Category: Uncategorized

Abounding in Love for One Another

1 Thessalonians 3:12
And may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you.
According to Webster’s Dictionary, the word increase means to become or make greater in size, amount, intensity or degree.  It can be assumed that Paul was speaking to all these nuances held in the definition of the word increase when He was writing to the Thessalonians.
It is certain that Paul was encouraging the Thessalonians to continue to increase in numbers just as all the other early Christian churches were doing.  It was his prayer that the Lord would cause them to increase through the abounding love that they would have for one another and for the world around them.
It is just as certain that Paul was also teaching that as the Lord provided for their increase in numbers that He would necessarily provide them with an increase in the intensity and fullness of His love.  Thus these early Christians would have the increase in the amount of love that they would need to win the world for Jesus Christ.  It would, in fact, be their cup spilling over with His perfect love that would draw others to their church and to Christ Himself.
And it would also be in accordance with all of Paul’s other teachings for him to be praying that the Lord would increase the Thessalonians in one other area.  Paul was surely praying that there would be an increase in the degree of holiness, humility, knowledge and spiritual joy that would be poured out upon the Thessalonians in the form of the grace of God and the gifts of the Holy Spirit.  Their increase as individuals was critical to the growth of the Body of Christ.
And so it is with us.  God calls us to serve Him.  He calls each of us to pour out His perfect love to the world around us so that the Body of Christ may increase.  Subsequent to our obedience, He adds to us and grows us according to His good and perfect will and purpose for our lives.  This process of individual and corporate increase is continuous throughout our lifetimes.

Let us abound in love for one another.  Let us share our love for Christ so that others may be drawn to Him.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the good and perfect purposes that You have for our lives.  We rejoice in knowing that we will be able to continually serve You, not only on this earth, but also on into eternity.  We pray that You will show us where You are calling us to pour out Your perfect love.  Father, we ask that we never tire of the service that is at hand.  May we always increase in our service to Your kingdom.  We pray, Lord, that we may also increase in our holiness as we serve You.  We ask all these things in the name of our holy and awesome Savior, Jesus Christ.

Living Without Trouble in Our Hearts

John 14:31
But I do as the Father has commanded me, so that the world may know that I love the Father. Rise, let us go from here.
This passage represents the culmination of what could be considered the last will and testament of Jesus given to the His disciples before He left them.  In the prior verses of John 14, Jesus promised many things to comfort His disciples.  He also revealed a number of truths critical to their faith.
He encouraged His disciples as He told them that He was leaving them to prepare a place for them with Him in heaven.  He emphasized the He is the way, the truth and life and that the only way that anyone enters into a prepared place in heaven is through Him.
Jesus confirmed the Godhead to the apostles as He commanded them to “believe in Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me.”  Later He comforted the disciples when He told them that the Holy Spirit would be sent in His name by the Father to be their Helper in His absence.  
Jesus provided the disciples with more encouragement as He told them that they would do greater works than He had done because He was going to the Father to represent them.  He emphasized that anyone that believes in Him will also be able to do greater works than He did.
Jesus promised them His peace and commanded them not to be troubled or afraid of the evil that would come against them.  He emphasized that the victory was theirs because He has power over the enemy.
Jesus’ final command to them was, “Rise, let us go from here.”  This is our command as well.  

Let us receive the supernatural power that we are promised through the presence of Our Savior in our lives.  Let us live a life without trouble in our hearts because of the promises of Our Redeemer.  Let us show the world the peace that we have through all circumstances.  Let us rise, let us go from here.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the peace that reigns in our lives.  We thank You, Jesus, for the peace that You brought us through Your shed blood.  We praise You, Lord, for providing the supernatural power that we need to live our lives without fear of any man or any circumstance.  We pray that You will equip us, embolden us and strengthen us so that we may be instruments of Your good work and vessels of Your perfect peace.  We ask all these things in the name of the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ.

