Zoe life

  It is mighty humbling to think that the LORD has brought to me an opportunity to bring counsel to others here in this land.  Many times have we found counsel from God coming from the mouths of those we'd not noticed or from someone He'd used us to raise up.  It is in these moments when they speak the softest that he speaks the loudest.
  There is something about the Word of God that causes life to stir.  If you have ever read the Word and given any attention to the content, you may have experienced a bit of understanding that came along with a realization that there is something here that you couldn't touch, something intangible...  That something is Life (Greek:Zoe c. John 10:10).  This "Zoe" (zow-ee)  life is something that cannot be purchased, it cannot be grabbed, it cannot be attained by the ways we keep.  This "Zoe" life is given to us.  It's passive, it's something that is done in and for us as we cannot get it on our own.  It is a gift from God and His example thru Christ for us is all about it!  
  Learning to be independently dependant upon Christ has taught many what this "Zoe" life is.  It contains a peace that truly passes understanding.  It takes us and makes us dead to the sin and death of this world and alive to life itself.  It is a realization that the next life isn't next.  It's knowing that we have been called into the eternal, the ever existing, the past, present, and future, LIFE.  The realization and transformation that occurs here in revelation brings us to a place that holds no guile, guilt, or shame, only peace, only freedom.
  Realize that there were two trees in the Garden.  They were given a choice that we have to make everyday.  Will you judge your circumstances or those around you and fall prey to the labors of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil?  Won't you simply miss the drama and partake from the tree of life?  God gave opportunity to be reconciled  to Him by Christ.  He gave you an opportunity to take back the mistake of the garden.  He gives you his light, the Sword, His Word and that gives you access to the Tree of Life.  What are you waiting for?

Genuinely,

Jasper D. Pierce
ChristCarriesMe.org
Christ Carries Me Ministries
PO Box 354 
Carthage, TX 75633-0354

Jesus' Teaching for His Disciples

Luke 6: 17And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; 18And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed. 19And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed [them] all. 20And he lifted up his eyes on his disciples, and said, Blessed [be ye] poor: for yours is the kingdom of God. 21Blessed [are ye] that hunger now: for ye shall be filled. Blessed [are ye] that weep now: for ye shall laugh. 22Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you [from their company], and shall reproach [you], and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man´s sake. 23Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward [is] great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets. 24But woe unto you that are rich ! for ye have received your consolation. 25Woe unto you that are full ! for ye shall hunger. Woe unto you that laugh now ! for ye shall mourn and weep. 26Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you ! for so did their fathers to the false prophets. 27But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, 28Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

Do you know grace?

Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, & I forgive him? Matt 18:21

I can forgive because I am forgiven. I know grace firsthand.

Sermon on Seeking God

Strong sermon audio on Prayer.  Intro of Stephen, Stephen speaks, then the sermon.  Prepare to be blessed!

Click here for the audio stream

Zeke

http://bible.com/1171/ezk.16.8.MEV

Expect and do

"Who through faith...out of weakness were made strong"
Heb 11:33-34

Expect great things from God; attempt great things for God.

There aren’t enough hours in a day.

“There aren’t enough hours in a day.”

Have you ever said something like that? I totally understand. Sometimes life feels like you’re running on a treadmill while someone keeps pushing the button to increase the speed faster and faster.

Twenty-four hours never feels like enough. If only we had more time! A couple extra hours a day would make all the difference! Or maybe an extra week to be able to catch up, right? (How do I know your thoughts? Because I have the exact same thoughts myself.)

The truth is that God will accomplish through you what he needs to accomplish in the time available. Our almighty God is the one who came up with 24-hour days after all. If God thinks that’s good enough, it is. I love the end of the book of Job when God challenges Job’s frustrations and puts him in his place for questioning God: “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. . . . Have you ever given orders to the morning, or shown the dawn its place?” (Job 38:4,12).

