This blog is designed to create community for believers and provide support for seekers. I encourage all readers to share their faith in an effort to lift and encourage one another.
“A pharisee is hard on others and easy on himself, but a spiritual man is easy on others and hard on himself”.― A.W. Tozer
Makes you think, doesn’t it? Which are you?
Father, let me dispose of the ways of the pharisee and, instead, adopt the ways of Jesus. Like him, let me be filled with love and grace toward others.
On this Monday morning, what are you thankful for?
“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desire.”
I Peter 1:3
Father, enable each one of us to utilize your divine power to fill our lives with godliness. Fill us to the brim with your nature so that others can see your majesty and your redeeming love.
Use the above verse to pray for others this week. We all need His power in our lives.
Caught in the act, they dragged her into the temple courts.
Head down, hands trembling, she avoided the eyes of the angry men surrounding her.
The men couldn’t wait to pass judgment on her.
Their faces turned hard as the stones they longed to throw. After all, that was God’s law.
But the man who wrote on the ground, the pure man, the innocent one, the creator, savior,
shepherd of men. He spoke to the crowd.
“Let him who is without sin throw the first stone.”
Angry muttering ceased.
Hearts of stone softened.
Angry fists opened.
Stones thudded to the ground.
One by one, with empty hands, the men turned away.
No stones were thrown that day.
So why do I harden my heart?
Why do I look for stones to throw?
Why do I feel the weight of these stones in my hands and on my heart?
I, too, am a sinner.
I am not the sinless man drawing on the ground.
Creator, shepherd, savior, teach me to open my heart and my hands. Teach me to drop the stones of judgment. Teach me to accept your grace and to offer it to other sinners.
Lord, show me different ways that I can lose my life for you.
What about you? What are ways you can/do lose your life for God?
“Always pray to have eyes that see the best in people, a heart that forgives the worst, a mind that forgets -the bad, and a soul that never loses faith in God.”
Amy Charmichael
Oh, Lord, if I could only be like this. Bring me closer every day, Father.
What enables you to see the best, forgive the worst, forget the bad, and constantly keep your faith in God?
Lord, thank you for the many blessings you bestow on your people. I pray that you will continue to bless us so that we will be able to do your good works and glorify your name.
As I sit in the kitchen, the sound of the sea beckons me. From the beach house, the waters whisper, calling me to the beach. I grab my sunscreen and my towel and walk across the street and into the soft, dry sand. I sink ankle deep with each step, the gentle waves whooshing louder the closer I come. In moments I reach the water’s edge. The ocean’s beauty never ceases to amaze me. Blue stretches as far as my eyes can see. Summer’s gentle swells roll on the beach, breaking only a foot from where I stand.
Only when I step into the water do I feel the strength of its pull. Standing ankle deep, my feet sinking into the sand, I let the waves break against my legs. Small as the waves are, I feel their strength as they rush to the shore. I venture a little deeper, and the water breaks against my thighs, splashing up to my waist. I brace myself as larger waves approach, knowing they have the strength to knock me down. After breaking, the waves rush back to their ocean home, pulling against my legs, beckoning me to come deeper, to immerse myself in their crystal clear waters.
I look beyond the small summertime Pacific waves, and see the blue curve of the ocean’s edge, miles out to sea. I marvel at the power of the water, stretching for thousands of miles in every direction. A hundred yard from where I stand, the waves boom and crash against rocks and coral, thundering across the bay. What tremendous power lives in the ocean! It’s so great and so strong my mind cannot fathom it. Nor can I explore its depths. I observe only what washes ashore and what I can see from a few hundred yards out, as far as I feel safe swimming.
Just as the gentle waves washing the shore call to me, God calls His people in a still, small voice. In the quiet times when I listen for His voice, He calls to me, beckoning me closer. When I listen, He speaks clearer, louder.
As I wander at the edges of God’s greatness, experiencing His waves along the shore, I sense the awesome majesty and greatness of Him, stretching farther than my eyes can see, deeper than my mind can conceive. I hear His voice in still, small whispers, washing my soul clean, and I long to plunge in, swimming stroke by stroke nearer to the heart of God.
Father God, thank you for the beckoning whispers of your creation, drawing me ever closer to You.
Psalm 46:10a “Be still and know that I am God.”
“Names tell stories, most of all the name which is above all other names, the name of Jesus. In his name I am called to live. His name has become my house, my dwelling place, my refuge, my ark. His name has to start telling the story of being born, growing up, growing old, and dying—revealing a God who loved us so much that he sent his only child to us.”
~ Henri Nouwen
Names are important. We all enjoy it when someone remembers our name and calls us by name. God has so many names. Here are just a few (with their definitions) that are listed in the bible.
El Shaddai (Lord God Almighty), El Elyon (The Most High God), Adonai (Lord, Master), Yahweh (Lord, Master), and El Olam (The Everlasting God). It clearly takes more than one name to even begin to describe the nature of our amazing God. And, just like us, He surely is pleased when we call upon Him, when we call Him by name.
Abba, Father, thank you for sharing some of your names and your attributes with us. Help me to recognize you, and call on your name, not in vain, but in honor, respect and love.
Growing Our Faith Together 