Jesus is Lord!

Jeremiah 15:19-21
19 The Lord replied, “If you return to me, I will restore you so you can continue to serve me. If you speak words that are worthy, you will be my spokesman. You are to influence them; do not let them influence you! 20 They will fight against you like an attacking army, but I will make you as secure as a fortified wall. They will not conquer you, for I will protect and deliver you. I, the Lord, have spoken! 21 Yes, I will certainly keep you safe from these wicked men. I will rescue you from their cruel hands.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

Jeremiah had a difficult assignment from the Lord.  He lived at a time when all of Israel had turned away from God.  The nation was very open about worshiping any god they wanted, while they also continued to come to the Temple to worship God.  Jeremiah told them to turn from their evil or God would bring destruction on them.  He even told them it would be done by the Babylonians and they would be in exile for 70 years.  God had instructed Jeremiah to not marry or have children because of the coming destruction.  He was instructed to speak God’s truth to a people who were very wicked.  As Jeremiah came before the Lord, he spoke of his frustration at doing this work.  And God spoke to him stating to return to Him and not let the evil people influence him to do evil.  Here was a very devote man of God doing a very difficult thing at a very difficult time and yet God said to him, “Return to Me.”  He is saying the same to you today, “Return to Me.”  We all get discouraged serving the Lord, but we must remember it is His work; it is His mission we follow.  When others reject you because you belong to Him and serve Him, remember it is Christ they are rejecting and not you.  Stay connected to Him even if you are the only one to do so.  Others may say you are wrong, but do not let them influence you.  You are to influence them to God by your standard of right living, no matter how evil they are.  They will see Christ in you even if they do not turn to follow Him.  Your life will be a testimony to them about how God wants us to live. So continue to do what you know is right and your life will show His love to a world of evil all around you. 

Have a God Day!

James 1:19-24
19 My dear brothers and sisters, be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Your anger can never make things right in God’s sight. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the message God has planted in your hearts, for it is strong enough to save your souls. 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.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

When the Word of God is readily accepted into the heart, there is change.  When it is fully understood how hopeless we are without Christ, there is true repentance.  Those who have become so accustomed to doing evil lose their desire to change.  And doing evil in the eyes of God is not the same as what we think. We think of people who do worse than we do, but God sees it differently. Matthew 12:30 states, “Anyone who isn’t helping me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.”  Anyone who is not serving God is against Him. God never rejects those who truly repent.  We see many who are sorry for their sin only because they are caught.  They have lost the ability to repent, but they are always the first to want the blessings of God and cry out to Him when they are in trouble because of their sin. If we are not careful, our attitudes and patterns of living can become so set that we will lose all desire to change and will no longer fear the consequences. Many cry out to God only because they want to be rescued and do not want to turn from their sin.  Make God your desire and keep looking into His Word so you will know what to do and you will not forget.  Repentance will change your heart and you will not have to repeat the same problems.  Make Christ Lord of your life and become His servant.  Recognize Who He is and give Him the glory for what He has done in your life.  Don’t turn away and forget what He has told you and you will receive more from Him.  More power to do His work and more love to serve Him.

Have a God Day!

James 5: 16-18
16 Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and wonderful results. 17 Elijah was as human as we are, and yet when he prayed earnestly that no rain would fall, none fell for the next three and a half years! 18 Then he prayed for rain, and down it poured. The grass turned green, and the crops began to grow again.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

The Christian’s most powerful resource is communion with God through prayer.  The results are often greater than we thought possible. Some people see praying as a last resort to be tried when all else fails.  But this approach is backward. Prayer should come first.  Because God’s power is infinitely greater than ours.  The resources of God are without limits. And He is waiting to hear from us.  When we pray we are stating that we trust God.  Prayer is God’s way of releasing power in our life and there will be no growth in Christ without it.  There is nothing in our life that God does not care about, so bring it to Him and trust that He will work out the need according to His will.  That is the part that often gives us problems.  His will.  We do not always trust that God knows what He is doing with our lives and we want what we want when we want it.  But God will listen to us and will meet our need if we trust Him and pray earnestly.  So do not stop believing, keep on trusting in His Word.  If Christ needed to take time to pray, how much more do we need to? 

Have a God Day!