Some clsoing words frm Jesus which connect our forgiveness from Him with our ability to forgive. This is perhaps our greatest calling from the lord. It is like His demand that we love our enemies and poray for those who are against us. These are indeed hard sayings for those who follow.
It is rather easy to accept forgiveness from God. Who wants to hang on to sins committed, reliving them over and over again??? God says he forgives and it is done. It is true that we sometimes have a hard time forgicing ourselves but generally we get the job done.
Now, on to more difficult issues - forgiving others. It is so easy to hold a grudge or become bitter and hang on to offenses from others. IT is rather painless to withdraw from someone who has offended and just ignore their presence and act as if they do not exist.
Jesus disallows such behavior. Our forgiveness is tied to our abilty to forgive. If I cannot forgive what does that say about my relationship with God? Foree
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
Give Us Our Daily Bread - A Double Edged Sword
God is the one who sustains us. Regardless of our ability to earn, that ability comes from God. Help me Father to not become focused on human achievement. Thank you for giving humanity the abilities we have to work and accumulate things and enjoy this world you made. Help me to realize and embrace the truth that while human ability and achievement is a blessing from you it is a double edged sword. The gift to earn and acquire can become the idol of my life. The friends you bring to me can replace your presence if I am not careful. The human spirit with all of its advantages can become a spirit of pride and arrogance. My thinking capacity, a blessing from you, can be so complex that I decide faith is no longer needed. Thank you Father for giving me the necessities of life. Help those gifts not to become my god.
Read the story of Babel in Genesis 11. God endowed people with the creative ability to build and achieve. That same ability drove them to "make a name for themselves." Their God given talent crowded God out. They forgot their bread came from Him. Foree
Read the story of Babel in Genesis 11. God endowed people with the creative ability to build and achieve. That same ability drove them to "make a name for themselves." Their God given talent crowded God out. They forgot their bread came from Him. Foree
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
YOUR WILL BE DONE
This is my request to God. My desires, goals, requests and pleas are all centered around my desire for God to do HIS WILL. Help me Father to be obedient to your agenda and not to mine. Correct me when I get on the wrong road. Convict me when I give into my own desire and think I know what is best for me. Help me avoid being fooled by the Tempters persuasions. Give me the grace I need to perform in life for you and you alone.
When Jesus was in the garden his humanity sought freedom from the suffering of the cross when he said "...let this cup pass from me..." But he preceded it with "If it be your will" by saying "not my will but yours be done." This was the faith of Jesus. "I am willing to do whatever your will is that I do."
We can always trust the faithful Father who knows more than we know. His will is always best for us. Our will is to do His will. foree
When Jesus was in the garden his humanity sought freedom from the suffering of the cross when he said "...let this cup pass from me..." But he preceded it with "If it be your will" by saying "not my will but yours be done." This was the faith of Jesus. "I am willing to do whatever your will is that I do."
We can always trust the faithful Father who knows more than we know. His will is always best for us. Our will is to do His will. foree
Monday, March 1, 2010
Have a read and see where you fit....
Latest reports are that five terorist cell groups have been operating in many of our churches. They have been identified as:
Bin Sleepin, Bin Arguin, Bin Fightin, Bin Complainin, and Bin Missin.
Their leader, Lucifer Bin Workin, trained these groups to hinder the Body of Christ. The plan is to come into the church disguised as Christians and to work within the church to discourage, disrupt, and destroy.
However, there have been reports of a sixth group. A tiny cell group known by the name Bin Prayin is actually the only effective counter terrorism force in the church. Unlike other terrorist cells, the Bin Prayin team does not blend in with whoever and whatever comes along.
Bin Prayin does whatever is needed to uplift and encourage the Body of Christ. we have noticed that the Prayin cell group has different characteristics than the others. They have Bin watchin, Bin waitin, Bin Fastin, and Bin longin for the Master Jesus to return to Rapture the Church.
No church is exempt; however, you can spot them if you bin lookin and bin goin.
Someone else wrote this but i found it intersting....foree
Bin Sleepin, Bin Arguin, Bin Fightin, Bin Complainin, and Bin Missin.
Their leader, Lucifer Bin Workin, trained these groups to hinder the Body of Christ. The plan is to come into the church disguised as Christians and to work within the church to discourage, disrupt, and destroy.
However, there have been reports of a sixth group. A tiny cell group known by the name Bin Prayin is actually the only effective counter terrorism force in the church. Unlike other terrorist cells, the Bin Prayin team does not blend in with whoever and whatever comes along.
Bin Prayin does whatever is needed to uplift and encourage the Body of Christ. we have noticed that the Prayin cell group has different characteristics than the others. They have Bin watchin, Bin waitin, Bin Fastin, and Bin longin for the Master Jesus to return to Rapture the Church.
No church is exempt; however, you can spot them if you bin lookin and bin goin.
Someone else wrote this but i found it intersting....foree
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Your Kingdom Come
"Kingdom" means reign and infers a territory which is the heart. Christ comes to create the reign of God in the hearts and lives of those who will repent and believe. Luke 17:21 says "...the kingdom of God is within you..." And this is my prayer that God will widen the influence of His Spirit in my life. That I will become more like Jesus in the way I live with others. Help me Lord not to strike back with fists or words. Give me the patience I need with others as they like me struggle with the flesh. May your reign in me create a humble spirit open to the guidance of your word. I ask that my religious observance be focused on honoring and bringing glory to you and not myself.
