Tag: Strong

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The Win-Win

MAY 17

MATTHEW 6:4_and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

Proverbs 15:3 (KJV), “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”

God is omnipresent. He never lets you out of His sight. Some people can be intimidated by this verse thinking God keeps check on everything they do. He does! But, that’s a very good thing!

God loves you enough to prod you when you’re headed astray, and to bless you when you’ve done a good deed. II Chronicles 16:9 (KJV), “For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him…”

Jesus says your Father is everywhere, showing His strength. Let there be no doubt about it. There isn’t any place, or any way, you can hide from God. Why would you want to?

To hide from God would be like trying to outrun love.

A love that never fails.

A love that draws you close to your Creator.

A love that would die for you.

A love that did die for you.

A love that gave you eternal life.

God sees in secret and rewards in the open. Live out the creation principles Jesus teaches! Become a salty-lit-up disciple who gives God glory.

That’s a win-win!

PRAYER

Jesus God, Thank You that You are always with me—anytime, anywhere. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen. 

Christ is omnipresent—He will never leave me!

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What Jesus Says

JANUARY 7

MATTHEW 5:2_saying,

Jesus has reached the mark, set, and opened His mouth. Here we go! Now is the time to be blessed as only truth, love, and freedom can bless.

What Jesus says gives liberty. What Jesus says gives self-acceptance with worth.

What Jesus says gives power to forgive. What Jesus says gives God’s wisdom.

What Jesus says gives peace to pass human understanding.

What Jesus says gives courage in the midst of, and in the face of, raging storms.

What Jesus says gives love. This is not the temporal self-absorbing love, but the true, everlasting, never failing love.

What Jesus says gives faith—incredible, phenomenal, mountain moving!

There is nothing namby-pamby about Jesus or His teachings. He brings real answers for real people with real problems.

Jesus brings strong truth for weak people who need real help.

He brings tough love that doesn’t coddle or pamper, but compassionately stays until the hurt is soothed and healing has come.

Throughout this year consider these sayings, hand-picked for you.

PRAYER

Almighty God, I have real problems and I need real answers. Help me draw closer to You through Your teachings. I can trust You to guide me in faith. I want incredible, phenomenal, mountain moving faith! In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                    

Christ knows my hurts and pains—and He cares!

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The Key

JANUARY 5

MATTHEW 5:2_And he opened his mouth…

These devotionals are based on the Holy Bible, specifically Matthew chapters five through seven. Devotion can be based on many things—you just may not call it devotion. Setting aside time to read requires some devotion. What you choose to read during that time is a part of your heart’s devotion.

This blog is devoted to the Bible as the true source of spiritual power. Yes, power! To live a defeated life is to live without power. In this sermon Jesus teaches how to receive power from the truths of the Bible.

Jesus is ready for His go. He opens His mouth. Not to take a deep breath, or to eat, but to teach. All the words in this sermon are the result of one act—Jesus opened His mouth.

He could have made a decision not to open His mouth. There are more relaxing ways to spend a day than teaching a multitude of people. Jesus taught because the strongest force known to man overflowed within Him—love. Infused in the love was freedom.

There were too many unmet needs in the multitude for Jesus to keep His mouth closed. He possessed their cures. 

The Bible is the key to open a treasure box of love and freedom in your spirit. The wealth in the box is unattainable without the key.

PRAYER

Loving Jesus, Please teach me how to be devoted to You and Your Word. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                    

Christ is devoted to me—I want to be devoted to Him!

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On Your Mark, Get Set,Go!

JANUARY 3

MATTHEW 5:1_he went up into a mountain: and when he was set…

Have you ever heard, “On your mark, get set, go?” In this verse Jesus reaches His mark, which is up on a mountain. You must reach your mark before you can begin the race, and you must have prepared yourself before you reach the mark. Once the mark is reached you get set—ready to begin the work.

Baptism was a part of Jesus’ preparation for His mark. Another was testing and endurance. Jesus endured a wilderness experience away from home, family, and friends. He suffered.

He suffered physically because He chose to fast during this time—to deny the body in order to strengthen the spirit.

He suffered temptation of the flesh to break the fast—in order to satisfy the physical over the spiritual.

He suffered a power struggle—to test God’s Word rather than believe it. He suffered the struggle of fame—to seek the praise of men over the praise of God.

You will face tests and sufferings throughout life. Suffering can break you or make you. The making or breaking is a decision, and the decision is yours.

PRAYER

Holy Great God, Help me endure my struggles in life. Let Your Word teach me wisdom that I may reach the mark and be set for Your go. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.                     

Christ suffered—He will help me be strong in suffering!

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He Knows Storms Are Coming

DECEMBER 16

MATTHEW 7:26_shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand.

Psalm 127:1 (KJV) “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”  Vain is empty and useless—it is foolish. God will never instruct you to build your house on sandy soil. He knows the storms are coming.

Some storms come by God’s design. He designs them to help build your life on the security of the Rock. Everyone has weaknesses. God desires to turn them into strengths. Because He knows individual weaknesses, He knows what is required to strengthen them.

To strengthen the weak requires some type of pressure. Weakness does not have the ability to strengthen itself. An outside force is required. The pressure from a force generally brings pain. If you’ve ever done any kind of strength training you understand—not pleasant at the time, but necessary for a positive result.

You can design your own storms – usually when you try to escape the pain from the God-designed storms.

The combination of your storms with God’s storms causes far more pressure than your life needs.

PRAYER

Eternal God, Please strengthen my weaknesses. Help me be grateful for Your designed storms and keep me from designing my own. In the powerful name of Jesus, Amen.          

Christ’s storms are good for me—I will learn patience!