1 Timothy 6:17-18
17 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment. 18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others.
Paul lists several strong requirements for those that have wealth.
1. To do good;
2. To be rich in good works;
3. To be generous to those in need; and
4. To be ready to share with others
I know what you may be thinking..."I don't fit into this category. What do I do from here?" You may not be rich in a literal sense, but compared to the rest of the world, I bet you are.
Numbers three and four must be highly important since the same thing is generally stated twice. "Be generous to those in need" and "be ready to share with others" are clearly emphasized in Paul's message. He wants you to set some of your expenses aside and give them to the less fortunate. Don't keep the money all for yourself. Let others see the love of God by giving! (see early December posts about giving starting December 5).
I kinda got on a different rant that I planned today, but it is important to note that money should not get in the way of God. Don't forget to put your hope and trust in God, "who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment."
"The miserable have no other medicine
But only hope." ~William Shakespeare, Measure for Measure
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Hope in a Time of Sorrow.
1 Chronicles 28:9
9 “And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
David showed the importance of worship in Israel. He began to build a temple and organized the Priests to serve there. He hired many musicians in order to worship and Praise the Lord.
David had prosperous days and most importantly devoted time to God. A new temple was finally built. Thus, they had just what they needed to be followers of Christ in the Holy Land.
What did it mean for them to have God? God provides strength during any time in life. In fact, David realized that when he worshipped the Lord.
You can see the followers were starting over - fresh and new. In the meantime, God gave them strength and lots of power in the process!
"Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working.” ~Author Unknown
9 “And Solomon, my son, learn to know the God of your ancestors intimately. Worship and serve him with your whole heart and a willing mind. For the Lord sees every heart and knows every plan and thought. If you seek him, you will find him. But if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
David showed the importance of worship in Israel. He began to build a temple and organized the Priests to serve there. He hired many musicians in order to worship and Praise the Lord.
David had prosperous days and most importantly devoted time to God. A new temple was finally built. Thus, they had just what they needed to be followers of Christ in the Holy Land.
What did it mean for them to have God? God provides strength during any time in life. In fact, David realized that when he worshipped the Lord.
You can see the followers were starting over - fresh and new. In the meantime, God gave them strength and lots of power in the process!
"Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working.” ~Author Unknown
Monday, January 12, 2009
God Provides Hope in Difficult Times.
Jeremiah 32:6-10; 13-15
6 At that time the Lord sent me a message. He said, 7 “Your cousin Hanamel son of Shallum will come and say to you, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else.’”
8 Then, just as the Lord had said he would, my cousin Hanamel came and visited me in the prison. He said, “Please buy my field at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else, so buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that the message I had heard was from the Lord.
9 So I bought the field at Anathoth, paying Hanamel seventeen pieces of silver for it. 10 I signed and sealed the deed of purchase before witnesses, weighed out the silver, and paid him.
13 Then I said to Baruch as they all listened, 14 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Take both this sealed deed and the unsealed copy, and put them into a pottery jar to preserve them for a long time.’ 15 For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Someday people will again own property here in this land and will buy and sell houses and vineyards and fields.’”
Jeremiah is one of God's prophets. His feelings are very honest and open. His relationship with God is a little shaky as he has had quarrels and outbursts with God.
In the passage above, land was bought. The purchase was made as a message and teaching of hope (verse 15). During this time period, Jews could not control their land, so God promised that they would become free people eventually. Since Jeremiah had faith in God, he bought the land.
Can you say patience? Patience was needed here...waiting for anything is difficult. In this case, the waiting was for God to work on the situation.
How do you cope with difficult times, such as the financial times that are affecting many areas of life today? Do you truly believe that God could help you in your situation?
Pray about this. Praise God for giving you hope when gloominess surrounds you. Talk to God about any hardships that you are encountering at the present time.
“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise. ~Oscar Wilde
6 At that time the Lord sent me a message. He said, 7 “Your cousin Hanamel son of Shallum will come and say to you, ‘Buy my field at Anathoth. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else.’”
