May 10, 2006
Have Mercy On Me!
Psalm 4:1 When I call out, answer me,O God who vindicates me!2Though I am hemmed in, you will lead me into a wide, open place.3Have mercy on me4 and respond to5 my prayer! (NET Bible)
Have you ever been in a place in your life that seemed impossible to get through. Or, have you ever felt like the whole world seems to be against you and there was nothing you could do to combat it? I know I have, a number of times. It's at those times that we need to really lean on God. We need to grab hold of His outstretched and waiting hand so that He can lead us through to far greater things.
When I've been in that place of utter darkness where I've known that there was absolutely nothing I could possibly do to help myself, that's what I found I had to do. Nothng. I had to allow God do the work. It's really hard to go through those times. I wish I never had to go through them and I wish that no one else ever had to go through them either. The thing is, though, that those are exactly the times that God finally has our attention. We have finally collapsed into His waiting embrace and He has, at long last, been able to do what He's been wanting to do all along; carry us to the place we need to be. Which is within His will. Then, we can minister to others.
Lord God I pray for my brothers and sisters who are in great physical, emotional, and spiritual pain today. I pray that they will look to You as their primary source of comfort and healing. Bless them and heal them and make them whole. In Jesus' name I pray. AMEN.
Remember that God is with you today. He loves you and will make a way for you even when there seems to be no way.
Be Blessed,
Christopher
May 09, 2006
Link of the Day
EZRAWeb
EZRAWeb™ is a Christian web community providing the finest in family-friendly content; they're all about faith, fun and fellowship!
EZRAWeb™ is a Christian web community providing the finest in family-friendly content; they're all about faith, fun and fellowship!
May 05, 2006
THE VOICE
I haven't posted this week because of my busy schedule nor has THE VOICE been in operation due to an apparent lack of interest. I'll make a deal with everyone who happens by. I'll start THE VOICE back up when there are 12 subscribers and go from there. It doesn't cost anything and I will not be sending out anything but the daily devotions. Everything on this site is free. I'm not making a penny.
Christopher
Christopher
April 28, 2006
Why Share The Gospel?
1 John 1:3 "What we have seen and heard we announce5 to you too, so that6 you may have fellowship7 with us (and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ)." (NET Bible)
One of my current favorite parts of the Bible is the sixth and seventh chapters of Matthew's Gospel. In those two chapters, Jesus lays out the foundation of discipleship. Jesus tells us to build our relationship with God through giving, praying, forgiving and fasting. Then (Chapter 7), as our relationship with God becomes close, we are to do a bit of "house cleaning": searching for and removing the sins (logs) from our lives (eyes). After we have done these things, we will find ourselves in a position to ask, seek and knock and God will give, show, and open what we need so that we may do His work.
Today is a good day for us to spend a little bit of time examining our lives. I don't necessarily mean looking for the sins in our lives as much as spending some time with God and letting Him show us all the things He has done for us and with us and even through us. This is an amazing thing to do. Often, when we do this, we find that even (or especially?) in those times that we struggled through, there was God leading us through that valley. Not only that, but when we look back at those good and/or exciting times in our lives we find that God was there too.
Those are the kinds of testimonies that we need to share with others. We need to share that in our good tmes and in our bad times, God is with us. Of course, we also need to share the Gospel and we need to be available for people who wish to receive Christ Jesus as their friend, brother, Lord and Savior, but how much more willing might people be to take that step when we testify about our hope in Christ rather than their dread of the adversary?
Speak to us Lord! Tell us the story of our lives. Describe all of the ways you have helped us and held us up. And teach us Lord. Teach us to share all that you have done fro and through us with those people that You bring into our lives. We ask these thing, not for our own sakes or for our own glory but so that You may be known by others and so that you may be gorified through our interactions with everyone we meet.
Listen to the Spirit's promptings today and, when an opportunity arises, share a little of your faith with some one else. By sharing yourself, you will really be sharing Christ and that is a wonderful gift, indeed.
May you be blessed and a blessing today,
Christopher
(THE VOICE: a devotional)
One of my current favorite parts of the Bible is the sixth and seventh chapters of Matthew's Gospel. In those two chapters, Jesus lays out the foundation of discipleship. Jesus tells us to build our relationship with God through giving, praying, forgiving and fasting. Then (Chapter 7), as our relationship with God becomes close, we are to do a bit of "house cleaning": searching for and removing the sins (logs) from our lives (eyes). After we have done these things, we will find ourselves in a position to ask, seek and knock and God will give, show, and open what we need so that we may do His work.
Today is a good day for us to spend a little bit of time examining our lives. I don't necessarily mean looking for the sins in our lives as much as spending some time with God and letting Him show us all the things He has done for us and with us and even through us. This is an amazing thing to do. Often, when we do this, we find that even (or especially?) in those times that we struggled through, there was God leading us through that valley. Not only that, but when we look back at those good and/or exciting times in our lives we find that God was there too.
