Scripture:
I Thessalonians 3:12 "May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and everyone else, just as ours does for you".
Observation:
Paul is writing to the Thessalonians and telling them how proud he is of them. He tells them how he has heard about their love for each other and their faith. He is like a proud daddy talking about his kids. He says how proud he is of them, but then goes on to ask God to increase them even more in it. He says, "May the Lord make your love increase and overflow". This is powerful stuff!
Application:
Love God and love others are the two commands that make up the greatest commands according to Jesus. God is love, therefore when we grow in God, we grow in love. It can also be said that if we grow in love, we grow in God. Love is the most god-like attribute we can exhibit to those around us. When we get ahold on this four letter word, our world will be turned upside down and the kingdom of God will grow exponentially. I want my love to increase and overflow more and more.
Prayer:
Father, help me love like you love. Teach me your ways. Show me how to love everyone better. I want to increase in this area because I believe it is the godliest attribute we can have. I want to be like my father who is love.
Yours,
Jeff
Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Friday, November 2, 2012
We Will Possess
Scripture:
Judges 11:24 "Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess".
Observation:
Jephthah was a mighty warrior. As he conquered the Amorites, they asked what right they had to take over the land. He told them that whatever their god gave them, they should be able to keep, but whatever the Lord God of Israel gave His people, they should be able to possess. His idea was, whichever god demonstrates in battle that he is stronger, should get the land. I love his determination in that, if God gave you something, you need to possess it.
Application:
Jesus died to give us so much more than what we act like we possess. I want to say with Jephthah, "whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess". We must possess peace, joy, and love! We must possess healing, deliverance, and walking in the power of the Spirit. We must possess the blessings of our God. He has given us so much, we need to possess everything He has paid such a high price to get us. We are partakers of the divine nature. We have access to God at any time. We must possess it!
Prayer:
Lord God Almighty, help me to possess what I profess. I want to live a remarkable life that shines forth for a remarkable God. You have given me so much, help me to use it properly and to possess everything Jesus died to give to me.
Your Son,
Jeff
Judges 11:24 "Will you not take what your god Chemosh gives you? Likewise, whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess".
Observation:
Jephthah was a mighty warrior. As he conquered the Amorites, they asked what right they had to take over the land. He told them that whatever their god gave them, they should be able to keep, but whatever the Lord God of Israel gave His people, they should be able to possess. His idea was, whichever god demonstrates in battle that he is stronger, should get the land. I love his determination in that, if God gave you something, you need to possess it.
Application:
Jesus died to give us so much more than what we act like we possess. I want to say with Jephthah, "whatever the Lord our God has given us, we will possess". We must possess peace, joy, and love! We must possess healing, deliverance, and walking in the power of the Spirit. We must possess the blessings of our God. He has given us so much, we need to possess everything He has paid such a high price to get us. We are partakers of the divine nature. We have access to God at any time. We must possess it!
Prayer:
Lord God Almighty, help me to possess what I profess. I want to live a remarkable life that shines forth for a remarkable God. You have given me so much, help me to use it properly and to possess everything Jesus died to give to me.
Your Son,
Jeff
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Exhausted, yet keeping up the pursuit
Scripture:
Judges 8:4 "Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the puruit, came to the Jordan and crossed it".
Observation:
Here I see Gideon and his warriors in puruit of their enemies. They have been in battle for a while and are exhausted, but it says here that they were "keeping up the pursuit". They continued to go after the enemy through their exhaustion and refused to quit or give up.
Application:
Sometimes in life there are battles that we face that exhaust us. Those who win those battles are those who refuse to run, but rather keep up the pursuit until the enemy is vanquished and victory comes. It is easy to run away when things get difficult. When you have given all you have and fought with all your might, sometimes you have to "keep up the pursuit". When God says you will have the victory, it will come if we don't faint.
Prayer:
Father God, You are worthy of all my praise! Thanks for speaking to me this morning. Help me to keep up the pursuit until the enemy is defeated. Give me strength to keep on fighting until we see You will accomplished. You are amazing. Thanks for refreshing me today.
Yours Forever,
Jeff
Judges 8:4 "Gideon and his three hundred men, exhausted yet keeping up the puruit, came to the Jordan and crossed it".
Observation:
Here I see Gideon and his warriors in puruit of their enemies. They have been in battle for a while and are exhausted, but it says here that they were "keeping up the pursuit". They continued to go after the enemy through their exhaustion and refused to quit or give up.
