Tag Archives: Faith

Thank God For Daily Mercies

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Good Morning,

Thank God, His mercies are renewed everyday. Our actions are covered everyday. We do not have to worry about them piling up and being buried by them. We can repent of the day and know we are forgiven. Keep having good thoughts, and doing positive deeds, and for those moments when thoughts or actions don’t align with Christ, repent, ask for immediate forgiveness.

God’s compassion never fails. Today’s mercies cover this day, and faith that tomorrow’s unseen mercies will be sufficient for that day. Do not carry woes, anxieties, and concerns into the upcoming day. Release them, give them to God through repentance and begin each day believing in new mercies.

In faith we are strong.

Two passages of scripture sum up how God frees us.

  • Lamentation 3:22-23

“Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassion’s  fail not. They are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.”
Lamentations 3:22-23‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

  • Matthew 6:34

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.”
Matthew‬ ‭6:34‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

Think about these passages as you go through your day. Before I retired I often thought of and recited them to myself, it is freeing and a reminder that God is ever-present, and covers us each and every day. Oh, and yes, I still recite them to myself and will as long as I am alive.

Worried and Troubled About Many Things

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“And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.”
‭‭Luke‬ ‭10:41‬ ‭NKJV‬‬

How many of us stay busy because we believe it means we are doing the Lord’s work? I can raise my hand, guilty as charged. Luke 10 is about two sisters, Martha and  Mary. The two women learned that Jesus was going to visit their home. This immediately set an expectation that they had to ready the house, at least that is what Martha thought. On the other hand, Mary thought – what an opportunity. When he arrived, she perched herself at Jesus’ foot breathing in His every word, loving the feeling of his presence. Depending upon where we are in life, we will become a Martha or Mary. But, the Lord is not asking us to prepare things for or around him. The Lord does not want us to worry, or fret over the issues that surround us. He wants us to still ourselves, feel his love, and spend time in His Holy Presence.

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Like Martha we become distracted. We lose sight of the purpose, our dependence upon the Lord, and our desire to listen to Him, learn the practicality of the Word and then share the Good News. But, we are not wholly Martha, we also embrace the wonderment of Mary, waiting to serve, listen and learn.

We are told in John 15, the Lord is the true vine and God is the vinedresser. The vine cannot bear fruit by itself. In other words, we cannot bear fruit by ourselves. Without sitting at the Lords’ feet, we will wither. We need to be still and listen, and not become distracted by the things around us. The scripture reads, “He who abides in Me, and I in him bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” The Holy Spirit must dwell in us. It is His blood that flows through our veins, our heart, and our soul. The scripture further shares, “If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered. Mary scurried about during the visit reading the house, preparing a meal, and doing all of the ceremonial things. Her sister Mary wanted more of Jesus. She wanted to breathe Him in, be a student of his Word and spend as much time as possible with Him; food was not important, a clean home was not important, spending time at the foot of our Lord was all that mattered. She knew she would be stronger for it, that sharing her story about what she learned that day with others would bear fruit.

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When we feel the urge to become busy rather than sit still, it is more than a tick, it is a red alert.

Mary and Martha clearly loved Christ; we can gain more from this story, we can look at this in the scope of Spiritual Warfare. When we feel the Mary-Martha tug, we should acknowledge that it is often the devil trying to distract us and delay us from spending time with the Lord. His purpose is to kill, steal,  and destroy. He wants to kill our relationship with the Lord, steal our time with the Lord and destroy our hope to reach heaven.

Like so many, I try to stay alert. I know spending time with the Lord every day is imperative, yet there are times when I become enveloped in the stuff around me. But as the scripture says, only one thing is needed, not the fluff and circumstance, only one thing, to spend quality time with the Lord.

In the end, we must ask ourselves when we are falling into oblivion, who do we belong to, where do we reside?  Do we respond to Jesus’ invitation like Martha or like Mary? Will we wither or bear fruit?

ReBlog –  https://wp.me/p98Coa-vy  copy and paste on your site.
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Images – Google Images

Scriptures – YouVersion.Bible.com

References/Resources – Finding Rest In a Busy World Devotional, Bible.com. Study – http://www.susannarjala.com

Thank you for visiting my Young Christian Warriors site and dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com, at the moment there is some duplication. I am working on merging the two to create one great site. Please bear with me through this process.

Romans 8:9 – The Holy Spirit Lives In Us

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God is a Triune God. He is the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. When we received Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we were forgiven of our sins and received the Holy Spirit in our being. He dwells in us. As the scripture states, the Spirit we received brought about our adoption to sonship.

For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. The Spirit you received does not make you slaves so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him, we cry,“Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:14-16

This means that we, carnal man, by the power of Divine grace has been made subject to Gods law, but as humans, we must always strive to control our sin nature. We must question our actions, listen to the Spirit (the quiet voice) when we are preparing to stray and develop a heart for carrying out the Word in our daily lives.

