MONDAY
Pray Continually
I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them. Pray this way for kings and all who are in authority so that we can live peaceful and quiet lives marked by godliness and dignity. This is good and pleases God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For, There is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time (1 Timothy 2:1-6 NLT).
Pray, pray and pray some more. This is a foundational part of worship. Jesus demonstrated the need for prayer, on many occasions. We should pray for ourselves, our nation, our friends, our family and for our enemies. Don't leave anyone out. He desires an intimate relationship with you and that all people be saved through the grace of Christ by our faith in Him.
Pray for the sick, needy, and injured. Consider yourself an intercessor for them.
Open a prayer line of communication with God. He wants to hear our pleas and our needs...but don't forget to take time to listen for His response. He can speak to you in many ways, but mostly God will speak directly to your heart. Listen and obey and you will be blessed.
Lord God, thank You for the direct line to Your throne. You are a mighty God of all creation and you want to hear from each of your children. Praise be to You, our Heavenly Father. Amen.
TUESDAY
Tickling the Ears
For we cannot oppose the truth, but must always stand for the truth (2 Corinthians 13:8 NLT).
I would dearly love to only preach the stuff that "tickles the ears" of everyone, but God calls His children to speak His truth.
I do my best to always speak the truth in love. The problem is that those who don't want to hear the truth of God's word, come at me with their teeth and fangs. I guess that may show their true "colors".
Look, friends, my goal is nothing more or less than what God has called me to do, speak His word and His truth. If I ever deviate from His word, call me on it, but don't come at me with what you want God's word to say. It's not what you want His word to say, it's what God says in His word. Period.
So, if you are living a lifestyle that is a lie and against the word of God and you get your feelings hurt because of what I may preach or write, I'm truly sorry. But know that your argument is not with me but God. I love each of you, as Jesus told us too, but I will not let the lies of Satan, destroy your lives, without me telling you that If you continue to engage unapologetically in sin, that life of sin will destroy you.
That my friends is tough love. That is not hate. I don't harbor hate for anyone, but I do hate the things that hurt my friends. If you get mad at me, I'm sorry, but if you do, all I ask of you is to look at your life, critically. Look at it through the filter of God's Holy Word, then make the determination on what you need to do to put your life in order and begin living a God honoring life.
It's not ok to keep on sinning. We need to realize that is not what He says. His truth is that we confess with our mouths that He is our Savior, have faith in Him while repenting (turning from) of our sins, then, we might be saved. Yes, we will still stumble and sin, but when we do, we are convicted and repent again and again. I thank God that He is the God of second (third...fourth....fifth...) chances. But know that living in unrepented sin, is not an option.
God bless each of you and may you search your heart, God's word and a real person of God that speaks His truth, for counseling, if needed.
Father God, thank You for loving us far more than we deserve. Thank You for Jesus and in His name we pray. Amen.
WEDNESDAY
Love & Respect
Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us
(1 John 4:11-12 NLT).
Love others. Respect others. This doesn't mean that we should love or respect what they do or their lifestyle. We are called to love and respect them as a creation of our God and as a person, but condoning their sin is not what we are called to do. We are called to show others how to live a godly life while showing love and respect to them as a person.
We are all broken. We are all sinners. The big difference is that when followers of Christ sin, we come under conviction and are called to repentance. That is a big difference.
Dear Lord, help us to "go and sin no more" and help us to live a God glorifying life. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
THURSDAY
Always the Same
In the beginning the Word already existed.
The Word was with God,
and the Word was God.
He existed in the beginning with God.
God created everything through him,
and nothing was created except through him.
The Word gave life to everything that was created,
and his life brought light to everyone.
The light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness can never extinguish it (John 1:1-5 NLT).
Jesus is the same today and yesterday and will be tomorrow. He is our King, Savior, Redeemer and Friend. Thank you Jesus for loving each of us enough to sacrifice your life so that we might have a relationship with God.
Lord God, I praise Your Holy Name. There is no other name like Jesus. Amen.
FRIDAY
Our Commission
The Lord gave this message to Jonah son of Amittai: “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh. Announce my judgment against it because I have seen how wicked its people are.” But Jonah got up and went in the opposite direction to get away from the Lord. He went down to the port of Joppa, where he found a ship leaving for Tarshish. He bought a ticket and went on board, hoping to escape from the Lord by sailing to Tarshish (Jonah 1:1-3 NLT).
Are we doing what God has commissioned us to do? Are we going where He wants us to go? Or are we running in the opposite direction from where He has told us to go? Are we like Jonah? Or are we standing on the truth of God's word? Are we watering it down so that we will be liked and make people feel good about the sin they are wallowing in?
Running away from God didn't work out very well for Jonah, it won't for us either, if don't follow God's commands for our lives.
We know where Jonah ended up, in the belly of the big fish. Where are you going to end up? Is it going to take a situation like Jonah had to get your attention? Think about it.
Father, You have given us a course to follow. Help us to follow Your plan and not attempt to design our own plan of action. We pray in the mighty name of Jesus, Amen.
SATURDAY
The Bad News and the Great News
Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.
“No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me (John 14:1-6 NLT).
None of us are going to get out of this world alive. It's fact. We are born to die.
The question today is, do you know where you will spend eternity? This is the most important question that you will ever need to answer. Nothing weighs as heavy on us.
In today's "feel good" politically correct world, we are misled into believing all kinds of weird scenarios like, everyone goes to Heaven, to there isn't a Heaven, to we are already living in Heaven...the list goes on. Folks, these are lies from the pits of hell.
The Good News is that God has made a way for each of us to spend our eternity with Him in heaven. It is by our choice. We have the right to decline or accept the saving grace that God has made available to us. We can choose Jesus as our Lord and Savior by repenting of our sin and giving our lives to Him. We are saved by His grace through our faith.
There is only one Way, which is Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world. This is truly great news for those who turn to our Lord. It's really bad news for those who don't. You can't straddle the fence on this issue. There isn't gray area, it's black and white. You are either on His team or not.
Some might have problems with faith. I totally understand. My direction for you would be to get an easy to read (ie: New Living Translation) copy of God's word and start in the gospel of John. Then read Matthew, Mark, Luke reading John again. Each time you sit down, ask God to show you what He wants you to see and understand about His amazing mercy, grace and love.
Please make this decision carefully. It is the most important decision that you will ever make.
Those who are followers of Christ, please pass this on to your non-believing friends. God wants everyone to come home to Him.
God bless each of you. I pray that this will reach just one person that they might make the decision to come to Jesus and their life be eternally secured. Thanks be to God for His free gift of salvation.
Father God, You have commanded us to reach out to those who don't know you or are running from You. We pray by sharing the great news of Your amazing grace, many might be saved. Use each of us today to bring someone Home to where they belong. I ask The Holy Spirit to go before us and prepare the way that people might be saved. I pray in the mighty and matchless name of Jesus. Amen.
SUNDAY
God Is There
Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me (Psalms 23:4 NLT).
The God of the mountain top is the same God that is in the valley.
I have a lot of friends who are dealing with life changing/challenging situations. I feel that everyone needed to remember and rest in the comfort of knowing that God's word is true. If He says it, it is true.
God is with each of you. He also promises to bring you "through" the valley. He will not leave you there. How He brings you through the valley might be totally different than what you want or envision, but His way will prove to be the best way.
Trust in God, my friends. He loves you more than you can ever understand.
Father God, thank You for not leaving us in the valley. In Jesus' name. Amen.
