In His Word Wednesday: Matthew 10:42

Matthew 10:42
And whoever gives one of these little ones only a cup of cold water in the name of a disciple, assuredly, I say to you, he shall by no means lose his reward.

I would like to point out two things that I think of when I read this verse. First, God doesn't reward only "big" jobs and "important"works. He loves to give and He loves to reward obedience, no matter how "small"or ïnsignificant" it may seem to us. Giving a glass of water, smiling, saying kind words such as "thank you" or "have a nice day," could be just what that person need that day. Second, it also reminds me that we can do things for God just for the rewards we one day will receive. It has to come from our love of God. Think about it, when you really love someone what do you usually do? You do things that show that person you love them or to make them happy. True acts of service stem from a sincere love of God and a desire to please Him.

In His Word Wednesday: Judges 2:10

Judges 2:10
When all the generations had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the Lord nor the work which He had done for Israel.

This verse has a very important lesson. It speaks of a generation who did not know the Lord. Why do you think they didn't know the Lord? They were not taught. They didn't have the blessing of seeing the works of the Lord as their ancestors did, and if their parents and grandparents did not share these stories with them, of course they would not know.

As a child, I remember prayers being said, Christmas being celebrated for its true meaning, and stories of the Bible being told in our classrooms. We no longer have that benefit. I'm not saying that our children should be taught about their faith in schools. I just want to point out that we no longer have that benefit, so the responsibility falls solely on the church and the home. I believe learning and understanding the Scriptures is, often times, best learned under the shepherding of a pastor, but parents bare the sole responsibility of teaching and molding their children's faith. Take time to study the Scriptures and put them into practice in your daily life.

As our world slowly turns away from the Lord, remember that generations to come will need to know of Jesus' love and saving grace. The greatest thing you can do for your children is to give the them the strong foundation of Jesus so that they may weather the many storms to come.

In His Word Wednesday: Proverbs 6:23

Proverbs 6:23
For the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light; reproofs of instruction are the way of life.

We live in a dark world, and without becoming familiar with God's Word and learning how to effectively shine its light on our problems, we will certainlly stumble in the blackness.  -Charles Stanley

In His Word Wednesday: Colossians 3:4

Colossians 3:4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.
“We woefully shortchange our earthly experience if we, with well-meaning hearts, relegate Christ to the top of our list of priorities and demand that he stay put.

We’ve been taught to live by lists of priorities but, if marriage is second on my list, what will happen without Christ’s intervention? If children are third on our list, what will become of them if Jesus sticks to our church category and doesn’t invade our parenting? If friendships are fourth on our list, how can we ever hope to break our cycle of broken relationships without Him who is wholeness incarnate? Colossians 3:4 doesn’t call Jesus number one in your life. It says He ‘is your life’.

If it has something to do with us, then it has something to do with Him.

If we’re willing, God is our song when we are happy, our escape when we are tempted, our hope when we’re despairing, our joy in tribulation, our strength in weakness, and our immortality in dying. Ultimately, He Himself is our health.” - Beth Moore
 
May your echo the words of the hymn “It Is Well With My Soul.”

 

In His Word Wednesday: 1 Corinthians 12:7

1 Corinthians 12:7
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:


A the time they come to faith in Christ, every believer receives at least one spiritual gift, not merely to encourage and build up their own life of faith, but more particularly to build up the faith of the whole church.


What is your spiritual gift?

In His Word Wednesday: Ephesians 2:8-9

Ephesians 2:8-9
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

Salvation is a gift of God, presented free and not in exchange for anything when we place our faith in Christ. It then magnifies God, and God alone. He blesses us not because of our merit but because of His goodness. I find great comfort in this because nothing I do, or have ever done, deserves the love God gives me. He loves me for me.

Thank you heavenly Father for loving me, for me, and not anything I do.

In His Word Wednesday: 1 Samuel 12:22

Time and again throughout the Old Testament, we find the Lord reaching out to His people, revealing Himself to them, desiring to be with them and to communicate with them.

