I
love the Psalms; reading one a day is a good plan. David really shows his love,
fear of and heart for God in his poetry. In writing Psalm 139 verses 23 and 24 King
David humbled himself before his God and cried out that his heavenly Father
would search his heart for any wickedness and show him how to walk in
Godliness.
As
with David, we cannot do this and walk the walk on our own; o how we need God
in our lives. In Romans chapter 2 and verse 15 we are told that our born-again
spirits, (hearts or consciences) will show us if we are right or wrong if we
allow the Holy Spirit to illuminate and strengthen our spirits with the word of
God (John 14:26; Rom 8:16).
Get
in the word, ask God to bring you revelation by the Holy Spirit as you read and
meditate his word. Allow the spotlight of God’s word to show you where you need
to change so you can draw ever closer to God. Remember it is not in our own
strength but it is God who shows us the way and empowers us to change and be
more like him: “being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good
work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ” (Phil 1:6; KJV).
Lord,
flood us with your presence, your Holy Spirit today and have your way in our
lives.
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“Ye
shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and
obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him” (Deut 13:4; KJV). Our
lives should line up with the word of God. We need to look into the word today
and see if our lives, our thoughts, words and actions are on track. So often we
look but only want to pull out our favorite words.
The
word is truth (John 17:17), inspired by God (2 Tim 3:16) and his counsel for
every aspect of our life (Pr 4:20-23). We can look into the word and it will encourage
us as we see areas where we are lined up with it. However, the word will also bring instruction
and reproof if we are open to receive it (Pr 2:10-11). To grow in God, we need
to allow his word to not only strengthen us and encourage us but also to
challenge and change us. If we refuse, we will stagnate and be frustrated,
going nowhere.
How
often we have favorite words but the very next verse we gloss over because it
is an ouch; a word that challenges our stubbornly held opinions where we do not
want to change. It is only when we are open to God’s whole counsel that we can
move on to be used by God and experience that true life of abundance (John
10:10).
Moving
on in true revelation of God’s word is wonderful, going to new heights and places
we have never been before. Let’s give God permission to open our eyes and ears
to his word today and do a new thing in our lives. O my, how I want that, do
you?
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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.
We all sin but we
are no longer sinners (1 John 1:8). Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross the
price was paid for our sin’s past, present and future (1 Cor 15:3). As born-again
Christians God no longer sees us as sinners, he sees us in Christ, forgiven and
the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus (2 Cor 5:21). Righteousness basically
means right standing with God. Satan may try to condemn us but we have an
Advocate (Rom 8:34), Christ Jesus, who pleads our case before God (1 John 2:1).
As God’s children
and members of his kingdom (Col 1:13) we are still tempted to sin and we do sin
(1 John 1:8), but the word says that if we repent and ask for forgiveness God
is quick to forgive us (1 John 1:9). Now
that’s good news. So, how many times will he forgive us in any given day? Well,
we are instructed to forgive our brother 7 time seventy times (Matt 18:22) and
God is far more loving and merciful than we are. But brother Norman you don’t
know what I have done. God forgave David when he repented after committing
adultery and murder (2 Sam 11). Don’t be condemned, look to God our loving and
merciful father, humble yourself and ask forgiveness with a truly repentant
heart.
Now, as Christians we should not go on
willfully and deliberately sinning, if we do then there is something very wrong
as if we are born again, our spirit (conscience) should convict us of sin and in
fellowship with God (Rom 2:15). Check yourself; are you truly born again? Have
you given your life to the Master? Talk to a mature Christian friend and settle
the matter today.
As Christians we
should be quick to repent whenever we sin (1John 1:9); sin does not cause us to
lose our salvation but it does cloud our fellowship with God, just as in any
human relationship (1 John 1:7). Run to your loving father, repent and enjoy
unbroken fellowship with him. There is nothing better.
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One
of the fruits of the Spirit in our lives is gentleness (Gal 5:23) which can better
be translated as meekness. When we think of meekness we often think of weakness
or someone who is a mouse. But this
could not be further from the truth. Meekness
is a powerful fruit of the Spirit creating a submissive spirit in us toward our
God and giving us a quiet strength and confidence that is from God alone. The
meek Christian is not a mouse but an individual who has the confidence of
knowing who he is in Christ and a temperament that is controlled and at peace.
We
are told to pursue meekness (1 Tim 6:11), to walk in meekness (Eph 4:2), so that
people see it in us. We should demonstrate meekness in our dealings with others
(Titus 3:2), even if they respond with unkindness and especially as we talk to
them of the things of God and bring correction (2 Tim 2:25). “Brethren, if a
man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the
spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted” (Gal 6:1). The
apostle Paul reminded us that meekness is a characteristic of Jesus: (2 Cor 10:1).
Let
us take stock of our lives, are we known for our meekness as we have defined it
above?
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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.
“I can do all things through Christ which
strengtheneth me” (Phil.4:13; KJV). I am sure this is a very familiar verse to
most of us. How often we hear it quoted when someone has a difficult task in
front of them. However, do we really think about all that is implied in this
verse? We tend to focus on what we can do: “through Christ” but today I would
like to focus on how we are enabled to do that.
The
word “STRENGTHENETH”, is not just a passive word in that we just get strength
all on our own, but has more the sense of God actively filling us with his
strength. This reminds me of two other scriptures. In 1 Corinthians chapter 3
and verse 5 we read that: “Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any
thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God” and in Colossians chapter
1 and verse 11 it is written: “strengthened with all might, according to his glorious
power”.
This
means that we don’t have to depend on our ability but through the inner
strength that comes from God alone. In order to be in a position to receive
that strength we need to be abiding in the vine (John 15:5). Jesus is the vine
and we need to have an intimate and ongoing relationship with him. Praise God
that we don`t have to do things in our own strength; let`s meditate on these
verses and use our faith to depend on God’s strength and ability.
Please
pass this on. All rights reserved.
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.