Video - "Jesus Loves and Forgives"

When it comes to loving and forgiving others, what better teacher to show us "how-to" than Jesus? This animated lesson, though basic, demonstrates the merciful nature of Jesus in a simple, yet informative way. You may find the sources of this lesson in Matthew 26:31-35, John 18:15-27, and John 21:15-17.  ~Eve

Friday Faith Focus: Where To Lose, Means To Win!

"The blood of the cross is the amazing secret of understanding, spiritual change, and living a holy life."  - Anonymous

"Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds." (John 12:24)

Consider the abundance of truth in these words spoken by the One who said them! No one had ever spoken or lived like he had. Even so, his ministry didn't reap the benefits it should have.

Large, curious crowds hung on his every word, but they were mostly uncommitted listeners. When Jesus was eventually prosecuted, only a few to none supported him. Like the single "kernel of wheat," he was alone.

However, following Jesus' death, at Peter's sermon at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-41), roughly three thousand souls joined the Church. But, it didn't stop there. Something interesting happened!

During the days that followed, even "more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number" (Acts 5:14), making the Crucified Savior more effective than the living Jesus.

Clearly displayed to the followers of Jesus Christ, is the message of the necessity of sacrifice in order to succeed. One must voluntarily deny himself/herself in order to claim victory.

Keep in mind that, "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it" (Matthew 10:39). Those who grasp this law of the divine economy will be all the better for it.

Scripture: Romans 12:1; John 3:16; Luke 9:23; Galatians 2:20; Philippians 2:17

Prayer: Dear Jesus, may I never forget Your sacrifice for me; and in return, I gladly give my heart in faith and love to You, amen.

May your weekend be blessed!

Raelynn

Pride: The Grand Illusion

"All human force is nothing without God, worse than nothing against him." - Matthew Henry

It is quite clear that there is an obvious tendency for individuals to value themselves on account of their wisdom. I'm not talking about the occasional patting oneself on the back for a job well done. No, it goes much further and deeper than that.

We have seen, first hand, various forms of blatant and unashamed self- aggrandizement, where a man glories in his own wisdom, strength, or riches. Outright boastfulness and shaming seemingly know no boundaries.

Where does this come from? It doesn't take much investigation to find the source is our ancient antagonist: sinful pride. Time and time again we have seen the end result of the foolish belief that we can successfully master this adversary on our own.

There is no amount of wisdom, strength, or riches that will allow us to outwit, conspire against, or evade it. It is far more intelligent, infinitely stronger, and more profound in wealth of resources than we could ever dream.

Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches," we are warned in Jeremiah 9:23 (ESV). 

In essence, wisdom may fail when it is needed most; victory is not always to the strong; and riches or wealth can be taken or lost. These are finite objects and have no infinite value. 

Natural wisdom, strength, and riches are gifts from God and should be embraced and made use of to promote kindness, justice, and righteousness. These are what God delights in. The praise and glory of it all belongs to Him, and not ourselves.

Scripture: Proverbs 16:18; James 4:6; 1 John 2:16; Galatians 6:3; Obadiah 1:3

Prayer: Dear Lord, keep me humble, vigilant, and grounded in You so that I may not fall into the enticing trap of pride and conceit, amen.

Stay blessed,

Becky Lynn

The Unhumbled Heart Is Not Heard

"God hears no more than the heart speaks; and if the heart be dumb, God will certainly be deaf." -Thomas Brooks

"Why doesn't God answer me?" This is not an uncommon question. Some feel that even though they have satisfied certain religious practices, God has not noticed any of it.

We can sense that there's a definite problem here, but what could it be? Something is amiss between ourselves and God. Perhaps the trouble lies internally rather than externally.

This is discussed in verses 1-14 of Isaiah 58. Here, it revolves around Israel and hypocritical fasts. They were concerned that even their compliance with the Law brought no relief from troubles.

Israel, following the same flawed logic as some today. They thought that they would be alright with God if they just performed some rituals according to the Law (e.g., fasting, ceremonies).

However, know this! God will not be cheated by those who think that only things like external services of religion will bring acceptance from Him. Merely going through the motions of religion won't do!

Unhumbled hearts that perform "external" services of religion only serve to cheat God. Cheated out of what? We are cheated out the acceptance God has promised only to the sincere and obedient.

If we do these things, yet continue to sin and mock Him, in other words, without any inward reality of faith, they are worthless. The Lord points out Israel's confusion with rituals and relationship, outward acts and obedience in verses 3-14.

When God does not answer, we have no reason to lay the blame on Him. The blame lies squarely on us. If you're not hearing from God, the answer rests in your own heart.

