Tag: gods plan

The Great Eight

Today’s reading is Romans 8 which is often referred to as “The Great Eight.” This chapter is so full of rich content which we can apply to our lives daily that I think one could preach or write on it for a year if they wanted. With that in mind, we will just focus on a few verses.

Romans 8:31 reads…

“What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?”

There may not be a more profound verse in the Bible which can change the way we live our lives and handle fears, worries, anxieties, and doubts about the future. We spend much of our lives stressed wondering about the future and what it holds. Will the medical test I just had (or my family member) come back positive? Will I get in the school I want or which one should I choose? Will I have enough money to pay for college? Will I have enough money to pay my bills and buy groceries? Will I have enough money to retire when I want and live the way I want? Is my job safe or could I lose it? Have I prepared my child for their future as an adult? Will they choose the best spouse for them? I could go on and on…

These worries, fears, and doubts we have about the future are natural and normal. Some of the things we spend time stressing over are very serious which could cause us or our family a lot of challenges and pain in the short or long-term… and other are “first world” problems we’ve often created for ourselves as my brother likes to say and keep in perspective. Either way, if we can trust that God is always, and I mean always, for us and in our corner…it changes everything. How do we know this? Romans 8:32 says because He gave us His own Son’s life on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins!

Most of us have probably heard the saying, “Father knows best.” As an earthly father myself, I can say there is no way I can be certain about that 100% of the time. But, we can be certain this is true with our Heavenly Father all the time. And not only does He know the best for us and our future, but He holds controls it!

If we believe this and know this, along with Romans 8:28 which says He’s working all things out for the good for those who love Him, it can and should change the way we live our lives. We still don’t have to like pain, problems, or challenges that will happen on this side of eternity, but knowing and trusting in these truths of His love and His best plan for our lives in Roman 8 should change the way we live to do so with a joy and peace that inspires others to trust and follow Him as well.

 

 

You Think You Know..

Today’s readings are Job 4-7, Psalm 99, and Revelation 11.

What is your reaction or response when something bad or challenging happens in your life? What about when something bad happens in the lives of others? In the book of Job we see God allowing Satan to do harmful things to Job. There is no question that God allows Satan to do bad things in our world..just look around. I believe it is wise for us to reflect when challenges happen in our own lives to see what God may be doing and why He may be allowing this to happen. What is He wanting me to learn from this? Might this ‘bad’ thing actually be good in the end? Could He be using this to bring me closer to Him? Yesterday, we celebrated the birth of His Son Jesus and about 30 years later God allowed Him to be crucified while His Mother Mary and friends watched. This was the worst thing that ever happened in the history of the world..the only truly fully innocent man who ever lived suffering and dying a horrific death on the cross. Yet, God used that terrible event by turning it into the greatest event in the history of the world by saving us from our sins and giving us eternal life through it when Jesus rose from the grave 3 days later. Could God be using this ‘bad’ thing in my life to show me His power, glory, and might in the end?

Reflecting on what God may doing in our lives and the world to bring us closer to Him can be a good thing. But in the book for Job we see Job’s friends Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar discussing why God may be letting bad things happen to Job. Specifically in Job 4 today we read about how Eliphaz says the innocent prosper. Some years ago in my younger years there was a TV show about celebrities and their lives where the introduction said, “You think you know..but you have no idea.” A past Bible Journal writer used to write from time to time that she had a friend and accountability partner who helped remind each other to “stay in your lane.” We must be careful when looking too much into why God is allowing certain things to happen in the lives of others. This can turn our hearts and minds into becoming judgmental or even cause us to gossip as we share why we think God may be allowing things to happen to them.

I can find myself guilty of my mind going in this direction and unfortunately sharing with others, too.

Check out Psalm 99 which is a great reminder God rules over all. We may not know why, but He does.

Let us give it all to and trust in Him both in our lives and in what He may be doing in the lives of others.

