Psalm 101:2 (100:2 LXX)
I will sing and understand in a blameless way;
When will You come to me?
I walked in the innocence of my heart in the midst of my house.
Encouraging Words
What better way to start the day than singing out to our God and beginning the day with a clean and innocent heart. We can call upon our God to be with us throughout the day and strive to be blameless as we bathe in His glory, love, mercy, and grace.
Psalm 119:89 (118:89 LXX)
And I shall keep the testimonies of Your mouth.
Forever, O Lord,
Your word continues in heaven.
Encouraging Words
Nothing about our God is temporary or fleeting. He is eternal, and therefore, His precepts and His love for us is eternal. I will never be out from under His wing. Glory be to God!
John 6:68-69
But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Encouraging words
I love how Peter makes it so clear that now that he has truly met Jesus there is nowhere else that he can go. His life will never be the same again. I have found that the more I grow in my relationship with my precious Lord the farther from this world I am drawn, the less the cares and concerns of this world mean to me. There is nowhere else to go except to the fee of Jesus. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God have mercy on me the sinner!
Hebrews 2:14-15
Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
Encouraging Words
Jesus becoming a man, living an earthly life, and dying on the cross as a sinless human was not God’s Plan B. God is divine, uncreated, and always separate from mankind because no man can survive in His presence. So, how is it that we can ever hope to enter into His eternal home of heaven? Through Jesus! Jesus is God incarnate in human form. We can be in the presence of Jesus who is our doorway to heaven. And on top of this, by becoming a man, living a sinless life, being put to death, and rising from that death, He broke the bondage that satan had on us through death. We are free to live forever and to live sinless lives because of Jesus. Glory be to God!
Romans 8:10
And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Encouraging Words
Is it possible to be both dead and alive at the same time? Yes, through the power of the Holy Spirit who lives within me because I am a child of God. My body, my physical and mortal shell is in a constate state of dying due to the fallen and sinful state of the world. However, the Holy Spirit fills me with spiritual life that will keep me alive through the remainder of eternity. Glory be to God!
Acts 3:19
Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
Personal Challenge
Why is it that we talk of becoming a Christian as being converted? It is because in order for me to truly be a follower of Christ I must repent of my natural, temporal self and convert to a spiritually focused, Christ-centered way of being. I must act different, look different, think different, be different. This difference, this conversion, happens throughout the rest of my life as I pursue the likeness of Christ and grow in His image. If I am not different than the world around me then I have stalled on m journey and need to repent and start the conversion process back up. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
For there is not a word on my tongue,
Personal Challenge
The closer I get to God, the more I realize how far I am from Him. The more I get to know Him, and about Him, the more I realize that I do not know Him. This is the Christian journey. We pursue our Lord, to know Him, to experience Him, to hold onto Him, and in this journey, as we accomplish all of this in our pursuit, we realize that we will never know the immensity of our God, the depth of His love for us, or the riches of His wisdom. I reality, the closer that I draw toward Him, the more I realize that I am truly unworthy of Him and His love for me, and like Peter, I cry out and ask Him to leave me. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!
Philippians 1:27-30
Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel, and not in any way terrified by your adversaries, which is to them a proof of perdition, but to you of salvation, and that from God. For to you it has been granted on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake, having the same conflict which you saw in me and now hear is in me.
Personal Challenge
How is it possible to live up to the first phrase of this passage, “Only let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ”? On my own power, this is not possible. Through the love of the Father, the work of the Son, and the presence of the Holy Spirit in my life, this can become the focus of my life journey. How does the gospel of Christ play out in the conduct of my life? By loving God and my neighbor, by not being judgmental and lifting others up, and by becoming transparent so that others do not see me, but see God. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
Acts 6:8
And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.
Personal Challenge
What a great witness Stephen was for Christ and an example for me. It is so easy to get wrapped up in desiring something other than what I have and miss the opportunity to be performing great wonders and signs where God has planted me. Even if what I desire is good, like being in a place where I could do God’s work rather than man’s work. If the desire becomes so strong that it hinders me from being full of faith and power in my current place then I am not fulfilling God’s purpose in my life…to glorify Him. God knows that I am unworthy to be His witness, His emissary, His child, and yet He pours out His love and mercy, upon me anyway. Glory be to God, not me! Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!
Verse of the Day 