In other words, God’s the boss man and he knows what he’s doing. You can wish for more time, but you’re not going to get it. You can’t make your days longer. What you can do is your best and leave the rest in God’s hands. After all, if everything in life depended on us, no amount of hours would ever, ever be enough.

My busyness pleases God. Bible.com

"My busyness pleases God.”

Look at my calendar and you’ll see a lot of stuff--deadlines, commitments, responsibilities. I’m sure some people would be impressed at all the “important” things I keep myself busy with.

In the United States, our society prizes busyness. “How are you doing?” our friends ask us. “Busy!” we reply, waiting for the sympathy or gold medal we think we deserve as a result of the chaotic life we’ve built for ourselves. Who cares if other people are impressed though? The question is, Does our Creator approve?

Why are you busy? What’s the point of it all? Psalm 39:6 sums up one of my greatest fears for us Christians in our hectic world: “We are merely moving shadows, and all our busy rushing ends in nothing” (Psalm 39:6 NLT). Doesn’t that almost give you chills? Merely moving shadows. Busy rushing that ends in nothing. The last thing I want is for most of my life to be pointless in the scope of eternity, but the truth is that much of my busy rushing is pretty pointless.

Busyness by itself isn’t wrong, but busyness requires intention. Pray that God will guard you from pointless busyness and that if you are busy, that you’ll live busy with a purpose.

PS 39:6

GINNY'S PRIVATE GROUP AND TESTIMONY LINKS

MY PRIVATE GROUP AND TESTIMONY LINKS 

9/24/2015 by Ginny Pierce 

Web: Created Imperfect Purposefully Private/Closed Group on Facebook
Email: For the group above
Testimony: My personal testimony given at The Awakening @ Davis Park here in Carthage @ 7pm every Friday night....if you want a Holy Ghost experience....THIS IS the place to be!!!  (just a little plug there ;) lol.......just sayin'.......it's GOOD)
(the links are located in the words web, email, and testimony for those not so comp savvy...like me....my hubby had to show me how...lol)
Hope you enjoy....look forward to seeing y'all in the group and welcome any and all comments from either the group and/or the testimony...much love
Child of The Most High God,
Ginny Pierce

Happy Birthday?

Pray

Mighty God, You are Alpha and Omega, before the beginning and after the ending. I bow before You.

Read

Job 3:1-26

^[1] After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. ^[2] And Job spake, and said,^[3] Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. ^[4] Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. ^[5] Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. ^[6] As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months. ^[7] Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein. ^[8] Let them curse it that curse the day, who are ready to raise up their mourning. ^[9] Let the stars of the twilight thereof be dark; let it look for light, but have none; neither let it see the dawning of the day: ^[10] Because it shut not up the doors of my mother's womb, nor hid sorrow from mine eyes. ^[11] Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly? ^[12] Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck? ^[13] For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept: then had I been at rest, ^[14] With kings and counsellors of the earth, which build desolate places for themselves; ^[15] Or with princes that had gold, who filled their houses with silver: ^[16] Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light. ^[17] There the wicked cease from troubling; and there the weary be at rest. ^[18] There the prisoners rest together; they hear not the voice of the oppressor. ^[19] The small and great are there; and the servant is free from his master. ^[20] Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery, and life unto the bitter in soul; ^[21] Which long for death, but it cometh not; and dig for it more than for hid treasures; ^[22] Which rejoice exceedingly, and are glad, when they can find the grave? ^[23] Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in? ^[24] For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters. ^[25] For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. ^[26] I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came. 

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version, Public Domain

Meditate

Consider: Think back to some good, lovely things that have happened in your life, that cause you to thank God that you were born.

Think Further:

Having no children myself, I derived huge joy from the birth of my first great-niece, and I am of course as biased as any fond mother or grandmother. She is beautiful, clever, full of charm and utterly gorgeous! No doubt Job felt the same--but now with the death of his precious children he can see deep darkness about his existence as he curses the day of his conception and that of his safe arrival in the world.

