Never hate a person, only the evil that they do!

Let those who love the Lord hate evil, for he guards the lives of his faithful ones and delivers them from the hand of the wicked.
Psalm 97:10 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Hate is a very bold and very powerful emotion as well as a word. Look very closely here to what God says, God does not say here to hate people who are evil. We must not hate people, but hate the evil itself. It’s a tough combination to pull off, but absolutely vital. You don’t hate the homosexual, you hate the homosexual acts they do and the one who causes them to do the things they do. God doesn’t hate the homosexual, He hates the evil behind it (Romans 1:20-32). Evil is here because of the evil one — the champion of hate, lies, and death (Satan). So when evil rears its ugly head, let’s be courageous and oppose Satan and his work, we already have the victory anyway in Christ! In the process, let’s pray for those trapped in the evil one’s tentacles, even if they consider us enemies. This is what God directs in His Word. “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” Matthew 5:44-45

MY PRAYER…
Almighty God, make my heart grieved by the evil in my world. Give me the power to be strong against those things opposed to Your will and character. Yet Father, just as You redeemed me by grace, and rescued me while I was a captive to sin, give me courage to care about those who are in the evil one’s embrace. Lord, help me to pray for those who are despitefully used by the evil one, help me to heap coals of fire upon their heads and lips through love and prayer for them. Through my Savior, Jesus, I pray.
Amen

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Laying Up Your Treasure

Cast your bread upon the waters, For you will find it after many days. Give a serving to seven, and also to eight, For you do not know what evil will be on the earth.
Ecclesiastes 11:1-2 New King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Cast your bread upon the waters, bread is representative of money or wealth when used in the context here. Casting it on the waters is representative of sowing it into the Kingdom of God for His work. The world lays up treasure for a rainy day by placing it in stocks and bonds and savings or just in a sock under their mattress. Stocks and bonds aren’t a very good place right now with the conditions of the financial market the way they are today. But Christians are supposed to sow into the Kingdom for a rainy day (a day when times of evil will befall the earth and overtake mankind). God will take care of you when these times come if you have sown into His Kingdom, Just like he took care of Elijah during the famine. If you have laid up treasure in heaven, if you believe that He will, God will take care of you. Since I have put my faith in Him, even since retirement and much less income, I have never seen lack. I have always had more than enough, my wife and I eat out more now than we ever did when I was working. If fact there has always been more than enough so that I could do good works for Him in His Kingdom and still have ALL my needs met. God uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and this principle totally confounds those of the world. How giving tithes and offerings and helping the poor (sowing) could lay up a treasure for your time of need. They don’t understand how God’s Kingdom works, yet the world uses it without even knowing it for other things. Just look at God’s principal of ‘Seed time and harvest!’ Some of you reading this claim to know and understand the tithing principle and yet you are NOT tithing! (Cindy, John, Charles, Melinda – God knows who you are!) God will only allow you to skate for so long before He removes His hand of protection from you and allows the Devil to come in! You know who you are, and so does God.

MY PRAYER…
Precious Father in heaven, reveal unto your people the secrets of Your Kingdom. As a father instructs his children, instruct us in Your ways. Teach us , Holy One, to do things Your way, to learn to put aside the things of this earth and to learn to sow spiritual seeds into Your Kingdom for a time when our harvest will come forth from the very windows of heaven. For a time as Your Word says, that You will open the Windows of heaven and pour out upon us more blessings than we can contain. Father, help us to see into Your spiritual realm beyond that which the natural eyes can see. In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen

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Receive God’s forgiveness!

You are forgiving and good, O Lord, abounding in love to all who call on you.
Psalm 86:5 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Forgiveness is such a sweet blessing, especially when it’s to you. But God does more than forgive! He cleanses and forgets. “As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.” If you know anything about the Earth and geography then you know the east never meets the west! You can go north over the pole and then you are traveling south, but if you travel east forever you will always be going east, never west. God knew this even before men discovered that the Earth wasn’t flat! Our transgressions according to God are GONE! His love is not metered out or carefully rationed. He is not a respecter of persons. He pours it out upon all who genuinely seek Him as Lord, God and Father. But we must diligently seek Him with all our heart, believing in faith that He hears us. For every one that asks receives; and he that seeks finds; and to him that knocks it shall be opened.

MY PRAYER…
Precious Father, I call to You wanting You to know how important Your love and forgiveness are in my life. Thank You for sending Jesus to show and demonstrate Your love and to pay the debt of my sin that I was unable to pay. Help me to live today as Your child, that others may see my joy and my passion for You. That I would shine forth Your love to this world as a beacon of hope. To You be all glory and honor. Through Jesus, my Savior I pray.
Amen

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Seek the Lord and His wisdom for your day to day things!

