Don't Choose Alone

Good Morning!! Moses grew up with all the luxuries and privileges of Egyptian royalty. Yet, when he was forty, Moses decided to visit his brethren. Outraged when he saw an Egyptian beating a fellow Israelite, he killed the Egyptian. Defending his fellow Israelite did not bring him thanks or honor from anyone. The Israelites did not recognize him as a rescuer from God and refused his role as a peacemaker. He knew the Egyptians would denounce and punish him. And so he fled to the wilderness where he lived the next forty years as a shepherd.
 
By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward.—Hebrews 11:24-26 (NIV)
 
We make so many choices throughout our lifetime. Choices between wrong and right. Choices between our way and God's way. Choices between looking good to people, and looking good to God. Moses could have easily accepted his role as Pharaoh's grandson and become a part of the king's court. Instead, he made a choice. He chose to identify himself with the oppression of his own people. He wasn't ruled by what people thought. Why? Because he had faith in the promises of God given to Abraham and his descendants. He chose eternal rewards over temporary pleasures of life.

Don't miss the blessings God wants you to have,...choose His way,...it's always the Right way.

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Holy Spirit, help us make the right choices. Help us choose doing what is right over what is easy. Help us choose to please God,...rather than others. Amen.

"We must learn to deny ourselves, and our fleshly appetites,...if we are to take up our crosses, and follow Christ."

Tell Your Problems, How Big Your God Is

Good Morning!! Problems, strife, and turmoil,...are everywhere. Around the world,...In our country,...In our community,...In our homes,...And even in us. Our focus is naturally drawn to all these negative things. We worry. We get angry. We get frustrated. And if we leave our focus there,... we begin to lose hope. So we need to change our focus,...to our loving Heavenly Father, who loves us unconditionally and cares about everything that concerns us,...and to Jesus,...who gave His life that we might have the hope of eternity with Him.

Give praise to the Lord, proclaim his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.—Psalm 105:1-3 (NIV)


Count Your Blessings! The old hymn calls us to "Count your many blessings. Name them one by one. Count your many blessings. See what God hath done." And that's exactly what we need to be doing,...every day. Even more when we are sad or depressed. We need to change our focus to; thank the Lord and tell of His Greatness. To let the whole world know what He has done. To sing praises to Him. To worship Him,...and rejoice in hope. When we do this, our circumstances might not change,...but we will.

God is Greater, than any problem or circumstance.

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O' Lord, we thank You so much, for all that You have done in our lives. Help us to keep focused on all those wonderful deeds,...and on Your love,...and on Your Greatness. Because in doing this we are better able to rest in You,...even in these present circumstances. We thank You Father, that Your love never fails. It's in the matchless name of Jesus, that we pray. Amen.

"To show His love, Jesus died for us,...to show our love, we live for Him ."

Our Value Comes From God

Good Morning!! Society tends to rate people according to race, gender, class,...and worldly achievements. But none of these things are significant in the eyes of the Lord. He sees all people as equal. All have sinned,...All need forgiveness,...All who receive His gift of life are forgiven, and will live with Him in heaven forever. Jesus doesn't treat us differently because of our worldly achievements,...or economic class,...or race,...He sees every one of us as special.

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.—Psalm 139:14 (NIV)

Understanding all this should change the way we view people. Each of us is special to God because he created us and we are fearfully and wonderfully made. He loves every individual. And each person should be special to us,...not because of what they have done or haven't done,...but because they are special to God.

See with the eyes of Jesus, and reach out to each other in His love.

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Holy Spirit, help us remember that each of us has been fearfully and wonderfully made by God. Teach us to look beyond fault to need. Teach us to see with Jesus' eyes. Teach us to love with the Fathers' love. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

"To show His love, Jesus died for us,...to show our love, we live for Him ."

It's About Relationships, Not Rituals

Good Morning!! Unfortunately, Christians are often seen through caricatures. A caricature is an image rooted in reality but distorted in a way that drastically overemphasizes some features of that reality,...most of those images have to do with the practice of religion. Christians are often seen as close-minded, hypocritical, judgmental, or extreme in their talk, and thinking.

"I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd..—John 10:14-16 (NIV)
Although Christianity is often thought of as a religion, that's not what real Christianity is all about. It's about relationship,...a personal relationship with a loving Father (God the Father),...a relationship with someone who was willing to give his life for us, Jesus (God the Son),...a relationship with the Holy Spirit (God the Holy Spirit), who guides and comforts and helps us in our day-to-day living.