Note that it is Job who breaks the week's silence, not his friends. He is not cursing God. He is merely giving vent to his pent-up feelings--an activity of which God approves (Job 42:7). This is wonderful poetry; indeed the whole book is poetry except for the introductory chapters and the final few verses. As with the psalms, the way this book has been preserved for us allows us to identify deeply with real human feelings in a way that factual prose could not express so well. It is OK to vent one's feelings before God, as Job did.

It is likely that some readers have at some point in their lives longed for death (21) because their undeserved suffering is so great. Sometimes it is hard to understand why a sufferer cannot just die in their sleep but has to awaken to yet another long day of pain. Job felt that God was hedging him in (23), preventing any escape from his dreadful circumstances, or any help from reaching him. This is ironic, in view of the satan's comment in 1:10 (unheard by Job), where such hedging was seen as keeping Job safe! "To Job it appears that God has locked him into turmoil and thrown away the key" (John E. Hartley). Can you enter into those feelings?

Apply

Be honest before God. If you need to vent your feelings to him, do so [Remember to fear Him tho, don't be disrespectful. That is NOT ok, ever] . That's OK with God!

Pray

Patient One, I can identify with the psalmists and with Job. Thank You for handling my questions and distress.

Worth your time:

G.O.S.P.E.L.
Watch and listen.
https://youtu.be/K48-Li7lIfA

Also see:
https://youtu.be/86eEuq1obdc
This is the first one I saw at Perspectives in DFW (Perspectives.org) and the reason we found the G.O.S.P.E.L.

AND from a minister and friend check out:
https://youtu.be/1IAhDGYlpqY
What do you think of this one? Our congregations need to see this one.

Dying4Life

     We must come to an understanding that no one can help us do what we need to do ourselves:
"Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?  But I trust that ye shall know that we are not reprobates.  Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates.  For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.  For we are glad, when we are weak, and ye are strong: and this also we wish, even your perfection."
2 Corinthians 13:5-9 KJV
http://bible.com/1/2co.13.5-9.KJV

Thought for today: You cannot get into life except through death to self.

God's blessings and promises.

Good day.  Listen, we were getting ready to travel and the Lord used our conversation on jewlry to teach me something...  when the children of Israel left Egypt they were adorned by God with much glory. Much jewelry bracelets earrings nose rings necklaces, lots of gold lots of symbol lots of glory... What did they do with it? They forgot who God was and made that glory their god. See the Golden Calf in Exodus.

What has our glory that God has given us become? Are His blessings and His promises being made our god? If we are operating to please God for His blessings and promises and not because we fear him, we truly don't know him at all. Now that is a thought for the day.

Allow God to Use You

"But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us."  --II Corinthians 4:7

Read: II Corinthians 4

Thought for today: the Lord Jesus wants those who preach the Word to have the Word in evidence in their lives.

Not by Bread Alone

Pray

Lord God, You are worthy of my praise. Your grace is bestowed upon me, and Your love upholds me each day.

Read

Amos 8:1-14

^[1] Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and behold a basket of summer fruit. ^[2] And he said, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A basket of summer fruit. Then said the LORD unto me, The end is come upon my people of Israel; I will not again pass by them any more. ^[3] And the songs of the temple shall be howlings in that day, saith the Lord GOD: there shall be many dead bodies in every place; they shall cast them forth with silence. ^[4] Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, ^[5] Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? ^[6] That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat? ^[7] The LORD hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob, Surely I will never forget any of their works. ^[8] Shall not the land tremble for this, and every one mourn that dwelleth therein? and it shall rise up wholly as a flood; and it shall be cast out and drowned, as by the flood of Egypt. ^[9] And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord GOD, that I will cause the sun to go down at noon, and I will darken the earth in the clear day: ^[10] And I will turn your feasts into mourning, and all your songs into lamentation; and I will bring up sackcloth upon all loins, and baldness upon every head; and I will make it as the mourning of an only son, and the end thereof as a bitter day. ^[11] Behold, the days come, saith the Lord GOD, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the LORD: ^[12] And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the LORD, and shall not find it. ^[13] In that day shall the fair virgins and young men faint for thirst. ^[14] They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again. 

