Sustain Me by Your Word

 

Today’s Word

Sustain

To provide what is needed for (something or someone) to exist, continue, etc.

Today’s Verse

 Psalm 119: 28 

I collapse from grief. Sustain me by your word! 

 

Call out to Heaven

Are you feeling helpless, alone, abandoned, or sad? Are you grieving, crying, or hurting? Do you have no one to turn to? Are you weak in spirit, or do you feel broken? You are not alone. That’s right. Call out to God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Let them be your comfort, the ears that listen, the arms that comfort, the guidance you need, the love you lack, the counselor, and the strength you lack. Let God provide you with whatever your need is in order to continue living with meaning.

Seek God

Don’t collapse. Let God sustain you. Let his Word speak to you in the ways that you need. Open a Bible and read, lift your eyes to God, raise your arms to Heaven, pray to Jesus, uphold your heart to the Holy Spirit. Seek comfort in his love, understanding, and acceptance. Speak to Him. Let your request be known. Give him your cares and worries. Let him carry you through.

Abide with Him

Once you call out to Heaven and seek Him, enjoy abiding with Him. He will be in your midst. He will deliver you. He will hold you, comfort you, and provide you an understanding of your situation. He will pave a way for you to see the end of your heartache. He will be your hope. Best of all, He will do it lovingly.

Pray to Him

“Father in Heaven, I ask that you be with me today, abide with me, provide me comfort. Thank you for always listening and being here for me.”

Revelation of His Will

Today’s Word

Revelation

God’s disclosure of Himself and His will to His creatures.

 

Today’s Verse

Ephesians 1:17

I pray that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory,  may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation in your growing knowledge of him.

 

After we are saved, we seek knowledge. We do so by reading the Bible and learning as much as we can about our salvation, our Lord Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit. In the process of learning and through our salvation, the Holy Spirit resides in us and reveals to us the mysteries of God.

We learn of God’s will to us, of wisdom and power that lay within his Word, and we grow in knowledge of the Kingdom of God. All learning leads us closer to his will and guides us to lead a life of godliness. We strive for closeness to God and daily comfort of our heartaches. We seek guidance from the Holy Spirit to gently tug at us and convict us when we err. We seek approval when we do right.

God’s revelation of his will opens our eyes to a heavenly realm and unimaginable possibilities. We now have our eyes opened as the scales of our eyes are removed and our blinders fall. How awesome it is to partake in his revelation!

If you do not know Jesus, seek Him. Allow his wondrous revelation to be instilled in your heart, mind, and soul.

Spiritual Understanding: Compassion Towards Others

Today’s Word

 Understanding

A disposition to appreciate or share the feelings and thoughts of others; sympathy:

Characterized by or having good sense or compassion

Today’s Verse

 Job 32

 8 But it is a spirit in people, the breath of the Almighty, that makes them understand.

I remember at times, thinking, “I don’t feel sorry for them. They got what they deserved.” However, who am I to judge a person? I may not have all the facts. Even if I did, I am not to judge others. I am to have compassion, instead. Our flesh is of man’s thoughts and teachings. However, our spirit is of God’s thoughts and teachings. To understand the difference we must have our heart listen to God’s guidance.

 Carnal Understanding

  From the day we are born, until the day we die, we live in a world filled with selfish thoughts. Our world thrives on self-pleasing and self-preservation. If anyone hurts us, we, naturally, want to hurt them back, or at least we want them to have a piece of our mind. We go through life with the understanding that we are not to be treated harshly nor should we be disrespected.

 If anyone does us wrong, we want to get back at them, we want to get things straight, we want to resolve it. However, we are limited, in our resolve, by our carnal understanding of what is fair.

 Spiritual Understanding

 Whereas in carnal understanding we depend on our own thoughts, in spiritual understanding we rely on God’s thoughts. He speaks to our hearts through the Holy Spirit within us and helps us discern. It is the spiritual understanding in each of us that allows us to show compassion instead of despise, love instead of hatred, kindness instead of meanness.

 We no longer rely on our own actions of righteousness, but on God’s expertise in the matter. He intervenes with our human nature and allows his spirit to prevail.

