Tag: learn

Prayer

“Don’t fret or worry.
Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns. Before you know it,
a sense of God’s wholeness,
everything coming together for good, will come and settle you down. It’s wonderful what happens when
Christ displaces worry at the center
of your life.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭4‬:‭6‬-‭7‬ ‭MSG‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/97/php.4.6-7.MSG

It seems as though telling myself not to fret or worry, seems a bit unrealistic. However, if God says to not do it, then what do I do instead, and how do I put this into practical application?

Theses are the steps, I believe, convert our/my worries into prayers and into conversations with God instead.

  1. Believe God is listening: In order to believe God is listening we must believe that He exists to lead and guide us. “Look at this: look Who got picked by God! He listens the split second I call to him.” Psalms‬ ‭4‬:‭3‬ ‭MSG‬‬
    “I yell out to my God, I yell with all my might, I yell at the top of my lungs. He listens.”
    ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭77‬:‭1‬ ‭MSG‬‬
  2. Believe God is for us: God loves us. He truly wants what’s best for us. “Pushed to the wall, I called to God; from the wide open spaces, he answered. God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid; who would dare lay a hand on me? God’s my strong champion; I flick off my enemies like flies. Far better to take refuge in God than trust in people; Far better to take refuge in God than trust in celebrities.
    ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭118‬:‭5‬-‭7MSG‬‬
  3. Believe God sees us: God already knows what we struggle with, what we celebrate and sees us. He is watching, waiting to be invited into, not only our struggles, but our celebrations too. “God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. I’m an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I’m thinking. You know when I leave and when I get back; I’m never out of your sight. You know everything I’m going to say before I start the first sentence. I look behind me and you’re there, then up ahead and you’re there, too— your reassuring presence, coming and going. This is too much, too wonderful— I can’t take it all in!”
    ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭139‬:‭1‬-‭6‬ ‭MSG‬‬
  4. Believe God is who He says He is: This is probably the most important step. The previous three steps are much more challenging to apply if we don’t simply take God at His word, in His Word. “If we take human testimony at face value, how much more should we be reassured when God gives testimony as he does here, testifying concerning his Son. Whoever believes in the Son of God inwardly confirms God’s testimony. Whoever refuses to believe in effect calls God a liar, refusing to believe God’s own testimony regarding his Son.”
    ‭‭1 John‬ ‭5‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭MSG‬‬
    “The Message that points to Christ on the Cross seems like sheer silliness to those hellbent on destruction, but for those on the way of salvation it makes perfect sense. This is the way God works, and most powerfully as it turns out. It’s written, I’ll turn conventional wisdom on its head, I’ll expose so-called experts as crackpots. So where can you find someone truly wise, truly educated, truly intelligent in this day and age? Hasn’t God exposed it all as pretentious nonsense? Since the world in all its fancy wisdom never had a clue when it came to knowing God, God in his wisdom took delight in using what the world considered stupid—preaching, of all things!—to bring those who trust him into the way of salvation.”
    ‭‭1 Corinthians‬ ‭1‬:‭18‬-‭21‬ ‭MSG‬‬
    “What you say goes, God, and stays, as permanent as the heavens. Your truth never goes out of fashion; it’s as up-to-date as the earth when the sun comes up. Your Word and truth are dependable as ever; that’s what you ordered—you set the earth going. If your revelation hadn’t delighted me so, I would have given up when the hard times came. But I’ll never forget the advice you gave me; you saved my life with those wise words. Save me! I’m all yours. I look high and low for your words of wisdom. The wicked lie in ambush to destroy me, but I’m only concerned with your plans for me. I see the limits to everything human, but the horizons can’t contain your commands!”
    ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭119‬:‭89‬-‭96‬ ‭MSG‬‬
  5. Believe for Salvation: It is crucial that we believe that Christ died for our eternal salvation. That He came so that we can be with Him for all of eternity. “This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person’s failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him.”
    ‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭MSG‬‬
  6. Believe you have Access to the presence of God: The Holy Spirit is the person of God that leads us while we wait for Christ to return. This encounter with God, counters every lie and misleading of this lost world. “This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil, addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.”
    ‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭MSG‬‬
  7. Believe prayer is talking directly to God. Prayer is our direct line to God in heaven. Our CEO, HR and advocate all wrapped into one. There is no being put on hold or AI generated phone service, He speaks in every language (because He designed us and every language that represents us), He sees you, He hears you and is eager to guide you on the perfect plan and purpose for your life. Below are some verses on prayer: “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. Elijah, for instance, human just like us, prayed hard that it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t—not a drop for three and a half years. Then he prayed that it would rain, and it did. The showers came and everything started growing again.”
    ‭‭James‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭MSG‬‬
    “God can’t stand pious poses, but he delights in genuine prayers.”
    ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭15‬:‭8‬ ‭MSG‬‬
    “God keeps his distance from the wicked; he closely attends to the prayers of God-loyal people.”
    ‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭15‬:‭29‬ ‭MSG‬‬
    “God, come close. Come quickly! Open your ears—it’s my voice you’re hearing! Treat my prayer as sweet incense rising; my raised hands are my evening prayers.”
    ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭141‬:‭1‬-‭2‬ ‭MSG‬‬
    “I’ve thrown myself headlong into your arms— I’m celebrating your rescue. I’m singing at the top of my lungs, I’m so full of answered prayers.”
    ‭‭Psalms‬ ‭13‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭MSG‬‬

I am truly leaving today’s blog with such encouragement of these collection of verses. I pray that we each have a God-encounter, that we take prayer more serious but also more reachable and accessible than we did before. That today is a day that we celebrate the access we have to God, to His Plan and Purpose for our individual lives and for the corporate good of the Church. That prayer is a first thought to our day not a last resort to life’s problems. Amen!

““Yes, indeed—God is my salvation. I trust, I won’t be afraid. God—yes God!—is my strength and song, best of all, my salvation!””
‭‭Isaiah‬ ‭12‬:‭2‬ ‭MSG‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/97/isa.12.2.MSG

#prayer #strength #joy #salvation #believe

Nothing but the rest

“This is the crisis we’re in: God-light streamed into the world, but men and women everywhere ran for the darkness. They went for the darkness because they were not really interested in pleasing God. Everyone who makes a practice of doing evil,
addicted to denial and illusion, hates God-light and won’t come near it, fearing a painful exposure. But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.””
‭‭John‬ ‭3‬:‭19‬-‭21‬ ‭MSG‬‬
https://bible.com/bible/97/jhn.3.19-21.MSG

Nothing but the rest of God’s promises wake us up to how truly evil darkness is. Like the sun that rises every morning pushes back the darkness, so does God’s light; as we allow it to enter in our hearts and push out the sin, often done in the dark.

Once we understand that darkness only exists in the absence of light, it is then, and only then, that we understand that we have the power and authority to let the light in.

My prayer for us today is that we choose to let the light of God’s love, truth and promises open up the floodgates of light, to expose, push back and push out every dark space in our lives so that we can illuminate in God’s light. So that we can be a light that leads others to God’s light. In Jesus name, AMEN!

What steps can you take today to welcome God’s light into your life?

Happy Resurrection Day!

Death could not hold Him down!

Just when the enemy thought he’d won, the stone began to roll, Jesus rose with a good morning stretch, folded His grave clothes, and placed them on the alter. (My paraphrase)

You may feel defeated but thank God feelings are not fact. They are simply an indicator to what’s going on inside your heart and soul. Like the indicator light on the dashboard of a vehicle. The fact is, we win with Jesus. Every time, every day, every circumstance. Not even death could hold Him down, darkness cannot comprehend His light. Defeat is impossible when all things are possible with Jesus.

Today is a great day to resurrect the living God in your heart.

Prayer

Lord, I believe that You were born of a virgin, sent by God the Father, to conquer sin and death for me. You were crucified, and on the third day, You rose from the dead. You ascended onto heaven and are preparing a place for all who believe! I believe! Help me with my doubt as I walk this out! In Jesus name, amen!