Application:
Sometimes in life there are battles that we face that exhaust us. Those who win those battles are those who refuse to run, but rather keep up the pursuit until the enemy is vanquished and victory comes. It is easy to run away when things get difficult. When you have given all you have and fought with all your might, sometimes you have to "keep up the pursuit". When God says you will have the victory, it will come if we don't faint.
Prayer:
Father God, You are worthy of all my praise! Thanks for speaking to me this morning. Help me to keep up the pursuit until the enemy is defeated. Give me strength to keep on fighting until we see You will accomplished. You are amazing. Thanks for refreshing me today.
Yours Forever,
Jeff
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Am I Not Sending You?
Scripture:
Judges 6:14 "The Lord turned to him and said, 'Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?'"
Observation:
Gideon heard from the Lord that he was to rescue Israel from the Midianites. He felt incapable, unpreprared and untrained for the task at hand. The angel of the Lord said to him, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel". The strength he had was nothing according to his own testimony, the but "Am I not sending you?'' makes all the difference in the world. If God is sending you, He will give you what you need for the battle.
Application:
Hearing from the Lord is so crucial in our lives. If we know He is sending us, we can have confidence, assurance, and strength because He is never defeated. If He sends you, you will have victory. When God sends, He gives that person everything they need to accomplish the mission. He knows what He is doing and if He sends, He will make it work out for His glory. When we can say that God has sent us, we have full assurance of victory no matter what the enemy throws at us.
Prayer:
Father, help me to remember that you have sent me. When I feel weak, help me remember that You sent me to establish and build Your kingdom in this region. You sent me here, now bring forth your victory in my life, my family, my church, and this region.
Yours,
Jeff
Judges 6:14 "The Lord turned to him and said, 'Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian's hand. Am I not sending you?'"
Observation:
Gideon heard from the Lord that he was to rescue Israel from the Midianites. He felt incapable, unpreprared and untrained for the task at hand. The angel of the Lord said to him, "Go in the strength you have and save Israel". The strength he had was nothing according to his own testimony, the but "Am I not sending you?'' makes all the difference in the world. If God is sending you, He will give you what you need for the battle.
Application:
Hearing from the Lord is so crucial in our lives. If we know He is sending us, we can have confidence, assurance, and strength because He is never defeated. If He sends you, you will have victory. When God sends, He gives that person everything they need to accomplish the mission. He knows what He is doing and if He sends, He will make it work out for His glory. When we can say that God has sent us, we have full assurance of victory no matter what the enemy throws at us.
Prayer:
Father, help me to remember that you have sent me. When I feel weak, help me remember that You sent me to establish and build Your kingdom in this region. You sent me here, now bring forth your victory in my life, my family, my church, and this region.
Yours,
Jeff
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Drive out the enemies
Scripture:
Joshua 17:12 "but the descendants of Manasseh were unable to occupy these towns. They could not drive out the Canaanites who continued to live there".
Observation:
The promised land that Joshua was allocating to the children of Israel was promised by God for them. It is a type of salvation for us people on the other side of the cross. God wanted His people to occupy all of this territory, but the people didn't think they could do what God was telling them to do so they settled for a partial territory with enemies that would torment them for many, many years. God wanted the enemies driven out of the land. When they were not driven out, they became a thorn in Israel's side.
Application:
Paul tells us to take off the old man and put on the new man. There are parts of the old nature we need to kick out of our lives. God has promised us the promise land of salvation, but we don't kick out some of the enemies in our lives and they become a thorn to us and we can never live in complete victory. God wants us to walk in victory. In order to do that, we need to take off the old man and put on the new. We can't allow things of the enemy to hang around our lives.
Prayer:
Father God, teach me to walk in victory every day and every minute of the day. I don't want any enemies hanging around in my life. Cleanse me, purge me, make me clean and help me to possess all that You have purchased for me. I want everything You died to give me. I want to walk in the fulness of Your blessing without measure.
Your Son,
Jeff
Joshua 17:12 "but the descendants of Manasseh were unable to occupy these towns. They could not drive out the Canaanites who continued to live there".
Observation:
The promised land that Joshua was allocating to the children of Israel was promised by God for them. It is a type of salvation for us people on the other side of the cross. God wanted His people to occupy all of this territory, but the people didn't think they could do what God was telling them to do so they settled for a partial territory with enemies that would torment them for many, many years. God wanted the enemies driven out of the land. When they were not driven out, they became a thorn in Israel's side.
Application:
Paul tells us to take off the old man and put on the new man. There are parts of the old nature we need to kick out of our lives. God has promised us the promise land of salvation, but we don't kick out some of the enemies in our lives and they become a thorn to us and we can never live in complete victory. God wants us to walk in victory. In order to do that, we need to take off the old man and put on the new. We can't allow things of the enemy to hang around our lives.
