Thursday, July 31, 2014

How Much Does God Love You?

Only God can answer this question. Fortunately, we have a
book available where we can find out what God thinks: the
Bible.

(What a wonderful thought that is! We can read and know what
GOD thinks! Don't let yourself be robbed of this great
privilege by being too busy.)

PSALM 103:13 NIV
13 As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has
compassion on those who fear him;

One way we can begin to get an inkling of God's love for us is
to know what it is like to have our own children. Psalm 103:13
tells us that the same deep feelings a parent has for their
child, are also present in God toward us. The word in this
verse means much more than "compassion." It is a very deep
feeling -- hard to express in words. This is what God feels for
you!

(You may wonder why. I may wonder why God would feel that way
about you or me. All I can say is: parents can think their own
children are really special, even though others may think they
are quite normal!)

Another way we can judge how much God loves us is by what He
was willing to go through to redeem us and have us in His
family. A lot!

We are familiar with John 3:16, but often being familiar with
something keeps us from grasping it as fully and clearly as we
should. Think about it: God so loved the dirty, rotten,
rebellious world of people -- even those who hated Him -- that
He decided to suffer the punishment that justice demanded so
they could go free.

God loves you -- no matter who you are -- no matter what you
have done. He loves you more than you can imagine or
understand.

God loves you more than He loves Himself. That is proven by the
fact that He put your interest and your feelings ahead of His
own, choosing to suffer so you could go free.

How can anyone not love and worship such a Being as our
wonderful God?

SAY THIS: God loves me. God loves me. God loves me.

Wednesday, July 30, 2014

God Is Sovereign

PSALM 115:3 NKJ
3 But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases.

PSALM 135:6 NKJ
6 Whatever the Lord pleases He does, In heaven and in earth, In
the seas and in all deep places.

In order to understand the sovereignty of God, we need to know
what sovereignty means. Sovereign means one who exercises
supreme authority, and has freedom from external control. One
who is sovereign is above everything and can do as they please.

In the beginning there was only God. He was sovereign and could
do as He pleased. He could have done, or said, anything. He
could have created man or not created man. No one could, or
did, force Him to say, or do, anything. Whatever He said and
did -- He chose to say and do.

Because God was never forced to say anything, He never said
anything that was not His will. So anything God did not desire
to happen, was simply never spoken by Him.

Unlike us, God does not grow in knowledge and wisdom. Today we
may wish we had made a different decision yesterday because we
have gained new knowledge. But this never happens with God. He
already knows everything. So whatever He has spoken, He will
never have any reason to change His mind about.

So in the beginning there was a sovereign God. Then He began to
say things. No one forced God to say anything. By His own
choice He freely gave His Word. After He had spoken He was no
longer free to do just anything. Because unless He acted in
line with His Word He would become a liar. He could still do
anything He pleased, but if it was not in agreement with what
He had already said, then He would become a liar -- which is
against His very nature.

For example, after the flood in Genesis 7 God promised never to
destroy the earth with another world-wide flood. What if He
did? God would then become a liar because He already said He
would never do that again.

If God ever told one lie He would come under the dominion of
the father of liars, the devil (John 8:44). So, God always
obeys His own Word (not because He is forced to, but because it
is still His will.)

God was sovereign and He did as He pleased. The Bible lets us
know the choices He made, so we can know God's will. He gave it
to us so we would have a strong foundation. So we can know
where we stand -- and stand up like men and women of God
against the devil -- which makes our Father happy.

SAY THIS: God is sovereign, but He will never be a liar, so I
know He will keep His Word.

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Selfishness Is A Disease

JAMES 4:1-2 GWN
1 What causes fights and quarrels among you? Aren't they caused
by the selfish desires that fight to control you?
2 You want what you don't have, so you commit murder. You're
determined to have things, but you can't get what you want. You
quarrel and fight. You don't have the things you want, because
you don't pray for them.

Selfishness is the root of every problem we face. If
selfishness were eradicated all mankind's problems would be
solved.

JAMES 3:16 NCV
16 Where jealousy and selfishness are, there will be confusion
and every kind of evil.

We need to clearly see the consequences of selfishness and so
determine that we want nothing to do with such a vile thing.

No murder is ever committed without selfishness being involved.
Theft never takes place without selfishness motivating it. No
one is ever hurt except by someone acting selfishly.

JAMES 3:15 NLT
15 For jealousy and selfishness are not God's kind of wisdom.
Such things are earthly, unspiritual, and demonic.

If God were to allow it, selfishness could turn heaven into a
hell.

The opposite of selfishness is divine love. This is the love
called "agape" in the Greek New Testament. It is not a feeling,
but an attitude which results in putting others and their
interests before your own.

1 CORINTHIANS 13:5 NCV
5 Love is not rude, is not selfish, and does not get upset with
others. Love does not count up wrongs that have been done.

This is the type of love God has for us!

The disease of selfishness cannot be cured just by a human
decision to try and do better. No, it is natural for a human
being to be selfish -- to look out for our self. What we need
is a new nature, a real cure, not just a bandage to cover up
the problem. This is why Jesus told us we need to be born
again. We need to become "new creations" with a new nature --
the nature of divine love. We need to have the love of God in
our hearts.

Then we will have the ability, if we so choose, to walk in
divine love and put the interests of others before our own.
When you have everyone doing that, you have heaven.

Buddha does not offer this cure. Mohammad does not offer this
cure. Only Jesus Christ offers this cure for mankind.

There is only one way to be cured from this fatal disease of
selfishness -- receiving Jesus Christ. When you receive Him,
Jesus imparts His life to you giving you a new nature. Then, as
you allow that new nature inside you to control your actions,
you will walk in divine love and be able to overcome
selfishness.

Overcoming selfishness is also helped by knowing God loves you
and is taking care of you. Because God Almighty takes care of
you, you don't have to worry. Because God is your Source you
can freely give to others, without worry that your own needs
will not be met.

SAY THIS: I don't want to be selfish! Thank you Lord Jesus for
delivering me.

Monday, July 28, 2014

Words Bring Success

JOSHUA 1:8 NKJ
8 "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but
you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to
do according to all that is written in it. For then you will
make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

God's Word never changes. What God promised would work for
Joshua will work for you, also. The problem with most of us is
that we are just too busy to put God's Word first like we
should. But we are not too busy to work trying to get ahead.
Explain that.

God never lies. Follow His instructions given above and you
WILL have prosperity and good success. Maybe not in 10 minutes.
Maybe not even for 10 years. But you will. God promises it.

Notice that Joshua 1:8 does not just say to think about God's
Word. No -- the Word must continually be in your mouth! Words!

