Jesus is Lord!

Luke 16: 16-17
16 “Until John the Baptist began to preach, the laws of Moses and the messages of the prophets were your guides. But now the Good News of the Kingdom of God is preached, and eager multitudes are forcing their way in. 17 But that doesn’t mean that the law has lost its force in even the smallest point. It is stronger and more permanent than heaven and earth.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

John the Baptist’s ministry was the dividing line between the Old and New Testament. With the arrival of Jesus came the realization of all the prophets’ hopes. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ were the fulfillment of the Law. It did not negate the Law, but fulfilled and continued the Law. That means that what was true about the Law is still true today. Not the parts added to it by the Jews, but the original laws given to them by God. The 10 Commandments are just as relevant today as they were when God wrote them on stone. The same is true with what we do with the money God has given us to manage. Many Christian’s today say that since the death of Christ we are no longer required to give a tenth of what we have. But Christ Himself stated in Matthew 23:23, “…You should tithe, yes, but you should not leave undone the more important things.” Just as we should not steal or not commit adultery, we should tithe. The Words of Christ leave us with a clear picture, “But that doesn’t mean that the law has lost its force in even the smallest point.” Study the Word and then study your own behavior and see if you need to change. Seek to know His Word and your heart will seek to do His will in all areas of your life.

Have a God Day!

Luke 15:25-32
25 “Meanwhile, the older son was in the fields working. When he returned home, he heard music and dancing in the house, 26 and he asked one of the servants what was going on. 27 ‘Your brother is back,’ he was told, ‘and your father has killed the calf we were fattening and has prepared a great feast. We are celebrating because of his safe return.’ 28 “The older brother was angry and wouldn’t go in. His father came out and begged him, 29 but he replied, ‘All these years I’ve worked hard for you and never once refused to do a single thing you told me to. And in all that time you never gave me even one young goat for a feast with my friends. 30 Yet when this son of yours comes back after squandering your money on prostitutes, you celebrate by killing the finest calf we have.’ 31 “His father said to him, ‘Look, dear son, you and I are very close, and everything I have is yours. 32 We had to celebrate this happy day. For your brother was dead and has come back to life! He was lost, but now he is found!’”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

The father forgave his son out of love for him. But his brother refused to forgive because he was bitter about the injustice of it all. Life is just like that, some seem to get more favor than others even though they do not deserve it. But it is not about what we deserve or even about being fair. There is no fairness in life. The sooner you learn that the sooner you will be able to go on with what you have to deal with. Even though life is not fair, God is. His love is the same for every person in this world no matter what they have done or not done. To us this is not fair, because we may have done more “good” than others and yet God loves them just as much as He loves those who do His will. God rejoices greatly over any sinner when they voluntarily come to His love. That is what He wants. It is not that He does not rejoice over those who walk in His love, because He does, it is just that there is great joy throughout all of heaven when someone comes to God of their own will. It does not matter what they have done. Even Hitler or Bin Ladin would receive the same love and mercy, if they truly repented and accepted God’s love. How easy it is to resent God’s gracious forgiveness. But if our self-righteousness gets in the way of rejoicing when others come to Jesus, we are no better than the Pharisee of Christ’ day. Who do you need to forgive today? Go to God first and then go to them if you can and let it go! Rejoice that God loves them as much as He loves you. After all, there are people that you have hurt and they need to forgive you. None of us is without sin, no matter how small or how great. Forgive and rejoice over those whom God loves. Wouldn’t you want the same from those who look at you as the greater sinner?

Have a God Day!

Matthew 16:15-23
15 He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah, for flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it. 19 “And I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” 20 Then He commanded His disciples that they should tell no one that He was Jesus the Christ. 21 From that time Jesus began to show to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised the third day. 22 Then Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him, saying, “Far be it from You, Lord; this shall not happen to You!” 23 But He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind Me, Satan! You are an offense to Me, for you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.”
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.

