Unchanging
16 People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. 17 Because
God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to
the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. 18 God
did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible
for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us
may be greatly encouraged. Hebrews 16:16-18
Have you experienced where a person said one thing and then
completely changed their mind and did the opposite? Have you ever
experienced a person in a leadership role or a coach, teach one thing
and do completely the opposite of what they teach? Many in our world
would label that person a hypocrite or a liar, but what about you? Do
you find yourself trying to set an example of how things should be done,
and then do something that goes against everything you had said? Self
reflection on how you act in these situations might highlight some
shortcomings of your own behavior that everyone sees and some might
judge. Now take a moment to reflect on who God is and what He
promises. He is unchanging and tells us exactly what we should do.
Instead of trying to forge or own path, we should follow the path God
has put in front of us and quit trying to change it. God doesn't
change, but we should change to become more like God and love our
brothers and sisters for who they are, someone just like us.
Have a great weekend.
Friday, June 13, 2014
Friday, June 6, 2014
Fantastic Friday #422 - Protection
Protection
11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you. 12 Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield. Psalm 5:11-12
Where do you turn for protection? Sometimes we aren't protected from things that can harm us. It may be the random viewing of something we shouldn't be looking at, or it may be some outside random object that can knock us down. The thing that we need to remember is who we turn to when we are knocked down physically and spiritually. Sometimes tragic accidents happen, but through all the tragedy God can be seen as the One who repairs and protects us. God performed some amazing work this week on a young man, and through all the tragedy and pain, I know we can turn to Him and take refuge in Him. Think about those times when you need protection from tragedy and pain, and look to our Lord who will surely bless the righteous as the scripture states. Use the shield provided and rely on His protection.
Have a great weekend.
11 But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
that those who love your name may rejoice in you. 12 Surely, Lord, you bless the righteous;
you surround them with your favor as with a shield. Psalm 5:11-12
Where do you turn for protection? Sometimes we aren't protected from things that can harm us. It may be the random viewing of something we shouldn't be looking at, or it may be some outside random object that can knock us down. The thing that we need to remember is who we turn to when we are knocked down physically and spiritually. Sometimes tragic accidents happen, but through all the tragedy God can be seen as the One who repairs and protects us. God performed some amazing work this week on a young man, and through all the tragedy and pain, I know we can turn to Him and take refuge in Him. Think about those times when you need protection from tragedy and pain, and look to our Lord who will surely bless the righteous as the scripture states. Use the shield provided and rely on His protection.
Have a great weekend.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Fantastic Friday #421 - Mouth
Mouth
2 Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;
an outsider, and not your own lips. Proverbs 27:2
Do you ever feel so accomplished that you think to yourself, man I just did that, I am good? Or are you an individual who pushes the accomplishment on to someone else so the spotlight is not on you? I have witnessed several accomplishments this week, by my children, by others and by myself. I had to stop and think during and after these periods of accomplishment that none of this was anything any of us have done. Although I praised my kids externally and to the community, I failed to praise with my mouth who really accomplished it. Many times we let our own lips praise ourselves instead of sitting back humbly and taking the compliments of others, but I know I also don't praise God quite enough for what He has done. Take a moment to bask in what God does for you daily, in the small things and in the big things, and don't let your own mouth praise yourself. Be humble.
Have a great weekend.
2 Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth;
an outsider, and not your own lips. Proverbs 27:2
Do you ever feel so accomplished that you think to yourself, man I just did that, I am good? Or are you an individual who pushes the accomplishment on to someone else so the spotlight is not on you? I have witnessed several accomplishments this week, by my children, by others and by myself. I had to stop and think during and after these periods of accomplishment that none of this was anything any of us have done. Although I praised my kids externally and to the community, I failed to praise with my mouth who really accomplished it. Many times we let our own lips praise ourselves instead of sitting back humbly and taking the compliments of others, but I know I also don't praise God quite enough for what He has done. Take a moment to bask in what God does for you daily, in the small things and in the big things, and don't let your own mouth praise yourself. Be humble.
Have a great weekend.
Friday, May 23, 2014
Fantastic Friday #420 - Doors
Doors
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11:9-10
Why is it we think we can do things on our own or change the plans of others? We all have paths we are following, yet we allow our flesh to gain a foothold in our life. All of us have a path that God has placed before us, and many times we get impatient with the fact that God is quiet, unresponsive, or hasn't opened that door for us yet. So, what do we do? We try to open that door ourselves, by forcing it open, picking the lock or just plan knocking the door down. When we do this, we are trying to manipulate His path for us. We need to know that God doesn't like us forcing our path on Him, because He is not going to change it. He will allow us to stumble and fall in order to realize we need to Ask Him, Seek Him and Find Him to help us in our time of need. Maybe we should stop trying to force doors open and allow Him to gently open those doors for us, because in the proper time He will.
Have a great weekend.
