When the Lord calls you into a new season of your life, you can either answer “Yes, Lord!” or you can baulk, whine, and hang on desperately to your past as He drags you forward. But change is inevitable for all of us as we move through life…so remember these three things from the Scripture above. God always prepares the way before you. Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Secondly, God will then show you the way to go. Many times in the Psalms David was unsure of himself…so he asked God to, “Show me Your ways, teach me Your paths, guide me in Your truth and teach me.” (Psalm 25:4-5) Know that God is more than happy to oblige as He shows us the way to go. Finally, God will always be right beside you as you move forward into this new season…for this was His plan & purpose from the very beginning for you.
Month: September 2024
Mark 7:32 ” There some people brought to Him a man who was deaf and could hardly talk, and they begged Him to place His hand on the man.”
By this time in His Ministry, the crowds of people knew that Jesus usually healed by the physical action of laying on of hands (which only accompanied the miracle but was not its cause). As with this deaf man, his family & friends brought him to Jesus, trusting in faith that Jesus would heal him also. Since the man could not hear Him speak, Jesus used such signs to communicate what He intended to do. By sticking His fingers into the deaf man’s ears, Jesus silently invited him to exercise faith & believe for a healing…and his faith set him free.
Psalm 5:11 ” But let all who take refuge in You be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread Your protection over them, that those who love Your Name may rejoice in You.”
Praying for fellow Believers on your Prayer List, or for that matter, your kids & grandkids, can become redundant and repetitious day after day. But praying this Scripture over them may help you focus on one important aspect for their lives…God’s protection in this very evil world. The imagery in this verse repeats over & over again of God being not only our Spiritual refuge, but our only reliable stronghold to flee to. We can therefore, trust in His protective covering…a hedge of protection, if you will, that keeps evil at bay and enable us to delight in God’s love.
Matthew 7:25 ” The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”
Today is the twelfth anniversary of Safetypinlove.com, with a total of 4,158 Devotionals that have been written, going into 162 countries around the world. And except for the grace of God this would never have happened, let alone continued for twelve years, without the foundational truths of God and His guidance. For just like the Parable Jesus taught in Matthew 7:24-27 about the wise & foolish builders…one building on bedrock while the other building on the sand – when the storms of life come, we need to build on a foundation that will not be easily shaken…and I have endeavored to do so daily. God bless all of you that have faithfully followed me on this journey…you will never start to understand how much I appreciate your love, support, and encouragement!
Psalm 119:65 ” You have dealt well with Your servant, O Lord, according to Your Word.”
When Jesus shows up and confronts us it doesn’t need to be at Church. It doesn’t have to be some great altar experience where we come face to face with our Savior. Sometimes rather it’s in very unconventional and out of the ordinary places that Jesus uses to deal with us. Saul (or Paul) was walking down a dusty road minding his own business when Jesus got ahold of him. (Acts 9:3) In Mark 5:1-20, a demon-possessed man was hanging out among the tombs when Jesus encountered him. Matthew was just sitting at his workplace when Jesus approached him. (Matthew 9:9-13) And then there was Nicodemus who snuck around in the middle of the night to meet with Jesus. (John 3:1-21) The place Jesus chooses to confront you doesn’t make a bit of difference… it can be in the quiet of your bedroom, a Mega Church Conference, or a dark parking lot…but what does make a difference, is your response to His voice.
Romans 8:6 ” The mind of sinful man is death, but the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace.”
Human nature is inherently corrupt, enslaved, and controlled by sin. And as so, is hostile to God…refusing to submit, obey, or even acknowledge His existence or Laws. But here Paul is showing the difference between the old & new mindset of a Believer. That our mind can be transformed from weak to strong, from troubled to calm, from degraded to eternally saved. Just by allowing our mind to be changed by the Holy Spirit as we are united to Christ.
Isaiah 66:9 ” Do I bring to the moment of birth and not give delivery? says the Lord. Do I close up the womb when I bring to delivery? says the Lord.”
Another way to look at this Scripture is, ‘I will not cause pain & suffering without allowing something new to be born from it.’ (And all the mothers out there who’ve gone through Labor and Delivery respond with a resounding, “Amen!” ) But we see this also in John 12:24 when Jesus used the illustration of the kernel of wheat falling to the ground and dying for new life to happen to show how His pain and suffering would open the door to Salvation. And so, this verse in Isaiah can encourage us two ways…God always finishes what He starts, and that every painful trial we go through can bring renewed faith, revived trust, and rejuvenated hope in God.
Proverbs 10:18 ” Whoever spreads slander is a fool.”
They’re the type of person that if you see them coming you turn on your heel and walk away, not wanting to get sucked into a negative conversation about other people. For what starts out as an innocent chat quickly digresses into a rant as they defame & smear other’s reputation with gossip, hearsay, and slander. But their greatest joy & validation only comes if and when you take the bait and join in the trash-fest with them. But many places in the Bible we are told not to spread malicious and slanderous speech. (Colossians 3:8, Titus 3:2) So what can we do in these situations? We can refuse to malign others by speaking only positive things about them. This usually stops the person dead in their tracks because you’re not willing to join in. I know, because I’ve used this tactic many times on this type of person.
I John 4:1-3 ” Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.”
Here, John shows the difference between the Spirit of Truth and that of deception. Those who confess Jesus Christ as the Messiah are from God, while those who will not out of pride & selfish ambition are not from God. This divide is very evident…either you are from God or from the world. In II Peter 2:1-3, the Apostle Peter also wrote about all the false prophets & teachers among the brethren…denying the One whom they falsely claim to serve…and all the while spinning their own interpretation of the Word from a very temporal and worldly viewpoint. Sounds a lot like today and the Progressive Church Movement, doesn’t it?
Zechariah 7:8-10 ” And the Word of the Lord came again to Zechariah: ‘This is what the Lord Almighty says: Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another. Do not oppress the widow or the fatherless, the alien or the poor. In your hearts do not think evil of each other.’ “
The Lord made it quite clear…we are to defend with integrity the rights of those who receive it least. What that means is we are to apply God’s Word to social problems rather than turning a blind eye to them. It also means confronting head on the oppression, apathy, and exploitation of groups that are too easily mistreated – the widow, the orphan, the poor. God loves all people (Deuteronomy 10:18) and demands for us to provide for their care with kindness & love. (Deuteronomy 24:17-22) After all, they are all our brothers & sisters in the Lord, and if not for the grace of God, you yourself could easily be in one of these groups.
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