Psalm 99

1 The Lord reigns,
let the nations tremble;
he sits enthroned between the cherubim,
let the earth shake.
2 Great is the Lord in Zion;
he is exalted over all the nations.
3 Let them praise your great and awesome name—
he is holy.

4 The King is mighty, he loves justice—
you have established equity;
in Jacob you have done
what is just and right.
5 Exalt the Lord our God
and worship at his footstool;
he is holy.

Through It All…

Today’s readings are Esther 1-2, Psalm 139, and Revelation 1.

Have you ever read the book of Esther or even if you have, has it been a while?

I would encourage you to read it or read it again. With many stories from the Bible being made into movies in recent years, I’m surprised this has not been done yet with the book of Esther. When you hear people say the Bible is boring, it is clear they have not read much of because books like Esther could be a best seller in and of itself or made into a hit movie.

I don’t want to give away the entire book of Esther as a part of my post, but you can read today where we learn of some of the key events already..

  • King Ahasuerus of Persia/ Babylon removes Queen Vasthi from her role for lack of respect
  • Both of Esther’s parents pass away
  • Mordecai, a Jewish captive in Babylon, agrees to raise and look out for Esther who was his uncle’s daughter
  • Esther rises to become Queen while keeping hidden her Jewish lineage
  • Mordecai overhears of a plot to kill King Ahasuerus and because Esther had risen to Queen, he is able to tell her to save King Ahasuerus’ life

Some of these bullet points are easy to breeze by here, and even while reading it in your Bible, but take a few moments to think about the following…

  • The pain Esther must have felt losing her parents at a young age wondering what the future would bring and possibly for while who would care for her
  • Being in Mordecai’s shoes and all the sudden you have the responsibility of taking care of girl who is not yours which you probably never planned on
  • The drama of Esther keeping hidden her Jewish lineage while rising to Queen and wondering if discovery would lead to her not attaining or losing her role as Queen, but also if it could also mean death
  • Mordecai wondering the validity and seriousness of what he had heard and if it should be told which could also put his life at risk from those who were already willing to kill the king…especially if it wasn’t believed or not able to be proven to be true
  • No recognition or “atta boy’s” for Mordecai saving the King’s life by foiling the plot to kill him

This is just the beginning in Esther.

As you read these chapters in Esther and the entire book, reflect on God’s continued protection for His Jewish people through these events which lead to the birth our Savior Jesus and how He still is protecting them today thousands of years later so what we read in Revelation will occur.

Finally, overlay the events of my above highlights and the rest of the book of Esther with your life and also Psalm 139.  How can you relate with what you have experienced? Could God have things planned after and through a challenging and even terrible situation which you have no idea about? (Ephesians 3:20)

He is there through it all. He always has been and always will be.

Continue reading Through It All…

Leadership Lessons From Joab

Today’s readings are 2 Samuel 9-10, 1 Chronicles 18-19, Psalm 89, and Acts 26.

Both 2 Samuel 10 and 1 Chronicles 19 tell the story of David’s army defeating the Ammonites and the Syrians who joined forces. In both places we are told Joab, the leader of David’s army, came up with a strategy to split up, allowing his brother Abishai to lead a group with him leading the other still so that one group could help the other if they were in trouble. After gathering everyone and delivering the strategy, he told everyone the following in both passages which I will quote directly from 2 Samuel 10:12…

“Be strong, and let us use our strength for our people and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to Him.”

We can learn some great leadership lessons from Joab in both 2 Samuel 10 and 1 Chronicles 19 through this story.

