Friday, July 17
Avoiding Pain
Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call
on the Lord out of a pure heart.
2 Timothy 2:22
Recommended Reading
1 Chronicles 4:9-10
Once there was a man who prayed that God would protect him from evil. His prayer was like the prayer Jesus taught His disciples except that he went further. He expressed a specific reason for wanting not to be led into temptation: "Oh, . . . that You would keep me from evil, that I may not cause pain!" (1 Chronicles 4:10). The man was Jabez, an Old Testament saint who displayed mature wisdom in his prayer.
Whenever we yield to temptation or succumb to evil, we are not the only ones who are hurt. There is usually a friend, a spouse, a child, or some other person who is caused pain by our choice. Even if our choice to sin is purely internal, in the realm of our thoughts, we diminish our future impact on others by the loss of energy and spiritual vitality needed to deal with our sin. Therefore there are always three reasons not to sin: Pain to ourselves, pain to others, and pain to God. No parent likes to witness the failure of his or her children, and God certainly takes no pleasure when we fail.
When you pray, "Lead me not into temptation," keep Jabez's insight in mind: that you might not cause pain in anyone's life.
Each temptation leaves us better or worse; neutrality is impossible.
Erwin W. Lutzer
Read-Thru-the-Bible
Isaiah 5:1 - 8:22
Friday, July 17, 2009
Todays Prayer
Today's prayer July 17, 2009 in the year of our Lord
13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (NIV)
Good Morning Lord
Lord, Do other people see me as a faithful friend or a burdensome buddy? I pray that I will be the kind of person that other people love and appreciate; not a person that others want to avoid. And I pray that I will be a good friend to others. "A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother" (Proverbs 18:24). Help me today to improve my friendship skills...and to be an example of your love in all I do. Thank you, God. In Jesus' name I pray and give you praise, amen. <><
Live Simply. Love Generously. Care Deeply. Speak Kindly. Leave the Rest to God.
But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Micah 7:7
13May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13 (NIV)
Good Morning Lord
Lord, Do other people see me as a faithful friend or a burdensome buddy? I pray that I will be the kind of person that other people love and appreciate; not a person that others want to avoid. And I pray that I will be a good friend to others. "A man that hath friends must show himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother" (Proverbs 18:24). Help me today to improve my friendship skills...and to be an example of your love in all I do. Thank you, God. In Jesus' name I pray and give you praise, amen. <><
Live Simply. Love Generously. Care Deeply. Speak Kindly. Leave the Rest to God.
But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Micah 7:7
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Todays Prayer June 30
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Romans 10:13
Good Morning Lord
Lord, you have told me, "Whoever hears my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him" (John 14:21). Lord, you have given your Word and I want to obey. Give me a thirst to know more of you and spend more time in your Word. I love you. Please "show yourself to me " today. I praise you for who you are. In Jesus' name, amen. <><
Live Simply. Love Generously. Care Deeply. Speak Kindly. Leave the Rest to God.
" All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God." Romans 8:14
Good Morning Lord
Lord, you have told me, "Whoever hears my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him" (John 14:21). Lord, you have given your Word and I want to obey. Give me a thirst to know more of you and spend more time in your Word. I love you. Please "show yourself to me " today. I praise you for who you are. In Jesus' name, amen. <><
Live Simply. Love Generously. Care Deeply. Speak Kindly. Leave the Rest to God.
" All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God." Romans 8:14
Todays Turning Point w/ David Jeremiah
Tuesday, June 30
“I Have Never Prayed”
In this manner, therefore, pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name…”
Matthew 6:9
Recommended Reading
Matthew 6:5-13
The late Methodist preacher, Charles A. Allen, once answered his doorbell to find a stranger on the stoop. “Something happened to me tonight that caused me to want to pray,” said the man. “But I have never prayed in my life and I do not know how. I don’t want you to pray for me—I want you to teach me how to pray for myself.”
What would we say to such a man?
Inviting the man in, Allan turned in the Bible to the Lord’s Prayer. He showed him how to kneel before an open Bible and to use this wonderful prayer as a pattern for telling God what was on his heart.
The Lord’s Prayer comprises just five verses and can be recited in less than a minute. Yet it contains all the essential elements of prevailing prayer: praise, priorities, provision, personal relationships, protection, and praise again. It begins with Our Father, ends with Amen, and touches every need in life. It can be committed to memory quickly, but it provides a lifetime of lessons for approaching the throne of grace.
