Today, let’s just take a moment out of our day to simply honor God! Despite the things in our life we simply don’t understand, the things in our life that have adversely impacted our worlds, and the things in our life that have brought us down to our knees in a fetal position God is always worthy of our commitment, adoration, honor, worship, and praise!
God wants us to come to Him humble like a child, but the Bible never exhorts us to have “childlike” faith, at least not in so many words. In Matthew 18:2 Jesus says that we must “become as little children” in order to enter the kingdom of God. The context of Jesus’ statement is the disciples’ question, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” (verse 1). In response, Jesus “called a little child to Him, and placed the child among them. And he said: ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the ‘lowly’ position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me’” (verses 2–5).
There is no virtue in being childish, but as Jesus implied in the scripture above, we should never outgrow our childlikeness. As His children, God first wants us to be vulnerable, in a position of recognizing our need for His care and protection. Second, God wants us as His children to trust Him—to trust that He made us, knows us, loves us, is with us, and enjoys us. Third, God wants us to remember no child is fully developed —let alone perfect.
My beloved brothers and sisters, as children of God, we are always in a process of growth (aka) works in progress, which our Father understands and accepts. God made us to be dependent on Him, with needs such as love, affection, acceptance, and a sense of belonging. God highly esteems dependence as a characteristic of our ongoing condition and position with Him. WE never outgrow our NEED to lean on Him, TO BE weak or vulnerable SO THAT HE CAN BE STRONG on our behalf.
Undoubtedly, children are valuable, unique, and special to God Himself. Don’t ever forget that He planned for us from the beginning and knit us together in our mother’s womb (Pslam 139:16). We are never too grown of Jesus and when we emulate the faith of a child, we are not responding childishly, rather we are simply choosing to take God at His Word. As children trust their earthly fathers, we should trust that our “Father in heaven [will] always meet all of our needs according to the glorious riches in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:19).
If you’ve lived in the southeastern Texas area for any length of time and you had ride out one or more hurricane storms than you know the importance of a safe shelter to protect you. It’s pretty obvious that whenever there is a natural threat, we need something stronger than that threat to shield us. Well, the same is applicable with spiritual threats!
The bottom line is that we are susceptible to attacks from our spiritual enemy and from other dangers in life. Sometimes we need to be rescued from spiritual wickedness in heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12), negative thoughts, and bad habits. Other times we need someone to help us heal from something that we can’t handle by ourselves.
Psalm 91:1-2 refers to our heavenly Father as our refuge and shelter. As children of God, we can rest in His strength and power, knowing that He is able to keep us safe from any situation we may experience.
Because God created us, He truly knows what’s best for us. He knows how to protect our souls and keep us from looming and lurking dangers that we often can’t see through our carnal lens!
However, this requires that we go to Him when we need help. Hebrews11:6 says, “He who comes to God must come believing that He is a rewarder for those who diligently seek Him.” Beloved, we cannot experience the dwelling and resting in Psalm 91 if we do not spend time in His presence. He is the only true refuge to those who actively trust Him and seek His help. Regardless of what difficulty we may experience on this side of heaven, God is ready, wiling, and able to help us through it.
The best practice to seeking God’s help is through prayer. Spend some time talking with God, telling Him exactly how you feel. Ask Him for the things you need. As you seek His presence and trust in Him and He will protect you and keep you safe. Never forget that God’s word will never return void (Isaiah 55:11) and God’s promises are [always] ‘YES’ in Christ and ‘AMEN’ to the glory of God (2 Corinthians 1:20).
One vowel indeed changed everything. If you didn’t know according to Romans 5:12, “….sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.” BUT the cure for sin is found in Romans 10:9-10, “If you openly declare that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is by believing in your heart that you are made right with God, and it is by openly declaring your faith that you are saved.”
Although I don’t know the day, hour, or minute; Jesus is coming back soon and if you haven’t made a decision to follow Him and make Him Lord of your life, today is the day for your salvation. Jesus loves you and He wants you to be part of the family of God! The knock you’re feeling on the door of your heart is Jesus…will you let Him in today?