  • You may be a good leader and great at what you do, maybe the best…but we must develop and trust in others, as well as delegate, to maximize our impact and what God will do through us to accomplish His will. We saw this through Joab allowing the army to split up and letting his brother Abishai lead the other group.
  • To lead others, we must have a strong “why” or purpose and communicate it to others with the potential to inspire them to potentially use it as theirs, too. Joab communicated the battle they were fighting was for their people and for the cities of God.
  • Have confidence. One of my past business coaches, Jason Selk, always said, “Confidence is the number one variable in success.” I can almost hear the confidence and conviction in Joab’s voice as he tells them to “Be strong..” Do you lack confidence? I do sometimes. A recent Tim Tebow book I read discussed having “God confidence.” As a believer in Jesus, your confidence is not in yourself, but what God can do through you. Check out Ephesians 3:20-21. It’s not what I can do, but what God can do through me. And that is more than I can ask or even imagine. I guess you could say these have become my life verse(s) in some way.
  • Joab gives it to God and ask that His will be done. I’ve also heard it said, “All we can do is to do our best, and let God take care of the rest.” As a Christ follower, it’s ok to ask for what we want..the Bible tells us that (Matthew 7:7-12). However, at the end of the day what should be most important to us is that His purpose is accomplished and that He is glorified which sometimes may come through our defeats and not through what we want occuring. We trust in God and that He will work good for whatever happens (Romans 8:28).

I pray we can apply these lessons from Joab in our lives which will allow God to be glorified through us and through all that we do.

 

Where is Your “Prison?”

Today’s readings are 1 Samuel 23-24, 1 Chronicles 6, Psalm 54, and Acts 16.

Have you have had a dream or felt God lay it on your heart to do something specific and make a big change or take a big step in your life? Did you take that step only to find out things didn’t pan out like you expected? Maybe you moved to a new city to take a different job and then shortly thereafter you were laid off, or maybe you took the risk to start your own business…only to have the business not succeed. We may not have all had a dream or heard the audible voice of God tell us to do something but most of us have probably prayed about something or done something that just felt right only to have it not work out the way we thought it was intended. Here in Acts 16, we read about the same thing happening to the apostle Paul.

Paul had a dream telling him to go to Macedonia (Acts 16:6-10). His traveling there seemed to make sense at first as shortly after arriving in one of Macedonia’s leading cities, Philippi, we are told on possibly the first Sabbath there, he was preaching to many women and a woman named Lydia was baptized (Acts 16:11-15). Can we relate to this feeling of things falling into place quickly when we take a risk, and we grow confident that we were correct in our interpretation of God’s prompting and plan for us with this being affirmation? However, things changed quickly for Paul and his preaching friend Silas. A slave girl who had to gift of divination and fortune telling followed them everywhere and was yelling continuously in support of them to the point that it was possibly a hindrance and Paul being annoyed commanded it to come out of her (Acts 16:16-18).  Now that her “gift” was gone, she was of no value financially to her owners and they were so upset that they had Paul and Silas beaten and thrown into prison (Acts 16:19-24).

At this point, what would you be thinking? For one, I would likely be scared. They were just beaten and wrongly imprisoned and Jesus who they preached about was just unfairly captured and beaten only to then suffer one of the cruelest deaths possibly dying on the cross. Would their outcome be the same? At a minimum, I would be questioning whether God was wrong, or I was wrong by coming to Philippi. You wanted me to preach the gospel God, but how can I be out preaching to people while I’m in these chains? We learn in Acts 16:25-34 what Paul and Silas actually did. They began to sing songs of praise to God…maybe similar to Psalm 54 from our reading today. Really? Praising God when I’m in prison?! Then, an earthquake came and their chains were broken and doors opened! Waking up and supposing everyone was gone, the jailer planned to kill himself before he was killed for not doing his job. But instead, Paul and Silas stayed there and shared to gospel with him and then traveled to his home with him to share it with his family leading them all to be baptized! Paul trusted in God and His purpose, regardless of his physical circumstance and environment, which led to others accepting Christ.