So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
Psalms 90:12 New King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
So often we look up and time has passed us by and we wonder what has happened. I mean it seems like my son was just born a few years ago, and yet he’s already quickly approaching 46. And I even have a couple grandsons and 5 great-grandsons! The things we promised ourselves we’d accomplish and the deeds we told others we’d do, seem to often get left undone. Before we know it, days have become weeks, and weeks months, and months years. We find ourselves unable to accomplish what we once assumed we could do easily because we no longer seem to have the time, finances, or the energy. Yet we have the same amount of time that we have always had, we just aren’t using it wisely. We have to understand that ALL our needs met by faith in Christ Jesus, and the Lord is our strength! We must ask the Spirit of God to help us see and to help us seize the opportunities the LORD places in our path. We must ask the Lord to show us how to use our time both wisely and with His wisdom. Ask Him to show us how we can both accomplish what He desires for us and also those things that need done in the natural normal day to day things of the world around us. For He knows we have natural needs also, He made us. Do you remember what He said in Matthew 6:32-33?
“For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.
We need to see and understand how to number our days according to His plan for our lives.

MY PRAYER…
Father, I confess that so often I leave undone what needs to be done and instead do what could have waited. Usually because what I did was something I liked to do. Please help me see Your plan in each of my days and help me to live in a way which not only honors and glorifies You, but also blesses those You want me to reach out and bless. Lord, help me to number my days and accomplish that which You would have to do each and every day. Help me Lord to understand Your timing in everything I do. In Jesus’ name I pray.
Amen

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Make God your all in all!

I will love You, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I take trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
Psalm 18:1-2 New King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
We sing it and we say it in our private praise and prayers: “Father, God, we love you.” But notice very carefully the beginning phrase of our verse. “I will love You, O Lord…” Even in public, in community worship, in the grocery store, and even at WalMart we need to know the importance of a personal expression of love to God. When is the last time you told the Creator of the universe, “I love You!” Do you ever just change the we to I and sing it from your heart when you are singing those praises in public? Do you even sing those praises in public?
Try it sometime, you might be surprised by the results when it is personal and comes from your heart and is directed from you specifically to your Lord. All He wants is your heart. He said, “He would inhabit the praises of His people.”

MY PRAYER…
Father in heaven, I love You. I love You because You first loved me. I love You because You are more than worthy of my love. I love You because You sent Your Son to be my big brother and pay the price for my adoption into Your family. I love You because of Your faithfulness. I love You because You have permitted me through Your grace to love You. I love You because there is no one else worthy of this love I have for You! I love You, I love You, I love You, I love You, I love You, I love You, I love You, I love You, I love You, I love You!
In the name of Jesus I Love and thank You.
Amen

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God’s Protective Armor

Our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Ephesians 6:12-13 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Are you suited up in God’s protective armor always?
How often do you forget that we are in a spiritual war and not a physical one? Our enemy is deceptively cunning – take away the urgency of a threat and the danger appears gone. But he’s there, the evil one is there always, just waiting to stick his foot in the door like a persistent salesman. But rather than try to guess his plans and counter all of his moves, Paul reminds us to simply take up the tools God has given us and stand up to the evil one. Put the power of prayer in the name of Jesus to work in our lives. Make sure that you have donned your armor and picked up your shield of Faith and then turned on your spiritual security system every morning by spending time in God’s Word before heading out into the world of darkness around us. Always, always make sure you have on the full armor of God. From the helmet of salvation to the shoes of the Gospel and everything in between. Most importantly the shield of Faith, by which you can quench ALL the fiery darts of the enemy. The moment we forget even one piece of that armor, is the time the enemy will come in with force and find the chink in your armor! It says when he comes, not if he comes. But the Word also says we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us.

MY PRAYER…
Lord of Hosts, my Great Deliverer, protect me from the evil one by Your great and mighty power. Give me a sense of urgency as I face Satan and his schemes on a daily basis, but also help me to increase my confidence that Jesus has already defeated my foe. Help me to stand against this foe and show myself faithful to You. Lord, reveal unto to me the enemies’ plans before he has a chance to apply them. That I may then use that which Jesus has already provided for me in my defense. May Your Holy Spirit fill me fresh each day. In the name of my Lord and Savior I pray.
Amen

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Random acts of kindness, or intentional acts of love?

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer every man.
Colossians 4:5-6 New King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Do you do random acts of kindness, or intentional acts of love?
For Christians there are no such things as random acts of kindness, only intentional acts of love given the opportunity to happen. This is true not just in deeds, but in words as well. But more than trying to avoid poor speech, we are urged to use our speech to bless and help others to come to know Christ. We are to always be full of the Word so that we have a answer to any question, an answer that lines up with the Word of God and not a worldly answer, not an answer that is of a doctrine of men, but of the doctrine of Christ. We are to “Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needs not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15) Always be prepared with a Godly answer.

