Tag: eyes on Jesus

You are Loved.

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No matter how you feel or what you are going through, it is important to remember that you are loved – passionately, deeply, unconditionally, more than you can possibly ever dream or imagine.

Romans 8:31 says, “If God is for us, who can ever be against us? 32 Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? 33 Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. 34 Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

35 Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? 36 (As the Scriptures say, “For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.”[o]) 37 No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[p] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

Let’s pray. Thank You for loving us, exactly as we are are. Help us to be an example of Your love to everyone we encounter. Lord, help us to grow in You each day. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Thorns

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In the Bible, there is an example of a “thorn” that God allows in the apostle Paul’s life. We all have at least one thorn in our lives, it can be a person, a problem, or circumstances.

In 2 Corinthians 12:7, the apostle Paul writes, “…in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

As you encounter thorns in your life, try to focus on what can be learned from their presence. We know that God uses all things for our good, (Romans 8:28). If there is a thorny person or situation in our life, we can grow from it. We can focus on learning from it rather than complaining. We can increase our dependence on God to get us through. Like Paul, we can certainly pray that God would remove it. But also like Paul, God may say to our request, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, when we encounter thorns of every kind, help us to stay focused on You and to draw on Your strength. Help us to learn what we need to grow in You. Fill us with strength and patience and Your peace. Help us to walk by faith and Your Word. Help us to be an example of Your love to everyone we encounter. Lord, help us to grow in You each day. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

The Mission Field

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There are so many people living on this earth who do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Jesus being Lord of their lives sometimes causes fear that if they accept Jesus they can no longer do what they want in their lives. God gave every human free will, we have the ability to choose what we do with our lives and what we believe. Within those choices, there are tremendous blessings and also curses depending on every decision we make.

God does not want us to make decisions that result in curses, pain, suffering, or hurt. The Bible tells us the consequences of each decision so we will know what the outcome is before we make the choice. He tells us how to live a life full of joy and peace, nothing that the world offers will bring us perfect joy and peace – never has and never will. We see this in John 14:26 and 27. “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. 27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.”

In these verses, followers of Jesus are promised the Holy Spirit to teach us all things. The Holy Spirit reminds us of Truth, the Word of God, our instructions on how to have lives full of joy and peace. And finally, Jesus gave His followers His peace. This is not a peace that the world can find or discover no matter what path is taken. This peace is only gifted to the followers of Jesus.

When you consider that the vast majority of people on earth do not have this peace as they do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, it may feel overwhelming. There are so many people to reach , so many people who are sinning and doing terrible evil acts – it can feel overwhelming. But the Holy Spirit encourages all followers of Jesus to see the world as full of opportunity. Opportunity to share Jesus and provide desperately hurting people with the answers they seek. The opportunity to expand God’s family and actually share with Him in the work of showing His love to every person. God loves every single person on earth, how can we join Him in showing everyone who He is?

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, help us to share about Jesus with everyone. Help us to stay focused on You and Your Word alone. Fill us with strength and patience and Your peace. Help us to walk by faith in You and Your Word. Help us to be an example of Your love to everyone we encounter. Lord, help us to grow in You each day. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

When you are surrounded by confusion . . .

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We are living in odd times. It is difficult to know what is truth. What news outlet can you trust, what statements can you trust, what leader can you trust and who in your personal circle can you trust? Even the weather apps on our phones and devices are consistently wrong every day. It seems that we are living in a time of chaos and confusion.

With all that is going on around us, can we even trust ourselves? Can we trust the emotions we feel? I would offer that it depends on what prompted the emotion. Was it something we read, or saw, or heard about? And if so, what is the source of that information, is it reliable?

It seems that much of the information that is available to read, hear and watch is not true. The search for truth is an age old journey. Pilate, as he was sentencing Jesus to death asked, “What is truth?” In John 18, starting in verse 36 “Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place.”

37 “You are a king, then!” said Pilate.

Jesus answered, “You say that I am a king. In fact, the reason I was born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”

38 “What is truth?” retorted Pilate. With this he went out again to the Jews gathered there and said, “I find no basis for a charge against him.” 

Jesus was sentenced to death by a man who was confused by the shouting crowd. Whether Pilate believed what the crowd said or felt pressured to go along with them, Pilate’s journey is the same as ours, we are all looking for truth. Truth brings stability, predictability and a sense of peace. The only truth we have available to us is THE Truth, God’s Word, Jesus. Everything else should be treated with skepticism. Jesus even told us the whole reason He was “born and came into the world is to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.” It is that simple, listen to Jesus.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, help us to listen to Jesus. Help us to stay focused on You and Your Word alone. Fill us with strength and patience and Your peace. Help us to walk by faith in You and Your Word. Help us to be an example of Your love to everyone we encounter. Lord, help us to grow in You each day. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

We are to be holy, but how?

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There are several verses in the Bible that command all children of God to be holy because God is holy. One example is found in Leviticus 11:45 which says, “..you must be holy because I am holy.” The definition of holy is “dedicated or consecrated to God”. In the Old Testament, the Israelites had to consecrate themselves or cleanse the sin to be prepared to encounter a holy God.  

The book of Leviticus contains instructions that were given to the Israelites on what to do and not to do to live a holier life. There are many commands of how to be holy and what to do to avoid defilement. Leviticus 11:46 says, “For I am the Lord your God. You must consecrate yourselves and be holy, because I am holy. So do not defile yourselves . . .”.

The way people become defiled is through sin. As humans, we can never live a life from birth to death that is holy, one that is free from sin. All humans have either had bad thoughts, lied, cheated, stolen or committed some other sin at some point in life. Once we commit a sin, we are no longer holy or set apart, we are defiled.

So how can God command that we be holy, how can we ever successfully obey this command? The answer is simple, belief in Jesus Christ as the Son of God. In John 17:19, Jesus says. “And I give myself as a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth.” It is through the sacrifice of Jesus that we are made holy. There is nothing we can ever do to earn holiness and because we are all imperfect, we cannot be holy by our actions. Once we accept that Jesus died on the cross for us and we accept His holy sacrifice, then we are made holy through Him. Yes, we will still sin as we are humans. But, through Jesus, we are forgiven and made holy each time we approach Him to receive His forgiveness, love and mercy.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, help us to be holy through Your sacrifice. Fill us with strength and patience and Your peace. Help us to walk by faith in You and Your Word. Help us to trust in Your plan and be an example of Your love to all around us. Lord, help us to grow in You each day. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus

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Sometimes life is hard. There is pain, hurt, betrayal, sickness, suffering, and so many more painful things that we endure each day. The Bible promises us that we will have trials, so do not be surprised. In John 16:33, Jesus says, “I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”

When trials become overwhelming, keep your eyes on Jesus. Remember that you are not alone – all of the believers across the entire world are suffering along with you. 1 Peter 5:9 says, “Stand firm against him (the devil), and be strong in your faith. Remember that your family of believers all over the world is going through the same kind of suffering you are.”

1 Peter 14:12 says, “Dear friends, don’t be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.”

If the trials become too much to bear, recall the disciples who were sawed in half and crucified upside down because they believed in Jesus. It is unlikely that you are facing such physical tortures, try to keep your trials in perspective. “We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead.” 2 Corinthians 1:8-9.

Let’s pray. Father in heaven, help us to overcome our trials by keeping our eyes on Jesus. Fill us with strength and patience and Your peace. Help us to walk by faith in You and Your Word. Help us to trust in Your plan and pray for those who may be causing us trials. Lord, help us to grow in You and stand firm in Your love. In Jesus name we pray, amen.