God’s plan for this journey didn’t stop there though. Not so ironically, I was supposed write this last week but our biblejournal.net was down. This Sunday on 5/5/24 at Eastview Christian Church, Pastor Steve Carter spoke about Acts 16 in his sermon (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_1TFw-uEjwU). He shared this happened around 47-50 AD and then somewhere around 60-63 AD while Paul was imprisoned again in Rome, he wrote a letter to the people in Philippi which we now know as the book of Philippians in the Bible. This letter which may not have been written if Paul had not gone to Philippi and been imprisoned there has impacted millions, if not billions, over the last 2000 years. God cares so much of each one of us and our eternal souls that Lydia’s conversion to following Jesus alone would have been worth Paul’s travels to Macedonia, but because Paul remained faithful, that was just the start. We can see Paul’s trust in God’s plan and his past experience in Philippi echoing in his letter to them years later as we read it. In fact, check out Philippians 1:6, “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.” It is mind blowing the impact Paul has now had two separate times while in prison. What is your “prison” now or in the future where you can still make an impact on others and God can do a great work in and through you when you stay faithful to Him and His purpose?

Consider taking some time today to reflect on this, and also take a listen to this song called Holy Ground by Passion featuring Melodie Malone.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xU771D5AYWE

Spoiler Alert

Our readings for today are Esther 1-2, Psalm 139, and Revelation 1.

What are you thankful for today on Thanksgiving?

As I reflect on our assigned readings for today, one quote or statement I’ve heard before comes to mind.

“I don’t know what the future holds, but I know who holds it.”

Today, on Thanksgiving, this is one of the many things we can focus on and be grateful for.

Psalm 139 is a chapter commonly referenced in support of the sanctity of human life at conception, not just after birth. Psalm 139:13-15 speaks of God knowing us while we are in the womb. Then, in verse 139:16, this is taken a step further…

16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them.

Not only do these verses tell us God made us thoughtfully and purposefully, but He already knows our future. How? It hasn’t yet occurred.

Our small group is currently reading, Learn The Bible in 24 Hours, by Dr. Chuck Missler. In his book, Dr. Missler describes that for us life is a sequence of linear events. But, God is outside of the dimension of time so He can see the past, present and future. This is very hard for our human mind to comprehend. The way he describes it is that if you were sitting on curb watching a parade, you would experience and see each part of the parade as it goes by. But someone who is in a helicopter can see the beginning, the middle, and the end of the parade…all at the same time.

Our assigned reading in Revelation 1 speaks to this in verse 8…

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

This verse tells us He not only is the beginning and end…but He “was and is to come.” He has seen it all before it happens.

A few other verses speak to this. First, Isaiah 57:15 reads…

15 For thus says the One who is high and lifted up,
who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy:
“I dwell in the high and holy place,
and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly,
and to revive the heart of the contrite.

This tells us He lives in eternity and can see it all.

Another verse is Isaiah 46:10…

10 declaring the end from the beginning
and from ancient times things not yet done,
saying, ‘My counsel shall stand,
and I will accomplish all my purpose,’

He tells us here that He knows the beginning and the end and things “not yet done.”

I don’t know what things are going to happen in this world as we see social conflict and physical conflict all the time, with some very serious conflict going on right now in Israel and Ukraine. What I do know is these verses tell us He will accomplish His purpose (Isaiah 46:10), and I know the rest of the book of Revelation tells us He wins, and all pain and sadness will cease to exist (Revelation 21:4).

We also know He cares for us, and He’s with us as we go. The end of Isaiah 57:15 tells us He will “revive the spirit of the lowly,” and He will “revive the heart of the contrite.” Reading the entire chapter of Psalm 139 tells us how much He cares for us and the life He created in and for us. He tells us in Psalm 46:10 to “Be still and know that I am God.”

Please consider reading the entire book of Esther as we go through it in the upcoming days as yet another example of God’s perfect plan.

Today, let us give thanks for God’s plan and His ultimate and certain victory over Satan, sin, and death.

Thy Will

Today’s reading is 2 Samuel 9-10, 1 Chronicles 18-19, Psalm 89, and Acts 26.

