The Bible

 

     God’s word is available to us, to be memorized, meditated on and researched. Dig into it. It is the plum line for our lives. Saturate your mind with it, until it settles into your heart. I guarantee a hunger and a thirst will develop for it. The more you read, the more you want. There is no end to the blessings it offers. You will get to know Jesus and His ways. Truth will reign.

 

     Sit in awe at the scope of wisdom offered, the prophecies that have come to pass and the prophecies yet to come See Jesus foreshadowed throughout the Old Testament and how His death and resurrection fulfilled the law and the prophets. Read about His soon return and the glories of heaven. Not one word has been proven wrong. In fact, science, archeology, and history continue to catch up and prove its truth.

The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever. The decrees of the Lord are firm, and all of them are righteous. They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold. They are sweeter than honey, than honey from the honeycomb. Psalm 19:9-10

     Jesus is the word of God in the flesh. (John 1) The Bible is all about Him, from Genesis to Revelation. The story of creation, of Israel, of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, of David and Solomon, of the prophets, from Daniel and Isaiah to Micah and Zechariah, from the story of Moses and the escape from Egypt, to the baby born in a manger. Read about the flood and the ark, of Jonah and the whale, of the twelve disciples, about the transformation of Saul into Paul. Read about life and how to live it. Choose life and light and blessings. Read of His passion, His death and resurrection, about the life to come. Eternity awaits. Read all about it and go forth and live it!

Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. James 1:22

Jesus,

We pray for Your word to enliven us, to restore us, to redeem us, to teach and guide us. Develop a hunger and a thirst in our hearts to meditate on it daily, until everything we do and see is seen through Your loving eyes. Let us live for You.

Amen  

Grace and Truth

 

The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

     Our churches today often err on one side or the other of grace and truth.  Truth hates sin. Grace loves sinners. How do we balance them? Jesus shared His compassion and love with all people. He came for the sick, the sinner, for you and for me.

     Strong Christians today are known for the truth they stand on, which is important. And too much grace with no Biblical truth waters down the Gospel and brings us into the follies of the world. It becomes easy to compromise and fit in with the world. Love and share Jesus and stand for His truth. It works.

     The Gospel saves and Jesus transforms. He lavishes His grace on us and sets us on the road to obedience. He wants only the best for us, not a watered-down version of what the world says is best. Don’t settle for conformity. You are sons and daughters of the King. Accept His protection. Accept His grace. Follow His truth and you will be blessed.

God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24

Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of Him who is the head, that is, Christ. Ephesians 4:15

Lord,

Keep us balanced in truth and grace. You love all of us, but You do hate sin. Let Your Spirit continue to sanctify us into the life You have in store for us. It is beautiful and blessed.

Amen

Be Filled

 

     Being filled with Jesus will increase our joy. Jesus calls Himself the bread and water of life. Our spiritual health is more vital than our physical health. Our souls are eternal, and our spiritual health will overflow into our physical health and general well-being.

     As we place our faith in Christ and trust Him to take care of us, as we spend good, quality time with Him, as we allow His words and the Holy Spirit to fill us, the power of Christ will overflow onto others and bring light to the world around us.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled. Matthew 5;6

…and to know this love that surpasses knowledge-that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:19

Jesus,

Fill us to the brim until we overflow with Your love. Keep our focus on You and let Your Spirit work in our hearts with the abundance of joy that only comes from You.

Amen

Be There

 

     The best advice is often the advice not spoken. The two one-on-one care ministries I was involved with and led, trained in the art of listening. Allowing others to talk and to grieve and to unburden their hearts gives them the opportunity to heal. They are allowed to just be, to remain right where they are, to talk out their feelings and emotions, while slowly finding their way. The more we can allow ourselves and allow others to let go of feelings, the more we come to a place of understanding, a place of peace.

     Often the best gift we can give another when they hurt, is to be present.  Quick answers and platitudes offer no real cure. A silent friend can be the one most refreshing, effective and valued. I often need to remember that.

I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint. Jeremiah 31:25

     When we bring Jesus into the presence of a hurting person, we bring His comfort. He refreshes the weary with His gentleness, His kindness, His goodness.  Do not be quick with leading questions, with solutions and answers. Bring the presence and love of Christ. The Holy Spirit will guide you as you listen and love.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Jesus,

We trust You with our silence and with our words. Guide us as we enter into the suffering of others. Take away our fear of silence. We share Your comfort as we have first been comforted.

