Notes In The Bible

"A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children.” Proverbs 13:22(NKJV)

I have a good friend in Arizona whose mom recently went to Heaven and she was going through her Bible and found all sorts of treasures and little notes that made her heart very glad. At a time she was mourning these 'treasures' brought her great joy. 

If you were to die today is there any sort of spiritual legacy left behind in your Bible or Bibles? Your Bible is meant to be used not just as a coffee table ornament or dust catcher. It is packed full of wisdom to get your through life. There is more to life than just waking up, going to work, hanging with friends and having fun on weekends. Is Jesus part of your life and how big a part? Ponder that for a moment. 

Only the Holy Spirit can draw you. I remember when the 'lights came on' for me back on 19 March 1975 and I became born again. At that point in time I thirsted for God's word. Things happened along the way but thankfully I am on track now. If you don't have a thirst for Jesus why not? If you were to die today would a spiritual legacy be left for your family and children to make them smile? 

PRAYER: How I love you Lord and my heart aches for those who have no relationship with you other than saying they are a Christian. I pray for those I know and am close to to fall in love with you. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Blowing Stuff Off

Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. Ephesians 4:31-32

There are many things in life that can get your 'feathers ruffled' so to speak. Many of them aren't worth getting angry over. One example is in this day of people looking for electric outlets such as in airports and coffee shops, occasionally you run into a 'plug hog'. If you do you could kindly ask "may I use one of those since you have two" or let it go. This is one example of a minor irritation.

You have to choose your battles and many things that happen are very small in the big scheme of things. For instance, on the day I noticed my car got keyed I was surprisingly not that upset. I felt sorry for the person who stooped to such a low level to vandalize my vehicle.

Staying  peaceful when your human nature would rather you explode and cause a scene, not only is it better for your over all well being, but for your walk with the Lord. When you name the name of Jesus people are watching you. Got a Christian sticker on the car? Slow down. Wearing a Christian tee shirt? Smile and be polite. Going to court to sue? Reconsider.  You get the picture. So now go out today with joy and peace and love life!

PRAYER: Most gracious Lord thank you that through you I can have true peace. Help me let go of minor irritations and seek things that are 'above'. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Babble On

He must become greater; I must become less." John 3:30

I am sure many of you have heard of the Tower of Babel in the Old Testament(See Genesis 11) about when mankind got too high and mighty and thought they did not need God. He therefore confused their languages so they could not try to become greater than God. I was thinking of that recently as I said something to a family at a table next to me at a local establishment and was looked at with perplexed stares. I realized they spoke Chinese or a similar dialect. I just smiled. We are a world of different languages now mostly English being the universal one. 

God is pretty clear that we are not to exalt ourselves over Him. Many instances in scripture speak of that fact. My verse for today is simple in that it says God must be greater. That is a tall order in the selfie obsessed society we live in. Dying to self is a foreign concept to many. It's all about me, me, me!

When you 'babble on' in your day to day comings and goings do you ever even think of talking about the wonderful works of the Lord or stop to ponder His greatness. Many are caught up in babbling about their activities, their achievements, their jobs, and a host of other things not that that is bad but the point being is God gave you a voice. Do you ever stop and praise Him with it? 

PRAYER: Lord I say I love you and say you are first but then do I follow through with my actions? Forgive me for being a Christian in name only. Help me use the voice you gave me to lift your name on high! In Jesus' name. Amen.

Click on link below for a song of praise and thanksgiving:

https://youtu.be/c12Ta6_WJrw

Sent from my iPad

Freedom

Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 2 Corinthians 3:17

I absolutely love the 4th of July and things I have done on this special holiday with family and friends are seared in my memory. What a glorious time to think about what freedom is and what it means to you. As a military veteran this holiday is all about the feeling I get when I see The American flag.

Freedom is a gift from God. God never intended us to live in tyranny being dominated by our fellow man but to enjoy the free gifts and wonderful democracy He has blessed us with. There are readers from other nations some of which are free and some of which are ruled under a strong fist. My heart goes out to those who are dominated by evil rulers. If we in the US are not vigilant it could happen to us and it just about did under what is known as soft tyranny. 

Satan prowls around like a roaring lion and Satan does not like freedom. He does not like it when we love God. He does not like it when we resist him full of faith. We are not ignorant of his devices. Look at North Korea and the evil domination they are under. Brother and sisters in the US stand firm to defend your liberty and the freedoms we have from God. 

