Jesus is Lord!

Job 19:25-27
25 “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. 26 And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! 27 I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought!
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL:Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

The Book of Job teaches us four lessons; 1.) God is sovereign. We cannot understand His workings by rational thinking alone; faith must rest in God’s love and our knowledge of Him. Sovereignty means that God is all-powerful; He knows all, He is everywhere and His decision is final. God is the author of all the powers of the universe. 2.) We understand ourselves and our lives in direct relationship to our understanding of the character and workings of God. When we understand that God’s will toward us is good, and that God cares and communicates His caring to His children, as He did to Job, this changes everything. Faith must have a resting place. When deep suffering threatens the foundations of faith, as was the case with Job, an assault on our faith can destroy us unless we are firmly rooted in these truths. 3.) In times of tragedy we face the temptation of making God our adversary instead of our advocate. We can declare our innocence and question the judgment of God, or we can bow in humility and wait for God to reveal Himself and His purposes to us. 4.) The struggle of faith is a personal one. We each must test the strength of our belief in God against uncontrollable forces and win our own individual victories. There will be times when family and friends may be taken from us and we must stand alone with only our faith in our Redeemer. But we like Job can stand under all circumstances and say, “I know that my Redeemer Lives!”

Have a God Day!

Romans 5:1-6
Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us. 2 Because of our faith, Christ has brought us into this place of highest privilege where we now stand, and we confidently and joyfully look forward to sharing God’s glory. 3 We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us they help us learn to endure. 4 And endurance develops strength of character in us, and character strengthens our confident expectation of salvation. 5 And this expectation will not disappoint us. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. 6 When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL:Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

There is a two sided reality to living a life for Christ. On one hand, we are complete in Christ when we accept His free gift of grace by faith. Because of our faith, we are given the highest privilege of sharing God’s glory.  On the other hand, we are imperfect and continually growing to become more like Christ. We have the status of royalty and the duties of slaves. We experience both the presence of Christ and pressure of sin. While we enjoy the peace that can only come from being made right with God, we also struggle with temptation and pain.  Remembering our double nature in this world will keep of us from becoming discouraged while we continue to work with Christ to complete this process of sanctification.  We keep our eyes focused on Him and the prize of eternity with Him.  Remember, we are friends of God and He is working to draw us closer to Him and not to condemn us for our mistakes.  God is slowly building our confidence and character for higher responsibilities for the work of His kingdom. Remember who you are in Christ and let the power of the Spirit of God within you lead you through your trails and temptations to become the royalty you are.

Have a God Day!

2 Peter 1:5-10
5 So make every effort to apply the benefits of these promises to your life. Then your faith will produce a life of moral excellence. A life of moral excellence leads to knowing God better. 6 Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance and patient endurance leads to godliness. 7 Godliness leads to love for other Christians, and finally you will grow to have genuine love for everyone. 8 The more you grow like this, the more you will become productive and useful in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ 9 But those who fail to develop these virtues are blind or, at least, very shortsighted. They have already forgotten that God has cleansed them from their old life of sin. 10 So, dear brothers and sisters, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen. Doing this, you will never stumble or fall away. 
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

We are saved by faith and not by works, but once saved, God starts to make us into His image. God gives us the tools to become His righteousness but we have to pick them up and apply them. The tools are His promises. God will not make us walk a holy life, we have to apply the benefits of His promises to do so. Once we apply His promises by faith, we operate under the power of the Holy Spirit.  Every promise of God starts with our faith and then requires action on our part. Once we step into action, the power of His Spirit enables us to complete the work.  Applying faith to His promises produces moral excellence, self-control, endurance and love. Take the first step, know what the Word of God promises and then apply those promises to your life and
the process of sanctification (being made into the image of Christ) will continue to show in your life.

Have a God Day!