What voice are your hearing today? Are you hearing from God and walking in obedience to that voice? Or are you hearing from your enemy who would keep ineffective for Christ? It is not important which voice you hear, but which voice you obey. Just as God speaks to all of us, so Satan also speaks to us. Only his purpose is to keep you ineffective for God or to completely turn you away from Him. Satan would have you dead if he could. Peter was walking with Christ and yet Satan whispered in his ear and Peter acted on that voice. Notice that Jesus did not rebuke Peter, but the voice he had listened to. Shortly before Peter had heard the voice of God and acted on it, as Christ told him that the truth he stated was not revealed to him by Peter’s own wisdom, but came from God the Father. These verses show us that we will walk with Christ, but yet will hear from our enemy. We need to be able to discern where the voice we hear is coming from. God will keep us safe in His care as we turn to Him and walk in obedience to His Word. But we need to know the Word to obey it. Pray for discernment as you walk with Christ to know where the voice is coming from that you hear. If it is from God obey it, if it is from Satan rebuke it. God will lift you up but Satan will tear you down. You have the power of the Spirit of God living within you, use that power to hear His voice and act on His will. Your connection to Christ is only as strong as your understanding of Him. Hear what He is saying to you today and then go and walk according to that Word.

Have a God Day!

Jeremiah 31:31-34
31 “The day will come,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah. 32 This covenant will not be like the one I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand and brought them out of the land of Egypt. They broke that covenant, though I loved them as a husband loves his wife,” says the Lord. 33 “But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel on that day,” says the Lord. “I will put my laws in their minds, and I will write them on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. 34 And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their family, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’ For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will already know me,” says the Lord. “And I will forgive their wickedness and will never again remember their sins.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

Jeremiah was predicting forward to the day of Jesus Christ and the New Covenant He would make with all people. This prophesy was not just for the Jews, but for the Gentiles too. No longer would the Laws of God be written on stone, but on the hearts of those who would accept His gift of grace. When Jeremiah wrote this it was all in the future for him, but it is in the past for us. But verse 34 is also in the future for us. We know that today we have to go out and say to people, “You should know the Lord.” So this verse has not come to past yet, but will when Christ is ruling this world. At that time we will not need to tell others about Him because they will know Him. Jeremiah 33:17 states, ” For this is what the Lord says: David will forever have a descendant sitting on the throne of Israel.” David’s descendant is not on the throne at this time, so we know that it is in the future for all of us today. Christ will be that ruler, but until that Day when He returns, we must tell others about Him. With the strength of the laws of God written on our hearts and the love of God keeping us, we can continue the work of telling others about Him until that Day when He returns. Don’t let the sacrifice of Christ become dormant in your life, take what God has given you and tell others about Him. God will work through you to accomplish His purpose in your life. Remember, God does not give you power to be all you want to be, He gives you power to be all He wants you to be.

Have a God day!

Luke 13:24-30
He replied, 24 “The door to heaven is narrow. Work hard to get in, because many will try to enter, 25 but when the head of the house has locked the door, it will be too late. Then you will stand outside knocking and pleading, ‘Lord, open the door for us!’ But he will reply, ‘I do not know you.’ 26 You will say, ‘But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.’ 27 And he will reply, ‘I tell you, I don’t know you. Go away, all you who do evil.’ 28 “And there will be great weeping and gnashing of teeth, for you will see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets within the Kingdom of God, but you will be thrown out. 29 Then people will come from all over the world to take their places in the Kingdom of God. 30 And note this: Some who are despised now will be greatly honored then; and some who are greatly honored now will be despised then.”
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

