Speaking the Language

Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.
Proverbs 4:7 KJV

Dr. Gary Chapman wrote a best-selling book titled, The 5 Love Languages. The description from the website about his book reads, "Of the countless ways we can show love to one another, five key categories, or five love languages, proved to be universal and comprehensive - everyone has a love language, and we all identify primarily with one of the five love languages:
Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch."

I'm not here to sell you the book, but to borrow from its premise that if we don't know the language, it's hard to make ourselves understood. If your love language is Receiving Gifts and all you're receiving is the language of Quality Time sans gifts, you're probably not very happy. Friends of mine (who are married to each other) experienced this in their marriage. He speaks Acts of Service - he would clean the house, cook dinner, wash laundry, etc, thinking all the while that he was being incredibly loving and romantic. However, she only hears Words of Affirmation. Her question while she sat in a spotless house was, "If he loves me, why doesn't he just say so?"

The Great News is that God speaks ALL languages. He created them AND you. And because God IS love, He can and will communicate with you in ANY love language and can receive your love back to Himself accordingly. No more excuses for not speaking with Him.

Prayer:

Father,
            Thank You for always providing exactly what we need, when we need it and where we need it. Help us to be fluent in our conversations with You and with others about You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Mandatory

This one was written by my pastor, Alan Neel.
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If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you. But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Matthew 6: 14-15

The Kingdom of God has a foundation based entirely upon love. In fact, Heaven is going to be a place eternally filled with love. So, any time we refuse to act in love and forgiveness, we are rejecting God’s Kingdom. Wow! That is startling, but true.

God’s great love that is expressed through grace and mercy should change our hearts to also express grace and mercy. Love is not selfish, love is always giving, that includes forgiveness.

LIVE, LOVE, FORGIVE! REPEAT!

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Prayer:

Father,

          Thank You for Your love and forgiveness. Forgive us for all the times we have not followed Your example. Give us Your strength to do so from now on. Father, give us clean hands and pure hearts so that we can properly portray You to a lost and dying world. Let them know we are Christians by the love we show and share. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

IT IS OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO BE HONEST & ALWAYS TELL THE TRUTH (My apologies...This Promise is for September 6, 2022... My mom asked if I could cover for her last night, I said of course, then proceeded to procrastinate, then completely forgot...)

Then David said to God, "I have sinned greatly and shouldn't have taken the census. Please forgive me for doing this foolish thing."

1Chronicles 21:8 NLT

It is better to be poor and honest than to be a fool and dishonest.

Proverbs 19:1 NLT 

And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. 

John 8:32 NLT

Have you ever put something off, saying to yourself, "I'll do it in a little bit", something that you know you should do immediately? How'd that work out for you? What happened? Let me guess; everything after your decision "to put it off, I'll get to it in a little bit" actually snowballed down a slippery slope to regret, disappointment, and tremendous guilt? Because the thing that you "put off" ended up never getting done at all. 

When this happens the best thing for you to do is to own up to your actions. Just simply tell the truth. Owning up to your mistake and telling the truth may not fix the problem or make people happy. What it will do is help alleviate the regret, disappointment, and tremendous guilt you've been carrying around. 

By making the right choices and decisions, by admitting when we're wrong, by always telling the truth we will be set free from all the burdens that come along with being disobedient/rebellious and dishonest, and lazy. 

Prayer:

Dear Heavenly Father, 

                                    We ask that You constantly guide us and help us to make the right choices and the right decisions. That You keep our hearts and minds free from sins of laziness. Only through Your Son, Jesus Christ, will we know the truth and be set free. For all this, we ask and pray, in Jesus' Name. Amen

Come In

Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us.
Ephesians 2:18 NLT

In order to fully understand this verse, we need to understand the significance of Matthew 27:51a, which tells what happened at the moment Jesus uttered, "It is finished." At that moment the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. 

That curtain (or veil) in the Temple separated mankind from the Holy of Holies - God's presence on Earth. Only the high priest was allowed past it one day a year - The Day of Atonement - and then only after very specific purification rituals. If he missed one or any part of them, he would die when he went past the curtain because sinful man could not stand in the presence of a most holy God. And just so you know, Gentiles (everyone else who isn't Jewish...) were NEVER allowed in.

