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So, What’s the Big Deal About Genealogy
In the last several years, there has been an increase in the number of people wanting to know about their ancestors. However, genealogy has always been important in the Bible. For instance, consider the first verse of the first chapter of the first book of the New Testament, Matthew 1:1.
The record of the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah, the son of David, the son of Abraham.”
Just in case someone might doubt Jesus’s rightful place as heir to King David’s throne, His lineage is recorded for the next twenty-five verses. Yes, Jesus is the Son of God, but He is also the Son of David. Among the many important implications, it is important to recognize that Jesus knows what it is to live in human skin – to need a nap, to feel tears roll down His cheek, and to thirst as He hung on the cross. Jesus’s genealogy is well proved and we will one day see Him sitting on His throne.
Son of David, we praise You for willingly leaving Your heavenly home to put on flesh and live among us. We love and adore You.
Friends, I’d love to have you join me any week on Wednesdays or Thursdays for our weekly Bible Study of John. Click here for more info.
Live outside of the Texas Hill Country? No problem! My weekly teachings and Listening Guides will be added HERE each week so you can follow along or use it for a group study.
Just You Wait and See
Things aren’t always as they appear. Just wait and see. For instance, Jesus had no earthly possessions, wasn’t married, and when arrested, His friends abandoned Him. He was lied about, mocked, and beaten almost to death. Mark 14:61 records the high priest questioning Him prior to crucifying Him, “‘Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed One?’” How incongruous. Blessed? Yet Jesus was and is the Son of the Blessed One. So when we think about our lives or circumstances and they don’t appear as us being the “blessed child of God,” remember that is who we are. Things aren’t always as they seem. Just wait and see.
Heavenly Father, we praise You for Christ, SON of the BLESSED ONE, and for our being Your blessed children.
Friends, I’d love to have you join me any week on Wednesdays or Thursdays for our weekly Bible Study of John. Click here for more info.
Live outside of the Texas Hill Country? No problem! My weekly teachings and Listening Guides will be added HERE each week so you can follow along or use it for a group study.
Are Things Heating Up in Your Life
Our Heavenly Father has a goal: to cleanse us of sin. Malachi 3:3 explains that He sits as a SMELTER, or a refiner, watching over us as the heat of daily life, trials, and sufferings cause impurities to rise to the surface. What happens when sin glaringly rises in life? We have the opportunity to be appalled and confess the sin. That is God’s goal. For us to be increasingly purified so we better reflect Christ. Are things heating up in your life? If so, be assured that your Heavenly Father is close to you and is watching over you. He hears your prayers and confessions. And, has anyone told you? You are reflecting Him more every day.
Lord, thank You, SMELTER of our mind, spirit, and soul. Purify us so we reflect Your image.
“He will sit as a SMELTER and purifier of silver, and He will purify the sons of Levi and refine them like gold and silver, so that they may present to the LORD offerings in righteousness.”
Friends, I’d love to have you join me any week on Wednesdays or Thursdays for our weekly Bible Study of John. Click here for more info.
Live outside of the Texas Hill Country? No problem! My weekly teachings and Listening Guides will be added HERE each week so you can follow along or use it for a group study.
The Difference in Slow and Fast
The Lord is gracious and merciful; SLOW TO ANGER and great in lovingkindness.
Lord, thank You for being SLOW to ANGER. We love You and thank You for revealing Yourself to us in the Bible. Each of Your character traits encourages us. Our souls are at peace knowing You are an ever-present help.
Friends, I’d love to have you join me any week on Wednesdays or Thursdays for our weekly Bible Study of John. Click here for more info.
Live outside of the Texas Hill Country? No problem! My weekly teachings and Listening Guides will be added HERE each week so you can follow along or use it for a group study.
If You’re Under Attack
Do you feel under fire by a barrage of personal, financial, physical, spiritual, or other attacks? If so, call out to your Heavenly Father, who David describes in Psalm 3:3 as a SHIELD about him. Put on the spiritual armor He’s given you. (Ephesians 6:13) Take His Word and soak your heart and mind in it. (Psalm 119:97-98, 110-111, 114) Jesus hasn’t left us alone to suffer through life’s trials by ourselves. Cover yourself with His love and truth. (from Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion)
Lord, thank You for being a SHIELD about us. Help us stay under the protection of Your divine armor and Word.
“You, O Lord, are a SHIELD about me, My glory, and the One who lifts my head.” Psalm 3:3
Learn more about Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion HERE.
Friends, I’d love to have you join me on Wednesdays or Thursdays for our weekly Bible Study of John. Click here for more info.
Live outside of the Texas Hill Country? No problem! My weekly teachings and Listening Guides will be added HERE each week so you can follow along or use it for a group study.
Have You Ever Wished You Had Someone to…
Have you ever wished you had someone to watch your back? Or better, to watch over your soul – your mind, emotions, and will? The fact is, believers have just that person in Jesus. First Peter 2:25 tells us “…you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.” When doing research for my book, Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion about God being the guardian of our soul, I discovered that the word “guardian” is translated from the Greek word episkopos and means an “overseer, a man charged with the duty of seeing that things done by another are done rightly.” (page 98) What a blessing for us to have God as the Guardian of our souls!
God assumes responsibility for being the Guardian of our soul, but it is our responsibility to tune into Him and follow what He tells us to do both in the Bible and when the Holy Spirit prompts us during the day. Begin each day prayerfully greeting God and lifting up your soul to Him. Invite Him to fill your soul, then pay attention to His prompts throughout the day. You know how I value opening my prayer journal every morning and recording His attribute that I share with you. Being still in God’s presence with pen in hand and journal open is an invitation for God to prompt us how to pray and also what He wants us to do. If you haven’t yet tried journaling, this time in our lives is a perfect time. Prayers of My Heart Journal
LORD, thank You for being the GUARDIAN of our souls. Help us be ever sensitive to Your Word and will.
Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion
Friends, I’d love to have you join me on Wednesdays or Thursdays for our weekly Bible Study of John. Click here for more info.
Live outside of the Texas Hill Country? No problem! My weekly teachings and Listening Guides will be added HERE each week so you can follow along or use it for a group study.
Help People See Jesus
Have you been battling something and you’re tired? If so, we do well to remember that as believers we don’t stand alone. We have each other as we battle our flesh, the world, and Satan. Exodus 17:8-15 records a great visual of how we can come alongside each other, and under the banner of the Lord, defeat the enemy.
Amalek came and fought against Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, Choose men for us and go out, fight against Amalek. Tomorrow I will station myself on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.
So it came about when Moses held his hand up, that Israel prevailed, and when he let his hand down, Amalek prevailed.
But Moses’ hands were heavy. Then they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it; and Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side and one on the other. Thus his hands were steady until the sunset.
So Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.
Moses built an altar and named it The Lord Is My Banner; and he said, ‘The Lord has sworn; the Lord will have war against Amalek from generation to generation.’
In this passage, we learn that the Israelites won the battle as long as they could see Moses’s staff which represented God’s power.
What can we learn from this account?
- We must station ourselves with the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God.
- We must lift one another in prayer.
- We must keep our eyes on Christ, the Victor.
God is our Banner. Lift Him high before the eyes of others. How? Share “365 Days of Praise” with family and friends each day. Each devotional focuses on a different aspect of God’s divinity, power, and sufficiency. Or, take 30 seconds and click the FB or Twitter share link at the end of each post.
Will you join me in daily holding up God’s name and power? Who in your family and which of your friends could use the daily reminder that God is in the battle with them?
Heavenly Father, we often feel there is little we can do to make a difference in our world. But there is something we can do. We can lift high Your name so others are reminded of Your presence and power. Thank You, Jehovah-Nissi, our banner.
Friends, I’d love to have you join me on Wednesdays or Thursdays for our weekly Bible Study of John. Click here for more info.
Live outside of the Texas Hill Country? No problem! My weekly teachings and Listening Guides will be added HERE each week so you can follow along or use it for a group study.
If You’re Devastated by the Separation
Have you ever been separated from someone and you desperately wanted to be with them? Whether the separation is due to death, divorce, disease, or distance, the pain of not being able to be with or even get in touch with a loved one is indescribable. “Indescribable.” That’s the word people often use when attempting to explain their loss, suffering, and sadness. Jesus understands such depth of emotion. He loves us and created us to live in union with Him. Indescribable love drove Him from heaven’s glory to earth to seek and to save us. Jesus, separated from sinners, crossed the chasm between heaven’s glory and earth. He offers His outstretched hand to save us for eternity and to save us daily. How tightly are we holding to Him?
Lord, we praise You. You, who are SEPARATED from SINNERS, who came to earth to save us. May we cling tightly to You every moment of our day and night.
“it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens;” Hebrews 7:26.
Friends, I’d love to have you join me on Wednesdays or Thursdays for our weekly Bible Study of John. Click here for more info.
Live outside of the Texas Hill Country? No problem! My weekly teachings and Listening Guides will be added HERE each week so you can follow along or use it for a group study.
Whose Side Are You On
Sides. Children learn the concept of “sides” at a young age. They’re on this side or that side of the field depending on their team. They learn about historical battles and what each side fought. The Bible tells us that there are spiritual sides. God is on one side and the devil is on the other side. They are battling over our souls. Ephesians 6:16 tells us how to extinguish the devil’s flaming arrows. We’re reminded that we’re not in this battle alone. Our Heavenly Father is the Captain of our side and He wins the war against Satan because of Jesus who Isaiah 49:2 describes as a Select Arrow sent straight from God’s quiver to destroy the works of the devil and save our soul.
He has also made Me a select arrow, He has hidden Me in His quiver.
Take courage. You may be in a skirmish but if you’re a follower of Christ you’re on the right side.
Lord Jesus, God’s SELECT ARROW, thank You for coming to earth to destroy the works of the devil and take us to Your side. We love and praise You!
Prayers of My Heart – where I daily record God’s character traits to focus on His reign in my life and in the world.
Friends, I’d love to have you join me on Wednesdays or Thursdays for our weekly Bible Study of John. Click here for more info.
Live outside of the Texas Hill Country? No problem! My weekly teachings and Listening Guides will be added HERE each week so you can follow along or use it for a group study.
Marco Pollo
Did you ever play Marco Polo in the swimming pool? I have fond memories of playing it with my sister, Vicki. We’d take turns closing our eyes and calling out “Marco.” The other one would respond, “Polo,” then swim away to avoid being tagged. Some of us may think of Jesus as one who is blindly searching for us when we call out to Him. That is far from the case. Jesus has His eyes on us and is waiting for us to call on Him. Jesus is the SEEKER of the LOST, as He explains in Luke 19:10, He came to earth to seek and to save. He sees you. He sees your unsaved loved ones. He’s calling all to come to Him for salvation.
Lord Jesus, thank You that You see us and know where we are. Thank You for SEEKING and SAVING us. May those who are calling for You then running away, turn toward You and come to You. May our nation turn and come to You.
“The Son of Man has come to SEEK and to SAVE that which was lost, ” Luke 19:10.
Friends, I’d love to have you join me on Wednesdays or Thursdays for our weekly Bible Study of John. Click here for more info.
Live outside of the Texas Hill Country? No problem! My weekly teachings and Listening Guides will be added HERE each week so you can follow along or use it for a group study.