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version, Public Domain

Meditate

Consider: "‘My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work" (John 4:34). Is that true of you?

Think Further:

Amos's fourth vision centers on a play between two similar-sounding Hebrew words. Amos sees some "summer fruit" (qayits); God declares that "the end" (qēts) has come for Israel. The NIV conveys this wordplay by using the word "ripe": "ripe fruits" and "the time is ripe." The vision underlines the certainty of judgment declared in the third vision. The noisy worship songs will turn into loud lamentations when disaster falls (3,10). The following oracle has echoes of the initial condemnation of Israel, but focuses on a new group, businessmen, with their greedy materialism. Instead of addressing the evil of poverty they seek to rid themselves of the poor, even by people-trafficking. "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil" (1 Tim. 6:10), and that love kept a wealthy young man from following Jesus (Matt. 19:16-22). You do not have to be wealthy to be greedy and materialistic. All of us face such temptations, sometimes aroused by advertising.

The businessmen observe the religious festivals outwardly while inwardly fretting to get back to moneymaking with their false weights and measures and rigged balances. Once again, Amos condemns the separation of sanctuary worship from obedience to God's standards in everyday life. That kind of insincerity can be true of our Christian observances. The terror of God's judgment on Israel is depicted in terms of earthquake and solar eclipse (8-9). God declares that persistent rejection or silencing of those through whom he tries to speak (Amos 2:12; 7:12-13) will result in spiritual famine and drought. There would be no words from prophets or spiritual benefit from the worship at the sanctuaries. Jesus, echoing Isaiah, warned of this kind of danger (Mark 4:12; Isa. 6:9). That is why it is important to take God's Word seriously, understand it and put it into practice (Matt. 7:24-27; Jas. 1:22-25).

Apply

How would you describe your relationship to God's Word (11-13)? In making decisions, is it first choice or last chance? Do you mistake reading it for responding to it? Do you focus on promises rather than challenges?

Pray

Lord, help me not value gaining material "bread" more than discovering and doing Your will through studying Your Word

Understanding God's Sacrifice

Food for thought: God's goodness brings with it repentance...

Acts 2:23Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: 24Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

God's Patience Runs Out

Pray

Ever-loving Lord, to You I bring an offering of praise. You hear my cry, and You bring forth new life.

Read

Amos 7:1-17

^[1] Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me; and, behold, he formed grasshoppers in the beginning of the shooting up of the latter growth; and, lo, it was the latter growth after the king's mowings. ^[2] And it came to pass, that when they had made an end of eating the grass of the land, then I said, O Lord GOD, forgive, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. ^[3] The LORD repented for this: It shall not be, saith the LORD. ^[4] Thus hath the Lord GOD shewed unto me: and, behold, the Lord GOD called to contend by fire, and it devoured the great deep, and did eat up a part. ^[5]Then said I, O Lord GOD, cease, I beseech thee: by whom shall Jacob arise? for he is small. ^[6] The LORD repented for this: This also shall not be, saith the Lord GOD. ^[7]Thus he shewed me: and, behold, the LORD stood upon a wall made by a plumbline, with a plumbline in his hand. ^[8] And the LORD said unto me, Amos, what seest thou? And I said, A plumbline. Then said the LORD, Behold, I will set a plumbline in the midst of my people Israel: I will not again pass by them any more: ^[9] And the high places of Isaac shall be desolate, and the sanctuaries of Israel shall be laid waste; and I will rise against the house of Jeroboam with the sword. ^[10] Then Amaziah the priest of Bethel sent to Jeroboam king of Israel, saying, Amos hath conspired against thee in the midst of the house of Israel: the land is not able to bear all his words. ^[11] For thus Amos saith, Jeroboam shall die by the sword, and Israel shall surely be led away captive out of their own land. ^[12] Also Amaziah said unto Amos, O thou seer, go, flee thee away into the land of Judah, and there eat bread, and prophesy there: ^[13] But prophesy not again any more at Bethel: for it is the king's chapel, and it is the king's court. ^[14] Then answered Amos, and said to Amaziah, I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son; but I was an herdman, and a gatherer of sycomore fruit: ^[15] And the LORD took me as I followed the flock, and the LORD said unto me, Go, prophesy unto my people Israel. ^[16] Now therefore hear thou the word of the LORD: Thou sayest, Prophesy not against Israel, and drop not thy word against the house of Isaac. ^[17]Therefore thus saith the LORD; Thy wife shall be an harlot in the city, and thy sons and thy daughters shall fall by the sword, and thy land shall be divided by line; and thou shalt die in a polluted land: and Israel shall surely go into captivity forth of his land. 

