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Hosea 10

8/21/2015

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Hosea 10:12

“I said, ‘Plant the good seeds of righteousness, and you will harvest a crop of love. Plow up the hard ground of your hearts, for now is the time to seek the LORD, that He may come and shower righteousness upon you.’”

This verse spoke to me when I read it because of the words of action. One of the exciting things for me as I have accepted the Lord is the seeking Him and finding Him everywhere. In this verse it says, "plant the good seeds of righteousness. Then it says, "Plow up the hard ground of your heart." When we understand that our effort bring rewards of knowledge and wisdom our lives start flowing with joy and excitement even when there are trials. Look at Psalm chapter 63 verse 1 which says, “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.”
Look at the words he uses; earnestly search, his soul thirsts, and his entire body longs. This is because he knows that God is his God and how knowing Him will give him peace in his soul.

I like Paul's prayers because they are so outwardly focused. 2 Thessalonians chapter 3 verse 5 says, “May the Lord lead your hearts into a full understanding and expression of the love of God and the patient endurance that comes from Christ.” When we seek this we find this, there is no special codes we need to know. He has given us all we need (the Holy Spirit) to guide us and show us what is right. As we co-labor, asking, seeking, and knocking we develop the ears to hear His voice and the Spirit is loud and clear. The thing is, we still have to make a choice. I want to choose life, so I will continue to grow and seek wisdom and ask God to transform me into the image of Christ.

I want you to think of this last verse and let it sink into your heart. Hebrew 12:1 “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” Amen


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Ephesians 2

8/10/2015

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Ephesians 2:9 “Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.”

As I was reading this today I just kept seeing the old me being gone. Not the foundation of who I am, like personality and character, but the worldly desires and the things I did selfishly. As I believe in who I am in Christ and I seek more knowledge, I can grow to be more like Christ and less like the old me.  Jesus taught us "not our will be done." That is opposite of our sinful nature which is the way we were born. When we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior we become new, and with that new comes the desires to be like Jesus. In verse 10 it says “For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.”

When we believe that we are God's masterpiece we desire the change that takes place and we start looking at a new life that isn't driven by our flesh. Our selfishness becomes less and our focus changes to outward thinking.  The Holy Spirit in us will show us what we need to do and as we learn and grow we keep maturing. When we allow God to transform us we don't try and live for what pleases ourselves we start to focus on what will help and develop others.  The words (I was born that way) should be out of our vocabulary because that part has been removed and replaced.  We should surrender everything and say, whatever I can do for God I am ready to do. I love these verses in Psalm chapter 139 verses 23-24 which say, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life."

As we continue to grow we don't just loose who we were, but our focus changes and we become better because of Christ.  We all need to pray daily for strength and read daily for wisdom and be thankful daily for a gift that leads us away from our sinful selves and helps us live for Him.  Salvation is the free gift but our working hard is how God gets the glory. When we forget the past and move forward we continue to do our work on the great commission, baptizing and teaching people to obey all that we have learned.  Amen


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2 Corinthians 1

8/1/2015

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2 Corinthians 1:3

“All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.”

We can't understand this many time but if we would just go to Him and open our heart He will give us all we need no matter what it is.  Verse 4 goes on to say; “He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.” We have to realize that when He comforts us He is giving us the ability to comfort others and help them see the light we have in us. 

I love God and how everything He has for us is for us to use to help others.  Nothing we do for the Lord is just for ourselves, we must be willing to grow and share and reach people for Christ.  In Matthew chapter 28 verses 19-20 Jesus shares the great commission and we see how much our walk is for us to share.  “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” If we are going to teach people to obey, we have to know it and be living it out.  This means when life is tough and when life is going smoothly.  God does not do anything to us that is bad and He doesn't let things happen to us to stretch our faith, but He loves us so much that He will use all things for our good. 

Romans chapter 8 verse 28 says, “And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose for them.” So we know He is the source of all comfort and will give us rest when we go to Him, so we must continue to choose Him and believe everything that He has given us in His word.  We are traveling through this world to make a difference and we have been given all the tools to help us do it well, so let's remember our Father's love and use what the world gives us and honor Him by blessing others.  Amen
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