Philippians 4:12 & 13

12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
13 I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

This rendition of “It Is Well with My Soul” is one of the better ones, but it does leave out several verses, and verse three the LORD really uses to speak to me quite frequently, so I wanted to share tthat verse with you too.  If you have time, check out all the lyrics and the amazing story behind this powerful song.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Let this AMAZING hymn feed your soul today as the Spirit himself speaks. . your “sin not in part but the whole, is nailed to the cross and [you] bear it no more.”

Oh Father, your grace is enough, the cross is enough. . .bind me to thee today I pray.

Matthew 6:25-27

25 Therfore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?
26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?
27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?

I have been off worrying again. Worrying about everything from my job and health to the future of both my children and my husband. I am a worrier by nature and have terrible anxiety.

God is working on my though. He wants me to put my money where my mouth is and trust him. Trust is a hard thing for anyone who has been hurt and disappointed by people. Trust in our Heavenly Father is really all we have though. The fact that God is good and everything else is pale in comparison is quite key to the Christian faith.

I am trying to trust God today, and trying to live for today. I am trying to not worry and just love God and others today.

Father, I am weak and unable to trust. Show me your love and grace and mercy today. Help me to love you with all my heart, my mind and my soul and to love others as myself. Help me focus on what we can accomplish today and let tomorrow take care of itself. Lord, may I learn to live each day to its fullest before this year ends. . .

Romans 8:13

For if you live according to the flesh you will die, but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body you will live

Sin needs to die in us daily, and I must be much more careful about this than I have been in the past. Putting to death the deeds of the body is tricky, and requires much thought. what are the deeds of the body? We have to search, but there are answers in the New Testament, like Galatians 5:19-21.

9 Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.

If we keep reading in Galatians we can also see the fruit of the Spirit, which are things we ought to seek after, but that is a post for another day. Today I need to look for the roots of these sins above and root them out at their core. Where does sexual immorality, impurity and sensuality come from? Perhaps I need to reevaluate the TV shows and the music I listen to. Perhaps I need to guard my speech more in conversations with those of the opposite sex. I may even need to look at my clothes, hair, shoes and walk to make sure all is pure. Idolatry? Are there things that I desire more than God? I think I need to give up quite a few things there. I will continue to look over this list, as I notice some of the following. . .jealousy, rivalries, dissensions, and envy really need to be worked as well. For one, I already know that the little green monster called jealousy loves to take up residence in my heart once I start comparing what I have to what others have.

Father, forgive me for not taking the deeds of the flesh more seriously. Help me search my life, my deeds, my ways for the root of these deeds and then help me make any changes that are necessary to get rid of them all. I desire to walk in the Spirit and to live. I do not want to walk in the flesh and die. Help me father I pray.

Romans 6:11

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

I have been struggling through Romans the past few weeks in an attempt to prepare myself to lead a Bible Study on it at church, but it was a confrontation that happened during my recent trip to Colorado that really has me searching the word for insight.

In summary, I had a man challenge me to consider the possibility that the modern day church has it all wrong and that Jesus actually taught that we need to try to be sin free to follow him. Not to be saved, but to follow after Christ. It did give me pause, and I am trying to weigh the whole Bible in this debate rather than jump to any conclusions based on prior learning and knowledge. Of course, the first verses that came to mind were Christ’s teachings in the Sermon on the Mount. I have always stumbled a bit over Matthew 5:48 which calls us to be perfect. After giving us a list of ways to stretch our beliefs on what is acceptable behavior to God, Jesus tells us to be perfect. Huh?

Todays verse is quite interesting then, isn’t it. If we are following Christ and have moved into a new life with him, we have died to sin. It doesn’t say we are dying to sin, it says we are to consider ourselves dead to sin. That means it can’t reach us. We can be separate from it. We are not alive to sin, but alive to God who has the power of the universe in His hands. While I am not ready to say that to follow Christ we have to be sinless (I am not even sure that is possible this side of Heaven yet) but what I do know for sure about my own life is that I am not LIVING like I am dead to sin. I do not treat sin as if it has no power over me . . . I am afraid I take it all too lightly most of the time and am in fact quite alive to sin.