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version, Public Domain

Meditate

Consider: We do not expect God's love or goodness ever to run out. So, why should it be any different with his patience?

Think Further:

These visions may have been Amos's call to prophesy. If not, they probably came early in his ministry. His response to the judgment depicted in the first two visions shows that he was reluctant to prophesy judgment. As a Judean he might have taken some pleasure in the judgment of Israel, but he did not. Instead, he interceded for the sinful nation and God responded, postponing judgment. This is an example for us to follow, instead of just bemoaning the state of the nation. The respite was temporary. There is no doubt that the plumb line in the third vision is the justice and righteousness of the covenant--a prominent theme in Amos. Finally, God decides that the people have gotten too far out of truth and judgment must fall. He will destroy the sanctuaries with their hateful worship and the leaders who pervert justice and righteousness. God is patient, allowing time for repentance, but his patience is not endless (2 Pet. 3:8-10). If it were, God would not be a good and holy God because he would endlessly condone evil.

Amos states in verse 14: "No prophet am I and no son of a prophet am I, a herdsman am I ..." The phrase "son of a prophet" (NIV, "disciple of a prophet") referred to a member of a group of prophets who lived together and made a living by prophesying (2 Kings 2:1-7; 4:1,38). Amos declares he is not that kind of prophet. When Amaziah orders him out of Bethel, Amos replies, "I'm not one of the sanctuary prophets that you can order around. I'm sent by the Lord on a special prophetic mission." His word against Amaziah may seem severe, but so are Jesus' words against those who lead others into sin (Matt. 18:6).

Apply

Has God given you a specific task to do? Has it become hard going? Ask God for the determination and courage to keep going.

Pray

Heavenly Father, forgive me that my desire to be liked can override my faithfulness to You. I ask for courage to stand strong for You.

A New Day

"Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." --Isaiah 43:19

Read: Rev 21
Thought for the day: Nothing in God is stationary.

Affluence and Arrogance

Pray

Lord God, as this day unfolds, may it not be focused on my desires, but on my willingness to be Your voice, hands and feet.

Read

Amos 6:1-14

^[1] Woe to them that are at ease in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, which are named chief of the nations, to whom the house of Israel came! ^[2] Pass ye unto Calneh, and see; and from thence go ye to Hamath the great: then go down to Gath of the Philistines: be they better than these kingdoms? or their border greater than your border? ^[3] Ye that put far away the evil day, and cause the seat of violence to come near; ^[4] That lie upon beds of ivory, and stretch themselves upon their couches, and eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the stall; ^[5] That chant to the sound of the viol, and invent to themselves instruments of musick, like David; ^[6] That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph. ^[7] Therefore now shall they go captive with the first that go captive, and the banquet of them that stretched themselves shall be removed. ^[8] The Lord GOD hath sworn by himself, saith the LORD the God of hosts, I abhor the excellency of Jacob, and hate his palaces: therefore will I deliver up the city with all that is therein. ^[9] And it shall come to pass, if there remain ten men in one house, that they shall die. ^[10] And a man's uncle shall take him up, and he that burneth him, to bring out the bones out of the house, and shall say unto him that is by the sides of the house, Is there yet any with thee? and he shall say, No. Then shall he say, Hold thy tongue: for we may not make mention of the name of the LORD. ^[11] For, behold, the LORD commandeth, and he will smite the great house with breaches, and the little house with clefts. ^[12] Shall horses run upon the rock? will one plow there with oxen? for ye have turned judgment into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock: ^[13] Ye which rejoice in a thing of nought, which say, Have we not taken to us horns by our own strength? ^[14] But, behold, I will raise up against you a nation, O house of Israel, saith the LORD the God of hosts; and they shall afflict you from the entering in of Hemath unto the river of the wilderness. 