1 Samuel 12:22
For the Lord will not forsake His people, for His great name's sake, because it has pleased the Lord to make you His people.

God desires a relationship with you in companionship, fellowship, and communion. We can count on the Lord, even if everyone else abandons us. So when loneliness engulfs us, the first thing we must do is turn our focus away from what we don't have to what we do have...God Himself!

You can never be alone once you have trusted Jesus as your Savior. He promises that He dwells within you when you have received Him into your life and that He is connected to you, just as a vine and a branch are connected. Although the depth of that intimacy, to a great extent, is up to you. How much intimacy do you desire with the Lord? Even so, He is always there, desiring to move ever closer to you.

In His Word Wednesday: Exodus 3:19, 20

Exodus 3:19, 20
"But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand. So I will stretch out My hand and strike Egypt with all My wonders which I will do in its midst; and after that he will let you go."

I would like to share a piece from Charles Stanley's Life Principles on this verses:

"Pharaoh is probably  the best illustration in the Bible of a person with a hard heart. He thus provides a blueprint for what happens when a person refuses to accept and bend his or her will to the truth of God.

Pharaoh receive overwhelming evidence-plague after plague, sign after sign, miracle after miracle-and still refused to let the Israelites go. Even when faced with undeniable evidence of his error, Pharaoh refused to acknowledge that another was greater than he. In the end, his pride and hard-heartedness cost him his army and almost his kingdom.

All of us have stubbornly desired to have things the way we want them, even when our way opposes God's way. Every time we say no to God, we skirt the edges of rebelling once too often. If we repeatedly say no to God, then like Pharaoh we may develop a hard heart that leads to destruction."

Make it a point to say "yes" to God daily.

In His Word Wednesday: Romans 11:29

As I find myself in a discussion over "once saved always saved," I wonder why some people struggle with this. I think of what Jesus did for me (and all of you), by sacrificing Himself on the cross for my sins, and I find myself humbled and wanting to show Him my gratitude. I feel the need to turn away from my sin and try to live a life pleasing to Him. After salvation, we all will slip up and fall into sin, but when we do, we should have great remorse and want to repent. 

When we truly love someone, we want to please them. Salvation in about a life change, not just saying the words and then going back to the way you were living. I don't, and never have thought "I'm saved, now I can do anything I want." If you have these thoughts, take time to re-examine your heart. 

Romans 11:29
For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Once you have placed your faith in Him, God will never cast you away. He will never abandon you, reject you, or turn you away. As a loving Father, He will discipline you, but He will never throw you away.

In His Word Wednesday: 1 Samuel 1:18

I love the story of Samuel. As time pasted, Hannah grew more bitter in her soul. She would weep and stop eating in her grieving. Hannah longed for a child but the Lord had close her womb. One day she wept in anguish and prayed to the Lord, vowing if she had a son, she would give him to the Lord all the days of his life. Eli, the prophet, watched her as she prayed with her lips moving with no sound. He thought she was drunk and confronted her as she rose to leave. She was not drunk, but a woman who was pouring her soul out to the Lord.  Then Eli said "go in peace and may the God of Israel grant your petition which you have asked of Him."

1 Samuel 1:18
And she said, "Let your maidservant find favor in your sight." So the woman went her way and ate, and her face was no longer sad.

Hannah left behind her grief, not when her circumstances changed-they hadn't-but after she poured out her soul to the Lord. Because of her grief, she connected with the Lord on a level she had never known.

In His Word Wednesday: Luke 15:24

Luke 15:24
'For this my son was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry.

In Luke 15, starting in verse 11, Jesus tells a parable which illustrates how God longs for us to return to Him if we have wandered away in sin. The parable tells of a son who took his inheritance and went away from his father into a far country and wasted his inheritance in riotous living. He became destitute and hired out to feed pigs. He became so hungry he even wanted to eat what the pigs ate. He decided to go back to his father and hire out as one of his hired servants. Verse 20 says, "And he rose and came to his father. But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him."

In this parable the father represents God. Christ gave us this parable to show how anxious God is to have us come back if we have wandered away from Him in sin. God will run to us with open arms if we will only come back to Him.