The best way I know to learn to pray is to learn the Lord’s Prayer by heart.
Charles A. Allen
Read-Thru-the-Bible
Psalm 141:1 - 147:20
“I Have Never Prayed”
In this manner, therefore, pray: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name…”
Matthew 6:9
Recommended Reading
Matthew 6:5-13
The late Methodist preacher, Charles A. Allen, once answered his doorbell to find a stranger on the stoop. “Something happened to me tonight that caused me to want to pray,” said the man. “But I have never prayed in my life and I do not know how. I don’t want you to pray for me—I want you to teach me how to pray for myself.”
What would we say to such a man?
Inviting the man in, Allan turned in the Bible to the Lord’s Prayer. He showed him how to kneel before an open Bible and to use this wonderful prayer as a pattern for telling God what was on his heart.
The Lord’s Prayer comprises just five verses and can be recited in less than a minute. Yet it contains all the essential elements of prevailing prayer: praise, priorities, provision, personal relationships, protection, and praise again. It begins with Our Father, ends with Amen, and touches every need in life. It can be committed to memory quickly, but it provides a lifetime of lessons for approaching the throne of grace.
The best way I know to learn to pray is to learn the Lord’s Prayer by heart.
Charles A. Allen
Read-Thru-the-Bible
Psalm 141:1 - 147:20
Monday, June 29, 2009
Todays Turning Point w/ David Jeremiah
Monday, June 29
Choose This Day
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16
Recommended Reading
Romans 13:13-14
Every child grows up learning to play the “Follow the Leader” game. Unknown to children, it’s really an instinctive tendency on the part of humans. As much as we might not like to admit it, we are all followers of something or someone.
As his logical, deductive mind did so often, the apostle Paul boiled down the “following” tendency into two major categories: We can follow the flesh (energized by Satan, the enemy of God) or we can follow the Spirit of God. To follow one means we are not following the other (for example, see Luke 16:13). And we are never in the “neutral” zone where we are not following one or the other. From the point in life at which we develop the conscious ability to make moral and spiritual choices, we are in a following mode. The “flesh,” in Paul’s terminology, is our natural (fallen) human instincts, oriented to self-serving and self-gratification. That’s what we follow if we are not following the leading of the Holy Spirit. The only way not to follow and carry out the desires of the flesh is to follow and carry out the desires of the Spirit.
Live in the choosing mode today, and choose wisely: Follow the Spirit of God.
The wisdom of the flesh is always exclaiming against the mysteries of God.
John Calvin
Read-Thru-the-Bible
Psalms 136:1 - 140:13
Choose This Day
I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16
Recommended Reading
Romans 13:13-14
Every child grows up learning to play the “Follow the Leader” game. Unknown to children, it’s really an instinctive tendency on the part of humans. As much as we might not like to admit it, we are all followers of something or someone.
As his logical, deductive mind did so often, the apostle Paul boiled down the “following” tendency into two major categories: We can follow the flesh (energized by Satan, the enemy of God) or we can follow the Spirit of God. To follow one means we are not following the other (for example, see Luke 16:13). And we are never in the “neutral” zone where we are not following one or the other. From the point in life at which we develop the conscious ability to make moral and spiritual choices, we are in a following mode. The “flesh,” in Paul’s terminology, is our natural (fallen) human instincts, oriented to self-serving and self-gratification. That’s what we follow if we are not following the leading of the Holy Spirit. The only way not to follow and carry out the desires of the flesh is to follow and carry out the desires of the Spirit.
Live in the choosing mode today, and choose wisely: Follow the Spirit of God.
The wisdom of the flesh is always exclaiming against the mysteries of God.
John Calvin
Read-Thru-the-Bible
Psalms 136:1 - 140:13
Todays Prayer
Today's prayer June 29, 2009 in the year of our Lord
But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Micah 7:7
Good Morning Lord
Dear Lord, You are great and greatly to be praised. Oh, how I wish that everyone would praise you and give you first priority in their lives. This world would be a better place...and individual lives would be so much better, so much happier. I am so burdened for those who or unemployed, underemployed, or not able to work. They try to exist on what little they have. Some of them receive help from charities and government programs; others scrape here and there to earn a little; others have nothing. I pray today that you will lift up these people. I pray that you will encourage them and guide them and show them the way. I pray that you will meet their EVERY need--whether for deliverance from sin, sickness, or something that holds them down--for a job or career and financial needs--for shelter--for medical care--for counseling--for friendship--whatever they truly need. For some there greatest need is to find a purpose and a feeling of worth. I pray that they will lift up their eyes to you, from whence comes their help and their salvation. Please have mercy and help them today. Please show me what I can do today to help them and enable me to do so. Please intervene. And may you receive all the glory and praise for great things you will do and are doing. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen. <><
Live Simply. Love Generously. Care Deeply. Speak Kindly. Leave the Rest to God.
