Category: Uncategorized

All That We Need

Romans 8:32
He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?
Is it hope that we need today?  Are we seeking hope to relieve the pain that we are suffering, or hope to relieve the concern over the financial woes that are hounding us or perhaps hope to ease the torment of conflict in a relationship that we are feeling? 
In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us.  There is nothing in all of creation that can separate us from the love of God.  He sent the fallen angels from His kingdom forever because of their sins.  He flooded the earth because of the violence and evil of all mankind.  He destroyed all the people of Sodom and Gomorrah because of their wickedness.  Yet He spared us from our sins by giving us His Son.  Through His Son, He provides us with all our temporal needs and all of our spiritual blessings.  It is all given freely according to His good will and pleasure.

For while we are without strength, all that we need is provided through Our Savior.  While we are sorrowful, we can always rejoice.  While we are poor, we can experience His abundant riches.  While we may have nothing, we can possess everything through our blessed hope and assurance, Jesus Christ.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing us with all of our needs, both temporal and spiritual.  We exalt the name of Jesus for providing us with that which we do not deserve and could never earn except through His death for our sins.  We praise You for the blessed hope and assurance of Our Savior.  He is all that we need.   We pray that through Your grace and through the aid of the Holy Spirit, we will find the peace and strength that we need in all circumstances.  We ask all these things in the name of the Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.

Living in the Love of God

1 Corinthians 13:4-8
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends.
God is love.  His love is unconditional and without end.  His love for us is expressed explicitly through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. 
We are able to love because God loved us first.  He created a spot in our hearts so that we could receive His love and return it to Him.  He gave us the capacity to share His love with the world around us.  He gave us the Holy Spirit so that our love could be an endless spring.
When we are living in accordance with the Holy Spirit within us, we are capable of extraordinary service to those around us.  When we try to live by the world’s standards, we will choose to serve ourselves first.  The spontaneity of our love and service will tell us where we are living.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for loving us unconditionally.  We thank You that Your love flows to us endlessly.  We exalt the name of Jesus, who is the full expression of Your love.  We pray, Father, for the Holy Spirit to prepare our hearts so that we may become vessels of Your perfect love.  We pray, Lord, that You will reveal to us anything in our hearts that would restrict the flow of Your love in our lives.  By Your grace, may we repent of everything that is keeping us from living in the fullness of Your love.  May we bear much fruit for Your kingdom through the spontaneous release of Your love to the world around us.  We ask all these things in the name of the Lamb of God, Jesus Christ.

Rising Up from What’s Left

Daniel 4:14-15
He proclaimed aloud and said thus: ‘Chop down the tree and lop off its branches, strip off its leaves and scatter its fruit. Let the beasts flee from under it and the birds from its branches. But leave the stump of its roots in the earth, bound with a band of iron and bronze, amid the tender grass of the field.
 (a summary of a sermon preached by Jentezen Franklin)
King Nebuchadnezzar was at ease in his house and prospering greatly.  In his own words, the Most High God had blessed him in every way.  But because of Nebuchadnezzar’s unrighteousness and iniquities, it was all taken away from him.  The Most High God, who had provided it all to Nebuchadnezzar, allowed it all to be taken away.  Ultimately, when Nebuchadnezzar turned his eyes back to the the Lord, all was returned to the King.
In the scripture above, King Nebuchadnezzar is the tree.  God commands that the tree be stripped of all branches, leaves and fruit.  But as the God of all mercy stripped everything away from the tree, he left a stump from which the tree could rise again.
Almighty God is not only the God of all provision, He also the God of all loss.  No loss can occur in our lives without God allowing it.  But our merciful Lord, who is filled with lovingkindness, is also the God of “what’s left”.  So no matter what we are going through, or have gone through, God has commanded that something be left from which He can raise us up according to His perfect plans for our lives.  
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for every provision in our lives.  We give You all the glory and the praise for Your grace and lovingkindness.  Teach us, Lord, how to give you all the glory and praise when we are experiencing loss in our lives. Build up our faith so that we may endure while You raise us up from “what is left” in our lives to the good and perfect place that You have planned for us.  We ask all these things in the name of our all-sufficient Lord, Jesus Christ.

