Amen!!!
“But be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. Because if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like someone looking at his own face in a mirror. For he looks at himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of person he was. But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer who works—this person will be blessed in what he does.” James 1:22-25
Amen!!!
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“Let your eyes look forward; fix your gaze straight ahead.” Proverbs 4:25
In a previous life I was a certified high ropes course instructor. One of the best elements on the course was a 30 foot long log suspended high up in-between two trees and on the far tree was carved a cross. We will instruct the participants to "stare at the cross and you won't fall". Obviously, they would not follow our advice and they would look at the log or the ground several dozen feet below or at me or they would close their eyes and cry. Once they looked at the cross on the tree, they would cruise straight across the log with no problem. Lesson: Fix your eyes on the Cross and you cruise through your challenges and won't fall. Lord, help me to not be distracted by the distractions that keep my eyes from being fixed on You. “If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” Romans 10:9
God makes it really simple for us. For some reason, we love to complicate everything. Lord, help me to remember the main point and not get lost in the minutia. “‘You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’” John 8:32
Honesty is a habit. Being honest starts with ourselves. Honestly, we aren’t as great as we may think we are and we aren’t as bad as we think we are either. The truth is somewhere in-between. Honestly, we aren’t as perfect as we think we are so we need to extend ourselves more grace and we also aren’t as incapable as we think we are and we need to believe much more in our capabilities. Honestly, we shouldn’t blame ourselves as much as we do for our failures and mistakes. We also shouldn’t blame others for what we have done to ourselves. Honestly, we must extend ourselves peace that we have done what we could have done. We also must realize sometimes that we can do much more. Honestly, truth requires the ability to recognize the facts and act on those facts and not simply on our current feelings. Lord, I may no always feel You are with me and that you have me but the facts are that You have always kept up Your end of the deal and I haven’t. “Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple, and broke bread from house to house.” Acts 2:46a
You are not a Christian because you go to church. You are also NOT not a Christian because you don't go to church. However, if you are a Christian, it makes sense that you would want to hang out with other Christians, learn from other Christians, help and support other Christians, be helped by other Christians and value time that allows you to grow in your relationship with Jesus. Lord, thank You for providing opportunities to know You more fully and help me to take advantage of those opportunities. “See! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:20
It may be out of habit or out of some other theological understanding or even ignorance, but one thing I have never fully understood is our impulse to start or include in a prayer, "Lord, be with me ...". We have all done it or heard it many times .. "Lord, please be with me as I (insert thing that is important to us and we feel we need help with)". The fact is that GOD IS ALWAYS WITH US and in fact, HE IS ALWAYS WONDERING WHY WE AREN'T CHOOSING TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT HE IS WITH US. I often imagine God standing next to us, being very patient, yet annoyed, doing the "clear your throat" maneuver to get our attention. Lord, help me to see that You are always with me. “The Lord said to Paul in a night vision, “Don’t be afraid, but keep on speaking and don’t be silent.” – Acts 18:9
We fear because we don't trust. All fear ... EVERY SINGLE ONE ... is due to our lack of trust. We fear the dark because we don't trust what is in the darkness. We fear change because we don't trust whether the change is good for us. We fear speaking the truth because we don't trust what others may think about us. We fear because we don't trust that God is bigger than darkness and change and others. We fear because we don't trust that God will take care of us, no matter what we are doing. Lord, help me to trust You more so I fear less. “I baptize with water,” John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know him. He is the one coming after me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.” John 1:26-27
What can an influencer actually do for you? Nothing. You do A LOT for them because you allow them to exist. They are using you. They profit from you and your identity is often stolen for that profit. However, there are countless people around you that actually can do something for you but unfortunately, you walk by them without giving them a second thought. Jesus was not an "influencer". Jesus was a baby who grew up and saved you from yourself. Lord, help me to seek those who will actually help me, but more importantly, they will help me to help others. “In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16
Rarely, if ever, does someone look AT a magnifying glass with wonder and awe. We use a magnifying glass to see other things bigger and better. In the same way, rarely do we ponder the beauty of a lightbulb. We turn on the light and shine it on things that we want to see more clearly. We are meant to be a magnifying glass and/or lightbulb. Our purpose is not to bring attention to ourselves for how great we think we are. Our purpose is to bring attention to the One who made us great and allows us to experience the blessings He has given to us. Lord, help me to better shine my light on You. “Since you have purified yourselves by your obedience to the truth, so that you show sincere brotherly love for each other, from a pure heart love one another constantly.” 1 Peter 1:22
All sin is linked back to selfishness. ALL sin. There is no sin that we commit that won't come back to me being selfish. God sent Jesus to save us from our selfishness. We can only be pure by either avoiding selfishness all together (through obedience) or by God's grace. Thankfully, we all have God's grace because it is impossible to lack selfishness because we are disobedient more than obedient. Simply look at how we treat others around us. We don't treat people well. We are told to treat people well but we still won't. Because we are selfish. Lord, thank You for Your saving Grace and please help me to be more obedient and less selfish than I was yesterday. |
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