CONVICTION

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

 

Ever have days when you feel like you might just need a DOUBLE DOSE of forgiveness and grace?

Why a double dose? Because “the day just got away” from you?

 

You know what I mean right?

 

Those days when you get to the end and take a quick look back and realize you could have “done the day” a little better, a little cleaner, maybe even a little Godlier. You know, those days when the enemy gets the best of you and you drift off course or spend some time catering to him rather than GOD?

 

Be honest, you have those.

 

Truthfully, I really loathe those days; those days spent losing ground to the enemy. Don’t you? 

Those days and times when you know you are “better than that”.

 

Those are the days that are often met with the conviction of the Holy Spirit. And that while so needed, it is often unpleasant. But I must say I am GRATEFUL for it. I am glad GOD promised to make me more sensitive to my sinfulness even if it hurts.

Hannah Whitall Smith said that

“It is indeed a comfort to know that there is always abiding with me a divine, all-seeing Comforter, who will reprove me for all my faults, and will not let me go on in a fatal unconsciousness of them."

For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 

Hebrews 12:11 (ESV)

 

The trouble is that the enemy wants me and you to feel discouraged, dirty and destroyed by those bad days. He wants the discipline to JUST HURT not help. He wants us discouraged rather than convicted. That is why he fills our head with lies like:

 

“GOD can’t forgive you for that.”

 

“GOD is weary with your nonsense.”

 

“GOD just gave up.”

 

Yet the truth is GOD’s faithfulness supersedes our sinfulness. Without question or debate as the song so eloquent puts it, GOD’s grace is greater than all our sin.

For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. Hebrews 8:12 (ESV)

 

So, I want to offer some TRUTH to remember when “the day gets away” from you and the enemy starts in with the lies.

 

“Great is our sinfulness … but great is GOD’s faithfulness!”

 

“We may grow weary … but God is tireless.”

 

“We may want to give up … but God never will.”

 

“We may have bad days … but GOD is always good.”

 

“We may run hot or cold … but God is always steady and perfect.”

 

“We may disappoint ourselves … but God is incapable of disappointment.”

 

"We may fail a thousand times … but God cannot fail, not even once. Not yesterday, not today, not ever."

 

I love the truth! It is so FREEING! I think I might have read that somewhere...!

 

Days will “get away” but don’t be discouraged!

Instead invest your energies and focus on the truth!

Today WILL BE a better day!

Blessed is the man/woman who remains steadfast…

James 1:12 (ESV)

 

I love you all!

HAVE A BLESSED DAY!

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE

GROWING in GRACE

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

 

Max Lucado:

It’s wonderful to see that grace is something God already did for us, and how it moved us from unforgiven to forgiven. But to really see His grace for all it is, we need to recognize it as something God is doing now. It’s the word the Bible uses to describe His ongoing, aggressive commitment to change us from the inside out.

 

…I will give you a new heart—I will give you new and right desires—and put a new spirit within you. I will take out your stony hearts of sin and give you new hearts of love. And I will put my Spirit within you so that you will obey… Ezekiel 36:3 (MSG)

 

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!

 

The well-known words of the hymn speak of grace that saves us from a death sentence, pulls us out of darkness, and gives us a fresh start. It’s a gift of unmerited mercy that cancels our debts and sets us free. But as the hymn’s later verse says, there’s still MORE TO THIS GRACE:

 

Through many dangers, toils, and snares

I have already come;

’Twas grace that brought me safe thus far

And grace will lead me home.

 

Isn’t that remarkable?

Grace saves!

Then GRACE directs, it comforts, it clarifies, it changes, it equips, it PROTECTS, it inspires, and it leads!

 

There’s something about GOD'S supernatural grace that stays with us from start to finish and, day after day, creating our calling for how to live, breath, obey, grow, and flourish IN CHRIST!

…grow in the GRACE and knowledge of our Lord and savior Jesus Christ. 

2 Peter 3:18 (CEB)

 

Grace is not merely the one-time gift of salvation but if allowed "to breathe" can be the very heartbeat of our walk in and with CHRIST every day.

 

That is why it is so important that EACH DAY we honor GOD’s grace with our best. That is why it is so important that EACH DAY we pause to acknowledge not just its saving power but it’s changing power.

For this "amazing" GRACE:

...allows us to be more loving.

...allows us to be more kind and thoughtful.

...opens the spirits of compassion and service in each one of us.

...if exercised will not just lead us home but lead us to emulate CHRIST!

 

And at the end of the day that should be the goal of every one of us.

 

So, my friends be blessed today. Walk in HIS GRACE!

 

“God will change you if you let Him—and His grace will shape your life.”

– Charles Stanley

 

I love you all!

HAVE A BLESSED DAY!

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE

NEARER

Have you thanked Him?

Have you praised Him?

Have you made it your priority to agree and cooperate with Him today?

Have you taken that deep breath and listened for what He has for you today?

1 Timothy 2:1 (The Message)

The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know.

 

“Jesus is near…”

 

Such a reassurance huh?

 

A fella I have known for several years, Gene Stinson, took the pulpit yesterday at my home church.  Gene’s story isn’t very dissimilar to mine when it comes to his “denominational” journey.

 

In fact, many of the things that Gene shared with the folks at AHOP regarding his upbringing, things like the “moral scorecard” and the “LORD’s balance sheet” sounded scarily familiar.  I won’t go any further with that and sorry to be a little vague, but if you grew up like we did you know exactly what I am talking about.

 

But enough of that.

 

It was what Gene shared that is important today and Gene pulled a very familiar passage to open his talk.

the Lord is coming soon. – Philippians 4 

Yet translated from the GREEK, this passage says, “JESUS is NEAR”.

 

And Gene did a wonderful job interjecting a touching personal story from his life when the “NEARNESS of JESUS” changed EVERYTHING for him, a time when GOD Himself enveloped Him in a real, timely and tangible way.

 

But I thought what a fitting phrase to open a week.

 

JESUS is NEAR!

He is!!!

 

I love what the Psalmist observed!

I’m in the very presence of God—oh, how refreshing it is!

Psalms 73:37 (MSG) 

WE ARE!

Friends, Jesus is VERY NEAR!

 

As the old hymn says…

Troubled soul, the Savior can see

Every heartache and tear

Burdens Are Lifted at Calvary

Jesus is very near!

 

And Jesus wants to get “nearer”.  He does!

The question is do we?

 

Thomas Aquinas said:

See to whom Jesus is drawing near, three kinds of people: to those who make peace with him, to those who are devoted to God, and to those who are kind to their neighbors.

 

So, do want to experience a different or an INCREASED level of NEARNESS today?

 

Make peace with Him and others today.

Enhance your devotion to Him.

Be kind to those around you.

 

The LORD will be IN and NEAR ALL OF THAT…

Remember…

Move your heart closer and closer to God, and he will come even closer to you. – James 4:8 (TPT)

 

Jesus is most certainly near.

Let’s get nearer!

 

 

I love you all!

HAVE A BLESSED DAY!

OPPORTUNITIES for HOPE