8 Then, just as the Lord had said he would, my cousin Hanamel came and visited me in the prison. He said, “Please buy my field at Anathoth in the land of Benjamin. By law you have the right to buy it before it is offered to anyone else, so buy it for yourself.” Then I knew that the message I had heard was from the Lord.
9 So I bought the field at Anathoth, paying Hanamel seventeen pieces of silver for it. 10 I signed and sealed the deed of purchase before witnesses, weighed out the silver, and paid him.
13 Then I said to Baruch as they all listened, 14 “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Take both this sealed deed and the unsealed copy, and put them into a pottery jar to preserve them for a long time.’ 15 For this is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Someday people will again own property here in this land and will buy and sell houses and vineyards and fields.’”
Jeremiah is one of God's prophets. His feelings are very honest and open. His relationship with God is a little shaky as he has had quarrels and outbursts with God.
In the passage above, land was bought. The purchase was made as a message and teaching of hope (verse 15). During this time period, Jews could not control their land, so God promised that they would become free people eventually. Since Jeremiah had faith in God, he bought the land.
Can you say patience? Patience was needed here...waiting for anything is difficult. In this case, the waiting was for God to work on the situation.
How do you cope with difficult times, such as the financial times that are affecting many areas of life today? Do you truly believe that God could help you in your situation?
Pray about this. Praise God for giving you hope when gloominess surrounds you. Talk to God about any hardships that you are encountering at the present time.
“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise. ~Oscar Wilde
Saturday, January 10, 2009
My Lesson Regarding Honor and Humility.
2 Corinthians 8:8-9
8 I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.
9 You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.
I know these are aren't perfect verses for what I am going to talk about, but it does relate to the humility vs. honor idea that I mentioned on Tuesday. I suggest that you read that devotion (if you haven't already) before reading this one. Here, I will provide you with a real life example that just occured this week and it connects to what was discussed on Tuesday.
I was accepted into the National Honor Society at my school. The induction ceremony was on Thursday. I felt privledged and honored to be considered, in fact accpeted, into such a creditble club. After having the certificate in my hand, something was brought to my attention. That is, whether or not I felt honored or humbled when I received the reward.
It certainly made me think. I'm pretty sure I fell for the trap too...feeling more honored and focused on myself (it did feel kinda good to be recognized in a public manner (though). I think it was a lesson from God. It's hard to believe I wrote such words just days before underlining the difference between the two and emphasizing humble characteristics. I believe God had this in mind the whole time. Why else would I talk about humility during this particular week?
"The sufficiency of my merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient." —St. Augustine
8 I am not commanding you to do this. But I am testing how genuine your love is by comparing it with the eagerness of the other churches.
9 You know the generous grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty he could make you rich.
I know these are aren't perfect verses for what I am going to talk about, but it does relate to the humility vs. honor idea that I mentioned on Tuesday. I suggest that you read that devotion (if you haven't already) before reading this one. Here, I will provide you with a real life example that just occured this week and it connects to what was discussed on Tuesday.
I was accepted into the National Honor Society at my school. The induction ceremony was on Thursday. I felt privledged and honored to be considered, in fact accpeted, into such a creditble club. After having the certificate in my hand, something was brought to my attention. That is, whether or not I felt honored or humbled when I received the reward.
It certainly made me think. I'm pretty sure I fell for the trap too...feeling more honored and focused on myself (it did feel kinda good to be recognized in a public manner (though). I think it was a lesson from God. It's hard to believe I wrote such words just days before underlining the difference between the two and emphasizing humble characteristics. I believe God had this in mind the whole time. Why else would I talk about humility during this particular week?
"The sufficiency of my merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient." —St. Augustine
Friday, January 9, 2009
Imitating Christ's Humility.
Philippians 2:1-11
1 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Paul has certainly been through a rough time, including imprisonment and beatings. Still, Paul's spirits remained as high as he could keep them.
In this chapter of Philippians, Paul tells us what motivates him...what makes him tick. He explains that Jesus gave up everything to become a human, and he's not just any 'ole man, but a loving servant who gave up his life for others. Paul follows this trait of Christ.