The Holy Spirit is our pathfinder, our guide, and our teacher. If we pay attention to His urgings we will avoid many of the pitfalls the devil lays before us, attempting to divert our walk, and undermine our ability to fulfill our destiny.

Just as we abide by our parent’s rules, it is even more important to abide by the Word of God. First God, then family, and all else follows. In short, if we abide in His Word we are on the path to spiritual maturity.

If we fail, falter, or sin in any manner, i.e., ignore the Holy Spirit who dwells in us we can repent, and God will forgive us, giving us another opportunity to suppress our sin nature, regain our footing and continue to walk down the path to spiritual maturity.

Praise our God, the Holy Spirit dwells in us, and our God is a God of countless chances.

This coming Monday is Labor Day in the USA, a long weekend for those who work. I hope everyone, here and abroad has a safe, wonderful weekend.

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Photo by Burst on Pexels.com

Images – Google Images; Burst, Pexels.com

Scripture – Biblegateway.com

Resource/References – Biblestudytool.com, Romans 8

Thank you for visiting my Young Christian Warriors site and dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com, at the moment there is some duplication. I am working on merging the two to create one great site. Please bear with me through this process.

Looking Back – Satan’s Web of Deception, Self Abuse

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I am currently studying a five-day Devotional entitled, Don’t Look Back, day four to be exact. Last week I shared an earlier devotional on the same subject. You’ll recognize the red title if you look it up.

Today, the lesson is focusing on how looking back feeds the flesh. Looking back is a form of self-abuse in itself, but it also causes you to return to your past. The reason we look back is because we find comfort in our experiences. God instructed Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. Once out, they no longer had the comfort of food or shelter. These creature comforts were important to them and somewhat balanced the harsh abuse they experienced as slaves.

When you look back do you look for the comforts often derived from a negative experience? Did your spouse, partner or parent mistreat you and then lavish you with gifts? Did people befriend you to gain what you have? Where you punished and then fed well to offset the punishment? Did your boss promise you the raise and then give it to someone else, and placate you? These are all past experiences that people choose to recall because, despite, the abuse – they were familiar, and oddly enough safe memories of experiences past.

The Israelites blamed Moses for the discomfort they were experiencing in the wilderness. In Exodus 17:3 NLT, they cried, “Why did you bring us out of Egypt? Are you trying to kill us, our children, and our livestock with thirst.”

They had little food during the wilderness period and complained about the good things they had in Egypt, such as good and shelter. They cried, “We remember the fish we used to eat for free in Egypt. And we had all the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic we wanted. But now our appetites are gone. All we ever see is this manna!” (Numbers 11:5-6 NLT.)

The crux of this story is that their comfort was attached to the abuse they received as slaves. Your story may not be fraught with physical or emotional abuse, but looking back instead of forward is abuse in itself. As I shared in the earlier Post, you cannot look in the rearview mirror and focus on what is behind you, and expect to move forward and avoid potholes at the same time. There are many scriptures in The Bible where God instructs us to have faith and look ahead. One of the most notable is Lots’ wife’s experience. The angels instructed them to leave Sodom, and leave their belongings behind, and God would spare their lives. They were also instructed not to look back at the destruction cast down on the city. Lots’ wife defied God’s command, looked back anyway and was transformed into a pillar of salt.

When we experience life’s challenges we can do one of two things, operate in the natural or choose to follow the Lords instructions. It is safe to say that most of us have not learned from the experiences God has shared about looking back. We still seek the (dis)comfort of our past because we find relief in those experiences. God continues to impress that while the transition may be difficult, the unknown is not to be feared because He is with you. He provided the Israelites with daily manna and he will do the same for you. Consider the transition lessons in faith, dependence, and obedience. God cannot guide you if you will not look forward and follow His instructions. Times may be tough, but provisions are provided, just as the manna was provided daily. Faith in God is the key to transition. We often find ourselves in the midst of the storm because we do not focus on God and His ability to change the circumstances. Our career advancement stalls because we look at our past and what we have accomplished, or not, and not what God will provide. Our relationships fail because we look at past experiences that shackled us, for whatever reason, and not at the strength of our current relationship. We look at our neighborhood and want more, but feel we cannot attain it because nothing in our past demonstrates the ability to have more. We look back most often when we are not satisfied with our life.

Most importantly, we look back to when we were not saved, before we received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Saviour, a time when we relied on ourselves, when we managed on our own, made mistakes, failed and wallowed in misery, rather than looking to God for direction, depending upon Him, and being obedient to the Word.

Satan uses the deception of looking back as a control mechanism. He encourages us to back at the past, relive the experiences that are wrapped in abuse and find comfort in slavery. He wants us to remain enslaved where we will never experience the blessings God wants to bestow upon us. He wants us paralyzed, cemented in salt, forever frozen in time.

