Mark 13:5 – “Be careful that no man deceive you…”

There is an inescapable truth that we must adhere to if we are going to avoid deception. We must have a personal relationship with God.

The same thing is revealed and repeated at the close of the Book of Joshua and the beginning of Judges. In Joshua 24:31 and Judges 2:7, we read that Israel served God as long as Joshua and the elders who had seen God’s works lived. When the eyewitnesses died, faith and faithfulness died, too. Judges 2:19 tells us that when the judges died, Israel became even more corrupt.  A personal relationship is the key to faithfulness and victory.

Without a deep, abiding personal relationship with God, we are easy targets for deception. Deception caters to the flesh, the person’s desires, the need for ease, and the absolving of responsibility. When we know God personally and intimately, we know the real, the imitation, and the counterfeit are readily recognized.  Christianity is not easy Unless we live in the fullness of Christ in us and Oneness with Him, abiding in the vine.

Too often, Christians live theoretical lives rather than lives of practical application of God’s principles and promises.

• We believe the Bible is God’s Word but find it challenging to make it practicable in everyday life. 
• We believe in salvation, but even that is futuristic.  
• We live with doubt and uncertainty because we do not know God intimately and personally.  
• We know about Him, and His Promises are theoretical or futuristic or for super saints.

If we know Him intimately, we know He does not Lie!   We live in union with the impossible being possible All the Time!   We cannot depend on what someone else saw, heard, or experienced.  It is Individual and Personal.

God invites us to an in-depth personal relationship.   Make Him most important and refuse to doubt.  He is I AM!  His life is your life.  Be the one who keeps faith alive for others so they can keep faith alive after you.  Christ is IN us, and we are ONE with Him.  Let us live like He is truthful because He is!

Your victory is today.   You in Him, and He in you is to live above the Impossible!

Luke 6:38 – “Give, and IT will be given to you.  They will pour into your lap a good measure – pressed down, shaken together, running over.  For by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you in return.”  LSB

This is the day the LORD has made, and it is filled with possibilities!  Rejoice and seize the day!  What I want to focus on today is that each of us is planting a crop that will be harvested in the days to come. 

There will be a harvest because each day, we are sowing seeds that will come to fruition.  Some live in turmoil because they have sown their wild oats and are now faced with praying for crop failure!    Instead, we should be sowing for the harvest we want.

We tend to forget that our yesterdays are when we sowed the seeds that are producing the harvest today.  The Lord reminded me of something I wrote nearly 25 years ago as I contemplated life, sowing, and reaping when I considered living the abundant life that Jesus came to give.

Yesterdays

Sometimes, we mortals seem to forget,

Each day is filled with things which tomorrow we may regret.

Our yesterdays with memories are filled.

Some make us sad, and with others, we are thrilled.

But once the day is over, all its hours are spent.

We sometimes look back with regret at the message we have sent.

Our yesterdays are filled with decisions which daily we have made.

There we incurred debts which in our tomorrows must be paid.

If we remember each passing day,

That harvest time for this hour we will face along life’s way.

Daily, we should live with this thought in mind.

The Fruit of what we plant today, tomorrow we shall find.

We should live each day knowing that the Law of Sowing and Reaping never fails.  Luke 6:38 is our foundation.

A key to remember is the little word “IT.”  What we give, we get.  We do not sow tomatoes and get watermelons.  We will not reap wheat and corn if we sow thistles and thorns.  If we sow hate, we will not reap love. If we sow compassion, we will reap compassion. 

What is your greatest need and the greatest need of those around you?  Sow to it!   God desires to bless us and enrich our lives.  He wants us to have harvests that are beneficial and abundant with blessings, not filled with sorrow, pain, and defeat.

My prayer for each one is that the LORD will enable us to sow to the Harvest We Desire!   May He bless each one abundantly, guide and guard us, enabling us to see His Kingdom come and His will done on Earth as it is done in Heaven! 

Today would be a great day to begin sowing kindness, love, mercy, goodness, and help where help is needed. 

That is a harvest we could all stand more of!  Have a fantastic day!

2 Timothy 4:7 – “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word, something exploded in my heart – -Persistent Commitment.

• Ruth made that commitment to Naomi.  (Ruth 1:16-17)

• Hannah made that commitment in 1 Samuel 1:11, Hannah made that commitment, and Samuel was given to God and became Israel’s major prophet.

• The woman who touched Jesus’ garment in Luke 8 evidenced that commitment with her persistence.

• In Luke 5:37-39, Jesus expresses that requirement.  Persistent Commitment! 

