HOW IS YOUR HEALTH

1-31-2017. . . .HOW IS YOUR HEALTH!

"Dear friend, I am praying that all is well with you and that your body is as healthy as I know your soul is." (3 John 2-3TLB)  

How is your health?  As triune beings, we are a spirit with a soul that is housed in a body!  Our exclusive responsibility is to ensure that our earthly house (physical body) is not merely inhabitable but in its highest state of well-being! This means daily maintenance; eating right, exercise, and proper rest! Anything lest is to do a disservice to our soul, spirit and ultimately, to God!  So then, How's your health?

PRAYER:  Lord, you are the giver and sustainer of life.  You prosper our spirit and soul and supply food for our bodies.  Help us to make healthier choices as it relates to the upkeep of our bodies which are your temple!  Amen.

1 Cor 6:19-20. . . . What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's. KJV

PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES MINIMIZED!

1-27-2017. . . .PROBLEMS AND CHALLENGES MINIMIZED!

"Be strong and of a good courage: for unto this people shalt thou divide for an inheritance the land, which I sware unto their fathers to give them. Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest."  (Josh 1:6-7 KJV) 

 Strength, Courage, and Obedience are three key ingredients needed for success. With these, we can move forward into our destiny and  accomplish all God has purposed and promised us!  Where success is guaranteed, problems and challenges are minimized! 

Prayer: Lord, thank you for making it possible for us to succeed in all you purposed for us!  Our strength is in You, therefore, we can do all things!  Amen.

Josh 1:8-9. . . . Constantly remind the people about these laws, and you yourself must think about them every day and every night so that you will be sure to obey all of them. For only then will you succeed.  Yes, be bold and strong! Banish fear and doubt! For remember, the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." TLB

ROLL AND STRIKE!

1-26-2017. . . .ROLL AND STRIKE!

"Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner."  (1 Peter 4:12-13)

Don't let the devil or anything and anybody he uses though you off your game.  Stay focused.  When a boxer gets into the ring he knows and expects that at some point he is going to get hit.  When he gets hit, he has been trained to roll with the punch and thereby lessen the impact and damage.  Rolling with the punch also puts the fighter in a position to strike back.  So, roll and strike saints!  Roll and Strike!

PRAYER: Lord, we have no delusion or expectation that life will always be a bed of roses.  Help us to be alert at all times and not be thrown off our game when we are attacked.  Give us strength to go against what we are up against and roll and strike.  Amen.

1 Peter 5:8-10. . . .Keep a cool head. Stay alert. The Devil is poised to pounce, and would like nothing better than to catch you napping. 9 Keep your guard up. You're not the only ones plunged into these hard times. It's the same with Christians all over the world. So keep a firm grip on the faith.  MSG

THIS IS YOUR CUE: MOVE FORWARD!

1-25-2017. . . .THIS IS YOUR CUE: MOVE FORWARD!

"The LORD our God spake unto us in Horeb, saying, Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount: (Deut 1:6 KJV)  

Although where we are may be good, comfortable, stable and even desirable, it was never intended for permanency.  There is more for us, so we must expand our borders.  Yes, this will require moving out of our comfort zones, but we will be the better for it.  It's been good, but it's also been long enough!  MOVE FORWARD!

Prayer: Lord, thank you for bringing us to our current place.  Give us wisdom to understand there is more for us and the courage to move forward towards it!  Amen.

Deut 2:7. . . . The Lord your God has watched over you and blessed you every step of the way for all these forty years as you have wandered around in this great wilderness; and you have lacked nothing in all that time.' TLB

MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE!

1-24-2017. . . .MAKE THE RIGHT CHOICE!

"Do you want a long, good life?  Then watch your tongue! Keep your lips from lying.   Turn from all known sin and spend your time in doing good.   Try to live in peace with everyone; work hard at it." 

 ( Ps 34:12-14 TLB)

Lying and saying bad things is a choice.  Same with doing bad things. Both will have an impact on the longevity of our lives.  Make the right choice. Watch what you say!  Choose to be good, do good and live well.

PRAYER: Lord, thank you for the opportunity of life.  Help us to choose to do good and be good daily.  Help us also to watch what we say and how we say what we say.  Amen.

Eccl 12:13-14. . . .Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.  For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.  KJV

PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER!

