Conquering

Reading: Jeremiah 32-33 and Romans 8

 

Scripture: Romans 8:35&37, Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? …No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

 

Thoughts: It is so easy to be consumed by the tribulations, distresses or any of the other things listed in verse thirty-five. When we allow ourselves to dwell on those things we are allowing them to overcome us and keep us beaten and defeated. We are no longer working under our own power; we have the power and authority in Christ to overcome all those things that are trying to keep us down. In verse 37 it says we are more than conquerors. Conquerors not only defeat the enemy they overthrow them so they can not return. So, what does it mean to be more than a conqueror? It is having the ability to overcome all those things and continue to worship in the mist of that battle and storm. When we can come in roaring like a Lion in worship to the one true King as we march into the battle that only God can give us the power and authority to win.

 

Prayer: Father God, you are worthy of all praise, you are worthy of all worship and honor. I bow myself before you and seek your grace. I ask that you help me to see the path you have for me and give me the strength to walk it out. You are the one who crushes the enemy and I thank you that you have chosen to use me from time to time. I thank you for the blessings of my family and the ability to serve you and them. I ask that you help me to steward all that you have placed in my hands and help me to grow the things you have placed before me.

Old pride and new pride.

Reading: Jeremiah 13-14, Psalm 141, and Acts 24

 

Scripture: Jeremiah 13:7-9, Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was spoiled; it was good for nothing. Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Thus says the Lord: Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.

 

Thoughts: As I was reading this morning it took a bit to find something that spoke to me. I went over the reading several times before this passage stood out. Mostly the end of verse nine where it talks about spoiling the pride of Judah and Jerusalem. Here in the United States pride is all over the place. After so many years of prosperity and being a global power, we have become arrogant and complacent. But also look at how many groups out there have pride written all over them, the pride flag, black pride, brown pride, and white pride. If God is willing to bring down his chosen people due to pride, we need to be careful that we do not let pride blind us to the calling we have on our lives. We need to be humble and have a correct view of who we are in God’s eyes and not worry about what the world or even our own feelings say about ourselves. I strive to hear “well done good and faithful servant” when I get to heaven not some acolytes here on earth, but I still struggle wanting to hear that I am doing well and not listening to myself or anyone else saying that I am not enough or that I am a failure.

 

Prayer: Father God, you are the great I Am, you have all power and authority, I stand in awe of your creation and the wonders you place before me. I cry out in worship you are worthy. I thank you for all you are doing in my life, the refining and the molding that you are doing. I ask that I become more receptive to your calling and nudging in my life. Lead me and guide me. I lay my life in your hands, I place my family and possessions in your hands, help me to walk in your ways and steward those things you put before me.

Making gods in our life.

Reading: Jeremiah 11-12, Psalm 97, and Acts 23

 

Scripture: Jeremiah 11:12-13, Then the cities of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem will go and cry to the gods to whom they make offerings, but they cannot save them in the time of their trouble. For your gods have become as many as your cities, O Judah, and as many as the streets of Jerusalem are the altars you have set up to shame, altars to make offerings to Baal.

 

Thoughts: When I look at the news and all the chaos in this world, I can see the gods that are being created even in this modern world. We may not be building statues with alters to burn sacrifices on but Romans 12:1 talks about our bodies being a living sacrifice. As I look at this world I see the god of self, those who only look for the physical and emotional high. Within that there are things like the LGBTQ god that people are being forced to bow down to by catering to the pronoun mafia. One of the most reagent gods I have seen creep into our world is the victimhood god who tells us that we need to find out value in how marginalized we are. I know I have fallen into that mentality using my story to try to prop myself up. My story is part of how I got to where I am today but it is not who I am or how I want to identify. What are we allowing the world to raise up to god status in our lives?

 

Prayer: Lord God, you are the one true God, you are higher then all things and you deserve all the glory and honor and praise. I thank you for creating a world where we have choice and that you pour out your love and mercy upon us. I thank you for my family and my friends. I thank you for the provisions you have for us, those that we have seen and those that we don’t understand or have not seen. I ask that you help me to show your love to world and my family. I ask for discernment in the situations in my life and help us to overcome the challenges before us.

Wise boasting!?

Reading: Jeremiah 9-10, Psalm 100, and Acts 22

 

Scripture: Jeremiah 9:23-24, Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.”

 

Thoughts: What are we boasting about, are we lifting ourselves up pointing to ourselves all day long. Are we lifting others up, are we boasting in knowing God and pointing to His great works. I am thankful that I know God and know His Love, I know His justice. I know that I do not deserve the mercy and grace, Your Son paid the price for my failures, and I walk in the justice that the punishment required was fulfilled.