Occasionally, the reader of this passage may think that Paul is going to give up at a certain point, but also mixed in there are descriptions of what what keeps him from doing the expected..."God elevated him to the place of highest honor" (verse 9). God provides him with joy and that can happen in your life as well.
How can you "consider others better than yourself" (verse 3) without lowering your self-esteem?
Paul's spiritual style can be summed up this way: "I pray as if all depends on God; I work as if all depends on me." ~Saint Teresa of Avila
1 Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose.
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.
5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
6 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to.
7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form,
8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
Paul has certainly been through a rough time, including imprisonment and beatings. Still, Paul's spirits remained as high as he could keep them.
In this chapter of Philippians, Paul tells us what motivates him...what makes him tick. He explains that Jesus gave up everything to become a human, and he's not just any 'ole man, but a loving servant who gave up his life for others. Paul follows this trait of Christ.
Occasionally, the reader of this passage may think that Paul is going to give up at a certain point, but also mixed in there are descriptions of what what keeps him from doing the expected..."God elevated him to the place of highest honor" (verse 9). God provides him with joy and that can happen in your life as well.
How can you "consider others better than yourself" (verse 3) without lowering your self-esteem?
Paul's spiritual style can be summed up this way: "I pray as if all depends on God; I work as if all depends on me." ~Saint Teresa of Avila
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Don't Be Your Own Boss.
1 Peter 5:5-7
5 In the same way, you younger men must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for
“God opposes the proud
but favors the humble.”
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
We've all had conversations with strangers, right? They're not always open and honest. It's can be difficult to converse about spiritual matters. When it does happen though, it can be pretty incredible.
The trouble is sometimes we try to be our own boss, whether it is us or someone else or that stranger you talked to yesterday. We can't be submissive to anything but God.
When you're in the presence of someone who does this and you notice it, don't treat them poorly. Bring it up to God and let God work the kinks out. Pray that they will not idol what is false.
If you serve someone else that's being humble to the Lord. It shows that you appreciate, love, and respect God. It's brings out the uniqueness in YOU! Humility and serving God is accompanied by an image of faith that other people see.
"Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all." ~William Temple
5 In the same way, you younger men must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for
“God opposes the proud
but favors the humble.”
6 So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. 7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.
We've all had conversations with strangers, right? They're not always open and honest. It's can be difficult to converse about spiritual matters. When it does happen though, it can be pretty incredible.
The trouble is sometimes we try to be our own boss, whether it is us or someone else or that stranger you talked to yesterday. We can't be submissive to anything but God.
When you're in the presence of someone who does this and you notice it, don't treat them poorly. Bring it up to God and let God work the kinks out. Pray that they will not idol what is false.
If you serve someone else that's being humble to the Lord. It shows that you appreciate, love, and respect God. It's brings out the uniqueness in YOU! Humility and serving God is accompanied by an image of faith that other people see.
"Humility does not mean thinking less of yourself than of other people, nor does it mean having a low opinion of your own gifts. It means freedom from thinking about yourself at all." ~William Temple
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Do As the Little Child Would.
Matthew 18:1-4
1 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
When you see a young child what comes across your mind? A troublemaker? A beauty from God? Well in essence, the young child is a beautiful act created by God. At the same time, while he or she may temper tantrums from time to time, aren't they so innocent? You can also trust them too. They certainly don't hide the truth based on what I've seen. Also, little by little, you can plant faith in them because they aren't influenced by the world yet.
Listen to what the Word is revealing to us. If we humble ourselves just as the little child did, we are promised to be a part of God's kingdom. Where does the Kingdom of Heaven begin? It simply begins in your heart and soul and extends into heaven where you can find the Lord.
Just as a child doesn't focus on the secular items, you shouldn't. No matter what the world says, don't worry about it. Don't let anything get in the way of your humble walk with God.
"The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.” ~Norman Vincent Peale
1 About that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?”
2 Jesus called a little child to him and put the child among them. 3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
When you see a young child what comes across your mind? A troublemaker? A beauty from God? Well in essence, the young child is a beautiful act created by God. At the same time, while he or she may temper tantrums from time to time, aren't they so innocent? You can also trust them too. They certainly don't hide the truth based on what I've seen. Also, little by little, you can plant faith in them because they aren't influenced by the world yet.