Back in the day I had a terrible mouth. If you said or did something to offend or hurt me, I would retort or respond with some rather colorful words. I guess you could say I made cussing poetic.
I thank God for His patience with my tongue more less my physiological maturity in navigating through difficult verbal altercations (aka arguments). I have heard it said that when you are angry, the brain loses oxygen and the only words it can verbally articulate (without enough oxygen) are 3 to 4 letter words!
Indisputably, our words and the way in which we communicate matter. As Believers we are exhorted or encouraged in Colossians 4:6 to, “Let your words be seasoned with salt.” As believers, our words should reflect to others the truth of the gospel. They should reveal how this gospel has transformed our lives. Our words should impact our conversations for the better as we bring a different “flavor” to our interactions, build others up, and share as well as defend the gospel or our feelings.
Solomon reminds us in Proverbs 16:24 that, “Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Just as salt has healing properties, our words should bring healing and goodness, encouraging its hearers and pointing them to the One who is vital for life.
Jesus said, “Have salt among yourselves, and be at peace with each other” (Mark 9:50b). What we say and how we say it should always be seasoned with the salt of grace and peace. In order to give a seasoned answer, we must present what we say and how we say it in a way that reflects Christ.
With that being said, never speak mean or nasty words out of anger because eventually your anger will pass. But, your mean and nasty words can scar a person for life. So use kind words (salt) or simple take a deep breath and just be silent (aka listen).
Father God, You are the truth and the only way we can formulate the word TRUst is through your TRUth(s). I know Your word says that You will never lie nor will Your word ever return void, but the significant TRUth is that there is absolutely no incentive for You to deceive us; Your children. So that begs the rhetorical question; why not TRUst You?! The enemy is incentivized to see us confused, crushed, destroyed, angry, frustrated, worried, flustered, hurt, discouraged, depressed, defeated, and spiritually drained. Father God, we rebuke him, his lies, and ask that You break every yoke that keeps us bound to his deceitful lies in the mighty name of Jesus! We know his power was taken away when Jesus said ‘yes’ in the garden, was crucified on Calvary’s Hill, and left a borrowed tomb empty! Just in this statement alone Father God proves that You are more than TRUstworthy of my commitment, adoration, and praise because You are the TRUth. Therefore, please forgive me for not TRUsting in You in “ALL” things this life throws at me! So please, “Do not cast me from Your presence or take Your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me” (Psalm 51:11-12). In Jesus’ TRUsworthty and worthy to be praise name, amen!
In the story of the woman caught in adultery found in John 8:1–11, the Scribes and Pharisees (aka haters) who, in their continuing efforts to trick Jesus into saying or doing something they could hold against Him, brought to Him a woman caught in adultery. They reminded Him that the Mosaic Law demanded her to be stoned to death. “But what do you say?” they asked Him. At this point, Jesus stooped down and starting writing something in the dirt. When He straightened up, He said, “If any one of you is without sin, let him be the first to throw a stone at her” (John 8:7). Then He stooped down and wrote again. One by one, the people left (verses 8–9).
These religious leaders were sneaky, trifling, and dirty. They knew good and darn well they had already breached the law by only arresting the woman without the man she was caught in bed with!
If you didn’t know; the Mosaic Law required that both parties to adultery be stoned (Leviticus 20:10; Deuteronomy 22:22). The leaders were using the woman as a trap so they could trick Jesus. If Jesus said the woman should not be stoned, they would accuse him of violating Moses’ Law. If He urged them to execute her, they would report Him to the Romans, who did not permit the Jews to carry out their own executions (John 18:31).
My brothers and sisters, love don’t throw shade nor does it throw stones! The only One qualified to even throw a pebble was the only One to choose forgiveness and compassion which was the moral of this altercation.
Now as I close on a sidebar, I know you’ve heard or read a lot of speculation as to what Jesus was writing in the sand, but the one I tend to agree with the most was that Jesus was low-key reminding His “haters” that it was His very finger that wrote not once but twice the very Mosaic Law (Exodus 20:2–17 and Deuteronomy 5:6–21 ) they so desperately, judgmentally, and arrogantly tried to uphold….of course they missed that point too and walked away🚶🏽♂️
4GIVEN 