How Do We Respond ?

Monday, March 15th, 2010

"But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves."
How do respond to what we hear or read?

The key approaching God Biblically is responding as God would have us to. If we go to church week after week and our heart is stirred but our life is not changed as a result, we are failing to see the importance of God's Word in our lives. We are commanded to hear the Word of God as well as let it settle into our hearts and cause a change in our lives.
Luke 224:32 says, "Did not our heart burn withing us, while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the scriptures?" When God's Word speaks to our hearts, many times our hearts will burn. I'm talking about a sense of conviction and a burning desire to make the truth of God's Word real in your life. A lot of times when we feel this burning sensation, it is a very real sense God is speaking to us personally.
Let me say here, one can only have this experience if he/she goes "wanting" to come face-to-face with God. Do we go to get someone off our back? Do we go simply out of spiritual duty? Do we go with an attitude of, "Okay, I'm here, but I dare God to bless me". If these are our attitudes, we will pretty much get what we came expecting to get which is, 'NOTHING'.
Bible preaching should cause us to see things in our lives that need to change.
When we allow this to happen we should then walk away from hearing God's Word with a meaningful worship experience where our hearts have been touched and our lives challenged.
This kind of truly changing experience only comes as we approach God through the reading and preaching of His Word.
Preaching is not aimed at our intellect or how smart we are; it is aimed at our heart and when we listen with our hearts, we are able to understand much. If we ever have any questions, I'm sure there is someone we could seek out who would love to be our guide.
When the Word of God is preached in a local church, it is with the purpose of bring people face-to-face with God. It is up to us, how we respond, that allows this to happen. When we open
our Bibles, whether it be for personal Bible study or in a church service, our fellowship with God begins. When we obey the Word of God in our daily living, our fellowship with God continues to grow.
The foundation of the Christian life is the Word of God. This is one reason why I stress forming a habit of "DAILY" Bible reading. It is the foundation of my Christian life. I know my Bible is a living Book. It is the inspired, preserved Word of God and I am entering into the presence of God every time I read it(or hear it).
May God bless those who seek intimate time with Him and well as those who do not.
In Christ,
Stephanie

Good Bible Preaching Brings Us Face to Face With God !

Saturday, March 13th, 2010


"But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;" Titus 1:3

Are we in a church fellowship that has good Bible preaching? If we are,
we should consider our church(or at least our pastor) a blessing. We are still focusing on prayer, a necessity in communing with God. Then there is taking the time for a one on one time with the Lord for personal Bible study. And now we must add some good old fashioned Bible preaching.
There have been a number of times I have been sitting under the preaching of a God fearing preacher and felt the Lord speak to me. It was not an audible voice, but He did speak to my heart with out doubt, and His presence was so real, I felt it was a face-to-face encounter with God.
Bible preaching lifts up Jesus Christ. Biblical preaching is more than a study of facts and statistics, it is the presentation of God to man. It is a time when we come face-to-face with God.
Today's idea of entering into the presence of God, is too often based on emotions instead of on the word of God. Good Bible preaching causes us to come face-to-face with God, His Word, and His will for our lives. Although sometimes we may not like it, it is a time we see ourselves as we really are, reflected in the mirror of the word of God.
Bible preaching reveals God. Bible preaching uplifts God's work. Bible preaching always glorifies Jesus Christ.
When the Word of God is preached and men and women are coming face to face with God through His Word, then they can truly praise the Lord and sing to Him and give praise to Him.
If you should come in carrying a burden, I encourage you to leave it at home or take it to the alter. If you want a face to face encounter with God, it cannot happen if you are holding something between the two of you. When we approach the Word of God through reading or preaching, we are literally approaching God Himself.
I encourage you to make time today to open God's Word and come into His presence.