God has given us free-will, liberty to choose. We choose to look back or focus on the present and what lies ahead. We choose the known and the uncertain. It is safe to say, life is not static, we all experience change and challenges, the key is that the challenges are often the very lessons we need to prepare us for the next step in our walk with Christ. Looking back retards our growth as Christians. Rather than looking back, take Jesus’ hand and walk with Him. The unknown is less frightening when we grasp the hand of a loving parent.

Don’t look back for a sense of comfort. Look to the future, live in the present, and God will lead you into your blessings. God will never leave you or forsake you. The chorus to a Sunday hymn, In The Garden, sums up our relationship with our Lord, Saviour and Father:

And he walks with me
And He talks with me,
And He tells me I am his own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

Serenity Prayer7

Images – Google Images; Biblestudytools.com;Bibleverseimages.com

Scriptures – Biblegateway.com

Resource/References – YouVersion.bible.com;Lyrics, In the Garden,Google.com

Visit my Young Christian Warriors site. The earliest Posts were written to help parents guide and train their children to access the Word of God to direct their steps. Later Posts were written for everyone, though I believe the Posts to parents can serve as reminders for all ages.

Thank you for spending time on my sites, if you like what you are reading, follow me, dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com and receive the daily inspirations in your inbox, or visit my other site, youngchristianwarriors.com and subscribe.

Why We Should Anoint Ourselves, Family, Homes, and Workplace

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There are many doctrines that interpret the Bible to authenticate their belief structures. Therefore, there are different beliefs about spiritual welfare and anointing yourself, your family and your home. I believe God gave us the authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions. Luke wrote in 10:19,

“Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.”

We have the authority to overcome our enemies.

Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:12,

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”

Paul clearly stated that there are rulers of darkness that fight to keep us in darkness, harms way, and confusion.

David wrote in Psalm 34:7,

“The angel of the Lord encamps all around those who fear Him and delivers them.”

David said that the Lord encamps around us. His angels surround us and protect us. We are delivered from the forces of evil.

In Ephesians 6:10-18, we are told to put on all the Armor of God to protect our spirit from attacks of the evil one and his demons. We have the power to cover ourselves, our children, our family and our homes through the Word of God.

If we submit ourselves to God’s Word, we can resist the devil. We can command him to flee or depart from us, our family members, and our home. James wrote in 4:7,

“Submit to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”

According to Strong’s Complete Expository Bible, to anoint in this instance means, to symbolically use the power of the Holy Spirit through the Word and the use of oil. I have witnessed and anointed my home and place of work, and family by touching them and the premises with oil and praying out loud. The Word of God is no match for evil spirits. They flee when they know you are a believer and will use the Word to ward them off. The Word gives us power. Declaring the Word of God, in prayer, is our weapon.

There was a time in my life when I did not believe in anointing as a method of protection against the evil one. I was skeptical of the power (Word) of God changing the atmosphere. But, as I studied, I began to understand what the term atmosphere means in the Bible. There are spiritual battles that take place in two atmospheres. One is physical, we can see, smell, hear, touch and taste. The other is spiritual. We cannot see it in the natural, we can not experience it with our natural senses. Ephesians  6:12 says, we do not wrestle with flesh and blood, but against principalities, powers, rulers of darkness, spiritual hosts of wickedness in heavenly places.

The atmosphere of holiness, purity, praise, worship, prayer, love, and unity attract the Holy Spirit – just as an atmosphere of lust, drunkenness, anger, and hatred attracts demonic spirits. (Monticello.com)

When I began to anoint my place of work, I could immediately see the atmosphere from one of tension to one of kindness. The same is true at home. If differing opinions created heated tempers, anointing the home would change the atmosphere. When attacks on a loved one occurred, anointing them provided a protective shield and the attacks no longer had power. This is especially important for children who are bullied and treated poorly by schoolmates.

It is important to choose when to anoint to cover long periods of time and when to pray out loud to immediately extinguish the evil surrounding you, your family, place of work or home. Praying out loud does not mean that you must yell, others do not need to know what you are doing. The same is true of anointing. You can pray in a quiet, whisper. You can anoint yourself and then place your hands on your cubical, office and halls while praying in a very non-obvious manner.

The important thing is to remember that you have power. The Word is your power and using it to ward off evil spirits is God’s promise to give us the authority to overcome evil. It is equally important to understand that when we pray the Word we to overcome the spiritual resistance that is desired to derail the plan that God has for our lives.

The battlefield exists in both atmospheres, we must always be aware and diligent to protect ourselves and others using prayer. “The danger on the battlefield is that we do not take the enemy seriously and therefore fail to put on all the Armor of God before we take another step. We should put on the armor before we anoint anyone or thing because at this point we have entered spiritual warfare. By faith, we put on the armor through prayer, which must be done at the beginning of each day. We can never underestimate the strategy and strength of the devil. ( Wiersbe, pp. 776.)

