Therefore, prepare your minds for actions, be self-controlled, set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 1 Peter 1:13 We just got done celebrating the birth of Jesus. His whole purpose for his birth was to be the sacrifice for our sins. He is our hope as we wait for His return. As we wait for His return, we need to keep our minds prepared. We need to be mentally alert. One stays mentally alert when we stay in God’s word, memorizing God’s word. We have to be obedient to God’s Word. We need to discipline in the ways of God’s…
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Advent Day: Twenty-Three
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14 Can we get serious for a moment and ask some hard questions? What are your beliefs based on? Truth or lies? Where do you base these truths on? Where do they come from? The Bible, the world, or our enemy, the father of lies? Read the following verses: John 8:44, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding…
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Spending Time With God
And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed. Mark 1:35 Read the following passages and then answer the following questions. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” Psalm 119: 103-105, “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Through your precepts I get understanding; therefore, I hate every false way. Your word is a lamp to my feet and a…
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Loving God
We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 Let’s begin today by reading some scripture. Read the following! But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.” Joshua 22:5 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all…
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Change That Last: Part Two
And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice – the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Romans 12:1-2 Do you find it hard to not conform to this world? Is it easy to do the opposite of what…
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Surrendering To God
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow – not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. Romans 8:38 Are you or do you know of anyone who is controlling? If we are all honest with ourselves we all like to control things in our lives. When we choose to follow Jesus, we have to give up our control and surrender it to the Holy Spirit. Read Romans 8:5-17. According to verses 5-8, our flesh and sinful nature love control. Our flesh/sinful nature…
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The Extravagant Exchange: Part One
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. They speak without a sound or word; their voice is never heard. Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world. Psalm 19:1-4 God has written His existence into the sky. Have you seen glimpses of God in creation? Let’s read Romans 1:18-20. Highlight or write down how God revealed Himself to the world according to this passage. How are they described? In verse 20, it says “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the…
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Metanoeo: To Think differently
. Jesus said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God, with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37 Before sin becomes an act, it forms first in a thought. This is what we call being tempted. This is when we should cry out to God for help resist the sin. If we don’t then we will fall into the temptation and sin. God has given us a means to escape from sin’s lure and grip. It is the power of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. He convicts us. He calls us to turn around and change the direction…
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Your Wholeheart
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength. Mark 12:30 how do you love God? Do you half heartedly love him? Do you love him with all that is within you? I love this verse also! This is one of my life verses. It’s a reminder to me of how God want me to put him first in my life! I am grateful for this verse! This verse to me means that God is first in all areas of my life! He is my everything. God is the first person I spend time with in…
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Passion Week: Devotions – Jesus Teaches
Matthew 21: 28-24:51; Mark 11:27-13:37; Luke 20:1- 21:36 Part 3: The Great Commission: This here is a mighty, mighty lesson. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul. God has to be our full focus. He must have all of our love. Then we are to love all people. The mean, the wicked, the people who hurt you, Love all people. When we love God completely and love others unselfishly, then all of our attitudes and actions…