Scripture: James 4:3; John 15:7; Hebrews 11:6; 2 Chronicles 7:14; Psalm 66:18

Prayer: “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation.”  -Isaiah 12:2

Blessings always,

Cyndy

Love for Others, and Not Oneself

During Paul's second missionary journey he visited Philippi. Shortly after, a church was formed there. He wrote the Book of Philippians while in bondage, around 61 or 62 A.D., to recognize them for their assistance.

While he was at it, Paul also took the opportunity to call attention to some of the problems in their church. One of the things he didn't like was the self-centeredness they were exhibiting.

Obviously, the problem of self-centeredness is nothing new. It was as evident in Paul's day as it is now. He saw that it posed problems for living the Christian life then, as it still does today.

When one is self-centered there's no room for Him in their life. "It's all about me" becomes the driving force in one's heart and thoughts. This is bad enough for anyone, but it is especially destructive to the Christian.

Paul was well aware of this. He knew that the only way to correct this way of thinking was to press them toward conforming to Jesus' example of humility and love, not of oneself, but of one another.

He talked about being "like-minded" or having the same love (Philippians 2:2). When we have the same love, we tend to be of the same mind, or on the same wavelength.

When a person is self-centered they are concerned only with their own desires, needs, or interests. It doesn't take much to see that this attitude can be problematic in our relationship with Jesus Christ.

This Christian love, or mutual love for others, is what Jesus taught (John 15:12). When we place ourselves first in line above Jesus Christ, we are crowding Him out of our our lives.

Jesus never once did this during His life and ministry here on earth. Even up to his death on the cross He was thinking of others, in love, over Himself (Luke 23:34; Luke 23:40-43).

There's no room for self-centeredness when your heart is filled with Christ. Follow His example all the days of your life. What a wonderful model of humility and love we have in the Lord Jesus!

Scripture: John 13:34; John 15:17; 1 John 3:11; 1 John 3:23; 2 John 1:5

Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, help me focus on Your example of love for others and not of oneself. Fill my heart to the brim with Your loving and compassion, that I may share it with the world, amen.

Stay blessed,

Kate

Video : "What Is Grace..?"

How would you answer the question, "What is grace?" We hear about it, talk about it, even read about it, but do we really know what God's grace is..? Compare your response to that of others' in this revealing "person on the street" video.   ~Eve

Don't Play the Blame Game!

 "If you don't do your part, don't blame God."  - Billy Sunday

We sometimes think problems which we deal with today are exclusive only to our time and age. Nothing could be further from the truth!

When the Jewish exiles returned to the land of Israel in 520 B.C, the temple still lay in ruins (Isaiah 63:18; Isaiah 64:8-12), but its rebuilding had been prophesied (Isaiah 56:6-8).

However, prior to the Exile, Israel had problems with idolatry (Isaiah 57:1-13), hypocrisy (Isaiah 58), inequity (Isaiah 59:1-8); and spiritual deadness (Isaiah 64:1-7).

And before the restored community would be admitted into the religious community, these issues needed to be addressed.

During their exile, the people grew frustrated with God because they felt that He wasn't listening to their prayers, or noticing that they were fasting. "What else did He want from them?" they wondered.

They felt that they were doing their part, but God was simply ignoring them. "Why weren't they saved from the hands of their captors?" 

Notice how they blamed God for their predicament. They prayed and fasted, but to no avail. Nothing changed. They were still being held by their enemies.

They had trouble seeing that God wasn't to blame for their sad situation. They were where they were because of their own fault and no one else's.

I refer back to the problems mentioned above: idolatry, hypocrisy, inequity, and spiritual deadness. Why..? All of them are sins!

God never stopped trying to help the people. It was their sin that held Him back (Psalm 5:4). They put up a big barricade that blocked God's mercy from coming through.

Sin can obstruct or impede God's mercies from reaching us, like a wall that separates us and Him. It makes us focus on worldly pleasures and reject God’s blessings.

Sin can anger Him so that He hides His face from us. It may also interfere with our prayers being able to reach God.

The more we mess with sin, the more trouble we make for ourselves and our relationship with Him.

We shouldn't expect God to put up with us while we continue sinning without remorse, should we?

When things don't go the way we feel they should, don't blame God. Sin is more than likely the culprit, and we need to deal with it before God can deal with us!

Scripture: Romans 3:23; Romans 2:1; Proverbs 19:3; Proverbs 19:3; Ecclesiastes 7:29

Prayer: Dear Lord, when sin seeks to overtake me, please hear my prayers for help. Only Your powerful strength can rescue me, amen.

Bless you always,

Brielle