Category Archives: Encouragement

GOD IS IN CONTROL IN DIRE TIMES

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Aprayerdiary.net

We see all forms of violence occurring throughout the world, and many pose the question – where is God? God is ever present, He is our sovereign Lord, but you must remember the evil one (Lucifer, was exiled and fell from heaven to earth and is the king of earth. He is the king of chaos, hate, pestilence, pandemics, war and all things that bring troubling times to us. We must remember that in these times God is still in control. When we look back in the annals of time, and in the Bible, these things occurred while Jesus walked the earth. It is this evilness that caused the very people that cried ‘Hosanna’ that became Palm Sunday that also yelled ‘crucify him’ prior to what became Easter. We live in a battle between good and evil. There are strongholds of evil, but there are prayers that can break those strongholds. There are prayers of protection, such as the 91st Psalm. Please read and memorize this scripture each morning and before bed. Let it become a habit and protect those around you.

We cry for normalcy, a return to what felt comfortable. Normalcy changes as the world changes. Only one thing remains the same – God is in control.

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Psalm 91 NLT –

“Those who live in the shelter of the Most High will find rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
This I declare about the Lord: He alone is my refuge, my place of safety; he is my God, and I trust him. For he will rescue you from every trap and protect you from deadly disease. He will cover you with his feathers. He will shelter you with his wings. His faithful promises are your armor and protection. Do not be afraid of the terrors of the night, nor the arrow that flies in the day. Do not dread the disease that stalks in darkness, nor the disaster that strikes at midday. Though a thousand fall at your side, though ten thousand are dying around you, these evils will not touch you. Just open your eyes, and see how the wicked are punished. If you make the Lord your refuge, if you make the Most High your shelter, no evil will conquer you; no plague will come near your home. For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go. They will hold you up with their hands so you won’t even hurt your foot on a stone. You will trample upon lions and cobras; you will crush fierce lions and serpents under your feet! The Lord says, “I will rescue those who love me. I will protect those who trust in my name. When they call on me, I will answer; I will be with them in trouble. I will rescue and honor them. I will reward them with a long life and give them my salvation.””
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭91:1-16‬ ‭NLT‬‬ (https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.91.1-16.NLT)

God is in Control

Lord God, I pray for Your protection as I begin this day. You are my hiding place, and under Your wings I can always find refuge. Protect me from trouble wherever I go, and keep evil far from me. Nov 3, 2019 Biblestudytools.com

gshow.wordpress.com/category/psalm-1830

List of Scriptures that show God is in Control:

Browse the full Bible verses below. https://www.womansday.com › life)

Everthinehome.com
bibleversestogo.com
spiritual crusade.blogspot.com
More scriptural strength

Prayers of Protection

15 Prayers for Protection That Will Keep You Safe At All Times – Woman’s Day

20 Powerful Prayers for Protection. Crosswalk.com, Feb. 20, 2020

Bible Verses About Protection. Christianity.com. https://www.christianity.com/bible/bible-verses-about-protection-41

Defenders

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Sometimes disasters break our Godlessness. ~ Lisa Blair

“A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭68:5‬ ‭NIV‬‬

While studying this scripture this morning and listening to the devotional, I immediately thought of the Polish people. They are defenders of the fatherless, and of widows. They are the bridge to the homeless seeking asylum. You see, the majority of the Ukrainians escaping the attack on their nation are fleeing to Poland.

The lion’s share have gone to Poland, where the number of refugees that have arrived – about 1.8 million – matches the population of the city of Warsaw, Poland’s capital and largest city. (The number of Ukrainians who’ve fled to Poland is equal to the population of Warsaw by Becky Sullivan. NPR. March 16, 20225:00 AM ET)

The Polish people, according to the newscast, have opened their arms. People are defending the homeless, the broken, and alienated victims of war caring for them as they would a family member. The Polish peoples’ actions are examples of God’s love for us. They are providing provisions in abundance, seeking to help those in need. They are sacrificing for those who have not.

