Tag Archives: Christ

They’re ordinary people Who love God from the heart

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They’re ordinary people Who love God from the heart

Steve was just an ordinary guy. He quietly served in a church I attended years ago. He helped prepare communion, shoveled the church sidewalks in the winter, and mowed the lawn in the summer. He spent time with teenage boys who had no fathers in the home. I often heard him telling people at church in his quiet way how good the Lord was to him. During prayer meeting he didn’t talk much about himself but would ask us to pray for those he was telling about Jesus’ forgiveness and love.

A verse in John 10 about John the Baptist makes me think of Steve. People said of him: “John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man [Jesus] were true” (v.41). John didn’t perform miracles as Jesus did. He didn’t talk about himself but came to “bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe” (1:7). He said of Jesus, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (1:29). My friend Steve bore witness of that Light as well.

Our aim, as followers of Jesus, is to do the same—to “bear witness of the Light.” We’re just ordinary people, serving God in our little corner of the world. With our quiet deeds and words, let’s point others to the Light! —Anne Cetas

Just what do Christians look like?

What sets their lives apart?

They’re ordinary people

Who love God from the heart. —D. De Haan

Christians are ordinary people who are committed to the extraordinary person of Christ.

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Jesus saves

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Jesus H. ChristJesus saves!

John 3:17 says: “For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.”

Here we see the entirety of the purpose of everything that Jesus did. What did He do? He came to save. He did not come to condemn, and He did not come to sentence anyone. Not then, and not now. He does not come to enforce a sentence upon us or to heap upon us the reward of a wrong that has been done away with. Jesus comes for our greater purpose, the purpose of God. He comes to save. Everything Jesus does has to do with salvation – even a rebuke, even an instruction, even the cleansing of the temple. All of these things have to do with salvation. We will look in the coming days at what Jesus did, and all of the things that are related to the salvation He gave to the world and to us.

Jesus saves!

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Empowered by the Holy Spirit

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Empowered by the Holy Spirit

“Do not be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

(Ephesians 5:18)

Do you ever feel like the Christian life doesn’t work for you? Do you feel it’s just too hard? If you answered “Yes,” read on.

D. L. Moody was talking with a friend one day about this very problem. Placing an empty drinking glass on the table before his friend, he said, “Tell me, how can we get the air out of this glass?”

His friend immediately replied, “You could remove it with a pump.” Moody reminded him that the resulting vacuum would shatter the glass. The friend thought hard before admitting he was stumped. Moody then brought a pitcher and filled the glass with water.

“The air is now removed,” he said. “In the same way, it doesn’t work to try forcing the sin out of our lives; more sin just rushes in to replace it. But being filled with the Holy Spirit does the trick.”

The key to living the Christian life is not the result of trying to act like a Christian. That only leads to frustration. The secret is developing your relationship with God empowered by the Holy Spirit. As God’s Spirit fills us, and as we come to better understand who God really is, our lives are changed—from the inside out. Right behavior is merely the end product.

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Sons of God

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Sons of God

You received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba,” Father.

Romans 8:15, NIV

What makes you and I  think we can do without a personal prayer life? It’s through prayer that we come into a personal, intimate relationship with our heavenly Father.

Do you long to have a closer relationship with God, but you don’t feel worthy? Are you convinced you are a nobody and therefore would never be accepted, much less welcomed, into His presence?

Praise God! Our entrance into His presence is not based on our own worthiness but on the worthiness of Jesus Christ! When we enter God’s presence in Jesus’ name, we are as accepted by God as Jesus is, because God counts us as His own dear children!

Jesus invites you and I, in His name, to come into His Father’s presence through prayer, crawl up into His lap by faith, put our head on His shoulder of strength, feel His loving arms of protection around us, call Him “Abba” Daddy, and pour out our hearts to Him.

Blessings

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The key to success or failure lies in doing things at the word of Jesus

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The key to success or failure lies in doing things at the word of Jesus

AT THY WORD

Luke 5:5, “And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.”

LUKE 5:1-11

Peter and his companions had been working hard all night. Their efforts had not produced even one fish. They had given up and were headed home. But Jesus told them to try it just one more time.

It would have been easy for Peter to reject Jesus’ command. After all, Peter had been a fisherman all his life. Jesus was just a preacher. What did He know about fishing? Yet something, or rather someone, caused Peter to try just once more.

Many people are like Simon Peter and his partners. They have done all that they know to do and yet they’ve come up empty-handed. This breeds a despair and hopelessness that causes many people to quit trying. Yet, just one word from Jesus could make the same tasks that have been unproductive on our own bear great fruit.

The key to success or failure lies in doing things at the word of Jesus. Peter said, “at thy word I will let down the net.” God‘s words always get results.