Growth in God and His Grace demands persistent commitment.   If we want the newness of God’s wine, we must have our wineskins transformed.   Our minds must be reprogrammed and become pliable.  We like comfort zones.  When we taste God’s Grace in salvation, we are satisfied, but if we want God’s fullness, we must be transformed. 

Persistent Commitment propels us into His presence and releases His power and revelation.  We cannot be complacent but persistent.  Determine that nothing short of fullness is acceptable.  

• Daily seek Him.
• Daily surrender everything to Him.
• Daily expect to hear Him.
• Daily receive from Him.

We give out what we have in us.   Through Persistent Commitment, we press into Him and become manifestations of Him to the world.  We fulfill His commission and become all He created and called us to be.

Today, let each of us determine that we are going to make a Persistent Commitment and watch what He does.  

This is your day.  Rejoice, be glad, and have a fantastic day!

Proverbs 16:18-19 – “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.  19 It is better to be humble in spirit with the lowly than to divide the spoil with the proud.”

Humility and Pride are diametrically opposite.  One is healthy, the other destructive.  One leads to fullness, the other to emptiness.  One leads to success, the other to failure.  Have you guessed which one?  If you haven’t, I will let you muse on it a bit.

When Samuel informed Saul that God was taking the kingdom away from him and giving it to someone after His heart, he said, “When you were little in your own eyes…”  The Bible does not teach unhealthy self-rejection but the proper association of who we are and on whom we are to be dependent. 

Saul went from being humble to arrogant and proud.  He transitioned from being dependent upon God and recognizing his own insufficiency to becoming self-sufficient.  He transitioned into a person whose promotion produced a sense of entitlement and b brought about his destruction. 

Americans are known for being independent and proud.  That is okay as long as we never forget upon whom we depend and take pride in what He has done and enabled us to do, not proud and arrogant. 

• The humble seek God’s help to better others. 
• The proud envision themselves as the most important and often demand that others recognize them, praise them, and grovel at their feet. 

It is, “Look what I have done.”  That is the view of their heart and often their mouths.  They forget that every gift is from God, and none of us have anything that was not the result of His grace and mercy. 

Today, as we reflect on God’s Greatness and Goodness.  Reflect on His Blessings and be Thankful.  We have what we have by the grace of God.  In Him, we have ALL THINGS, and without Him, we have NOTHING!

My Prayer: 

“Thank You, LORD, for Your goodness to us.  I ask that You bless each of my friends and keep them safe.  I ask that You provide for them whatever they need and enable them to achieve the dreams, desires, and goals You have put in their hearts and minds.  I ask that You make this day a day of rejoicing for each of us!  Amen!”

Have a Great Day!

Luke 18:40-41 – “Suddenly Jesus stopped and directed those nearby, “Bring the man over to me.” When they brought him before Jesus, he asked the man, ⁴¹ “What do you want me to do for you?” “Master,” he said, “please, I want to see.”

The question Jesus asked Bartimaeus is ringing in my heart.  The account found in Luke 18:35- 43 is powerful and revelatory.   

• The blind man heard that Jesus was near.   
• He acted upon what he heard and cried out to Jesus for mercy. 
• He did not specify what he desired, only mercy. 

Sometimes, we are so focused on what we want that we fail to focus on Him.  In His presence is fullness of Joy!

Those around Bartimaeus tried to silence him, but he persisted. Jesus heard him and stood still. Imagine that! Our prayers got Jesus’ attention and caused Him to stand still. Wow, think about that! Jesus was moved by our cries for help!

Jesus called him over and asked a question that He is asking us today.   (V.41) – “What do you wish Me to do for you?”

Specificity is needed.  What did He want?  What was the most important to him at that moment?  Jesus saw he was blind but ignored the obvious and asked, “What do you want me to do for you?”  That is the question for each of us today, “What do you truly want from Jesus?”    Do not break out a shopping list; just the most important thing right now.   The blind man said, “That I may see.”  The request was simple and specific!

Consider the progression of things with him:

• He heard that Jesus was passing by.
• He took action and prayed.
• He responded to the Lord’s call.
• He received.  

He asked with specificity and expectancy, and he received.

Today, Jesus asks, “What do you want Me to do for you?”   Do you believe?  All things are possible to those who believe.

• It is necessary that we answer His question.  
• It is essential for us to be specific and expectant. 

He does not ask rhetorically but with the intent and desire to answer.

Can you Hear Him?  Then, ask for what you truly desire or need.  Receive from Him that which He offers.   Remember that Jesus said that all He has is ours and wants us to have what we need.

Be specific and bold.  He has invited us to come and call upon Him!