" All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God." Romans 8:14
But as for me, I will look to the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation; my God will hear me. Micah 7:7
Good Morning Lord
Dear Lord, You are great and greatly to be praised. Oh, how I wish that everyone would praise you and give you first priority in their lives. This world would be a better place...and individual lives would be so much better, so much happier. I am so burdened for those who or unemployed, underemployed, or not able to work. They try to exist on what little they have. Some of them receive help from charities and government programs; others scrape here and there to earn a little; others have nothing. I pray today that you will lift up these people. I pray that you will encourage them and guide them and show them the way. I pray that you will meet their EVERY need--whether for deliverance from sin, sickness, or something that holds them down--for a job or career and financial needs--for shelter--for medical care--for counseling--for friendship--whatever they truly need. For some there greatest need is to find a purpose and a feeling of worth. I pray that they will lift up their eyes to you, from whence comes their help and their salvation. Please have mercy and help them today. Please show me what I can do today to help them and enable me to do so. Please intervene. And may you receive all the glory and praise for great things you will do and are doing. In the name of Jesus I pray, amen. <><
Live Simply. Love Generously. Care Deeply. Speak Kindly. Leave the Rest to God.
" All who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God." Romans 8:14
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Turning Point June 23.2009
Missing Weapon
Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in Your laws.
Psalm 119:43 (NIV)
Recommended Reading
Psalm 119:41-48
During the worst days of the recent war in Iraq, the newspapers told of a Marine corporal, a very brave woman, at a checkpoint in Fallujah. Her job was to frisk Iraqi women for bombs. One day after a long shift, she was returning to camp when her convoy was attacked and she was thrown unconscious to the ground. Coming to, she reached for her weapon, but it was gone. The thought of being in a firefight without her weapon was terrifying. Though wounded in the attack, she survived; but she never wants to be caught in such a situation again.
As God’s soldiers, our weapon is the Scripture—the Sword of the Spirit. There’s nothing more terrifying than to find our weapon missing while we’re in a firefight with the world or the devil. Too many believers forget to carry God’s Word in their hearts. Among Christians today, there is Bible-less preaching, Bible-less counseling, Bible-less thinking, and Bible-less living. We cannot engage in spiritual warfare if our weapon is lost, misplaced, rusty, or neglected. Our power comes from the authority of God’s Word.
A Bible Christian I will be, for Christ has done so much for me.
Hymnist A. M. K. Deidrick
Read-Thru-the-Bible
Psalm 106:1 - 107:43
Dr.David Jeremiah
Do not snatch the word of truth from my mouth, for I have put my hope in Your laws.
Psalm 119:43 (NIV)
Recommended Reading
Psalm 119:41-48
During the worst days of the recent war in Iraq, the newspapers told of a Marine corporal, a very brave woman, at a checkpoint in Fallujah. Her job was to frisk Iraqi women for bombs. One day after a long shift, she was returning to camp when her convoy was attacked and she was thrown unconscious to the ground. Coming to, she reached for her weapon, but it was gone. The thought of being in a firefight without her weapon was terrifying. Though wounded in the attack, she survived; but she never wants to be caught in such a situation again.
As God’s soldiers, our weapon is the Scripture—the Sword of the Spirit. There’s nothing more terrifying than to find our weapon missing while we’re in a firefight with the world or the devil. Too many believers forget to carry God’s Word in their hearts. Among Christians today, there is Bible-less preaching, Bible-less counseling, Bible-less thinking, and Bible-less living. We cannot engage in spiritual warfare if our weapon is lost, misplaced, rusty, or neglected. Our power comes from the authority of God’s Word.
A Bible Christian I will be, for Christ has done so much for me.
Hymnist A. M. K. Deidrick
Read-Thru-the-Bible
Psalm 106:1 - 107:43
Dr.David Jeremiah
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