1 PETER 3:10 NKJ
10 For "He who would love life and see good days, let him
refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking guile;

Speaking and thinking in line with God's Word will cause you to
prosper and succeed. If you would like to see good days, the
Bible admonishes you to watch your words!

Never confess defeat. Confessing Jesus as Lord of every
situation brings glory to God.

SAY THIS: I will keep God's Word in my thoughts and in my
mouth. Then I will have good success in life.

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Right Standing With God Is A Gift

ROMANS 3:24 NLT
24 Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are
righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us
from the penalty for our sins.

Righteousness is right standing, or good standing with God. It
does not mean human "perfection." You are righteous because God
says you are.

You may wonder about Romans 3:10 which says no one is
righteous. Yes, it does say that, but it is quoting an Old
Testament passage to prove that both Jews and Gentiles were
guilty before God and needed salvation. It immediately goes on
to say in the next few verses (see verses 22 and 24) that now
we can be righteous through faith in Jesus Christ.

2 CORINTHIANS 5:19a,21 NLT
19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no
longer counting people's sins against them.
21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering
for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through
Christ.

TITUS 3:5 NLT
5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done,
but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a
new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.

Righteousness is a gift from God -- not something you can earn
or achieve. God simply declares you are innocent, as far as He
is concerned, because of your faith in Jesus.

ROMANS 3:22 NLT
22 We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus
Christ. And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter
who we are.

ROMANS 10:10 NLT
10 For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right
with God, and it is by confessing with your mouth that you are
saved.

GALATIANS 2:16 NLT
16 Yet we know that a person is made right with God by faith in
Jesus Christ, not by obeying the law. And we have believed in
Christ Jesus, so that we might be made right with God because
of our faith in Christ, not because we have obeyed the law. For
no one will ever be made right with God by obeying the law."

The only way to have good standing with God is by accepting His
gift -- Jesus Christ.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:30 NLT
30 God has united you with Christ Jesus. For our benefit God
made him to be wisdom itself. Christ made us right with God; he
made us pure and holy, and he freed us from sin.

ROMANS 5:17 NLT
17 For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over
many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of
righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over
sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ.

SAY THIS: No one can be right with God based on their own
performance. It is available only as a gift.

Saturday, July 26, 2014

You Are Righteous In Christ

ROMANS 5:1,9 YLT
1 Having been declared righteous, then, by faith, we have peace
toward God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
9 much more, then, having been declared righteous now in his
blood, we shall be saved through him from the wrath;

Not much preaching has been done telling believers they are
righteous. But the Bible clearly teaches it. It becomes even
clearer when you realize that often the same word that is
translated "righteous or made righteous" is instead translated
"just or justified."

(The Bible is full of rich truths, but they are not always on
the surface. It can take a little digging and study to realize
the riches available to you.)

"But I thought the Bible said there is no one righteous,"
someone may say.

Yes, it does say that in Romans 3:10, but it is quoting an Old
Testament passage to prove that both Jews and Gentiles were
guilty before God and needed salvation. It immediately goes on
to say in the next few verses (see below) that now we can be
righteous through faith in Jesus Christ.

ROMANS 3:21-22 NKJ
21 But now the righteousness of God apart from the law is
revealed, being witnessed by the Law and the Prophets,
22 even the righteousness of God which is through faith in
Jesus Christ to all and on all who believe. For there is no
difference;

ROMANS 3:24 YLT
24 being declared righteous freely by His grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus,

SAY THIS: Because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, I am
righteous before God.

Friday, July 25, 2014

How Do I Get Faith?

Faith in God and His Word operates on the same principles as
faith in anything else. Faith comes from the information you
receive. Information can come to you through any of your five
senses, or from your spirit. When you decide to accept any
information as worthy of being acted upon, it becomes part of
your belief system. That is how you get faith.

(Remember that, in the New Testament, faith is the noun form
and believe is the verb form of the same word.)

Each one of us chooses whether we will believe something, based
on our evaluation of the evidence presented to us.

No one was born with beliefs. Every belief you now have was
acquired as a decision you made at some point in your life. You
decided to believe what you now believe.

Since every belief you have came as a result of a decision you
made, every belief can also be changed by another decision.

But because faith is always based on some evidence, we must
have evidence that convinces us before we can change any
belief.

Life constantly presents us with evidence which forces us to
make decisions, based on this question, "Is this evidence
sufficient to accept as truth?"

The primary evidence God has given us so we may have faith in
Him is His Word. God is not a liar; He can be trusted. Whatever
God says, always comes to pass.

ROMANS 10:17 HCSB
17 So faith comes from what is heard, and what is heard comes
through the message about Christ.

A literal translation of Romans 10:17 tells us that faith
results from accepting the God message.

How does someone get faith in God? By being presented with
truth about God, and accepting it as the truth. Faith in God
comes by choosing to accept the message of God.

We must not restrict our understanding of how faith comes to
our physical sense of hearing. Every way we can receive
information about God is an avenue that can bring us faith.

Bible faith can result from what is seen according to John 20:8
and 20:29. Faith in God can also come through the sense of
touch. Otherwise no deaf and blind person could ever be saved,
for they receive the message of God through reading braille
with their fingers.

You can go to the Bible and decide to believe it. Then you will
have faith in God, for the Bible is God's written Word. We get
faith in God by making a decision to accept God's written Word,
the Bible, as truth worthy of being acted upon.

So if someone says they don't have much faith, the solution for
them is to see the evidence from God's Word on that subject,
then choose to accept what God said as true.

SAY THIS: I get faith by making a decision to accept God's Word
as truth worthy of acting upon.

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Words Will Judge You

MATTHEW 12:36-37 NKJ
36 "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak,
they will give account of it in the day of judgment.
37 "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words
you will be condemned."

ROMANS 10:9-10 NKJ
9 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and
believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead,
you will be saved.
10 For with the heart one believes to righteousness, and with
the mouth confession is made to salvation.

The reason we are taking time to look at the importance of
words is because most believers have neglected this area of
studying what the Bible teaches. So we need to spend extra time
on this subject.

Looking at Matthew 12:36-37 we see that according to Jesus our
words will play a big part in judging us. You may wonder why
that is the case, instead of just being judged by our actions.
Because words precede actions. What you say indicates what you
are thinking -- what is in your heart -- and all action is
dictated by what is inside us.

Also, notice in Romans 10:9 the important part given to
confessing the Lord Jesus in salvation. It is not enough to
just believe in our heart -- we must also confess with our
mouth that Jesus is Lord. (Confess means to speak in agreement
with. In this case we are agreeing with what God has said, that
Jesus is Lord.) This is the way faith works in every area. You
must combine believing in your heart and speaking with your
mouth.