1-20-2017. . . .PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER!

"Obey the government, for God is the one who has put it there. There is no government anywhere that God has not placed in power.  So those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow." (Rom 13:1-2 TLB)

Today in America we witness the peaceful transfer of power as the forty-fifth President of the United States, Donald John Trump is inaugurated. Whether we voted for him or didn't vote for him; agree with him or disagree with him, he is now our President.  Let us in love, pray for him, his family and all our government officials.  Most importantly, let us pray for our country and indeed the world knowing ultimately that God is in control and He has everything under control.  

PRAYER: Father in heaven, creator of the universe.  Bless us today and bless our newly elected President, his family, and all those that you alone, have allowed to be placed in authority over us.  Give them wisdom and cause them to acknowledge you in all their ways so that you can direct their paths. Our trust is forever in you.  Amen.

Dan 2:19-23. . . .Then Daniel praised the God of heaven, saying, "Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for he alone has all wisdom and all power. World events are under his control. He removes kings and sets others on their thrones. He gives wise men their wisdom and scholars their intelligence.  He reveals profound mysteries beyond man's understanding. He knows all hidden things, for he is light, and darkness is no obstacle to him. TLB

WHAT IS YOUR NUMBER!

1-19-2017. . . .WHAT IS YOUR NUMBER!

"Be alert. If you see your friend going wrong, correct him. If he responds, forgive him.   Even if it's personal against you and repeated seven times through the day, and seven times he says, 'I'm sorry, I won't do it again,' forgive him."  (Luke 17:3-4 LBT)

Three strikes and you're out is the rule in baseball not in life and certainly not when it comes to extending forgiveness.  Most of us probably do well with a first-time offense.  That numbers significantly decreases as the offenses increase.  Question: when it comes to extending forgiveness, what is your number and would we like that same number extended to us? Forget the number!  Let the words of our Savior's model prayer loom large in our hearts and minds.  "Forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us!" 

PRAYER: Lord, help us!  Lord, please help us!  Amen.

Matt 18:21-22. . . .At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, "Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?"  Jesus replied, "Seven! Hardly. Try seventy times seven.  MSG

LITTLE OR NO EFFORT!

1-18-2017. . . .LITTLE OR NO EFFORT! 

"You're familiar with the old written law, 'Love your friend,' and its unwritten companion, 'Hate your enemy.'  I'm challenging that. I'm telling you to love your enemies. Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your true selves, your God-created selves. This is what God does.  He gives his best — the sun to warm and the rain to nourish — to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty.   If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus?   Anybody can do that." (Matt 5:43-46)  If we are honest, this is one of those scriptures in the bible that we'd prefer was not in there. It is so contradictory to our natural inclinations.  Hurt me, I hurt you.  Hate me, I hate you.  That can be done with little or no effort.  Could it be that is the answer to why there is so much hurt and hate because little or no effort is put towards love?  Starting today, let's put forth more effort and love hardest when its hardest to love!

PRAYER: Lord, help us put forth more effort in loving those that are the hardest to love.  Strengthen us to overcome our natural inclinations and allow you to love others through us.  Amen!

Rom 12:19-21. . . . Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God, for he has said that he will repay those who deserve it.  Don't take the law into your own hands. Instead, feed your enemy if he is hungry. If he is thirsty give him something to drink and you will be "heaping coals of fire on his head." In other words, he will feel ashamed of himself for what he has done to you. Don't let evil get the upper hand, but conquer evil by doing good. TLB

LOVE EVERYONE!

1-17-2017. . . .LOVE EVERYONE!

"If anyone says "I love God," but keeps on hating his brother, he is a liar; for if he doesn't love his brother who is right there in front of him, how can he love God whom he has never seen?  And God himself has said that one must love not only God but his brother too."  (1 John 4:20-21 TLB) Believers have a divine imperative to love all men.  This imperative, challenging as it may be is not a choice.  Resist the temptation to scrutinize people and thus determine for yourself their lovability. Remember, God scrutinized us and without hesitation or equivocation loved and loves us.  Therefore, we must strive to do the same! 

PRAYER: Lord, thank you for loving us without hesitation!  Your love for us never fails even when we are least deserving of it.  Help us to love all men in this same way.  Amen.

