Rejoice

On May 18, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

1 Chronicles 29: 9

Then the people rejoiced because they had offered so willingly, for they made their offering to the Lord with a whole heart, and King David also rejoiced greatly.

What a beautiful passage of scripture. These people experienced much joy because their hearts were in their giving to the Lord. Did you know that giving offerings to the Lord could fill you with joy? Really, most of us enjoy giving. We just do not like to feel obligated or coerced to give. When we give freely to the Lord with our whole heart, it does make the heart glad. It is a personal giving between the person and the Lord and that sort of giving lifts the heart and countenance. I think some of us are grumpy because we hold on so tightly to our money or gifts. When we let them go freely, we elevate our own spirits. And I know that the Lord is overjoyed when we give to him out of the abundance of our hearts. It doesn’t have to be a big gift, just a joyful one.

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Imitating Christ

On May 17, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 15: 7

Therefore, accept one another, just as Christ also accepted us to the glory of God.

Yesterday I shared Isaiah 41: 9 and we saw that our Father, God, accepts us and has not rejected us. Today we see from the New Testament that Jesus also accepts us. But look, Jesus also requires that we accept one another. That will sure put our judgmental and critical natures to the test. Apparently, God did not set us up in the position to be critical of our fellow human beings. Honestly, we just can’t see the things God does nor can we see the way He does. He has the ability to look at a person’s heart. We can only view their external appearance and behaviors.

You are accepted by God and by Jesus. Now you must learn to extend the grace and mercy that you have in them. Let this grace and the love of God fill you. As you receive God’s acceptance you will begin to overflow with the same merciful attitude towards others. If you find yourself critical and judgmental then make sure that you are fully receiving God’s love for yourself. When you come to understand God’s affection for you it becomes very difficult not to share it with others.

God loves you, accepts you and has not rejected you. Open your heart and arms to the rest of humanity allowing God’s love to flow from you . . . in Jesus’ name.

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Accepted

On May 16, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Isaiah 41: 9

You whom I have taken from the ends of the earth, and called from its remotest parts, and said to you, “You are My servant, I have chosen you and not rejected you.”

I suppose most people have dealt with rejection or the sense of rejection at some time in their life. Many have felt insecure in their relationship with God too. The good news is that God has accepted you. No matter what the world may say about you; no matter what your negative brother-in-law says about you, God loves you and accepts you; even as you are.

I am not trying to say that most of us don’t need some transformation in our lives but we have been chosen by God. We really need to meditate on this scripture and let it sink down into our spirits. We need to have such a rock solid understanding and recognition of God’s favor over our lives such that nothing and no one can cause us to doubt our acceptance by God. 

This is a really big deal. There are books and books on the topic of rejection because so many of us have dealt with feelings of unacceptance and rejection. Sometimes we feel that we can never be what others want us to be but God is here shouting loudly that you do not have to change for Him to love you. Even before you were born He saw you and you were, and are, lovely in His sight. No matter how many mistakes you make, He still sees the beautiful you and He would say to you that you are wondrously made in His own image.

I feel like I could and should write much more on this so that you hear time and time again that God considers you lovely and worthy of His affection. However, He has said it best, “I have chosen you and not rejected you.” Hear the word of the Lord.

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Good Measure

On May 13, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Luke 6: 38

Give, and it will be given to you; good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, they will pour into your lap.
For years I didn’t really understand what this scripture was trying to get over to us. I understand give and it will be given to you. That is a clear direction from God concerning being generous in our giving to others. What is all of that other language for though? We do not have represented here a simple one to one ratio vis-a- vis giving and receiving. Rather, God is telling us that when we give, he gives back a vastly multiplied amount. It was one day when I was filling a container with a dry ingredient that this verse’s meaning became evident to me. As I poured my dry product into the container it began to fill while I still had more to fit into the container. So, I started tapping the container on the counter causing the substance to pack more compactly. Doing this allowed me to put much more substance into the container. Then I realized that is what “pressed down” and “shaken together” is all about. Maybe you could also press the dry material down with some sort of tamping tool so that you can fit more into the vessel. 

You see, God does not just give back to you in equal measure. He gives back an ample supply. He presses down and shakes down the substance so that he can get more into the container. And even then, he still runs the container over from his generous giving. He causes all things to come to you in abundance so that you cannot even contain it all. Well, good! Then you can take the overflow and give it away. But have plenty of pots and canisters available when you do because he is going to give back to you again, good measure!

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Spiritual Revenge

On May 12, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Job 42: 8

Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him so that I may not do with you according to your folly because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.

If you read the book of Job you will see that Job’s “friends” spoke against him for the whole book. I mean they really gave him a time. As soon as bad things started happening to Job his friends descended upon him and accused him of some great sin as the cause of the tragedies which were occurring in his life.

Isn’t that just like folks? They probably had been jealous of Job all the while because he was very wealthy and blessed in all things. Then when the devil started stealing his blessing, his friends began to harshly criticize him. In the end God corrected and reproved them.

Now if I were Job, I might not want God to send those chaps to me for me to pray for them. I can imagine saying, “God, I don’t want to pray for those fools that have harangued me for months. Just let them reap the fruit of their seed.” Fortunately for them, Job was obedient to God. I do like that they had to take him a big offering though. And we know that Job did pray for them because the subsequent verses tell us that God did accept Job’s prayer.

You see, the Old Testament teachings are consistent with the New Testament. God had Job pray for his enemies and we are under the same command today. Pray for those who persecute you and despitefully use you (Matthew 5: 44).

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The Worst Offense?

On May 11, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Proverb 24: 17 – 18

Rejoice not when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles or is overthrown, lest the Lord see it and it be evil in His eyes and displease Him, and He turn away His wrath from him [to expend it upon you, the worse offender].

It is so easy to judge other people’s faults. But God did not send you and me into the world to judge it. That is His job alone. He is so adamant in this point that this scripture shows that His wrath will turn from the bad actor to the worse offender, i.e. those of us who judge others. 

We even think we are doing justly when we judge others’ actions yet Jesus said, judge not lest you be judged (Matthew 7: 1). But when we speak to God about other people’s sins or sometimes even our perception of their wrong doings, God’s eyes turn away from their mistakes and onto our outright disobedience.

I know it is difficult but our part is to love and to pray for those whom we think are missing God’s best. And I do not mean those judgmental prayers. You know the ones where we condemn people and attempt to put them under bondage while in a conversation with our heavenly Father. No, our prayers are to be out of love and honest concern for their welfare. Do you want to please your Father? Pray earnestly and lovingly for those people that you think are falling short of God’s glory.

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Fearless

On May 10, 2016   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 112: 8           (NIV)

His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foes.

This is just one of the benefits that belong to the person who reveres the Lord. We are supposed to come into a place within our faith that we no longer fear those who strive against us. Our hope and our trust are in Him, our Lord and provider. In Him is victory. In Him is peace, the kind of peace that makes us secure regardless of the circumstances. We can come into a place wherein our thoughts of Him and our faith in Him are bigger than any other person or thing we encounter. We only have to keep our eyes glued on Him and His word and speak His words instead of the doubt of this world.

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