All posts tagged: Christ Jesus

Day #2: I am Loved


God loves you equally on your good and bad days. There is nothing you can do or not do to change His mind. Jeremiah 31:3, “The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.” Welcome to day number 2 and thanks for joining me on this 21-day journey of discovering who we are in Christ. You are loved. There is nothing you can do wrong that would make Him love you less.There is nothing extra you can do to make Him love you more. You are loved on your good days and loved equally on your bad. God’s love for you is patient. It is kind. His love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things for you. Among the many things Jude could have written to his hearers, he chose to remind them of one thing: “keep ourselves in the love of God” (Jude 1:21). We need to live in a daily revelation of the …

WAR


He can’t have your Family He can’t have your Increase He can’t have your Breakthrough No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,” Says the Lord. Isaiah 54:17

What’s in God’s Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth?


What’s there in the Bible? It is a dangerous question. We might do better not to come too near this burning bush. For we are sure to betray what is—behind us! The Bible gives to every man and every era such answers to your questions as they deserve. We shall always find in it as much as we seek and no more: high and divine content if it is high and divine content that we seek transitory and “historical” content, if transitory and “historical” content that we seek Nothing whatever, if it is nothing whatever that we seek. The hungry are satisfied by it, and to the satisfied it is surfeiting before they have opened it. The question, “What is in the Bible?” has a mortifying way of converting itself into the opposing question, “Well, what are you looking for, and who are you, pray, who make bold to look?” (Karl Barth, “The strange new world in the Bible.” Cited from Gregory Alan Thornburry) So, what’s in God’s Basic Instruction Before Leaving Earth? What might …

It is Mine!


Now therefore, give me this mountain of which the LORD spoke in that day; for you heard in that day how the Anakim were there, and that the cities were great and fortified. It may be that the LORD will be with me, and I shall be able to drive them out as the LORD said. The Story This is a story we are all very familiar with… the story of the children of Israel before they actually entered the promise land. In the text above, Caleb comes to Joshua and reminds him of things that happened about 45 years earlier when God told them to enter the promise land. He (Caleb) and Joshua were two of the few that went up to explore the promised land and actually returned with great news and faith – that even though there were giants in the land, they were going to stand on the promises of God – that every piece of land they walked on shall be theirs. Well, we know that some of the other guys came back with a …

A Mighty Fortress is our God: A bulwark never-failing


Listen to Chris Rice’s A Mighty Fortress is our God – Here Instead of posting a video or audio of this classic Hymn, I decided to just post the words. I found it moving and inspiring. I hope you feel the same way. I know some have changed the words over the years – I think the old school (original) version is better. A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never-failing; our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing. For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, on earth is not his equal. 2. Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, were not the right man on our side, the man of God’s own choosing. Dost ask who that may be? Christ Jesus, it is he; Lord Sabaoth, his name, from age to age the same, and he must win the battle. 3. And though this world, with devils filled, should threaten to …

6 Questions that defy all Odds


The following questions from Romans chapter 8 are so compelling. They serve as a strong defense for the unbending and unchanging love of God for us. They are compelling questions that will help you to believe God and trust HIM no matter what. Here they are: If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen – since it is God who justifies? Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? Logical Conclusion: No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, …

Adrift


I heard a story some time ago about an ungodly farmer. It is said that when he  died, it was discovered in his will that he had left his farm to the Devil. In the court, they didn’t quite know what to do with it — how do you give a farm to the Devil? Finally, the judge decided: “The best way to carry out the wishes of the deceased is to allow the farm to grow weeds, the soil to erode, and the house and barn to rot. In our opinion, the best way to leave something to the Devil is to do nothing.” In the same way, we can leave our lives to the Devil doing nothing. Just let the weeds grow, and the soil of our hearts erode and our spiritual house rot, slowly drifting away with whatever currents this world might. But the Bible warns of the dangers of neglecting our great salvation: Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. For since the …

All In


Mark 12:30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength How to love the Lord with all your strength This is our last post in the series All In. So far, I have challenged you to take everything you have, every part of your life and invest it in this relationship you have with the Lord Jesus Christ. If you are not yet fire up to give yourself completely in 2012 to the Lord maybe this last post will help you jump in. The command here in Mark to love the Lord with all one’s strength is a call for us to intensify our affections or bring all our energy to bear on one thing – loving God with zeal. In Ecclesiastes 9:10 we find the word “Might.”. In Romans 12:11 we find the word zeal. And in Colossians 3:2, 5 we find the word heartily. All of these used to describe how we need to …

All In


We are in a series entitled All In from the book of Mark and chapter 12:30 where it encourages us to “love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our soul, all our mind and all our strength.” Yesterday we talked about how we can love the Lord with all our heart and it all came down to what or who we hold the dearest in our heart. Today I want to continue with the title – ‘How to love the Lord with all our soul.’ How to Love the Lord with all our soul! The soul as we know is the seat of all affections. The soul loves life. The soul loves the good things of life. It wants to keep you running after the good  things of the world. It wants to keep you hooked on pleasure. The soul wants you pursuing the things of the world. The soul has so much love for money, fame, status, and lots of pleasure. Here is an example from Luke 12:19, 20 of where the …