9 “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. Luke 11:9-10
Why is it we think we can do things on our own or change the plans of others? We all have paths we are following, yet we allow our flesh to gain a foothold in our life. All of us have a path that God has placed before us, and many times we get impatient with the fact that God is quiet, unresponsive, or hasn't opened that door for us yet. So, what do we do? We try to open that door ourselves, by forcing it open, picking the lock or just plan knocking the door down. When we do this, we are trying to manipulate His path for us. We need to know that God doesn't like us forcing our path on Him, because He is not going to change it. He will allow us to stumble and fall in order to realize we need to Ask Him, Seek Him and Find Him to help us in our time of need. Maybe we should stop trying to force doors open and allow Him to gently open those doors for us, because in the proper time He will.
Have a great weekend.
Friday, May 16, 2014
Fantastic Friday #419 - Hurry
Hurry
for I see violence and strife in the city. Psalm 55:7-9
Have a great weekend.
7 I would flee far away
and stay in the desert;
8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,
far from the tempest and storm.”
9 Lord, confuse the wicked, confound their words,and stay in the desert;
8 I would hurry to my place of shelter,
far from the tempest and storm.”
for I see violence and strife in the city. Psalm 55:7-9
I
saw a lot of people in a hurry this week. People weaving in and out of
traffic, almost causing accidents, and people that were running to get
somewhere quickly. I can be one of those people also, but I try really
hard to be someone who slows down and drinks the coffee. Sorry, I don't
care for smelling roses, although they are a very beautiful flower.
David hurried away to a place of shelter when he was trying to flee his
enemies. I wonder sometimes if when we are hurrying if we think we are
going to our own place of shelter. When in reality, we are only running
away from the Lord's presence and His covering. Maybe if we spent less
time hurrying and more time focusing on what God wants us to do, we
would see less of what the enemy wants us to see. Slow down and hurry
into God's shelter and not our own shelter.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Fantastic Friday #418 - Suit
Suit
2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:2-5
Have a great weekend.
2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:2-5
Do you ever hear this? Suit yourself. If
you have, someone has probably just offered you something and you have
declined their offer. Maybe you declined because you didn't like what
they had to offer, you didn't have time for the offer, or you just plain
didn't want to mess with their offer and had other things on your mind.
When God's Word is shared, we really can't ignore his presence to suit
our own desires. God has something to share with all of us, and we can't
turn away from the truth to serve our selfish desires which others try
to do regularly. We have to sacrifice our time to suit God's needs and
not our own. Take a moment to tell yourself, today I am not going to
suit myself but suit others through God.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Fantastic Friday #417 - Perform
Perform
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver....12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 2 Corinthians 6-7, 12-13
When you perform certain actions throughout the day, do you feel like someone is watching you or judging you? Depending on what you are performing, someone might be keeping an eye on you. Maybe this is because they know you are a follower of Christ and they just want to see how you act. I think many of us today think so much about how we are going to perform in front of others and what these other people are going to think, we end up over-performing or trying too hard to be good. The thing we tend to forget about is our performance should really come from the outflow of our heart and not about pleasing others. This is where many people have it wrong these days, they might be a cheerful giver, but they want to make sure everyone notices what they give, whether it be time or money. Someone might also have a heart of giving, but then they want to make sure they are acknowledged for all the effort they put in. We all want to be appreciated as human beings, but we need to get to the point where whatever we perform, we do it humbly and without asking for anything in return including acknowledgement from others. Remember, there is one that is watching you closely. While you might be giving on the outside, He can see where you want to be acknowledged or rewarded. Why not let God acknowledge your performance and not worry about what other people think, he knows your heart and can see through the performance.
Have a great weekend
6 Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. 7 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver....12 This service that you perform is not only supplying the needs of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many expressions of thanks to God. 13 Because of the service by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God for the obedience that accompanies your confession of the gospel of Christ, and for your generosity in sharing with them and with everyone else. 2 Corinthians 6-7, 12-13
When you perform certain actions throughout the day, do you feel like someone is watching you or judging you? Depending on what you are performing, someone might be keeping an eye on you. Maybe this is because they know you are a follower of Christ and they just want to see how you act. I think many of us today think so much about how we are going to perform in front of others and what these other people are going to think, we end up over-performing or trying too hard to be good. The thing we tend to forget about is our performance should really come from the outflow of our heart and not about pleasing others. This is where many people have it wrong these days, they might be a cheerful giver, but they want to make sure everyone notices what they give, whether it be time or money. Someone might also have a heart of giving, but then they want to make sure they are acknowledged for all the effort they put in. We all want to be appreciated as human beings, but we need to get to the point where whatever we perform, we do it humbly and without asking for anything in return including acknowledgement from others. Remember, there is one that is watching you closely. While you might be giving on the outside, He can see where you want to be acknowledged or rewarded. Why not let God acknowledge your performance and not worry about what other people think, he knows your heart and can see through the performance.
Have a great weekend
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