For it is his spirit in us, his breath of understanding, that should think and act for us.

Let our fleshly understanding die each day, so that our spiritual understanding may live forth.

 

Let us be a godly example filled with love, compassion, and kindness towards others, so thatChrist in us will show outwardly and win others to join in the family of believers.

 

Let not our carnal understanding be a stumbling block to those that may be wavering in faith.

 

Wisdom: Slow to Anger

Today’s Word

 Wisdom

 A disposition to find the truth.

 Judgment as to what actions to pursue and deliver the correct outcome.

 Requires control of our emotional reactions so that reason prevails.

Today’s Verse

 Proverbs 19

11 A person’s wisdom makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense

As we grow in the knowledge of the Word of God, we acquire spiritual wisdom. It guides us in making good decisions. It helps us with reason and control of our emotional reactions. It allows us to seek the truth in all we see and do.

Wisdom as a Guide

The study of the Bible helps us gain knowledge and understanding of God’s standards for our daily living. It is a guide to Christians as to what is right or wrong, and as to what is expected to be our reaction to all that we encounter. It is a guide to help us control our emotions so we do not exercise outbursts of anger or wrong judgment.

Wisdom as Reason

As we grow in knowledge, we learn to use reason. We learn to make decisions with our spiritual heart, which is guided by God’s word. By using our spiritual knowledge, we learn to reason with our emotions. We allow the Holy Spirit to keeps us calm, think, evaluate, and contain our anger. We use reason as to not offend others, yet glorify God.

Wisdom as Truth

Our pursuit for the truth is led by our Christian thirst for knowledge. We seek justice, truth, compassion, love, and acceptance. Our quest for the truth drives us to use reasoning and knowledge, in order to discern right from wrong, good from bad, holy from unholy, and godly from ungodly. We set all judgment aside until we have examined all the facts and found the truth.

In God’s time

 

I have had many experiences in the late that have taught me about trusting God. Not only to answer prayers, but also to work on all issues in his time, not mine. Seems like the wait is endless, but the results are fabulous. It amazes me, day after day, how little things can become big things, yet trusting God to be in charge resolves all in a way that we never imagined.

 At times, a problem that we can solve in various months through much effort, resolves itself earlier and effortless. That is the power of trust. That is the power of God. When God is in control, all things are possible with unlimited potential for the best outcome.

 2 Corinthians 6

 2 For he says, “I heard you at the acceptable time,

 Galatians 4

 4 But when the appropriate time had come, God sent out his Son,

 It is then, that believing in God, trusting him, and allowing him control takes on great faith. Faith can be the belief in the unseen and the unheard, yet seen and heard. For if we open our hearts, we will see him reveal himself to us, and we will hear what he has to say. Is your heart open to God?

•  Believe in God

• Trust Him

• Allow Him Control

 Let blessings flow by giving to him all that burdens your heart, not some, but all burdens. From those as small as a grain of salt to those that take up our entire universe. Let blessing fall in his time. God’s time is the right time.

For God so Loved the World

 

 

Acts 20

27 For I did not hold back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God.

Today, I was speaking to a lady who is a strong believer in the faith. When I told her I manage various blogs for the glory of God, she said I was helping spread the Word of God to many who otherwise may not be able to hear it. Then, I thought, “I am doing the Lords will with my life and helping spread his word. It can’t get better than that.”

I am His vessel. God is using me at his will. All I do is obey his command and spread his Word, the Word of salvation through him, and him only. For there is no other way to eternal life but by believing in Jesus, who died, was buried, and resurrected to atone our sins.

 

What is the plan of salvation?

A very simple one. Believe that Jesus died, was buried, rose again, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father and we shall have eternal life.

 

John 3: 16

16 For this is the way God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

There is no need to add, take away, nor embellish the simple plan of salvation. It speaks for itself. Believe in the Son of God, and we shall be saved.

 

Prayer for the Day

Lord, today I heard your simple plan of salvation and I believe in your son Jesus Christ. I believe that he died, was buried, resurrected, and is now sitting at your right hand. I accept the truth of salvation and want to live eternally by your side.

If you said this prayer, and believe it in your heart, then you are now a child of God. Read the Bible, join a church, and continue growing in Faith.

