask him to set you back in reverent awe of him, to produce in you that life that He desires you to live found in this passage.

 
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Posted by on July 11, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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T.G.I.F. > Today God Is First

14 Jun

T.G.I.F. > Today God Is First

Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the LORD hath made ; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

T: Psalm 118:24 This is the day which the LORD hath made ; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

My every morning prayer has one certain repetition: Thank you Lord for today. He grants me the breath for the day, and allows or designs all that will be in the day. He is the creator and sustainer of all of life to the smallest detail. He has granted me breath for another day to serve a purpose for that day. I seek to be in the center of his Will for each day.

G: Revelation 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

He is the creator, sustainer, judge, jury, and ruler of all. He will return to judge all of our lives in a holy court for how we have lived our lives according to his good Word. We must give account for all our thoughts, deeds, spoken and unspoken words. We must give account of how we treated the sacrifice He made for us at Calvary. Did we live the life of a disciple?

I: Matthew 22:37 Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment.

What is He really to you? Where does your daily life reflect your relationship with your Lord and Savior? Do those around you know that your are a Christian? Do they want to be a Christian because of you? If you have Christ at the center of your life because of the love you feel for him, you will naturally be an outpouring of his Spirit that lives inside of you. The love that you have will be known to all that come in contact with you.

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

Start your day out with God and all your day will be better. A heart for God seeks him early in the day, before the pressures of the day, try to take your eyes off Him. A heart for God spends time in his Word and prayer, seeking to abide with him for the day. A heart for God comes to the understanding that all the trials of life can draw you closer to Him, not take you away from Him as Satan desires to do. Preparing your day with God is the key to all you desire. Your life will not change until you start your day with God. In that effort is found all that you desire each and every day. It starts with today.

 
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Posted by on June 14, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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Butterflies….

08 Jun

Butterflies…..

Revelation 1:1-3    The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants–things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

I get really nervous about writing from the book of Revelation. I don’t much to be honest, but I feel led so strongly to write about what God is laying on my heart there, I feel as though I must. Revelation is a book by Jesus Christ himself; he is giving us a glimpse into the future of time as we know it, a glimpse of the battle of good and evil, and an assurance that good has and will prevail.  Is is an apocalyptic book, foretelling of things to come, and its author John describes himself as recorder and writer of these visions he is witnessing. He is doing as he is told to do; recording what he sees to present to those that will hear.

Revelation is written to the seven churches in Asia. They represent the types of different churches, and these same types exist today. They are addressed with their both their good and bad attributes; they are warned of their faults. They must be both encouraged and disciplined in this book. We all can find ourselves in the description of one of these churches, and we all must heed the warnings given in these descriptions. All of this letters to these seven churches are to encourage believers to draw closer to Christ and away from the temptations and false teachings that Satan has planted in the world and the church. “God’s overriding purpose in all of history is the establishment of the promised messianic kingdom. Associated with this ultimate divine objective is the opportunity for believers to persevere by faith in a life of obedience. The prospect for these overcomers or victors is the destiny of realigning with Christ as coheirs in His kingdom. (Study Bible)

So if this book is the words of Christ given to likely his favorite apostle both as a warning and a promise, can you understand the importance of spending time there? Can you dig deep to find yourself as described in one of the seven churches? Will you ask God to speak to you as we spend time looking at where He has spoken to me? I know where my heart lied before Christ saved me; it lied in a lukewarm faith that sickened Christ as in the church of Laodecia. I pretended to be a Christian, yet lived with a heart for the world. I was going to be vomited from Christ’s mouth if He had not opened my eyes through my heart of this sin. I have repented of my sin and by the grace of God I ask you to do the same. Revelation should be a book that stirs you; makes you feel nervous too,  and makes you reflect on your own faith and the outcome of it.

 
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Posted by on June 8, 2013 in Daily Devotions

 

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The time is near

21 Aug

The time is near

Revelation 1:1-3 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants–things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

The book of Revelation is the most fascinating and the most misunderstood book in the bible. It is an ‘apocalyptic’ literature, or an unveiling, or disclosure. So this book is about Christ, from Christ as the author. The apostle John was given these visions and words to pen for us to read. The summary of this book is found in verse 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near. For the “time is near’. You must realize as a believer in Christ the state of the world around you, and you must realize the importance of these days to share the Gospel of Christ to those around you who do not know Him.

We live in a fallen world, and the world’s sin seems to be escalating again. Throughout history their have been evil men who did horrible things, yet society condemned them for it. Society as a whole seems less likely to condemn now, but to blame and let it pass on the merits of where that blame is placed. There seems to be less power in the condemnation of judgement. The book of Revelation speaks to that coming judgement upon Christ’s return, and the eternal sentence. Revelation 20:12 And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.

Is your name written in the Book of Life? Do you know Christ as your Savior from the pit of Hell as the only Way(John 14:6)? Do you confess him before men? Matthew 10:32 “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. 33 But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven. You cannot simply deny these coming days, for the book of Revelation speaks clearly of them. All roads do not lead to God and heaven; and living as a good person without the understanding of the Gospel will lead you down the path of destruction. The days you spend here on earth are the paths you prepare for eternity. The time is near; are you prepared?

 
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Posted by on August 21, 2012 in Daily Devotions

 

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