This is not restricted to some future time of judgment. It is
working right now. Today "with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation (which means deliverance)." If you are in
bondage today, you can change it by the words you speak.

I did not say, "Just speak a word and you will be free." This
involves a change in what you believe in your heart. It
involves changing what is coming out of your mouth all day --
not just for a few minutes when you decide to "speak the Word."
But you have to start and now is the best time to get started.

SAY THIS: Lord, please help me to get started, and keep on,
speaking in agreement with Your Word.

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Keep Your Word

PROVERBS 11:3 NLT
3 Honesty guides good people; dishonesty destroys treacherous
people.

God keeps His Word (Titus 1:2), and as His children we are to
be like Him (Ephesians 5:1). God is dependable so His people
should be dependable. Christians should be known as people of
honesty.

PROVERBS 12:22 NLT
22 The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in those who
tell the truth.

Keeping our word should be a priority. Our reputation should be
more important to us than our feelings, our finances, or our
comfort.

We should be like those mentioned in Psalm 15:4 who "keep their
promises even when it hurts." People should be able to depend
on us.

Will we do what we said we would do, even if it costs us? Or
will we only do what benefits us? It is really a question of
whether we will be selfish or whether we will walk in love.

But there is also another important reason to keep our word --
so our faith will work as it should.

MARK 11:23 NKJ
23 "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in
his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done,
he will have whatever he says.

Jesus taught that for faith to work effectively we must believe
those things we say.

If you don't keep your word, it will affect your faith. If you
want to walk in faith, and thus enjoy all the blessings God has
provided for you, then you must believe what you say. Lying
won't work!

Yet as humans, we all may sometimes find ourselves in
situations beyond our control where it is impossible to keep a
promise we have made. In such cases, we should apologize and go
forward in life, asking God to help us do better next time.

SAY THIS: With God's help, I determine to tell the truth and
keep my word.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

I Don't Agree With Other Preachers

1 CORINTHIANS 13:9 NLT
9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the
gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!

I don't know one single person on earth I agree with completely
on every single thing they believe.

That does not make me right, or make them wrong.

It just means that we are all in a process of learning, so of
necessity we are not all at the same place in our thinking.

There are some who know more than I do about a subject, and
there are some who know less than I do about that subject.

I should not fight or argue with those who know less about a
subject than I do. Neither should I be proud because of my
knowledge. For everything I have learned, I have been taught. I
was not born with superior knowledge.

And you may find, as I have from time to time, that I thought I
had knowledge of a subject, only to find out later that I was
wrong.

In order to keep learning, I need to stay open to what others
have to say. I need to truly listen to others.

However, if I once believed what someone is teaching, but the
Lord corrected me, then it would be foolish to waste my time
continuing to listen to them on that subject. I don't need to
criticize or condemn them. But I don't need to keep listening
to them speak on that subject, either. Yet, there may be other
subjects that I could still learn from them.

SAY THIS: Everyone is still learning, and I can learn something
from everyone.

Monday, July 21, 2014

What Does God Desire?

Does God desire a company of people who will obey the ten
commandments, give ten percent of all their income to Him, and
faithfully attend worship services each week?

NO!

That was the Old Covenant. If God was happy with what was
happening then, He would have never instituted a New Covenant.

If that was all God desired, He could have stayed with the Old
Covenant. Why bother with Jesus dying to bring in a New
Covenant?

God said the New Covenant is NOT like the Old Covenant.

JEREMIAH 31:32 NET
32 It will not be like the old covenant that I made with their
ancestors when I delivered them from Egypt. For they violated
that covenant, even though I was like a faithful husband to
them," says the LORD.

The Old Covenant was primarily dependent on human effort. The
New Covenant is primarily dependent on what God has done
through Jesus Christ. That is why the Old Covenant was weak.
Humans are fallible, but God is not.

God does not change, but His covenants do change.

God wants to live in you, and be able to express Himself
through you (2 Corinthians 6:16, Colossians 1:27). God wants
you to give yourself to Him unreservedly, just like He has
given Himself to you.

Would you be satisfied if your spouse visited you once or twice
a week and gave you ten percent of their income? What kind of
relationship would that be? Would you want a part-time spouse
that you shared with several others? Maybe one that just
visited you on Sundays? God gave you His all, His best. God
made a total commitment to you and His desire is for you to
reciprocate His love and commitment.

Jesus did not die for you so you would give Him ten percent of
your money or your time. Jesus expressed His love for you by
giving His all. Nothing less than giving your all to Him is a
decent response to what He did for you.

Does this mean you must give everything you own to a church, or
to the poor? No. But it does mean you should be ready and
willing to trust Jesus and obey whatever He guides you to do.

SAY THIS: God desires for me to love Him just like He loves me.

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Be Content With Food And Clothing?

1 TIMOTHY 6:8 NKJ
8 And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content.

The word translated "content" here does not mean to accept and
be satisfied with lack, and give up on any effort to improve
our situation. It means "to be strong enough and have enough to
help others."

If all we have is food and clothing we should not see ourselves
as poor, for God is our Father and source of supply. We have
His promise to take care of us. That gives us the sufficiency
to look outward and help others.

We should be thankful if all we have is food and clothing. But
we should not be lazy and accept lack as being God's ideal
either.

We cannot be satisfied when others still have unmet needs. Yet
to truly help others as we should, we must have more than we
need. So accepting poverty is a selfish act, not a loving act.

It is wrong to love money. But it is not wrong to have money.
The more money we have, the more people we can help.

If being wealthy is evil, then God would be the most evil one
of all.

SAY THIS: Because of my union with Christ, I always have enough
to help others.

Saturday, July 19, 2014

The Holy Spirit Is Your Helper 2

JOHN 15:26 NKJ
26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from
the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,
He will testify of Me.

Never forget that the Holy Spirit's desire and purpose is to
help you -- not to hinder you.

Also, remember that the Holy Spirit is a person, and should be
treated with the utmost respect.

Here are some ways the Holy Spirit desires to help you, and
will help you when you allow Him to.

Teaches Us All Things

JOHN 14:26 NKJ
26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send
in My name, He will teach you all things . . . .

Tells Us Things To Come

JOHN 16:13 NKJ
13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, . . . He
will tell you things to come.

Abides With Us

We are not facing life all alone -- as an orphan would. The
Holy Spirit is with us continually -- living with us. When we
need help He is never far away, but always right with us,
waiting for us to call on Him for His help.

Empowers Us To Be Witnesses

ACTS 1:8 NKJ
8 "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in
all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

Brings Life And Healing To Us

ROMANS 8:11 NKJ
11 But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead
dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also
give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells
in you.