God be with you, today and always.

 

 

Inner Voice

When we make a decision on what to do, we all have an inner voice that wrestles with our thoughts, and guides us. That inner voice is the Holy Spirit. It speaks to us and helps us to understand the difference between right and wrong. As we get older, our knowledge is greater and our conscious works harder at making the right decisions. When we make the right decision, we feel peace, when we make the wrong decision we feel guilt. Do you listen to your inner voice? Do you allow it to guide you in your decisions? Do you feel peace, or guilt?

Peace

We are faced with decisions to make, from the moment we get up until the moment we go to sleep. We need to decide on simple things as much as we need to decide on complex things. The simple decisions may not carry major consequences, but the complex ones may. How do we know what is the right decision that will bring peace?

First, we need to consult God. Ask him for guidance and listen to what he has to say. He answers us in his time, so we need to be patient and wait.

Ecclesiastes

7:8 The end of a matter is better than its beginning; likewise, patience is better than pride.

Lamentations

3:26 It is good to wait patiently for deliverance from the Lord.

Second, we need to rationalize the consequences of the decisions we make. Once we do this step, then we need to understand if the consequences are positive or negative.

If the consequences are negative, can we avoid them? If it cannot be avoided, can we live with the decision in peace? If we cannot live with the decision in peace, then we need to look for other avenues that we have not followed. Take a second look at the decision and look for other ways to change it into a positive outcome.

If the consequences are positive, how do we know is the right decision?

We know is the right decision, because when we consult God, we will have peace in our hearts, we will have no doubts, and we will have a positive outcome.

Psalms

72:1 For Solomon.

O God, grant the king the ability to make just decisions!

Grant the king’s son the ability to make fair decisions!

Guilt

When we make a decision that makes us feel guilty, then we have not made the right decision.

Guilt stays in us and does not allow us to feel good about what was decided. Guilt eats away in our minds. When we feel guilty of anything we have decided, then we are listening to the inner voice that is guiding us along. It is letting us know that something is not right.

The Holy Spirit convicts us and does not allow us to feel peace. However, if we confess our guilt to God, talk to him through prayer, and listen to his guidance or teaching, then we can release the feeling of guilt and replace it with peace.

Ezra

9:6 I prayed, “O my God, I am ashamed and embarrassed to lift my face to you, my God! For our iniquities have climbed higher than our heads, and our guilt extends to the heavens.

Every decision we make has two possibilities. It can be negative, or positive, peaceful or guilty. As individuals, we are free to make any decision we want. However, as a child of God, every decision we make, needs to be guided by the Holy Spirit, the inner voice that tells us what is right or what is wrong. If we, patiently, listen to our inner voice, will be making the right decision.

Temptation, Thoughts, and Overcoming

 

It is remarkable how our mind works. We have millions of thoughts that run through it.  As our daily lives continue, we struggle. Temptation comes our way and we think about it. We wonder whether to act on it or overcome it. Our best choice would be to overcome it. However, it is easier said than done.

So, how can we overcome thoughts brought about by temptation? Well, we can chose to do the right thing, if it is too much to handle, we can take it to God in Prayer, or if we feel we are about to cave in, we give it to God to handle.

1 Corinthians 10

 

13  No trial has overtaken you that is not faced by others.  And God is faithful: He will not let you be tried beyond what you are able to bear, but with the trial will also provide a way out so that you may be able to endure it.

Choose to do the right thing

The problem with thoughts that carry temptation is that we are at risk of acting upon them. We can be tempted in so many ways that our reasoning could be curved and influenced into thinking is ok to go through with them. Unfortunately, if we act upon them, we now face guilt, shame, and many other convictions that we must live with.

Thoughts can flood our minds and run through it like a mad river. We obsess over the object of our temptation and we come up with many scenarios on how to justify acting upon our tempting thoughts.

Our mind is a wondrous machine that can video play many of the outcomes with vivid results that can entice us into stepping into the forbidden world.  However, as Christians, we have the guidance of the Holy Spirit that can help us discern right from wrong. It is its influence that will carry us through and help us do the right thing.

Luke 12

 12  for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you must say.”  

