Persuaded

...for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.
2nd Timothy 1:12c KJV

I am persuaded - other translations read "fully convinced" and I am - that God is everything He says He is. I am persuaded that truly His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are so far above our thoughts. 

Romans 4:20-21 - He [Abraham] staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that, what he [God] had promised, he [God] was able also to perform.

I am persuaded that God will give children and grandchildren that He has promised. I am also persuaded that He will do it His way and not ours. 

Romans 8:35-37 KJV 
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

I am persuaded that NOTHING comes against me without God's attention. 

Romans 8:38-39 KJV

For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I am also persuaded that EVERYTHING which comes against me will be used to develop Christ's character in me and make me fit for His purpose.

Hebrews 11:12-13 

Therefore sprang there even of one [Abraham], and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable.

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.

I am persuaded, fully convinced and confident that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ...

I am persuaded because I know whom I have believed...

Prayer:

Father,

         We pray Your Word - For this cause we bow our knees unto You, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named, That You would grant us, according to the riches of Your glory, to be strengthened with might by Your Spirit in the inner man; That Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith; that we, being rooted and grounded in love, May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that we might be filled with all the fullness of God. Now unto You, O Lord, who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to Your power that worketh in us, Unto You be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

Changed Into His Image

But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
2nd Corinthians 3:18

The old hymn resounds in my spirit today. Written by Thomas Chisholm and William Kirkpatrick and published 120 years ago. The Truth remains, constant and unchanging, and ever our prayer.

Oh! to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer,  This is my constant longing and prayer;
Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures, Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear. 

Oh! to be like Thee, full of compassion, Loving, forgiving, tender and kind,
Helping the helpless, cheering the fainting, Seeking the wand’ring sinner to find. 

Oh! to be like Thee, lowly in spirit, Holy and harmless, patient and brave;
Meekly enduring cruel reproaches, Willing to suffer, others to save. 

Oh! to be like Thee, Lord, I am coming, Now to receive th’ anointing divine;
All that I am and have I am bringing, Lord, from this moment all shall be Thine. 

Oh! to be like Thee, while I am pleading, Pour out Thy Spirit, fill with Thy love,
Make me a temple meet for Thy dwelling, Fit me for life and Heaven above.

Prayer:

Father,
           We pray those precious words from the Refrain - Oh! to be like Thee, oh! to be like Thee,
Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art; Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness; Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Finding the Right Rhythm

If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ.
1st Peter 4:11b NIV

More Pearls of Wisdom from my sister, after the weekend conference in Tampa.

The older I get, the more I realize that I am meant to serve, there is no greater joy in life for me (other than singing in a praise choir!!).  I don't get as excited like other women with buying new clothes, shoes, purses, jewelry, etc... My joy is if I can help someone who is down and out physically or emotionally, it's like it lifts a burden off of me. I feel lighter by making someone else's load lighter. I am glad God has given me the physical strength to continue to help others, although I am very aware of the fact that I'm not as strong as I used to be. It's a very humbling experience to ask others to lift something for me... that's foreign territory for me.

Natalie Grant shared something at the conference that really stuck with me.  She talked about how we are always comparing ourselves to one another. She reminded us that we all have our own rhythm; that I'm not going to be as fast as someone else in something because God gave me my own pace. 

What does it matter if someone else can read 5 chapters and pray 2 hours a day? We each have our own rhythm; mine is not the same as yours. I liken it to the verse that states we all have our own gifts - embrace them. Mine is serving, someone else might be a great cook, someone else a terrific hairstylist, composer, teacher, mom, exhorter, etc. Different people have different gifts/ rhythms -  whatever you want to call them - we just need to use them to help someone else. You may never know how much they need it. 

Prayer:

Father,
           Thank You for Your Word. Thank You for giving gifts and talents to others and giving them a heart to share with the rest of the Body of Christ. Thank You for enriching our lives with those around us. Help us to focus on the good. Help us to look for and SEE the best in those You are using to color our lives. Help us to bring beautiful color into their world by using the gifts in the rhythm You have given us. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

Detrimental and Dangerous

For the word of God is alive and powerful.
Hebrews 4:12a NLT

I love when we get confirmation of what God is speaking to His people from several different sources. Saturday, I wrote about being intentional when it came to being in God's Word and in relationship with Him. Yesterday, my pastor's wife taught about being in God's Word and how we treat our relationship with God. Today, my sister sent me an email about the conference she was part of this weekend. She wrote,

"My mind and emotions have been everywhere the last few weeks, feeling blessed to be at a job I love to the other extreme of what difference am I really making in this world. You know those kind of days? And then I realized over the weekend that the correlation of feeling like a failure is directly related to not spending enough time in the Word. Not rocket science....oh the busyness of our lives....crazy."

