Show Mercy

He has told you, O man, what is good,
and what the Lord really wants from you:
He wants you to promote justice, to be faithful,
and to live obediently before your God.

God has made his wishes clear. He wants his people to be just, merciful, and to walk humbly with him. 

In your efforts to please God, examine these areas on a regular basis. Are you fair in your dealings with people? Do you show mercy to those who wrong you? Are you learning humility?

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us[ and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2

Therefore, be imitators of God.

Rely On The LORD!

Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.  Pslam 27:14

Waiting for God is not easy. But God is worth waiting for.

Lamentations 3:24-26 calls us to hope in and wait for the Lord because often God uses waiting to refresh, renew, and teach us.

Make good use of your waiting times by discovering what God may be trying to teach you in them.

Come Near To God

Come near to God and he will come near you. James 4:8

How can we come near to God? James gives five ways:

Yield to his authority and will. Commit your life to him and his control. Be willing to follow him.

Resist the devil. Do not allow Satan to tempt you.

Purify your hearts. Lead a pure life. Replace your desire to sin with your desire to experience God's purity.

Grieve and mourn in sincere sorrow for your sins. Do not be afraid to express heartfelt sorry for what you have done.

Humble yourself before the Lord and he will lift you up. Humbling yourselves means recognizing that our worth comes from God alone.

When we humble ourselves and realize our need for God, he will come to us and lift us up.

Embrace The New Year

Happy New Year...

Let us embrace the New Year from the book of Micah 6:8

He has told you, O man, what is good,
and what the Lord really wants from you:
He wants you to promote justice, to be faithful,
and to live obediently before your God.

God has made his wishes clear. He wants his people to be just, merciful, and to walk humbly with him. 

In your efforts to please God, examine these areas on a regular basis. Are you fair in your dealings with people? Do you show mercy to those who wrong you? Are you learning humility?

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us^[ and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.
Ephesians 5:1-2

Therefore, be imitators of God.

Christ's Humanity

Lessons from God's Humanity...

Christ is the perfect human leader and he wants to lead you.

Christ is the perfect human model and he is worth imitating.

Christ is the perfect human sacrifice and he died for you.

Christ is the perfect human conqueror and he conquered death to give you eternal life.

Christ is the perfect human High Priest and he is merciful, loving, and understanding.

God, in Christ, became a living, breathing human being.

Keep Following Him

Jesus proclaimed good news. 

He told people that God had done something for them they could not do for themselves, that through Jesus he had made right their relationship with him.

Jesus also served people. Although God in human flesh, he did not come to be served, but to serve. He listened, healed, encouraged, taught, and loved those he encountered.

That's it. Not a long list, but a life worth living. When you follow Jesus you'll find yourself giving good news to others you are serving and helping. Just keep following him.

Jesus traveled throughout Galilee teaching in the synagogues, preaching everywhere the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed people who had every kind of sickness and disease (Matthew 4:24 NLT)

Who is God?

Who is God?

So who is God? Can I trust Him to take care of me? How much time do you have?

The weather changes—but God is UN-changing! Fashion changes. Even change changes. But Hebrews 6:17 says God is always the same—yesterday, today, and tomorrow.

So can we trust God? Is He powerful enough? You and I are limited—I think that goes without saying! One sneeze in my direction, and I’m contaminated, sick with a cold and out for a week. No one can soil or stain God. No sin contaminates Him.

We’re limited by brain capacity, time, relationship overload, and responsibilities—you can only be at one soccer game at a time after all! And patience! But God? He has no limit to his time, power, knowledge and love.

Check it out for yourself in Psalms 147:4-5

He counts the stars 

and names each one. 

Our Lord is great and very powerful. 

There is no limit to what he knows.

So—can God take care of you? I’ll let you answer that!

From Max on Life

http://www.christianity.com/devotionals/upwords-max-lucado/

Don't Know How to Pray?

The Holy Spirit will help you in prayer when you don't know how to pray.

Romans 8:26-27

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God's will.
 
Pray with Humble Heart.
 
2 Chronicles 7:14

If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
 
Pray with Wholeheartedness
 
Jeremiah 29:13

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
 
Pray with Faith.
 
Mark 11:24

Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.
 
Pray with Righteousness.
 
James 5:16

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.
 
Pray with Obedience
 
1 John 3:22

And we will receive whatever we request because we obey him and do the things that please him.

Why should we pray?  Prayer Develops Our Relationship with God.

If we never speak to our spouse or never listen to anything our spouse might have to say to us, our marriage relationship will quickly deteriorate. It is the same way with God. Prayer + communicating with God = helps us grow closer and more intimately connected with God.
 
Thank you for the Holy Spirit!

How Others See Me (God See The Big Picture)

I read this prayer early this morning via Prime Time With God (Ephesians Four Ministries) and it made my heart heavy.

Today's Prayer

Dear Father in Heaven, You can see the big picture. You know me and where I'm to fit in life. Please help me see myself through your eyes...and understand my role on this earth. Help me stop and take a look at how others see me...my family, my friends, my co-workers, my neighbors. When someone mentions my name, I want it to be in a good way; in a way that glorifies you. I want to live the life you planned for me. Thank you for including me in your plans...and for loving me unconditionally. Bless You, Lord. In Jesus' name, Amen.