Today, make sure your efforts are directed by God and you will experience the results that have eluded you in the past.

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Ask And Watch God Arise

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Jesus H. ChristAsk and Watch God Arise

Matthew 8:6-7 says: “And saying, Lord, my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented. And Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him.” Here was a centurion, not even saved, not born again. It doesn’t even say he was a Jew, and yet he asked Jesus for help. He told Him he had someone dear to him who was not whole, someone who was not well. The servant was vexed, tormented, taken captive, and broken. Jesus immediately, without any questions or reservations said, “I will come and heal him.” Jesus wants to make people whole. He wants to come to your home and make you whole. I don’t know if you are broken financially, emotionally, relationally, in marriage, or in body, but Jesus is saying to you right now, “I will come and make you whole.” All you need to do today is just think how simple it was for the centurion. Make it as simple for you today. Say to Him, “Jesus, come and heal. Come and bless. Come and repair. Come and deliver.” Whatever you need, fill in the blank for yourself. Ask, and watch God arise.

He will come!

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Worry Changes nothing

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Worry Changes nothing

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? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?  Matthew 6:26-27

Let’s make a list—“The Advantages of Anxiety”

Let’s start our list with worry helps our health.  Lose sleep and live longer.  A nervous stomach is a happy stomach, isn’t it?

We can even plan days of worry.

Monday—stress over the economy

Tuesday—list the reasons we could be unemployed by year end.

Let’s face it!  Worry has no advantages.  It ruins health, robs joy, and changes nothing!  Our days stand no chance against the terrorists of the “Land of Anxiety.”  But Christ offers a worry-bazooka.

Remember how he taught us to pray?  “Give us this day our daily bread.”  Worry doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrows; it empties today of its strength.  Live one day at a time.  Make it a day changer!  God’s Word says: “He will take care of everything you need!”

Choose to make every day a great day!

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The power of choice has a good side and a bad side to it

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The power of choice has a good side and a bad side to it

And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it

was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise,

she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her

husband with her; and he did eat.

Genesis 3:6

The power of choice has a good side and a bad side to it. It is simple:

You enjoy the good benefits every time you make a good choice and you

suffer the negative consequences every time you make a bad choice.

Adam knew better than to violate the one limitation God gave him, yet

he did it anyway. In that moment, another principle was revealed as

well: The higher you rise in any organization, family or society, the

more people will be affected by your choices-for better or for worse.

No matter how much we demand it, dream about it or wish it wasn’t so,

God’s plan for man does not allow us to live in a vacuum. He created us

to weep together, rejoice together and experience birth and death

together. This is what it means to be a human being created in the

image of the triune God who is One.

Prayer for Today

Father,

Thank you for your forgiveness and for your grace which redeems the

years the locusts have eaten and gives me hope and a future. Thank you

for placing me in a family and in the body of Christ. In Jesus’ name,

Amen.

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God Is The Only One That Can Promote You

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God Is The Only One That Can Promote You

DRAWN BY God’s POWER

Mark 1:37, “And when they had found him, they said unto him, All [men] seek for thee.”

MK. 1:35-39; LK. 4:42-44

This is an amazing statement. Jesus‘ ministry was only a few months old and the masses of people were already seeking him out.

This is even more astonishing when you realize that Jesus had not used any of the conventional methods of publicity. In fact, Jesus had already rejected publicity during His first ministry in Jerusalem (Jn. 2:24-25). There was no natural explanation for Jesus’ success.

God is the one who promoted Jesus. And He used supernatural means to do it. It was not the slick techniques of Madison Avenue that brought the crowds–it was the awesome manifestation of God’s power.

Just the day before, Jesus had cast the demon out of a man at the synagogue in Capernaum (Mk. 1:21-28). This caused the whole city to gather at Peter‘s house and Jesus healed every one of them (Lk. 4:40).

Jesus’ display of the miraculous power of God was the spark that the Holy Spirit used to light a fire in the hearts of these people. Jesus had this power because of His intimate relationship with His father. It is no accident that He was praying while all men were seeking Him.

As you seek to touch others with the new life that you’ve found in Christ, let God confirm His Word with the miraculous manifestations of His power through you

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I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears

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I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. —Psalm 34:1-10

In his first inaugural speech in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt, the newly elected president of the US, addressed a nation that was still reeling from the Great Depression. Hoping to ignite a more optimistic outlook regarding that economic crisis, he declared, “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself!”

Fear often shows up in our lives when we are at risk of losing something—our wealth, health, reputation, position, safety, family, and friends. It reveals our innate desire to protect the things in life that are important to us, rather than fully entrusting them to God’s care and control. When fear takes over, it cripples us emotionally and saps us spiritually. We’re afraid to tell others about Christ, to extend our lives and resources for the benefit of others, or to venture into new territory. A fearful spirit is more vulnerable to the enemy, who tempts us to compromise biblical convictions and to take matters into our own hands.

