“Be
careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with
thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God,
which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through
Christ Jesus” (Phil 4:6-7; KJV).
We
all get to worrying from time to time, but the apostle Paul tells us we don’t
need to. He tells us to let our heavenly Father know our needs and requests,
trust him and thank him for the answers. We need to allow God’s peace to
overwhelm us and keep us through Christ Jesus.
In
1 Peter, chapter 5 and verses 6 and 7 we read: “Humble yourselves therefore
under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all
your care upon him; for he careth for you” (KJV). If we approach our God humbly,
we are told we can cast our cares on him and he will take care of them. Jesus not only bore our sicknesses and
carried our pains but he was scourged that we could have peace (Isa 53:4-5).
The
definition of the word salvation in the Greek contains; forgiveness,
deliverance, rescue, liberation, release, restoration, safety, healing,
prosperity, preservation, soundness, happiness and general well-being. What’s left to worry about? Give it all to Jesus today and enjoy his
peace of mind.
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book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and
also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to
others.
Sometimes
when I listen to amazing music I am moved, I imagine that the composer must have
been inspired by God. I realize that I am not merely listening with my physical
ears but with my heart, my spirit. So often we listen but we do not hear; we
look but we do not see. Why is this? It’s because we only hear with our
physical ears and see with our physical eyes (Isa 6:9-10).
We
need to see and hear as God himself does, with our spirit, our heart (1 Sam
16:7; Luke 24:32). This is when God can speak to us Spirit to spirit (Prov
20:27; Rom 8:16), through his word (John 14:26; Rom 2:15), through people (Prov
11:14), his creation (Rom 1:20) and music he inspires; this is when we can be
truly changed. How often we do not change when we hear so much of God’s word
and see and hear so much of him but only with our physical ears and eyes.
For
a few moments in our busyness we need to try to focus on God, on heaven, and
leave our soul to rest. Allow God to arrest you, envelope you in his peace and
love you, speak to your heart and change you from glory to glory, holiness to
holiness. I encourage you to close your eyes, listen to some of your favorite
music, gaze at a beautiful picture or simply enjoy the beauty of God’s creation
and meditate on the goodness of God. Allow him to speak to you and truly impact
and change you. My, how the church needs truly changed Christians, people sold
out for him.
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Check out our web site ( www.onthewayinlove.com ) for information on our
book: “On the Way: Basic Christian Training”, including how to purchase it and
also to see more encouraging Bible based blogs. Please recommend our book to
others.
“That
their hearts might be comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all
riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgement of the
mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; In whom are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge” (Col.2:2-3; KJV).
This
is part of a prayer that Paul was praying for the Colossians; his heart’s
desire was for unity in love and that they would have a desire to know Christ
more. This is a prayer we can use today for our own lives, it’s also a good
prayer to pray over others too.
To
know Jesus more is certainly my desire. Of course, we don’t want to just know
Jesus more for what we can get out of him. But nevertheless, as verse 3 says,
when we do get to know Jesus we also tap into his wisdom and knowledge.
The
apostle Paul desired to personally know Jesus more (Phil 3:10). If this is your
heart’s desire then make these verses your confession today. And how exactly do
we get to know God better? Well, let’s allow
the apostle Paul to show us: “I press toward the mark of the prize of the high
calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:14). How do we press? By spending time
in his word, in prayer and in his presence.
Sound
familiar?
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Sometimes
life is sweet; everything goes according to plan, life is good. However, we all
know that that is not always the case. Sometimes life can just get too much,
things don’t seem to work out and you just feel like giving up. If that’s you
today I want to encourage you with a few scriptures.
“In
the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the
world” (John 16:33; KJV). “But thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (1 Cor 15:57). “Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth
us to triumph in Christ” (2 Cor 2:14).
These
last 2 verses tell us to be thankful; not for the challenges you are facing but despite
them. Everything may look very bleak in the natural but we can be thankful that
we serve a mighty victorious God for whom nothing is impossible (Luke 1:37).
From our verses above we see that with Christ Jesus we are victorious,
triumphant over all the works of satan (Col 2:15). “I can do all things through
Christ which strengtheneth me” (Phil 4:13).
If
you are in the valley today, keep confessing these verses because they are the
word and the word is the truth whether you feel victorious or not. Confessing
the word will build up your faith (Rom 10:17). How long should you keep
confessing them? Until you experience the victory.
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I
encourage you to read from John’s gospel chapter 13 and verses 1-17 today. This
is a wonderful passage where Jesus teaches us humility and servant hood. Jesus
showed us his supreme confidence in his relationship with his Father in verse
3. This allowed him to humble himself and show his amzing love for his
disciples in washing their feet.
God
calls us to serve (Mark 9:35) and we can only humble ourselves and do that if
we know who we are in Christ. We are his sons and daughters (2 Cor 6:18), joint
heirs with Jesus (Rom 8:17) and seated in the heavenly places with him (Eph
2:6). Nothing can ever separate us from his love (Rom 8:35). In that confidence
we can walk in humility and serve.
In
our passage above from John’s Gospel, Peter protested that Jesus should not
wash his feet (v 8); but notice Jesus’ response. He said that if he could not
wash Peter’s feet, Peter would have no part with Jesus (v 8). We have no part
with Jesus if we do not have a servant’s heart. Jesus established servant hood
as a mark of the Christian for all time (v 12-15); he demonstrated it for us.
In
the word we are told that if we humble ourselves God will exalt us (1 Peter
5:6). We are told that we are called to serve and that in serving we will find
greatness (Mark 10: 43-45). Look for ways to serve people today; this pleases
the heart of our heavenly father.
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