1 John 4:16-17. . . .We know how much God loves us because we have felt his love and because we believe him when he tells us that he loves us dearly. God is love, and anyone who lives in love is living with God and God is living in him. TLB

OPEN EARS AND WILLING HEARTS!

1-13-2017. . . .OPEN EARS AND WILLING HEARTS!

"So don't you see that we don't owe this old do-it-yourself life one red cent.  There's nothing in it for us, nothing at all. The best thing to do is give it a decent burial and get on with your new life. God's Spirit beckons. There are things to do and places to go!"  (Rom 8:12-14 MSG)  Every day is a new opportunity to for us to advance toward spiritual maturity.  The Holy Spirit is our personal guide in help us to achieve that goal.  We simply need to listen and follow His leading.  Our old nature, of course, will always try to demand and command our attention, but where has that gotten us in the past?    With open ears and willing hearts, follow the Holy Spirit's leading.  

PRAYER: Lord, thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit who leads and guide us along the path to spiritual maturity.  Help us to have open ears and willing hearts to follow His leading.  Amen.

John 16:12-13. . . .But when the Friend comes, the Spirit of the Truth, he will take you by the hand and guide you into all the truth there is. He won't draw attention to himself but will make sense out of what is about to happen and, indeed, out of all that I have done and said.

PREPARE FOR ETERNITY!

1-12-2017. . . .PREPARE FOR ETERNITY!

"Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."   (Rom 12:2) The demand upon believers to conform to the world's way of thinking is getting increasingly greater and greater.  Many have even adopted a "go along to get along" attitude.  While that may afford some a degree of comfort, it does nothing to advance us along the kingdom path to maturity.   Our time here on earth is temporary so don't get too comfortable.  Prepare for eternity!

PRAYER: Lord, prepare us for eternity.  Help us to adjust our thinking so that we are more concerned about eternity than our present temporary home.  Amen.

Heb 11:13-14. . . . These men of faith I have mentioned died without ever receiving all that God had promised them; but they saw it all awaiting them on ahead and were glad, for they agreed that this earth was not their real home but that they were just strangers visiting down here.  And quite obviously when they talked like that, they were looking forward to their real home in heaven. TLB

DON'T BE WILLFUL!

1-11-2017. . . .DON'T BE WILLFUL!

"May God himself, the God who makes everything holy and whole, make you holy and whole, put you together — spirit, soul, and body — and keep you fit for the coming of our Master, Jesus Christ. The One who called you is completely dependable.  If he said it, he'll do it!" (1 Thess 5:23-24)  We are spirit who have a soul and live in a body.  God created all three and is uniquely qualified and positioned to perfect this trio.  The more yielded we are to His process, the smoother the process will flow.  Opposition only comes when we intervene and try through our willfulness, to redirect the process.  Don't be willful, be yielded!  

PRAYER: Lord, help us to trust you completely in the perfecting process!  You know what is best for us.  Help us to seek and to know what you know.  Amen.

Phil 1:5-6. . . .There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears. 

WHAT ABOUT US!

1-10-2017 . . . .WHAT ABOUT US!

"And so, dear brothers, I plead with you to give your bodies to God. Let them be a living sacrifice, holy-the kind he can accept. When you think of what he has done for you, is this too much to ask?  Don't copy the behavior and customs of this world, but be a new and different person with a fresh newness in all you do and think. Then you will learn from your own experience how his ways will really satisfy you."  (Rom 12:1-2 TLB)  Christ did His part in providing salvation to all who believe and accept him.  Now, the question becomes, are we willing to do our part? Are we willing to be SANCTIFIED!  That is, separated from the very thing we don't want to be separated from!  No one can point a finger at anyone else because all of us are caught up in something.  The challenge is, do we want to remain caught up more than we want to present ourselves to God in an acceptable way?  His part is done, now what about us?

PRAYER: Lord, strengthen us in our areas of weakness.  Help us to yield ourselves to you as vessels of honor.  Quench our desire for the undesirable and give us a deep thirst for righteousness.  Amen. 

Heb 12:1-2. . . .  Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,   Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.  KJV

CHARGED AND CHANGED!

1-6-2017. . . .CHARGED AND CHANGED! 