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Nobody Makes It Out Alive Week 6 Maintenance plan Day 7 Seize the day

“so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life. For God loved the world in this way: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.”
‭‭John‬ ‭3:15-16‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Here we are at the end of our journey. We have conquered much, these past few months together. We have fought for our minds to embrace a truth about who God is to us, who we are to Him and why that matters. Taking our eyes off of what we see in this world while we long for the unseen treasures of eternity.

As you have probably discovered, there is no generic formula to get from the beginning of your time here until you pass on through to eternity. You are a unique, designed being, on a set course, for an eternal destination.

Where we spend eternity will be determined by who we put our trust in. We can put our trust in The One who designed and created our inmost being, before we were given, on loan, to our mother’s womb, or we can live our lives with no creator in mind at all. Whichever we choose, time ticks and eternity awaits our last tic on the clock because nobody makes it out of here, alive. We are not promised tomorrow. We cannot change the past. Today is meant to be seized with eternity in mind.

I leave you with some real questions. Where will you spend eternity?
How will you spend your daily 1440 minutes as you walk out the timeline given to you that disrupted eternity?
Do you know who God is to you?
Do you know who you are to God?
Do you know that where you spend eternity is anchored in those last 2 questions?

Only you can answer these questions honestly. If you do not know where to start, start with the Salvation prayer then by reading the book of John, Acts and Romans, in the Bible. I recommend the, The @YouVersion Bible App has a permanent spot on my home screen.
http://bible.com/app , so you can pick a version of the Bible that is easy for you to understand and memorize.

Salvation prayer:
Lord, I admit that I am a sinner. When I have sinned and when I sin, I sin against You only. I believe that You were born to a virgin, lived a sinless life, was crucified for no crime but for my sin to be erased, that You died and rose from the grave, conquered sin & death on my behalf, that You are in heaven preparing a place for me; and I believe that You are coming back for me, to be with You, for all of eternity. I confess to You Lord my sin ( confess whatever comes to mind) and I believe that my confessed sin is erased at the cross where You willingly laid down Your life for me. Lord, I believe Your word is an echo of Your heart and I will study, meditate and keep it in my heart and mind, daily. Amen.

“Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.”
‭‭1 John‬ ‭3:18‬ ‭CSB‬‬

“Do everything without grumbling and arguing, so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God who are faultless in a crooked and perverted generation, among whom you shine like stars in the world, by holding firm to the word of life. Then I can boast in the day of Christ that I didn’t run or labor for nothing.”
‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:14-16‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Maintenance plan – Seize the day
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Nobody Makes It Out Alive Week 6 Maintenance Plan Day 6 Look forward to the future

“Now we have this treasure in clay jars, so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. We are afflicted in every way but not crushed; we are perplexed but not in despair; we are persecuted but not abandoned; we are struck down but not destroyed.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:7-9‬ ‭CSB‬‬

We are treasures of clay. We are the broken pots, made from clay, repaired with Our Maker’s grace, mercy, forgiveness and love. We are a beautiful display of His strength empowering our weak spots. We have so much to look forward to when these earthly “jars of clay” are replaced with robes of righteousness on our perfect bodies and repaired souls that will never break again.

It’s hard to imagine when we are still in this foreign land with familiar sin. But we do not belong here but for the time we are on loan here. That might just be why our struggles seem many and our victories seem few. Our victories in heaven will exceed the victories on earth beyond our imagination. The point is this, if you’re struggling in your present moment there is a future awaiting you that will blow your mind.
What’s the catch then? To believe that Jesus is who He says He is, Did what thousands of witnesses claimed He did & believe that He did it all for YOU!

Making peace with our past, embracing our present makes looking forward to the future reachable, almost tangible while we wait, if we would just believe.

Lord, help us envision the tangible You that we read about in the Bible. Help us with our unbelief and help us apply what we do believe. We look forward to Your return Lord. Let us be caught living on purpose when You get here again. Amen.

