“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2
It’s not enough not to conform. As you are you’re still not what God wants you to be. You need another step. You need to be transformed. Psalm 119:9 – “How can those who are young keep their way pure? By living according to your word.”; “Keep their way pure” – a continuous action. Today and everyday live according to God’s word.
“Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” James 1:22
Depend on God -“For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9
Accept Yourself as God's Chosen Vessel -“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:17-18
Allow God to Cleanse You - “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9
Be Filled with the Living Water -“Be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:18-20
Pray - I cling to the cross, confess my sins, and yet again ask for forgiveness and the strength to continue to walk in a manner worthy of my calling. I will choose to follow you Jesus, regardless of the difficulties, the humiliation, and the suffering. Help me LORD Jesus! Amen.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
God at His Best
“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16)
To see God’s greatness is to take a look at Him when He looked at man. God looked at the condition of man and concluded that there is no one who is righteous; they should all perish and deserve it. And this great God, who is completely just, showed another aspect of His character called love. God looked at us through eyes of love and mercy, in spite of his justice, and worked out a judicial agreement with His Son. And Jesus accepted the responsibility to come down and die a substitutionary, death for us.
God, who has a love I cannot comprehend, who has a mercy and grace I cannot touch –loved me so much that He gave His only begotten Son, who knew no sin, so that we might become children of God. We’ve buried great teachers from other religions. They’re still dead. Buddha is still dead. Mohammed is still dead. Confucius is still dead. But early Sunday morning we have something strange on our hands. Jesus arose and declared, “Divine power is in my hands. And I’m alive forevermore.” Jesus died for our sins, rose for our justification.
God is at His best when he saves lost souls.
He wasn’t His best when he created the heavens and the earth;
He wasn’t His best when he made man;
He wasn’t His best when he called the Red Sea to separate;
He wasn’t His best when he sent manna from on high;
He wasn’t His best with the virgin birth;
He wasn’t His best with the miracles of the resurrection of the dead.
But God is at His best when he saved me. "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Titus 3:5, Every time He saves a lost soul, that’s God at His best. Not the moon and stars. Not the hills and mountains. Not the trees and valleys. Not the rivers and lakes and oceans. But God picking up a sinner and making him a preacher,
Picking up a prostitute and making her a singer,
Picking up people down and out and putting them on their feet,
Causing us to stand and say, “Glory, He saved me. I’m saved.” That’s God, at His best.
It took a miracle to put that sun in place.
It took a miracle to put the moon in space.
But when God saved my soul, cleansed and made me whole, that was God at His best.
Selah
To see God’s greatness is to take a look at Him when He looked at man. God looked at the condition of man and concluded that there is no one who is righteous; they should all perish and deserve it. And this great God, who is completely just, showed another aspect of His character called love. God looked at us through eyes of love and mercy, in spite of his justice, and worked out a judicial agreement with His Son. And Jesus accepted the responsibility to come down and die a substitutionary, death for us.
God, who has a love I cannot comprehend, who has a mercy and grace I cannot touch –loved me so much that He gave His only begotten Son, who knew no sin, so that we might become children of God. We’ve buried great teachers from other religions. They’re still dead. Buddha is still dead. Mohammed is still dead. Confucius is still dead. But early Sunday morning we have something strange on our hands. Jesus arose and declared, “Divine power is in my hands. And I’m alive forevermore.” Jesus died for our sins, rose for our justification.
God is at His best when he saves lost souls.
He wasn’t His best when he created the heavens and the earth;
He wasn’t His best when he made man;
He wasn’t His best when he called the Red Sea to separate;
He wasn’t His best when he sent manna from on high;
He wasn’t His best with the virgin birth;
He wasn’t His best with the miracles of the resurrection of the dead.
But God is at His best when he saved me. "He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of His mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” Titus 3:5, Every time He saves a lost soul, that’s God at His best. Not the moon and stars. Not the hills and mountains. Not the trees and valleys. Not the rivers and lakes and oceans. But God picking up a sinner and making him a preacher,
Picking up a prostitute and making her a singer,
Picking up people down and out and putting them on their feet,
Causing us to stand and say, “Glory, He saved me. I’m saved.” That’s God, at His best.
It took a miracle to put that sun in place.
It took a miracle to put the moon in space.
But when God saved my soul, cleansed and made me whole, that was God at His best.
