Have you received the Grace of God?

For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and Godly, in this present world;
Titus 2:11-12 King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
In a world that has no absolutes, in a world that is lacking moral and even worse, ethical standards, a world that sees men with men and women with women as an okay lifestyle when it is an abomination to God, salvation by the costly grace of God beckons us to change our lifestyle in response to God’s grace. Notice that it is the Grace of God that teaches us and empowers us to turn from the un-Godly and worldly ways and live Godly lives instead. The world teaches you the exact opposite because the World and God are diametrically opposed. You can listen to the world or you can listen to God, the choice is yours. But, if you have made God your Lord, there is only one choice. Anyone who receives the Grace of God and refuses to pursue righteousness demonstrates his/her ignorance to the Word of God or just the plain hardness of their heart. God will not force you to change, He gave us the ability to choose. In this day and hour, to be saved means to first make Jesus the Lord of your life and then to pursue righteousness, then He becomes your Savior. Not because we need to earn our salvation, we can not earn that, but so that God’s saving Grace will not be fruitless in us. What better gift could God give us than His gift of Love through His Grace. Salvation is more than a place in Heaven someday. It’s having Heaven on Earth right now! I didn’t say that, the Word of God did.

MY PRAYER…
Holy Father, I confess that I live in a confusing time. Satan is always trying to distort the distinction between right and wrong, good and evil, moral and immoral. But, because You have been so gracious with me, may my life today reflect the righteousness You gave me through Jesus. May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of my heart, be pleasing in Your sight. You are my Rock and my Redeemer. Through Jesus, who paid the full price of my debt of sin for me, I pray.
Amen

What is the light that guides your life?

Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path.
Psalm 119:105 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
In this age and time where TV and the Internet is laced with sex driven commercials, tell your doctor you need this or that drug, and the alcohol and tobacco giants push via commercials is tremendous. Where the news media is so one sided & spreads rumors of war and violence everywhere and only favors the Democrats and their socialist, communist line of thinking, and the radio stations play “love ’em and leave ’em” songs. When the internet offers all out porn, and witchcraft and Satanism run rampant in the public schools through the likes of the Harry Potter series books and PokeMon games aimed at our children, sIn is every where we turn, sIn is in the world around us everywhere. They can teach “New Age”, Wicca (witchcraft), and Darwin’s evolution in our schools, but we can’t mention God, Jesus, pray Christian prayers, or teach Creationism. What ever happened to our free speech amendment in our US Constitution? Isn’t it wonderful to know that God’s promises, God’s Word, and His Holy Scriptures are there to help us find our way. Our way if we have chosen His way that is. What great grace we have to know God’s will for our lives in today’s world if we will only allow His Word to be the light that lights the pathway on which we tread! If we will only listen as He speaks to us and obey Him. If we will only remember that His Word and His Will must be first in our lives. His Word overrules anything man would dictate otherwise. If not, we are following the wrong path because we haven’t let His Word be the light for our path.

MY PRAYER…
Loving Father, thank You for giving me Your truth in Word through Your Holy Scriptures. To know that You love me enough to communicate in a language I can read is truly inspiring to me. To know that I can come to You in prayer and hear You speak to me. Father, put a hunger in my heart, my spirit, for Your truth revealed in Your Word. I want to grow and to be a righteous and gracious child in Your family. I want to always walk in the Light of Your Word. With love for all, through my older brother, Jesus, I pray.
Amen

Where does your daily food come from?

Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'”
Matthew 4:4 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Sometimes we get so diverted by the mundane things of life, by the lust for the things of this world, by the natural hunger of our bellies, by the striving to earn more money, that we forget the things of God. God’s Word, His written Word, the Bible, His demonstrated Word in and through Jesus, and His proclaimed Word in the Gospels, His Word confirmed in our spirit by the Holy Spirit, are what will sustain us for eternity. They are the food that our spirit man craves. They are the ‘Manna’ of life to our spirit. The natural things, that we so badly want, will one day all pass away, but the things of God that we have gained in our spirit will last forever. Make sure that you are feeding your spirit man daily with the food from God, His Word!

MY PRAYER…
True and Faithful Father, through Your Holy Spirit create in me a hunger for Your Word that is much more demanding of life than my hunger for natural food. I confess that at times I have been distracted by the everyday things of life and have not sought Your Word and have not nourished my spirit man within like I should have. Please forgive me as I pledge myself to be more attentive to Your leading and Your truth through Your Word. Create in me, Lord, an unquenchable desire for the things of You, for Your word, Your presence, Your plan for me, and for Your will to be done in my life. Through Jesus I pray.
Amen

We have been commanded by God’s Word to be compassionate, courteous, loving to our brothers

Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; Not returning evil for evil, or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing.
1 Peter 3:8-9 New King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
We have been commanded by God’s Word to be compassionate, courteous, loving and a blessing to our brothers (this includes women). God wants us to live together in harmony and peace, to give forth the ‘Agape’ (God’s kind of love) love just as HE has called us to do. He does not want us to be like the world and get even with people when they are evil to us, but rather we are to bless them. In fact He has told us to set a table before our enemies. To pray for our enemies. If we will do so He says we shall inherit a blessing. Can you imagine the world inviting their enemies for dinner!

