Beyond Ourselves
How’s Your Heart Toward “That” Person
Have you ever known a hardhearted person? It seemed no matter how hard you tried, they shut you out? If you do anything wrong, they’re relentless and unforgiving. Not so with our Lord. Although He could have every reason to be hardhearted toward us when we sin, instead, He pursues and forgives us. What a TENDERHEARTED Lord we have! And, this is important – in Ephesians 4:32, He commands us to be like Him – kind, tenderhearted, forgiving each other. If there’s someone you’re hard-hearted toward, this Thanksgiving season would be a good time to “forgive, as God in Christ has forgiven us.”
Lord, we praise You that You’re TENDERHEARTED toward us. Thank You for Your mercy! Thank You for Your grace! Help us follow You and be obedient to forgive others as You have forgiven us.
Do You Ever Feel Fragile or Like You Might Pop
Do you ever feel fragile or like you might “pop” because of the daily pressure you are under? David knew what it was like to feel that way and found God to be the SUSTAINER of his soul. Listen to his words in Psalm 54:4. “God is my helper; The Lord is the SUSTAINER of my soul.” What does it mean for God to be the sustainer of our soul? It means that God revives our minds and emotions when we sit in His presence, meditate on His truths, and absorb encouragement from His Word. God, the Holy Spirit, refreshes and sustains us so we can carry on.
Lord God, we praise You, SUSTAINER of our souls. Thank You for the many times and ways You sustain us. We love and praise You!
#biblegatewaybloggergridmember
What We Learn from Stinky Feet
Have you ever thought, really thought, about Jesus washing His disciples’ stinky feet? Or, about His words in John 13:14? “If I then, the Lord and the TEACHER, washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” Lord and TEACHER on His knees washing feet? Messy. Time consuming. Dirty. Unpleasant. The act had to do with more than simply washing feet, though. It was about humility, servanthood, forgiveness. Our Lord and TEACHER physically illustrated what He would spiritually do by His substitutionary death on the cross for us. It would be messy (a bloody mess). He would wash away our filth and sins. Cleansed, we are to humbly serve others and tell them about Jesus.
Jesus, Lord and Teacher, thank You for washing us and cleansing us of our sins. Make us increasingly mindful of following Your example.
Could you use sympathy instead of condemnation
Can you imagine what it would be like to go to Jesus after you failed miserably and fell into sin and He NOT sympathize with your weaknesses? What if He was unrelenting and unforgiving? But that is not who our sweet Lord Jesus Christ is. Although He is God the Son and our HIGH PRIEST, He is sympathetic with our weaknesses. Here’s how Hebrews 4:15-16 describes Jesus. “We do not have a HIGH PRIEST who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” That’s incredibly good news, but we’re not to stop there. “Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.” In other words, when we sin we’re not supposed to keep sinning. We’re not to hang our heads and avoid Jesus because we’re ashamed. Rather, we’re to humbly go to Him in prayer and confess, “I messed up big time. I sinned! I gave into this temptation…again. Please forgive me and strengthen me to stand against this weakness in my life.” Jesus extends grace to us when we repent, but He also admonishes us, “Go and sin no more.” Why? Because He loves us and doesn’t want us living in sin but rather in holiness. If we’ve been avoiding Jesus because of our sin, today is the day to draw near to our sympathetic HIGH PRIEST.
We praise You, our Lord and High Priest, that although You are high and lifted up, you sympathize with our weaknesses and forgive us when we repent. Help us stand against rather than give into sin.
Do You Want More Strength
An AT&T commercial once asked a group of children, “Who thinks more is better than less?” A little girl quickly responded, “We want more. We want more.” We can identify with her plea for more when we’re going through a difficult time. We want more of God’s strength. We want more of His grace to get us through our day. Second Corinthians 12:9 reassures us that God hears and responds. The verse says, “He has said to me, ‘My grace is SUFFICIENT for you, for power is perfected in weakness.'” What does it mean that God’s grace is SUFFICIENT? Does it mean barely enough? No. Rather, the Biblical word means, “to be possessed of unfailing strength, to be strong, to be enough.”* When we feel weak and like we can’t make it, God Himself is the answer to our cry.
Heavenly Father, thank You that when we’re weak, You respond to our cry for help, assuring us that Your grace is SUFFICIENT unfailing strength.
