Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Roman 12:12 God is honored when we put our hope and trust in him. He is glorified when we rejoice in our hope. Be joyful in one hope can be found when we are serving God. As we go through affliction, we should be patient. God will allow us to suffer as Jesus suffered, and in that suffering, we need to be patient with God. When we rejoice in our hope, we can then be patient in our sufferings. We must patiently endure it. Then we need to be faithful in our prayer.…
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Love Is. . . .
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful but rejoices with the truth. Love hears all things, endure all things. Love never ends. I Corinthians 13:4-7 These verses are about the action of love, a behavior. Most of all, it shows the character of who the Triune God is. We all have to grow in this area of love. In every situation we get into, we should use verses to guide how we are responding. We should respond in a patient, loving, kind way. One needs…
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The Blessings
He fills my life with good things. Psalm 103:5 Oh! the blessed life! When we surrender all to Jesus, we received blessings from our Heavenly Father! Are we perfect? NO! However, God is the perfect craftsman. He sees our brokenness and knows how to fit all the broken pieces together. He makes us whole. He doesn’t walk away or hope we will figure it out on our own. He is right there the whole time if we allow it. God holds us together with His peace, provision, and protection. Even in this difficult world, people can see His glory all around shining through the broken…
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Love Livingly
“When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! ‘This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you.” John 15:10-12 Living a life of obedience, love, joy, and more love brings fullness to one’s life. Read Luke 1:26-56. What are expressions of obedience, trust, love, and joy? Do you see from this passage of scripture? We have a hard time telling the difference between the words…
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Filled With My Joy
I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! John 15:10-12 How much do you love our Lord and Savior? Does your life show it? Today, we will focus on the result of having steadfast obedience for Jesus out of our tenaciously abiding love for Him. Have you ever put abiding and obedience together to be filled with joy? I sure haven’t. Let’s look at the following verses: John 4:31-34, Philippians 2:5-11, and Hebrews 12:2. What can we learn from these verses about the connection between obedience and joy from the life of…
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Advent: Day Twenty-Five
And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 1 John 5:11 . Christ is Born. Immanuel – God with us. It is time to yell, “Merry Christmas.” To be of good cheer. Have excitement. We are busy with opening presents, getting the dinner prepared. Do you make time for God on this Day? We use the day as a reminder that He did come here to earth to be with us. Yet, have we put him off to the side of all our business? Even though the Jews didn’t have the whole picture of God’s plan in the Bible times,…
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Advent: Day Twenty – Two
When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worship him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route. Matthew 2:10-12 Christmas!!! The feels of Christmas can be different for everyone. There is excitement, happiness, stress, sadness, and fear. Gifts can add to these feelings. The discontent of “This isn’t what I wanted.” “How are we/I going to pay for all this?” “Where do I…
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Advent: Day Eighteen
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child. Luke 2: 15-17 Have you ever been in a nature storm? Either a blizzard, a tornado, hurricane, etc. Years ago, my family and I were on a closed road in the middle of Montana’s winter in a blizzard. We could…
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Advent: Day Thirteen
For unto us, a child is born, to us, a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 Immanuel: God with us. Have you ever gone through a time of excitement? Have you ever had to go through a crisis? Have you ever heard God speak to you during either one of these moments? God is a great God. He is a gentle, kind, loving God. When He speaks to us, He also walks with us. He doesn’t leave us to walk through hard things. He doesn’t leave us to walk through…
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Advent: Day Nine
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: “The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel” (which means “God with us”). When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. Matthew 1:21-24 Obedience!!! Do you find this to be hard or easy? I find this to be so hard, and I am a rule follower most of the…