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5/26/2013 0 Comments Lay down your life…Jesus didGreater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. ~ (John 15:13). Friendships are important to everyone, but they’re especially important to Jesus, the creator of friendship. There is no greater love than he that lays down his life for his friends. Love lays down its life for another. We all know how fully Jesus Himself exemplified this. His is the greatest love that anyone can demonstrate toward friends. Obviously this means more than simply dying physically for them. If it meant only that, there would be very few of who could or would ever fulfill this, largely because we would lack the opportunity to do so. And, of course, one could do so only once! But our Lord is commanding us to do this repeatedly. So what He means by this is that we are to give ourselves up for one another. When you go out of your way to meet a friend's need and giving unselfishly of your time and resources…you are laying down your life. This is what Jesus had in mind. Jesus forfeited His own time of resting and even eating for others that followed Him. He gave of Himself even when He was tired and stopped in the middle of His journeys to teach and heal. How can we do less? How can we not give up some sleep, a shopping trip, or any leisure time? To truly serve in this capacity, the ego must be crucified and self must be denied for the benefit of one's brother. Yes, this may seem hard to do, but in the end, it will be immensely rewarding for the other person and for God’s glory!
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5/20/2013 0 Comments Don't fear the transitionBe strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the LORD your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” (Deuteronomy 31:6, ESV) Where is God when we go through the transitions in our lives? The Good News is that we can experience God in the transitions. This is God’s Word to Joshua and the people of Israel as they were about to make a some major transitions. There was the leadership transition from Moses to Joshua, the geographical transition from the wilderness to the promised land. Moses’ assignment at this point in his life and ministry was to prepare this generation for the major transitions they were about to experience. God’s Word to Joshua and the people of Israel as they are about to make some major transitions consisted of some commands and some promises. He told them to be strong, courageous, do no fear or dread the enemy but know that the Lord is with them and will never leave or forsake them.
I think that too often we rely on our own strength and when things get tough or uncomforatble we get stressed because we can not always achieve what we desire. But when we involve the Lord, we get inner strength by the prompting of the Holy Spirit. It gives us a spirit of boldness that handles situations that we could not handle in our own strength. The Lord stands by us and He supports us by filling us with a peace that goes beyond our understanding. God is the God who is there. He is Lord in the transitions. When we walk through times of transition in our lives, He is right there with us walking along side us through the transitions. He is going before us. He gives us the strength and the courage to face them without fear and without being dismayed or overwhelmed. He sustains us by His presence and He encourages us by His promises He assures us of His love for us through Christ and the cross and He empowers us by His Spirit. They overcame the enemy by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony.” ~ Revelation 12:11 The Bible says, “we overcome by our testimony.” Jesus gained victory over Satan on the cross by removing his right to torment us. We must enforce Jesus victory in our life by telling our story. Telling your story can be the overcoming power for someone else. It can symbolize the “blood” that was shed so someone can experience life. Some woman, man, boy or girl needs to hear your story in the midst of their pain, their situation. Your story might be the one that introduces them to the unconditional love and tender mercies of God. Your story might remind them that the the blood of Jesus never loses it presence or power to heal wounds, provide purpose, administer justice, to deliver from pain and sorrow.
I know many reasons why many of us do not want to tell our story: fear of what others will think, fear of being judged or misunderstood, fear about the reactions from our friends, family and love ones, unresolved feelings of shame and guilt, doubting that our stories have significance. These thoughts are the work of the enemy, to steal, kill and destroy our courage, and can keep us from experiencing the power of the Spirit in us and prevent us from living our best lives but most importantly, it hinders us from advancing the kingdom of God. He renews our strength and gives us grace when we are weak and when we share our story we are displaying our weakness and God's strength; and in all of our weaknesses His strength is made perfect. We must recall and tell the works of God in our lives by sharing our testimony with others. Encourage another as you encourage yourself in the Lord as you go through your life journey. Your testimony is someone else’s deliverance! "I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name." ~Revelation 3:8 It says in this wonderful verse that God is going to open a door for you that no man can shut. It says that God knows and sees all the things that you do and have done in your life and that he is a rewarder to those who diligently seek Him. God is faithful. If you keep His word and don’t deny Him by giving Him everything you have and your obedience, he will reward you openly. Open doors will begin to come before you and supernatural blessings will follow! It’s in His word! So exercise your patience. Don't look to (wo)man to do what only God can do. Those of us whose patience and faith has been tested, will also receive His approval, His protection, and His will for our lives. Don't fall for the trinkets and temporal things of this world. Since God is love, and love is patient, our preparation of patience will equip us with His power to fulfill His mandate, and to go through His "open door".
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Meditate On
His Goodness We are told to “be of the same mind toward one another” which means essentially that we must develop and maintain the mind of Christ or God’s thoughts. But if our thoughts are contrary to God’s, then we must exchange our thinking with God’s and for that process, He has given us His inspired, inerrant, and authoritative Word. So what is our need? We are to study the Scripture, but for that to be effective, we also need to develop the art of biblical meditation. Enter into The Sanctuary to meditate on the Word of God.
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