Our measurement of God in our lives is not in what we own or how much we succeed according to the standards of this world. Wealth is not a measurement of how pleased God is with your life; it is merely a gift and should be looked at it that way. God does not “reward” us with health because we obey Him; He rewards us with spiritual health for our obedience. Now that does not mean that God will not help us financially or heal us of our sickness, because He can. But if He chooses not to heal us, we must understand that it is not a measure of His righteousness in us, but is a part of living for God in a sinful world. God uses His power to accomplish His purposes through His people. God doesn’t give you power or heal you to all you want to be, but He give you power and heals you to be all that He wants you to be. Because no matter where you are today, wealthy or poor, sick or healthy, it is all to be used for His glory and His purpose. No matter where you are in this life, God can use you for His purposes. Do not let your circumstances prevent you from being used by God for His purpose. Do not be one of the many who will say, “But we ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.” The heart of these people will not be Christ but will be for their own gain, even thought they “look” like they are serving Christ. Know Him, love Him, serve Him according to His purpose and do not let your circumstance hold you back. God always has a work for you no matter what you are going through. If we wait for perfect conditions, they will never come. Remember God is more interested in your connection to Him than in your comfort. Make His will your primary desire and everything else will fall into place.

Have a God Day!

Psalm 118:24, 27-29
24 This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it.

27 God is the Lord, And He has given us light; 28 You are my God, and I will praise You; You are my God, I will exalt You.
29 Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.

John 9:5
“As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

1 Thessalonians 5:5
You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
The Holy Bible, New King James Version, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, Inc.) 1982.

Every day the sun rises and we are given light by our heavenly Father. The glory of the Lord can be seen in each sunrise. Have you ever wondered about the word sun and Son? Each is light to us, one is light to live and the other is Light to live forever. When Christ was with us, He said He was the light of the world. But after He left all those who have Christ living in them are the light of the world. Only through Christ will anyone be taken out of darkness and into the Light. With Christ living in us, we have His righteousness and can reach out to all those in darkness around us. Christians are not of the darkness but are the Light of the world. We can rejoice everyday, as everyday is given to us by God. He has given us light in the form of a loving Savior. Image what would happen if we lost our sun? Every living thing on this planet would die. Exactly the same thing will happen to those without the Light of God in their lives, eternal darkness! The Son has also risen! Praise God!

Have a God Day!

Hebrews 5:11-14
11 There is so much more we would like to say about this. But you don’t seem to listen, so it’s hard to make you understand. 12 You have been Christians a long time now, and you ought to be teaching others. Instead, you need someone to teach you again the basic things a beginner must learn about the Scriptures. You are like babies who drink only milk and cannot eat solid food. 13 And a person who is living on milk isn’t very far along in the Christian life and doesn’t know much about doing what is right. 14 Solid food is for those who are mature, who have trained themselves to recognize the difference between right and wrong and then do what is right.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

As we begin our walk with Christ, we can not “chew” anything from the Word. So our understanding is only the things we can swallow. We learn about love, joy, answered prayer, blessings etc. But this is only meant to be for a season, God calls us into deeper things and if we only look at what is easy to understand, we will never grow. The Bible is the Word of God and He intends for us to fully understand all of it. This means moving from milk to meat. The Word of God was meant to be chewed, swallowed and digested. If we live only on the milk of the Bible, we will never mature. God calls every person to never stop seeking more of Him in our lives. Christians should move from receiving to giving. Teaching others the Word of God will increase your knowledge of Him. And the more we know, the more we live, the more we become like Him. Are you still sipping milk? If so, grow up and start chewing the meat the Bible has for you. As you experience more of the Word, you will seek more of it. Start now, you only have today and that is all that God wants.

Have a God Day!

James 1:19-27
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. 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.

When we know that Christ will return for His Church at any time, we tend to live our lives a lot differently. We are more inclined to live as Christ lived and to tell others of His love. Keeping His return in our thoughts will affect our actions. When we know we will have to stand before Him and give an account of what we did with the talents He gave us, we become doers of the Word. James is telling us to not just be hears of His Word but to put it into action. The recipe to applying God’s Word in our lives is to start with reading His Word obediently, then we follow God’s Word exclusively believing God’s Word totally and to study His Word continually. Proverbs 30:5 states, “Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him.” We are to walk submissively according to the Word of God because every word from God is without error. Some argue that man has added to it but God has been in control of His Word from the beginning. If you start to pick and choose the parts of His Word you think are true and throw out the parts you think are not true, then you put yourself in God’s place and become the author. All of God’s Word is for us to listen and obey. Anything that is added or taken away by man is not of God and will come under His judgment. Pray for His Spirit to guide you when you read and He will teach you as you walk in obedience.