Do You Wish You Had More Support
Do you ever wish you had more support at work? Perhaps you wish you had support parenting your children. Or, you may wish you had a supportive spouse or friend. I remember a night long ago when I realized that God was my SUPPORT. I was in a position where no one could help me. It wasn’t that they wouldn’t. It was that I had to go through something by myself. I was lonely and didn’t know what to do. It was just God and me. Guess what. I found that I wasn’t without help. God was with me. He was my SUPPORT. As 2 Samuel 22:19 says, “They confronted me in the day of my calamity, but the Lord was my SUPPORT.” If you’re looking for support today and don’t have it, look to God to fill the spot. He won’t fail you.
Lord God, thank You for being our SUPPORT. When no one else is there, or even if they are, You are the ultimate SUPPORT we need.
Please LIKE my Ministry Page HERE. When you do, it helps us spread the Word and love of Jesus.
If You’re Struggling with Darkness
As the sun rises in the east and brings light to the world, so, Zacharias prophesied in Luke 1:78 that Jesus would bring light to the world; calling Him the “dayspring from on high.” Listen to his words, “Through the tender mercy of our God; whereby the dayspring from on high hath visited us.” Jesus, the Dayspring of heaven, visited earth and brought heaven’s glorious light to our dark world. What light? The light of His glory. The light of His Holy Spirit enlightening our hearts. The light of His Words showing us the path of truth. The light of His radiance purifying us of our sin. The light of His presence energizing us. If you’re struggling with the darkness, ask the Dayspring from on high to rise and shine in your heart.
DAYSPRING from ON HIGH, we confess that in our world, the darkness can feel heavy. We confess we need Your light to purify us of our sin and to shine on the path we’re to go. Thank You.
When What You Want is Different from What God Wants
Friends, I’m so honored to be a contributor to The Christian Post. Please take a glance and pray readers take it to heart.
There are times we’re called to do something we’d prefer not to do it. Perhaps for you, it’s a medical procedure. For a tired mom, it may be changing another diaper. A worker may wish they could stay in bed rather than go to work. Then, there are those excruciatingly painful occasions when we may be called to help with an intervention, or change the lock on a door to keep an abusive person out of the home. But, only one person has known the great sacrifice of dying on the cross so mankind could be saved. Jesus asked His Father for a way other than the cross, but when it was the only way, submitted His will to His Father. Is there something you don’t want to do or perhaps want to do that is contrary to God’s will? What will you do…what your Heavenly Father asks of you or what you prefer to do?
Lord Jesus, thank You for modeling being submissive to the Father’s will for the ultimate good of all. We love and praise You.
“He went a little beyond them and fell on His face and prayed, saying, ‘My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.’” Matthew 26:39
If You’re Worried About Your Future
Do you know all that God has prepared for you in eternity? The answer is “no, we don’t know.” First Corinthians 2:9 says, “Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.” Does that bless your heart? Our earthly days may be rough, but God has prepared a future for us beyond our imagination. The passage continues explaining that no one knows God’s thoughts except God’s Spirit. First Corinthians 2: 10-12 explains:
For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so the thoughts of God no one knows except the Spirit of God.Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may know the things freely given to us by God,
Do these verses about the Spirit make you to want to have a deeper understanding of the Holy Spirit and how you can walk by His promptings? If so, I encourage you to get “Listen UP! When the Spirit Speaks,” our gift to you for a donation of $20. The Holy Spirit is God’s gift to Christians. Know Him. Listen to Him. Love and adore Him, for He is the Spirit of Christ abiding in you.
Heavenly Father, Your gift to us of the SPIRIT who SEARCHES ALL THINGS, is the most amazing gift. Thank You! Help us faithfully walk by Your Spirit.
YES! Send me Listen UP! When the Spirit Speaks. 31 Points About the Holy Spirit Every Christian Should Know. Here is my 1 time gift as thanks for 365 Days of Praise devotionals.
For inquiries about Debbie bringing the Listen UP CONFERENCE to your church, contact us.
When You Want to Run Away, Go Here
Do you ever want to run away from the evil in our world or perhaps wish you could run away from your own wayward thoughts? If so, go to God, who David likens to a STRONGHOLD. In Biblical times, a stronghold was a high place, a place of retreat, and for many years, it was David’s safe house. In 2 Samuel 22:3, after the Lord saved him from Saul, David pens these words of praise, “My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, My shield and the horn of my salvation, my STRONGHOLD and my refuge.” Do we know God as our stronghold? If not, He invites us to come to Him. He is high and lifted up. We can flee our fears, wayward thoughts, and the fiery darts of Satan by retreating to Him in prayer.
Lord God, we praise You, our STRONGHOLD. Thank You that we can retreat into Your presence.