Free Will

Acts 13:40 - Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, "It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews.  But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy, we will offer it to the Gentiles."

The Jews here exercised their free will to reject the truth of the word of God.  By doing this, they condemned themselves to a life of darkness.  God will not violate free will.  If we disobey and go against His will for our life, we are making it worse for ourselves.  He will not force us, we have to choose Him.

In my old life, I chose my paths (or so I thought) according to what I wanted and what pleased me and made me feel good.  God didn't force me to accept Him, He let me choose Him for myself.  And what a choice it was!  I used free will to live apart from Him, and I now use free will to live with Him.  I have made the right choice.

Dear Lord, thank for the gift of free will.  It was through this gift that I found You and chose You for my life.  Thank You for your loving mercy and grace and acceptance of me even when I was condemning myself by ignoring Your truth.  In Jesus' Holy Name, Amen!

God Bless!!!

Not Quite

Acts 12:8 - Then the angel told him, "Get dressed and put on your sandals."  And he did.  "Now put on your coat and follow me," the angel ordered.

The apostles were being persecuted and martyred, and Peter was next on Herod Agrippa's hit list.  But God had other plans for Peter.  God wasn't finished using him for His glory, so He sent the angel to rescue him from prison.

The reckless behavior of my past, including two near overdoses, should have killed me.  This is how I know that God has spared me for working towards His glory.  He wasn't quite finished with me yet.  I have been so blessed.

Dear Lord, thank You so much for my life.  Thank You for the opportunity to serve, honor, and worship You.  I submit to Your will for my life, and look forward to the work You have planned for me to serve Your Kingdom.  In Jesus' precious and holy name, Amen!

God Bless!!!

An Unlikely Tool

Acts 9:15 - But the Lord said, "Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take My message to the Gentiles and to kings as well as the people of Israel."

In this whole section of Acts (several chapters), it is another demonstration of God's love for all.  And a demonstration that God can use anyone, no matter how unlikely, for His work.  Throughout the Bible, God chose so many unlikely people for His work, but I don't think one was as unlikely as Saul of Tarsus.

Passages like this renew my encouragement.  If God can use someone like Paul to be His biggest booster, I know He has great plans for me as well.  I can only hope and pray that I am up to the challenge of the work ahead of me, but I trust that God will make me ready when He decides it is time to use me to work for His Kingdom.

Dear Lord,  I pray that You will give me the strength that I need to do Your work here in this life.  I know I can only get this strength from You, and I am committed to whatever tasks You have planned for me, and hope that I am able to give You the honor and glory that You deserve.  Show me Your will for me Lord, so that I may serve You and Your people.  In Jesus' name, Amen!

God Bless!!!

Blameless

Job 1:21 - He said, "I came naked from my mother's womb, and I will be naked when I leave.  The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it all away.  Praise the name of the Lord!"

Job knew that everything happened according to God's will, and all things were a blessing and gift from God.  Although Satan was the one testing Job, God was the one that permitted it.  He knew that Job would not sin and would not blame God for anything.  Job knew that God was blameless and that He would make all things work together for his good.

I love the story of Job.  It is one of my absolute favorites in the entire Bible.  Even though Job was tested to the limits of human patience and understanding, he still would not give in and blame or reject God.  I can only hope and pray for a fraction of Job's patience and love for God.

Dear Abba Father, I ask for Your blessing and strength to stay strong in my faith and love for You.  Please protect me and comfort me as only You can do.  I know You will not let any harm come to me because of Your unending love and grace.  In Jesus' name, Amen!

God Bless!!!

Rejoice

Acts 5:41 - The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus.

The apostles were whipped for teaching the Gospel to the people.  Jesus warned them that they would face heavy persecution for their teaching, so they knew they had to be doing something right.

Have I ever suffered persecution for my faith.  Not in the physical sense.  I have had a couple of friends leave my life, but I've never been physically attacked.  But it still hurts, because that means that is one less person I can share the Gospel with.  All I can do is pray that someone gets to share it with them, or that God will put them back in my life for me to share with them.  If it means that one person was saved and came to know Jesus, I would gladly endure anything for the Kingdom of God.  At least I would know that I was doing something right.

Dear Lord, I pray that You will use me according to Your will to spread the news of Your hope and salvation for us all.  This is too good of a message not to be shared, and I will gladly endure anything You desire for me to do this for Your Glorious Kingdom.  In Jesus' precious and holy name, Amen!

God Bless!!!

No Other

Acts 4:12 - "There is salvation in no one else!  God has given no other name under Heaven by which we must be saved."

The boldness of John and Peter here is such an encouragement.  They knew that they could be facing certain death for their words, but they had no fear because of their faith in Jesus to protect them.

Do I display this kind of confidence?  All I can do is pray that God will give me the boldness and confidence to declare His truth if I am ever confronted like this.  I trust His will for me and have faith in His promise of protection.

Dear Lord, thank You for teaching me that I must stay strong whenever I am confronted and my faith is challenged.  I know You will guide my words and actions through the Holy Spirit, and that through You and BECAUSE of You, I can accomplish anything.  In Jesus' name I pray, Amen!

God Bless!!!

God's Path

Isaiah 53:6 - All of us, like sheep, have strayed away.  We have left God's paths to follow our own.  Yet the Lord laid on Him the sins of us all.

Isaiah is telling us right here the purpose that Jesus was going to fulfill.  To bear our sins so that we may be saved.  He tells us that following our own paths leads to sin and death, but God's path will restore us.

I followed my own path for so long, and I am so blessed that God loves me so much that He waited for me.  I know He didn't want me to die.  He chose me a long time ago to share in His Glorious Kingdom.  It simply doesn't get any better than that!

Dear Lord, thank You for Your eternal patience and love for waiting for me to step off of my path to follow Yours.  Amen!

God Bless!!!