This brings me to my quote, Sometimes disasters break our Godlessness. For those of us who live in America, many do not understand God’s love for each of us. We do not understand that His Holy Words are more than Words. We do not apply the convictions He rests on our souls as actions to be taken. We disregard the small voice and turn our eyes away from those suffering on the street. We feel helpless and hopeless in the land of plenty.

It is time we turn to God our sovereign leader and father. We the Godless should look at the Polish people as examples of doing God’s work, who are giving to others things that were once their own, extending an open heart and hand to those in need.

To be clear, we are not all Godless, but our actions reflect a sense of Godlessness. There are many in need in this country. We are often quick to give donations while avoiding those on the street, choosing to look away, condemn, and dismiss them as lazy people who choose not to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps. I say, what bootstraps? If they had bootstraps, they would not be on the street. Most are indigent in spirit, as well as physically and economically lacking. When you fall into the hole, you lose a sense of self and hope, finding yourself in a state of despair. If we acted more like the Polish towards the Ukrainians, our Nation would be made whole. The children of God will have stepped up and begun living and acting on God’s Word, becoming fathers to the fatherless and defenders of widows. (In this case, widows are all of those who are without resources and hope.)

To quote Mother Teresa- Not all of us can do great things. But we can do small things with great love. (Top 20 Most Inspiring Mother Teresa Quotes. Goalcast.com)

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Scripture – Bible.com

Holy with a lower case ’h’. We can attain holiness through our walk.

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There is a lower case ‘h’ – holy. We who have been reborn, Christians, learn to live in holiness.

~ Lisa Blair

When people hear the word holy, whether it be with a capital or lower case h, we think of something unattainable, something that dilutes the concept of fun and living a fun life, something beyond our reach. But holy, lower case, simply means the established relationship between our Holy God and his children. (Holy, Holiness. Biblestudytools.com) 

The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit. 1 Corinthians 2:14 NIV. biblegateway.com

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“So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves. The sinful nature wants to do evil, which is just the opposite of what the Spirit wants. And the Spirit gives us desires that are the opposite of what the sinful nature desires. These two forces are constantly fighting each other, so you are not free to carry out your good intentions.” Galatians 5:16-17 (https://bible.com/bible/116/gal.5.16-17.NLT)

As Paul writes in Galatians, these two forces are in contrast battle. They are the forces of good and evil. Our former carnal life is a life of sins, self indulgence and satisfaction. Our new self is that of love and looking for the good we can share with others. Once we are renewed, we acquire the characteristics of Christ. We begin to envelope them into our being, we become holy. We no longer absentmindedly hang out, drink until we are drunk, do drugs, curse, or other things of the flesh, Galatians 5:19-21); you begin to walk the line between sin and holiness leaning towards holiness. You begin to evolve. Once you receive Christ as your Lord and Savior you begin your walk with Him. You acknowledge the Holy Spirit nestled in you,  and you receive His guidance, you are led by the Holy Spirit. You put down the old and pick up the new. You become a new being. It is the Holy Spirit who nudges you, who whispers in your psyche, who causes you to feel uneasy or guilty for little things such as telling a lie to a friend or loved one, taking advantage of people, taking office supplies, to making an illegal u-turn, or more noteworthy sinful actions. You begin and develop a new life embedded in the fruit of the spirit.

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“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, and self-control; against such there is no law. Those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.” Galatians 5:22-26.    https://bible.com/bible/1171/gal.5.23-26.MEV)

As born again Christians, we already have been washed clean, but that is not the end. Once washed clean we must absorb the characteristics of Christ and become holy, set apart from our past, our carnal life.

Scriptures – being washed clean.

 “Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.”

Psalms 51:2 NLT (https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.51.2.NLT)

“But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.”

1 John 1:9 NLT (https://bible.com/bible/116/1jn.1.9.NLT)

“Purify me from my sins, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. Oh, give me back my joy again; you have broken me— now let me rejoice. Don’t keep looking at my sins. Remove the stain of my guilt. Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.”