"Don't you realize that this is not the way to live? Unjust people who don't care about God will not be joining in his kingdom. Those who use and abuse each other, use and abuse sex, use and abuse the earth and everything in it, don't qualify as citizens in God's kingdom. A number of you know from experience what I'm talking about, for not so long ago you were on that list. Since then, you've been cleaned up and given a fresh start by Jesus, our Master, our Messiah, and by our God present in us, the Spirit." (1 Cor 6:9-11 MSG)  We should never become so superficially holy and righteous that we forget who and what we were before Christ saved us.  It was with immeasurable compassion and unsurpassed loving kindness that He drew us and by His great grace, we were saved!  No matter what faults or deficiencies we may see in others, the same grace that was extended to us, is the same grace that if extended to them, will save them!  We are not charged to save anyone!  We are charged to love everyone and changed to demonstrate to others that it is possible!

PRAYER: Lord, thank you for making salvation available to everyone who will receive the gift of your Son, Jesus Christ.  Help us to humbly love others into the knowledge of your saving grace and to be patient and compassionate during their process.  Amen.

Jude 20-25. . . . But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God's love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!  Go easy on those who hesitate in the faith.  Go after those who take the wrong way. Be tender with sinners, but not soft on sin. The sin itself stinks to high heaven.  And now to him who can keep you on your feet, standing tall in his bright presence, fresh and celebrating —  to our one God, our only Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Master, be glory, majesty, strength, and rule before all time, and now, and to the end of all time. Yes. 

PROTECT YOUR STATUS!

1-5-2017. . . .PROTECT YOUR STATUS!

"Be careful-watch out for attacks from Satan, your great enemy. He prowls around like a hungry, roaring lion, looking for some victim to tear apart." (1 Peter 5:8 TLB)  Victors, we are!  Nevertheless we are admonished to always be alert and ready  for "when"  and not "if" Satan attacks.  He'd like nothing more than to catch us off guard and work his plan to steal, kill, and destroy against us.  Don't let the enemy change your status from Victor to Victim.  Protect your status!

PRAYER: Lord, we give you thanks for giving us victory in every area of our lives.  Help us daily to walk in the authority you have given to us by being ever watchful and ready to resist the enemies attacks through faith.  Let God arise and His enemies be scattered.  Amen!

Luke 10:19-20. . . .See what I've given you? Safe passage as you walk on snakes and scorpions, and protection from every assault of the Enemy. No one can put a hand on you.  All the same, the great triumph is not in your authority over evil, but in God's authority over you and presence with you. Not what you do for God but what God does for you — that's the agenda for rejoicing." MSG

SHORTLY!

1-4-2017. . . .SHORTLY!

"For your obedience is come abroad unto all men. I am glad therefore on your behalf: but yet I would have you wise unto that which is good, and simple concerning evil.  And the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly.  The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Amen." (Rom 16:19-20 KJV)  It is always right to do right no matter what others around us say and do.  Truth crushed to the ground will always rise again. Right remains standing while wrong always falls down, and good will always triumph over evil.  Although at times these truths may not be immediately apparent, stand firm on them knowing that in a short while, the God of Peace will bring it to pass.

PRAYER: God of all peace who has given us peace to stand on what is right, just, and true.  Thank you for instilling confidence in us so that in the face of adversity we will not waver from what is right.  Amen.

Eph 5:15-17. . . . So be careful how you act; these are difficult days. Don't be fools; be wise: make the most of every opportunity you have for doing good.  Don't act thoughtlessly, but try to find out and do whatever the Lord wants you to. TLB

WE ARE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD!

1-3-2017. . . . WE ARE THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF GOD!

"Then I heard a strong voice out of Heaven saying, Salvation and power are established!  Kingdom of our God, authority of his Messiah!  The Accuser of our brothers and sisters has been thrown out, who accused them day and night before God.  They defeated him through the blood of the Lamb and the bold word of their witness.  They weren't in love with themselves; they were willing to die for Christ. (Rev 2:10-11 MSG)  The sacrifice of Christ is far greater than the accusations of our adversary. Although, he is relentless in his railings against us before God, our embracing of the truth and bold proclamation that "We are the Righteousness of God" produces overcoming power.

PRAYER: Lord, thank you for the overcoming power of our testimony.  Thank you that he who knew no sin was made sin for us so that we were made the righteousness of God in him.  May our bold testimony of this fact forever produce in us overcoming power.  Amen.

2 Cor 5:20-21. . . .God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. NIV