MY PRAYER…
Father, thank You for providing us Your Word as our Guide in our life. Our ‘Manual For Life’ is Your Word. Father, I confess that I have let my own over-sensitive carnal self be offended, and have often reacted with pettiness when my brothers and sisters in Christ have not treated me as I felt I deserved. I have let those world offend me at times. I know Jesus was treated rudely and shamefully by those he created and loved, so I know I shouldn’t be surprised. But Father, please help me to know when to challenge those who wound me with a loving confrontation and when to just ignore the barb and minister love to them. Father, help me be an instrument of Your love, peace, harmony, and unity. In Jesus’ precious name I pray.
Amen

Do you know and have the patience to wait for the Lord?

Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Psalm 27:14 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Wait for it! Wait for it! Why do they always tell us to ‘Wait for it’?
If there is anything mankind, humans don’t like to do, it’s wait. Maybe that is why God is so interested in us learning to do it. There is something about remaining strong in tough times and remaining faithful when ill winds blow. So God gives us times of waiting (He doesn’t give us the tough times, We usually give them to ourselves!) to see if our search is really for Him or merely for something new. Press in to Him during these times and He will see you through! That’s really what wait on the Lord means, to press in and to serve Him! When you go to a restaurant the waiter serves you! He said if we would draw nigh unto Him that He would draw nigh unto us. To wait on the Lord means to press in to Him and serve Him, not stand back and do nothing.
(Heb 6:12 KJV) That ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises.

MY PRAYER…
Loving Father, I know you have waited for me so many times. For me to show my faith, repent of my sins, to grow in holiness, to come to You in prayer, to act more mature, to give to those who cannot return my gift. Help me Lord as I wait for You to show me the way with my decisions, to meet my needs, and reveal Your presence in my loneliness. I really do seek You with all my heart. Father, as I press in to You I know You will show Yourself strong unto me. I know that You will meet me along the path as I draw near to You and You will be my buckler and my shield. Through Jesus, my Lord and King, I pray.
Amen

Have you believed & confessed Jesus as Lord?

If you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Romans 10:9-10 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
There is only one way to become a child of God and have eternal life in heaven. And there is only one way to heaven and that is through Jesus Christ, there is NO OTHER WAY! Imagine Jesus being proud of you! He said if we confess Him before others here on earth, He will acknowledge us before the Father in heaven. Imagine Jesus telling the Father God, “No, that one, Pastor Duane, (put your name here if Jesus is your Lord!) He’s mine Father, he comes with us!” Confessing that Jesus as Lord is simply acknowledging the truth according to the Bible. But, If Jesus is your Lord that means you have given Him overall authority and control of your life. A Lord is is one who is in full control of everything you do or say. That means He (Jesus) now has authority over you. He must be your Lord before He can become your Savior! For believers, it is even more than that, since at the close of time as we know it, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess Him as Lord. You can do it now by choice and live the abundant life till His return, or you can wait and then be forced to acknowledge Him when it is too late to make a choice. By the way, if you wait till it’s too late you will also suffer the same fate as the evil one – eternity in Hell instead of all eternity with Jesus in Heaven. We have a choice today! For us, confessing Jesus now is anticipating His triumphant return and until then we will share and enjoy that triumphant life here on earth awaiting His return! On Earth as it is in Heaven.

MY PRAYER…
Mighty God, Your Son, Jesus, is my Lord. I love Him and praise Him for His redeeming sacrifice and all that He has done for me. I thank Him for his conquest of death, hell, and the grave. I marvel at His sacrificial and triumphant grace. Jesus is my Lord. I know it sounds sweet in Your ears, Father, so I say it again. Father, Jesus is my Lord. Jesus is my Lord. Thank You for being so great that You could be so sacrificial. Through my Lord and Savior, Jesus, I offer this thanks.
Amen

Do you know what EVERY human being deserves?

The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 6:23 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
We’ve blown it, we (mankind in general) because of Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden, have been born with a ‘sin nature’ and the reward for sin is death. You say, “But I don’t have sin in my life.” Wrong, the Bible (not me) says we all do at some point in time, if nothing else because of Adam’s fall in the garden. When death comes to man as a result of sin, we’re only getting what we deserve, what we’ve earned. Sin is rebellion against the God who loves us and gave us His most precious gift to redeem us from sin. Romans 14:23 says: “…for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.” If you are not in faith, believing in the Son of God (Jesus) and what He has done for you, you’re in sin, wow! If you’re not believing EVERY promise from God in His Word, The Bible, then you are in sin! Did you religious folks get that? Because ‘Faith’ believes God’s every Word! How then does one get faith? “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) Notice it didn’t say by having heard once, but by hearing, and hearing, and hearing, and hearing, and hearing, and hearing, and hearing, and hearing, and hearing , and hearing , and hearing , and hearing , and hearing , and hearing , and hearing , and hearing. And what are we supposed to hear? The six o’clock news, the Kitsap Sun, the Chicago Times, the neighbor down the street, the Koran, Zen Buddha, or some other guru type teacher? NO, we are supposed to be hearing the WORD of GOD. God has given us a gift that is free — eternal life in Jesus Christ and every thing else in His Word. He gave it with only one qualifying requirement, that we believe in His Son Jesus and what He has ALREADY done (past tense) for us! We just have to, “by faith”, reach out and receive what is really already ours.

