Time For A Reset?

 

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit,and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”John 4:23-24 NIV Bible Gateway 

A new year is upon us a time for making resolutions or bucket list items you want to accomplish. Perhaps one of biggest is to allow your spiritual heart to be reset if you have left your first love Jesus Christ. 

One of my best experiences years ago was going to a New Year’s Eve watch night service where we prayed in the New Year. Kind of taking stock of the previous 364 days and deciding with God’s help what you want to do differently. Another great thing is a Day Alone With God otherwise known as a DAWG day where you go somewhere safe and away from home to alleviate distractions and just get quiet before God and Holy Spirit allowing you to hear from them. 

As you prepare to enter 2024 what do you need to lay on the altar before God? 

PRAYER: Help me as I seek to let junk from 2023 go and focus on a new year. Guide me to those who could use a prayer or a hug. Teach me to be still and change things up to get closer to you. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Toss The First Stone

Jesus straightened up and said to them, "Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her."John 8:7

It is so easy to judge and condemn and cast the first stone so to speak. Similarly to this account of Jesus telling those who caught a woman in act of adultery He says basically okay so if you are sin free go ahead and throw a rock at her.

None of us is without sin that is the point. Many people classify sin with the sexual ones being the ones they classify as worse but God still forgives a repentant heart no matter what. Repent means to ‘turn away’ and stop sinning.

Our nation needs great prayer as some sins have been justified by making laws that say they are okay. Only God makes those kind of decisions. We are to love one another and let the Holy Spirit do the convicting.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus forgive me when I have judged another and tried to puff myself up as righteous in the process. I know sin of any kind breaks your heart. Help me mind my own business and continue your pray. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Honoring Your Parents

 

Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you” Exodus 20:12, NIV

When you marry scripture says to ‘Leave and cleave‘ and a successful marriage requires that. It does not mean to forget your parents but to remember your allegiance is to your spouse.

Nowadays nursing homes or assisted living seem to be the way busy children take care of mom and dad in their later years of life. Not everyone does this but it seems to be almost a given that adult children don’t really want bothered with mom and dad so why not find ‘a place for mom’ as the TV commercial says. There are exceptions to situations such as when an elderly parent won’t move and the child can’t move there. This example not good for grandchildren.

“Well what if my parents were jerks and abused me then what?” Matthew 5:44 says “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you”. As you begin a new year making resolutions why not resolve if your parents are still alive to do something special for them.

PRAYER: I loved my mom and dad and I love my children and my grandchildren. I pray for those I know or don’t know with strained relationships whose heart aches almost daily. Give them peace. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Happily Ever After

Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.Hebrews 13:4

Today is our 46th wedding anniversary. Marriages take work. Many don’t realize that and bail out or have affairs or overspending and debt ruins marriage.Also drug or alcohol addiction is a killer of marriage too.  Remember it is the children who ultimately suffer. 

This devotion not meant to guilt you if your marriage or marriages did not work out but to let you know God heals wounds and broken hearts and other issues in life and sometimes he restores a broken marriage and the couple remarries. He offers restoration and forgiveness. 

Love and respect is what it takes. Kindness and putting the other first. Being honest, I certainly am not perfect and have much to learn. But marriages are to be celebrated. If you can have devotions together that probably would help too. Anyway man and woman are to put God in the center of the marriage and if they forget this element it is tragic for them and for any children they have. Run your race to win with your wife or husband along side you. 

PRAYER: Thank you for freedom and for the gift of marriage. Society tried to say marriage could be for same sex couples and we allowed it to be cemented into law. Forgive those who are confused or rebellious. Set their hearts free. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

NOTE-

The following is copied from Crosswalk. It helps me maybe will help you as well:

Father, help me to be the [husband/wife] you have intended me to be. Show me where I need to improve. Help me to be a better communicator, help me to love my [husband/wife] better, and help us both to grow closer to You and to each other. In Your presence, we renew our wholehearted choice to love. Bless this holy commitment with courage, strength, tenacity—and most of all joy! With You, we can build a successful marriage. In Your name, Amen.

Note- many never had a good example of a great marriage in their childhood. Ask God to help if this is your case. 

I Surrender All-Do You Really?

 

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 NIV Bible Gateway

Having coffee with a dear friend one day we were discussing the old hymn ‘I Surrender All’ and what the lyrics said and whether she and I really did surrender all or do we still hang on trying to make things work our way and not God’s. 

How about you? You can pray and pray but ultimately the test is letting go and letting God do a work like He promised. Let the Holy Spirit fill you in your quiet time as you allow Him to transform you from the inside out. 

Satan will do his utmost best to throw you into an emotional frenzy. Don’t allow him to manipulate you or your thinking because you are a child of the most High God. 

PRAYER: Father forgive me when I pray then start fretting and stewing over stuff. I hope in you and I know your ways are higher than mine. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

No Room In The Inn

 

And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.Luke 2:7

Almost all people are familiar with the Christmas story prior to Jesus’ birth Joseph could not find a place for he and Mary to stay as all the Inns in Bethlehem had no vacancy. Consequently they ended up in a stable with animals. 

What a place for a king to be born in the feeding trough for farm animals but that was the plan all along. When Innkeeper after Innkeeper told the couple there are no rooms there was no choice. 

How about you? Do you have ‘room’ in your heart for Christ or do you push Him into a back closet somewhere. Only you can answer that honestly. Maybe you know it is time to reconnect. Perhaps the Bible bothers you so you won’t even read it or maybe you don’t know where to start. My friend Jesus’ has not gone anywhere and He has room for you so why not make room for him. 

PRAYER: Christmas is a nice time of year but it is about so much more than what our culture tries to depict. Forgive me Lord if I ever have the wrong attitudes at Christmas. In Jesus’ name. Amen. 

Fruit Of Womb Is Blessed

“And she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”Luke 1:42

Merry Christmas everyone. I pray this day isn’t one you dread and if things don’t fall into the perfect Hallmark scenario you relax and can praise God. Today we celebrate a baby Christ Jesus who was born to die imagine that.

Mary’s womb was really blessed. She carried the Christ child. Imagine what must have been going through her head trying to understand all that transpired.

You may not be a Christ follower or think Christmas and Easter are the only days to really get ‘religious’ but why not try asking God to come and fill you and take away any doubts and fears or denominational hang ups and truly worship Him.

PRAYER: Lord I thank you for coming to earth as a baby and then saving us from our sins. Many still mock you today and I pray for hearts to be changed and the truth to set people free. In Jesus’ name. Amen.