Almighty and most merciful Father; we have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep. We have followed too much the devices and desires of our own hearts. We have offended against thy holy laws. We have left undone those things which we ought not to have done; and there is no health in us….miserable offenders.
1 Thessalonians 5:23-24
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it.
It was getting late; I was ending a phone call with my brother. His sons were about to go to sleep so we paused our conversation to say goodnight. I repeated a dear phrase we had said in our family at many bed time hours.
“Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite.”
Brady, my nephew immediately said. “I am going to punch those bugs; they are not getting me.”
Just to clarify. There are no bugs at all in his home. He doesn’t know what a bed bug is. He doesn’t even have to worry about bugs in his home.
So, I thought this child has no fear.
Matthew 18:2-4
He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”
Maybe, I could learn a lesson from this child?
Brady has not experienced any harm during sleep from any bugs. It was an experience that he has never known. When presented with an experience he has never known, he decided to fight and not have fear.
I cannot prepare for every unknown. Life means that situations will happen to me that I have not experienced. God will allow our paths to not always be smooth.
Can I answer those time, when life gives me an unknown, as a child?
If I do answer like Brady, I know what my response should be.
I am not going to let this get me down. I am going to punch Satan. He is not getting me.
No fear, no retreat and knowing I am protected.
I kinda like that response.
It is a spiritual night now. What is my response?
I am not going to let this get me down. I am going to punch Satan. He is not getting me.
Goodnight, till spiritual morning comes. That will be my words to you.
Romans 2:21-23
you then who teach others, do you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You who say that one must not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? You who boast in the law dishonor God by breaking law.
Prodigal: Sometimes we just need the right focus to start our day.
Me: Yes, I need help with that sometimes.
Prodigal: I think we all do.
This is from the book Prophetic Voices in Contemporary Theology by Karl Barth, Rudolf Bultmann, Paul Tillich, Reinhold Niebuhr, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
The Christian is “justus et peccator,” both sinner and righteous”; that history fulfills and negates the Kingdom of God; that grace is continuous with, and in contradiction to, nature; that Christ is what we ought to be and also what we cannot be; that the power of God is in us and that the power of God is against us in judgment and mercy; that all those affirmations which are but varied forms of one central paradox of the relation of the Gospel to history must be applied to the experiences of life from top to bottom. There is no area of life where “grace” does not impinge. There are no complex relations of social justice to which the love of Kingdom of God is not relevant. There are on the other hand no areas or experiences where historical insecurity and anxiety are completely transcended, except in principle. There are indeed moment of prayer and, perhaps ecstatic achievements of agape in which men are caught up in the “seventh heaven”; but these moments are merely an “earnest” of the fulfillment of life and must not be claimed as a possession. There is, finally, the transcendence of man over history and sin by faith. But that is also an “earnest”; and is corrupted like the manna in the wilderness when stored up as a secure possession.
Philippians 2:13
for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.
Me: I have a story of a painting while you are looking.
There once was a king who offered a prize to the artist who would paint the best picture of peace. Many artist tried. The king looked at all the pictures. But there were only two he really liked, and he had to choose between them.
One picture was of a calm lake. The lake was a perfect mirror for peaceful towering mountains all around it. Overhead was a blue sky with fluffy white clouds. All who saw this picture thought that it was a perfect picture of peace.
The other picture had mountains, too. But these were rugged and bare. Above was an angry sky, from which rain fell and in which lightning played. Down the side of the mountain tumbled a foaming waterfall. This did not look peaceful at all.
But when the king looked closely, he saw behind the waterfall a tiny bush growing in a crack in the rock. In the bush a mother bird had built her nest. There, in the midst of the rush of angry water, sat the mother bird on her nest–in perfect peace.
Which picture do you think won the prize? The king chose the second picture. Do you know why?
“Because,” explained the king, “peace does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble, or hard work. Peace means to be in the midst of all those things and still be calm in your heart. That is the real meaning of peace.”
Catherine Marshall.
Ye shall have one manner of law, as well for the stranger, as for one of your country: for I am the LORD your God.
Prodigal: It is a blessing to share God’s earth with others.
Me: I agree and we cannot forget to thank Him for it!
This is from the book Abraham by Charles Swindoll
How easy it is for us to receive God’s blessings yet fail to balance receiving with giving. Resolve to become a generous person. I will warn you, however, that giving generously requires faith–trust that the Almighty will look after your needs. That’s because we have a natural fear of running our of provisions, no matter how much we possess. When asked, “How much is enough?” a thin and frightened voice within our soul shouts, “Just a little bit more!”
I wonder how much better we would know our God if we gave more generously. We don’t have greater intimacy with the Almighty because we don’t really believe He will honor our generosity….so we hold back.
God has blessed you. So share. Become a generous person. When you do, you will discover a greater satisfaction than you have ever known.
Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
I suddenly stopped my walk. I saw something there on the ground before me. It seemed out of place, but also had a sense of serenity to it. There on the sidewalk was a white feather. The whiteness of the feather gave it a sense of being special. I had no idea what bird lost a feather that day. As I picked it up to have a closer look, I thought did the bird even know it had lost a feather? Was losing a feather like losing some of your hair?
I have a lot of hair. That means strands of my hair are around my house, at work and probably that sidewalk. I do not notice most of the time when I lose a piece of hair. Does the bird live the same type of life? With no thoughts to where a feather might have gone missing?
Within a couple of minutes my spirit reminded me what God has said about our hair. 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 (NKJV).
That is amazing! My family, friends, neighbors and coworkers could not even guess how many hairs I have on my head. Even if one of them knew. How could you keep track of the number day in and day out?
I went on healthline.com just to get some basic numbers to help us out. We have about 100,000 hairs on our head on average. We lose about 50 to 100 hairs a day. About 90 percent of our hair is constantly growing each day. All this depends on sex, hair color, texture and follicles. This just gives us an average.
The Word of God speaking to us, tells us that someone knows how many hairs you have right now, today on the top of your head. The Lord loves you that much and has a profound interest in everything about you.
Maybe that bird has no idea it lost a feather. Maybe you have no idea that you left some of your hair on that chair you were sitting on an hour ago. The Lord took notice, when one hair fell from its place and no longer was a part of you. What amazing attention we have from our Father!
Lord thank you for noticing the big things in my life, but also the small things. Thank you that your attention is so focused on me, that you know if anything changes in me. I want to remember this act of love from you. I want to Praise you!
This is from the book Bold Love by Dr. Dan B. Allender & Dr. Tremper Longman III
The Apostle Paul does the same kind of paint job in the first three chapters of the book of Romans. Paul builds his case from the premise that we are all excuse makers. We believe that if our hearts were known, we would be found innocent. It seems so reasonable. Our thoughts run along this course, “If you only understood the unbelievable tough decisions I am called to make every day, you would not hold me accountable to make any more. Indeed, if you truly understood how hard I’ve labored to make any godly and honoring decision, you would get off my back. Even more, if you only understood how much I’ve been hurt, neglected, and abused, you would know that God requires little (or next to nothing) from me.”
God has promised to give you His strength. Don’t make excuses. Just love like you are suppose to do. Just believe that God knows what He is doing!
For it is written, He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee.