PRAYER: I am so thankful for freedom and for being a citizen of these United States. I am thankful this country was founded to uphold Biblical principles even though there have been many who have tried to remove you from our country. I pray for those whose hearts are filled with evil and hate, trying to destroy liberty. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Is Your Mind Set? What On?

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Philippians  4:8

Today I want you to think about what you think about. You may have goals you want to accomplish or stuff you need to be disciplined to do in your daily life. Part of that could be exercise to keep the temple of God, aka your body, in shape. Maybe it is a daily time alone with God. Too much gets in the way and usually Bible reading and prayer take a back seat. Perhaps a task around your home you need to finish. Whatever it is it is necessary in order to gain success to 'set your mind' kind of like how Jello is watery until it 'sets up' under refrigeration. 

An undisciplined mind is on the road for trouble. You have to stay focused. You intentionally have to not let wrong thoughts into your head. It may mean turning off TV. Putting down certain reading material. Choosing different friends. Whatever you need to do the goal is to set your mind on things above or on Christ. Kind of hard to do if your Bible is either gathering dust or worse yet, you don't own one or can't find the one you do own. There are many good Bibles and versions out there. I personally like the Life Application Bible in NEw International Version.

Maybe it is time to take a serious look at your schedule and decide you will intentionally focus your mind on good and positive things and get back to loving the Lord or start loving Him if you never really did. 

PRAYER: I love you Lord. I don't like to get wrong junk in my head and I know I need to be on constantly aware of the things I think on. I choose to start feeding my mind daily with scripture and not allow the enemy to keep me from it. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Cold Shoulder

Cold Shoulder 

But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. Luke 6:27-28

I get the titles for my devotions from the oddest, most unlikely sources and this one is not an exception. On a recent visit for physical therapy on my left shoulder I got to experience the ice machine for the first time. I think it is called 'In The Game' or something like that. It was marvelous. It is the only 'cold shoulder' you should ever want. 

Generally speaking you have no right as a believer to give the proverbial 'cold shoulder' to anyone, that's right, anyone. You don't have to agree with everyone but you should still love them and pray for them and pray for open doors to minister. 

Many people may rub you the wrong way or be ugly or hateful but ask The Holy Spirit to help you love them. Maybe they are having a hard time with you as well. Let your smile and love radiate throughout your world to Muslims and other Godless religions, shave heads, tattoo queens, body pierced people, prisoners, homosexuals, the homeless person on a park bench, the pregnant unmarried teen,  or the foreigner. Don't get all high and mighty. Find ways to reach out if you can either emotionally, physically, or financially. But don't forget to tell them who you work for! JESUS!

PRAYER: Oh Lord I have been at fault at looking at others and judging them. That is totally wrong and goes against everything you stand for. Help me show unconditional love to others. In Jesus' name. Amen.

Click link for a song to go along with this devotion:

https://youtu.be/BY6VAy9y_iQ

The Whole World In His Hands

“Ah, Sovereign Lord, you have made the heavens and the earth by your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too hard for you." Jeremiah 32:17

As a child I grew up singing 'He's Got The Whole World In His Hands' but often as hardened adults we forget that tune and medley and forget what it means. I was in DC the day of the baseball field shooting on 14 June 17 and on the way home from the airport that evening was praying on the phone with the Capitol Hill Prayer Partners 24/7 free conference  call line.

Not sure who on the line mentioned this but indeed God does have the whole world in His hands from the little bitty baby to the housewife and her family and everyone in between. That day the prayer was God had these shooting victims in His hand as well. 

It made me think about prayers for those I frequently lift up in prayer mainly in my family and I visualized God's big powerful hand holding each of them and  not letting them fall. Even though people may not acknowledge Him, or be angry at Him,  or falling into purposeful sin, have hatred for politicians, are angry all the time, God still loves them and has not dropped them, so you don't either!

Keep praying my friend!

PRAYER: I know Lord you have my back so to speak and I know you have the backs of those I pray for. This doesn't mean everything happens like I want it to or on my timetable but you make a way. In Jesus' name. Amen.

NOTE: I urge you to call the free conference call line any time day or night to lift up this country, its' states, and its' leaders in prayer. The line has a moderator who guides the prayer at top of each hour. Sometimes there is singing or the blowing of the Shofar. It is so uplifting. The number is 712-770-4340. Once connected after the prompt enter 543555# and then mute your phone by pressing *6. That is all there is to it. I hope you will at least try it once. It is great to put on speaker phone while you are driving. To God Be The Glory!