Encourages Us

ROMANS 8:16 NKJ
16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are
children of God,

2 CORINTHIANS 13:14 NKJ
14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and
the communion of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen.

SAY THIS: Thank You Holy Spirit that You are my Helper! Thank
You for helping me!

Friday, July 18, 2014

The Holy Spirit Is Your Helper

JOHN 15:26 NKJ
26 "But when the Helper comes, whom I shall send to you from
the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father,
He will testify of Me.

The Holy Spirit's desire and purpose is to help you -- not to
hinder you.

The Holy Spirit is the third Person of the Trinity of God. It
is difficult for humans to understand how there can be only one
God, as the Scriptures teach, yet He can reveal Himself as
three persons. So do not let it be an obstacle for you.

The Holy Spirit is a person, not just a force. He should be
treated with the utmost respect and shown the utmost gratitude.

Following are a few of the ways the Holy Spirit desires to help
you, and will help you if you allow Him to.

In Prayer

ROMANS 8:26 NKJ
26 Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do
not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit
Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be uttered.

One weakness of humans, compared to God, is in our limited
knowledge. We do not even know what is happening on the other
side of a wall, let alone the other side of the country. We
also do not know what people are planning to do, but the Holy
Spirit knows everything. And He will help us to pray accurately
and effectively.

One way the Holy Spirit helps us in prayer is by giving us
utterance in a language for prayer which we have never learned.
Thus we can bypass our minds with their doubt and lack of
understanding of what is best, and pray according to the
perfect will of God.

Guides Us

The Holy Spirit will, if allowed, guide you in every area of
life; from the words you should speak, to the spouse you should
marry, to the investments you should make.

JOHN 16:13 NKJ
13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will
guide you . . . .

SAY THIS: Thank You Holy Spirit that You are my Helper!

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Into All Truth

JOHN 16:12-13 NKJ
12 "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear
them now.
13 "However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will
guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own
authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will
tell you things to come.

"Into all truth" in verse thirteen is translated "into the full
truth" or "to the complete truth" in other Bible translations.

At the very end of His earthly ministry, Jesus told His
disciples there were many things He still needed to teach them.
Then Jesus told them the Holy Spirit would guide them into a
full and complete understanding of the truth after He left.

It took me a long time to understand this. But I finally
realized that because Jesus ministered under the Old Covenant,
He was not able to communicate everything we need to know about
the New Covenant during His earthly ministry. Only after His
death and resurrection, which brought in the New Covenant, was
the Lord able, through the Holy Spirit, to explain all He had
accomplished for us.

So if we believe Jesus, we must realize it is impossible to be
led into all truth by reading and studying only the four
Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.

This is not to say the four Gospels are not truth, for they
are. They are very important for they reveal Jesus to us. But
they do not, and cannot, give us the complete and full picture
of truth. For Jesus plainly said the Holy Spirit would guide
His disciples into all truth only after Jesus left them -- and
the four Gospels primarily cover the earthly ministry of Jesus.

So it is only in the Letters (also called Epistles) to the
Church (Romans through Revelation) that we finally get the
complete picture of the New Covenant and understand what Jesus
has accomplished.

Jesus did not give us the full, complete truth during His
earthly ministry. Without the revelation of what Jesus
accomplished through His death and resurrection, we don't have
the whole picture. This information was only given to us after
Jesus' resurrection, and is found only in the Letters written
to the Church.

The Letters to the Church in the New Testament are also the
words of Jesus, speaking to us from Heaven through the Holy
Spirit, and written down by His apostles.

It is right for us to honor the words of Jesus recorded in the
four Gospels, but it is a mistake to think we should place them
on a higher level than the revelation Jesus gave His church
after His resurrection.

What we have in the Epistles are not just the words of men, but
the Words of God, written down by the Apostles of Jesus. This
is where we must look to be led "into all truth" which Jesus
promised His disciples would be revealed after He left them and
sent the Holy Spirit.

If you are going to understand truth fully, you need divine
illumination. You need help from God. Human effort and study is
not enough. You need a "Guide" to lead you into all truth.

SAY THIS: The Holy Spirit will guide me into the full picture
of truth by giving me understanding of the New Testament
Letters to the Church.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

What You Say Is What You Get

MARK 11:23 NKJ
23 "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain,
`Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in
his heart, but believes that those things he says will come to
pass, he will have whatever he says.

Jesus said that you will have whatever you say -- dependent on
believing and not doubting. Think of that. What you say
determines what you get in life. It did for the children of
Israel. And the Bible says the things which happened to them
are lessons for us.

NUMBERS 14:28 NKJ
28 "Say to them, `As I live,' says the Lord, `just as you have
spoken in My hearing, so I will do to you:

PROVERBS 6:2 NKJ
2 you are snared by the words of your own mouth; you are taken
by the words of your mouth.

Words can get you in trouble. And words can deliver you (see
Revelation 12:11 and Romans 10:10). Words control your destiny.

All of us face trouble in life and it can sometimes be tempting
to wonder why God does not help us sooner and in greater
measure. While there is much that we don't understand, we must,
on the basis of what Jesus said, realize we are responsible for
what happens because of the words we have spoken.

SAY THIS: Jesus said I will have whatever I say if I believe
it.

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

How Faith Works

Faith is what you believe. (In the Bible, faith is the noun
form and believe is the verb form of the same word.)

Faith (a belief) is always a decision, based on some evidence,
resulting in some action.

Faith in God is a choice to believe what God says is true. It
is accepting God's Word as evidence worthy of acting upon.

Faith in God and His Word operates on the same principles as
faith in anything else. There are no special rules. It is all a
matter of what you believe.

All humans operate on a belief system.

As we go through life we are constantly being presented with
information which is evidence that we must evaluate and judge.
Whenever we choose to accept the evidence presented to us as
sufficient to accept as truth, then that belief is added to our
belief system.

Unless and until we are presented with new evidence that causes
us to decide to believe differently about a subject, we keep
the same belief.

Then as we go through life, we always act (often sub-
consciously) on the basis of our belief system. Sometimes we
face situations in life where there is not time to think, and
immediate action is required. These actions are always governed
by the beliefs we have already determined (which form our
belief system).

The Bible is major evidence to change your beliefs. It is a
message from God, the Creator, who knows how everything works.

As we receive new evidence from the Bible, it may conflict with
some of our previous beliefs. But we know that God cannot lie,
and whatever He says is truth and will happen.