Have A God Day!

Colossians 2:13-19
13 You were dead because of your sins and because your sinful nature was not yet cut away. Then God made you alive with Christ. He forgave all our sins. 14 He canceled the record that contained the charges against us. He took it and destroyed it by nailing it to Christ’s cross. 15 In this way, God disarmed the evil rulers and authorities. He shamed them publicly by his victory over them on the cross of Christ. 16 So don’t anyone condemn you for what you eat or drink, or for not celebrating certain holy days or new-moon ceremonies or Sabbaths. 17 For these rules were only shadows of the real thing, Christ himself. 18 Don’t let anyone condemn you by insisting on self-denial. And don’t let anyone say you must worship angels, even though they say they have had visions about this. These people claim to be so humble, but their sinful minds have made them proud. 19 But they are not connected to Christ, the head of the body. For we are joined together in his body by his strong sinews, and we grow only as we get our nourishment and strength from God.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

Our culture today encourages us to live by feelings and not by truth. Anything that feels good is advertised, idolized and focused on. We are told to always get our share and more. But this is contrary to the Word of God and as a Christian in today’s world; we are to be joined to the Body of Christ. This means denying self and putting on Christ. Self indulgence will weaken your life and pull you farther away from becoming the person God intended. When we live to please our own desires, we will get just that. Sin is always appealing for a season but will not last and we will pay for it in the end. Galatians 6:8 states, “Those who live only to satisfy their own sinful desires will harvest the consequences of decay and death. But those who live to please the Spirit will harvest everlasting life from the Spirit.” We can only live to please the Spirit through the power of the Spirit living within us. If the power of this world is in control of our lives, we will not be connected to the Body of Christ and can not please the Spirit. To maintain spiritual strength, we must discipline our desires. Live your life controlled by God’s will, not by your own human desires. Receive your strength from God by staying connected to him. Know his Word, live his Word, and you will grow only as you get your nourishment and strength from God.

Have a God Day!

Galatians 2:17-21
17 But what if we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then find out that we are still sinners? Has Christ led us into sin? Of course not! 18 Rather, I make myself guilty if I rebuild the old system I already tore down. 19 For when I tried to keep the law, I realized I could never earn God’s approval. So I died to the law so that I might live for God. I have been crucified with Christ. 20 I myself no longer live, but Christ lives in me. So I live my life in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 21 I am not one of those who treats the grace of God as meaningless. For if we could be saved by keeping the law, then there was no need for Christ to die.
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.) 1996.

No matter how intelligent we are, our brains do not have the capacity to understand God’s wisdom. His thoughts are higher than ours and we are very limited in our understanding. So, there are many things we do not know or understand about Him. We have to walk in faith and trust in the directions that God has given us. God in His infinite wisdom created us in an environment where we have a choice to love and surrender to Him or go our own way and live life on our own terms. But what if we seek to be made right with God through faith in Christ and then find out that we still sin? Isn’t this where we all find ourselves? We are saved by grace and made right with God but still sin. Did God give us wrong directions? Of course not! We just cannot understand His way but we know that it is His way. Those in Christ see sin and remove it those outside of Him continue on and sin more. God gives us the choice every day to follow Him or to sin. It is always our choice. To be a part of Christ means that we are to crucify our sinful self daily. And when our sin is revealed to us by the Spirit working in us, we surrender and turn from that sin. But sin keeps popping up and we have to continually keep nailing it to the Cross of Christ. And so the journey continues and continues. This is God’s way and who are we to say it isn’t what we would have chosen. The power comes in the surrender. The more we surrender and trust in God, the more we know Him. And the more we know Him, the more we love Him. And the more we love Him, the more we want to please Him and the less we sin. We will ever get to a point of not sinning? Probably not, but as we continue to trust and grow, God is preparing us for that day when we are complete in Him. Look forward to that day and trust His wisdom as you move on toward that day!

Have a God Day!