Prayer:
Father God, teach me to walk in victory every day and every minute of the day. I don't want any enemies hanging around in my life. Cleanse me, purge me, make me clean and help me to possess all that You have purchased for me. I want everything You died to give me. I want to walk in the fulness of Your blessing without measure.
Your Son,
Jeff
Monday, October 22, 2012
But They Did Not Consult The Lord
Scripture:
Joshua 9:14 "So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord."
Observation:
God had told Israel that when they got into the Promised Land, they were to destroy every city and people group that lived there. The people of Gibeon came to Joshua after a couple cities had been defeated by Israel asking for a peace treaty. They acted like they had come a long way and told Joshua they had traveled far to get there, but they were lying and were actually very close. God wanted Israel to be a Theocracy. He wanted to lead them, but in this case, they made decisions without consulting Him. This decision caused them problems from that day forward.
Application:
How many times in life we do what looks right without ever consulting with the Lord? God wants to be the center of our lives. He wants us to ask Him about the decisions we make. Many times we do what seems to be the right thing, only to find out that God could have saved us a world of hurt if we had only asked His opinion about the matter. God wants us to consult Him on everything in our lives. In this is great blessing, yet we don't do it because we think we know better than God how to handle the issues of life.
Prayer:
Father, help me be a man that seeks You for every decision in life. Help me not to function out of the knowledge of good and evil, but out of the tree of life. I want to "consult the Lord" on every area of my life. Help me to implement this better and forgive me for the many times I have acted without consulting You.
Your Son,
Jeff
Joshua 9:14 "So the Israelites examined their food, but they did not consult the Lord."
Observation:
God had told Israel that when they got into the Promised Land, they were to destroy every city and people group that lived there. The people of Gibeon came to Joshua after a couple cities had been defeated by Israel asking for a peace treaty. They acted like they had come a long way and told Joshua they had traveled far to get there, but they were lying and were actually very close. God wanted Israel to be a Theocracy. He wanted to lead them, but in this case, they made decisions without consulting Him. This decision caused them problems from that day forward.
Application:
How many times in life we do what looks right without ever consulting with the Lord? God wants to be the center of our lives. He wants us to ask Him about the decisions we make. Many times we do what seems to be the right thing, only to find out that God could have saved us a world of hurt if we had only asked His opinion about the matter. God wants us to consult Him on everything in our lives. In this is great blessing, yet we don't do it because we think we know better than God how to handle the issues of life.
Prayer:
Father, help me be a man that seeks You for every decision in life. Help me not to function out of the knowledge of good and evil, but out of the tree of life. I want to "consult the Lord" on every area of my life. Help me to implement this better and forgive me for the many times I have acted without consulting You.
Your Son,
Jeff
Thursday, October 18, 2012
Take an intetest in others
Scripture:
Philippians 2:4 "Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too."
Observation:
Paul was writing to the Philippian church where apparently there was some strife and division. He gives them some simple things to help promote unity in the body. One of them is found here in this verse. He tells them not to look out only for ther own interests, but to take an interest in others. Selfishness brings division and selflessness brings unity.
Application:
Bringing unity in the body happens when people begin to take an interest in others instead of only thinking about what is good for them. I must begin to do what others love to do instead of only doing what makes me feel good. This tells the people around me that what they like is important to me. When I give up what I like in order to make someone else happy, I am promoting unity and unity brings the blessing of God.
Prayer:
Lord, I want to do as Paul said, "as much as depends on you, be at peace with all men". I want to live a life that brings unity instead of division and that truly honors others and lifts them up and makes them feel important. Teach me to take an interest in others and learn what they are interested in.
Yours,
Jeff
Philippians 2:4 "Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too."
Observation:
Paul was writing to the Philippian church where apparently there was some strife and division. He gives them some simple things to help promote unity in the body. One of them is found here in this verse. He tells them not to look out only for ther own interests, but to take an interest in others. Selfishness brings division and selflessness brings unity.
Application:
Bringing unity in the body happens when people begin to take an interest in others instead of only thinking about what is good for them. I must begin to do what others love to do instead of only doing what makes me feel good. This tells the people around me that what they like is important to me. When I give up what I like in order to make someone else happy, I am promoting unity and unity brings the blessing of God.
Prayer:
Lord, I want to do as Paul said, "as much as depends on you, be at peace with all men". I want to live a life that brings unity instead of division and that truly honors others and lifts them up and makes them feel important. Teach me to take an interest in others and learn what they are interested in.
Yours,
Jeff
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