The remedy for fear, of course, is trust in our Creator. Only when we trust the reality of God’s presence, power, protection, and provision for our lives can we share the joy of the psalmist, who said, “I sought the Lord, and He heard me, and delivered me from all my fears” (Ps. 34:4). —Joe Stowell

Day by day and with each passing moment,

Strength I find to meet my trials here;

Trusting in my Father’s wise bestowment,

I’ve no cause for worry or for fear. —Berg

Trust in the Lord is the cure for a fearful spirit

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The Leper and Our Lord And Saviour Jesus Christ

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Jesus H. ChristThe Leper and Our Lord Jesus Christ

Matthew 8:2-3 says: “And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean. And Jesus put forth His hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.”

In Mark 13:37 Jesus said: “What I say unto you I say unto all, Watch.”

Jesus is not a respecter of persons. When He responded to the leper’s question, Jesus said, “I will”, but His words were not limited to the leper on that day. It is as if Jesus said, “I will” to all of us.

We can simply say to Him, “Lord, I know you can, and I know You will, so I ask You boldly today to do what You desire to do, and I thank You for it.” This is a simple faith, the kind that knows that what Jesus said to one, “I will”, He says and will do for all.

Let Him do what He desires to do. He’s waiting, and if you will ask Him, He will say, “I will.”

He will do it for you!

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Be filled with the Holy Spirit.

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Filled with the Holy Spirit

Ephesians 5:18, NIV

God has clearly commanded you and me to “be filled with the Spirit.” But an unconfessed sin or resistance to His authority will block the “flow” of His life within us. If we do not deal with it, our spiritual lives become stagnant and we lose our attractiveness and usefulness to God. And we have nothing refreshing about us that would draw other people to Christ.

What is hindering you from being filled with the Holy Spirit? To be filled with the Holy Spirit is to be under His moment-by-moment control. He has not been given to you so that you can keep Him confined to a particular area in your life. Let Him loose! He is Lord! The amount of power you experience to live a victorious, triumphant Christian life is directly proportional to the freedom you give the Spirit to be Lord of your life!

Blessings

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Pray for God’s Guidance

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Pray for Guidance

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort.

2 Corinthians 1:3

In order for cultures to become violent, barbaric, and uncaring, they have to be trained in violence, barbarism and selfishness.

In Amos 1:11 God points out that when we “pursue with the sword” we “stifle all compassion.” He was not pleased and “his anger raged continually and his fury flamed unchecked.” He was speaking of the city of Tyre, but He could have been speaking of any of today’s youth. In our movies, video games, television and music, the culture of fury is glorified. Violence is presented as the one and only solution to problems. Pursuing our neighbors with “swords” is glorified over compassion, forgiveness and understanding. Is it any wonder that our youth load guns instead of playing with one another?

Our nation was founded on positive values-life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It is important to return to these God-given pursuits, and we need to ask for His help.

As a society, we need to demonstrate love, not violence. Ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in choosing forms of entertainment that are pleasing to God.

Further Reading

•Ephesians 4:32

•Philippians 2:1-3

•Colossians 3:12-13

God Bless

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Jesus is alive today

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Jesus H. ChristChrist is alive today

Matthew 4:23 says: “Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all manner of sickness and all manner of disease among the people.”

When we look at Christ today, we rejoice and we glory and we give Him praise. We shout for how wonderful it is that He healed people in the past. We shout for all of the miracles that He has done.

But He’s still the same!

He’s not just the Jesus of Galilee. He’s the Jesus of Nigeria, Africa, Israel, America, Europe, and Asia.

He is the Lord of wherever we are. He wants to be the Lord that heals our families and our homes. The Bible says if we will pray the prayer of faith, the Lord shall raise them up. That’s talking about Jesus. He is in your present right now. If you will simply say, “Lord Jesus Christ , take my sickness away today”, and thank Him from this moment on, you will be one who knows that Christ is alive today.

He is alive!

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Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, . . . and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

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Two Eagles

Two Eagles (Photo credit: Travis S.)

Suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, . . . and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit.

Acts 2:2-4, NKJV

On The Wings Of Faith

I understand that a turkey and an eagle react differently to the threat of a storm. A turkey reacts by running under the barn, hoping the storm won’t come near. On the other hand, an eagle leaves the security of its nest and spreads its wings to ride the air currents of the approaching storm, knowing they will carry it higher in the sky than it could soar on its own.

Based on your reaction to the storms of life, which are you?

A turkey or an eagle?