Where the Weary Find Rest and the Sorrowful Find Joy

Jeremiah 31:25
For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.
What a tremendous promise we have from the Lord.  The promise was first spoken to draw the Jews out of bondage back to their homelands and back to Himself.  Through His prophet, Jeremiah, Almighty God was assuring the Jews that they would find a rest and joy in their new settlement if they set aside their idols and returned to Him.
The promise still holds true for all of us today as the Lord encourages us with His extraordinary promise to give us the strength that we need to break away from all the bondage in our lives – bondage to the personal idols that we have set ahead of the Lord.  He gives us the spiritual inspiration that we need to renew our devotion to Him when it is lagging.  He calls us to live in a higher place, a place where His presence brings us complete comfort, peace and satisfaction.  He calls us to a place where the weary find rest and the sorrowful find joy…now that’s a promise!!
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for drawing us to Yourself.  We bless the name of Jesus who  provides all that we need to be one with You and one with Your Son.  We pray that You raise up in us the desire to bring to you the fullness of love and devotion that You seek from us.  Lift us up, Lord, to a higher place – a place that we cannot reach without You.  We pray that Your Holy Spirit will strengthen us to leave behind the things of the world that we place ahead of our devotion to You.  We ask all these things in the name of our Most High Savior, Jesus Christ.

Under His Influence

Colossians 2:6-7
Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
We are called to walk in the fullness of Jesus Christ who dwells within us.  We are to mirror in every way His love, patience, humility, meekness and faithfulness in carrying out His duties.  But more than that, we are to lean on Him.  We are to derive from Him the grace and strength that we need to live under His influence, by His direction and through His assistance.

In Jesus, we find beauty, glory, fullness and everything suitable for living our new lives in Christ.  We should not consider our own plans ever again, unless they are derived by seeking the guidance of Our Savior first.   We must learn not to lean on our own understanding, but to trust in the Lord to make our paths straight.
Once we acknowledge Our Lord and receive the benefit of the good and perfect plans that He sets aside for us, we must express our gratitude for all that He has provided.  For God justly withdraws His provision from those that receive it without thanksgiving.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for providing Your Son, Jesus, to dwell within us.  Make us mindful of His presence at all times.  Teach us to gladly, joyfully and willingly seek the plans that have been set aside for us through Our Savior.   Mold our hearts so that we will be ready to receive the fullness of Christ into our lives.  Fill our hearts with continuous gratitude and thanksgiving for our ever present King, Jesus Christ.  We ask all these things in His mighty name.

Who Could Endure Such a Test?

Genesis 22:2
He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.”
To lose your child by the act of your own hand, who could endure such a test?  Only a person of great faith in the promises of God could.  When Abraham headed up the mountain with Isaac, he held the promise from God that God would make Abraham a great nation.  This promise could not be fulfilled without Isaac.
Abraham makes two comments that indicate that he faced his trial girded by faith in God’s promises.  The first comment came when he saw the place of sacrifice from afar.  He told the servants that had joined him and Isaac, “Stay here with the donkey.  I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.”  The second comment came when Isaac asked where was the lamb for the sacrifice.  Abraham responded, “God will provide the lamb for Himself for the burnt offering, my son.”  And so it was that Abraham became a great nation through his son, Isaac.
God will test each of us.  He wants us to build up our faith in Him.  Take strength from the story of Abraham and Isaac.  God will always provide a way for us to fulfill the plan that he has for our lives and for the lives of those that we serve.  He will provide all that we need to endure that which we think is unbearable.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for covering us in the many promises of comfort, provision and strength that You have revealed to us in Your Holy Word.  Test us, O Lord, to build our faith in who You are.  Strengthen us, O Lord, that we may pass the tests that prepare us for our place in Your eternal kingdom.  Comfort us as we endure the trials.  Build up in us the faith of Abraham.  May we rejoice in seeing the fruits of our faith.  We ask all these things in the name of our Blessed Hope and Assurance, Jesus Christ.  

The Light of the Spring

Song of Solomon 2:11-12
For behold, the winter is past; the rain is over and gone.  
Just as the earth goes through seasons, so do we.  Remarkably, our supernatural seasons tend to coincide with the natural seasons.  As we respond to the gloominess of the dark winter days, we tend to become inactive like the flowers and the trees.  As the spring arrives, we tend to become more lively.  We enjoy a sense of calmness and peace and we look forward to a fruitfulness in our works.