My pastor's wife always says we make time for what we want to do in life. And it's true. Besides work and all the things we have to do, we still will make time to binge-watch our favorite show or Netflix or Hallmark Christmas movies. Maybe you're a gamer. I know I can get caught up in the competition of wanting to win, and can "one more" myself into past my bedtime. 

Hear me, I'm not saying it's wrong to watch your favorite show or Christmas movies or to play a game. I AM saying it's detrimental and dangerous to do that to the exclusion of spending time in God's presence and in His Word. One GIVES life, the others are only imitations of life.

Prayer:

Father,
           We know Your Word is alive and powerful. As we read it and take it in, let it cut between our soul and spirit and divide between joint and marrow. Expose our innermost thoughts and desires so that we are accountable to You and can ask forgiveness for anything that is in opposition to clean hands and a pure heart before You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen 

Compelled to Re-Post

They All Heard

[Jesus speaking] 
Now my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, ‘Father, save me from this hour’? But this is the very reason I came! Father, bring glory to your name.

Then a voice spoke from heaven, saying, “I have already brought glory to my name, and I will do so again.” When the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder, while others declared an angel had spoken to him. Then Jesus told them, “The voice was for your benefit, not mine."
John 12:27-30 NLT

Jesus knew He was going to be crucified. He had time to think about it. He knew what was coming. How? Because He knew the voice of God. He was "deeply troubled" and yet He prayed for God to be glorified by His willing obedience. Why? Again, because He knew the voice of God! He wasn't wondering IF it was God or if it was God's will, He KNEW. 

Do we spend enough time with God to know His voice? The thing about this particular passage is they ALL heard the voice of God, but how many recognized it? Some thought it was thunder...

The question on my mind is 'How often do we pray to be delivered from the very thing that serves God's purpose?' What if - in the midst of the trial - our path crosses with someone who never met Christ? Someone we would never have met otherwise. Would they want to know our Lord and Savior because of how we respond to Him in the middle of our affliction or would they give us a 'No, thanks'?

The writer of Proverbs tells us, Ears to hear and eyes to see— both are gifts from the Lord (Proverbs 20:12 NLT).

Prayer:

Father,
           Of all Your many blessings that You bestow on us, please, God, give us ears to hear and eyes to see. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

* Intentionally

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.
2nd Timothy 3:16-17 NLT

There are things we do without even thinking about it. Things that are necessary to stay alive. We breathe, we eat (although that might take some thought). We hydrate. We practice good hygiene. We sleep (and that might take some absence of thought). Some things, by the Grace of God, our bodies do for us. Our heart pumps the blood through our veins; liver, lungs, kidneys do their job. We blink without thinking.

However, we don't live our lives by rote. We are intentional about going to work. We have to be intentional about our relationships. We have to be intentional about taking care of the business of our lives.

We have to be intentional about walk with the Lord. We have to be intentional about our relationship with Him - talking to Him, listening to Him, praising Him, spending time in His presence, reading His Word... Not just on the day(s) we go to church. We can't survive, thrive or stay fully alive on once or twice a week.

Reading the Word of God is not just about information; it's about transformation. It's about teaching us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

Let's do it intentionally.

Prayer:

Father,
            Thank You for giving us Your Living Word so we can fulfill Your purpose for our lives - to do every good work. Teach us, O God. Open our minds to understand. Give us wisdom, Father, and birth in us a renewed desire for more of You. In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen

As Usual

Then Jesus left Capernaum and went down to the region of Judea and into the area east of the Jordan River. Once again crowds gathered around him, and as usual he was teaching them.
Mark 10:1 NLT

How many times have you mentioned someone in conversation to a mutual friend and said, "As usual, she was doing exactly what you'd expect her to be doing." Or something like, "As usual, he was sleeping (or hunting or something else)."

We tend to identify people by things just like that. "She's always got a smile." "He's always willing to lend a hand." "He's a good ol' boy - he'll help anybody." "She's just grumpy - that's how she is." "As usual, she's/he's too busy..."

I keep thinking about the line in the old song, ♪♫ Everywhere that Jesus went, He was doing good. Gave beatitudes, helped the multitudes, everywhere He could...♪♫  

Heart check. What's our 'as usual'? Does it reflect Christ and the work He's wrought in us? Or is it just life as usual...

Prayer:

Father,
          Open our eyes to our own 'as usual.' If it does not reflect Your character, change our hearts, O God! In Jesus' Name we pray. Amen