Chosen in Christ

“According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:” Ephesians 1:4

What a wonderful thought…. We are chosen by God! 

He chose us in Christ (He actually selected us for Himself and treats us as His own). The Bible says that even before the foundation of the world, God chose us – so we would be holy, set apart for Him and purpose-driven. 

Let that sink in, God has selected you as His own. He has hand-picked you to be His own. You are so special to God – even much more than you can comprehend, because even before the foundation of the world, God had you in mind and had a plan for your life that only you can perform and accomplish.

So today, just take a moment and stop for a moment and think about who you are and thank God for His infinite love!


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Faith in the Unseen

“…Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen….” – Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)

We read in God’s word that we are to live by faith, not by sight. We “believe” even though we haven’t seen any tangible (real) evidence. In some situations that we may find ourselves in, faith may come very easily to us. Other times it may not be easy at all! There are times that circumstances overwhelm us – like it did when Peter walked on water. If we are truthful, there has probably been times in our lives where we were confident, and this brought a sense of peace within. But no doubt, there are other times that it seemed beyond our scope (our range) of faith.

I believe when our faith is stretched, as a result, we see ourselves grow towards maturity. It can be so hard at times, but we will see that the more we place full trust in Jesus, He will bring us through whatever situation we may find ourselves in.

Whatever you are facing today, keep trusting and believing and God will bring you through it!!


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A Clear Direction

“…23The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. 24Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the LORD upholdeth him with his hand….” – Psalm 37: 23-24 

Our every step is directed and established by the Lord.

If clear vision and direction from the Lord is what you are wanting and seeking after, then ask God to give it to you. He will direct and establish us in the way He wants us to go. Though you may fall and stumble at times—it’s not the end. Don’t give up. God won’t throw you away, but He will grab hold of you and upholds you. Just when it seems like we are in over our head and we feel as though we are going under, He comes walking out on the waves and into the wind to help us and pull us up—He will not let us drown in the storm.

Let the Lord direct your steps today and throughout the remainder of the year. He will never lead you astray, He never has! And He won’t start today.


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He’s So Gracious

“…The Lord is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy….” – Psalm 145:8 

 

Our God is a gracious God! Say Amen! His mercies, His love, His kindness are new every day and the good news is, He will not run out.

No matter how much we can be hard to deal with at times to Him, and no matter how much we stumble and fall in our walk, He is there with “grace”. Oh, how I love that word, “grace” He is there with compassion and mercy. I’m so glad today that God doesn’t blow up in anger towards us. The Bible says that He is slow to anger. And I believe it is because God understands how we feel and sees our hearts desire is to be like Christ – though we may fail many times. He knows that we’re not perfect, but that’s where His grace comes in. His grace forgives, restores, heals and loves us no matter our faults and failures.

My prayer for you today is that you really get a glimpse of God’s grace, and to know that He loves you.


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Welcome to the Family

“Having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will.” Ephesians 1:5 

The moment we gave our hearts and lives to Jesus and received His forgiveness and cleansing for the sins in our lives, we became a son/daughter of the God of Heaven. He no longer sees you or I as “sinners”, but sees us as one of His own children.

He had planned and predestined us to be His children through our faith in Jesus Christ. This was His will for our lives.

It was God’s will for us to be His children. It’s so important for us to see ourselves as children of God, but so often we stay trapped as a prisoner of our past, seeing ourselves as “sinners”.  But the Bible teaches God’s unconditional love for us, in while we were yet sinners, He sent His only son as a sacrifice to pay the sin debt we couldn’t pay ourselves and adopted us into His family as His sons and daughters. If you never grasp anything else, understand the wonderful truth of who you are. YOU ARE a child of the most high God!!

Just take a moment today and reflect on just what it means  being a child of God and give Him the thanks He deserves for making it possible.


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You’re Not a Failure

“And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.. – Genesis 1:26-27 (KJV)

Psalm 37:23-24 tells us, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way. Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.”

You are not a failure or useless.

You are created in the image of God, so you are not a failure or useless. Yes, from time to time we may make mistakes and have moments of failure (especially when we’re learning something new), but this doesn’t make us “failures”. It just means that we are learning and growing. It’s the same concept as when a baby is learning to walk, there will be times of stumbling and falling. But does that make the baby a failure? No! That baby is just learning and growing—and every day he or she gets better, because no baby ever gives up thinking they will never master the act of walking. Neither should we!

