Doing my best with what I have by AD

Exodus 20:17
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”

How do you feel about your life? Do you like it, love it, enjoy it or do you hate it and wish you had someone else’s life? Do you look at other people and their lives and wish you had a different one than you have?

In the Bible wanting what others have is called coveting and it is a sin in Gods eyes, its even part of the Ten Commandments. No one has a perfect life but the life we do have God calls us to be content with and do our best. Being content isn’t a feeling but a decision. Contentment doesn’t mean that we can be happy with where we are and never want it to change but it does mean that we can be happy where we are and will do our best with what we have. It also helps us maintain an attitude that allows us to enjoy the season of life we are in.

God will never withhold something that He knows is good for you, we just have to be happy and do our best no matter what situation we are in.

We're not built for guily by AD

Romans 6:6-10

For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,^[a] that we should no longer be slaves to sin— ⁷ because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

⁸ Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. ⁹ For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. ¹⁰ The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

Most times sin leads us to feeling guilty. And guilt makes us miserable and weigh down heavy on us. God never intended His children to be loaded down with guilt. That’s why He sent Jesus to redeem us from guilt. He bore and paid for our iniquities and the guilt they cause. As believers  in Jesus Christ we have been set free from the power of sin. That doesn’t mean we will never sin but it does mean that when we do, we can admit it, receive forgiveness and be free from guilt.

 

Our future has no room for our past. How much time do you waste feeling guilty?

 

It's important to think about this because spending time dwelling on past mistakes is something God has told us not to do.  The good news is Jesus came for those who are sick(imperfect), trust God that when you confess your sins He forgives you and sets you free from the power of sin, walk in that truth daily.

Sweet Lies by AD

Genesis 3:1-7

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

⁶ When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. ⁷ Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.

From the beginning of time we have been attracted to things that look desirable to our eyes and desirable to our senses.  An example is Eve, the serpent approached her using her visual senses and lied to her so she may believe that the forbidden fruit is sweet and will give her good benefits. But it was a sweet lie. She accepted that lie because it spoke to her senses and emotions and ultimately she disobeyed God and lost everything.

The enemy will use the things that interest us, to do lead us into sin.  Even if the object of our interest isn’t sin, he can lead us into total obsession or dependence where we end up spending our time, mindshare and effort in that area, leaving us to ignore God.

But God doesn’t forsake us, He was there for Eve when she sinned and He is there for us today through His Son Jesus-Christ who is faithful and just to forgive us from our sins, all we need to do is confess and repent.

 

 

Desires by AD

Psalm 42: 1-2
As the deer pants for streams of water,
    so my soul pants for you, my God.
² My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
    When can I go and meet with God?

Each of us are created with a innate desire to find our creator and love Him. Often times we try fulfill this part of us by searching for things with only a temporary fulfillment.  Things like, food, clothes, money, school, work, friends, relationships. But in all these things our heart is not 100% satisfied, which leads to search further.

The above verse uses the deer as an example to illustrate our souls  desire to long  for God.  When a deer is running through the forest and it is hot or humid and is being hunted, it begins to want and need water.  And when it finds water it begins to gulp it down until satisfied.

Often times my heart longs for other things and I begin to feel distant from God. That is when I turn to the Bible and read this verse and make it my prayer. I ask God to increase my desire for Him or if I desire Him I pray for more of His presence. No  matter where you are in your spiritual walk this verse applies.

Take a moment to reflect in this verse and pray for God to put inside of you a desire to long after Him or increase the desire that you do have for Him.

 

Be truthful- Billy Graham

The Bible teaches that purity of conduct includes truthfulness. The Bible teaches that we should be truthful in our representation of ourselves. With what scorn Christ denounced the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees! In the Sermon on the Mount He rebuked all hypocritical giving, praying, and fasting. We should also be truthful in speaking of our past achievements in our particular vocation. God does not ask us to understate the facts—that might even be untruthfulness—but neither does He want us to overrate our achievements or our gifts, either in thought or in speech. A lie is anything contrary to the naked truth.

Daily Prayer

It is so easy, Lord, to embellish the truth. Give me Your wisdom to be completely honest in every phase of my life.

A Daily Process: Billy Graham

He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
–Philippians 1:6

Being a Christian is more than just an instantaneous conversion. It is a daily process whereby you grow to be more and more like Christ. When you start out, you start out as a baby. You must be fed on the simple things of the Bible, and you learn to walk in your Christian life gradually. At first you will fall down and make many mistakes, but you are to continue growing. However, there are many people who have stopped growing. They remain spiritual babies all their lives. I am afraid that this experience is all too common today. Perhaps it is yours.

Do you remember the day when you gave your heart and life to Christ? You were sure of victory. How easy it seemed to be more than conqueror through Christ who loved you. Thousands of Christians have struggles with themselves. The great need in Christendom today is for Christians to learn the secret of daily victory over sin.

PRAYER FOR THE DAY

Father, I fall so many times but how lovingly You give me Your strength to endure.

Waiting doesn't come easy by Max Lucado

Waiting is easier said than done! Waiting doesn’t come easy for me. I’ve been in a hurry all my life. Pedal faster, drive quicker. I used to wear my wristwatch on the inside of my arm so I wouldn’t lose the millisecond it took to turn my wrist.  What insanity!

I wonder if I could’ve obeyed God’s ancient command to keep the Sabbath holy.  To slow life to a crawl for twenty-four hours? The Sabbath was created for frantic souls like me; people who need this weekly reminder: the world will not stop if you do! Isaiah 40:31 promises, “Those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

Fresh strength. Legs that don’t grow weary. Wait on the Lord—He will bring rest to your soul!