Thursday, August 10, 2017
“Love,
to be real,
must cost –
it must hurt –
it must empty us of self.”
God is calling us to His high places of love. A wonderful place to meditate is 1 Corinthians 13 because this simply spells out what God’s love is and what it is not.
“Love is patient; love is kind. Love isn’t envious,
doesn’t boast, brag, or strut about.
There’s no arrogance in love;
it’s never rude, crude, or indecent—
it’s not self-absorbed.
Love isn’t easily upset.
Love doesn’t tally wrongs or celebrate injustice;
but truth—yes, truth—is love’s delight!
Love puts up with anything and everything that comes along;
it trusts, hopes, and endures no matter what.
Love will never become obsolete.”
Let us desire today that God’s true and real love flows through us in every way possible. Lord help us to desire to pay the cost even when it hurts. Cause us to see that which hinders us from loving like You and empty us of those things! We are believing that You are well able to do above and beyond all we dare ask or think regarding Your love operating through us!
Wednesday, August 9, 2017
Psalm 51:7, 8, 10
Wash me until I am whiter than snow!
Let me hear sounds of joy and happiness again.
God, create a pure heart in me,
and make my spirit strong again.”
Today let us treasure the power of love and forgiveness, and look to the only One that can bring restoration to our souls. He is the only one who is able to cleanse. I love how verse eight says “Let me hear sounds of joy and happiness again.” This is what restoration is about. When we experience freedom from guilt we are able to experience the joy that was robbed by our sin and guilt. Only God is able to create within us a pure heart, pick us back up, and cause us to continue on in His will. Thank God for the power of forgiveness!
Tuesday, August 8, 2017
“Rest in God alone, my soul, for my hope comes from Him,”
Psalm 62:5 HCSB
Monday, August 7, 2017
“He heals the brokenhearted, binding up their wounds.
I love these verses and I love thinking about how our loving God knows every detail about everything. He is the one that knows all things and He gives us all things that pertain to life and godliness. How awesome is this verse as the Psalmist proclaims that our God counts the stars and calls them them all by their name. One by one He created each star and caused it to shine in the evening skies.
To think of how great and mighty God is should encourage our hearts to remember that the same God that placed stars in the sky one by one also created me and you! One by one He formed each of us in our mother’s womb, and He knows every day of our life from beginning to end. How amazing is our God? Oh that we would turn to Him when our hearts are broken and hurt that we would receive His healing touch, and restoration. Oh that we would look to Him for the smallest of our needs for He knows what they are before we notice any lack in our lives.
Sunday, August 6, 2017
In the scriptures (2 Corinthians 12:8-10) Paul spoke of calling out to God to help him. Paul had enough of dealing with his problems for he was in his own ability and weariness was upon him. He begged God that the whole issue would depart from him. God’s response…
”My grace which is my favor, my lovingkindness, and my mercy are all that you need. My grace is sufficient against any danger and it enables you to bear this trouble manfully. My strength and power are made perfect and show themselves MOST effective in your weakness.”
Saturday, August 5, 2017
Oh the magnificence of our loving God as He created the heavens and the earth! Today we are looking at His work of creation and how He separated the light from the dark. As we live our lives as victorious believers we too must keep our hearts, soul, and mind FULL of His powerful light and be separate from the ways of this world which is darkness.
“When life is dark, a light will
who are merciful, compassionate, and strive for justice.”
“For many will come in (on the strength of)
name which belongs to Me, saying,
lead many astray. And you will hear
are not frightened or troubled,
yet. For nation will rise against nation,
will be famines and earthquakes in place after place;”
Friday, August 4, 2017
you must trust the Lord
and not your own judgment.
Always let him lead you,
and he will clear the road
for you to follow.”
Thursday, August 3, 2017
by Dona Hake
I am sharing a testimony I remember hearing a few years ago on a Christian radio station. This young man was sharing his heart, and making emphasis on the power of keeping his heart and eyes set on what God had set before him. He also was declaring the importance of understanding how our past can affect us if we do not deal with it properly. He spoke the following words, and I spoke the words over and over in my mind till I could jot them down on paper. I love to write things down that minister to my heart like this. He said…
”The past is not really the past if
it is impacting your present.”
I thought these were powerful words to ponder. Of course we understand that what happened twenty years ago or even yesterday is over and done with. What we need to understand though is if we dwell on any negatives of our past, and allow them to hinder us in the present they will have power over us. They will affect our life in a very negative way. Sometimes it is hard to fathom how much our past can torment us. Memories can serve to torment us IF we allow them to do so.
Paul wrote in the Corinthians and he exclaimed that those in Christ are more than conquerors, and in Philippians he spoke of the “race” in this life. He declared the importance of staying focused, strong, and purposed to continue in momentum, and he still did not consider himself a winner.
Philippians 3:13 God’s Word Translation
“Brothers and sisters,
I can’t consider myself a winner yet.
This is what I do:
I don’t look back,
I lengthen my stride,
and I run straight toward the goal
to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus.
Whoever has a mature faith should think this way.
And if you think differently, God will show
you how to think. However, we should be
guided by what we have learned so far.”
Monday, July 31, 2017
by Dona Hake
I can remember like yesterday when I would go to Sunday School. I had a teacher that loved Jesus so much, and her passion was to share it with children. I will never forget her beautiful red hair and kind eyes. One Sunday our lesson was about how Jesus took our sins away by the power of His blood. She stood in front us with her flannel board, and on the flannel board was a heart with black spots on it, and then there was a pure white heart beside of it. Such a striking contrast…one heart bound up and the other was free. All I can remember as a little girl was that I wanted the pure white heart. I wanted to be free, and I wanted no parts of black spots on my heart. I wanted to understand how to keep my heart clean.
Thank God through His forgiveness, we can experience the pure white heart. Along with forgiveness that keeps us free He desires to shed His unconditional love upon our hearts that we be merciful to those around us.
Today I am encouraging you to desire a pure heart as you walk with Him. His forgiveness is always there for us to partake of. Nothing can stand in our way of possessing a heart that is pure before Him.
Let us also look to Him to help us to be merciful and forgiving. God’s love is so powerful and it can help us forgive wrongs done against us.
Love does not remember wrongs done against it.”
Do not permit the enemy to convince you that it is okay to keep an account of wrongs done against you. Unforgiveness is the enemy to our soul being free. Let us enjoy the freedom that forgiveness brings to our hearts! Today I leave you with this wonderful anonymous quote:
“Every person should have a special cemetery lot
in which to bury the faults of friends and loved ones.
To forgive is to set a prisoner free
and discover the prisoner was you”
(Unknown)
Saturday, July 29, 2017
This is a good way of teaching the kids to forgive each other(Matt. 5:7). I like the power of this gentle scripture and lesson… Thanks!!
thank you Lisa for sharing. I am blessed that this was a blessing to you!
Ralph &I are really enjoying your devotional together.
So glad this is blessing you both!
Oh, what a wonderful reminder! I want to break the magnifing glass of worry and trust God for each step I take.
It is interesting Selena how the more we worry the bigger and more magnified things get in our minds. Oh how important it is to trust our God for the smallest of things! Thank you for sharing!