God doesn’t make failures and He does not and will not ever, see you that way. In fact, God would rather you try and make mistakes than never try at all. God sees your created value and we must learn to see ourselves the same way!

Take just a moment to thank God for being such a loving God and Father who is helping you grow into the person He has always meant you to be.


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Don’t Lose Your Fire

“…Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the LORD…                 – Romans 12:11 

Fervent? What exactly dies that word mean? By definition, “…having or displaying a passionate intensity.”

As we serve the Lord in whatever He has given us to do, we need to have and keep a passionate intensity for the Lord! It’s this “passion” that keeps us going when everything seems overwhelming and our work for the Lord sometimes seems “fruitless”. There are many times when we are serving the Lord, when we feel as if we’re giving it our all and it feels as though we’re not making much progress or seeing any results of that work and we can get downright discouraged.

There have been many times like these in my own life. I felt there wasn’t much “fruit” being produced in what I was doing for the Lord and His church. I wanted to be moving forward and doing more. Sometimes I felt I wasn’t making much difference. But the passion and drive I had within me, kept me going. We need to keep pressing on, no matter how frustrating it seems. Keep your passion burning as you serve the Lord.


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Our God is Gracious

“…The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy….” – Psalm 145:8 

The God we serve is a gracious God. His mercies are new every morning, and here’s the good news…. He’ll never run out!!!

No matter how much we stumble and fall in our walk with Him, He is there with “grace”. I’m so thankful for grace, God’s unmerited favor in our lives. He is there with mercy, He’s there with compassion. He is there with “loving-kindness”. He doesn’t blow up in anger like so many do nor does He just fly off the handle in an uncontrollable rage. He is slow to anger. He understands how we feel and can see that our hearts desire is to become more like Christ even though we fail a lot of times in our trying. He knows that while we are in this flesh of ours, we are not perfect, but that’s where His grace comes into play. His grace forgives, restores, heals and loves.

So today, really get a glimpse of God’s grace! It’s Amazing!!


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Voice of Truth

“For the word of God is quick, andpowerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.”- Hebrews 4:12 

I was listening to songs on my phone when I heard the song, “The Voice of Truth” by Casting Crowns and I really started thinking about the power and awesomeness (hope that’s a word) of the Word of God. Nothing compares to it. It is Active, Energizing and VERY Effective.

The work that the Word of God does is like no other. There is something about God’s Word that reaches deep into our hearts and into our spirit and exposes what needs exposing. God’s Word brings into alignment our thoughts with His thoughts, our actions and our plans – with His absolute truth.

Whatever we have inside of us that is contrary to the Word of Truth, will be exposed so we can make the necessary changes. Sometimes this can be a painful experience for us if it’s a past hurt or a painful memory we had buried deep within us. So many times that we don’t want to revisit the past, because when we do, it brings us so much pain.

God’s Word can bring healing, restoration, comfort and hope. It helps to build up our faith to be able to stand firm in all situations. We need to allow God’s word to do a full work within us and help align our lives with God’s truth.

The world disguises lies as truth, but God’s Word will forever stand and expose it for what it is. Don’t get caught up in what the world says but compare it with what God’s Word of Truth says.


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Quiet Time With Him

“…Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. 2And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him; and he sat down, and taught them….” – John 8:1-2

This scripture shows us that even Jesus needed to find a quiet place every once in awhile. And so do we. It would be ideal to be able to do this daily to recharge our batteries, because we all need time alone with God. It’s in those still, quiet moments that we can hear Him as God speaks to us. So often we find our lives can be so hectic, busy and sometimes even chaotic and our quiet time gets placed on a shelf like a dusty old book and is forgotten. It’s time that we pull it off the shelf and spend some quality time with the Lord. And use that time just to stop and reflect and talk with God and listen as He comforts us, encourages us and guides us.

You’ll find in doing so, that God can do some amazing things in your life and speak to you, as you are quiet before Him and listening.

Oftentimes, our quiet times is rushed, and we spend very little time spent just listening. Why is it that we are so rushed? Why is it that we tend to live our lives in the fast lane? I believe we need to “slow down” and take time out of each day to spend time alone with Jesus and take life at a slower pace.

Find a quiet place to spend some time with God today, you never know what He has for you.


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