Fixing Someone ...

Only God can change the situation. Pray and give it to the Lord!

"Our prayers may be awkward. Our attempts may be feeble. But since the power of prayer is in the One who hears it and not in the one who says it, our prayers do make a difference."

[Max Lucado]

Philippians 4:6 ...  Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

Proverbs 3:5 ... Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

Isaiah 41:10 ... Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. 

1 Peter 5:7 ... Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.❤

I Choose ...

It’s quiet. It’s early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming. In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. 

The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met. 

For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day’s demands. It is now that I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I’m free to choose. And so, I choose. 

I choose love. No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves. 

I choose joy. I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I will refuse to see any problem as anything less than an opportunity to see God. 

I choose peace. I will live forgiven. I will forgive so that I may live. I choose patience. I will overlook the inconveniences of the world. Instead of cursing the one who takes my place, I’ll invite Him to do so. Rather than complain that the wait is too long, I will thank God for a moment to pray. Instead of clinching my fist at new assignments, I will face them with joy and courage. 

I choose kindness. I will be kind to the poor, for they are alone. Kind to the rich, for they are afraid. And kind to the unkind, for such is how God has treated me. 

I choose goodness. I will go without a dollar before I take a dishonest one. I will be overlooked before I will boast. I will confess before I accuse. I choose goodness. 

I choose faithfulness. Today I will keep my promises. My debtors will not regret their trust. My associates will not question my word. My wife will not question my love. And my children will never fear that their father will not come home. 

I choose gentleness. Nothing is won by force. I choose to be gentle. If I raise my voice, may it be only in praise. If I clench my fist, may it be only in prayer. If I make a demand, may it be only of myself. I choose self-control. I am a spiritual being. After this body is dead, my spirit will soar. I refuse to let what will rot, rule the eternal. 

I choose self-control. I will be drunk only by joy. I will be impassioned only by my faith. I will be influenced only by God. I will be taught only by Christ. I choose self-control. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithful-ness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day. 

If I succeed, I will give thanks. If I fail, I will seek His grace. And then, when this day is done, I will place my head on my pillow and rest. 

[Max Lucado]

Joshua 24:15 ...  And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. ❤

A Season

A season of suffering is a small assignment when compared to the reward. Rather than begrudge your problem, explore it. Ponder it. And most of all, use it. Use it to the glory of God. 

[Max Lucado]

Ephesians 3:1 ... To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:  ❤

Jesus Loves You!

If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning… Face it, friend. He is crazy about you! 

[Max Lucado]

Matthew 6:26 ... Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?


1 John 4:16 ... And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.


Jeremiah 31:3 ... The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.❤

Simplify Your Faith

How do you simplify your faith? How do you get rid of the clutter? How do you discover a joy worth waking up to? Simple. Get rid of the middleman. There are some who suggest the only way to God is through them. There’s the great teacher who has the final word on Bible teaching. There’s the father who must bless your acts. There’s the spiritual master who’ll tell you what God wants you to do.

 

Jesus’ message for complicated religion is to remove these middlemen. He’s not saying you don’t need teachers, elders, or counselors. He is saying, however, that we are all brothers and sisters with equal access to the Father. Seek God for yourself. No elaborate channels of command or levels of access.

 

You have a Bible? You can study. You have a heart? You can pray. You have a mind? You can think!

 

[Max Lucado]

 

 

 ✞ ✞ ✞

 

Psalm 119:2 ... Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.



Ephesians 3:12 ... In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.



Hebrews 4:16 ...  Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.❤

Because of Christ

You are valuable just because you exist. Not because of what you do or what you have done, but simply because you are. Just think about the way Jesus honors you ... and smile.

[Max Lucado]

1 Peter 1:3 ... Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

2 Corinthians 5:17 ... Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

John 8:36 ... If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.


Galatians 2:20 ... I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. ❤

He Believes in You

God believes in you enough to call you his ambassador, his follower, even his child. Why not take His cue and believe in yourself?

[Max Lucado]

2 Corinthians 5:20 … Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.

1 Thessalonians 1:6 ... And ye became followers of us, and of the Lord, having received the word in much affliction, with joy of the Holy Ghost. 


Zephaniah 3:17 ... The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.

Galatians 3:26 ... For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.

Luke 12:32 ... Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.❤

Fearless

Fear will always knock on your door. Just don’t invite it in for dinner and, for heaven’s sake, don’t offer it a bed for the night.

[Max Lucado]

Psalm 23:4 ... Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

2 Timothy 1:7 ... For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Luke 12:32 ... Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.

John 14:1 ... Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.❤

Hope-Filled Heart

Wouldn’t you love to have a hope-filled heart?  Wouldn’t you love to see the world through the eyes of Jesus?   Where we see unanswered prayer, Jesus saw answered prayer.  Where we see the absence of God, Jesus saw the plan of God.  He can change the way you look at life!   God never promises to remove us from our struggles.   He does promise, however, to change the way we look at them!

[Max Lucado]

Matthew 26:53 ... Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?

Psalm 10:17 ...  Lord, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart, thou wilt cause thine ear to hear:

Romans 12:12 ... Rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer;

Romans 15:13 ... Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, through the power of the Holy Ghost.❤

Dress Up

When they were young, my daughters loved playing “dress-up.”  They’d put on their mom’s shoes, fill up a grown-up purse with crayons and pretend grown-up scenarios. For the moment, they wanted to be just like mom.