Passion for a Blameless Heart

Psalm 101:2
I will be careful to lead a blameless life– when will you come to me? I will conduct the affairs of my house with a blameless heart.
In Psalm 101, David is proclaiming his desire to lead a blameless life and to lead his family in a blameless lifestyle.  As Christians, we all try to do what David proclaimed.  We plan to be in church whenever the doors are open, we plan to study the Bible daily, we plan to pray more often and we plan to love our neighbors, co-workers, strangers and even our enemies.  We plan to have our families follow our good example.  Yet we fail just as David failed.  At best, we can usually claim limited success.
David sought God passionately, yet he often failed.  Because of His love for David, God stood by David and saw to it that His perfect will and plan for David’s life was fulfilled.  God loves us with the same perfect love that He had for David.  If we seek Him passionately as David did, Our Father in heaven will see to it that His perfect will and plan for our lives is fulfilled just as David’s was.  In accordance with His Word in 2 Corinthians 12, He promises to provide us with a way to overcome the frailty and sinfulness of our flesh.  “My grace is sufficient.  My strength is perfected in your weakness.”   When we accept Jesus as Our Savior, the promises of the Father are assured.
Unfortunately, our flesh will continually challenge us.  Moment by moment, let us choose to submit to the will of Jesus in our lives.  Let us learn to ignore the desires of our flesh.  Let us strive to have a blameless heart.  Let us be determined to seek and receive the perfect gift of grace that has been promised to provide our victory.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the gift of grace that allows us to overcome the torments of our flesh.  We rejoice in knowing that the Holy Spirit remains with us always to provide the strength we need to overcome the attacks of the enemy.  As we make our choices in life, Father, we pray that our allegiance is always to You.  We pray that we do not waver a moment as we choose to serve You in accordance with Your will and purpose for our lives.  We ask all these things in the name of the Great Rock in a Weary Land, Jesus Christ.

Becoming Beacons of Light in a Dark World

Isaiah 35:8
And a highway will be there; it will be called the Way of Holiness; it will be for those who walk on that Way. The unclean will not journey on it; wicked fools will not go about on it.
Each day’s news and headlines confirm that from a spiritual perspective the earth is a den of iniquity, a vast barren desert.  It is a rare case indeed when holiness can be found in the news.  Looking forward, the content of the news is not likely to improve but to get worse and more hopeless.  The social and political systems of mankind are offering nothing that will change things.  As time moves forward, the barren desert is converting to a total wasteland through the ongoing deterioration of the morals of mankind.
There is a way of escape, however.  There is a pathway that offers hope for anyone and everyone who takes it.  The way out of the barren desert is through Jesus Christ, Our Redeemer.  He is the way, the truth and the life.  Because Jesus took His place on the Cross as part of the Father’s will for His life, we as the redeemed children of God can stand up and find victory in the most difficult of circumstances.
Although our flesh will fight us, by the Word and Spirit of Christ, we that are spiritually blinded by the world can be enlightened.  We that are spiritually deaf to the calls of God can be made to hear them readily.  We that are struggling in service can be made active and joyfully productive.  We that find it difficult to speak of God or to God can have our lips opened to bring forth His praise.  We that find it hard to love one another can have our hearts filled with the perfect, loving forgiveness of Our Father in heaven.  Most importantly, we that stand alone against the world can find victory in all things of this earth, no matter how trying, if we all stand together in Jesus Christ.

Let us seek the way of holiness that is found in Jesus Christ.  Let us learn to live in the light of Christ even though the world around us lives in darkness.  Let us become beacons of His light.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing the way, the truth and the life that is in Jesus Christ.  We thank You for loving us first, so that we may love You and abide in Your will for our lives.  We pray that You enlighten us and strengthen us so that we may see and follow the way that You have set aside for us as individuals and as a worldwide community.  May Your grace be upon us so that we may be living founts of Your love and holiness to be shared with the world around us.  May the world be changed as we all stand together united with Our Savior.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Refuge from the Storm, Jesus Christ.

God’s Vision for Our Lives

Isaiah 35:7
The parched ground will become a pool, and springs of water will satisfy the thirsty land.  Marsh grass and reeds and rushes will flourish where desert jackals once lived.
The prophet Isaiah was given a vision of what Israel was to become.  It was his job to try to inspire the people to attain the vision that God had given Him.
To have a vision is to see the completed work before it is even started.  Visionaries are able to see the completed work and to devise a plan to reach the desired end.  Almighty God is the essence of what any visionary would hope to be.  He knows the beginning and the end of all things on this earth.  He has every single element of the time line of earth and the people on it planned out to the smallest degree – in far greater detail than we could ever even imagine.
Our Heavenly Father has a vision for each of our lives.  He sets His vision for our lives into place before we were even born.  Being the perfect visionary that He is, He insures that each of us is prepared for our part in His vision.   He is never in a rush to complete His work – only to perfect His work.  We are His work.  We are His vision.  Our Heavenly Father refuses to see us in any other light except in the image of His Son.  There is no other outcome that He would allow other than the perfect outcome that He has planned for us through His Son, Jesus Christ.

Let us consider the trials that we face as preparation points.  Even though they may be nearly unbearable at times, God sees the end and provides all that we need to get through our challenges.  Let us praise Him for what He has allowed.  Let us rejoice in knowing that He will use everything we endure to shape us for His kingdom.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for creating us with perfect plans for our lives.  We thank You for Your patience as You take us through life’s struggles in order to shape us according to Your perfect plans.  We thank You that Your hand never leaves us as we stray away from Your plans for our lives.  We pray, Father, that You will teach us to humbly accept the trials of our lives which are shaping us for our roles in Your kingdom.  We beseech You for the grace that we will need to have the patience and persistence required to allow us to be molded by your plans.  May we bring honor and glory to You, Father, by abandoning the folly of our own plans and choosing Your ways instead of our own.  We ask all these things in the name of the Refiner and Purifier, Jesus Christ.