We will keep our focus 2 Samuel 10 and 1 Chronicles 19 where both these chapters tell the same story I will lay out with a powerful lesson I believe God is teaching us.

King Nahash, leader of the Ammonites, passed away and his son Hanun took over as leader. David sent some of his men to Hanun to pay their respects because David and Nahash got along well, and David’s plan was to treat Hanun and the Ammonites fairly and with respect just like he had while Nahash was alive. However, Hanun received some poor advice from his princes saying that David was plotting against Hanun and had only sent his men to spy, not out to give their condolences. So, he took David’s men and shaved off half of their beards, cut off their robes at the hips, and sent them back to Israel in disgrace. Knowing this was likely not going to lead down a pretty path, then Hanun and the Ammonites hired the Syrians to help them fight against Israel.

As some might say, “Fight’s on!” When David heard of this, he sent his military commander Joab to fight against them. As it turns out, Joab and his army ended up in a very tough spot. They had the Syrians in front of them and Ammonites behind them. What should they do? This was a very tough decision. The prospects did not look good. Should they flee? Should they all attack the Syrians? Or should they all attack the Ammonites? They had some tough choices to make. Ultimately, Joab decided he would take the best men of Israel and attack the Syrians from the front and have his brother, Abishai, and other men attack the Ammonites in the back. Was this the best plan and strategy? Would it work and was it the best decision? No one knew and you can assume some questioned and doubted and others were nervous. Then, Joab said something we can all learn from…

“Be of good courage, and let us be courageous for our people, and for the cities of our God, and may the Lord do what seems good to Him.”

2 Samuel 9

1 Chronicles 19:13 nearly gives the exact same words from Joab.

We all have to make tough decisions and choices nearly every day. These choices might affect our career, relationships, finances, and our kids. Life is tough. But Joab gives us some great words of advice here… we have to do what we believe is right at the time for those we love and God.. and of course pray for wisdom first… and then give the outcome back to God.

Proverbs 19:21 reads, “Many are the plans in the minds of man, but is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.”

Jesus taught us this Himself in the Lord’s prayer when He said, “Thy will be done.” (Matthew 6:10)

In Joab’s case, his decision paid off. The Syrians fled from Israel’s best men and then when the Ammonites saw this, they fled as well. Our decisions may not always end up and seem to be, or even actually be, the right one. We don’t know for sure. Again, all we can do is pray for wisdom, do what seems best for those we love and to honor God, and then give it back to God.

In the end, “Thy will be done,” and we know Romans 8:28 tells us God will work all things for good. We must trust in this..regardless of if we get the outcome we hoped from our challenging decisions.

Seeking Counsel

Today’s reading is 1 Samuel 23-24, 1 Chronicles 6, Psalm 54, and Acts 16. We will mostly focus on 1 Samuel 24 here.

When you are going through challenges and needing help, who do you go to for advice and counsel? Proverbs 12:15 tells us it is biblical to seek the help of others, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.” Again, in Proverbs 19:20-21 we are told, “Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom in the future. Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” I ask the question again, who do you go to for advice, if anyone at all?

Here in 1 Samuel 24, we read Saul enters a cave to relieve himself where David and his men are hiding. Saul has been speaking terribly of David and trying to kill him for no good reason. Now is David’s chance, he can end this once and for all and kill Saul instead. In fact, David’s men tell him in 1 Samuel 24:4 it is God’s will for him to do so. They go so far as to say God would not have Saul coming into this cave if this were not the case. They say it’s meant to be so to speak. But, David refrains from killing Saul. He gets so close he cuts off a piece of his robe and even feels guilt for that saying that was not God’s will (1 Samuel 24:6).

Once Saul leaves the cave, David yells at him and lets him know he was there hiding. He tells Saul in 1 Samuel 24:12-13 and 1 Samuel 24:15 that the Lord will be the judge between them, not David himself. He says out of wicked only comes wicked.