Don’t we do the same? We look at ourselves, with our immaturity, our sinfulness, and we want to clothe ourselves in something better. We want to be just like Jesus. This seems like an impossible goal until we accept one simple truth: God will help us. He loves us. Not only does God love each of us exactly as we are, but he wants us, little by little, to become like him. Why? Because he wants us to have a heart like his.

Need to hear that message a few more times? Don’t we all? God loves you just the way you are, but he refuses to leave you that way! He wants you to be just like Jesus!

[Max Lucado]

Ezekiel 36:26 ...  I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.

Romans 12:2 ...  And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

Colossians 3:10-11 ... And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. ❤

Image: Cindy Grundsten

Power of a Seed

Never underestimate the power of  a seed.

[Max Lucado]

Luke 17:6 … And the Lord said, If ye had faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

Matthew 13:23 … But he that received seed into the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it; which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth, some an hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.  

Galatians 6:8 ... For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. 

John 4:36 ... And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. ❤

Moved By Art

Let God have you, and let God love you - and don’t be surprised if your heart begins to hear music you’ve never heard and your feet learn to dance as never before.

[Max Lucado]

Psalm 149:3 ...  Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. ❤

Completely Human

When a bookstore owner told me a woman had stomped into his shop, angry, slamming one of my books on the counter, I knew exactly what he was talking about.  I wrote that Jesus may have had pimples.  He may have had bony knees. But I said, “One thing’s for sure, he was, while completely divine, completely human.”

Where’s something safe about a God who never had calluses? There’s something majestic about a God who never scraped his elbow. But there’s also something cold about a God who cannot relate to what you and I feel.

Rejection? He felt it. Temptation? He knew it. Loneliness? He experienced it. Death? He tasted it. And stress? He could write a best-selling book about it. Why did he do it? One reason. So that when you hurt, you’ll go to him and let him heal you!

[Max Lucado]

Hebrews 4:15 ... For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.

Philippians 2:5-8 ...  Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.


Acts 10:38 ... How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power: who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with him. ❤

This Day

Here's what you need to keep in mind. You no longer have yesterday. You do not yet have tomorrow. You have only today. This is the day the Lord has made. Live in it.

[Max Lucado]

Psalm 118:24 ... This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

Matthew 6:34 ... Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.

2 Corinthians 6:2 ... (For he saith, I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succoured thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.) ❤

Forgiveness

Forgiveness is setting someone else free and then realizing that you were the prisoner.

[Max Lucado]

James 5:14-15 ... Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.


Luke 17:3 ...  Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.

John 8:36 ... If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.❤

My Day

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. To these I commit my day.

[Max Lucado]

1 John 4:13 ... Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

Galatians 5:22-23 ... But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,  Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

Psalm 37:5-6 ... Commit thy way unto the Lord; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.  And he shall bring forth thy righteousness as the light, and thy judgment as the noonday. ❤

He is Near

The next time you find yourself alone in a dark alley facing the undeniable of life, don't cover them with a blanket, or ignore them with a nervous grin. Don't turn up the TV and pretend they aren't there. Instead, stand still, whisper His name, and listen. He is nearer than you think.
 

[Max Lucado]

Psalm 86:7 ... In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: for thou wilt answer me.

Psalm 46:10 ... Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.

Psalm 145:18 ... The Lord is nigh unto all them that call upon him, to all that call upon him in truth.
 

Joshua 1:5 ... There shall not any man be able to stand before thee all the days of thy life: as I was with Moses, so I will be with thee: I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

James 4:8 ... Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. ❤

My Guide

Jesus gives us hope because He keeps us company, has a vision and knows the way we should go.

[Max Lucado]

Psalm 32:8 ... I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.

Psalm 25:9 ... The meek will he guide in judgment: and the meek will he teach his way.

Psalm 31:3 ... For thou art my rock and my fortress; therefore for thy name's sake lead me, and guide me.  ❤

Eternal Choices

Ever wonder why there were two crosses next to Christ? Why not six or ten? Ever wonder why Jesus was in the center? Could it be the two crosses on the hill symbolize one of God’s greatest gifts? The gift of choice.

The two criminals were convicted by the same system. Condemned to the same death. Equally close to the same Jesus. But one changed!

You’ve made some bad choices in life, haven’t you? You look back and you say, “If only I could make up for those bad choices. You can!

When one thief on the cross prayed, Jesus loved him enough to save him. When the other mocked, Jesus loved him enough to let him. He allowed him the choice.

He does the same for you!

[Max Lucado]

Luke 23:42-43 ... And he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom. And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

Deuteronomy 30:19 ... I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:

Joshua 24:15 ... And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD. ❤

God Makes The Offer ~ We Make The Choice

He, at this very moment, issues invitations by the millions. He whispers through the kindness of a grandparent, shouts through the tempest of a tsunami. Through the funeral he cautions, “Life is fragile.” Through a sickness he reminds, “Days are numbered.” God may speak through nature or nurture, majesty or mishap. But through all and to all he invites: “Come, enjoy me forever.”

[Max Lucado]

John 3:16 … For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

John 14:2 … In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.

Revelation 22:17 … 17And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. ♥