Seeking God’s Heart

Psalm 63:1
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
Most people who study the Bible find David to be one of the most intriguing characters in all of the Old Testament.  It is likely that he is so interesting to most of us because he is a character of such contrast.  We learn that He was passionately devoted to God as evidenced by today’s passage.  But on the other hand, we find that he was guilty of some of the most grievous sins written of in the entire Bible.  We learn that David was a mighty and courageous warrior that won many battles because of His favor with the Lord.  But conversely, we find that he was at his weakest when he was fighting his own personal battles in the flesh.  David’s emotional highs and lows are well chronicled by David himself in the Book of Psalms.  His writings provide us with some of the most heart-warming and inspiring poetry written anywhere in the Bible.
As we struggle through the challenges of daily life, the way God views David offers hope for all of us. Of David, the Lord said, “I have found David son of Jesse, a man after my own heart; he will do everything I want him to do.”  We can be comforted in knowing that there is nothing that we can do to cause Our Heavenly Father to love us less. His love and forgiveness are perfectly paired and extended to us without end.  Our Lord is particularly pleased when, like David, we come to Him with praise even in our darkest hours.
Let us go boldly to the Throne of God, particularly when we find ourselves in a dry or weary place.  Let us sing our praises to our precious Lord.  Let us be strengthened by knowing that Almighty God delights in seeing us come through our trials in loving obedience to His calling on our lives.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your perfect love and forgiveness.  We sing Your praises knowing that even when we have fallen that Your love for us never fails.  We bless the name of Jesus through Whom we are separated from our sin.  We ask that Your Holy Spirit will inspire us to thirst for You in the passionate, intimate way that David did.  We pray that Your Holy Spirit will strengthen us to walk in obedience to all that You ask us to do.  We long to be called men and women after Your own heart.  We ask all these things in the name of the living testimony of the love of God, Jesus Christ.

Choosing to Involve God in Our Lives

Psalm 37:5
Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.
Jesus tells us to give Him our burdens and He will give us rest.  God promises to give us the desires of our hearts if we delight in Him.  The peace and joy of our Christian life will be determined by the constant application of our belief and faith in God’s Holy Word.
If we choose to involve God selectively in our lives, we can expect that the fulfillment of His promises will only be partial.  It is in the full submission to Jesus Christ’s lordship in our lives that we experience the fullness of God’s grace.  It is by putting God first in all things that we experience the joy that the world cannot provide.
To delight in God is as much a privilege as a duty.  He has not promised to gratify the appetites of our flesh, but the desires of our new spirit in Christ.  What are the desires of a new man in Christ?  They are to know, love and serve the Lord, to cast our burdens upon Him and to leave everything else to Him.  As we commit our ways to the Lord, He will bring to pass all that He has in His will for us.

Let us learn to trust in the Lord for everything in our lives, whether it be big or small.  Let us rest, delight and rejoice in His ways.
Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your loving kindness, Your mercy and Your grace in our lives.  We praise You with every breath because each breath is a gift from You.  We seek to turn over every decision in our lives to You.  We seek to leave every trial and concern at Your throne.  We pray that the Holy Spirit will instruct us in the ways of complete surrender to Our Savior, Jesus.  May the world around us be drawn to You by witnessing the joy in our lives as we place all of our trust in You.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lord Our Provider, Jesus Christ

Firmly in the Hand of God

Matthew 6:34
So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
God has a perfect plan and purpose for our lives.  He commands us not to fret or worry about our circumstances.  He promises that He will work out all things for our eternal good if we seek first His kingdom.  It is His plan that we come to Him daily with our prayers so that He may give us the strength we need to overcome our trials and so that He may set a hedge for us against the temptations that will be flung our way.
We must seek to find hope and joy in our circumstances as we learn to trust in God to fulfill His promises in our lives.  We should avoid seeing ourselves trapped by our worldly trials.  Instead, we should seek the comfort and peace of seeing ourselves gripped firmly in the hand of God – the only secure place in the universe.
Let us rejoice in the Lord Our God.  Let us trust in His promises.  Let us seek all that He makes available to us through His Son, Jesus.  Happy are those that trust in the Lord.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, thank You for being the author and finisher of our lives.  We rejoice in knowing that Your hand is always upon us as long as we abide in You.  Teach us, Father, how to look past our troubles in this world and look to the source of our solutions, Jesus Christ.   We pray that our focus will always be on Our Savior and not on our problems.  We ask all these things in the name of Our All Sufficient Lord, Jesus Christ.