MARK 11:22-24 BBE
22 And Jesus, answering, said to them, Have God's faith.
23 Truly I say to you, Whoever says to this mountain, Be taken
up and be put into the sea; and has no doubt in his heart, but
has faith that what he says will come about, he will have his
desire.
24 For this reason I say to you, Whatever you make a request
for in prayer, have faith that it has been given to you, and
you will have it.

Mark 11:22 literally says "Have God faith." Jesus was teaching
us how to use our faith the same way God does. "God faith"
speaks the desired result and never allows anything to change
that statement. (Mark 11:23) We are God's children, made in His
image and likeness, and He is training us how things work in
His creation. Once God makes a statement, He never changes it.
There are words God spoke thousands of years ago, which are not
yet fully manifest to us in time. But God never chooses to say
anything different. God believes what He said will come to
pass!

"Doubt" in Mark 11:23 does not mean "have questions." It means
a judgment (decision) that completely separates. So it would
mean accepting some new evidence presented as sufficient to
reverse your previous decision and statement of faith.

Receiving new evidence and deciding whether it is sufficient to
change our belief is a never-ending cycle. We can be in faith
one minute, and in un-faith (unbelief) the next minute -- if we
make a new decision based on the evidence being presented to
us. The disciples had faith in John 2:11 (close to the
beginning of Jesus' ministry), and did not in Mark 16:14 (at
the end of Jesus' earthly ministry).

Fear is the opposite of Bible hope. Bible hope is a positive
expectation based on and supported by a belief in God's Word.
Fear is a negative expectation based on and supported by a
belief in something bad. Both involve the imagination, the
seeing part of our thinking, the ability to visualize something
before it happens, or after it happens.

Faith in God produces Bible hope – expecting good to happen.
Faith in bad things produces fear – expecting bad to happen.
Faith is the support, the foundation, the underlying thing
under both hope and fear. You cannot have hope (which is a
positive vision) without faith (which is a choice to believe)
in something. You cannot have fear (which is a negative vision)
without faith (which is a choice to believe) in something bad.

It is your belief that supports, undergirds, and provides the
basis for your hope or fear. The belief was a choice you made.
Then it became part of your belief system. That provides the
basis for your hopes or your fears.

Faith is released and put into action by speaking what you
believe with your mouth.

The primary action of faith toward God is speaking in agreement
with God's Word. And then we stand in that position of faith,
regardless of feelings or circumstances, no matter how long it
takes.

SAY THIS: Faith in God works by accepting God's Word as truth
and acting on it.

Monday, July 14, 2014

God Gives You Ability To Get Rich

DEUTERONOMY 8:18 ICB
8 But remember the Lord your God! It is he who gives you the
power to become rich. He keeps the agreement he promised to
your ancestors. So it is today.

I don't want to be critical, but so many preach, using this
verse, that God wants to prosper people for one sole purpose:
to give the money to God so He can afford to proclaim the
Gospel to all the world. But I just don't buy it.

I do believe God desires His people to be givers. And clearly
we should proclaim the Gospel to everyone. Being selfish is the
worst thing you can do. And usually the biggest enjoyment you
can get from something is to give it away to someone who is
thrilled with it.

But surely God is not waiting around till we get enough money
to finance Him. And surely God is not worse than normal earthly
parents. What earthly parent would give their children toys on
Christmas, then tell them the ONLY reason they were given those
gifts is so they could give them away to the neighbor kids?

I already said selfishness is wrong. If you are not a giver,
you are not in God's will. But God does not give you things
only for the purpose of giving them all to someone else.

Deuteronomy 8:18 is simple: it says God is the One making you
rich, and He is doing it because He said He would -- not
because we deserve it!

I especially like:

1 TIMOTHY 6:17 NKJ
17 Command those who are rich in this present age not to be
haughty, nor to trust in uncertain riches but in the living
God, who gives us richly all things to enjoy.

God is not the kind of being who will make you just barely
scrape by -- He gives us RICHLY all things to ENJOY. God gives
to us because He enjoys it and because He keeps His word!

SAY THIS: I trust in the living God, Who gives me richly all
things to enjoy. He gives me the power to prosper because He
said He would.

Sunday, July 13, 2014

Read Your Letters

1 THESSALONIANS 5:27 HCSB
27 I charge you by the Lord that this letter be read to all the
brothers.

The Bible contains both the Old Testament and the New
Testament. The New Testament contains the four Gospels (Matthew
through John), the book of Acts, the Letters to the Church
(Romans through Jude) and the book of Revelation.

All the Bible is the inspired Word of God, and as such is an
important message to us today. However, not until the
resurrection of Jesus Christ did the New Covenant start, which
changed everything.

God never changes, but His covenants (and thus His way of
dealing with people) did change. There was an Old Covenant God
had with the people of Israel. Now there is a New Covenant. And
the New is not just a continuation or amplification of the Old,
but is radically different.

The New Covenant did not begin until after the death and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. So everything said and done
before the resurrection of Jesus was before the New Covenant
started. (Even the four Gospels, although placed in the New
Testament section of the Bible, are primarily a record of
Jesus' ministry before His death, which means they mostly
happened before the New Covenant started.)

God is now dealing with people based on the New Covenant. If we
go back and read God's message to people who lived under the
Old Covenant we cannot expect all that was said to them to
apply exactly to us today.

You can learn something reading a letter written to someone
else, but it is not nearly as instructive as reading a letter
written directly to you.

So my top recommendation for Bible reading, especially for new
believers, is to read the Letters to the Church. (Epistles is
another word for Letters.) There are 21 Letters with 121
chapters. So by reading just one chapter each day, you can read
all the New Testament Letters three times in a year.

If you are considering reading the Bible, this is an excellent
way to start. If you are a new Christian, I strongly recommend
that you start reading the Bible using this plan.

Although everyone should read the entire Bible, it is not best
for you to do that until you are solidly grounded in the truths
of the New Covenant, which are revealed in the Letters to the
Church.

When a new Christian starts reading the whole Bible from the
beginning by starting with the Old Testament, without having a
clear understanding of what Jesus has provided for us with the
New Covenant, confusion is likely to result.

2 CORINTHIANS 3:14-15 HCSB
14 But their minds were closed. For to this day, at the reading
of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted,
because it is set aside only in Christ.
15 However, to this day, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies
over their hearts,

Reading the Old Covenant, also called the books of Moses --
without the knowledge of the New Covenant -- is like trying to
see something with a veil over your eyes. You see glimpses of
truth, but you can't clearly see the whole picture.

JOHN 1:17 HCSB
17 for although the law was given through Moses; grace and
truth came through Jesus Christ.

Once a believer has a clear understanding of God's message to
the Body of Christ, the Church, then we can read the rest of
the Bible without as much chance of getting confused.