Through an unimaginably great sacrifice, Jesus is offering us a relationship with God,...all we have to do is say yes.

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Sweet and Holy Spirit of God, Help us today, as we choose to follow Jesus. And we thank God for allowing us to have a personal relationship with Him. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

"To show His love, Jesus died for us,...to show our love, we live for Him ."

Trust God,...

Good Morning!! Once we come to Christ in faith, we begin to walk with God on a daily basis. It is vital that we learn to trust him in every area of our lives,...day in and day out. We can trust Him, because we are assured that as we love God and commit our lives to Him, He works everything,...the good and the bad,...together for good. We can trust Him because He has demonstrated His great unconditional love for us.

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.—Romans 8:28 (NIV)
Is there an area of your life that you are clinging to, and worrying about,...instead of trusting God? We can trust Him because we are assured that as we love God, and commit our lives to Him, He works everything,...the good and the bad, together for good. We can trust Him because He has demonstrated His great unconditional love, for us. We can commit our lost or wayward child to Him, because we know He loves that child even more than we do. We can commit our finances to Him, because we know that He will work all things for good as we follow Him and trust Him for wisdom. We can trust God. Keep your eyes on Him, love Him and trust Him. He will go before us,...He will guide us,...He will strengthen us,...and He will work all things for good.

Faith in Christ is the foundation, but the first step to a relationship with God, is allowing the Word in you.

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Father God, our way hasn't worked,...we commit our situation to You,...trusting You for the answer. No matter how things look now,...we trust You, to work all things together for good. In the name of Jesus, Amen.

"To show His love, Jesus died for us,...to show our love, we live for Him ."

Yesterday Has No Power, Over Tomorrow

Good Morning!! God loves us so much that he gives us the freedom to make choices. Some are of little consequence, but others are life-changing. This freedom of choice dates back to Adam and Eve. They made a bad choice, and sin entered the realm of mankind.The freedom to make choices brings responsibility. We have all made poor choices at times, and have suffered the consequences of those bad choices. Some people go through life carrying the load of some wrong choices they have made in the past. They believe they have messed up so badly that nothing good can ever come of their lives.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.—1 John 1:9 (NIV)
The good news is that no matter what poor choices we may have made in the past, there is always hope for a better future. God knew that we would make some bad choices, but he loves us so much that he sent Jesus to pay the price for our sin and to provide a way for our relationship to Hm to be restored. So, if you want to be set free from the past, Jesus is the answer. He has already paid the price for your sins, and for every wrong choice you've ever made,...or will make.

Remember, you are very special to God, and He loves you no matter what you've done.
He wants us to put the past behind us,...so that we can become all that He has designed us to be.

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Lord, we thank You for forgiving our sins. We've made so many bad choices. Help us now to put them all behind us,...and to look forward to the future You have planned for us, one filled with hope. Amen.

"To show His love, Jesus died for us,...to show our love, we live for Him ."

We Don't Run Anything.

Good Morning! In today's world, a sense of safety and security, is often difficult to come by. Most people feel more secure when they are in control. Somehow a trip down a mountain road does not feel as dangerous to us when we have our hands on the steering wheel. The passengers with us are likely to have much greater anxiety. When circumstances beyond our control happen, we may feel helpless and experience panic or depression. But there is good news,...there is one way we can always be secure.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.—Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

God provides the way for us to always experience a sense of security. He leaves it up to us,...we can either continue depending on ourselves, panicking or losing hope when we can't control a situation,...or we can depend on the Lord. If we choose Jesus and His way for our lives, we can always be secure in His love. We will still experience problems and trials on this earth, but we will begin to view them from an eternal perspective. When we turn control over to Jesus, we can know that no matter what challenges or trials we face, He will ultimately work them out for our good.

Having control over our circumstances is very important to most of us,...it makes us feel more secure, and confident,...but we simply can't always be in control.

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Father, it seems that every time we turn a situation over to You, we still try to hang on to some little part of it. We want to be in control, and yet we know that doesn't work. Forgive us for not trusting You more. Help us to Let It Go, and to leave the control of our lives in Your hands. Help us to rest securely in Your love. Amen.

"We live with good intentions of spending time with God, and turning our heart toward Him only to find at the end of the day that's the one thing we never got around to."