Midweek Motivation
Starting Your Day out Right
For God demonstrated his love towards me that when I was still a sinner, Christ died for me! Romans 5:8 NKJV
Shall we accept good from the Lord and not adversity? That is a question to ponder when going through any trial in life. Why is it that we can get all excited and passionate with the Lord when things go our way yet at the 1st glimpse of adversity we question and accuse the Lord of wrong doing? If God is faithful then he is faithful period, no matter what happens. And God IS faithful; he can be trusted. God has not changed, our circumstances have.
I desire to be a man who will love the Lord even if he chooses to take my kids lives, or my wealth and health. Am I that man? I don’t think so, but I want to be a man who simply trusts in the Lord wholeheartedly all the days of my life.
One thing that I have learned over the years is that a lot of people throw out everything that they know to be true about God when they go through a difficult time. And instead of trusting in the only one who can change your circumstances or give you the endurance in the midst of the trial we tend to walk away from the Lord.
Let that not be so. When the trial is crashing upon us and we are in the power of a storm beyond our control that is when we MUST fall upon what we know to be true about the Lord and trust Jesus. God is good and he loves me. And maybe it doesn’t feel like he loves me, but Romans 5:8 is the loudest declaration of Gods love for me that there is.
Case closed! That is the hard truth; God is good. He cannot think nor do anything that is evil. So my encouragement is when you go through the trial, and we all do; fall back on what you know to be true about the Lord and trust him.
Is Your House in Order?
Cleaning, parenting, marriage, organization tips, etc.
“For where sin abounds grace abounds much more”Romans 5:20
“Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound? Certainly not!”Romans 6:1
These words haunt me. How can I as a believer live in such darkness even after I know the truth of God? So often I find myself living in deception. I think I am ok, but the truth is that I am deceived, I am NOT ok. And it only takes a moment for me to listen to my heart instead of the Lord and the next thing I know; I am way out in left field. Part of getting organized spiritually is to think through and contemplate the word of God. When is the last time we sat down and simply pondered upon the word of God?
Afternoon Pick Me
Writing Inspiration
Martin Luther once said that “God creates out of nothing, therefore until a man is nothing, God can make nothing out of him”. It is my desire to be a man whose heart is always in communion with the Lord. I want to be a fragrant offering to my God; one whose praise is always sweet to His ear; realizing that it isn’t the words that flow from my lips that matter but the condition of my heart.
Let us look at Him, at His glory, at His fullness and let us worship Him in sobriety, humility, meekness and truth. Let us be a people who say, “Jesus, be my EVERYTHING! Be my all-in-all”, realizing that as we do this our joy will be complete in Him. Let’s surrender all that we are and lay it at His feet.
We have been given such a wonderful and generous gospel, it’s a gospel filled with the Masters passion for His people. The Master longs to reach those who are lost. He hates and has no pleasure in the death of the wicked. Oh how we need to open our hearts and our eyes and we need to cry out for the nations.
What’s For Dinner?
Spiritual Food for Thought
How do I become a good father? I come from a dysfunctional family and I can’t look back in the past for help. I have no living father so I can’t look forward towards the future either. That means that I must look up into the skies and look at God. I have a Heavenly Father who teaches me about what being a father is all about. He shows his heart through his words and actions. He tells me, “Son, don’t provoke your children but love them. Don’t hate them and not discipline them, but love them through correction and teaching“.
I see how my Heavenly Father treats me and I learn by his example how to treat my kids. I fail so many times as do my kids, and my Father in Heaven shows me grace. I sin against God on purpose at times and when I come to my senses and repent, I expect God’s wrath to crush me only to see his open arms embrace and comfort my broken soul. I need to show this and be this to my kids. God is patient with me and desires to spend solid time with me. God teaches me and shares his wisdom with me. God is involved with the daily things in my life and He pours out his heart to me. These are the things that I need to be with my kids.
A Restful Night’s Sleep
We are so blessed as the Lord has been so good to us. I find myself whispering the words of Paul in Romans 11:33, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!” Every time I think I have a handle on who the Lord is; he blows me away some more. Every time I feel like I have sinned too much and the Lord hates and despises me, he proves his love towards me. I truly love the words in Romans 5:20 “Where sin abounds grace abounds much more.” What that verse means is that no matter how much I sin; there will always be enough grace to cover my sin.
I find it interesting as people have come up to me and said, “You can’t teach that! If you teach that then people will start sinning all the time!” I simply reply, “That isn’t true. Grace is not a license TO sin; it’s a license FROM sin.” I have been freed and if I blow it or choose to rebel (which we all have at times) grace covers me and I am free to walk with the Lord. Because of grace all I can do is say thank you Lord for loving me enough to give me grace when I do not deserve it at all. It blows me away. I am humbled at the mercy of the Master and I have nothing to say in response to his unfailing devotion to me except, “Thank you”.
I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I do know who holds tomorrow and that is the Lord Jesus Christ!