We must believe that evil exists, the devil (evil) lives in darkness, wherever there is spiritual darkness, there is evil operating through people. Satan’s sole purpose is to destroy our relationship with the Lord and doom us to hell. Through faith we are overcomers. Through faith, our prayers and symbolic oil, have the power to anoint our family, self, home, and place of work to change the atmosphere and ward off the evil of the day that affects us in the most uncanny ways.

How to Anoint Self:

Pray over your olive oil. Touch your fingertips to your head, mouth, eyes, nose, ears, hands and feet. Pray that you will be cleansed, and renew your commitment to God. If you are anointing yourself for a special occasion, reflect on the occasion and pray.

Prayer:

I anoint myself in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. As I anoint myself with this oil, so too anoint my body, soul, spirit, and mind
with your grace, mercy, forgiveness, power, strength, wisdom, patience, authority, and light. Thank you, Father, for covering me in the Blood. Thank you for protecting me against the evil one as I pray and anoint say the person’s name, or place e.g., living room, kitchen, home, or office. In Jesus’ Name, I praise your Holy Name. Amen

How to Anoint Home:

How To Do A Prayer Walk Through Your Home. Faithfullycommitted.com, 04/12/2017 How to Anoint Your Home With Oil. kcm.org

aerial photography of buildings

Photo by Essow Kedelina on Pexels.com

Images – Google Images

Scriptures – Biblegateway.com, all scriptures in the Post are taken from the New King James Version (NKJV)

Resource/References – Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary; Prayers that Rout Demons, by John Eckhardt; Nelson’s Quick Reference by Warren Wiersbe; Monticelloyouth.com

Visit my Young Christian Warriors site. The earliest Posts were written to help parents guide and train their children to access the Word of God to direct their steps. Later Posts were written for everyone, though I believe the Posts to parents can serve as reminders for all ages.

Thank you for spending time on my sites, if you like what you are reading, follow me, dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com and receive the daily inspirations in your inbox, or visit my other site, youngchristianwarriors.com and subscribe.

Leviticus 19:4, Idol Worship

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Idols1

Idols are anything you put before God. Do not raise up a temple of false stuff. There is only one God.

“Do not turn to idols or make metal gods for yourselves. I am the Lord your God.”
Leviticus 19:4

Idols, according to Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary are ideas or fancies, images that represent a false god. Paul referred to them as ‘vain things’.

Christians like most people get caught up in “things”. Our goal is to strive for things such as careers, lavish homes, furniture, and clothes. We want to be seen wearing the most fashionable clothes, attending the popular gatherings, and hanging around the ‘right’ people. These things only become the vain things when they are put before God. Vain things become more important than God and thus rival for His attention. When we begin to cling to those things that become our primary focus, we no longer focus on God’s love for us. Jonah 2:8 says,

“Those who cling to worthless idols turn away from God’s love for them.” Worthless idols also include acts of the flesh,

 “The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”
Galatians 5:19-21

social media1

Social media is a vain thing. We have become obsessed with social media, we spend hours on social media. It supplants otherworldly things. It’s been reported that it can consume most of our waking hours and interferes with our other vain idols. Society has reached a point where it is easy to become addicted to social media and the fleshly things it advertises.

Advertising is pervasive and is in our face, so to speak. We cannot avoid seeing or hearing about the things of the flesh on television, the Internet, and all forms of the airways. Our desire to acquire them take on their own form. We will do anything to acquire them. We will sell our souls for the things of the flesh, the things that make us stand out above all others. We become driven and before we know it we displace our reverence and respect for God for these fleshly things.

“They continued to worship demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that can neither see nor hear nor walk!” 
Revelations 9:20

We have no time to pray, no desire to go to church, no interest in learning the Word of God or establishing a relationship with Him, there is simply no time. God becomes our fire insurance, the only time we spend with Him is when a crisis occurs, most often a crisis created by striving for vain things.

If and when we reach this point, we need to pray to God for repentance, ask Him to give us strength in placing Him first in our lives and relegate the things of this world to their place. It is not wrong to want things or to strive for success. It is a sin when it becomes a hindrance to our prayer lives and becomes more important than our God.

Images – Google Images

Scripture – Biblegateway.com; BibleStudytools.com

Resource – Vine’s Complete Expository Dictionary, page 316

Visit my Young Christian Warriors site. The earliest Posts were written to help parents guide and train their children to access the Word of God to direct their steps. Later Posts were written for everyone, though I believe the Posts to parents can serve as reminders for all ages.

Thank you for spending time on my sites, if you like what you are reading, follow me, dailyinspiration-lisasthoughts.com and receive the daily inspirations in your inbox, or visit my other site, youngchristianwarriors.com and subscribe.