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Trust in God’s Faithfulness

We’ve been studying Genesis for the past several weeks.  Each time I read the accounts of Adam and Eve, Noah and Abraham I see God’s hand miraculously working.  I see the promises, the covenants, and the fulfillment of those promises, and it gives me hope, even when I’m feeling hopeless.   So, despite a world fraught with tragedy, natural disasters, economic upheavals, constant concerns, you and I can exercise faith in God when all seems to be against us. The Bible constantly reminds us that God uses difficult circumstances to show Himself faithful.  Abraham and Sarah are listed in Hebrews Chapter 11 as members of the elite group of faith believers who trusted in the word of the Lord.  Theirs is one of the “trust standards” for us to learn from and to follow.  Just as He promised Abraham and Sarah that they would conceived the “child of promise” in their old age, God is able to do all things according to His divine plan.  He knows the thoughts He has towards us, thoughts of good and not evil, to bring us to an expected end. (Jeremiah 29-11-13 paraphrased).    He promised Noah he would never again destroy the earth with a flood.  He promised Abraham land, nations, a promised child, and blessings.   He promised us a Savior.  Although, today you and I might be struggling with the cares of this world, God is not.  He knows us, and the plans He has for us.  He is the Lord our shepherd, and He makes us to lie down in green pastures; besides the still waters, and He will restore our souls.   Is there anything too hard for God? God asked Sarah this question when she laughed at the thought of her situation.  Has your situation blinded you to the omnipotent, omnipresence, omniscience of God?

Don’t despair.  Don’t doubt even for a moment.  There is nothing in heaven or on this earth that is too hard for our God.  Today, my brothers and sisters trust in the faithfulness of God.

Psalm 19:14

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.”

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Morning Meditation

1 John 4: 7-21 NIV

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

 

May your life this day represent the most powerful thing in the universe-love.

Blessings.

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A simple prayer by Stormie Omartian

Lord, I surrender myself and my life to You and invite you to rule in every part of my mind, soul, body and spirit.  I commit to trusting You with my whole being.

 

May this prayer be yours today and every day.

 

Blessings

Romans 14:5 NIV

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Does Mere Christianity Mean Eliminate Denominations? by John Piper

Please check out Dr. Piper’s comments on this blog.

http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/does-mere-christianity-mean-eliminate-denominations

I believe you will find his comments enlightening.

 

Be blessed.

 

 

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Verse for today

“And this is my prayer : that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.” Philippians 1:9-10

Blessings to you.

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Seed

I love old science fiction movies, and television shows.  The idea of creating something new, and exploring the unknown, and other worlds has always fascinated me.  Recently, I came across on Netflix an old series, The 4400, which is a story about a group of individuals returned to Earth after vanishing for years.  As the story progressed, it was discovered these individuals came back with specific gifts designed to help Earth’s future.  They were “seeded” or re-planted to correct present day anomalies.

When you go back and re-watch old movies and shows, you see or hear things that might have escaped you the first time.    What caught my attention this time was the term “seeded”  which has several meanings, including to plant seeds for growth.  However, in meteorology concepts, it also means to sprinkle with particles in order to disperse it, or to produce precipitation.  In sports, the term is used to describe the process of arranging positions, so that more skilled contestants meets in the later rounds.  Seeds brings up images of multiplication, growth, development or advancement.  Plants flourishing under the right conditions.  The more and more I thought about “seed, seeding or seeded“,  the more I began to draw an analogy to the church, and us.  In the Gospel of John, chapter 15, Jesus identified himself as the “true vine” and you and I as the branches of that vine.  We, the branches spring up from the “righteous seed” of Christ with a divine commission to first remain connected to the vine, and then to bear MUCH FRUIT.   As in the tale of the 4400, we are called to use our unique gifts and talents (1 Corinthians 12:4-11, 27-31) to facilitate the building of His Kingdom on Earth, and share the gospel message. We were called to sprinkle or “seed” the Word of Life and Truth across the entire planet.  We were called to plant or “seed” ministries, churches, missions, schools, businesses all for the glory of God.  We were called to  “seed” or arrange ourselves and others to successfully meet the challenge of evil in these latter days, and show the world an even better way.  We were called to be “seed“; growing together in the love and admonition of the Lord, and staying knitted together in Christ.  By faith in Christ, we are the “seed” for the building of the Kingdom.   Isn’t it interesting how in the Great Commission, Jesus told his disciples to spread the gospel to the uttermost parts of the planet; to sprinkle the particles [the whole] of truth in order to disperse it, and to produce the divine precipitation upon the dry, desert of lost souls, so they too, can experience the life giving seeds of God’s amazing love.