Placing God First in All Things

Romans 1:22-23
Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.
In his letter to the Romans, Paul explained how the pagans became idol worshippers.  Prior to exposing the idolatry of the pagans, Paul taught how God imprinted knowledge of Himself in every man.  He also taught that God confirmed His eternal power and divine nature in His workmanship.  Paul’s intention in his teaching was to show that men are without excuse when they worship anyone or anything other than Almighty God.
While it is easy for us to see the foolish nature of the pagans, do we see as easily our own foolishness in placing the things of the world ahead of Our Father in heaven?  Like the pagans, have we become vain in our own thinking and foolish in our choices?
God has imprinted the manifestation of who He is in the hearts of each of us.  He has created us to be capable of seeking, seeing and understanding His goodness, His power and His promises.  This equipping that God has given us should lead us to place Him first, above all other things in our lives.  Sadly, we know that all too often we choose foolishness over godliness.  We become no better than the pagans in that regard.  Alas, we come to the place that we recognize that we all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
Yet, we can rejoice for our merciful God, knowing of our weakness, provided a way for us to stand before Him without blemish.  His grace provided us with a Redeemer who washes us clean of our sin and His Holy Spirit that stands by us to strengthen us in our moments of weakness.
Let us become resolute in our efforts to place God first in all things.  Let us start each day asking for the Holy Spirit to stand with us and aid us in each decision that we make.  Let us end each day asking for forgiveness for the times that we placed the world before Our Creator.  Let us rejoice in knowing that on the last day when we stand before Almighty God that we will be received in the image of His Son without blemish.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for revealing Yourself to us.  We thank You for placing a void in our hearts that can only be satisfied by a personal relationship with You through Your Son, Jesus.  We exalt the name of Jesus whose shed blood washes us clean, making us worthy to stand before You.  We ask that Your Holy Spirit stand by us each day as we make our daily decisions.  We pray that our choices will always place You first.  We pray that our every action will bring glory to You, Your Son and to the Holy Spirit.  We ask all these things in the name of Name Above All Names, Jesus Christ. 

The Pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness

Luke 4:18
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”
In the United States, it is our heritage that the freedom we declared some 241 years ago was based on both religious and political causes.  As a nation we are unique in the dual celebration of these closely tied liberties.
When Thomas Jefferson and our forefathers penned the words of the Declaration of Independence, they recognized certain God-given, “inalienable” rights.  Three are mentioned specifically: life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  Today, Americans’ understanding of these rights has diminished.  At the time of the Declaration of Independence, these rights carried great political and also great spiritual meaning.  If we want the God of the Bible to be the God of this nation, then we must realize what our founding fathers understood.  We must know with great certainty that true life, liberty and happiness can only found in Jesus Christ.
Let’s consider these inalienable rights:
Life
Jesus said, in no uncertain terms, “I am the way and the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14:6   In other words, real, lasting life can only be experienced through Jesus Christ!
Apart from Jesus Christ, this life is no life at all.  The founders our nation understood that and believed it. Unless we believe in Him and commit our lives into His hands then this life has no real purpose or meaning.  Our earliest settlers were people who came here primarily looking for religious freedom.  Other nations, for the most part, came into existence by conquest for selfish and ambitious motives.  But it was primarily in the atmosphere of God, not gold, that America was born.
Liberty
The Statue of Liberty stands across from the Island of Manhattan in New York.  Soldiers, on their return from overseas, often speak in awe of the feelings they had as they sailed into the harbor and viewed the “Torch of Freedom” in Lady Liberty’s hand.  To the Christian, the Statue of Liberty and the Cross of Jesus Christ have kindred meanings.  Both symbolize the highest and noblest in freedom and liberty.  Both stand as beautiful and glorious symbols of a liberated people.
Jesus came into our world on a mission of liberty.  He said, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Luke 4:18
Happiness
Psychologists tell us that people need three things to make them happy: (1) something to do, (2) someone to love, and (3) something to look forward to.  Jesus gives us all three. 
Jesus gave us something to do, saying, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do.” John 14:12 Jesus gave us someone to love, saying, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.” John 14:23  And Jesus gave us something to look forward to, saying, “And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you myself, that where I am you may be also.” John 14:2  Only in Jesus can Americans, or anybody else, find genuine, lasting happiness.
Indeed on this day, let us declare that “We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”  Let us confirm that this is only possible through Jesus Christ.  Let us celebrate that these liberties are still available to us in this great nation.

Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the blessings that You have poured out on our nation.  We exalt the name of Jesus who is the foundation for the inalienable rights that we have been provided through Him.  We pray that You raise up a new awakening of our trust in You.  May our laws and our lifestyles come into alignment with Your laws and Your Holy Word.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Liberator, Jesus Christ.