MONDAY
Are You Feeling Lonely?
Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you (1 Peter 5:7 NLT).
When you feel alone, troubled, sad, frustrated or depressed, just remember you are loved by the Creator of all things. Our Father in Heaven cares for you more than you can humanly understand.
Dear Lord, fill the emptiness of those that are feeling alone. Lead them to find Your presence in their lives. Amen.
TUESDAY
God's Promises
“If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me” (Jeremiah 29:13 NLT).
God doesn't hide His promises. He doesn't make them obscure or hard to figure out.
God's promises Himself. It's up to us to seek Him. We have to look for Him.
Dear God, forgive us for not seeking You in all things and at all times. Thank you for being there for us and never leaving us. Amen.
WEDNESDAY
Light vs Darkness
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:5-7 NLT).
It's our choice on whether we are going to live in the light of Christ or the darkness of Satan. What will we choose? So, if we say "light," are we prepared to stand strong and fight the temptations of this broken world?
Living in the light is so much better than my life in darkness. No, things don't always go well, but by having Jesus in your heart, life is sure easier to deal with.
Father, help us to stay in Your light. Help us to understand that many times it's a battle to stay in Your light, but if we remain vigilant and fight, the darkness cannot overcome Your light. Lord, give us strength and stamina to accomplish what You have called us to do. In Christ's name, Amen.
THURSDAY
Glorifying God
And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people (Colossians 3:17, 23 NLT).
We should always strive to glorify God in everything we do. Everything. If you work with your hands, do it to the best of your abilities. If you work on a computer do it the very best you can. We should strive as Christians to do our best in work and with our leisure.
Lord, thank You for coming into our lives and giving us the desire to be more like You each day. We ask today and every day that we might succeed in being more like you. Lord, we are broken, help us. In Your mighty name, we pray, Amen.
FRIDAY
Our Transformation
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect (Romans 12:2 NLT).
Our transformation into a new creature, after we ask Jesus into our hearts, is a process. Sometimes we move faster in our knowledge of Him, sometimes we are only moving at a snail's pace.
The point I'm making is that our transformation into a Kingdom child of God is a growing, learning, trusting, falling, stumbling process. Yes, we are made new when Christ comes into our hearts, but our carnal, worldly human side tries to cling to the worldly vises. We must learn to crawl before we can walk and walk before we run. It is a process.
Just remember, crawling with Christ is far better than running with the world.
Dear Lord, your will, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Amen.
SATURDAY
Key Words
Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, my Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal myself to each of them” (John 14:21 NLT).
Listen - Listen for God to speak.
Acceptance - Accept His commands and truth.
Obedience - Obey His instructions.
Follow - Follow His Word, as a road-map for life.
Consequences - Living outside of His truth brings consequences.
Revelation - He will reveal His plan at just the right time and place. You will also have a true revelation that you can't do this life without His help.
And the number one word is:
LOVE! - God accepts us just as we are, but loves us too much to leave us as we are.
Lord God, thank You and we praise You for Your love, mercy, and grace. Help us to come closer to You and learn to listen, accept, obey, follow, understand consequences, experience revelation and love You with all of our heart, mind, and soul. In Jesus' name and by the power of the Holy Spirit, we pray. Amen.
SUNDAY
Why Trials And Tribulations
We could be like Job and ask God "Why?" when we hit what feels like the "bottom."
“‘Why, then, did you deliver me from my mother’s womb? Why didn’t you let me die at birth? (Job 10:18 NLT).
Problems are going to happen. Even horrible life-changing incidents. But I ask you this question, Why not you?
Why do we think all things must go just as we want them to go? Just because we are Christians, do we think that things will be wonderful? On the contrary, we are promised trials and tribulations.
Paul says it well, "We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance" (Romans 5:3 NLT).
Paul says "when" not IF we run into trials. We are broken people in a broken world. Get ready for the wilderness and the valleys. They will come but our God will not leave us there. He will bring us THROUGH those hard times.
Father God, lead us through the dark valleys and carry us to the hilltops. We ask and pray in the mighty name of Jesus and by the power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Even when I walk through the darkest valley, I will not be afraid, for you are close beside me. Your rod and your staff protect and comfort me (Psalms 23:4 NLT).