 

Prayer: Lord God you are the only one worthy of all praise. I praise you and boost in you. You own the cattle on a thousand hills, you call the rains and snow. You placed the stars in the heavens and still know the hairs on my head and the number of my days. I thank you for your love, and the grace and mercy you pour out on us through that love. I ask that you help me to walk in that love, showing love to those around me and especially my family. Help me to steward all that you have placed in my hands well. Help me to lay it all down before you and release control.

Who are you?

Reading: Jeremiah 1-2 and Acts 18

 

Scripture: Jeremiah 1:4-5, Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.”

 

Thoughts: With the world constantly pouring into us how much better you will be with this or that, or that we are not failures. We have been fed the line that if we don’t have what others have we are not enough. God reminds us in Jeremiah that He formed us in our mothers womb, and before he did so he knew us and that he had a plan for us. I know I struggle with how I see myself, not just the physical, where I feel like I’m not attractive but also that I’m not intelligent or wise and I can’t be used by God because of these limitations. These passages remind me that he knew me before my mother even had a thought of having a child. We need to keep our perspective on who God says we are and not what the world thinks of us.

 

Prayer: Father God you are the speaker of life, you created all things and formed me in my mothers womb. You know the hairs on my head and the plans you have for me. I thank you that you do have plans for me and work in my life. I thank you that you are teaching me every day. I ask for forgiveness for the places I fall dawn and ask for your help to get back up and to continue to work in me that I can better reflect your love. Help me to see the next steps you have for me and the strength to take the steps you have for me.

What are your priorities?

Playing a little catch-up, this was a rough few days with the wife getting a much needed getaway and my kids keeping me busy. I was keeping up with my reading but didn’t away get something writen down for a verse and didn’t get to putting down my thought on the verse until today’s reading. Here is the reading and verses as well as today’s thoughts. 

October 9

 

Reading: Isaiah 65-66, Psalm 124, and Acts 11

 

Scripture: Isaiah 66:12-13, For thus says the Lord: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river, and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream; and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip, and bounced upon her knees. As one whom his mother comforts, so I will comfort you; you shall be comforted in Jerusalem. 

 

October 10

 

Reading: 2 Kings 21, 2 Chronicles 33, Psalm 75, and Acts 12

 

Scripture: Acts 12:22-23, And the people were shouting, “The voice of a god, and not of a man!” Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he was eaten by worms and breathed his last.

 

October 11

 

Reading: Nahum 1-3 and Acts 13

 

Scripture: Acts 13:17-18, The God of this people Israel chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt, and with uplifted arm he led them out of it. And for about forty years he put up with them in the wilderness.

 

October 12

 

Reading: 2 Kings 22, 2 Chronicles 34, and Acts 14

 

Scripture: Acts 14:2-3, But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.

 

October 13

 

Reading: 2 Kings 23, 2 Chronicles 35, and Acts 15

 

October 14

 

Reading: Habakkuk 1-3 and Acts 16

 

Scripture: Acts 16:28, But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”

 

October 15

 

Reading: Zephaniah 1-3 and Acts 17

 

Scripture: Zephaniah 1:18, Neither their silver nor their gold shall be able to deliver them on the day of the wrath of the Lord. In the fire of his jealousy, all the earth shall be consumed; for a full and sudden end he will make of all the inhabitants of the earth.

 

Thoughts: As I sit here working to get a loan to be able to build a home for my family, money has been weighing heavy on my mind. How much do I bring in? How much is God’s? How much do we need for all the other things like food and gas? All things running through my mind and this passage stuck out to me and making me think of our current situation in the United States. So many of the people in this nation are more worried about the big green god, their “gold and silver.” Zephaniah reminds us that when we don’t have the right focus and allow God to be supplanted by the things of this world, we could easily be wiped away with the non believers.

 

Prayer: Father God your are our provider, you are the one who created all things and own the cattle on a thousand mountains. I think you that you are leading and guiding me. I thank you for my family and the provisions that you give us every day. I ask that you help me to steward well those things you have given to me, help me to be kind and loving to my family and those around me. All I have is your and I place it all in your hands that it will prosper and grow. I thank you that you have a plan for us and that we have the ability to see your works.

What fires are burning?

Reading: Isaiah 62-64 and Acts 10

 

Scripture: Isaiah 64:2-3, as when fire kindles brushwood and the fire causes water to boil— to make your name known to your adversaries, and that the nations might tremble at your presence! When you did awesome things that we did not look for, you came down, the mountains quaked at your presence.

 

Thoughts: There are so many uses for fire, but as useful as it is the destructive power of fire can be found almost everywhere. Just as fire’s power is known by everyone, we are called to make known the Power of God. This passage was using Fire to describe God. Are we pointing to God when these wondrous things happen and sharing the awesome power of God when we experience it. This passage brought the image of Moses and Mount Sinai, the mountain everything going on around it. God came down to the mountain and gave Moses the tables, I imagine there would have been some sort of shining and rumbling from that mountain. These events have been documented and shared for generations. What are the little things that we are seeing God do that we are not sharing even with our family?