Father, forgive me for my cavalier attitude about the sin in my life, especially those sins I feel are “lesser” sins. Forgive my unbelief, forgive my constant worry about tomorrow, forgive my apathy toward non-believers, forgive my hard heart to the widows and orphans, forgive me for not taking every thought captive as you have called me to do. I want to follow you fully . . .show me father how that looks.

Nehemiah 8:10

10 Then he said to them, “Go your way. Eat the fat and drink sweet wine and(P) send portions to anyone who has nothing ready, for this day is holy to our Lord. And do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.”

I heard this quoted on my favorite radio station this morning, and it had me thinking of something my DD said yesterday. She came home from church excited and rejoicing to have been in church and to have been blessed by the word of God. She is in good company.

As I re-read Nehemiah 8 this morning I struck at how the Isrealites responded to the reading of the law on this particular day. In verse 6 we see that “all the people answered, “Amen, Amen,” lifting up their hands. And they bowed their heads and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.” A great crowd gathered and asked to be read the law and then worshiped the creator of that law. What an awesome picture of a wonderful worship service!

Aren’t you thankful for the “joy of the Lord” this morning, from which our strength comes from?!

Father, thank you for who you are. Thank you for stepping down out of the heavens to call little me to worship you. May I worship you all the days of my life, and may my worship serve only to glorify you on this earth. May all who see me today see my love and openness to you.

Matthew 7:12

“So whatever you wish that others would do to you, do also to them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.”

This wisdom is so simple, and yet so profound. I was struck as I read this verse today. I was struck by just a couple of things I will quickly share with you, in case they can help you today at all.

First, a bunch of folks and I had a very interesting conversation about women in the church and then homosexuals in the church the other day. We all had different views, religious perspectives and experiences with these topics, yet it was interesting to notice how we all agreed on some basics. We all agreed that as Christ followers, we were all called to two things specifically: Love God completely, and love others. That is it my fellow followers. We are not called to judge, the verses right before this one in Matthew 7 make it quite clear to me that I do NOT want to judge others. We don’t know God’s heart, but we know ours. . .and are we loving God and others by our thoughts and actions on these points? Or do we get so angry and upset that we can no longer see the people involved enough to love them like crazy? All of our thoughts and feelings on such issues MUST be tempered by our love for God and others.

Second, as I reflect on this verse above I am humbled by God. I have many relationships that I cherish, and yet feel need to be deepened and strengthened, and I have been asking God to do that. But I believe he told me today exactly how I can facilitate that a bit myself. I will be asking myself today and in the next few days, what I have done for (insert name here) today that I would appreciate myself? How about you? Who do you need to serve today??

Father God, your mercies are new every morning and your wisdom none can comprehend. Thank you for sharing your heart and wisdom with me today. Help me put your word into practice and help me be a blessing to everyone I see today. Forgive my sin I pray.

1 Peter 5:10

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

I have witnessed such amazing grace from God in the past week, but I had to share one amazing experience with you. A girl in our youth group lost her sister this past weekend quite suddenly and unexpectedly. And yet, in the midst of what must be incredible grief, this young Christian woman posted the verse above on her facebook page for all the world to see. I don’t have faith like that! Do you?!

Suffering may last for a while, but Christ will restore, confirm, strengthen and establish us. . .what an amazing promise to start off a week!

Father God, thank you for your grace and mercy which is indeed new every morning. Thank you for being a promise fulfilling father who does not leave us alone and without hope. Be with my friends family today, and all those who need encouragement today.

Luke 12:32 – 34

32 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom. 33 Sell your possessions, and give to the needy. Provide yourselves with moneybags that do not grow old, with a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.

I have so many thoughts today as I read Luke 12, and especially this little portion. My first thought is of my DD and what I found in her room last night. I was home and practicing my trumpet so I can soon play in church, and I opened the book to “A Mighty Fortress is Our God.” I saw that it was based on Psalm 46 so I wanted to read that. I looked in my room, but I had taken my Bible downstairs to my favorite chair the day before to read, so I thought, maybe DD has one. Well much to my delight, not only did she have her Bible right out in the open, but it was right beside her bed. I know that it is there because when she worries at night or gets scared we have gone over and over how she needs to search scripture and read until she either has a blessed word from God or at least is tired enough to fall asleep. She is listening and I believe she is seeking God in her times of trouble. As a Mom, that makes me well at ease.