In His Word Wednesday: Isaiah 30:21

Christians sometimes approach obedience as a way of avoiding the negative consequences of disobedience. They see obedience as a burden, not as a wide road to blessings. God intended our walk of faith to be motivated by our love for Jesus Christ. Obedience is about discovering God, not about avoiding unpleasant consequences.

Isaiah 30:21 

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," Whenever you turn to the right hand and whenever your turn to the left.

When we place our trust in the omnipotence of the Lord and act on His prompting, life becomes wonderful. We need not be afraid of the future because God already knows the outcome of our obedience. We can trust in His promise that He does everything for our good.

In His Word Wednesday: Acts 16:24-31

It seems more and more people are enduring terrible tragedies in their lives. Whether it is with health, family difficulties, or other areas, many are feeling overwhelmed with the struggles they are facing. God led me to these verses and I wanted to share them with you. When you are finished reading, I hope you are able to sing.


Acts 16:24-31
Having received such a charge, he put them into the inner prison and fastened their feet in the stocks.
But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and every one's chains were loosed. 
And the keeper of the prison, awaking from sleep ans seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself.
But Paul called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 
And he brought them out and  said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
So they said, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."


As exhausted as they felt, Silas and Paul could not sleep. Being shackled in prison and their wounds kept them from getting much needed sleep. They had no idea whether they would live to see another day. Yet, in the midst of their troubles, prayers and songs were lifted to the Lord. Praising the Lord in the midst of their despair, the Lord responded with an earthquake, enabling them to be able to share the gospel with the prison keeper. The glorious outcome...the prison keeper and his family were saved.
You have a song to sing as well. Though your situation may feel overwhelming, are you willing to trust God in your circumstances? Do you believe that no problem is beyond His power? As you allow God to conduct the symphony of your life, you will see Him shaking your own prisons, so lift of you voice and sing!

In His Word Wednesday: Colossian 1:9-12; Part 7

We often drop to our knees with a petition to God. A lot of the times it's just to roll our burdens upon God. There is much more to prayer than a passionate plea for God to intervene. Paul often spoke intriguing prayers. We find one of them in Colossians 1:9-12:

(9)For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
(10)that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
(11)strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long suffering with joy;
(12)giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.


In this prayer, Paul covers 7 areas of our lives that needs a daily touch of God. We have reached the last part the Paul's prayer in this wonderful prayer. 


The last part of Paul's prayer that I want to discuss is in verse 12. It says "giving thanks to the Father." Let's take time out of our busy lives to give thanks to Him for not only the large things or things that we need (our salvation, health, family, food to eat, etc.), but also the little everyday things that may slip our minds or luxuries that we have (a soft bed to sleep in, the ability to walk to the mailbox, that special  pet that makes you smile, the new tech gadget, etc.) Our love for Him should run so deep that we can't help but give glory and honor to Him, and thank Him graciously.


I have truly fell in love with this prayer. I have two sons, ages 19 and 11, that I have started praying this prayer over them. I mean who wouldn't want these things for their children or loved ones? 


I hope you have enjoyed this series as much as I have. I have truly enjoyed reading your comments. I praying blessings to each of you in 2012. 


I love this song...turn up your volume and enjoy.

In His Word Wednesday: Colossian 1:9-12; Part 6

We often drop to our knees with a petition to God. A lot of the times it's just to roll our burdens upon God. There is much more to prayer than a passionate plea for God to intervene. Paul often spoke intriguing prayers. We find one of them in Colossians 1:9-12:

(9)For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
(10)that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
(11)strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long suffering with joy;
(12)giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

In this prayer, Paul covers 7 areas of our lives that needs a daily touch of God. Over the next several weeks, I will discuss each area on my Wednesday "In His Word" post.


Part 6 is found in verse 11, "strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power." Most of our lives are extremely busy, being filled with a multitude of task. It's very easy to lose strength, not just in physical body but in mind and soul. In these instances it is easy to stumble and fall. Ask God daily to strengthen you...and He will.