Have a blessed day,
Stephanie

Prayer is great, but, let's not forget personal Bible study

Friday, March 12th, 2010

"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord". Colossians 3:16

With our blog, we have done much talk of
prayer, prayer, and more prayer. With this post, we do not wish to take any importance from the routine of prayer, considering the importance of prayer can never be over estimated. Instead, we have come to the point in which we wish to emphasize the importance of studying our Bibles along with prayer. They simply go hand in hand. Before or after or both(I think it's up to each person), approaching God in our prayer closets for intercession with Him, we need not forget to make time with Him in His Precious Word. When we have intercession with the Lord, it is a time of worshiping the Lord for us. The beginning place of worship is the Bible.
The Bible tells us so much about God and as a result, we learn about Him and understand more of what He expects of us we we approach Him in intercession. If we want to know God, we must Read His Word, Period.
I was reading this morning of how a young man in his college years ago, read letters from his sweet heart and found them similar to what a love letter from God might be like.
During his first semester of Bible college, he met his wife. During the summer, she would go to San Jose, California to be with her family. He had to stay in the Los Angeles area to work so he could pay his school bill. He never forgot the letters she would write to him during that time.
Every day he would come back to the college campus after work and go directly to the mail room. His box number was 117. As he entered the mail room, he would start sniffing to see if he could smell perfume! Many times before he even opened the box, he knew whether or not she had written. With great anticipation, he would take those love letters out of the mail box and begin to read them.
If he had one of those letters in his hand, he didn't have time for the president of the United States. He would get somewhere alone and devour every word of the letters. He would smell them, read them, and study them. He had to make sure she still loved him and everything was still right between them. The he would reread them because he wanted to know everything he could about her.
This is exactly the way we need to approach the Bible. God's word should be sweet to us. We should study it closely to make sure everything is right between us and God.
"As we approach God's Word, our prayer should be, "God, I want to know more about You and more about Your love for me. I want to know what You have for me today."

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

Have we thrown off those weights that was slowing us down? Are maybe it's something that will take time but, we are trying and that's what matters. So, we are still in this race and hopefully pacing ourselves pretty well.
I have a question. Our we catching ourselves looking at someone else's race and wishing we had what he has, or thinking "his life looks so easy"? Or we may be thinking, "I can't do what others are doing, I can't give what others give, I can't say what others say".
We have got to get our eyes on our own track and concentrate on it. One comment I seem to hear about the devotions Joseph and I put out, is "It's coming from my heart". I will say now, nothing could be more true and I thank the Lord, with His help it does come straight from my heart. I wouldn't want it any other way. Again, this devotion is from my heart. I will admit I am not good at keeping my eyes on my own track. I, too often, find myself looking at what others are doing, and I want to do it also. The problem with this......God gives us our own race and our own
track. He has missions he has costumed designed for us and only us. Have you ever heard the saying, "bloom where you are planted"? I am working on that right now.
I see things others are doing and I want to do them, but, God knows I am not ready for it, "if" it is His will for my future. That's where "blooming where we are planted " comes in.
Someone that has known me for a long time, told me a few weeks ago, they are very proud of how I have grown spiritually over the last few years. This person knew, as far as my past, how I was an insecure person with little self confidence and low self esteem. I quickly told them, it was certainly the Lord in me. I found my confidence and self esteem in God. My insecurities and low self esteem occasionally still stick their ugly heads out. I therefore must keep my eyes on God if I am to be a work in progress. I, personally, never thought I would be where I am now spiritually, and I owe it all to the Lord. A lot who read this will might find it hard to believe, how emotionally insecure I was, way back when.
All I can say, God is good. "IF" we want to bloom where we are planted, God can see to it we
do. That's all there is to it. I have spiritual dreams and goals for myself, and I know what God has me doing right now, is apart of Him teaching and preparing me for other things in the future.
My biggest problem is, I am some times tempted to be impatient, and I want to get ahead of
God. Not meaning to, I will look at someone else in their race and loose sight of my own tract and my own goal.This is a mistake and because of this, I know I am a work in progress. Sometimes it could be things of the world that take our eyes off our track. Does any of this sound like anyone we know? Are we thankful for each new sunrise God gives us? Each new sunrise means another chance for us to hit our refocus button. It's a time for us to get our eyes back on our track and the Lord.
So why have I bothered to explain where I came from with my insecurities? All of our post are dealing with prayer and the power of prayer. The Lord has allowed me to grow and bloom because of lots and lots of prayer. I have done, and still do, a lot of praying for myself.
God has proved Himself in my life over and over again, so I have faith He will continue to be there. I have come along way, but I certainly do have room for improvement. I have also had family to faithfully lift me up in prayer and I know their prayers have helped.
Don't be a Christian couch potato roaming around with out a goal, no direction, or no desire to walk with a greater faith in God. Start each day by entering His presence with purpose and with faith in God's power. We both have needs and we should be encouraged. God can and will provide. He still owns the cattle on a thousand hills and the wealth in every mine. If He's interested in a little sparrow, He's interested in us today too. Don't forget, in James 1:5, God says
if we will just ask for wisdom, He will give it. He is just waiting for us to ask. I don't know about you, but I know I don't have any time to waste. I certainly need wisdom and all I can get. I can assure you, as I enter daily into my prayer closet, I will be requesting wisdom and knowledge every day, and I know He will give it to me.
In Christ,
Stephanie