But as I read this scripture, I begin to count moneybags I don’t have. That friend of the kids who has no dad at home, that girlfriend of DD whose parents are both gone, then there are my unsaved friends who may not see Christ in me or know my reason for hope. And then again, do I even display hope to them?! As I ponder these verses today, I am counting two, maybe three moneybags that I have had any part in bringing to God. I know God does all the work, but I am supposed to at least open my mouth and share my faith. . .and so far. . .I am not doing such a great job.

Father, forgive me for not screaming your praise from my office, my home and my car. Give me strength, grace and love to share what you have done for me with everyone I get the opportunity to talk to. Please Father, provide me plenty of opportunities to open my mouth and share all I can about you.

Luke 9:23

Then [Jesus] said to them all: “If any one would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

We heard a sermon on this passage yesterday, and my DD is now wondering what this interesting little snipit from Jesus really means. I think I will let her struggle with it on her own a bit, she is a bit like me and I think that will have her pouring over scriptures for the next week trying to find an answer from God. But as I send her on her hunt, I find myself seeking the real meaning here as well.

I believe the Lord led me to a section of scripture further down in Luke 9 for my answer. He sent me this passage:
Luke 9:57-62

57 As they were walking along the road, a man said to him, “I will follow you wherever you go.” 58 Jesus replied, “Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.”
59 He said to another man, “Follow me.” But the man replied, “Lord, first let me go and bury my father.”
60 Jesus said to him, “Let the dead bury their own dead, but you go and proclaim the kingdom of God.”
61 Still another said, “I will follow you, Lord; but first let me go back and say good-by to my family.”
62 Jesus replied, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the kingdom of God.”

I think we can be fairly sure that Jesus meant for us to apply this to his earlier words about taking up our cross and following him. We must look to God alone for our daily bread. We must let the concerns of this world not hinder us from following Christ moment by moment. And finally, I believe Jesus is telling us that we must not ever question Him or look back, but move forward always seeking to further His kingdom. I believe this all points to us being more focused on Christ than we are our selves, our families or our lives. We need to be ready EVERY MOMENT to follow him. That may mean writing a blog post with what He has put on our hearts, it may mean stopping the car to minister to someone on my way to work, it may mean taking that risk and making sure that hurting person knows about Jesus, or it may mean dropping everything to serve on that mission field Christ calls us to. So this passage begs the question, how have I denied myself TODAY, how have I taken up Christ’s cross TODAY, and how have I followed Him TODAY??

Father, forgive my ignorance of your word. Forgive me for not pouring over it more than I do. Forgive my unbelief and my weak faith and heart. Help me TODAY deny myself, take up Christs’ cross and follow you. Give me the strength and the courage I need to face today and focus on you and not me. In Jesus name and power, Amen.

Numbers 28:3-4

3 And you shall say to them, This is the food offering that you shall offer to the LORD: two male lambs a year old without blemish, day by day, as a regular offering. 4 The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, and the other lamb you shall offer at twilight;

I heard a pastor give a sermon this past week on Leviticus 1 and was pretty amazed at all of the life application he got from such a strange passage. He started by pointing out how many of us when we adopt a Bible reading plan often stumble and get completely derailed by Leviticus. I have to admit, that has happened to me, but I have also read that book a few times and still don’t have a clue what it says. I am not proud to admit that, but it is the truth.

Leviticus 1 talks about the burnt offerings that the Isrealites were to offer God. I wish I had time here to lay out the entire sermon I heard, as it was quite good, but I wanted to just share one application that has been solidified with me today when I read Numbers 28. Do you realize that they were instructed to give two bulls, sheep, doves, or grain a day? They were to sacrifice once in the morning and once at night. Now we know that Jesus has made the final sacrifice for our sins, and that we no longer need to offer one, but I am impressed by God’s instructions here. And I do pause to ask myself, why twice a day and 4 times on Sunday if I am reading it correctly? Could it be that my sin is so great that I need to repent at least twice a day?

I don’t want to get too legalistic here, or suggest anything works based, but I believe that God is calling me to come to him in submission and repentance at least twice a day. I need to come to Him each morning to ask that He keep me from sin, and then confess my sins and ask forgiveness each night. I really MUST give God a larger place in my daily life if I want to remain IN Him.

Father, forgive me. Help me to keep from sin today and bring me to you throughout each day as I strive to live my life completely sold out to you.