In His Word Wednesday: Colossian 1:9-12; Part 5

We often drop to our knees with a petition to God. A lot of the times it's just to roll our burdens upon God. There is much more to prayer than a passionate plea for God to intervene. Paul often spoke intriguing prayers. We find one of them in Colossians 1:9-12:

(9)For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
(10)that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
(11)strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long suffering with joy;
(12)giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

In this prayer, Paul covers 7 areas of our lives that needs a daily touch of God. Over the next several weeks, I will discuss each area on my Wednesday "In His Word" post.


If we look at the last part of verse 10, we can see the 5th part we should be praying daily. We should be asking for more knowledge from our awesome, all-knowing God. Paul is praying that we should be "increasing in the knowledge of God." Notice the last words "of God," the knowledge is specific. When we have more knowledge of God, His will for our lives becomes clear.


Watch the video below, remembering the reason for the season. Wishing each of you a wonderfully blessed Christmas. 

In His Word Wednesday: Colossians 1:9-12; Part 4

We often drop to our knees with a petition to God. A lot of the times it's just to roll our burdens upon God. There is much more to prayer than a passionate plea for God to intervene. Paul often spoke intriguing prayers. We find one of them in Colossians 1:9-12:

(9)For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
(10)that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
(11)strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long suffering with joy;
(12)giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

In this prayer, Paul covers 7 areas of our lives that needs a daily touch of God. Over the next several weeks, I will discuss each area on my Wednesday "In His Word" post.

The fourth part of our lives that we should be asking for God's daily touch is in the fruit we bear. We prove we are Jesus' disciples when we bear fruit. In verse 10, Paul prays "being fruitful in every good work." May we bear fruit that will honor and glorify our wonderful Savior.

In His Word Wednesday: Colossian 1:9-12; Part 3

We often drop to our knees with a petition to God. A lot of the times it's just to roll our burdens upon God. There is much more to prayer than a passionate plea for God to intervene. Paul often spoke intriguing prayers. We find one of them in Colossians 1:9-12:

(9)For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding;
(10)that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God;
(11)strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long suffering with joy;
(12)giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

In this prayer, Paul covers 7 areas of our lives that needs a daily touch of God. Over the next several weeks, I will discuss each area on my Wednesday "In His Word" post.

The third area of our lives that needs God's daily touch is in pleasing God. In verse 10, Paul talks about our walk being pleasing the our Lord. He encourages believers to live a life pleasing to God and to excel in their Christian walk. May we all please God in every aspect of our lives.

Click here for part 1.
Click here for part 2.

In His Word Wednesday: Colossian 1:9-12; Part 2

We often drop to our knees with a petition to God. A lot of the times it's just to roll our burdens upon God. There is much more to prayer than a passionate plea for God to intervene. Paul often spoke intriguing prayers. We find one of them in Colossians 1:9-12:

(9)For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be  filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 
(10)that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 
(11)strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long suffering with joy; 
(12)giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.

In this prayer, Paul covers 7 areas of our lives that needs a daily touch of God. Over the next several weeks, I will discuss each area on my Wednesday "In His Word" post.

The second area of our lives that needs God's daily touch is found in verse 10. Paul prayed "that we may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him." Jesus lived a blameless life, exactly what we should pursue. Our daily prayer should include guidance in our walk.

Click here for Part 1 of this lesson.

In His Word Wednesday: Colossian 1:9-12

We often drop to our knees with a petition to God. A lot of the times it's just to roll our burdens upon God. There is much more to prayer than a passionate plea for God to intervene. Paul often spoke intriguing prayers. We find one of them in Colossians 1:9-12:


(9)For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be  filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; 
(10)that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; 
(11)strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and long suffering with joy; (12)giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light.


In this prayer, Paul covers 7 areas of our lives that needs a daily touch of God. Over the next several weeks, I will discuss each area on my Wednesday "In His Word" post.


The first one we see in verse 9. Paul prayed that we may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. Ask God to fill you with the spiritual understanding you need as you walk in His will and study His Word.