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version, Public Domain

Meditate

Consider: "There is a blind spot in American Christianity. We often fail to realize we are an affluent people living in an impoverished world. We must spend our lives and our money on that which is most important to the heart of God" (David Platt).

Think Further:

Amos targets the leaders of the nation. As in chapter 2, he includes Judah in his condemnation. The NIV changes around the pronouns (yours/theirs) at the end of verse 2. It is better to keep to the Hebrew text and read verses 1 and 2 as Amos ironically quoting the leaders' view of themselves and their boasting that Israel and Judah are bigger and wealthier than these kingdoms. Their material prosperity has made them self-indulgent and indifferent to the injustices that are leading the nation into ruin. Amos warns that disaster--military defeat--awaits them.

Prosperity has also made them arrogant, trusting in the security of their wealth and the strongholds they have built for themselves. The meaning of verses 9 and 10 is unclear. In the light of what follows they probably expand on the warning of military disaster. This will come as judgment because they have "turned justice into poison and the fruit of righteousness into bitterness" (literally "wormwood," the bitterest substance known) (12). There is ironic wordplay in verse 13 as Amos quotes the leaders' pride in recent conquests. They rejoice in conquering a place named "Nothing" and boast of their strength in taking a city called "Two Horns" (the horn being a symbol of strength). In their arrogance there is no thought of need to depend on God. Things will be different when the Almighty God stirs up a nation against them!

Two of Jesus' parables illustrate the relevance of Amos's message for today: the rich fool, and the rich man and Lazarus (Luke 12:13-21; 16:19-31). Both warn that a measure of prosperity can bring a false sense of security based on our achievements and wealth rather than on trust in God. It can also lead to indifference towards the plight of those less well off than ourselves instead of compassionate concern for them.

Apply

From where does your deepest sense of security in life come? What changes do you need to make?

Pray

Lord, help me not to be arrogant or to trust in material wealth, but to trust you and your provision for me (1 Tim. 6:17).

What does God want to birth in your life?

Good morning!
Read I Samuel 1

12And it came to pass, as she continued praying before the LORD, that Eli marked her mouth.
n1 continued…: Heb. multiplied to pray
13Now Hannah, she spake in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice was not heard: therefore Eli thought she had been drunken. 14And Eli said unto her, How long wilt thou be drunken ? put away thy wine from thee. 15And Hannah answered and said, No, my lord, I [am] a woman of a sorrowful spirit: I have drunk neither wine nor strong drink, but have poured out my soul before the LORD.
n1 of a sorrowful…: Heb. hard of spirit
16Count not thine handmaid for a daughter of Belial: for out of the abundance of my complaint and grief have I spoken hitherto.
n1 complaint: or, meditation
17Then Eli answered and said, Go in peace: and the God of Israel grant [thee] thy petition that thou hast asked of him. 18And she said, Let thine handmaid find grace in thy sight. So the woman went her way, and did eat, and her countenance was no more [sad].

Hannah was asking for a son.  Hannah brings us a strong example of Matthew 7 and Luke 11, ask, seek, knock.

What is it in your life that you need birthed?