Some people recommend that a new Christian start their Bible
reading with the Gospel of John. That is a good way to get
acquainted with Jesus. But it still can cause confusion for
someone who does not clearly understand what Jesus accomplished
for them through His death and resurrection.

1 CORINTHIANS 15:14,17 HCSB
14 and if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is
without foundation, and so is your faith.
17 And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless;
you are still in your sins.

Without the resurrection of Jesus Christ, there is no New
Covenant, and we are all still lost in sin.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ, and thus the start of the New
Covenant is a great dividing line in history. What Jesus
accomplished for us changed everything.

So read your letters and find out what Jesus accomplished and
what God has said directly to you!

SAY THIS: I will spend more time reading the Letters God sent
to me.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

God Is A Father

EPHESIANS 3:15 AMPLIFIED
15 For Whom every family in heaven and on earth is named --
[that Father] from whom all fatherhood takes its title and
derives its name.

I have included these different translations, with the notes
from the margin, to show that the Bible says that all
fatherhood derives from God. In other words, God is the
original Father. Everything good that fathers are, was in God
first. All earthly fatherhood is but a replica of what was
first in God.

EPHESIANS 3:14-15 NIV
14 For this reason I kneel before the Father,
15 from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives
its name.

NIV NOTE: Or whom all fatherhood

EPHESIANS 3:14-15 NRSV
14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father,
15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth takes its
name.

NRSV Note: Gk fatherhood

One mission of Jesus on earth was to show us what God was like,
to reveal Him to us. Jesus introduced the concept of God as
Father. The Jews did not know God as Father because the Old
Testament does not teach it. No other religion had looked to
God as a Father. Instead God was generally thought of as a
judge at best, and often as a despicable character who could
only be trusted to let you down; someone who would play tricks
on you just for his amusement, and delight in disappointing
you.

Concepts of God haven't really changed much, have they!

But Jesus revealed to humanity that God was not like they
thought -- He was a good Father. Not someone who would do them
wrong, but someone who would take care of them with their best
interest always at heart. Someone who would love them more than
they loved themselves.

How do you think of God?

SAY THIS: God, I am glad to know You are a Father. Please help
me to always remember that.

Friday, July 11, 2014

I Don't Agree With Other Preachers

1 CORINTHIANS 13:9 NLT
9 Now our knowledge is partial and incomplete, and even the
gift of prophecy reveals only part of the whole picture!

I don't know one single person on earth I agree with completely
on every single thing they believe.

That does not make me right, or make them wrong.

It just means that we are all in a process of learning, so of
necessity we are not all at the same place in our thinking.

There are some who know more than I do about a subject, and
there are some who know less than I do about that subject.

I should not fight or argue with those who know less about a
subject than I do. Neither should I be proud because of my
knowledge. For everything I have learned, I have been taught. I
was not born with superior knowledge.

And you may find, as I have from time to time, that I thought I
had knowledge of a subject, only to find out later that I was
wrong.

In order to keep learning, I need to stay open to what others
have to say. I need to truly listen to others.

However, if I once believed what someone is teaching, but the
Lord corrected me, then it would be foolish to waste my time
continuing to listen to them on that subject. I don't need to
criticize or condemn them. But I don't need to keep listening
to them speak on that subject, either. Yet, there may be other
subjects that I could still learn from them.

SAY THIS: Everyone is still learning, and I can learn something
from everyone.

Thursday, July 10, 2014

God Really Does Love You

1 JOHN 3:1 NIV
1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we
should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The
reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.

Yes, you have heard it before. No, you don't understand it yet.

Ephesians 3 mentions praying that believers would know the love
of Christ -- which is really beyond knowledge. In other words,
you need a divine revelation to understand God's love for you.

EPHESIANS 3:19 ICB
19 Christ's love is greater than any person can ever know. But
I pray that you will be able to know that love. Then you can be
filled with the fullness of God.

Yes, you know that Jesus died for you, that God watches over
you, protects you and provides for you. But that does not
really give you insight into how God feels about you. He could
do all that just because He felt obligated to take care of you
because He created you.

No. That is not the whole story. God LOVES you.

"But why would God love me? I don't even love myself" you may
say. Well, pray for a divine revelation -- that is really the
only way to know.

However, for those of you who are parents, this may help give
you a little insight. Think about the love you have for your
children. Can you adequately communicate how you feel to them?
Well, our human love for our children is just a shadow of God's
love for you, as His child.

SAY THIS: Father God, please help me to understand how much you
love me.

Wednesday, July 09, 2014

To Die Is Gain

PHILIPPIANS 1:21-23 NKJ
21 For to me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
22 But if I live on in the flesh, this will mean fruit from my
labor; yet what I shall choose I cannot tell.
23 For I am hard pressed between the two, having a desire to
depart and be with Christ, which is far better.

A Christian should not be afraid to die. Dying is a promotion
for a Christian into a better situation -- something to look
forward to, not to dread.

Too many Christians are still controlled by the fear of death.
It stops them from doing the will of God. Fear keeps them from
walking in faith, because they are afraid to die.

For example, there are places where they say the Gospel of
Jesus cannot be preached. According to their laws, it is
punishable by death. But why should that stop Christians from
obeying God's Word to preach the Good News about Jesus to every
person?

The fear of death should never control our lives!

What a privilege and honor it would be to die for our wonderful
Lord Jesus Christ! Instead of fearing that, we should rejoice
about the idea, the possibility of it happening.

REVELATION 12:11 NLT
11 And they have defeated him by the blood of the Lamb and by
their testimony. And they did not love their lives so much that
they were afraid to die.

For us to always walk in total victory, we can't walk in fear.

HEBREWS 2:14-15 NKJ
14 Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and
blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through
death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is,
the devil,
15 and release those who through fear of death were all their
lifetime subject to bondage.

Through His sacrifice Jesus set us free from bondage to the
fear of death. Jesus removed the sting from death for us. Now
death for us is just a promotion into a better place.

When someone who believes in Jesus Christ leaves their body in
what we call death, they immediately go to be with Jesus in
heaven.

And heaven is wonderful beyond your wildest expectation. No one
who has gone to heaven would ever prefer to come back to earth.
Heaven is vastly superior! You will love it!

SAY THIS: I have no fear of death.

Tuesday, July 08, 2014

Some Commands Take Precedence Over Other Commands

MATTHEW 22:37-38 NLT
37 Jesus replied, "'You must love the LORD your God...'
38 This is the first and greatest commandment.

Some commands are more important and carry more weight than
others.

Not all of Scripture is commands. Mostly it could be called
rules (or precepts) for living. In some situations these rules
may conflict with one another. When they do, we must know which
ones take precedence.