Help me to be the husband who sacrifices himself for his wife. Give me the grace not to exasperate my children. May the words of my mouth bring glory to you. May your reign in me always remind me of the cross of self denial I am called to carry.
The "kingdom of God" is about Christ transforming me. My job is to allow it. Foree
Help me to be the husband who sacrifices himself for his wife. Give me the grace not to exasperate my children. May the words of my mouth bring glory to you. May your reign in me always remind me of the cross of self denial I am called to carry.
The "kingdom of God" is about Christ transforming me. My job is to allow it. Foree
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Holy Is Your Name
The intimate relationship between child and parent calls for a familiar term, hence "father" or "abba." This is no meeting between strangers. This is family, a child speaking to his dad but remembering the holy Father. "Let you name be dedicated, separate and pure."
In the earliest of God's written communications He demanded His name not be spoken in plain, ordinary, vulgar and common terms. This is the Father who spoke the worlds into existence and will one day speak their destruction. He sits in the Heavenlies and those in His presence offer glory and honor to His name.
He us holy. There is none like Him. He cannot be tempted and tempts no one. He dwells in light unapproachable. He is the respondent to prayer and the deliverer of grace and mercy. He reaches down from his throne and saves us from our enemies because he delights in us.
There is no comparison to our Father in heaven. He is holy. He is unique. He is above us and in Him there is no disappointment. The Father is faithful and true. He is worthy of double honor.
And this Father of mine has forgiven me by sacrificing his own...HOLY IS YOUR NAME.
Psalm 18:1-19 - The Father who rescues...praise be to his NAME!
In the earliest of God's written communications He demanded His name not be spoken in plain, ordinary, vulgar and common terms. This is the Father who spoke the worlds into existence and will one day speak their destruction. He sits in the Heavenlies and those in His presence offer glory and honor to His name.
He us holy. There is none like Him. He cannot be tempted and tempts no one. He dwells in light unapproachable. He is the respondent to prayer and the deliverer of grace and mercy. He reaches down from his throne and saves us from our enemies because he delights in us.
There is no comparison to our Father in heaven. He is holy. He is unique. He is above us and in Him there is no disappointment. The Father is faithful and true. He is worthy of double honor.
And this Father of mine has forgiven me by sacrificing his own...HOLY IS YOUR NAME.
Psalm 18:1-19 - The Father who rescues...praise be to his NAME!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The Lord's Prayer- "My Father"
Now this note may take a couple of blogs to get it in but I am going to try. First a little personal history. I was raised to believe that Christians should not say the Lord's prayer since the kingdom has already come...one of many things I believed which later learned to be untrue. The kingdom of God is within us (Luke 17:21). "Kingdom" is about the REIGN of God in our hearts. People who are under the Lordship of Jesus who have God as their King are kingdom people, they are people who acknowledge God in their lives.
Second - I preached a sermon on the Lord's Prayer a few weeks ago and realized that Jesus is telling is how to pray, "This then is how you should pray" (Matthew 6:9). So I have begun to pray the Prayer and it has revived my prayer life. I follow the words of the Prayer but in a developed and expanded manner. Make it personal!
For example: I begin with "My Father who is in heaven..." focusing on "my." The God of this world is MY father. I then think about my relationship to him as an adopted son, elected by him in Jesus to whom I can cry "abba" (Aramaic for daddy). I think about him waiting for me like the "Prodigal's" father - how patient he is with me and how he disciplines me and waits on me to return when I wander. Speaking to him as MY father opens a door of intimacy for me as I approach his throne. "MY FATHER."
The key for me is to personalise the prayer as I say the words and take time to expand the concepts in my heart and mind. Rather than just saying the words of the prayer, to think of the words as I ponder my relationship with him. Sometimes my whole prayer for that moment is about Him being my father.
In this part I also think of the wonderful aspects of my relationship to my earthly Father and consider how God has been that same way with me. For example - my dad shared his work and relaxation with me. He took me fishing and hunting and camping and also taught me how to wood work and work in the yard and pour concrete. We laughed and cried together and shared life. When I consider all God has done for me he too has been sharing His life with me. "My Father," what an awesome way to open conversation with God. I will share more ...but first are you getting my drift? Foree
Second - I preached a sermon on the Lord's Prayer a few weeks ago and realized that Jesus is telling is how to pray, "This then is how you should pray" (Matthew 6:9). So I have begun to pray the Prayer and it has revived my prayer life. I follow the words of the Prayer but in a developed and expanded manner. Make it personal!
For example: I begin with "My Father who is in heaven..." focusing on "my." The God of this world is MY father. I then think about my relationship to him as an adopted son, elected by him in Jesus to whom I can cry "abba" (Aramaic for daddy). I think about him waiting for me like the "Prodigal's" father - how patient he is with me and how he disciplines me and waits on me to return when I wander. Speaking to him as MY father opens a door of intimacy for me as I approach his throne. "MY FATHER."
The key for me is to personalise the prayer as I say the words and take time to expand the concepts in my heart and mind. Rather than just saying the words of the prayer, to think of the words as I ponder my relationship with him. Sometimes my whole prayer for that moment is about Him being my father.
In this part I also think of the wonderful aspects of my relationship to my earthly Father and consider how God has been that same way with me. For example - my dad shared his work and relaxation with me. He took me fishing and hunting and camping and also taught me how to wood work and work in the yard and pour concrete. We laughed and cried together and shared life. When I consider all God has done for me he too has been sharing His life with me. "My Father," what an awesome way to open conversation with God. I will share more ...but first are you getting my drift? Foree
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