Hateful Worship

Pray

Creator God, help me to worship You as I should--with all of my life.

Read

Amos 5:18-27

^[18] Woe unto you that desire the day of the LORD! to what end is it for you? the day of the LORD is darkness, and not light. ^[19] As if a man did flee from a lion, and a bear met him; or went into the house, and leaned his hand on the wall, and a serpent bit him. ^[20] Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it? ^[21] I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. ^[22] Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. ^[23]Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. ^[24] But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. ^[25] Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? ^[26] But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. ^[27] Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the LORD, whose name is The God of hosts. 

Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version, Public Domain

Meditate

Consider: "If worship is to be acceptable, there must be the intention of giving to the Lord the glory due his name. Drawing near to God with our lips but not with our lives offered in sacrificial obedience, is unacceptable to God" (Stephen Winward).

Think Further:

Amos's hearers longed for the "day of the Lord," when God would enter history to punish the wicked. That would mean destruction of their enemies and Israel would then become top nation. "You've got it wrong," says Amos. "God will punish his enemies, and that includes you because you've broken the covenant." He uses a brilliant cameo to say that there will be no way of escape (19).

To paraphase, God says, "And don't think you can talk me around by your enthusiastic worship and numerous sacrifices. I hate them and won't listen to your noisy songs (21-23). What I want is not Temple worship but justice and righteousness in your everyday life" (24). It is as if God said to us, "Close down your Sunday services and get out into the community and fight for justice and righteousness."

So, what is wrong with worship? The problem is that "worship," understood as what we do in church services, can become an end in itself, an idol. We think it is all that God wants and we ignore God's demands on the rest of our lives. In Israel "keeping the covenant" came to mean enthusiastic Temple worship while the moral life and the social justice it demanded was neglected. It is not that worship in church is wrong in itself, but that "worship" means giving God his due ("worthship") in the whole of our life. The moral and social laws in the covenant set out the framework of what that meant. Ignoring them made Temple worship meaningless and hateful to God. This is probably the point of verse 25, which can be translated, "Did you bring me only sacrifices and offerings for forty years in the desert?" Temple or church, worship was never meant to be the sum total, or even the main part, of worshiping God (1 Sam. 15:22; Isa. 1:10-17; Matt. 9:13; 12:7).

Apply

In the light of Amos's critique, take a look at how you, and the church you attend, understand and practice worship.

Pray

Lord, I know I sing and talk way beyond my heart devotion. Spirit of God, work with me until I am sincere before You and others.

Evangelize those in need...

   In reading Romans 1 this AM and I see many verses that we use to dismiss the responsibility of evangelism by.  Let me explain:  Say you know someone that doesn't know God.  They are living a life that doesn't glorify God (1:21), they think they know everything (1:22), etc...  So since we have an emotional investment in them and we've given one good attempt at loving them through one conversation, one time, they're just lost (v28) and we say "I tried, I give up"!
Then I read Romans 2:1-4.  Ouch...
Time to try again...

Read Romans 1:14-2:4

14I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise. 15So, as much as in me is, I am ready to preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also. 16For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. 18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness; 19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed [it] unto them.
n1 in them: or, to them
20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
n1 so…: or, that they may be
21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four footed beasts, and creeping things. 24Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
n1 more: or, rather
26For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 28And even as they did not like to retain God in [their] knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient; (to retain: or, to acknowledge)
n1 a reprobate…: or, a mind void of judgment or, an unapproving mind
29Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers, 30Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, 31Without understanding, covenant breakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
n1 without natural…: or unsociable
32Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.
n1 have…: or, consent with

Chapter 2

1Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things. 2But we are sure that the judgment of God is according to truth against them which commit such things. 3And thinkest thou this, O man, that judgest them which do such things, and doest the same, that thou shalt escape the judgment of God ? 4Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance ?