Psalms 51:7-10 NLT (https://bible.com/bible/116/psa.51.7-10.NLT)

connectusfund.org

STOP EVALUATING PEOPLE FROM A HUMAN POINT OF VIEW

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If we are new people in Christ how can we degrade those who are not yet new creatures, and may never be because you slipped back into your old human nature.

~ Lisa Blair

Bible.com

“So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.” (2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:16-21‬ ‭NLT‬‬. https://bible.com/bible/116/2co.5.16-20.NLT)

We are God’s ambassadors. We were given this role when we became reconciled to Christ. We became new people, and our old human nature was washed away. So you say, how can my old man be relinquished and replaced. The moment you received Christ as your Lord and Savior you were washed clean and freed from sin, and you received freedom in Christ. In Paul’s letter to the Galatians he wrote, ”so Christ has truly set us free. (Galatians 5:1)

To explain to the title, we have an old nature and a new nature. We possess both because we are human. The beauty is, when we became new people in Christ, we could push down the old creature. Paul wrote in Galatians 5:13-14,

“For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.””
‭‭(Galatians‬ ‭5:13-14‬ ‭NLT‬‬. https://bible.com/bible/116/gal.5.13-14.NLT)

We no longer find it necessary to satisfy what our old nature craves. Again, Paul warns that our sinful nature wants to do evil. This part of us finds it easy to criticize others, to evaluate others, to belittle others. But when you are directed by the Spirit, you are no longer obliged to succumb to the whims of your sin nature. We possess new qualities, replacement qualities.

Galatians 5:22-26 first tells us what new qualities we possess. Paul informs us that our evil, sinful nature was nailed to the cross and crucified with Christ. He further wrote to the Galatians and us, stating that

“Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.”
‭‭(Galatians‬ ‭5:22, 24-26‬ ‭NLT‬‬. https://bible.com/bible/116/gal.5.22-26.NLT)

We are in a cultural melee that has pitted people against each other. Communities neighborhoods, states, regions, and nations are in a state of upheaval. People are acting out of their human, carnal, sin nature. We are evaluating and judging people rather that loving and respecting people. We focus on the human point of view that cares little about compassion, joy, love patience, peace, kindness, self-control, goodness, gentleness, or faithfulness. We are at a crossroads. Do we break away from our sin nature and follow Christ, or do we drown in the muck and mire of this earth? It is time that we open our eyes, recognize that we are not acting as if we were reconcile to Christ and chose a different path. It is time to stop evaluating people from a human point of view and begin loving our neighbor whoever they may be.

Another Day

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This is the day the Lord has made. Let us rejoice in it. We experience the day living one of two ways. READ THE POST.

~ Lisa Blair

We experience Life one two ways, and both ways are optional. You can either live life being pounded like the cement by the trappings of this world, or you can choose to live this life with Christ and rejoice in the day knowing we are not bound by the trappings of this world, we are simply passing through. With this context the world cannot destroy you. You will not fall into a depressive mood when hearing the news, you will not fall prey to culture canceling, you will not become a victim of others hatred toward you, why? Because this is the day the Lord has made. He created it for you. Because man has free will and the world is a sinful nature we will experience the things of this world. However, also as Christians, when we received Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior, we were no longer bound by eternal sin. If we do something that is outside of the Christlike nature, we can repent and ask for forgiveness, and then move on. God will separate from that which you are asking forgiveness as far as the east is from the west. This does not mean that you may not suffer the consequences of your acts and thoughts however it does mean as in the case of Paul, you can overcome them, you can withstand them, you can walk through them because the Lord is at your side.

Repeat to yourself as you go through your day, ”this is the day the Lord has made and I am rejoicing in it”. It will change your continence and the atmosphere around you.

Scriptures

He has removed our sins as far from us as the east is from the west. (Psalm 103:12 NLT)

“So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don’t get tied up again in slavery to the law.” (https://bible.com/bible/116/gal.5.1.NLT)

““Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. Through him everyone who believes is set free from every sin…”
‭‭(https://bible.com/bible/111/act.13.38-40.NIV)