This is not science fiction but a divine truth which can’t be ignored by us.  You and I were ordained before the beginning of the world to be “seeds” for the Master’s work.  If you don’t feel like you are a “seed”, read St. John Chapter 15, and 1 Corinthians 12, and let the Holy Spirit re-seed you today.  Amen.

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Daring Greatly

“It is not the critic who counts: not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs and comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming, but who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself for a worthy cause; who, at the best, knows, in the end, the triumph of high achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least he fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who knew neither victory nor defeat. ”  Theodore Roosevelt

This day dare greatly for the King of kings.  Get into the arena of life with gratitude, love and a passion to make a difference.

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Freedom

“The liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.” Galatians 5:1

A morning devotional by Charles Haddon Spurgeon

This “liberty” makes us free to heaven’s charter-the Bible.  Here is a choice passage, believer, “When thou passest through the rivers, I will be with thee.” You are free to that. Here is another: “The mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee;” you are free to that. You are a welcome guest at the table of promises. Scripture is a never-failing treasury filled with boundless stores of grace. It is the bank of heaven; you may draw from it as much as you please, without let [delay] or hindrance. Come in faith and you are welcome to all covenant blessings. There is not a promise in the Word which shall be withheld. In the depths of tribulations, let this freedom comfort you; amidst waves of distress, let it cheer you; when sorrows surround thee, let it be thy solace. This is thy Father’s love-token; thou are free to it at all times. Thou art also free to the throne of grace. It is the believer’s privilege to have access at all times to his heavenly Father. Whatever our desires, our difficulties, our wants, we are at liberty to spread all before him. It matters not how much we may have sinned, we may ask and expect pardon. It signifies nothing how poor we are, we may plead his promise that he will provide all things needful.  We have permission to approach his throne at all times – in midnight’s darkest hour, or in noontide’s most burning heat.  Exercise thy right, O believer, and live up to thy privilege. Thou art free to all that is treasured up in Christ-wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. It matters not what thy need is, for there is fulness of supply in Christ, and it is there for thee. O what a “freedom” is thine! freedom from condemnation, freedom to the promises, freedom to the throne of grace, and at last freedom to enter heaven!

Amen.

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2013 Great Companies for Women

2013 Great Companies for Women.

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Not Again

Not again. Not again. Another mass shooting. Another community in pain, in shock and horror. Families grieving the loss of loved ones. Amid the trauma, stories of those who sounded the alarm, came to the rescue, schools and organizations locked down, and those who ran for cover. Again this nation faces another tragedy due to gun violence.  Dr. Janis Orlowski, Chief Medical Officer stated, “I would like to be out of a job. I would like my team use their skills repairing injuries, but not those caused by bullets [paraphrased].”

Here we are again, as if Sandy Hook did not happen. There was evil present in Sandy Hook, Columbine, and in the Naval Yard, and as I watched the reports in sorrow, there were other reports of the evil;  a young girl killed herself because she was being bullied, an officer killed an unarmed young man, and a young man shot and killed a baby.  Whether it is a mass shooting, or a report of death or destruction, it is clear the evil that so easily beset us is around us.  And yet in the midst of this pain and suffering, this is the day that the Lord has made, and we must show that good does triumph over the darkness.

Recently, I met a woman who started a conversation with me because I smiled at her.  She chatted about different states she had lived where some people weren’t so nice.  With a twinkle in her eye, we exchanged tidbits about families, travels, jobs and race relations.  In a moment, I became a marker for her.   Markers are important because they defined us, and although invisible they tell the world who we are, and what we hold dear.  Markers are the spiritual imprints of love, joy, peace, diligence, patience, and understanding.  They are the byproducts of our relationship with God, and time spent in His presence.  As we spend time seeking God and His will for our lives, we become a powerful marker for a world riddled with the pain of evil.  Our markers must be brighter and stronger than the slings and the fiery darts of the enemy.  Our markers must be places of refuge and love covering and conquering the darkness. These markers proclaim the amazing truth that Jesus loves us, and He won the war.  So, let us turn the Not again, into Yet we win.

O’ Lord, help me to be a marker for some poor soul who is lost, afraid, and alone in the darkness.  Guide me towards and not away from those needing the touch of the Master. Because I know in the end we win.  Amen.