Love, Like God Loves You (or At Lease Try To)

Good Morning, (T.G.I.F.) Thank God I'm Forgiven!! For some, it's maybe hard to imagine,...loving, and being loved, just because. But isn't that the nature of our relationship with God? He loves us, and it has nothing to do with us, or anything we've done. Isaiah depicts the intimate covenant of love we have with our Lord. God sees us as a beautiful, lovable bride to be esteemed and treasured. We see God as a loving bridegroom who is worthy of our love, honor, and praise.

You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.—Song of Solomon 4:7 (NIV)
I don't believe I married Sheila because I expected her to fore fill or accomplish anything. Her status was simply that of a cherished partner. I can honestly say that I loved her,...not because of what she did, but rather who she was. I did not always make it, but I tried to love her, as God loves me.

Never forget that God loves us for who we are, not for what we can accomplish.

This is how He wants us to love,...just as He does.

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As we grow, and mature in any relationship, loving service should always follow.

" Religious activity is not an indication as to whether or not anyone actually knows God."

An Ever Present God

Good Morning, My Friend! I believe that it's the difficult times that help us to grow in our understanding of God,....and of each other. During hard times, our eyes are opened to see that love is more than some sugar and candy-like feelings. Love, like happiness, comes from a deep, and abiding trust that should increase as we mature in our relationships,.....especially with God, our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus.

The joy of the LORD is your strength.—Nehemiah 8:10 (NRSV)

As we grow older and looked back on life, we can see that everyone has good times,...as well as times of grief, discouragement, and despondency. God is always there, through it all. All we can do is pray and give thanks daily that God would care for us, strengthen us, and continue to provide for the needs of our families.

Have faith,...and cling to the promise that God will never desert us.

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" Weeping may linger for the night, but joy comes with the morning" (Psalm 30:5, nrsv)

" Religious activity is not an indication as to whether or not anyone actually knows God."

Point Of Foccus

Good Morning, It's a Wonderful Worshipful Wednesday, And A Short Week,...Let's Make The Most Of It!! Stress or anxiety has been defined as uneasy thoughts and fears over the possibility of impending misfortune. For me, they are simply forgetting what God has done, and that He is always near.

Do not worry about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.—Philippians 4:6-7 (NRSV)

It is the will and desire of the evil one, that our focus be moved from God,...because it is only then can we be made to worry about, and fear things we can't even control anyway. There are people and things all around us, that can calm us by redirecting your attention to God,...if we'd just let them. Nothing does it so well as the Bible,....there is peace in the Word.

Remembering that God is present brings peace to our souls.

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Lord, help us to trust You to calm our anxieties. Help us to feel Your peace, when thing get to be too much. Amen.

" Religious activity is not an indication as to whether or not anyone actually knows God."

Getting To God

Good Morning!! We become accustomed to God's Word, by regularly reading the Bible. We learn to recognize God's voice by spending more quite time, in His presence. These disciplines help us to become God aware,..able to see and hear God all around us daily.

We know that all things work together for good for those who love God, who are called according to [God's] purpose.—Romans 8:28 (NRSV)

I never expected God to call or speak to me, and I didn't recognize God's call until well after I invited Him into my life. Looking back over the many events of my life, makes me realize that God takes care of our individual needs, even without our asking,...through others He provides His loving care. I know that the people and events in our lives work together to help make all of us aware of God's love for His creatures.

Even before we are ready to respond, God is reaching out to us.

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 " When God takes an ordinary man who has yielded to Him,

...that person acts as leaven to affect his community, city and world."  

 (The Man God Uses, Henry & Tom Blackaby, p. 143)

" Religious activity is not an indication as to whether or not anyone actually knows God."

We Were Made To Worship

Good Morning!! Worship is a verb, an action word,....it’s not sitting and watching, it’s something we do. We participate. It's so much more than mere emotion. It's not a feeling, or a thought process,...but rather the active response of our heart, our life, and even our body to God! If we go to a worship service and watch everyone else worship, we haven’t worshiped,...we have become a religious consumer, rather than a spiritual communer. We’ve become a spectator rather than a true worshiper.

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.—Romans 12:1 (NIV)

Perhaps you grew up in a church where you sang hymns and participated at some level. But, maybe, just maybe, you have never had a genuine experience of encountering the presence of God in true worship. If not, I challenge you, to take time every day, to tell God of your desire to be a genuine worshiper. He will honor your prayer request, because He has made us to worship Him! We were created, that we might know Him,...and make Him known.

As a believer in Jesus Christ, worshiping Him intimately and intensely should be the driving force in our life.

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Father God, help us today, that we may know you more fully, and do what we were made for,...to worship You,...for all that You are, and do. Amen.
" What you believe about life ,will determine how you perceive life,
...and what you receive from it."

I Will Praise Him, Always

Good Morning!! According to the Scriptures, worship is the most important thing we’re called to do as believers in Christ. Yet, it's been said that; “Worship is the missing jewel of the church today.” And I believe that's so true, because so many believers miss the joy, of genuine worship. At times, we just sort of go through the same old routine,...almost on auto-pilot. But one of the greatest reasons why we should make the conscious worship of God a habit, is because worship fortifies our faith, and strengthens our soul.

I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.—Psalm 34:4-5 (NIV)

Remember what Psalm 22:3 tells us: God is “enthroned on the praises of Israel.” Wherever genuine praise is,...so is God! Today, in spite of what kind of storm you may be facing at home or work,...I challenge you to find one thing for which to praise the Lord. I am confident that taking our focus off of our troubles, and genuinely thanking God for what He has done in our life, will lift us up,...and brighten our outlook on life!

When your faith needs a boost, look up! Praise, worship, singing spiritual songs, and expressing adoration to God all strengthen your faith and draw you nearer to Him.

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Father we will praise You,...no matter what, we will Praise You!! Amen." What you believe about life ,will determine how you perceive life,
...and what you receive from it."

Fear Not, You Were Raised To This

Good Morning!! Sometimes the light is eclipsed. At certain times, clouds can cover the believer's sun,...and we must walk in darkness and see no light. There are many who have rejoiced in the presence of God for a season; they have basked in the sunshine in the earlier stages of their Christian career; they have walked along the "green pastures" by the side of the "still waters", but suddenly they find the glorious sky is clouded; instead of the Land of Goshen they have to tread the sandy desert; in place of the sweet waters, they find troubled streams,...bitter to their taste, and they say, "Surely, if I were a child of God, this would not happen."

"...you are my refuge in the day of disaster."—Jeremiah 17:17 (NIV)

The best of God's saints must drink the wormwood,...the dearest of his children must bear the cross. No Christian has enjoyed perpetual prosperity. Perhaps the Lord allotted you at first a smooth and unclouded path, because you were weak and timid. He tempered the wind to the fleeced lamb, but now that you are stronger in the spiritual life,...you must enter upon the riper, and rougher experience of God's full grown children.

We need winds and tempests to exercise our faith, to tear off the false sense of self-dependence,...and to root us more firmly in Christ.

The real key is to remember that; He never gives us more than we can bare.

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The hard times, and pains of life, reveals to us the value of our glorious hope,...and it's an opportunity to put our faith into action. Praise God.

" What you believe about life ,will determine how you perceive life,
...and what you receive from it."