Those are the kinds of testimonies that we need to share with others. We need to share that in our good tmes and in our bad times, God is with us. Of course, we also need to share the Gospel and we need to be available for people who wish to receive Christ Jesus as their friend, brother, Lord and Savior, but how much more willing might people be to take that step when we testify about our hope in Christ rather than their dread of the adversary?
Speak to us Lord! Tell us the story of our lives. Describe all of the ways you have helped us and held us up. And teach us Lord. Teach us to share all that you have done fro and through us with those people that You bring into our lives. We ask these thing, not for our own sakes or for our own glory but so that You may be known by others and so that you may be gorified through our interactions with everyone we meet.
Listen to the Spirit's promptings today and, when an opportunity arises, share a little of your faith with some one else. By sharing yourself, you will really be sharing Christ and that is a wonderful gift, indeed.
May you be blessed and a blessing today,
Christopher
(THE VOICE: a devotional)
April 25, 2006
Joel 2:1
Joel 2:1 Blow the trumpet1 in Zion;
sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear,
for the day of the Lord is about to come.
Indeed,2 it is near!3 (NET Bible)
Shouldn't this always be our mindset as Christians? Shouldn't we live our lives in fear and trembling, hoping that our LORD will return? Jesus even says that He will return "like a thief in the night." That is, at time when He is not expected. Basically, what all this means is that we just don't know when Jesus will return. It's best to be ready.
I like to think of it this way. My wife has the gift of hospitality. She likes the house to be in order at all times just in case some one should happen to drop in for a visit. She doesn't mind a little bit of clutter. We do live in the house after all and we do have two young boys and a puppy so the house is never in perfect order. But, real messes need to be taken care of as soon as possible. When a guest arrives, there just isn't time to clean. Not to mention, that would just be plain rude. Our guest must always be our main focus.
And, there it is. There is the gist of what we are talking about in today's conversation. When Jesus returns, it will be too late to clean up all of our messes that we have been putting off or otherwise ignoring. When He arrives we have to give Him our total attention. Just like our houses, I don't think Jesus will necessarily expect us to be perfect. He knows what it is like to be human, after all. But all those little messes in out living rooms really need to be given the attention they deserve, for our Guest's sake if not for ours.
LORD help us prepare for your return. Our lives are not as they should be aNd they require the kind of cleaning that only You can provide. Pour Your Holy Spirit on us and in us and through us. Remove the stains of our past and protect us from the messes of our future. You are our LORD and our savior and we are longing to see you again. So come and be our Guest. In Jesus' name, AMEN.
Is there sin in your life that you know about? Clean it up. Is there sin on your life that you don't know about? Ask God to show it to you and ask Him to provide the means to clean it up. He'll be glad you did and so will you.
You're doing great!
In Christ,
Christopher
(THE VOICE: a devotional Day 5)
sound the alarm signal on my holy mountain!
Let all the inhabitants of the land shake with fear,
for the day of the Lord is about to come.
Indeed,2 it is near!3 (NET Bible)
Shouldn't this always be our mindset as Christians? Shouldn't we live our lives in fear and trembling, hoping that our LORD will return? Jesus even says that He will return "like a thief in the night." That is, at time when He is not expected. Basically, what all this means is that we just don't know when Jesus will return. It's best to be ready.
I like to think of it this way. My wife has the gift of hospitality. She likes the house to be in order at all times just in case some one should happen to drop in for a visit. She doesn't mind a little bit of clutter. We do live in the house after all and we do have two young boys and a puppy so the house is never in perfect order. But, real messes need to be taken care of as soon as possible. When a guest arrives, there just isn't time to clean. Not to mention, that would just be plain rude. Our guest must always be our main focus.
And, there it is. There is the gist of what we are talking about in today's conversation. When Jesus returns, it will be too late to clean up all of our messes that we have been putting off or otherwise ignoring. When He arrives we have to give Him our total attention. Just like our houses, I don't think Jesus will necessarily expect us to be perfect. He knows what it is like to be human, after all. But all those little messes in out living rooms really need to be given the attention they deserve, for our Guest's sake if not for ours.
LORD help us prepare for your return. Our lives are not as they should be aNd they require the kind of cleaning that only You can provide. Pour Your Holy Spirit on us and in us and through us. Remove the stains of our past and protect us from the messes of our future. You are our LORD and our savior and we are longing to see you again. So come and be our Guest. In Jesus' name, AMEN.
Is there sin in your life that you know about? Clean it up. Is there sin on your life that you don't know about? Ask God to show it to you and ask Him to provide the means to clean it up. He'll be glad you did and so will you.
You're doing great!
In Christ,
Christopher
(THE VOICE: a devotional Day 5)
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