Selah
Monday, January 3, 2011
A New Year with a New Beginning
Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, “come, see a man who told me everything I ever did.”(Jn 4:28-29 NIV)
After too many disappointments we often give up, we lose hope. A person can only start over so many times before you begin to wonder, “What’s the point? The Bible tells a story of a lady who had reached this point, who had lost all hope: John 4:9-10, "Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water."; If you could just grasp the fact that Jesus came down from Heaven, walked the dusty roads of this world, died on a cross, rose from the dead, and how now, comes to sit right in front of you; I believe that you would fall at his feet. But like the woman at the well, you don’t see Jesus for who he is yet. You can only know him as he reveals himself to you. That’s what must happen before a soul can be saved. You can’t just decide to be saved. You can only come to Jesus as the Holy Spirit reveals him to you and calls you to come to him.
2 Corinthians 6:2, "…I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured [helped]thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation)"
And then Jesus offers her living water—the living water which quenches a person’s thirst and gives eternal life. Jesus is actually telling her, I’m the Messiah! I’m what you’ve been longing for! I’m what you need in your life!” She begins to realize what He’s offering her—a brand new beginning.
In order to achieve and obtain the impossible the spirit of God and the spirit of man must meet! When God’s spirit connects with a man’s spirit we can begin to understand the things that are freely given to him of God. We can see the impossible. We can see what eyes, hath not seen. We can hear what ears have not heard. We can perceive things that have not entered into the heart of man. We can experience the things God has prepared for us. We can begin to understand the deep things of God!
When we make that decision to give ourselves to Christ, and He begins that work of recreation in us, we become His ambassadors! Eventually the woman at the well realizes that she has met the Messiah and that He has begun to recreate her. Outwardly she looks just the same, but inside—inside she is a new creation! She no longer sees herself as a hopeless outcast. Instead, she realizes that she has been entrusted with a message, good news: The Messiah is here! God has reconciled us to Himself!
And this woman who walked to the well—walked to the well without a friend, without hope, without a future—this same woman runs back to town. She has met the Messiah. She has become Jesus’ ambassador. 39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘‘He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, ‘‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” (Jn 4:39-42; NIV)
It doesn’t really matter where you are today, because today is a new day. Paul writes further: “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor 6:1, 2; NIV)
There is a shelter in the time of a storm. There is a bridge over troubled water. If you surrender God will save! If you call God will answer! If you repent God will forgive! If you trust and obey God will bless!
My brothers and sisters its time we dwell abundantly to Bring in the New Year with jubilation, praise, praying, shouting, and thanking God. Our future holds the hope for something better.
After too many disappointments we often give up, we lose hope. A person can only start over so many times before you begin to wonder, “What’s the point? The Bible tells a story of a lady who had reached this point, who had lost all hope: John 4:9-10, "Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water."; If you could just grasp the fact that Jesus came down from Heaven, walked the dusty roads of this world, died on a cross, rose from the dead, and how now, comes to sit right in front of you; I believe that you would fall at his feet. But like the woman at the well, you don’t see Jesus for who he is yet. You can only know him as he reveals himself to you. That’s what must happen before a soul can be saved. You can’t just decide to be saved. You can only come to Jesus as the Holy Spirit reveals him to you and calls you to come to him.
2 Corinthians 6:2, "…I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured [helped]thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation)"
And then Jesus offers her living water—the living water which quenches a person’s thirst and gives eternal life. Jesus is actually telling her, I’m the Messiah! I’m what you’ve been longing for! I’m what you need in your life!” She begins to realize what He’s offering her—a brand new beginning.
In order to achieve and obtain the impossible the spirit of God and the spirit of man must meet! When God’s spirit connects with a man’s spirit we can begin to understand the things that are freely given to him of God. We can see the impossible. We can see what eyes, hath not seen. We can hear what ears have not heard. We can perceive things that have not entered into the heart of man. We can experience the things God has prepared for us. We can begin to understand the deep things of God!
When we make that decision to give ourselves to Christ, and He begins that work of recreation in us, we become His ambassadors! Eventually the woman at the well realizes that she has met the Messiah and that He has begun to recreate her. Outwardly she looks just the same, but inside—inside she is a new creation! She no longer sees herself as a hopeless outcast. Instead, she realizes that she has been entrusted with a message, good news: The Messiah is here! God has reconciled us to Himself!
And this woman who walked to the well—walked to the well without a friend, without hope, without a future—this same woman runs back to town. She has met the Messiah. She has become Jesus’ ambassador. 39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘‘He told me everything I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, ‘‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.” (Jn 4:39-42; NIV)
It doesn’t really matter where you are today, because today is a new day. Paul writes further: “I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Cor 6:1, 2; NIV)
There is a shelter in the time of a storm. There is a bridge over troubled water. If you surrender God will save! If you call God will answer! If you repent God will forgive! If you trust and obey God will bless!
My brothers and sisters its time we dwell abundantly to Bring in the New Year with jubilation, praise, praying, shouting, and thanking God. Our future holds the hope for something better.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)