I find this so fascinating for 2 reasons. First, David had the chance most all of us want which is to vindicate themselves from the person who is doing them wrong and in this case, through no fault of David’s own. Secondly, David had advice from other men, which I would assume to be Jewish and God following, who told him he was justified in killing Saul and should do so. But above all, David listened to the Lord.

Often in our lives we seek advice from others which is biblical, but we only seek advice from those who will tell us what we want to hear, not what we need to hear, whether it be consciously or sub-consciously. We can all be guilty of this and especially when we in a leadership role and have success. Our egos become bigger, and we may only surround ourselves with those who think like us and agree with what we say. We need to reflect on if we are just looking for affirmation of our thought and actions or if we are truly looking for Godly, biblical advice which is unbiased from others.

I’m aware of a circumstance right now where a Christ follower is saying those around him are telling him he needs to keep going down a path which will seemingly vindicate himself to make him look better and other Christ followers look bad. However, there are many others who are well-respected Christ followers who I know who do not feel like the path which this person is headed down is the right in the Lord’s eyes and biblical. Some of these Christ followers used to be close to that person and others are essentially unbiased third parties. It just makes me wonder, is this person only surrounding himself and seeking advice from those who agree with him? I don’t know if he is or not and while I have my thoughts (it’s human nature to have those in every situation), I cannot be certain what God’s will is. I do know Proverbs 19:21 tells us above all though, “it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.” 1 Corinthians 1:10 also states, “I appeal to you brothers, by the name or our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgement.”

We learn from David here that he listened to the Lord above all. He didn’t force the issue, and we see what happened here. Saul, David’s enemy, comes to the conclusion that because David did not repay Saul’s evil with more evil, David will ultimately prevail and become king which is in fact what happens. Saul’s spirit and passion for winning is crushed by David’s grace and kindness. I guess the saying, “kill them with kindness” can be true.

Let us use what we learned from David here to reflect on not only if we are seeking advice and counsel from others, but from whom. Are we seeking advice from those who are telling us what we really need to hear or only from those who are only telling us what we want to hear all the time? And above all, are we praying for and seeking counsel from the Lord and listening to His advice? Are we letting God decide the outcome of the situation like David did, or are we forcing the issue to try to get the outcome we believe is right because we think we have been wronged?

“The Lord will fight for you, and you only have to be silent”

Exodus 14:14

“Be still and know that I am God.”

Psalm 46:10a

The Story

Today’s reading is Joshua 5-8, Psalm 14, and Luke 15.

Despite the fact that I like to think that I’m a “good person” (and I have to believe most are like me and think they are), I know I sin if not through actions or word, through thought, probably ever hour of every day. Sin is not in God’s nature whatsoever. It is exactly the opposite of His being and who He is. Today’s readings are a humbling reminder of what God thinks about sin, and yet also a reminder of his grace and love. It is also a reminder of how pleasing it is to Him when we show faith and trust in Him and turn back to Him after we fall away. Obeying Him does not mean immediate gratification like a dog shaking and getting a treat, but a continued path living a life of filled with intentional sin and disobeying Him will surely lead to destruction. And turning back to Him will lead to grace, forgiveness, and ultimate victory through eternal life no matter how far we have fallen away.

Early on in today’s readings we are reminded that God freed the Israelites from slavery and kept His word to lead them to the Promised Land. But, we also learn in Joshua 5:6 He let them wander in the desert for 40 years and did not let the generation He freed go into the Promised Land (including Moses who God thought highly enough to have attend Jesus’ transfiguration in Matthew 17) because “they did not obey the voice of the Lord.” Yet, we see it is pleasing to the Lord and He “rolled away the reproach of Egypt” when the next generation obeys His instructions to Joshua that all the men be circumcised (Joshua 5:9). They keep the Passover, God sends a commander of His army to speak to Joshua (Joshua 5:14), and God instructs Joshua in Joshua 6 how he and his army are to march around Jericho for 6 days quietly and on the 7th day they are to march around the city 7 times. On the 7th time of the 7th day, they are to blow the horns and shout and the walls of Jericho would fall down before God would give them victory in battle. The Israelites could have said to Joshua, “yeah right…these walls are just going to fall when we blow our horn and yell…give me a break?!” However, this time they obeyed, and God gave them victory. What great faith and belief they showed! As promised in Joshua 6, the only family God protects in Jericho is Rahab’s because she helped the Israelite spies in Joshua 2.