Listen to what the Word is revealing to us. If we humble ourselves just as the little child did, we are promised to be a part of God's kingdom. Where does the Kingdom of Heaven begin? It simply begins in your heart and soul and extends into heaven where you can find the Lord.
Just as a child doesn't focus on the secular items, you shouldn't. No matter what the world says, don't worry about it. Don't let anything get in the way of your humble walk with God.
"The more you lose yourself in something bigger than yourself, the more energy you will have.” ~Norman Vincent Peale
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
It's Not Easy, but It's Not Impossible.
Proverbs 25:6-7
6 Don’t demand an audience with the king
or push for a place among the great.
7 It’s better to wait for an invitation to the head table
than to be sent away in public disgrace.
Just because you’ve seen something,
Humility is not found enough in the world. Even though it is a challenge, one can certainly be humble. It's to be taken and used. One can have humility but, it has to be developed and we have to train ourselves to bring it out into the world. If you're humble, you give credit where it's necessary. Honor, however is something that is received.
I think the difference between humility and honor is still a little fuzzy so here are the definitions from dictionary.com:
humility - a lack of false pride
honor - high public esteem; fame; glory
Hopefully that helps a bit.
Anyways, we tend to interchange humility and honor in our lives. A lot of times we seek honor and therefore we get a lot of attention from our peers, classmates, and co-workers. It's something that causes us to get all the attention.
When we aim for honor, we're totally dropping the humility trait. We may honor ourselves, but we're not honoring others and certainly not Jesus Christ. Honor is accompanied by false pride, unlike humility (refer to definition again). Sometimes this causes us to lie.
Why does the mix-up happen to us? For the simple reason that we forget we are honored by God's presence all the time. Don't worry about trying to gain an honorable status. God took care of that long, long ago...he makes us look good with him in his life. God gave up his son Jesus so that YOU could have a renewed life. I think that's impressive! Feed your humility to others, not yourself.
"It [Humility] is like the person who was awarded the "Most Humble" pin and lost it for putting it on."
P.S. Read this real quick from 1 Chronicles 17:16:
16 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed,
“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?
Notice how King David possesses humility. He credited God's grace, not his own, for his great success. David accepted news from his prophet Nathan and did so with thanksgiving. That's a perfect example of humility.
6 Don’t demand an audience with the king
or push for a place among the great.
7 It’s better to wait for an invitation to the head table
than to be sent away in public disgrace.
Just because you’ve seen something,
Humility is not found enough in the world. Even though it is a challenge, one can certainly be humble. It's to be taken and used. One can have humility but, it has to be developed and we have to train ourselves to bring it out into the world. If you're humble, you give credit where it's necessary. Honor, however is something that is received.
I think the difference between humility and honor is still a little fuzzy so here are the definitions from dictionary.com:
humility - a lack of false pride
honor - high public esteem; fame; glory
Hopefully that helps a bit.
Anyways, we tend to interchange humility and honor in our lives. A lot of times we seek honor and therefore we get a lot of attention from our peers, classmates, and co-workers. It's something that causes us to get all the attention.
When we aim for honor, we're totally dropping the humility trait. We may honor ourselves, but we're not honoring others and certainly not Jesus Christ. Honor is accompanied by false pride, unlike humility (refer to definition again). Sometimes this causes us to lie.
Why does the mix-up happen to us? For the simple reason that we forget we are honored by God's presence all the time. Don't worry about trying to gain an honorable status. God took care of that long, long ago...he makes us look good with him in his life. God gave up his son Jesus so that YOU could have a renewed life. I think that's impressive! Feed your humility to others, not yourself.
"It [Humility] is like the person who was awarded the "Most Humble" pin and lost it for putting it on."
P.S. Read this real quick from 1 Chronicles 17:16:
16 Then King David went in and sat before the Lord and prayed,
“Who am I, O Lord God, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?
Notice how King David possesses humility. He credited God's grace, not his own, for his great success. David accepted news from his prophet Nathan and did so with thanksgiving. That's a perfect example of humility.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Walk Humbly with God.