Unless you recognize this, you might find yourself confused
when facing an important decision.

The Bible says children should obey their parents. But children
should not obey an order to forget God.

EPHESIANS 6:1 NLT
1 Children, obey your parents because you belong to the Lord,
for this is the right thing to do.

The Bible says we are to obey government leaders. But what if
you live in a country where it is illegal to be a Christian?
Clearly, God is a higher authority than human government, so
there are times when a believer may have to disobey human
government.

TITUS 3:1 NLT
1 Remind the believers to submit to the government and its
officers. They should be obedient, always ready to do what is
good.

ACTS 5:29 NLT
29 But Peter and the apostles replied, "We must obey God rather
than any human authority.

As these examples should make obvious, there may be times we
have to ignore one Scriptural instruction in order to obey a
more important one.

We should obey our spiritual leaders, such as a pastor. But
those leaders are human and can be wrong. If they tell you to
do things contrary to God you should not blindly follow them.

HEBREWS 13:17a NLT
17 Obey your spiritual leaders, and do what they say. Their
work is to watch over your souls, and they are accountable to
God.

When we work for someone we are to obey them. But we should not
obey if asked to do something illegal or immoral.

COLOSSIANS 3:22 NLT
22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything you do. Try
to please them all the time, not just when they are watching
you. Serve them sincerely because of your reverent fear of the
Lord.

As an extreme example, a teenage boy might be in a situation
where God, government, his parents, his boss, and his pastor
might all be telling him to do something different. Which one
should he obey? There is New Testament Scripture telling him to
obey them all!

Obeying God is always the ultimate priority. If and when we are
ever faced with such decisions, we should turn to God for
guidance and follow His direction.

SAY THIS: Obeying God takes precedence over everything.

Monday, July 07, 2014

Sin Is Deadly

God loved the people of the world (including you) so much, that
He chose to suffer the penalty justice demands for your sins,
so He could enjoy life with you. We should rejoice in God's
mercy and love, but we should not forget that sin is a terrible
thing.

Sin is not just a list of things God has arbitrarily determined
to be against. Sin is bad. Even if there was no God, sin would
still be bad. God is against sin because it hurts people.

The Bible is clear that sin is deadly. All sin eventually
brings forth death.

I don't mean that sin results in punishment (which is another
issue), but that sin produces death and loss.

ROMANS 5:12 ESV
12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man,
and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because
all sinned -

ROMANS 5:21 ESV
21 so that, as sin reigned in death, grace also might reign
through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus
Christ our Lord.

ROMANS 6:16 ESV
16 Do you not know that if you present yourselves to anyone as
obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one whom you obey,
either of sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which
leads to righteousness?

Sin leads to death.

ROMANS 6:23 ESV
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is
eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Sin pays some very undesirable wages: death.

JAMES 1:15 ESV
15 Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and
sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.

Sin brings forth death, when it is fully grown.

Sin is also deceptive. It can sometimes tantalize by offering
pleasure for a season.

HEBREWS 11:25 ESV
25 choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than
to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin.

But when the fleeting pleasure of sin is gone, the pain remains.

SAY THIS: Sin hurts people! Sin is deadly!

Sunday, July 06, 2014

Rest A While

MARK 6:31 KJV
31 And he said unto them, Come ye yourselves apart into a
desert place, and rest a while: for there were many coming and
going, and they had no leisure so much as to eat.

One preacher paraphrased this verse by saying "come apart
before you come apart."

God is our Source, so resting should be a turning to God, not a
turning away from Him. It would be unwise to take a "vacation"
and ignore God.

Our bodies need rest, but our minds also need rest from the
constant barrage of bad news and entertainment the media tries
to sell us.

Many fill their days with noise. The news or some other
broadcast plays constantly in their background. But we need
times of quietness. We need time when we allow God to guide our
thinking, instead of the media.

We need to make room for the thoughts God desires to share with
us. We need times when we shut out all the other voices trying
to speak to us and focus on God.

Everyone wants your attention. Advertisers want to convince you
to buy their product. Broadcasters want your attention so they
can attract advertisers.

But God also wants your attention, not to get something from
you, but to provide you with His wisdom and guidance.

God wants to communicate with you. But when you surround
yourself constantly with other voices, you will miss some of
what God wants to say to you.

Prayer is a way for us to rest. It is a time when we can cast
our load on the Lord, refocus on Him, and quit carrying all the
responsibilities ourselves.

ISAIAH 40:31 NKJ
31 But those who wait on the LORD Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and
not be weary, They shall walk and not faint.

The Bible also cautions against laziness, so resting should not
be our primary focus in life. But with today's hectic pace of
life, many are neglecting this part of God's instruction given
for our benefit.

Remember, God commanded the children of Israel to rest for one
day each week. Their Sabbath was not a day full of religious
activity either, but a true day of rest.

While we are not under Law requiring us to keep the Sabbath in
order to be right with God, it is still a principle we need to
practice. To be our best, humans need to rest!

Rest should be a time when you do something different than your
normal daily activity.

We cannot ignore God's instruction without it costing us. Many
today are broken in body and burned out needlessly. We must
learn to rest properly, so God can refresh us and strengthen us
in order to finish our course.

SAY THIS: I will obey God and rest in Jesus.

Saturday, July 05, 2014

Jesus Never Fails

1 CORINTHIANS 10:13 NLT
13 The temptations in your life are no different from what
others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the
temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted,
he will show you a way out so that you can endure.

There have been times in my life when it looked like Jesus had
failed me, and I certainly felt like He failed me.

But I was wrong!

Jesus has never failed me.

I have failed Him many times. I deeply regret that.

I also regret the times I doubted the Lord and thought He was
failing me. Jesus does not deserve to be treated that way.

A lot of it happened when I was very immature spiritually. I
guess I expected the Lord to make my life a bed of roses with
never any challenges or difficulties. I thought I could do
whatever I wanted and God would always bless it.

Well, I had to grow up and realize that going my own way and
doing my own thing was not working very well.

Yet, through all of my immaturity, through all of my failures,
through all of my ignorance, Jesus always took care of me. I
always had my needs met. He always helped me and worked things
out for me, eventually. It just didn't always happen at the
time and in the way I thought it would.

Over time I have learned I don't know much. But Jesus does! He
knows everything. He knows the future, and I can trust Him,
because He loves me. And He loves you just as much as He loves
me.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:9 NKJ
9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship
of His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

SAY THIS: Jesus Christ will never fail me!

Friday, July 04, 2014

My Faithful God

2 TIMOTHY 2:13 NLT
13 If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot
deny who he is.

I have walked with God for over 40 years. I can tell you, from
experience, that God is faithful!