The high priest's robe had bells on the hem and he went in with a rope attached to his ankle with the express purpose for those on the outside to know if he was alive to perform the atonement. If they could hear the bells tinkling, they knew he lived. If there was no sound, they would pull his dead body out of the Holy of Holies by the cord that was tied around his ankle. 

When Christ, God's perfect Sacrifice, shed His blood on the Cross and gave up His life for us, God tore the veil (from top to bottom) forever removing any semblance of separation from His presence. It should lend a whole new depth of understanding to Hebrews 4:16, So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

Yes, Now all of us can come to the Father through the same Holy Spirit because of what Christ has done for us. [emphasis mine]

Prayer:

Father, 

           Thank You for Your redeeming love that allows us to come boldly to Your throne. Give us a clear understanding of the overwhelming magnitude of Your love to provide access such as this. Help us to better be able to rightly divide Your Word. Holy Spirit, we ask You for wisdom and understanding. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

The Good Things

Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.
Ephesians 2:9-10 NLT

I believe when God created us in the womb, He had already planned the works that we would do for Him as new creations in Christ, and that He had planned the people whose paths would cross with ours.

As our Promise for Today declares, our salvation is not a reward for good things we have done. He had all these good things lined up for us once we would choose to believe. Salvation is God's gift to us. The Truth is that apart from Grace, we would not recognize the good things of God. But praise Him for the awesome opportunity to be partnered with Him in Christ to bless His body of believers!

Prayer:

Father,
           Thank You for saving us. Thank You for planning good things for us to do with You and for You. Give us even more spiritual insight so we don't miss doing one good thing! In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Indispensable

A final word: Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on all of God’s armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil.
Ephesians 6:10-11 NLT

Quick! What are your weapons? Can you identify all the pieces of your armor?

Were you able to do it? No, it's not a competition. It's a battle. And our weapons MUST be God-issued armor if we hope to survive. We cannot do this life without Christ and all the provision He has made for us. So let's go over our checklist. I'm going to use The Message because, in this passage, it reads more like a handbook, and we must wake up to the Truth about the battle that wages for our souls.

So take everything the Master has set out for you, well-made weapons of the best materials. And put them to use so you will be able to stand up to everything the Devil throws your way.

This is no afternoon athletic contest that we’ll walk away from and forget about in a couple of hours. This is for keeps, a life-or-death fight to the finish against the Devil and all his angels.

Be prepared. You’re up against far more than you can handle on your own. Take all the help you can get, every weapon God has issued, so that when it’s all over but the shouting you’ll still be on your feet.

Truth,
Righteousness,
Peace,
Faith, and
Salvation are more than words. Learn how to apply them. You’ll need them throughout your life.

God’s Word is an indispensable weapon.

In the same way, prayer is essential in this ongoing warfare.
Pray hard and long.
Pray for your brothers and sisters.
Keep your eyes open.
Keep each other’s spirits up so that no one falls behind or drops out. Ephesians 6:11-18 The Message

Other translations read, "Keep alert..." Are we doing that?

Prayer:

Father,
             We want to successfully fight the good fight! Not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart; as unto You, Lord. Give us Your Strength. Help us always to remember that it all comes from You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

The Right Influence

   It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. 

   It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ.

Ephesians 2:1-5a, The Message Bible

I don't think I've ever read this passage in The Message Bible before... The crystal-clear picture of Truth created by the bottom line turn of phrase is astounding to me! You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live [emphasis mine]. How often are choices made based on the criteria of what we see in the news, what we read, and what the latest influencer has to say? 

Hopefully, that's in the past. God has made us new creations in Christ. Our choices in life should be made in faith - the evidence of things we cannot see (Hebrews 11:1), what we read - namely the Word of God (any and every verse), and what the Greatest Influencer - the Holy Spirit - has to say. It is written in John 16:13 NKJV, However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 

Which criteria will you use for your choices?

Prayer:

Father, 

          Thank You for the gift of salvation and for Your grace by which we are saved. Thank You for Your mercies which are new every morning and Your great faithfulness toward us. Holy Spirit, guide us into ALL Truth. Father, let us be influenced only by what we hear and learn from You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen