Getting In Our Own Way

Good Morning!!  Self-denial is the refusal to believe or accept the truth about our actions. Most people with issues of self-control, at some point begin to deny having a problem. They know what they are doing or saying is wrong,...but they refuse to admit the truth. Instead, they tend to rationalize their behavior. "It’s not that bad." "I’m not hurting anyone." "It's not me it's you." Continued denial leads to a state of self-delusion,...a condition where people no longer recognize the truth about themselves or their actions. They sincerely believe their own excuses, and become blind to the truth. In the end, denial of the truth just leads to self-destruction.
The mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.—Proverbs 14:6 (NIV)

Ask yourself, "what am I not facing or owning up to?" Are you like the "mocker" in today’s verse,...asking God (or friends) for guidance, but being blinded and deafened by your own attitude,...by your denial of the truth?

Are you "protecting" yourself by denying a problem in your life?
...and how's that working out for you?

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Father God, we know we’ve been hiding from our issues long enough to know that it's not working. The things we claim to want most are moving further away from us. Please forgive us and help us to truly desire and accept the truth. Reveal to us the things we haven’t wanted to, or been able to admit about ourselves. We know we need Your help,...and we need to make a change. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

" When we walk in the Spirit, when the Spirit controls us, He produces joy in our lives just as He produces love."

Face It, To Overcome It

Good Morning!! We can never really move on, as long as we continue to hold on. Attempting to hide your past, means you can never too far from it,...for fear that someone will uncover it. Even though painful feelings are unpleasant to experience, facing them honestly and dealing with their cause is essential. If we want to be the person God has called us to be,...If we want to stop hurting others and ourselves,...If we want to experience freedom and peace in our lives,...then we must face the truth, and ask God for His forgiveness and His help.

Blessed is the one whose transgressions are forgiven, whose sins are covered. Blessed is the one whose sin the Lord does not count against them and in whose spirit is no deceit.—Psalm 32:1, 2 (NIV)

We must understands the damage that can be done when unpleasant feelings that come as a result of our sins, are ignored and pushed below the surface. Jesus encourages us to approach Him like a little child,...quick to trust, and willing to share our feelings. Is there sin in your life that you’ve been hiding,...maybe even from yourself? God loves you and is waiting for you to come to Him. He is your loving Father. Come to Him as the psalmist did. Then you too can join in the rejoicing, and say: "Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, 'I will confess my rebellion to the LORD.' And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone."

In order to deal with, stop, or prevent life-controlling problems and issues in your own life,
...you must understand them, and how they develop,...and the impact they have on individuals and families.

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Father God, we confess our rebellion and all our sin. Forgive us for trying to hide it for so long. Thank You for Your unconditional love, for Your forgiveness and for the peace that only You can give. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

 

" When we walk in the Spirit, when the Spirit controls us, He produces joy in our lives just as He produces love."

Holy Is His Name

Good Morning!! Every word of our Lord's model prayer is remarkable and vital,...but it is especially important to notice first what Jesus puts first. He begins with these wonderful and welcoming words: our Father. Even God's chosen people, the people of Israel, had never been encouraged to approach God in the Old Testament with such familiarity and warmth! Jesus had addressed almost every one of His prayers to His "Father", but what an unexpected and pleasant surprise, for Him to invite us to enjoy that same intimacy. Yet, in the same breath, He reminds us not to grow complacent, or presumptuous in the presence of our Father,...because He is no ordinary father, He is our Father in Heaven. The heavens are His throne, and the earth is His footstool.

"This, then, is how you should pray: "'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,—Matthew 6:9 (NIV)

No matter how big the issue might be, or how impossible the request might be, there is nothing that we cannot bring to our Father in prayer and there is nothing that He cannot do. Just imagine it, the very One to whom we are encouraged to pray, is the One who has the power and authority and wisdom to fulfill our desires and answer our prayers. No middle-man to go through. And what is to be the first request on our lips, the chief desire of our hearts? Hallowed be Thy name. Recognizing that our heavenly Father is worthy of our every praise and devotion, we are to hallow (set apart and above) His name in our hearts.

If we make God's name sacred in our hearts, then His name will be consecrated in our choices,...our actions,...and through-out our lives.

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Dear Holy Spirit, help us to keep our Heavenly Father's name great and  hallowed always! Amen.

 

" When we walk in the Spirit, when the Spirit controls us, He produces joy in our lives just as He produces love."

Communion With God

Good Morning!! What is the first thing you do when you wake up? What is the last thing that you do as you go to bed? What occupies your thoughts, attention, and affections throughout each day? Is it communion with God? If not, why not? Through the finished work of Christ on the cross, we have access to, and the favor of, the only Being in the entire universe who has the wisdom we need for decisions,...the strength we need for struggles,...the love we need for relationships,...the goodness we need for right living. 

 

pray without ceasing—1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NIV)
The question, then, isn't why Paul gives us such a difficult commandment, to pray without ceasing, but why we wouldn't avail ourselves constantly of the single greatest opportunity that Christ's blood has now provided us. We should pray, not to appease some vague sense of guilt or obligation, but to enjoy the great pleasures, pursue the great holiness, and enter the great presence of the Lover of our souls.

 

Pray to Him today. Pray to Him tomorrow. Pray to Him when you're sad. Pray to Him when you're exhausted. Pray to Him when you're excited. Pray to Him when you feel empty, and when you feel full. Pray to Him without ceasing.

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When we pray, we enter into the presence of God,
...and we commune with Him, from our hearts. Thank You Jesus! Amen.

 

"Believing Christ died, that's history,

...believing Christ died for us, that's salvation."

Playing With Sin? Know The Cost.

Good Morning!! The horrendous tragedy of the shaved, helpless, and foolishly confident Samson, is an appropriate picture of each one who dabbles too long in sin. Samson had teased and played with Delilah on several previous occasions,...pretending to confide in her,...the secret to his supernatural strength. But finally he revealed it to her,...and she, of course, promptly took advantage of the information. This pathetic scene follows, in which he goes boldly against his enemies, but this time without the strength he'd always had before.

 

Then she called, "Samson, the Philistines are upon you!" He awoke from his sleep and thought, "I'll go out as before and shake myself free." But he did not know that the Lord had left him.—Judges 16:20 (NIV)

The same thing can easily happen to any of us, if we're not careful. Our marriage, our relationship with our children, our moral purity,...these are only invincible, as long as Christ is the core of our life. If we dabble in sin long enough, assuming that we can keep the power of Christ, and enjoy the immediate pleasures of sin, we'll wake one day, to find that we've been sheered of the strength, that we thought we would always have. Our marriage falling apart, our children rebelling, and we've committed sins we never thought possible,...and life has lost its luster.

Thankfully, just like with Samson, God is only a prayer away.
When we turn to Christ in repentance and faith, God is able to restore what has been lost,...even though there may be life-long scars from the mistakes we've made.

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Our Father who art in Heaven, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. Amen.

 

"Believing Christ died, that's history,

...believing Christ died for us, that's salvation."

Help, Is Your Newbirth, Right

Good Morning!! It is not uncommon in human experience to run up against things that are bigger than we are, that we simply cannot overcome in our own strength. It may be a lust that threatens to consume us, an addiction that repeatedly overcomes us, a resentment that is growing inside us, or a sorrow that seems to paralyze us. It is also not uncommon to try to grit our teeth, hunch our backs, and seek to make it through by shear determination. We tell ourselves we can overcome if we just try hard enough. Isn't that what being a good Christian means?

 

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.—Philippians 4:13 (NKJV)

Yet here is the mighty apostle Paul admitting that his strength does not come from himself, or from his own willpower. He is not trying to do it on his own. Rather, he is looking to Jesus Christ for the power and deliverance he needs. How can you make it through this trial? Through Christ. How can you overcome that temptation or addiction? Through Christ. How can you rise above your grief or depression? Through Christ. There is nothing that you cannot do through the strength that Christ has promised to you.

Turn to Christ,...and find for yourself the confidence, the joy, the strength that Paul found.

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Holy Spirit, remind us that we don't have to carry the weight of the world alone. We have power and strength, far beyond our own, that we can rely on,...that of Jesus Christ,...given to us as a gift, with our new birth. Amen.

 

"Believing Christ died, that's history,

...believing Christ died for us, that's salvation."

Copy The Master

Good Morning!! Is morality something we can or should be imposing on the world? Jesus is the standard of righteousness,...and He has imparted it into our lives, and desires to impart it to all who will receive. It is something that must be received by the heart,...so the key is; all who desire to receive. We can't make anyone else do right.

 

Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.—Ephesians 5:1-2 (NIV)

Our job is to allow Christ to live through us,...making us imitators of Christ to the world. That does not mean we pound people with the truth, but that we share His patience, kindness, compassion, faith, truth and love.

The Spirit of God speaks to each heart, and each heart makes a choice to receive or deny.

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Heavenly Father, we open up our hearts and lives, and ask that You live in, and through us,...allowing the light of Your truth to permeate to all, allowing our lives to reflects Your standard, In the name of Jesus, Amen.

"Believing Christ died, that's history,

...believing Christ died for us, that's salvation."