 

Prayer: Lord God, you are creator of all things, I thank you that you are the provider and orchestrator of all things. You may not be shaking the geological mountains today but you are moving mountains in the lives around us. I thank you for the provision that you have given me to steward, I thank you for my family and friends that I get to walk with. I ask that you help me see the mountains that you have moved in my life and those that you are working in me to move. Help me to grow in your love and share you love with those around me.

What to fear?

Reading: Isaiah 60-61, Psalm 111, and Acts 9

 

Scripture: Psalm 111:10, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all those who practice it have a good understanding. His praise endures forever!

 

Thoughts: As we are entering October and the much of the world around us is presenting more things that could bring fear, what should we truly fear? It appears that much of the Halloween decorations center around death, whether tombstones, skeletons, or the undead, zombies, vampires, and mummies. It looks like much fear centers around death. Part of the fear that we should have when it come to God is the fear of who we are without Him and where we will be/go if we do not have Him in our life. When we fear the things of this world all we do is get anxiety, we can not change this world but when we seek the one who can and seek Him, we do not just get knowledge, but we grow in wisdom from the Father. Seek God and get in His Word and find a way to praise Him even in the midst of fear trying to drown out the voice of God.

 

Prayer: Lord God, you are who I faer, I know that I have allowed distractions into my life, and I ask that you help me to remove them. Help me to prioritize my time with you. You are worthy of all my time and effort. I place my life, my family, and my finances in your hands. Help me to steward all that I have for you and seek you all my days and in all my ways.

Coming back to the refuge

Reading: Isaiah 58-59, Psalm 5, and Acts 8

 

Scripture: Psalm 5:11; But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.

 

Thoughts: Over that last several months, I have been drifting and not fully trusting in God but leaning on my understanding and walking in what I thought were God’s ways but not seeking God. I was taking refuge in my time to myself and in my own selfish desires. Lately I have been hearing the call to come back to the feet of God, to sit and listen, to cry out to Him about those things that are going on. Let us come back to that first love we had when we first met Christ let us rejoice that we have refuge in you and place that banner that we can look to and return to when life gets us down.

 

Prayer: Father God, you are worthy of all praise, you are greater than any other god. I humbly come before you returning and asking you to wash me again. Fill me again with your love. I long to sit in your presence. I long to hear your voice. Open my ears again to hear you to discern your voice from the things that call me away.

Do I fit in the All being blessed?

Reading: Deuteronomy 28 and Galatians 3

 

Scripture: Galatians 3:7-8 Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.”

 

Thoughts: As I read this passage, I got the reminder that not only do we need to remember what God saved us from but also who we have become when we chose to follow Jesus. Yes, we have a past and it has been washed clean by the blood of Christ. With the acceptance of the washing those sins are washed clean and set as far as the East is from the West, we are to no longer dwell on that past. This passage speaks of the adoption into the family of God. God made a promise to Abraham that his descendants would be like the stars in the sky yet he had two sons. Even coming out of Egypt there were 600,000 men meaning probably about 2 million people walked out of Egypt. Still, a number that can be counted. We are now grafted in and adopted into God’s family made co-hair with Christ. We need to remember what we were saved from and who we became. We are sons and daughters of the one true King.

 

Prayer: Father God, you are so wonderful, and your mercy abounds. I thank you that you have called me and adopted me into your family. I thank you that when you called me you cleansed me and called me to strive for a closer relationship with you. I thank you that you are refining me and molding me into the man I am meant to be. I and that you help me to continue to release the things in my past that are not who I am. I ask you to help me to love as you love, and be a good steward of the blessings in my life. I pray that I may be a light to this world to share your love and mercy with this broken and messed up world.

What are we doing or saying we should do?

Reading: Deuteronomy 25-27 and Galatians 2

 

Scripture: Galatians 2:14 But when I saw that their conduct was not in step with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas before them all, “If you, though a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you force the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

 

Thoughts: We have been given great freedom in Christ, no matter what our background is Jew or Gentile. Just as Cephas(Peter) is being called out about not living by the rules or traditions that he was calling out others to do, we have a tendency to do the same thing. We are calling out a sin in someone’s life as we sit there with that same sin in our lives. It is easy to sit up on our tower and point out all the things wrong with others as we try to hide our own issues. Paul may have been calling out Peter for doing one thing and saying another but he came to him with a humble heart he has aired his laundry he had talked about watching Steven get stoned, tracking down Christians to have them brought to trial. He calls himself the chief of sinners. Are we praising God for what he brought us out of and pointing to what He is doing in our lives? When we speak to others let us encourage and lift them up not tear them down. We are not going to beat someone into heaven. We need to love as God loves and seek God’s heart for the world around us.