Job 10:1-7
I am disgusted with my life. Let me complain freely. I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. 2 I will say to God, ‘Don’t simply condemn me-tell me the charge you are bringing against me. 3 What do you gain by oppressing me? Why do you reject me, the work of your own hands, while sending joy and prosperity to the wicked? 4 Are your eyes only those of a human? Do you see things as people see them? 5 Is your lifetime merely human? Is your life so short 6 that you are in a hurry to probe for my guilt, to search for my sin? 7 Although you know I am not guilty, no one can rescue me from your power.’
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

Have you ever felt like Job and been disgusted with your life?  As his suffering continued, he became more impatient.  Although Job remained loyal to God, he made statements he would later regret.  In times of extended sickness or prolonged pain, it is natural for people to doubt, to despair, or to become impatient. During those times, we need someone to listen to us and to help us work through our feelings and frustrations.  Does this describe you today or do you know someone going through a very difficult time?  If it is you, do not let your pain lure you into feeling sorry for yourself.  And do not take your limited experiences and jump to conclusions about life in general.  Do not let your pain lead you into sin.  Remain faithful to God and continue to trust Him even though you cannot see the end to your trail.  If you know someone who is going through a difficult trail, be patient with them and let them talk about their feelings.  But encourage them to keep trusting God to bring them to a higher ground.  It is difficult to be there for someone you love who is in great pain, so keep God in your heart and His Word on your lips.

Have a God Day!

Colossians 4:2
2 Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

Have you ever grown tired of praying for something or someone? Paul says we should “devote” ourselves to prayer and be “alert in prayer.  Our persistence is an expression of our faith that God answers our prayers.  But what about Matthew 6:7 that states, “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered only by repeating their words again and again.”  If we don’t hear from God when we pray for something once, should we keep praying until we get an answer?  Christ stated not to keep repeating the same words, not the same request for your need.  Sometimes we wonder how to keep praying for the same thing over and over again.  The Word of God is very clear.  This verse in Matthew states not to just repeat words that have no meaning and that you are repeating over and over but have no meaning in your heart.  Matthew 18:6-7 instructs us to keep bringing our requests before the Lord. (Then the Lord said, “Learn a lesson from this evil judge. 7 Even he rendered a just decision in the end, so don’t you think God will surely give justice to his chosen people who plead with him day and night? Will he keep putting them off?”)  God wants to know what is in our heart and we are to keep asking until we get an answer from Him.  Faith shouldn’t die if the answers come slowly, for God may be working His will in our life.  When you feel tired of praying, know that God is present, always listening and will always answer your prayer.  Maybe not in the ways you had hoped, but in ways that He knows are best for you.  He is more interested in our love than He is in our comfort.

Have a God Day!

Philippians 1:12-19
12 And I want you to know, dear brothers and sisters, that everything that has happened to me here has helped to spread the Good News. 13 For everyone here, including all the soldiers in the palace guard, knows that I am in chains because of Christ. 14 And because of my imprisonment, many of the Christians here have gained confidence and become more bold in telling others about Christ.  15 Some are preaching out of jealousy and rivalry. But others preach about Christ with pure motives. 16 They preach because they love me, for they know the Lord brought me here to defend the Good News. 17 Those others do not have pure motives as they preach about Christ. They preach with selfish ambition, not sincerely, intending to make my chains more painful to me. 18 But whether or not their motives are pure, the fact remains that the message about Christ is being preached, so I rejoice. And I will continue to rejoice. 19 For I know that as you pray for me and as the Spirit of Jesus Christ helps me, this will all turn out for my deliverance.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

Paul was in jail for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ, but he could have been freed had he not appealed to Caesar. (Acts 25:10)  He was in Rome under house arrest, and had a Roman guard chained to him 24 hours a day.  Paul realized that tough times set up great possibilities.  The guard was changed every 12 hours and every one of them knew why he was in chains.  And many of the guards became Christians because of Paul’s witness.  Paul was using his difficulty to spread the Word of God.  As a common Roman citizen he could never have reach the people in Caesar’s palace. but as a prisoner waiting to go before Caesar, he had opportunity to bring many to Christ. Paul had learned to never give up.  He knew that God was in control and that God does not always deliver us from our adversity, but He always brings us through it.  It is not abnormal to have problems.  Problems are a sign of life.  If we do not have problems, we are in the grave.  If you are going through a difficult time, don’t pray to be removed, pray for courage and direction to get through.  God can heal any illness, any disease and He can bring the right people into your life for help in a time of need.  Pray for strength, pray for wisdom and direction.  Pray for Jesus Christ to be your focus.  Read how Paul handled the tough times and see how God brought him through.  God will do the same for you what ever your problem is. 

Have a God Day!