In reading Romans, the revelation is that the people that Paul are describing here is you and me.  Without believing, (Romans 4), and justification, (Romans 5), and the revelation of a need for a savior (7), and the reception of that Savior as He receives us as chosen, (8, 9, 10, 11) and the manifestation of the Christian life (CH 12 on) we are in some fashion a conglomeration of the devices listed here.  The depravity of mankind, without the LORD, exists.  Look at society's standards today and you can see just that.

Receiving the Baptism

"You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you." - Acts 1:8

Scripture reading: Acts 1: 1-11

Thought for today: There is a fullness of God where all other powers must cease to be.

Wow, so, what now?

Deuteronomy 10 and 8 informs us that the Levites are to stand before the Lord to minister. This part of your job gets to be the very essence of what worship is.
The second most used Greek word in the Bible that means to worship is latreuo, which means to minister to God ... For now it is enough to know that there is not a single word for worship in the Bible, Greek or Hebrew, that includes the idea of ministry to mankind. Worship is simply not for us. It is for God.
If the church would embrace this, we would have a cultural revolution within our own drinks - a conversion from idolatry to the truth. Why do I say idolatry? Because we have marketed to people what was meant as ministry to Jesus.

HOW TO WORSHIP A KING.

Paul' Baptism and Conversion (Part 3)

"He received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized."    Acts 9:18

Scripture Reading: Acts 9:1-9
Also: Acts 9:17; John 7:38; I Corinthians 12:7

Thought for today:  The LORD wants us to be His mouthpieces and to speak as the very oracles of God.

Paul's Baptism and Conversion (part 2)

"He received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized." Acts 9:18

Read: Acts 8:14-40
Also: Acts 9:13-15

Thought for today: Repentant prayer is always heard in heaven.

Paul's Conversion and Baptism (Part 1)

"Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized."           --Acts 9:17-18

Scripture Reading: Acts 8:1-13
Also: Acts 9:1-6; I Peter 1:8; 2 Corinthians 5:13; Nehemiah 8:10

Thought for today:  Our God delights to be merciful, and His grace is granted daily to both sinner and Saint.

For Your Glory, Lord!

"I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil" -Jn17:15  Use us to glorify you, God.

From Sister Anne

Three Witnesses to the Baptism

"And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord." --Acts 22:16
Read: Galatians 3:1-14
Businessmen know that in cases of law where there are two clear Witnesses, they could win a case before any judge. What has God given us? He has given us three clear witnesses on the baptism in the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:4, 16 - "They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance."
Acts 10:45, 46 - Cornelius' experience an example
And third:
Acts 19:6 - later Paul told disciples of the Spirit and they had the exact same evidence as those in the beginning (shows a continuing).
Thought for today: Be sure that what you receive is according to the Word of God.

Biblical Evidence of the Baptism (1&2&3)

Good morning!!!  God is good to provide in all circumstances.

Biblical Evidence of the Baptism.
"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" --Acts 19:2
Read: Acts 19:1-20; Mark 1:1-12
Thought for today: If you only knew the unspeakably wonderful blessing of being filled with the third person of the Trinity, you would set aside everything else to wait for this infilling.
Thought for today: You are never right if you do not have a foundation for your testimony in the Word of God.

Biblical Evidence of the Baptism (part 3)
"Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?" Acts 19:2
Read: Isaiah 61
Thought for today: It is when you get out of the will of God that you have a hard time.

Standing up?

From The New York Times:

Kentucky Clerk Denies Same-Sex Marriage Licenses, Defying Court

The Rowan County clerk, Kim Davis, lost a Supreme Court appeal on Monday, but still would not issue licenses to gay couples on Tuesday.

Read the article on her faith here, then pray.

Here's another

Full? Overflow!!!

Good Morning!  Speach That Edifies
"And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions. And also on My menservants and on My maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days."  --Joel 2:28-29
Read: I Corinthians 14:1-25
Thought for today: Anybody can hold a full cup, but you can not hold an overflowing cup, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit is an overflowing Cup.