Jesus knew exactly when He was to die…so I ask you this question, if you knew that you were going to die tomorrow, how would you spend today? Would your day be crammed with every self-indulgent desire & delicacy? Would you allow your inhibitions to run wild with no restraint, no self-control, and nothing off the table morally? Yes, Jesus knew that He would die the next day, yet He chose to wash feet (John 13:5) … showing His love for His disciples, His dear friends, His beloved brothers. Jesus took this very menial task of foot washing and elevated it to the very pinnacle of servanthood…demonstrating what self-sacrifice & love truly was.
Month: June 2024
Matthew 22:37 ” Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.”
We are to love God with all our being…seeking first His Kingdom daily rather than what we want. We are to desire to do His Will with heartfelt obedience, for “Earth has nothing I desire besides You.” (Psalm 73:25) Finally, we are to love, revere, and obey God…risking all for Him, knowing that He will fulfill the desires of those who fear Him. (Psalm 145:19) For in the end, our prayer should be that God would mean more to us every day than anything else in this world.
Psalm 77:11-12 ” I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember Your miracles of long ago. I will meditate on all Your works and consider all Your mighty deeds.”
There will be many times in your Christian Walk that you will only appreciate everything God has done for you when you look back and reminisce. That’s because, when you are knee deep in alligators the challenge is to just survive. David reflected on God’s goodness to him in Psalm 63:6 when he wrote, “On my bed I remember You; I think of You through the watches of the night.” Remembrance of what God has done can be very healing…for we bring to mind God’s gracious acts of the past so we may move from the past to the present with renewed confidence and trust in Him.
Mark 12:14 ” They came to Him and said, ‘Teacher, we know You are a man of integrity. You aren’t swayed by men, because you pay no attention to who they are; but You teach the way of God in accordance with the Truth.’ “
The scribes and chief priests had sent men to try and entangle Jesus in His words. They employed a flattering approach, doubtless meant to put Jesus off-guard. But they also had been around Jesus watching and listening for a while now, so even though their words were insincere, they rang true and accurate in describing Jesus’ character. They also couldn’t deny that He was an authority in the interpretation of the Scriptures…thus addressing Jesus with the Title of respect, “Teacher”. So, in a way their backhanded compliment was more of a proclamation to all of Jesus’ honesty, integrity, and unswerving detail to the Truth of the Holy Scriptures.
I John 3:16 ” This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”
Self-sacrificial love in the fellowship of Believers is evidence of our new life in Christ. It’s based on the selfless love of Jesus Christ, who “laid down His life” in our place. But self-denial is contrary to our human nature, and the giving up of our interests or wishes in order to help others is downright difficult. So, consider this…Salvation is easy for us, for it cost us nothing, but God so much. Whereas the exhibiting of Salvation in our life then becomes the difficult part of daily making a deliberate decision to lay down our life for others. “Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (John 15:13)
Psalm 109:22 ” For I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me.”
Charles Spurgeon once wrote, “There are many sorts of broken hearts, and Christ is good at healing them all.” Our heart may be hurting from personal loss…of a loved one, a beloved pet, or a job. But our heart can be just as broken as we share in a good friend’s grief or misfortune… commiserating with empathy and compassion as we help them through tough times. However, we don’t need to be intimately involved with something to not hurt for that person or people group. For example, our heart can break as we see or hear about the ravishes of war, famine, or pestilence on innocent people across this wide world. But the Lord remains steadfast at healing all forms of heartache as we take our petitions to Him. (Psalm 34:18 & Psalm 147:3)
Psalm 138:8 “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever.”
Think of it…God had a plan and purpose for your life long before you ever had a plan for yourself. And if we’re honest and admit it, our feeble plans tend to be fickle, easily changed, and very often influenced by other people. While God’s plans were set securely into place before the beginning of time, or as He said in Isaiah 14:24, ” As I have planned, so shall it be, and as I have purposed, so shall it stand.” So, we can be absolutely confident and trusting that no power in earth or heaven can stand against God’s Sovereign Will of accomplishing His perfect plan & purpose in our life if we allow Him.
Isaiah 30:15 ” In repentance and rest is your Salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength.”
Just because God seems to be silent in an area we’ve been praying for, doesn’t mean He’s indifferent or absent. And we would do well to imitate that same quietness…secure in the knowledge that He is indeed there with us. Elsewhere in Isaiah, it tells us, “The fruit of righteousness will be peace; the effect of righteousness will be quietness and confidence.” (Isaiah 32:17) God’s silence can be looked at as Him quietly & calmly working behind the scenes in things we have no idea about. And so, it behooves us to readily grasp the same serenity and use it to quell all the negative noise in our heads.
Psalm 119:125 ” I am Your servant; give me discernment.”
We need to be constantly asking the Lord for discernment, especially when ministering to others. We can get caught in the weeds with someone who talks the talk, but their actions are a far cry from where they need to be Spiritually. Just look at Judas & Peter. Peter had a bad day, made unwise choices, but realized the err of his way and repented. While Judas had a bad heart, made unwise choices, but pride, greed, and unrepentance led to his downfall. Asking the Lord for insight & wisdom will help us to grasp & comprehend a person’s heart…for with the Holy Spirit’s direction, we can then restore the Peter and release the Judas.
II Chronicles 5:13 ” He is good, for His steadfast love endures forever.”
God still loves us when we mess up. And as this verse says, we should praise and honor Him for His enduring goodness, mercy, and loving kindness extended to us. I John 4:16 tells of this love, shown in God’s Covenant…His faithfulness and relentless pursuit of sinners in spite of our rebellion or indifference. God still loves us when we mess up. And He’s not an “I told you so” kind of God when we do. Isaiah 43:25 tells us that He blots out and graciously forgives & forgets our sins…remembering them no more. Yes, God still loves us…when we’re overwhelmed, when we’re full of doubt, when we fail…He still loves us.
Safetypinlove 