It’s natural for me to be a turkey in my emotions, but I have chosen to be an eagle in my spirit. And as I have spread my wings of faith to embrace the “Wind,” placing my trust in Jesus and Jesus alone, I have experienced quiet, “everyday” miracles:

His joy has balanced my pain.

His power has lifted my burden.

His peace has calmed my worries.

So . . . would you spread your wings of faith and soar?!

Blessings

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Faith pleases God

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Faith Pleases God

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.

Genesis 1:1

From the very first line of the Bible, God requires us to have faith. He doesn’t go into elaborate detail about who He is or how He created everything. God doesn’t lay out His case as a logical legal brief. He just states plainly, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

Once you read these words you are compelled to either walk in faith and believe the Word of God or choose to dismiss it.

It’s clear that it takes faith to believe the Bible, because there are many unanswered questions. God wastes no time trying to talk us into believing His Word. The ability to believe God’s Word is a gift of faith from Him (Ephesians 2:8).

If you find yourself questioning the reality of God’s Word, then you need faith. How can you get faith? “Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).

Read the Word of God, listen to the Word of God, repeat aloud the Word of God, meditate on the Word of God and sing God’s Word. This will allow faith to come-for without faith, it is impossible to please God (Hebrews 11:6).

Further Reading

•Hebrews 11:6

•Proverbs 3:5-6

•Romans 8:24-25

God Bless

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Let the Spirit of God live through you as He did through Jesus and you will either make people mad or glad, but there will not be indifference

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Unclean Spirits

Mark 1:23, “And there was in their synagogue a man with an unclean spirit; and he cried out;….”

MK. 1:21-28; LK. 4:33-37

Many people don’t associate demon possessed people with places of worship. Yet most of the demons that Jesus cast out were encountered in the church. Why would demon possessed people be in church?

In some cases, the people were there because they were seeking help. The church, like a hospital, offers people the cure and therefore, attracts those who are sick.

In other cases, the devil sows these types of people in the church to spread spiritual disease. A church that is teaching the true Word of God should either try to evangelize these individuals or make them so convicted that they move on. Sad to say, demon possessed people can thrive in most religious settings today.

We always need to show love for the sinner as Jesus did, but we should cut the devil no slack. If a person wants to keep an evil spirit on the inside of them, they should not feel at home in church.

Let the Spirit of God live through you as He did through Jesus and you will either make people mad or glad, but there will not be indifference.

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Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever

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Hebrews 13:8 says: “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.”

Jesus is the Christ, the one who heals the sick, the one who raises the dead, the one who multiplies the bread, the one who calms the storm, the one who saves the lost, the one who opens the blind eyes, and the one who brings peace.

He is the Christ, the Son of God today. He is the Christ of the present. Yes, He was the Christ yesterday, but He certainly is still the Christ today. He will be the Christ tomorrow, but He wants to be your Christ right now. He is on your side. What He has done for others, He desires to do for you today. Let Him be the Christ of your moment, the Christ of your circumstance, the Christ of your storm, the Christ in your sickness, because He desires to do for you what He did yesterday. He was there then, He is now here with you.

He’s the same!

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The Solution to Sin

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The Solution to Sin

But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.

Ephesians 2:13, NIV

God is righteous and just. But God is also loving and merciful. He cannot be less than Himself. Satan, in his temptation of Adam and Eve and in his plan to defeat the purpose of God, failed to take into account the very character of God. He failed to realize one very important thing – how much God loved the man and woman He had created and the depths to which His grace would go in order to bring them back to Himself. It never entered Satan’s wicked, self-centered imagination that God would commit the fullness of His eternal, divine nature to bring man back into a right relationship with Himself. It never occurred to Satan, whoever seeks his own preeminence, that the Creator of the universe would lay down His own life in atonement for man’s sin. But that’s exactly what happened. The solution to the problem of sinfulness is the cross of Jesus Christ. Amen!

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But whom say ye that I am?

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Jesus H. ChristBut whom say ye that I am?”

Matthew 16:15 says: “He saith unto them, But whom say ye that I am?”

In the world there are people who have differing images of who Jesus is. Some see Him as a healer because He has healed them.

Others see Him as a God who blesses because He has blessed them over and over.

Some see Him as one who has forsaken them because of the experiences they have had and the many situations they have encountered in life. They believe Jesus did not come through for them. They believe He does things for others, but He does not do anything for them. This is very sad.

There are many other images of Jesus around the world in our churches, in our communities, and in our homes. The most important image of Jesus is found in the Bible. The Bible is a reflection of who He is, a reflection that is unchangeable. What the Word says Jesus is, He is, and what it says He will do, He will do. What the Bible says Jesus wants to do, He wants to do. So today, erase every image that is contrary to the Word, and look at the scripture to see clearly who He is.

Look at Our Lord And Savior Jesus Christ  anew!

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