MY PRAYER…
Father, forgive me for the careless words I have uttered this week. I understand that these careless words are twice sins — a sin once when I committed it and a sin a second time because I didn’t see the opportunity to be redemptive right away. Open my eyes Lord so that I may see whom You have placed in my path to witness to. Lord, help me through Your Holy Spirit to have the correct words and the wisdom to know how and when to speak. Lord, use me as your oracle, help me to speak as lead by Your Spirit and not by my mind or the circumstances at the time.
In the name of Jesus I pray.
Amen

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Reconciliation

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.
Galatians 6:1-3 New King James Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Can you reconcile a brother or sister in love?
In 2 COR 5:18 God tells us He has given us the ministry of reconciliation. Now again here in Galatians we are reminded that if someone (not even necessarily a Christian) be overtaken by a trespass or fault (or are in sin), becoming thereby separated spiritually from God, that we are to restore them or to reconcile them to God. We have a spiritual obligation to do so. But we are warned, to be wary that we our self don’t fall prey to the wiles of the evil one while we are reconciling our brother or sister. In other words, be careful lest what snared your brother also snare you while you are helping them. Be careful that you don’t think you are above or can not be caught up in what got your brother. Do not be deceived for the evil one is wily and sly and often deceives even the elite. Stay prayed up, and be on your guard!

MY PRAYER…
Most Holy Father, I thank You for entrusting me with such an important ministry. I thank You Lord that You have made me an able minister of the Gospel and that I can do all things through Christ (the anointed one and His anointing) who strengthens me. Father, help me to have the wisdom and knowledge to be able to perform Your work every day of my life. Renew me each and everyday with a fresh infilling of Your Holy Spirit, empowering me with the power needed to carry out this work. Father, let Your Holy Spirit guard and keep my heart and help me to not be deceived along the way.
In Jesus’ name I pray. And every one who agreed said,
“Amen!”

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Compassion and Love

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Can you give compassion and love while forgiving each other?
Being kind and compassionate, two qualities that seem to be in very short supply in today’s hustle bustle modern world, where only the ruthless survive. Maybe it is because we hold up the wrong heroes, the wrong attitudes, or the wrong moral ethics, but these two qualities are often seen as a sign of weakness in people rather than strengths. Yet all through the Gospels we see our Lord Jesus having compassion for the multitudes. Jesus displays these traits as strengths and qualities to be desired by all. To have compassion as our Lord did we must first learn to be humble and to place our wants and needs aside so we can minister to the needs of those around us. We must learn to forgive as God forgave us. We must allow God’s Love to permeate our spirits. We must learn to be a servant to all as Jesus was. Our way as Christians is exactly the opposite of the world’s way. Jesus said: “He wants to be first, must first be last.”

MY PRAYER…
Holy Father God, there is no way I can adequately thank You for sacrificing so much to forgive me. So this day, I pledge to be more like You in every way, to share more of Your kindness and grace with those who have wronged me. Today, I ask You to help me release my bitterness toward _____________ (you fill in the blank with the name(s) of those you need to forgive) and I release them and my forgiveness to them now, in Jesus’ name. Father, I ask You to bless this person(s) with Your kindness, Your Love, Your grace, and Your mercy. In the power of the name of Jesus, I ask this.
Amen

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Gossip Monger:

He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.
Proverbs 17:9 New International Version

THOUGHTS ABOUT TODAY’S VERSE…
Are you a gossip monger? Monger: a person who promotes a specified activity, situation, or feeling, especially one that is undesirable or discreditable. “rumormonger”

Unfortunately a “gossip monger” is like a farm manure spreader, it spreads feces, stench and odor everywhere it goes.
“It’s just a little harmless gossip.” The Wise Teacher (Jesus) reminds us that gossip is neither little nor harmless. It is a tool of the Devil, used to bring strife, contention, and division to all. Its consequences are huge and its damage horrible and everlasting. Gossip will destroy relationships faster than anything else can. Instead, it is much better to be a peacemaker and an offense-mender. Do you love your brother / sister with the God kind of love? Do you love your enemy as you love yourself? Help them put any offense to rest then. Show forth the God kind of love and do not repeat gossip, instead cover it with God’s Love. Pray for those who abuse and harm you.

MY PRAYER…
Father of Glory, I confess that I am often more a peace lover than a peacemaker. Give me the strength and want to, Lord develop in me the character not to repeat gossip, but instead to have the wisdom and strength to be an offense-mender. Help me Lord to have the same compassion for people that You have. Through the Prince of Peace, my Lord Jesus, I pray.
Amen

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