This song by Amy Grant has been running through my head a lot lately! It such a positive and comforting message. Hope it blesses you like it has been blessing me!
I need You Lord, in all I do
You’re always there to see me through
I can’t get by unless I lean on You, Lord
The Lord has a will and I have a need
To follow that will, to humbly be still
To rest in it, nest in it
Fully be blessed in it
Following my Father’s will
Your love Lord, is in my heart
You wrote it there, it won’t depart
It lights my way and keeps me out of the dark
The Lord has a will and I have a need
To follow that will, to humbly be still
To rest in it, nest in it
Fully be blessed in it
Following my Father’s will
I thank You Lord, Your word is sown into my life And there it’s grown, it’s roots go deep
Where living waters are known
The Lord has a will and I have a need
To follow that will, to humbly be still
To rest in it, nest in it
Fully be blessed in it
Following my Father’s will
The Lord has a will and I have a need
To follow that will, to humbly be still
To rest in it, nest in it
Fully be blessed in it
Following my Father’s will
To rest in it, nest in it
Fully be blessed in it
Following my Father’s will.
Have you ever struggled with regrets over opportunities missed? Sure you have. We all have. Hopefully these lines will provide some practical advice for making better choices the next time opportunity knocks.
According to Wiersbe’s Bible Exposition Commentary, “Our English word opportunity comes from the Latin and means “toward the port.” It suggests a ship taking advantage of the wind and tide to arrive safely in the harbor.
Many of life’s opportunities are as fleeting as favorable winds and tides. If we don’t seize the moment, the conditions change and opportunity passes us by.
This makes the Apostle Paul’s words in Ephesians 5:15-17 resonate with fresh meaning. Here the Holy Spirit guides Paul to write, “15Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, 16making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”
From these verses we observe that making the most of life’s opportunities involves:
Being careful about how we live by having an awareness and understanding of what is going on around us.
Being decisive about what we are doing and where we are going by keeping our goal of pleasing God and entering into His presence as our priority in life.
Being determined to avoid folly and follow after the ways of wisdom by honoring God first in our lives.
Being aware of the dangers that surround us by realizing that evil abounds in these desperate times.
Being knowledgeable of God’s will and choosing simply to trust and obey His good, pleasing and perfect will for our lives.
May God richly bless you as you seek to please Him!
I think that’s why the words of Proverbs 16:23-24 have been on my mind today. These verses read as follows:
A wise man’s heart guides his mouth,
and his lips promote instruction.
Pleasant words are a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and healing to the bones. (NIV)
Careless words tossed about without thinking can offend and injure. On the other hand, pleasant words can provide sweet sustenance for the soul and a cure for that which troubles us at our core.
With these verses in mind, three specific reflections come to mind:
All who desire to lavish pleasant words upon their neighbors should seek a heart of wisdom.
Mothers and fathers who want the voice playing in their children’s minds to be pleasant and positive should be sure their mouths are guided by a wisdom-filled heart.
Christians who wish for the words that roll across our lips to promote instruction should make sure the meditations of our hearts are acceptable to the Lord.
May God help each one of us fill our hearts with the wisdom that is from above!
What is prayer? Well, a simple answer is that prayer is “the language of faith.” Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:7-8 seem to suggest this. Here Jesus said:
7“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.8For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
With that in mind my hope is these lines will encourage us all to greater faithfulness in prayer.
The Gospels clearly portray Jesus’ faithfulness in prayer. He both modeled prayer (Luke 11:1) and taught a model for prayer (Matthew 6:9-15). Knowing the human tendencies of hypocrisy and feelings of self-sufficiency, he warned about proper attitudes in prayer (Matthew 6:5-8).
With respect to the practice of prayer, a little acrostic has helped me a lot through the years. I don’t have any idea who originated this. Thinking a praying in these categories has proved beneficial, when comes bringing balance and focus to my prayers. Many of you will recognize this as the “ACTS” of prayer:
Probably the most import thing for me to keep in mind is the fact that faithfulness in prayer is a very personal matter. Keeping my heart in tune with God remains the most important factor. It remains true that “…the earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results”(James 5:16, NLT). It is far more important to be a person of prayer than it is to be familiar with and follow a formulaic list of correct prayer-practices. A person of prayer is one who approaches God…
With a heart for obedience to God’s will- 1 John 3:22.
