PSALM 86:11 (HSCB)
Teach me Your way, LORD, and I will live by Your truth. Give me an undivided mind to fear Your Name.
(NIV) Teach me Your way, LORD, that I may rely on Your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart; that I may fear Your Name.
(NKJV) Teach me Your way, O LORD; I will walk in Your truth; Unite my heart to fear Your Name.
(NLT) Teach me Your ways, O LORD, that I may live according to Your truth! Grant me purity of heart so that I may honor You.
(NIRV) Lord, teach me how You want me to live. Then I will follow Your truth. Give me a heart that doesn't want anything more than to worship You.
(MSG) Train me, God, to walk straight; then I'll follow Your true path. Put me together, one heart and mind; then, undivided, I'll worship in joyful fear.
Yes, Lord! May it be so.
I so struggle with a divided mind. Do you? I find myself going in 50 million directions -- at least in my mind. I jump from one thing to the next as if distraction is an art form!!! And because I have allowed myself to become more and more distracted by this life more often than not anyway, I find that I am weary. You know that weary to the core feeling that never seems to go away? Yep, that's me. Grief, disappointment, disillusionment, anger, frustration, fear, anxiety, and on and on. This is a "gift" of a divided mind. Not much of a gift, huh? Exactly!
Thus this reminder from Psalm 86:11!
Please, LORD, teach me Your way and give me Your strength, Jesus, to live by the TRUTH of Your Word! Remind me of what You have for me and help me to obey. Forgive me for so easily giving in to a divided mind and so quickly forgetting to renew my mind as You command. Thank You for Your faithfulness!! Give me a heart that is pure and does not want anything more than to worship You. Give me a fear, a reverence for Your Name that requires me to reign in my mind and surrender it to You when I go off on tangents that are my own. You want me to have a steadfast mind that is in perfect peace, may I allow You to lead me in such a way that this is more a norm than a rarity. Forgive me, Lord, that in this season of life where i feel like I should "know better" I seem to be more divided than ever. Train me to walk straight and give me the strength to do my part and follow Your path, Your will. Give me one heart and one mind that allows me to worship You. I do not want to give place to the enemy in my mind by receiving his "gift" of distraction (or my own fleshly desire) rather than Your strength to focus. You and I both know, Lord, that I cannot do this alone, nor do You expect me to! Forgive me for so often living the day to day in my own strength rather than in the power that You have for me as Your child! Thank You, that You never ever leave me. You never ever give up on me. You never ever stop loving me, Jesus! May I walk in Your way today, and not fulfill the lust of my flesh.
Father, give each person who reads this a knowing that IF they are a Christ follower (they have confessed their sin and recognized they are lost and in need of Your salvation and they have gone on to accept You, Jesus, as their own personal Lord and Savior) that they are never alone and that You are at work in them to complete what You have begun. You have good for them and a plan that is just for them. May they know what it is to have an undivided mind and a desire to worship You moment by moment in this life. You want them to know how very much You love them - in fact Your love is unfailing, unending! And if someone does not know You as their very own LORD and Savior may they recognize their need of You this very day. Thank You, LORD, that You are at work in us and through us moment by moment and that in Your faithfulness, grace, mercy and forgiveness is peace of mind and heart! May we receive all You have for us. Thank You, Jesus!
Would you consider praying through the entirety of Psalm 86?
Friday, July 22, 2016
Thursday, July 21, 2016
As You Have Received...So walk!
1 John 4:6
You are from God, little children, & you have conquered them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
You and I, as believers and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, are conquerors in Him. Let that resonate a moment...
Why am I a conqueror? Because Christ is in me by the power of His Holy Spirit and He is a conqueror, period. Too often I make excuses, but I am weak (why yes, yes I am)...Matthew 26:41 & Mark 14:38 "Stay awake and pray, so that you will not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." AND 2 Corinthians 2:10 "I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and in pressures because of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Again, why? 2 Corinthians 2:9 "But He (Jesus) said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me."
My weakness is a given; however it is not to be my focus. I am to look to Him and recognize all I am and all I have because of Who He Is!
My prayer for you and I is what Paul prayed:
Colossians 2:2-3; 6-7
(vs. 2-3) "I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God's mystery -- Christ. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him."
(vs. 6-7) "Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude."
If we go on to Colossians 3 we are commanded to "seek what is above", to "set our minds on what is above" - Christ! Verse 3 states, "For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God."
We are also commanded to "put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator." Colossians 3:8-10
All of this and so much more is what makes us More Than Conquerors -- In Christ!!
Too often, almost daily in fact, I live as if I am defeated. I do not want to!!! I want to remember and be reminded often of all that I am in Christ!!! Do you?