As we read on in Joshua 7, we see going against God’s word leads to a path of destruction. God gave specific instructions in the conquering of Jericho that the gold and devoted things be given to the Lord (Joshua 6:18-19). But Achan took some for himself and hid it which was displeasing to God resulting in him being stoned and thus the Lord let Israel first be defeated at Ai before later giving them victory (Joshua 8). We read later in Joshua 8 where Israel turns back to God by building an altar to Him on Mount Ebal just as Moses commanded be done. Joshua honored God by also writing the law of Moses on the stones (Joshua 8:32) and by reading all the words of the law, every single one, to all the people of Israel (Joshua 8:35) which was no doubt pleasing to God.

I love the parallels of our verses each day from the Old Testament, including the Psalms, and the New Testament. Psalm 14 speaks of the corruption of man God sees as He looks down and sin which displeases Him (Psalm 14:2-3), yet promises Jesus’ coming to give salvation in Psalm 14:7. Then, we read in Luke 15 where Jesus tells how God seeks out sinners to give them a chance to repent and turn to Him through the parables of the lost sheep, the lost coin, and of course the amazing story of grace in the story of the prodigal son.

Think of some of your favorite movies and books. What is a common theme in most all of them, especially the ones that really tug on your heart strings? Most all have a story of redemption from someone who has either done wrong in the past or just didn’t have things go their way for a while. Why do you think those stories get to us, and why do we love them so much? Maybe that’s because it’s our story. It’s the story God has laid on all of our hearts because we are all part of God’s story and plan to save us from our sin (Romans 5:8) when we turn to Him. And while we read today how much God hates sin, we see in Luke 15 how much more joy He has when a sinner turns to Him for grace and forgiveness. Do you remember Rahab, the prostitute we mentioned earlier who decided to turn from her sinful ways and help the Israelites? She was not only spared in the destruction of Jericho, but ultimately became part of the bloodline of Jesus (Matthew 1:5)!

Please watch this short video from Spread Truth and pray for God to lay on your heart someone who needs to hear it and know God’s love and that they are part of His greater Story.

https://youtu.be/f0gfIvN9zv4

Here is the children’s version as well.

https://youtu.be/XbrsAF2_BOk

You’re In

Today’s Reading: Ephesians 3:1-21

It’s incredible to think back to how much of my life I have always just tried to fit in.  I wouldn’t be inaccurate in saying that most likely, in all aspects, I have just tried to appear like I have it all together.  As humans, we try our best to fit in; many of us will face this-worldly battle until there is no battle to fight on this side of the earth anymore. Thankfully we know that Jesus says, You’re already in.  We can stop the daily hustle, grind, and race that wakes you up by the alarm and keeps you going until you fall asleep.  I wish and pray that I have this down, but it would not be honest.  There are still times I try to fit in at my job, with my parenting, with friends, in our marriage, and in any other daily interaction that requires my presence.

Give yourself some grace.  Turn every moment of insecurity to Him.  We attempt and try to be the All-Star in all we do. We spend a lot of time trying to live by the rules people set for us. I have now seen days where I’m parenting and forcing the world’s expectations into them at a young age instead of just my love and His promise that takes care of every aspect of life.

None of the rules of life or the attempted All-Star parenting measures up to the power the love of Jesus has for us. If I can teach others and my family, I want to show them how to live in grace like Jesus and to walk in love like Jesus.  I need prayer to be their number one model. Will you pray for me?

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge– that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Ephesians 3:17-19