Micah 6:6-8
6 What can we bring to the Lord?
What kind of offerings should we give him?
Should we bow before God
with offerings of yearling calves?
7 Should we offer him thousands of rams
and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Should we sacrifice our firstborn children
to pay for our sins?
8 No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
If you asked someone what makes a good Christian, what would they say? Depending on the person it will be different. Some people say to go to church every week. If you follow that piece of advice, you could wind up in trouble. Focusing so much on the little stuff like attending a service every single week, a lot of times that means you'll be more concerned about punctuality and attendance than your relationship with God.
That's why God asks us to walk humbly with him. This solves that problem. To walk humbly with God means to portray a submissive (complying) respect toward God. I say it's time to make a journey with Christ and zero in on one purpose: to serve the one and only Jesus Christ!
“Religion is to do right. It is to love, it is to serve, it is to think, it is to be humble.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
6 What can we bring to the Lord?
What kind of offerings should we give him?
Should we bow before God
with offerings of yearling calves?
7 Should we offer him thousands of rams
and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?
Should we sacrifice our firstborn children
to pay for our sins?
8 No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good,
and this is what he requires of you:
to do what is right, to love mercy,
and to walk humbly with your God.
If you asked someone what makes a good Christian, what would they say? Depending on the person it will be different. Some people say to go to church every week. If you follow that piece of advice, you could wind up in trouble. Focusing so much on the little stuff like attending a service every single week, a lot of times that means you'll be more concerned about punctuality and attendance than your relationship with God.
That's why God asks us to walk humbly with him. This solves that problem. To walk humbly with God means to portray a submissive (complying) respect toward God. I say it's time to make a journey with Christ and zero in on one purpose: to serve the one and only Jesus Christ!
“Religion is to do right. It is to love, it is to serve, it is to think, it is to be humble.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Wipe Them Away.
Psalm 51:1-3
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
I'm not sure who is speaking here, but I do know, that whoever it is, he is confessing his sin to God. You can hear his uncertainty, his guilt that is mounted on his forehead. He is beside himself because of the sin he committed.
That's pretty easy to understand. It's not always easy for us to get out of the guilt trap we place upon ourselves. Often we beg to God that he will remove those burdens that we have before us, while in the back of our minds we still know that God has vowed to forgive us.
We can't ever be reminded enough of God's mercy, healing, and unconditional love he provides for us through Christ.
Thank Christ for the price he paid to make this truth 'a moment with God away.'
Use the Psalm above and turn it into a prayer. I'll get you started: Dear Lord...
:)
“You can't undo anything you've already done, but you can face up to it. You can tell the truth. You can seek forgiveness. And then let God do the rest.” ~Author Unknown
P.S. If you have trouble with the video stopping and starting, keep the video paused, and let it "buffer" (load) as it's called for a while. You will see the red bar along the bottom advance (speed depends on your Internet connection). Wait until that bar gets pretty far along (I'd say more than halfway) before you play the video and it shouldn't pause.
1 Have mercy on me, O God,
because of your unfailing love.
Because of your great compassion,
blot out the stain of my sins.
2 Wash me clean from my guilt.
Purify me from my sin.
3 For I recognize my rebellion;
it haunts me day and night.
I'm not sure who is speaking here, but I do know, that whoever it is, he is confessing his sin to God. You can hear his uncertainty, his guilt that is mounted on his forehead. He is beside himself because of the sin he committed.
That's pretty easy to understand. It's not always easy for us to get out of the guilt trap we place upon ourselves. Often we beg to God that he will remove those burdens that we have before us, while in the back of our minds we still know that God has vowed to forgive us.
We can't ever be reminded enough of God's mercy, healing, and unconditional love he provides for us through Christ.
Thank Christ for the price he paid to make this truth 'a moment with God away.'
Use the Psalm above and turn it into a prayer. I'll get you started: Dear Lord...
:)
“You can't undo anything you've already done, but you can face up to it. You can tell the truth. You can seek forgiveness. And then let God do the rest.” ~Author Unknown
P.S. If you have trouble with the video stopping and starting, keep the video paused, and let it "buffer" (load) as it's called for a while. You will see the red bar along the bottom advance (speed depends on your Internet connection). Wait until that bar gets pretty far along (I'd say more than halfway) before you play the video and it shouldn't pause.