 

Prayer: Father God, your ways are higher than my ways, your knowledge far exceeds anything I could think. I fall on my face and seek you and your glory in my life. I ask you to reveal to me my insufficiencies. Help me to walk in your way and in our light. I thank you for the opportunities to seek you and share what you are doing in my life. I ask that you help me to be the light to this world and walk beside those who are struggling so that I can help them up and not condemn them when they fall. Help us to remember where you brought us out and the work you are still doing in our lives. Help me to overcome the sins I have and that you have washed clean.

You have been recruited!!!

Reading: Numbers 19-20, Psalm 47, and 1 Corinthians 9

 

Scripture: 1 Corinthians 9:26-27 So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

 

Thoughts: How are we training? As a disciple of Christ, what are we doing to prepare ourselves for the fight that is to come? Athletes don’t just stagger off the couch onto whatever field they play on and expect to win. Do soldiers go into battle without knowing their weapons intimately? Then why do we sit back and expect that we will be victorious when we barely open the word once a week? In my past I know that there were times when it was months between times, I cracked open the Bible or even thought about going to church, and I can look back at those times and see the death spiral my life was taking and how it impacted those closest to me. As a worrier find other worriers to train with, find those who have been there before to strengthen and encourage you but also bring someone who is in need of encouragement along with that you all may grow and strengthen in the Lord. Yes, the battle belongs to the Lord, but we are called to fight it with all we have, and He will make up the difference. Be discipled, get disciplined, and become strong in the Lord.

 

Prayer: Lord God, you are my banner, my rally point, my place of refuge. You have the battle plans drawn up and ready to execute, and you are calling your army to ready itself. Your plans are greater than our plans they are higher than ours and we exalt you. I lay my life in your hands and take up your armor and sword so that I may walk in your power and authority over the evil of this world. I ask for your strength to fill me and lead me.

Who are these Jones people any way?

Reading: Numbers 17-18, Psalm 73, and 1 Corinthians 8

 

Scripture: Psalm 73:3 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

 

Thoughts: Are you trying to keep up with the Jones? This was the first thing that went through my mind when this passage stood out to me. Many times the Jones that we are comparing ourselves to may not be truly wicked but many flaunt what they have. With the invention of social media, this FOMO and longing for the life that others portray has ratcheted up the mentality of keeping up with those Jones. When the world has opened up the firehouse of comparison it is hard to not feel like the grass is greener over there. This not only goes toward the things and opportunities we have but also how content we are with our situations and our choices. I chose to love my wife and asked her to be my wife, yet so often we start looking at others, that grass over there because there is something that didn’t live up to our expectations. As we seek God and his will in our life He will fulfill every need we have. He also longs to bless his faithful servants, so how are you stewarding the things he has entrusted to you so far? 

 

Prayer: Father God, you are the creator of all things, you own the cattle on a thousand hills. You give and you take away. I thank you for the opportunity to steward those things around me. I thank you for my family and the people in my life. I pray that my stewardship is a praise to you and that I can point to you always in about all things. I thank you that you are molding and refining me as the silversmith does. I thank you that you call me even when I fall. I ask that you help me to be more content with what I have and not seek more than what you have for me.

Are you separating yourself?

Reading: Numbers 16 and 1 Corinthians 7

 

Scripture: Numbers 16:27-28 So they got away from the dwelling of Korah, Dathan, and Abiram. And Dathan and Abiram came out and stood at the door of their tents, together with their wives, their sons, and their little ones. And Moses said, “Hereby you shall know that the Lord has sent me to do all these works, and that it has not been of my own accord.

 

Thoughts: A little leaven leavens the whole lump. God reminds us that we are to separate ourselves from the sinfulness of the world. Here in Numbers, we see where a group comes to Moses saying that they are worthy to be in the presence of God. After God shows who He chose to be the priest, He has Moses separate these men from the rest of Israel. When we find a sin in our midst we are to separate ourselves from it. Yes, there is forgiveness and reconciliation but until that person comes to the point of seeking that forgiveness we are to treat them as unbelievers, not shunning them or turning our backs on them but sharing God’s love and calling them back. Is there a sin in your life that needs to be confessed and to seek forgiveness for? 

 

Prayer: Father God you are worthy of all praise. I long to love as you love. I thank you for calling me out of my sins and offering your mercy and grace. I thank you for the continued sanctification that you are working in me. Help me to overcome the sins that continue to try to gain a foothold, help me to see and understand the calling you have put on my life. Lead me and guide me every day.