“Therefore we do not give up. Even though our outer person is being destroyed, our inner person is being renewed day by day. For our momentary light affliction is producing for us an absolutely incomparable eternal weight of glory. So we do not focus on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:16-18‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Maintenance plan – Look forward to the future
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Nobody Makes It Out Alive Week 6 Maintenance Plan Day 5 Live in the present

“Because of the Lord’s faithful love we do not perish, for his mercies never end. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness! I say, “The Lord is my portion, therefore I will put my hope in him.””
‭‭Lamentations‬ ‭3:22-24‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Each day we have a choice to make. Many times those choices are made under stressful circumstances and many are made out of joy. Whether you are experiencing a mountain top season or a deep valley of disparity or somewhere in between, the daily present choice is the same. To either do the best we can with what we have or to be immobilized by difficulties, apathetic by indifferences or even procrastinating from thinking you have plenty of time. All 3 of these mindsets are not holy, eternal minded mindsets. They are mental distractions that keep us from our present goal, to win the day. The day will come and it will go regardless of our response to it. My question is this. How many days will pass before we wake up to the reality of time, and how precious it is to not waste a minute if it?

We have each been given a specific time in history to impact eternity. Not just our personal eternity but others as well. Today, use the day to live in the present, to embrace it, to fight through it to do your best to shine. You could be the only glimmer in someone else’s “today”.

You might be thinking, yea that sounds nice but you do not know what I am going through. You are right. I do not. However, I know you have survived 100% of what is behind you because you woke up today. That’s a win. That’s a reason to celebrate.

Living in the present has more to do with gratitude than has to do with circumstances. I would go as far as to say that 80% of how we respond to our circumstances is based on how much we are grateful for.

This man, Vic Vujicic, completely changed my perspective on gratitude. Here is a video that’s about 8 min long “Never Give Up”
https://youtu.be/wBCfxhyEDB0
His testimony is incredible. Here is a YouTube link to watch the story that 60 min did on him a couple of years ago. https://youtu.be/aRXdT06bbW8

Lord, I pray that we gain a perspective on living in the present that makes us high-impact, low-maintenance, testifying, warriors for You. That our light would shine so bright the devil would flee and the angelic choir would sing as Your presence gives us the strength and joy, to endure this temporary timeline as we await eternity. Lord, help us seize the day in awareness of Your presence, Your truth, Your power, Your love, Your grace and through Your eyes. Amen.

“Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance. But as the one who called you is holy, you also are to be holy in all your conduct; for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.”
‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭1:13-16‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Maintenance plan – Live in the present
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Nobody Makes It Out Alive Week 6 Maintenance Plan Day 4 Learn from the past

“For whatever was written in the past was written for our instruction, so that we may have hope through endurance and through the encouragement from the Scriptures. Now may the God who gives endurance and encouragement grant you to live in harmony with one another, according to Christ Jesus, so that you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ with one mind and one voice.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭15:4-6‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Referencing the past can be therapeutic or it can be the reason we need therapy. The contrasting difference is how we process a traumatic past, or a comforting past that we cannot retrieve, in times of present trouble. We are not designed to live looking backward. We are designed to move forward until the day we die. We move forward in age, knowledge, hopefully wisdom and definitely each day brings us closer to where we will settle for eternity.

Our past is meant to help us not repeat things that did not point us to our God-given purpose, to form spirit-filled habits that keep eternity on our mind.

The past is over. The present is where living happens. The past can weigh us down or it can lift us up or teach us in our present situation. The choice is ours. We absolutely have a choice to live in today in spite of a rocky, train wreck of a past. A positive memory can be the grounded, reminder that life will get better if we just hold on a little longer.

The “ugly journal” I spoke of in earlier weeks is a great place to leave a traumatic past and learn from it. A memory book of all of life’s best moments and milestones is a great way to frame those sweet memories and legacy you will soon leave behind. There are many ways to process our past but dwelling on it and rehearsing the past uses up your present time, that you cannot get back. Once that time is used up, it is gone. Start today. If the suggestions here seem unreachable then it is time to talk to a professional counselor or therapist.

Do not waste one more minute on a past that you cannot change. You have a beautiful eternity to prepare for. I promise you that this eternity I speak of does not live in the past.

Lord, we need Your Holy Spirit to help us deal with our past so that it does not steal time from our present. Help us seize the day with eternity in mind. Amen.

“Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.”
‭‭2 Corinthians‬ ‭3:17-18‬ ‭CSB‬‬

Maintenance plan – Learn from the past