Friday, January 2, 2009
How's Your New Way of Life Going?
Mark 2:21-22
21 “Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.
22 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.”
Okay maybe it's a bit too early to ask that question, but seriously have you given it any thought? That is, anything I've suggested this week. No pressure!
I just really want you to know that Jesus' way is right and I guess you could say relatively new. Following Jesus means a life filled with grace and forgiveness. Living his way is unlike any other...JOYFUL!
It does take work. You can't just wake up tomorrow and be set. It requires some "exercise," and a re-do in your ways. It's a change for the better though. You can't just make him a part of your old self.
I'll tell you it is difficult. Try giving him (or lifting up/praying for) the portions of your life that you're struggling with...those parts that you have no idea how to tweak. He'll show you the way and transform you. Jesus will give you new wine for your soul as it says above. So praise God, but also ask him to help make all things in your life new.
"We can't change the wind, but we can adjust the sails." ~Author Unknown
21 “Besides, who would patch old clothing with new cloth? For the new patch would shrink and rip away from the old cloth, leaving an even bigger tear than before.
22 “And no one puts new wine into old wineskins. For the wine would burst the wineskins, and the wine and the skins would both be lost. New wine calls for new wineskins.”
Okay maybe it's a bit too early to ask that question, but seriously have you given it any thought? That is, anything I've suggested this week. No pressure!
I just really want you to know that Jesus' way is right and I guess you could say relatively new. Following Jesus means a life filled with grace and forgiveness. Living his way is unlike any other...JOYFUL!
It does take work. You can't just wake up tomorrow and be set. It requires some "exercise," and a re-do in your ways. It's a change for the better though. You can't just make him a part of your old self.
I'll tell you it is difficult. Try giving him (or lifting up/praying for) the portions of your life that you're struggling with...those parts that you have no idea how to tweak. He'll show you the way and transform you. Jesus will give you new wine for your soul as it says above. So praise God, but also ask him to help make all things in your life new.
"We can't change the wind, but we can adjust the sails." ~Author Unknown
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Year = New Slate.
Matthew 11:28
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
When you purchase something new...it looks good and I guess you could say it smells good too! I'm funny that way. Well, it is true :)
Now that the new year is here, let this be your opportunity to change your ways. What did you come up with for your "spiritual" resolution that I talked about in the devotion a couple days ago? You can start over (technically you can start over any day, but why not today while you're thinking about it). No matter what you've done, God forgives you and clears away your sins (now you see them, now you don't!!!) He expects us to be far from perfect, but when you ask for forgiveness he does just that. He provides you with rest from your burdens, including everything that troubles you. You my friend, have a new slate waiting for you. That is the best gift you can get. It's better than any of your other gifts that you received this holiday season. Now you just have to stay at it. Don't venture too far from God!
"The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul” ~G.K. Charleston
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I wish you a spectacular year full of God's blessings. May you see him throughout the next 365 days!
Don't forget to leave me comments at heytbone92@gmail.com whenever you feel led to do so.
28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.
When you purchase something new...it looks good and I guess you could say it smells good too! I'm funny that way. Well, it is true :)
Now that the new year is here, let this be your opportunity to change your ways. What did you come up with for your "spiritual" resolution that I talked about in the devotion a couple days ago? You can start over (technically you can start over any day, but why not today while you're thinking about it). No matter what you've done, God forgives you and clears away your sins (now you see them, now you don't!!!) He expects us to be far from perfect, but when you ask for forgiveness he does just that. He provides you with rest from your burdens, including everything that troubles you. You my friend, have a new slate waiting for you. That is the best gift you can get. It's better than any of your other gifts that you received this holiday season. Now you just have to stay at it. Don't venture too far from God!
"The object of a new year is not that we should have a new year. It is that we should have a new soul” ~G.K. Charleston
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I wish you a spectacular year full of God's blessings. May you see him throughout the next 365 days!
Don't forget to leave me comments at heytbone92@gmail.com whenever you feel led to do so.
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