Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Rejoice in the Lord Always
Life here on earth is full of trials and we as christians are to persevere with the strenghth of our Lord in heaven. "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverence." -James 1:2 It has really become evident to me the need for rejoicing especially during the hard times, because God has a perfect and absolute plan that will add to His glory and end in good. "but God disciplines us for our good, that we may share in His holiness. No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it." -Hebrews 12:10 The trials we face daily as christians are the Lords way of disciplining us and leading us in the direction of His holiness. Our reactions to these struggles, whether we accept it with joy and change for the better with God at our right hand or have bitterness and turn away from the Lord, determines our growth. Those who persevere will gain a harvest of righteousness and peace. This path goes a little something like this..."Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us." -Romans 5:1-5 The Lord in His righeousness and perfection has planned out trials for each and everyone of us and how we react to them will reflect our trust in the Lord and whether we possess the knowledge that God is in control and He will always be there for those who live for Him. The Lord is good and He will bring good out of our suffering. Therefore let us..."Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again rejoice!" -Philippians 4:4
Monday, June 25, 2007
He carries me
Our Lord is Love and he has such an amazing love for us that he sent his only son to die for our sins.
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." -1 John 4:10
The Lord is with me at all times he is my strongtower, ready to provide protection for me. He is there during the tough and the good. I have always loved the story about the man who was looking back at his footprints in life and he noticed during the hard times there was only one set of footprints and during the good there were two. He asked the Lord why he left him during the hardest times in his life and the Lord replyed it was during those times I was carrying you. God is so undescribably amazing and that is why he deserves so much praise and love from us. He desires our full focus and undivided attention, so lets give it to Him this summer. We have the choice to live this summer as sluggards or servants. I Pray that the Lord will guide you in your walk with Him and give you the fire and desire in your heart to lift up His name this summer and beyond.
"This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." -1 John 4:10
The Lord is with me at all times he is my strongtower, ready to provide protection for me. He is there during the tough and the good. I have always loved the story about the man who was looking back at his footprints in life and he noticed during the hard times there was only one set of footprints and during the good there were two. He asked the Lord why he left him during the hardest times in his life and the Lord replyed it was during those times I was carrying you. God is so undescribably amazing and that is why he deserves so much praise and love from us. He desires our full focus and undivided attention, so lets give it to Him this summer. We have the choice to live this summer as sluggards or servants. I Pray that the Lord will guide you in your walk with Him and give you the fire and desire in your heart to lift up His name this summer and beyond.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Glorify the Lord in all you do
When our hearts are led toward living our whole lives for the Lord in Heaven, shouldn't we be working toward glorifying the Lord in all that we do. Jesus Christ is our example of the perfect life, sin was absent from his life. Sin is not glorifying to the Lord, therefore we should be withdrawing it from our lives in order to become as close to holiness as humanly possible.
"Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splender of his holiness."
-Psalm 29:2
Our God has professed to us how glorious he is through all he has done for us , I mean seriously, not only does he give us breath, but he sent his only son down to earth in order to forgive our sins.
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8
The GOSPEL: "3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born."
Our God is awesome, he deserves all our praise. Around a month ago I was talking to my amazing spiritual growth partner Vanessa and we were talking about how many things we do daily that are not praising the Lord or lifting up his name. I think that many times it is out of laziness that we are not glorifying the Lord. Say I just got home from the beach and decide oh its around 4:30 i am tired I ' ve had a long day soaking in the sun, I think I will rest and watch some TV. This is horrible, because I could of whipped out my bible, or gone on to Proverb of the Day, or read one of the books I am reading on godly relationships. The Lord does not like sluggards or slackers, he wants the whole hearted people who desire and are willing to glorify Him in all they do. Don't you want to do what God wants for you to? I know I do.
Worship is an amazing way to glorify the Lord and lift up his Holy name.
"Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world."
Isaiah 12:1
It is so hard to fathom how great our God is, but please step back and think about it and I pray that it will lead you toward desiring to demolish the sins that are keeping you from glorifying the Lord in all that we do. I know that we can all work on this, because we are all sinners. Working toward living a life as close as we possibly can to Jesus' should be our lifestyle.
"Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splender of his holiness."
-Psalm 29:2
Our God has professed to us how glorious he is through all he has done for us , I mean seriously, not only does he give us breath, but he sent his only son down to earth in order to forgive our sins.
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8
The GOSPEL: "3For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, 4that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, 5and that he appeared to Peter, and then to the Twelve. 6After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. 7Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, 8and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born."
Our God is awesome, he deserves all our praise. Around a month ago I was talking to my amazing spiritual growth partner Vanessa and we were talking about how many things we do daily that are not praising the Lord or lifting up his name. I think that many times it is out of laziness that we are not glorifying the Lord. Say I just got home from the beach and decide oh its around 4:30 i am tired I ' ve had a long day soaking in the sun, I think I will rest and watch some TV. This is horrible, because I could of whipped out my bible, or gone on to Proverb of the Day, or read one of the books I am reading on godly relationships. The Lord does not like sluggards or slackers, he wants the whole hearted people who desire and are willing to glorify Him in all they do. Don't you want to do what God wants for you to? I know I do.
Worship is an amazing way to glorify the Lord and lift up his Holy name.
"Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things; let this be known to all the world."
Isaiah 12:1
It is so hard to fathom how great our God is, but please step back and think about it and I pray that it will lead you toward desiring to demolish the sins that are keeping you from glorifying the Lord in all that we do. I know that we can all work on this, because we are all sinners. Working toward living a life as close as we possibly can to Jesus' should be our lifestyle.
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