I have failed Him many times, but He has never failed me!

God has always taken care of me. He has stuck with me through
all kinds of things, always helping me. Even when I was not
trying to follow Him, I can see that He was protecting me and
helping me.

I have not been a perfect person. I have made many mistakes. I
have wasted a lot of time and money. I have done a lot of wrong
things. But God has never failed to be perfect!

Even now as I write this my eyes are filled with tears, because
of the astounding faithfulness of God!

To think that the perfect Almighty God would love me and care
for me so faithfully -- one so unworthy -- is beyond
comprehension. (I must add that the precious blood of Jesus has
made me -- and you -- worthy in God's sight, but it was nothing
we did to deserve God's love and grace. It was a pure gift!)

DEUTERONOMY 7:9 NLT
9 Understand, therefore, that the LORD your God is indeed God.
He is the faithful God who keeps his covenant for a thousand
generations and lavishes his unfailing love on those who love
him and obey his commands.

God is so good!

PSALM 36:5 NLT
5 Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens; your
faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds.

The wonderful thing is that God loves you just as much as He
does me. Somehow He is big enough and capable enough to care
for all of us who trust in Him. He wants to be more than your
God, to also be your Friend and Helper -- your Heavenly Father.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:9 ESV
9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship
of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

I beg you, for your own good, trust in Jesus Christ completely.
Turn your life over to Him. Believe His Word! Walk with Him. It
is the way of true abundant life!

SAY THIS: God is always and forever faithful!

Thursday, July 03, 2014

You Are Not A Loser

1 JOHN 5:4 ETR
4 because everyone who is a child of God has the power to win
against the world.

If you have received Jesus Christ then you are a child of God
(John 1:12). The Bible says you are an overcomer -- a winner!

A big problem is that many Christians have a mistaken identity.
They don't understand who they really are because they have not
been told the full truth.

When you received Jesus Christ, more happened than just getting
your sins forgiven. You became a new person, a child of God (1
John 3:2). And not one of God's children are losers!

2 CORINTHIANS 5:17 NLT
17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a
new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!

If you are a Christian, then you are what God says you are. You
may not be acting like it yet, but whatever God says you are --
you are. For whatever God speaks comes to pass. If God were to
say you are a monkey -- you would become a monkey.

God has said many things about you. He says you are an
overcomer. That means you are a winner, not a loser.

1 JOHN 4:4 ESV
4 Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for
he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

1 JOHN 5:5 ESV
5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who
believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Who can overcome whatever the world throws at us? WHOEVER
believes in Jesus! That includes you!

1 JOHN 5:4 ESV
4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world.
And this is the victory that has overcome the world -- our
faith.

What we believe is the key to overcoming. For truth, we must
get our beliefs from the Bible.

If you have received Jesus you are born of God and God is your
Father. You ARE a world overcomer. You are not a big mess-up.
You are not a loser.

That may have been your past, but now things have changed.
Clearly understanding who God has made you will change your
actions, and your future.

You are a victor -- an overcomer! With God on your side helping
you, you can overcome any obstacle or problem.

SAY THIS: God made me what I am: a winner not a loser!

Wednesday, July 02, 2014

Jesus Came To Save Sinners

1 TIMOTHY 1:15 NLT
15 This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it:
"Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" -- and I am
the worst of them all.

Jesus came into the world to save sinners: not to leave us as
sinners, but to deliver us from being sinners. (The word save
means to deliver.)

MATTHEW 1:21 NLT
21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for
he will save his people from their sins."

Sin is our problem. Sin has been destroying us and we did not
even realize it. Jesus came to save us from our sins, not to
save us from God. God is not our problem -- sin is. God is our
answer.

JOHN 8:34,36 NLT
34 Jesus replied, "I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a
slave of sin.
36 So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.

God's ways are good and benefit us. Rebelling against God and
choosing to sin (which is doing selfish acts that harm someone)
is always (eventually) harmful.

God's grace does not mean "just allowing us to do wrong without
any consequences." Grace is something freely given without
regard to whether we deserve it, but it should change us,
making us better than we were before.

God gives us the gift of righteousness and imparts His life
into us. God's life, when yielded to, gives us ability to walk
in light, life, and love. In other words, God's grace gives us
the ability and the desire to overcome sin and satan instead of
being imprisoned by them and forced to obey them.

The Old Covenant gave laws against sin, but did not change
people's hearts. With the New Covenant comes a new birth of the
inner person changing our desires. That enables us to be able
to walk free from sin's bondage, as we choose to live from our
heart.

Fortunately our Father is merciful and patient, so even when
you do sin, you are not rejected and thrown out. You can always
receive forgiveness and start over with a clean slate from God
(although natural consequences may still be there).

1 JOHN 1:9 NLT
9 But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to
forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.

God will never quit loving you. He loves you right now -- just
the way you are. But God loves you too much to leave you the
way you are. His plan is not to leave you in sin's bondage but
to make you free.

SAY THIS: Jesus is able to set me free from the bondage of sin.

Tuesday, July 01, 2014

Always Put God First

EXODUS 20:3 NKJ
3 "You shall have no other gods before Me.

People can lose perspective and put other things before God,
such as wealth, success, pleasure, or even family.

But a wise person will always put God first.

PROVERBS 3:6 LB
6 In everything you do, put God first, and he will direct you
and crown your efforts with success.

Why should you put God first in your life?

First, because God is worthy. He deserves first place. God is
perfect! (And nothing else is.)

Never forget that God knows more than you, and can do more than
you can.

Second, because it puts into motion God's law of sowing and
reaping in your life. God says He will honor those who honor
Him (1 Samuel 2:30). When you put God first you will be
blessed.

DEUTERONOMY 28:2 NKJ
2 "And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake
you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:

So it's in your best interest to put God first in every way you
can. Here are some ideas for you to consider.

Before you make a decision, look to God for direction.

Don't ask anyone else for advice before you ask God.

When you have a need, talk to God before you mention it to
anyone else.

When something good happens to you, let God be the first one
you talk to about it, offering Him thanks.

When you receive income, let giving to God come first before
anything else.

Before you eat, first thank God for the food. You don't need to
pray for all the missionaries, or even have to pray out loud.
Just look to your Source and thank Him before you eat.

When you wake up, talk to God before you talk to anyone else.
That doesn't mean you have to spend hours praying. It may just
be saying, "Good morning, Lord!" but always keep God first.

Every day before you listen to the world's news, go to the
Bible and listen to some of God's good news.

MATTHEW 6:33 NKJ
33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness,
and all these things shall be added to you.

SAY THIS: God deserves first place in my life.