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

"I can do all things through Christ which strengthneth me." "But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
Philippians 4:13, 19

Paul writing to the Philippians tells them that God is their strength and that God will supply all their need (not wants). Praise God! The same God Paul was writing about then, is still alive and well today. He will fulfill the same promises for us. He does want us to pray and ask Him for the physical strength to make it through each day. We have no power of our own. His Holy Spirit will indwell us and lead us if we ask Him to.
He knows our needs and He will supply our needs each day. He wants us to pray and ask Him for what we need. We are needy people. Gods knows the difference between our wants and our needs, He will supply our needs and sometimes even our wants.
We must pray each day that God will lead us and guide us to us the strength He gives to do the things that will please Him. Our lives should be all about Him.
Our prayer to remember:
"Heavenly Father, let us this day, serve and worship you. Forgive us where we fail you. Help us to praise you for the many blessings you pour out on us each day. We ask you for your strength both physically and spiritually for this day. Lord supply all our needs as you see fit. Lord help us to be a blessing to someone today. Use us for your honor and your glory. Let your Holy Spirit lead us and guide us today! Lord we believe you, Help our unbelief. Help us to draw close to you today. In Jesus Precious name we pray, Amen."

Are We Carring Any Weights Today?

Monday, March 8th, 2010

Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2


As we are entering our prayer closets for intercession with the Lord, do we approach God with faith that He will hear our petitions we are bringing to Him? How is our faith? Do we live a life that reflects we have faith? If we can't answer this question with a resounding yes, then this may indicate there is a problem somewhere.
This problem may be sin. I know nobody likes to talk about sin, but if we mean business with the Lord, if we want true and honest sweet intercession with Him, and if we want a growing faith, we must be open and honest with ourselves. Any sin in our lives must be acknowledged and properly dealt with. There is no other way.
There may be some things in our lives that aren't necessarily sin, but there are weights and they are slowing us down from growing in our faith. This sin is like a weight on us and as Christians, it can slow us down in our race of life. Most runners don't run a cross country race with weights on their shoulders. They know one of the keys to winning a race is to run a light as possible. They know if they are to have any chance of achieving success in their race, they must
carry as lite a load as possible. It could be a hobby, a friend, an old habit, or an interest we are holding onto. Now I know it is not a sin to have a boat. It is good to have friends. And some habits and interest are okay too. But, if any of this keeps us from serving the Lord as we should, then it is a weight and should be thrown off.
First, let us show faith in God, and turn from our sin in our lives that is hindering us in our race.
Faith in God is the gasoline that runs our spiritual engine, and when we have sin in our life, it's as if we are pouring water into our engine. Every time we attempt to go forward spiritually, we will stall out. Coming to God and confessing our sin to Him keeps our spiritual engine running clean.
If we are to make progress with a growing faith, we must keep our selves as free as possible of sin that is weighing us down.
In Christ,
Stephanie

Sunday, March 7th, 2010
















This was printed in our March devotion that just went out, (below)"Ten Things.....", but, I thought I'd use it as a post for our blog today.


Ten Things God Won't Ask On Judgment Day
(Mostly because He will already Know)

1. He won’t ask what kind of car did you own. He will ask how many people you helped
with the transportation you had.

2. He won’t ask about the clothes you have in your closet. He will ask how many you helped
to clothe.

3. God won’t ask what your highest salary was. He will ask if you compromised your
character to get it.

4. God won’t ask what your job title was. He will ask if you performed the job you had to the
best of your ability.

5. God won’t ask how many friends you had. He will ask how many you were a friend to.

6. God won’t ask what neighborhood you lived in. He’ll ask how you treated your neighbor.

7. God won’t ask about the color of your skin. He’ll ask about the content of your character.

8. God won’t ask why did you wait so long to believe in His son Jesus for your Salvation and
have your name written in the Book of Life
Or (9) how well did you treat others, or (10) how well did you keep the Ten commandments.

He will ask, “Does your name appear in the Book of Life?”
Depending on your answer, you will hear either……….

“WELL DONE THOU GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT,
ENTER THOU INTO THE JOY OF THE LORD” Matt. 5:21,23
OR
“DEPART FROM ME FOR I NEVER KNEW YOU” Rev. 20:11-15

WHICH WILL WE HEAR ?