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September 29th, 2015

9/29/2015

1 Peter 5:7
“Give all your worries and cares to God, for He cares about you.”

We forget this sometimes because life always doesn't go the way we want or think it should. But God cares so much He gave us His Son to bridge the gap to Him for eternity. Verse 8 goes on to say, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.” This is not our home, our great enemy is working on ways to keep us from believing the truth about God's love. What are we listening too? Because if we remember what God did for us and don't get caught up in the world perception we will continue to move towards Christ who will set us free.

Verse 10 is so incredible and something we should remind ourselves of all the time. “In His kindness God called you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and He will place you on a firm foundation.” When our faith is perfected by Jesus we grow and we see that no matter the situation God uses it for growth. Romans 8:28 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.”

The devil has nothing on us unless we let this world control our thinking. We must renew our minds daily and work on seeing that God cares for us and wants a relationship with us. Stand firm in Him and whenever you feel tired pray and ask Him because He will give you rest, it is in His word. Matthew chapter 11 verse 28 says, “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Focus on Him and rejoice that we have eternal life because if Him. Amen

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James 4

9/21/2015

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James 4:4 “You adulterers! Don’t you realize that friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again: If you want to be a friend of the world, you make yourself an enemy of God.”

I really want you to think about this verse, James repeats it a second time because we can so easily get caught up in our pleasure and this world. It doesn't say if you are in this world, we are all in this world but if what it offers always has us choosing it, God will become a relief pitcher we try to use in a bind. Look at what verse 5 says, “Do you think the Scriptures have no meaning? They say that God is passionate that the spirit He has placed within us should be faithful to Him.” When we accept Jesus as Lord we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and as we grow we can tell what He is showing us. And He will always guide us to glorify the Father. Even when we think what is happening in the world seems perfect for us the Spirit will show us the way that will glorify Him. Verse 6 says, “And He gives grace generously. As the Scriptures say, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.””

God is not trying to make our lives terrible He give grace generously, He has given us so many things so that we can learn and grow, we have to choose to embrace that and be fully devoted followers of Jesus. As I continue in James chapter 4 I love what it says in verses 7 and 8, “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come close to God, and God will come close to you. Wash your hands, you sinners; purify your hearts, for your loyalty is divided between God and the world.”

Resist the devil and he will flee. He truly has no control over us, he wants us to believe we are too bad so we stay stuck. It says come close to God and He will come close to you. Keep the word on your mind and let it take root in your heart and the Spirit will be loud and clear and the pleasures of this world will seem small. We must remember that God loves us and wants us home for eternity so as we continue to grow we need to continue to surrender and let the fullness of God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) move us to complete transformation. Amen

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Hebrews 4

9/7/2015

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Hebrews 4:1 “God’s promise of entering His rest still stands, so we ought to tremble with fear that some of you might fail to experience it.”

I have ready this wrong for a while now and today the Holy Spirit opened my eyes to see the message in this verse. Our fear is not for us it is for all the people that never make the choice of accepting Jesus. In our decision to make Jesus our Lord we have entered the new covenant that leads us to live our lives sharing the Good News. We should be so excited to know Him and that excitement should lead us to fear anyone that doesn't. Not in the sense of being scared but in a way that drives us to shine like Jesus. The author goes on to say in Hebrews chapter 4 verse 3, “For only we who believe can enter His rest. As for the others, God said, “In my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest,’” even though this rest has been ready since He made the world.”

It is there for everyone to experience, not because of what we do or that we earned it but because He loves us so much. God gave us His Son and He wants us to give our love back so people see what His glory is like. Verses 9-10 say, “So there is a special rest still waiting for the people of God. For all who have entered into God’s rest have rested from their labors, just as God did after creating the world.”

This is heaven and there is no more sorrow, pain, sadness, trials or temptations. Our bodies will be new and there will be no more battle between our spirit and our flesh. As we live here in this world, we are new creations, but we will experience trials and things of this world. Satan is the ruler but God's love, His Word and the Holy Spirit are our guides and comforters. The hope we have because of Jesus will shine when we let go of our self and surrender to Him. Then people will see us living for a greater purpose and our outward expression of gratitude to Him and the seeds we plant and water might take root.

This is the way to start; confess with your mouth and believe in your heart that Jesus is Lord. Then co-labor with Him by studying the manual He gave us. I love what the next verse says, Hebrews chapter 4 verse 12 “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” Start a relationship with eternal rewards and don't think you are too important to share it with others. I want to finish by sharing Hebrews chapter 4 verse 16 “So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive His mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.” Amen

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Ephesians 1

9/3/2015

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Ephesians 1:16-17 “I have not stopped thanking God for you. I pray for you constantly, asking God, the glorious Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, to give you spiritual wisdom and insight so that you might grow in your knowledge of God.”

Paul is so concerned with us growing and finding what God has for us he prays all the time for others. We need to think about praying for wisdom and insight so we can grow and be the fully devoted followers of Christ that reaches His Kingdom. His prayer is so the Ephesians have growth in their knowledge of God, because when we learn to know God we see love. And when our walk is based on love we have a heart transformation and people can see a difference in us. Look what Peter shares in 1 Peter chapter 4 verse 8, “Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins.”

When we love and when we grow closer to Him we grow away from our old nature that tries to keep us bogged down. The hardest thing for us to do sometimes is forgive ourselves and let God change us. Seek change from the Lord, that is how He will help you. Look at what I said; He will help you. We still have to choose to co-labor with Him. As soon as we feel it's all Him and we just get to sit back and there will be change we will be stuck. God is love and with that love He wants a relationship with us. This next verse is a great example of the relationship that we can have and how important our part is. Matthew chapter 11 verse 28 says “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Come to me, is key, it doesn't say know me and I will give you rest. Our desire to learn and grow will help us change and continue to surrender our will.

When we surrender and we see His love for us we are led by the Spirit and we focus on living for Christ. We started with a prayer Paul said to the Ephesians and now I want to end with his prayer to the Philippians. In chapter 1 verses 9-10 he says, “I pray that your love will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in knowledge and understanding. For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.”

When will our efforts be done, when Christ returns, so keep on seeking, meditate on the word day and night so it is fresh in your mind and heart always. And remember we are not in this alone so be like Paul and pray for all believers so the world sees a difference in us. Amen

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September 29th, 2015

James 4

Hebrews 4

Ephesians 1

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