We should be alert in the spring of the year to seek the new things that God is trying to bring into our lives.  If we are growing in Christ, we will always be taken to higher levels in service, praise, worship and fellowship with Our Savior.  May we turn away from the darkness of the winter past and turn toward the light of Jesus Christ.  May we look for the arrival of the harvest around us as the cold, hard ground of winter becomes the fertile, soft soil of the spring.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the seasons in our lives.  We thank You for taking us through the dark of the winter so we can see You more clearly in the light of the spring.  We pray that Your Holy Spirit will inspire us to seek the newness and boldness in Christ that You have planned to raise up in us this spring.  We pray that You will use us to harvest the souls of the men and women surrounding us as You prepare their hearts to be fertile grounds for Your Good News.  May new fruit come from our growth as Jesus’ disciples this year.  We ask all these things in the name of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. 

Overcoming the Enemy Without Being Overcome by Pride

Luke 10:20
Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.
When Jesus sent the disciples out two by two, they all came back with stories of victory against the enemy.  Jesus had to fore warn them not to be overcome by their success.

When following the Lord’s calling on our lives, the blessing and power of Jesus Christ will be ours to use to overcome the enemy in our lives and the lives of those that we serve.  We must be careful not to call our victories our own for all the glory is for Our Savior.  If our pride allows us to claim the glory, our fall is certain.
We cannot take a commercial view of the things that we do for Jesus.  That is, we cannot measure ourselves by the results of our work.  Our work for the Lord is not about success.  It is about the deepening relationships that we are forming with Him as His disciples.  It is about our preparation to join Our Savior in His heavenly kingdom.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the power and blessings that You release in our lives through our relationship with Your Son, Jesus.  We ask You, Lord Jesus, to show us how to become Your true disciples.  We ask You to give us the power to overcome the enemy in our lives and in the lives of those to whom we bring the salvation message.   We ask that You open the eyes of those around us that they may see and seek Your Spirit that lives within us.  May we all be prepared for the time that we stand before You to hear the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”  We ask all these things, Lord Jesus, in Your precious and holy name.

Co-laborers in Christ

1Corinthians 3:9
For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
The first day on any job is generally very exciting and also somewhat stressful.  Immediately, we are naturally concerned about the results that we are going to be able to produce in our new job.  Consider how liberating it would be if the first thing our new boss told us was, “Just follow my instruction and do not worry about the results.  I will be responsible for the results.  You will be richly rewarded for following my instruction no matter what happens.” 
If the boss we choose to serve is Our Father in heaven, then we have found the liberating boss that we have always longed for.  More importantly, this is where God wants us.  He wants us to serve Him without any concern about the outcome other than to have the faith that He will fulfill what He asks us to do for Him.  He simply wants us to be instruments of His work, living vessels of His perfect love and forgiveness.  

It may be entirely possible that we are taking on work for which no man is sufficient.  Yet in submission to the Father, we are only asked to be diligent and faithful in carrying out our calling.  We are certain to find that we have a co-laborer in Christ.  Though we will partner in the labor, we bear no responsibility for the harvest.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for allowing us to join You in Your work.  We rejoice in knowing that You receive great honor and glory when Your children surrender to the rule and reign of Jesus Christ in their lives. Open our eyes so that we may see what You are calling us to do in Your kingdom.  Release in us all the power and authority that is ours through Jesus Christ.  Shield us from taking on destructive personal pride as we see success when doing Your work.  We ask all these things in the name of Our Provider, Jesus Christ.

The Author and Giver of All Blessings

Ephesians 1:3
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
There you have it – the summation of all of our blessings.  God the Father is the author and giver of all blessings.  Jesus Christ is the medium that God the Father uses to dispense His blessings.  The sphere of coverage is every single blessing in heavenly places.  

The fullness of everything that we need and the fullness of everything that will satisfy us originates with God the Father.  Every iota of these blessings is held in the hands of our risen Savior, Jesus Christ.  And He dwells in us as the dispensing fount that we may draw on at any time.
Why should we ever look elsewhere?  Man can never be counted on to stand by us through all circumstances.  At some point, all men will fail one another.  The Lord, Jesus, never fails us.  He is with us even under the direst circumstances, even the ones that we have created ourselves.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we thank You for the loving kindness, the mercy and the grace that You provide to us through Your Son.  We pray that You show us how to turn to Jesus first in all things.  Strengthen us, Lord, so that we may leave behind our reliance on a fallen world.  Prepare us, Father, to stand before You one day and receive the fullness of Your kingdom in heaven.  We ask all these things in the name of our mediator, Jesus Christ.