Someone has said that the power of prayer is in praying. I believe I understand and agree with the sentiment behind this statement. Only those who pray earnestly ever experience the awesome efficacy of prayer. However, the true power of prayer is wrapped up in the reality that God hears and answers our prayers. That really is incredible, isn’t it? The Creator of the Cosmos, the Sustainer of all that exists, hears and answers our prayers. This is the ultimate encouragement to faithfulness in prayer. We can have complete confidence in this reality. To help us keep this in perspective we must remember the following:
Sometimes God chooses to delay His answer, Luke 18:1-7.
Hopefully, this little article will encourage you to greater faithfulness in prayers. Remember, seven days without prayers makes one weak! Believe and you will receive. Doubt and do without.
Now reflect on the Spirit-breathed words of Philippians 2:6-11…
6 Though he was God,
he did not think of equality with God
as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges;
he took the humble position of a slave
and was born as a human being.
When he appeared in human form, 8 he humbled himself in obedience to God
and died a criminal’s death on a cross.
9 Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor
and gave him the name above all other names, 10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. (NIV)
Ephesians 2:10 reads: “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Three observations help us to see how these few words encompass the breadth of Christianity.
First, we are God’s! We are His workmanship. The original language here is quite expressive. It’s not as though we are simply another day’s run on the assembly line. Instead, we are God’s “poiema,” which signifies something made as by a master craftsman. We are, literally speaking, God’s poetry in motion!
Second, we are created in Christ Jesus for a purpose! As the master craftsman makes yoke for the oxen that lightens the burden; as the artistic master paints a scene that sooths troubled hearts; as a master wordsmith crafts a poem that encourages the fainthearted, we too have crafted by God through Christ Jesus for the purpose of glorifying God as we do good works.
Third, we are part of God’s eternal plan to save and bless the world through Jesus! Just as Jesus Christ’s mission and ministry was conceived in the mind of God before times eternal, so also is the mission and ministry of His followers. This is by God’s design. Thus, we must all recognize the significance of every good thing we do in service to God. Not even a cup of cold water given in His name goes unnoticed.
Dear Christian reader please remember:
We are God’s!
We are created in Christ Jesus for a purpose!
We are part of God’s eternal plan to save the world and bless the world through Jesus!
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This song by Amy Grant has been running through my head a lot lately! It such a positive and comforting message. Hope it blesses you like it has been blessing me! I need You Lord, in all I do You’re always there to see me through I can’t get by unless I lean on You, Lord The Lord has [...] […]
Have you ever struggled with regrets over opportunities missed? Sure you have. We all have. Hopefully these lines will provide some practical advice for making better choices the next time opportunity knocks. According to Wiersbe’s Bible Exposition Commentary, “Our English word opportunity comes from the Latin and means “toward the port.” It suggests a ship […]
Careless words tossed about without thinking can offend and injure. On the other hand, pleasant words can provide sweet sustenance for the soul and a cure for that which troubles us at our core. […]
Hopefully, this little article will encourage you to greater faithfulness in prayers. Remember, seven days without prayers makes one weak! Believe and you will receive. Doubt and do without. […]
Check out Tamara Lowe’s “Amazing Grace” rhyme: Now reflect on the Spirit-breathed words of Philippians 2:6-11… 6 Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. 7 Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he [...] […]
Ephesians 2:10 reads: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Three observations help us to see how these few words encompass the breadth of Christianity. […]
I recently attended a reception held to honor my wife’s ninety-year-old uncle. It reminded me that I’d written this a little over a decade ago after spending some quality time with him. I think it remains apropos. It was a special treat that I will long cherish. Nine holes of golf with Telesa’s uncle, Ewell Booker. [...] […]
I’m pleading with you, brothers and sisters, to completely surrender your lives to God. This is your logical act of worship, that which is made reasonable in view of the fact you are benefactors of the manifold mercies of God, is this: spiritual homage expressed through sacrificial service first to God and then to others. […]
Reflecting on this situation has reminded why it matters so much to God that people tell the truth. It is the epitome of tragedy when we humans, the pinnacle of God’s creation, those who bear His image, choose to traffic in lies. Simply put, God does not want us to give false testimony (Deuteronomy 5:20). […]
A few words spoken by Jesus have been on my mind lately. They are recorded in Matthew 5:38-48. (Click this link and you can read them in the three versions: TNIV, NIV and KJV.) As I’ve reflected on these verses, Eugene Peterson’s rendering has proven to be most helpful: 38-42“Here’s another old saying that deserves a second [...] […]
What is prayer? Well, a simple answer is that prayer is “the language of faith.” Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:7-8 seem to suggest this. Here Jesus said:
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Everyone"s Guide to Hebrews")
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