Isaiah 48:9-11
9 Yet for my own sake and for the honor of my name, I will hold back my anger and not wipe you out. 10 I have refined you but not in the way silver is refined. Rather, I have refined you in the furnace of suffering. 11 I will rescue you for my sake-yes, for my own sake! That way, the pagan nations will not be able to claim that their gods have conquered me. I will not let them have my glory!
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

Faith in Christ does not guarantee personal prosperity, and lack of faith does not guarantee troubles in this life.  If this were so people would believe in Him simply to get what they want.  Faith based on rewards or prosperity is hollow.  To be unshakable, faith must be built on the confidence that God is sovereign.  Believing and obeying God does not shelter us from life’s calamities.  Matthew 5:45 tells, us ” For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”  Suffering in this life is a fact and our faith in God does not shelter us from it. While God may allow us to suffer for a reason beyond our understanding, He is never caught by surprise by our troubles and is always with us through the storm.  We must remember that we live in a fallen world where good behavior is not always rewarded and bad behavior is not always punished.  Not that we can see in this world, but sin will always be punished and our faith in Christ will always be rewarded by Him Who will judge us all.  But in this life we will not always see or understand why things happen.  Sometimes it is not for us to understand.  God may allow us to suffer for a reason beyond our understanding.  It is our faith in Him that will strengthen us and see us through to the end.  It is always within God’s power to meet our need, but it is not always done by Him the way we think it should be.  We need to trust that He is in control and that He will work all things out for our good.  This is the test in suffering, “Will we trust Him?” Will we keep on praising Him when life is not fair?  Will we believe that He will never leave us and that He will keep us safe in His love?   Don’t allow Satan to overcome your faith in God by allowing your troubles to cause you sin.  Continue to believe that God will do everything He said He would do and endure to the end even though you do not understand. 

Have a God Day!

2 Thessalonians 2:13-17
13 But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast and hold the traditions which you were taught, whether by word or our epistle. 16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, 17 comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.

As a believer in Christ, we must put aside sinful desires.  But doing so is a by-product of our new life in Christ, not the reason for our new life.  Our salvation does not depend on our own discipline and rule-keeping but on the power of Christ’s death and resurrection.  Keeping rules and requirements can not change a person’s heart.  Only the Holy Spirit can do that. Still we should not expect instant maturity in our walk with Christ or in others who have stated this journey.  The process of being fully sanctified only begins at being fully justified by believing in Christ.  We should not expect instant maturity in ourselves or others.  Christian growth is a life long process.  Although we have a new nature, we don’t automatically think all good thoughts and have all pure attitudes when we become a new person in Christ.  But if we keep listening to God we will be changing all the time.  The more of God we know, the more of Him will show in our lives.  As you look over the last year, what changes for the better have you seen in your thoughts and actions?  What attitudes have changed?  Change may be slow, but your life will change significantly if you trust God to change you. 

Have a God Day!

James 1:17-27
22 And remember, it is a message to obey, not just to listen to. If you don’t obey, you are only fooling yourself. 23 For if you just listen and don’t obey, it is like looking at your face in a mirror but doing nothing to improve your appearance. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you keep looking steadily into God’s perfect law-the law that sets you free-and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. 26 If you claim to be religious but don’t control your tongue, you are just fooling yourself, and your religion is worthless. 27 Pure and lasting religion in the sight of God our Father means that we must care for orphans and widows in their troubles, and refuse to let the world corrupt us.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

God is in control of your situation today.  No matter what it may be, He is there with you and He is working things out for your good.  But we are also required to act in our situation.  We cannot understand how God can be in control and the need for us to move into action, but both are true.  God chooses to work through those willing to act for Him.  We should always pray as if all depended on God and act as if it all depended on us.  In other words, we are to believe that God can do all things for our good, but act or move into the things we can. God will not just take care of your need without your involvement.  We are required to move into the direction He is leading to meet our need.  God wants us to act on our faith in Him and not just sit back and let Him do it all.  The events that have brought you to this place and time are not just a coincidence, they are the result of God’s sovereign control over your life.  This is a call for you to move into action.  Do the things that you can and pray about everything.  If God does not want you to move into a certain direction, He will provide another way through His Word or other godly people in your life.  But you must move, you must take action and believe that God will direct you.  Keep looking steadily into God’s perfect Word and do what it tells you to do. God’s Spirit will lead and direct you as move forward into living what you know is true from His Word.

Have a God Day!