Take it to God in prayer

If the thoughts are too much to bear and we are failing at doing the right thing, talk to God, talk to Jesus, and pray to be helped. It is ok to admit we are weak and we need help. God only gives us trials that we can bear. If we are failing at doing the right thing, ask for help.

The benefit of being a Christian is that we are never alone. God is on our sidelines watching us, leading us, and listening to us. Let him lend you a hand with your problem. Like the loving father that he is, he will hold your heart and help you through any situation.

Psalm 118

 7  The Lord is on my side  as my helper. 

Give it to God to handle

Hmm! How many of us are willing to take on other’s burdens? Some of us are. However, God is always willing to take on our burdens. If we feel we can’t do the right thing, or prayer is not sufficient, then give God your problem. Let him be the one that deals with it. Let him handle it. Wow! Really? YES>>>>>>>

When God knows that we can no longer bear the problem, thought, or temptation, he provides a way out. That is him. He is our way out. Give him your thoughts. Give him your temptations. Let him carry you through.

Psalm 55

22  Throw your burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain you.

 It is not easy to go through with the above, but fervent belief, faith that is unconditional, and love for the truth will be our Holy Spirit’s guidance and advice. Pray to God and let him help. Finally, give God all you can’t bear. Let him be the one that solves our problems, removes our burdens, and opens up our hearts to be filled with inner peace.

God be with us today and always. 

February 13 – Verse for the Day

 

Verse of the Day

Ephesians 5:20-21

always giving thanks to God the Father for each other  in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,

and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. 

Prayer for the Day

Thank you, Lord for family, friends, and loved ones. I thank you for each and every one of them. It is to them that I must witness for you, each day of my life.

 

God Guides: We Pray and Listen

The New Year has arrived full of hopes and dreams. A fresh new outlook to the world we live in. Yet, is another day following the day before, absolutely nothing special about that fact. However, because it is the mark of a new year, many fill themselves with new hopes, resolutions, and possibilities. I will be doing the same, but like many, I will do all those things with God’s guidance.

God provides guidance. We listen. Sometimes, we do not like his guidance. We tend to ignore it. Why would we do that? Maybe, because we do not want to do what he wants us to. How can we ignore him? We can do so easily, but the consequences may be negative in the end.

When I hear God guiding me, I listen. I have to. He knows what is best for me. Even though, my human nature wants to question it, I need to listen. He has laid a path for me. He knows the course I need to take. He knows where I am headed. He knows where I will end up if I listen, and he knows where I will end up If I don’t.

Life is difficult as it is. Why complicate it more than it needs to be? There is no reason to do so. How can we listen, understand, and do the right thing? The answer is to pray to God not only to guide us, but also to help us listen to his guidance.

Prayer is the only communication we have with him. The Bible tells us to pray. It goes as far as telling us to pray in secret.

Matthew

6:6 But whenever you pray, go into your room, ⁸  close the door, and pray to your Father in secret. And your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.

Why in secret? It is not because he wants us to hide. It is because in secret we find ourselves in a place where we are free of distractions, we can pour our hearts out to him, and we are praying to communicate with him.

In secret, we pray quietly, we have peace in our surroundings, and we can listen. I forget sometimes. A simple command and I forget to follow it. I struggle every day to stay close to him. Life has so many demands which can easily distract me and take me away from him.

What if we cannot find a quiet place to pray. Then pray anywhere or anytime you find it necessary. It is best to speak with him, let him know what is in our hearts, than not do so at all.

Same way we remember to go to sleep each day, we should remember God in our lives. He is the one constant we have. He is willing, ready, and able to converse with us. He stops everything to listen to us. When others do not have time for us, he always does.

In the New Year, continue to have dreams and hopes. Be filled with faith. Speak with God, pray to him, and listen. I am going to continue doing what he expects from me. With him by my side, who can be against me? No one can be. What can I accomplish? Everything and so can you. Today is the first day of the rest of our lives; let us make it the best one yet. In the beginning, he remembered you and me. Let us emember him today.

Proverbs

8:22 The Lord created me as the beginning of his works,  

before his deeds of long ago.

 

8:23 From eternity I was appointed,

from the beginning, from before the world existed.