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“Let love be your highest goal! ” 1 Corinthians 14:1
Goals should be worthy to achieve. Love is worthy. Lord, help me to value love enough to make it a goal to love others.
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“When pride comes, disgrace follows, but with humility comes wisdom.” Proverbs 11:2
We "feel" a lot. We feel like eating a hamburger. We feel like taking a nap during the day. We feel better when people acknowledge and recognize what we accomplish. We feel good when we are treated in such a way that makes us feel good. However, "feeling" shouldn't be the goal because "feeling" is often misleading and does not lead us to our ultimate desirable results. Humility prevents us from bringing as much attention to ourselves as we would like to have but humility also provides long term results that will provide eternal benefits. Lord, help me to value long term growth over short term recognition. “Let us hold tightly without wavering to the hope we affirm, for God can be trusted to keep his promise.” Hebrews 10:23
If you have ever read any part of the bible or have simply heard a verse or two, you have found that God makes promises to us. He fulfills those promises. He may not fulfill them "when" we want or "how" we want or "to the extent that we feel we need", but He always does fulfill His promises to us. Lord, thank you for fulfilling your promises because that always gives me hope. “And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” Mark 12:30
It is human nature for us to be resistant to being told what to do. Some people are stubborn but all people prefer to have choice, compared to being commanded. Unfortunately, this is where the "world" interferes with "God's plan for us". We may be free but we are not independent. We are dependent on Him. He has given us all that we have and God is in a position (like a parent who provides all of the needs for their new born child until they "leave the nest") to make commands. God doesn't command us to love (we love things regardless). God does command us to not be ambiguous in our love. Don't love God when it serves us and don't love other things that God doesn't want for us, when it benefits us. Lord, help me to love what you love and to love those things fully. “For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like a flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord endures forever.” - 1 Peter 1:24-25a
Money and Fame! They sound like a great idea. They actually have their perks and short term value. Money can't buy happiness but it can rent it for a while. Fame is nice until it becomes intrusive and infringes on our privacy. God always has a plan and it doesn't have much to do with money or fame, other than our money is not our own, and neither is our fame. All we have comes from God and all we have IS God's and all we have should be used to love God and love others. Lord, thank you that you don't value me based on my money and fame and therefore, I shouldn't either. "But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is demanded of you. And the things you have prepared—whose will they be?’ “That’s how it is with the one who stores up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.” – Luke 12:20-21
You can't take your clothes, phone, job, car, house, lake cabin, 401K or pile of cash hid under your mattress with you to heaven. As they say, "the hearse is never pulling a U-Haul trailer behind it to the cemetery." Although we can't take worldly possessions to heaven, we can for sure take RELATIONSHIPS. Life is all about relationships. Relationships with God and relationships with others. If you truly want to put in a good days work and become more rich, then spend time relating to others. Lord, please help me to value relationships more than things. "So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up." Galatians 6:9
The most frustrating part of life is that things don't happen when we want them to happen. We are great at starting things but we often lose steam because we didn't think we would need to be doing whatever it is for so long. Doing right doesn't have a timeline, due date or expiration. We should just do right for no reason other than it is the right thing to do. Lord, help me to put my priorities in the correct perspective and not be so caught up in timelines and expectations. “So if anyone purifies himself from anything dishonorable, he will be a special instrument, set apart, useful to the Master, prepared for every good work.” 2 Timothy 2:21
Being good is one thing. Being great is another. Being perfect brings about benefits that good and great won't bring about. Being perfect is special. There are a lot of benefits of being more than great. Lord, help me to pursue perfection. "In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation." 1 Peter 5:10
After suffering, there is always a promise of something better. That is Hope! Lord, thank you for the hope you provide. “For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.” Philippians 1:20
This verse is all about being consistent. Never ashamed. Always bold. A life that is constant. Lord, help me to be consistent in all that I do and not only do what I feel like doing. |
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