Luke 6:37 NLT
Stop judging others, and you will not be judged. Stop criticizing others, or it will all come back on you. If you forgive others, you will be forgiven.

Forgive Me…
Yesterday we celebrated Forgiveness Sunday at our church. This is traditionally the last event before the kickoff of Lent. Imagine if you can…a sanctuary with about 150 people. Each person walks through the line asking every other person to forgive them. Forgiveness of things said or done, not said or not done. With the response of “May God forgive us all.” The results…tears, hugging, kisses on the cheek, rejoicing in the forgiveness of one another. My request to you…”Forgive Me!!!”

John 8:31-32 NIV
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Encouraging Words…
America…the land of the free. Are we really free without doing what Jesus commanded us to do? We were commanded to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and body and to love our neighbor as ourself. If we desire true freedom we must believe in Jesus and follow His commandments. His promise is that we will then know the truth and be set free…truly free.

Proverbs 17:27 NASB
He who restrains his words has knowledge, And he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

Personal Challenge…
Teach me, O Lord, to be a man that manages his tongue ad keeps his spirit calm in You.

Psalm 33:22 NLT
Let your unfailing love surround us, LORD,
for our hope is in you alone.

Encouraging Words…
Have you ever known someone that accused Christianity of being oppressive and burdensome? I have and it is so far from the truth. Being a child of the living God gives us a life surrounded and filled with His unfailing love. He is our source of hope and the One that we put our hope in.

Genesis 2:18 NASB
Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”

Happy Valentine’s Day…
What more can a man ask for from His Lord than to have a partner, a wife, a helpmate made by the living God for him personally. I fell this blessed with my wonderful and loving wife. Glory to God in the highest.

James 1:17 NASB
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow.

Encouraging Words…
Yesterday at church we celebrated the Sunday of the Prodigal Son, a reminder of the love of the father for his “lost son”. As I read this verse from James I am reminded of how much the father of the prodigal son loved him. He spent every day of his absence looking down the road waiting for him to show back up. And when he did, expecting to be treated as a hired hand, the father poured out his love, his wealth, his all upon his lost son who has now been found. Isn’t this how our Father in heaven is with us…giving every good thing and perfect gift to us His lost, but found, children?

2 Corinthians 1:10 NIV
He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us,

Encouraging Words…
It is all about Him (Jesus) and the work that He has done. It is He who has delivered us from death by His death. It is He who has been consistant and persistant in that deliverance. Thank God that it is not up to me…I would never be able to make it.

Luke 16:10 NLT
Unless you are faithful in small matters, you won’t be faithful in large ones. If you cheat even a little, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities.


Personal Challenge…
So…what are the small matters in our lives that it is important to be faithful in? Our money and other resources? Our time? Our loved ones? Those strangers in our midst? Our thoughts? This verse is usually applied to how we use our wealth…but maybe, just maybe, it is meant to apply to every aspect of our life.

Jeremiah 9:23-23 NASB
Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.


Personal Challenge… 
And the real question of the day is, “In what or whom do you boast?” I know that I need to truly assess this on a regular basis.

Galatians 5:1 NIV
It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.

Encouraging Words…
It is such a wonderful thing to know that Jesus Christ died to set us free. I love how He proclaimed His ministry by quoting Isaiah 61:1-3, “The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, Because the LORD has anointed me To bring good news to the afflicted; He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners; To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD And the day of vengeance of our God; To comfort all who mourn, To grant those who mourn in Zion, Giving them a garland instead of ashes, The oil of gladness instead of mourning, The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. So they will be called oaks of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.” Now, as a follower of Christ it is my responsibility to make sure that I do not let myself come under the yoke of slavery, whether that slavery is to sin, or to legalism, or to practices and beliefs that are oppressive. Praise God that we have been set free…and most importantly free from death.