Amen

 

Listen

 

     The Holy Spirit is the believer’s teacher and guide. There are times I find myself trying to take His place. I judge or I preach or I talk over others with a point I want to make. When it comes to my beautiful daughters, I often give them answers to questions they did not ask. Wanting the best for our children often means allowing them to find the answers for themselves just as we did. We learn through trial and error, through prayer, through patience and, often, through mistakes, or through times of hardship.

     The Holy Spirit will do His job. He will find the answers and the solutions. Some great advice comes from the Holy Scriptures:

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry. James 1:19

     The Holy Spirit will do His work in our lives and in the lives of other believers. He intercedes in our lives and brings us into God’s will. Be quick to listen to Him first. Can’t find the answers? Don’t know what to pray? Allow Him.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance of the will of God. Romans 8:26-27

Father,

We thank You for the Holy Spirit’s work within us. He will teach and guide, comfort and intercede for us as we seek answers. We long to be quick to listen and slow to speak.

In Jesus name,

Amen

Light in Heaven

 

     Try to imagine the radiance of heaven. Picture the glimmering new city of Jerusalem, the spectrum of colors beyond anything the human eye has seen, the sea of glass, the trees producing new fruit each month, no more night, no more sorrow, no more pain, surrounded by pure light.  (Revelation 21)

    Humans cannot experience the full glory of God and live. Even with God’s back turned to him while hiding in the crevice of a rock and with God’s hand over that crevice, Moses’ whole countenance changed.

     Reflecting the light of Christ is just a small part of the unimaginable glory of heaven! Let’s keep that in mind when we stumble, fall and pick ourselves back up again and again throughout our lives. There is a future filled with forever light!

For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part, then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.  1 Corinthians 13:12

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light and the Lamb is its light. Revelations 21:23

There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light and they will reign forever and ever.  Revelations 22:5

Dear Father,

We thank you for the light of Christ, the light of the world, the light of our hearts and the light of heaven. Show us how to shine with His light throughout our earthly lives. One day we will witness Your full glory. Let that always bring hope.

In Jesus name

Amen

See you back here on November 18th. Enjoy the week!

 

Unveiled Light

 

     The closest any human has come to seeing the glory of God is Moses. When God called him to lead his people into the promised land, he did not believe it. He was not ready. He was not qualified. He wanted God to pick someone else. All of us can relate! Moses asked to see God’s glory. You can read through the encounter in Exodus 33 and 34.

     God told Moses that His presence would pass by, but no man could see His face and live. God hides Moses in a crevice in the rock and God passes by with His back to him. This encounter with God leaves him radiant. In fact, he has to wear a veil! His countenance is so bright the Israelites are unable to look upon him.

     Saul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus leaves him blinded. Soon he has a new name, a new path, a new ministry. He is changed forever. Read all about it in Acts 9. Isaiah is allowed a peek into the throne room of heaven. He immediately says that he is undone and that he is a man of unclean lips. Encounters with the living God bring us to our knees in humility and awe, in fear of His holiness (not afraid, but a reverential fear) and we are undone. The power and the glory of God change us. We will never be the same. And His glory shines on us and through us.

     Remember this. The veil to the temple was ripped from bottom to top when Jesus was dying on the cross. The veil separated the ordinary folks like us from the Holy of Holies. The death and resurrection of Christ left us with full access to the throne room. Until then, the high priests had been the only ones able to enter the inner room of the temple where the presence of God resided. Listen to what Jesus has done for us!

For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are-yet He did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16

     I pray for each of us to be completely changed by the living God! His love is deeper. His light is brighter. His glory is beyond anything our earthly eyes can see. Someday we will see Him face to face. We’ll talk about that tomorrow. In the meantime, go boldly to the throne room time after time and be changed by the radiance of Christ.

And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.  2 Corinthians 3:18

Dear Jesus,

Let these words rock our world! You transform, you change. You mold us more and more into Your image. We come before the throne room boldly in need of Your mercy and grace and glory.

Amen