"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself." Luke 10:27

"I have brought You glory on earth by completing the work You gave Me to do." - John 17:4

The Lord has revealed to us that the number one thing we are to do is love the Lord our God with all our heart and to love our neighbor as ourselves. His desire is for us to know Him and the power of His resurrection. The fruit of this relationship must then result in our glorifying Him by completing the work He has given each of us to do.

Forgetting Can Be Dangerous?

You of this generation, consider the word of the Lord:

"Have I been a desert to Israel or a land of great darkness? Why do my people say, "We are free to roam; we will come to you no more"? Does a maiden forget her jewelry, a bride her wedding ornaments? Yet my people have forgotten me, days without number. Jeremiah 2:31-32

Forgetting can be dangerous, whether it is intentional or an oversight. Israel forgot God by focusing its affections on the allurements of the world. The more we focus on the pleasures of the world, the easier it becomes to forget God's care, his love, his dependability, his guidance, and most of all, God himself.

What pleases you most? Have you been forgetting God lately?

Him Who Overcomes

God's Word for you this week "Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name." (Rev.3:12) Prayer for this week "I thank you making me a pillar in your temple Lord. I dwell even now, in a place where your glory dwells. May your glorious presence transform this day. Would you allow your radiance to shine through me in such a way that others are drawn to Jesus?" Reading for this week "Satan fears prayer and offsets it at every angle. At every opportunity he stalls the impulse to pray, for he has felt the smart of men who pray in the Holy Ghost. Again and again hell has shuddered because of the onslaughts of men who have taken the kingdom of heaven by violence." -Leonard Ravenhill Dave Butts Harvest Prayer Ministries and National Prayer Committee National Day of Prayer Task Force www.NationalDayofPrayer.org

Trust In The Lord

Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Bring your decisions to God in prayer, use the Bible as your guide, and then follow God's leading. He will make your paths straight by both guiding and protecting you. We must acknowledge God in all our ways. This means turning every area of life over to him. Make him a vital part of everything you do, then he will guide you because you will be working to accomplish his purposes.

Walk With God

Walk in all the way that the LORD your God has commanded you, so
that you may live and prosper and prolong your days in the land
that you will possess.

Deuteronomy 5:33

New Creation

VERSE:

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone,
the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17


THOUGHT:

We all like "do-overs" or second chances. God does much better
than that! He allows us to become new again. Being the "God of new
things" he can even make us new. Beyond forgiveness, beyond
cleansing, he makes us holy through Jesus. Let's use the
opportunity of a New Year as a springboard for living a life fresh
and new and alive for God!

PRAYER:

O LORD, thank you for a New Year and a fresh start. Please give
me wisdom and strength to serve you with integrity and faithfulness
in this coming year. I pray that your work be done in my life as I
offer myself, my plans, and my future to you. I pray this through
Jesus my intercessor and Lord. Amen.

www.heartlight.org

Prayer Time

"I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple" (Isa. 6:1).

As you start your prayer time, before you say anything, let your mind's eye see Him, high and exalted, and yourself in a position of worship before Him. Stay in that inner posture until His glory fills your thoughts as the train of His robe fills the temple.

Jennifer Kennedy Dean

The Praying Life Foundation
http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?et=1102792013855&s=2638&e=001cSmFH-ScJB-Kv1wUPxvE5nEyQD7aKp-Kjr_5EeViwfx35YaTV7CB4-rCQU4Q3PTgJDjBwmwVs8wHe5ZJJelNyRegWbrnSPcGJSHXoBPJkXKGUJUPDY8TqVvZgHV36YZZ

Relationship With Jesus

Prayer is not a product; it is a relationship. Even if you did not

experience the wonderful event you imagined, God knows your intention. You

wanted to spend time with Jesus, and in some way, although exactly how is a

mystery to you, you did. So express your frustration to God; ask for help

and for the strength to try again. God does not require that we be

successful, just faithful.

-- Daniel Wolpert

CREATING A LIFE WITH GOD

Prayer Time

"But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed" (Luke 5:16). Find a place in your home where you can be alone and undistracted during your prayer time. Keep your Bible, prayer journal, pen, and whatever tools you use in that place so that everything is ready. During your prayer time each day, this is a sacred place. Jennifer Kennedy Dean The Praying Life Foundation www.nationaldayofprayer.org

Wishing You Blessings

"For those who love the Lord, every day is a day of Thanksgiving."

Wishing you all a blessed Happy Thanksgiving.

Encourage One Another

"Therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing".

(1 Thess. 5:11 ).

 

This week, prepare for your daily prayer timeby gathering note cards or stationary of some sort. Ask the Lord to place on your heart someone who needs encouragement. During your prayer time, write out your prayer for that person and mail it to him or her. Pray for and encourage someone different each morning.

 

Jennifer Kennedy Dean

The Praying Life Foundation

www.nationaldayofprayer.org

Quieter Life With God

"The moment you wake up each morning, all your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals. And the first job each morning consists in shoving it all back; in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting that other, larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in." -C.S. Lewis