John 8:31-32

31)To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32)Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.

      How many times do we as humans find ourselves asking what the truth is on issues or people?  If we are honest, we will channel these questions to the Lord.  While He was on Earth, we found that Christ was praying to the Father, constantly, as He embarked on each day’s ministries.

      Jesus emphasized the importance of perseverance, the God inspiried utilization of talents… read Matthew 25:14-17.  We are not supposed to hide our talents; instead, we are to use them for the glory of God.  What our Lord has created has a purpose. The truth is that we are special and chosen.

      When we dwell on what His Spirit reveals to us about ourselves, that is when we will be inspired to step out in faith.  Step by step, He is going to lead us into His perfect will.  I want to encourage all of us to not listen to ourselves, to others, or the Enemy.  May we all be fruitful disciples of Christ!

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%20136&version=ESV

       This month, we celebrated Valentine’s  Day; I figured this would be the perfect time to talk about the subject of love and how perfectly Christ has demonstrated this.  The place to start would be Jesus Himself.  As John stated, those who do not exhibit love really don’t know God  (1 John 4:8).  In 1 John 4:16, the Apostle went on to state that those who practice love abide in Him.

     That leads right into Psalm 136, which highlights the mercies/love of God expressed in creation.  It then describes how God punished the Pharoah and led the Children of Israel through the Red Sea.  It went on to describe how God took care of them in the Wilderness and defeated their enemies in various battles. Obviously,  the greatest expression of Christ’s love would be His death on the cross.  He saw how needy mankind was and stooped down to save us.

     To close this blog/devotional,  I wanted to open the door for those who don’t know God to let Him in.  I wanted to encourage that, and for those who know Him to remind them of how loved they are.  When we renew our minds and live in Him, we will have fruit that shows this type of love.  In my life, many times, the Holy Spirit has shown me that my lack of peace could be related to not letting Him fill me with His love.  After all, John also highlighted that perfect love casts out all fear ( 1 John 4:18).  Our Heavenly Father is the only one I know of who has perfect love!  Please share ways God has demonstrated this love in your life, down in the comments.  God bless!

Jeremiah 29:13-14

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Jeremiah%2029%3A13-14&version=NIV

      I would like to share today about the topic of drawing close to God.  The key to this is to lay down our pride, to honestly admit that we need to get more in touch with the Heavenly Father.  God desires hearts that are fully in tune with Him.  In order to have a life that has a lovely sound, there needs to be a conductor who has perfect pitch.

     Praise God that He is all-knowing!  He is aware of what every child of His needs and at what time in life.  He is the perfect parent.  As every parent knows, it takes a relationship with the children in order to know what they need.  When the guardian observes their temperament and their development, the best choices can be made in their lives. When the children learn that the parents care about them, a beautiful relationship can develop. 

     My prayer is that we all will come into a fuller knowledge of Him; we need to seek Him with our whole hearts. In striving for this fellowship, we are going to have peace and joy coming from us!  Jesus loves us so much!

Psalm 9:1

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     This week, God has been reminding me of His goodness and how wonderful He is!  The only way to keep ourselves from anger and depression is by focusing on the facts about our Lord.  If we are misled into believing God is wanting bad to come our way, it separates us from Him.  It prevents us from having the beautiful fellowship He desires.   Instead, we should be praising the name of the Lord.

    I remember reading in the Bible how the song leaders were put in front of the Children of Israel, as they went out to battle (2 Chronicles 20:21-23).  Jehosaphat sure made a wonderful decision of having them sing about the goodness of God!  God smiled from Heaven and defeated those from Ammon, Moab, and Mt Seir.  It is true that there are many times we may not feel like worshipping  God;  but, isn’t He the source of our power?  He deserves to be praised!  The joy of the Lord is our strength (Nehemiah 8:10)!