Opportunities

As a parent sometimes it's a good thing to call your child to attention.  It isn't that they are miss-behaving, but is an opportunity to see if they are listening. As a child of God, I believe our Heavenly Father does too. Truth be told I am sure I've missed many opportunities to listen to that still small voice.

I know one thing.  I want to practice the presence of my Father better, walk closer and hold His hand tighter.

*I Kings 19:12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice.

Reliogiosity Or Reality

*II Timothy 3:5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such people turn away!
Certainly there are traditions and customs we need to follow. For instance Jesus went to church. We need to follow His example and go to church!  Jesus was baptized and when we are baptized, we are following His example.


The point is we need to take a close look at what our lives are displaying. We may have a form of something but not be the real thing! Are we patient and kind at the restaurant after church when we are really hungry? Hmm.

 
 Matthew 23:27

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness   *John 6:63  *John 6:63“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

 
*Luke 4:16 So He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. And as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up to read.
*Matthew 3:13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.






 

Whine or Wine.

We have so much to be thankful for and yet we complain all too often. "It's too hot", yet we have air-conditioning. "I  can't find anything to wear," with a closet full of clothes. We get impatient if the line is too long at the grocery, where we have access to any food we want. Too often we don't even know what real suffering or persecution is! Yet Jesus said troubles would be a part of our very Christian experience. But also that we could be overcomers.

Let's face it, nobody likes to suffer. Nobody likes to go through trials. But during the times our faith is tested, people take note of how we handle the situation. Will they hear us whine or will they taste and see wine in new wineskins?




 
John 16:33 “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Matthew 9:17 "Nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, or else the wineskins break, the wine is spilled, and the wineskins are ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.”

Psalms 34:8 Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good;  Blessed is the man who trusts in Him!


Acts 16:23-27   And when they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, commanding the jailer to keep them securely.Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks. But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed. And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself.

II Corinthians 4:8-9 We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

Sparrows and Hairs

There is no limit to what God can do.  He can make a way where there seems to be no way, He can cause water to flow from a rock and He  knows when each sparrow falls. But He loves us more than we can fathom.

 

 

 

 

Matthew 10:29 “Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will.

Luke 12:7

“But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.

 

I Am A Child Of The King!

You may not know it by looking at me but I am a princess. Yep that's right. But I can only say that because my Father is the King of all Kings and Lord of all Lords! I have some great news!  You too can be a child of my Father!





 Psalms 34:12 My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad.

Galatians 4:6 And because we  are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, “Abba, Father.” 
 
John 1:12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name.


 

The Lord Isn't Going Anywhere But I Might

 Isaiah 55:6; 8  Seek the LORD while He may be found,  Call upon Him while He is near. For My thoughts are not your thoughts,  Nor are your ways My ways,” says the LORD.

In my journey I have learned that if I don't seek the Lord with my first cup of coffee,  I can't seem to find the time to read my Bible or devote the day to God's plan. My tendency is to go off on my own way when God had a better plan and perhaps even different priorities.



Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

A Man After God's Own Heart

So many times we think that the Lord can't use us because we can't follow Him perfectly. And yet He can if we learn to run to Him and repent.  King David was a man after God's own heart and yet he did not follow God without sinning.

 

II Samuel 12:13  So David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, “The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die.

Psalms 66:17 If I had not confessed the sin in my heart, the Lord would not have listened.

Acts 13:22 “And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’

The Right Kind of Fear

Fear can manifest in different ways. But when it comes down to it fear is an emotion; a feeling. And it is a feeling that can  paralyze. Think of the saying..."a deer caught  in the headlights."  Or think of a opossum. Opossums play dead when they are afraid. This is the wrong kind of fear.  God does not give us a spirit of fear, but rather a spirit of power and love and a sound mind. *

The right kind of fear is the fear of the Lord. It's a different kind of fear altogether. The fear of the Lord is the reverence and awe of Him. To know that there is nothing He can't do. He is omnipotent!   There is nothing that He doesn't know. He is omniscient!  There is nothing that can separate us from Him.  He is  omnipresent!



I Timothy 1:7 NLT For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

1:7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction.   

Psalms 139:7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?  Or where can I flee from Your presence?

Isaiah 41:10 NIV So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:11All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced; those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish. Isaiah 41:12 Though you search for your enemies, you will not find them. Those who wage war against you will be as nothing at all.