How do we live this way consistently? I struggle. You struggle. And we will continue to struggle until that glorious day when we are in heaven; BUT I am saying we struggle less if we remind one another of who we are in Christ. If we pray for one another and let the other know that they are prayed for. We are so isolated. We go about our own business day in and day out without even realizing how little we are apart of community. It takes much effort to be a part -- and yet I believe this is one of the tactics of the enemy - to keep us thinking we are to be busy, self-sufficient and unwilling to share the struggles that we all face daily. Therefore we rarely live out what James 5:16 commands, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect." And beyond the sharing, we are to PRAY for one another, not just share the struggle. The burden is not lifted until we pray, but the enemy convinces us our time is better spent doing than being in prayer. Remember it is Christ who is our righteousness, so we do not have to have it all together to pray for others! I am so thankful!
Father God, You alone have made us more than conquerors through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You for Your provision and the fact that You are all sufficient. Remind us and help us to step out and remind one another that we have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him! God, may we be rooted and established in the faith. May we set our minds on You moment by moment. Our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak, Lord, so please get our attention. Forgive me for living as if I am defeated. Forgive me for focusing more on myself than on You and TRUTH that You have provided all that I need to live victoriously. Thank You, Jesus for forgiving me and making me Yours. Thank You for being faithful all of the time, never wavering in Your love for me and for each of us. Reveal Yourself to us through this day and give us ears to hear You and Your strength, Jesus, to obey. It is because of Jesus I pray, Amen.
You are from God, little children, & you have conquered them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
You and I, as believers and followers of the Lord Jesus Christ, are conquerors in Him. Let that resonate a moment...
Why am I a conqueror? Because Christ is in me by the power of His Holy Spirit and He is a conqueror, period. Too often I make excuses, but I am weak (why yes, yes I am)...Matthew 26:41 & Mark 14:38 "Stay awake and pray, so that you will not enter into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." AND 2 Corinthians 2:10 "I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, catastrophes, persecutions, and in pressures because of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong."
Again, why? 2 Corinthians 2:9 "But He (Jesus) said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.' Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may reside in me."
My weakness is a given; however it is not to be my focus. I am to look to Him and recognize all I am and all I have because of Who He Is!
My prayer for you and I is what Paul prayed:
Colossians 2:2-3; 6-7
(vs. 2-3) "I want their hearts to be encouraged and joined together in love, so that they may have all the riches of assured understanding and have the knowledge of God's mystery -- Christ. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are hidden in Him."
(vs. 6-7) "Therefore, as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk in Him, rooted and built up in Him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, overflowing with gratitude."
If we go on to Colossians 3 we are commanded to "seek what is above", to "set our minds on what is above" - Christ! Verse 3 states, "For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God."
We are also commanded to "put away all the following: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and filthy language from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, since you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self. You are being renewed in knowledge according to the image of your Creator." Colossians 3:8-10
All of this and so much more is what makes us More Than Conquerors -- In Christ!!
Too often, almost daily in fact, I live as if I am defeated. I do not want to!!! I want to remember and be reminded often of all that I am in Christ!!! Do you?
How do we live this way consistently? I struggle. You struggle. And we will continue to struggle until that glorious day when we are in heaven; BUT I am saying we struggle less if we remind one another of who we are in Christ. If we pray for one another and let the other know that they are prayed for. We are so isolated. We go about our own business day in and day out without even realizing how little we are apart of community. It takes much effort to be a part -- and yet I believe this is one of the tactics of the enemy - to keep us thinking we are to be busy, self-sufficient and unwilling to share the struggles that we all face daily. Therefore we rarely live out what James 5:16 commands, "Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The urgent request of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect." And beyond the sharing, we are to PRAY for one another, not just share the struggle. The burden is not lifted until we pray, but the enemy convinces us our time is better spent doing than being in prayer. Remember it is Christ who is our righteousness, so we do not have to have it all together to pray for others! I am so thankful!
Father God, You alone have made us more than conquerors through Your Son, Jesus Christ. Thank You for Your provision and the fact that You are all sufficient. Remind us and help us to step out and remind one another that we have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him! God, may we be rooted and established in the faith. May we set our minds on You moment by moment. Our spirit is willing but our flesh is weak, Lord, so please get our attention. Forgive me for living as if I am defeated. Forgive me for focusing more on myself than on You and TRUTH that You have provided all that I need to live victoriously. Thank You, Jesus for forgiving me and making me Yours. Thank You for being faithful all of the time, never wavering in Your love for me and for each of us. Reveal Yourself to us through this day and give us ears to hear You and Your strength, Jesus, to obey. It is because of Jesus I pray, Amen.
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