“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7 Do you ever question why God uses the people that He uses? Sometimes it is just the fact that God is the unexplainable choice of servants. We may never know the whys to our questions. One thing for sure is that God has a lot of grace. Something that all of us believers could work on giving to others more often. Read…
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Persevering Impact
Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time, we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 Do you ever have passion for people who are on a journey for the first time in Christ? Have you invested in them and found how hard it can be? However, through this, have you persevered and was faithful to God? I will be honest! Following God is not easy; being obedient to God and His ways is not easy. Now let me encourage you with this though, God is so so good! He is not leaving us when He is asking us to…
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One Believing Man
He said to them all: “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Luke 9:23 Gilgal was the first place the Israelites stop in the Promised Land. Gilgal was west of the Jordan River. This is the place where they set up remembrance stones. This marked the covenant of God by observing the rite of circumcision. They no longer be called an unbelieving generation. Gilgal has the meaning of the circle. As a child of God, who is willing to follow God there by faith, will come full circle in a significant way. …
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No More Remembering
‘I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.’ Isaiah 43:25 Remembering things can be so hard. My husband and I are awful at remembering things. We do have health issues that do affect this. Even if we are not on top of eating healthy. Even my kids are awful at remembering things. Or how about remembering the things that really should be forgotten? Can you relate to any of this? In what ways do you forget things. Do you have a memory that works way too well? Our memories are for us, not…
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Developing a God Memory
Then they believed his promises and sang his praise. But they soon forgot what he had done and did not wait for his counsel. Psalm 106:12-13 Do you use stones to remember what God has done for you? Read Joshua 4:4-7. What did Joshua ask each leader to do? Why? It is to have an item that will help us remember what needs to be remembered. What were these stones to be a sign to the Israelites forever? Isn’t this what we have been doing this past week with answering the questions of our past? Our goals for our commitment to God should be that…
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We Remember
I remember my affliction and my wanderings, the bitterness and the gall. I well remember them, and my soul is downcast within me. Lamentations 3:19-20 How well do you remember things from your life? Is it hard? Are they repressed? Are they different than other family member’s memories? Do you act out on those memories? Read Lamentations 3:17-20. Can you relate to the emotions implied and expressed in this passage? How actively do you remember your previous afflictions? If you have lived for a while, you probably have plenty of them. Which ones stand out to you the most? Have you ever had a season…
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God Remembering
God remembered Noah and all the wild animals and the livestock with him in the ark, and he sent a wind over the earth, and the waters receded. Genesis 8:1 God remembers! He knows all. How do you feel about these comments? Read Genesis 8:1. Whom did God remember? What did he remember? Do you find this verse a little unsettling? I mean, God told Noah to build an ark, commanded all the animals to go on the ark, and then shut Noah, his family, and the animals all up on the ark and then proceeded to flood the world. Wouldn’t you hope he would…
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Memory Retrieval
“The Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” John 14:26 How well do you remember God? The brain! Such a complex part of our bodies. Our brains have an imagination. It can suppress memories and can retrieve it back later in life. As humans, we can forget how good our heavenly father is. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, he can help us remember how good God is. Read Psalm 77:11-12. What kinds of things did the psalmist want to remember? Take some…
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Forsaking Words
“Oh, that you would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let your hand be with me and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.” 1 Chronicles 4:10 Read 1 Chronicles 4:9-10. The name Jabez means sorrow. Sorrow means pain, sorrow, or idol. Compare the meanings of sorrow and grieve. Which definitions are similar? This mother named her child Pain or idol. Now let’s learn two things: 1) idols in our lives cause pain, 2) our pain can become our idol. Did this mother make the childbirth of her son an idol? How many of us make past pain our idols? …
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The Practice Of Blessing
On him, we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. 2 Corinthians 1:10-11 Prayer! It is so important. There are many different ways prayer can look like for a person. One thing for sure is though, is that prayer is a primary discipline of our faith. This is what God wants to infuse with supernatural power. We don’t want to become legalistic about our prayer life. Prayer is communication to God. There are many ways to do pray. Jesus gave us a model of prayer called the Lord’s Prayer. Take time to look that…