Friday, February 20, 2009

…THROUGH FAITH IN HIM WE MAY APPROACH GOD WITH… CONFIDENCE.’ EPHESIANS 3:12 NIV Mind prayers

…THROUGH FAITH IN HIM WE MAY APPROACH GOD WITH… CONFIDENCE.’ EPHESIANS 3:12 NIV Mind prayers

Did you know that you can pray in your mind without having to speak a word out loud? All of us know the power of unspoken communication. Many of us grew up with parents who didn’t have to say a thing to make their will known. It may have been the way they cocked their heads, a certain look in their eyes or some other signal; but whatever it was, we knew exactly what was being communicated and how we were expected to respond. Our goal in prayer should be to maintain such a close relationship with God that we can communicate back and forth no matter what the situation, the time of day, or anything else. And we don’t have to shout, or use the right words in the right order, because our hearts are in tune with God’s heart. It’s like the story of the little boy who wanted a bicycle for Christmas. He was praying one night at the top of his voice, telling God the kind and colour of bike he wanted. His mother said, ‘Son, you don’t need to shout for God to hear you.’ He replied, ‘I know, mummy, but I need to shout if grandpa’s going to hear me and buy me that bike!’ The truth is, we don’t need to shout for God to hear us – and we don’t need to try and make our own answers to prayer happen either. Jesus said our Heavenly Father knows what we need before we ask. He gives to us because of our relationship with Him, not just because we say it at a decibel level loud enough to be heard!



Thursday, February 12, 2009

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daily motivation inspiration guide

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Prepared, planted, placed, pruned, prospered (2)

Prepared, planted, placed, pruned, prospered (2)

‘God planted a garden…there He put the man whom He had formed.’ Genesis 2:8 NKJV What does it mean to plant? To bury seeds beyond human view so that they germinate and eventually produce fruit. In God’s plan for your life, He’s planted blessings you experience over time. Just because you walk out into a field and don’t see a crop, doesn’t mean the seeds aren’t there; God has planted things in your life that will come to fruition at different times. It’s amazing that God would plant. Why would He go to such trouble when He could just speak a word and create it? Think of the love, the personal involvement of the Creator of the universe, as He stoops down and plants blessings to come up at different seasons in your life. Everything God has for you hasn’t come up yet, so you can’t give up, or walk away and say, ‘That’s all there is.’ No, God’s got some stuff planted that you haven’t seen or experienced. You’re still becoming what He planted. Knowing that reinforces your faith that it will happen. It also means God believes in you; even when you don’t believe in yourself. There are talents in you that haven’t been discovered and dreams that haven’t been fulfilled. That’s what the battle is about! The Devil is fighting you over your destiny. He knows what’s been planted in you and he’s trying to kill the seed. Don’t let him. You’re not the person you’ll be six months or six years from now, because there’s a time factor; everything doesn’t come to harvest at the same time. You have to have faith and patience, otherwise you’ll miss what God has for you.

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Let God transform you.’ Romans 12:2 GNT

Let God transform you.’ Romans 12:2 GNT

Change only takes place when you: (1) Decide to change. The Daily Mail newspaper once invited readers to answer the question, ‘What’s wrong with the world?’ G.K. Chesterton supposedly sent the following reply: ‘Dear Sir, I am.’ Face it, if you could kick the person responsible for most of your troubles, you wouldn’t be able to sit down for a week. Discipleship, the process of becoming like Christ, begins with a decision. Jesus calls to us, and we respond. ‘”Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Matthew got up and followed him’ (Matthew 9:9 NLT). And notice he took his pen with him! That’s all you need to get started: a decision! (2) Change the way you think. ‘Let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think’ (Romans 12:2 NLT). Change starts in your mind. The way you think determines the way you feel, and the way you feel influences the way you act. So wash your mind, feed your mind, and program your mind with God’s Word. (3) Take a small step every day. Most of us want overnight change. No, change comes slowly. To be successful we must start with small things and do them every day. St. Francis de Sales said, ‘Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections, but instantly start remedying them – every day begin the task anew.’ You say, ‘But I fall so far short.’ We all do. Don’t be discouraged: ‘God who began the good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task within you is finally finished’ (Philippians 1:6 TLB).



Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.’ Psalm 37:7

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.’ Psalm 37:7

The old saying, ‘You can’t always have what you want,’ isn’t necessarily true. When you ‘Delight yourself in the Lord…he will give you the desires of your heart’ (Psalm 37:4 NIV). But usually He makes you wait. Dennis Wholey says: ‘Waiting is an art….If you can wait two years, you can achieve something you couldn’t achieve today however hard you worked, however much money you threw at it, however many times you banged your head against the wall.’ There are things you can’t have today that you’ll be able to have in the future. So it doesn’t make sense to drive yourself crazy and put your life on hold struggling to accomplish something now, that’ll be easy when the time is right. James says, ‘Don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature’ (James 1:4 TM). God allows certain things to take place in our lives to teach us important principles like: (a) developing new skills and ways of thinking; (b) showing grace and controlling our responses; (c) maintaining our faith when times get tough. Paul writes: ‘Patience…[is…the power to endure whatever comes, with good temper]’ (Colossians 3:12 AMP); ‘Be glad for all God is planning.…Be patient in trouble, and prayerful always’ (Romans 12:12 TLB). When you spend time in God’s waiting room, He’s developing qualities in you that simply can’t be developed any other way. When He’s finished you’ll come out stronger and wiser. And you’ll have the maturity to handle what He has in mind for you. So don’t let the enemy rattle you or engineer circumstances that put you into overdrive. ‘Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him.’



Monday, February 2, 2009

I]…could never have made it apart from…mercy.’ 1 Timothy 1:15-17 TM

I]…could never have made it apart from…mercy.’ 1 Timothy 1:15-17 TM

If you’re finding it hard to forgive yourself for something you’ve done in the past, it may be that you’re reaping what you have sown. And it’s particularly hard (but not impossible) to keep from feeling bad when you’ve condemned somebody else for doing the same thing. Here’s a scriptural truth you need to understand, accept and live by: as long as you’re alive you will have to keep forgiving yourself and others! When guilt and condemnation tell you your sins are too big for God’s forgiveness, remember what Paul said: ‘Jesus…came…to save sinners. I’m proof – Public Sinner Number One …someone who could never have made it apart from sheer mercy…evidence of his endless patience.’ Before his conversion Paul persecuted the church, killing and torturing believers. It’s how he made his living! And if he could learn to forgive himself, you can too! In fact, when you don’t you’re implying that your transgressions are beyond the scope of God’s grace to forgive and Jesus’ blood to cleanse. And that’s a bigger sin – pride! Plus, when somebody always has ‘issues’ with other people, they may be looking for somebody to offend them; that way they can point out how bad the other person is and feel better about themselves. Pride and a judgmental attitude feed off each other the way humility feeds off forgiveness. God said, ‘I am the one who wipes out your transgressions for My own sake. And I will not remember your sins’ (Isaiah 43:25 NASB). When you adopt a humble attitude and work on forgiving yourself the way God has, it’s a lot easier to overlook other people’s mistakes. Give it a try; you’ll be amazed!