MY PRAYER…
Thank You, Father God, for loving me when no one else could or would. Thank You for sacrificing Your most precious gift so I could join You one day in heaven. Of all the gifts I’ve ever received, Yours is absolutely the best! I offer thanks to You through the gift that set me free and delivered me from darkness into the glorious kingdom of Your Son. In Jesus name!
Amen

Have you ever really just blew it?

All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
Romans 3:23-24 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
“I blew it man!” I’ve messed up. I’ve sinned against my friends and my family and most importantly of all, against God. Come to think of it, we’ve all blown it at some point in time, we’ve all sinned, whether we think we have or not. In fact, we were all born with a sin nature the moment we came into this world. We didn’t then and we don’t now measure up to God’s standard. We’re not divine and we surely haven’t arrived at perfection. We might be decent, but decent won’t make the grade with God. We might be good, but good won’t pass God’s righteousness test. Only those who are without sin, the truly righteous, make it past the grave into everlasting glory. How then can a mere man make it? Thank God that His grace has been freely given and the price for our sin was already paid by Jesus on the cross for us. While I “blew it” and you “blew it”, Jesus redeemed us! Jesus put away our (yours, you who don’t think you’ve ever sinned) sin. It was put away, forgiven and forgotten by the Blood of Jesus that we might be the righteousness of God through Him. There by securing a place in heaven for us for eternity.

MY PRAYER…
Kind and Loving Father, thank You for being so generous with Your grace. Thank You for loving Your children so much that You made a way for us where there was no way or hope. You sent Your only begotten Son, the treasure of heaven, to pay the price for my sin, for our sin, once and for all. May I be as passionate for Your righteousness as You were in redeeming me from my sin. Through the Blood of Jesus I ask this.
Amen

Do you truly understand forgiveness?

Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.
Luke 17:3-4 King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Forgiveness! God is very concerned about forgiveness. After all He forgave all of mankind! He is also concerned with un-forgiveness because if you hold un-forgiveness against someone, then He cannot forgive you. I didn’t say that, He did in His Word! If He can’t forgive you then He can’t hear you and if He can’t hear you then He can’t answer your prayers to Him either. Jesus even told Peter that he should forgive not just seven times, but rather seventy times seven in a single day (490). Forgiveness is the key to walking in fellowship with the Lord and with your fellow brothers and sisters. Forgiveness opens the door to the blessings of God. Don’t say: “I forgive you, but I’ll never forget what you did!” That is NOT forgiveness, you have NOT forgiven.

MY PRAYER…
Precious Father, thank You for giving me the power through Your Holy Spirit to forgive those who trespass against me. Thank You Lord, for forgiving me, for cleansing me of all unrighteousness through the precious blood of Jesus. Help me Father, to understand that I must come to You with a pure heart, because only with a pure heart will You hear my prayers. Now I know if You hear my prayers that You will answer them, for Your Word tells me this. Father, thank You for giving us the guidance and teaching through Your Holy Word to help us put away all un-forgiveness, strife, envy, and anything else that is not a part of Your Love. Lord by Your power that works within us, help us to walk in the same love for people that You have. In the Mighty Name of Jesus I pray.
Amen

Can you stand and praise God anywhere?

Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
Psalm 95:1-2 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
What better way to express our joy than with laughter and song. We sing to the Lord because we are joyful and thankful for all He has done for us! Not what is going on in our lives and in the world around us. Our music is not inhibited or held back, but exuberant and as full of heart as it is of sound. We praise Him with our whole being, all that we are. Just like David danced in the streets before the Lord. You can do it at sports events and concerts and no one cares, try being that exuberant when you praise God and see what happens. Thanksgiving and praise to Him is what brings us into the Father’s presence and it is our joy at the knowledge of what He has done for us that leads us to praise Him. Even if we are not musically inclined it’s okay. He said in His Word we could make a joyful noise unto the Lord. It’s our hearts that matter, not what we sound like. Remember He said, He would inhabit the praises of His people.

MY PRAYER…
Most wonderful and glorious Father, thank you so much for sending Your Son and saving me from sin, death, and the law. Thank you for saving me and giving me the assurance, through your Holy Spirit, that I can come before you with exuberant and overflowing joy. Your love and grace have not only given me hope but have made me your child, a son and an heir. Hear my heart and be blessed by my sounds of praise. Through the mighty name of Jesus I pray and because of Jesus I will shout your praise forever and ever.
Amen