12-1/2-2018 Take It Through The Week

12-1/2-2018 Take It Through The Week
Monday – Exodus 34:29–30 There is something different about someone who walks with
the Lord. Yes, Moses literally shone with the presence of God when he descended from the
Mountain of God. No, God doesn’t expect you and I to shine like that. That was a totally
unique occurrence in the history of mankind. It marked the beginning of God writing
down exactly what He expected of us, and what man most needed of Him. Mostly, we need
time with God daily. Partly for our own spiritual well-being, and partly because we are
God’s message of light and love to a dark and empty world. How you spend time with God
is up to you. The study you are reading now, is one way. The main thing is to not let
yourself be distracted by the daily grind. Religion without relationship is not relevant. It
will never satisy. It is not what God requires. God gave Moses the Ten Commandments
and then built a system of relationship that ultimately, required the blood of Jesus to
complete. Man’s right to pray daily, and walk with God is precious to God. Don’t be
distracted from it. Do it daily. When you do, the people you love will know that something
is different about you. And you will be a blessing to them. Stop right now and pray for God
to help you walk with Him daily.
Tuesday – Job 36:7 He does not remove His gaze from the righteous. Do you ever feel
alone? Do you ever feel like no one understands you? There is a promise here that we can
take heart in. He does not remove His gaze from the righteous. He sees you. He knows what
you are going through. He understands what you feel and how you hurt, when you hurt.
He laughs with you, when you laugh. You are a terribly important part of God’s creation
that He is intimately aware of. Oh but wait, you don’t feel righteous? Good! If you felt
righteous, then you wouldn’t be. Our righteousness comes to us by faith, not by our own
efforts. Read Romans 5:1. Who has declared we are righteous? God Himself. Why? It is
because we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Pray with me. Thank you
God, for watching me and caring for me. You see me as righteous in Jesus Christ. He
is my Lord and my Savior. I love You and ask You to watch over me and my family. In
Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
Wednesday – Psalms 34:15-16 The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and… Did you
ever just need to cry out for help? We all get overwhelmed sometimes. Have you ever
screamed into a pillow? You just needed to yell, or you were gonna bust? We all have that
feeling sometimes. In that moment, God’s Word reaches down through the centuries and
becomes very real to us. His ears are open to their cry for help… The God who originated
everything that exists, is listening for your cry for help. In the midst of everything that is
happening, everywhere in the universe, He is ready to hear you before anything else. Is
there a planet colliding with a star trillions of light years away? That is secondary to the
cry of your heart, when you need help. Is there star becoming a super-nova, somewhere in
God’s universe? You are more important to God. Moreover, those who frustrate you, those
who do what is evil, God is aware of them. In His own time He is moving to erase all the
memory of them from the earth. You are a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. You are God’s
highest and most important creation. God is someday, going to do away with evil and He is
going to do away with evil-doers. Until then, He sees you. He hears you. He loves you. Take
a few minutes and express your gratitude to Him. Tell Him you love Him.
Thursday – Proverbs 4:18-19 I am not necessarily an early riser. Well…I am not at all an
early riser. I have done it and will do it, but I don’t like it. But if I do get up at the crack of
dawn, I rarely miss the moment of first light. Many times I have been hunting and watched
breathlessly as the darkness becomes light. It is the best show on earth. Learning God’s
Way is like watching the sunrise. The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining
brighter and brighter until midday. As you walk with the Lord on the path of the righteous,
life becomes more clear. That is called a Christian Worldview. We view all of the events of
life through the pages of the Holy Scriptures. We consider God’s plans more important
than ours because, in reality, we don’t have any. With a Christian Worldview, we are
constantly seeking God’s plan. And as we do, things become clearer to us. Pray with me.
Lord, I choose to see everything in life, through Your Word. Help me learn it and apply
it in my life. Help me to understand. Give me spiritual eyes and ears to get what You
want me to get. Then help me to give it away to others. Help me lead others to want to
see this world through Your Word. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.
Friday – Proverbs 20:7 We all want our children to be happy. And we all learn along the
way, that perhaps what we thought would make them happy, really didn’t do that at all. Is
there a parent among us who hasn’t been amazed to see our children open their
Christmas packages and then when the “new” has worn off, want something else? Many
times, the things we think will make them happy, actually has the opposite effect.
Sometimes, they just wind up wanting more. So let’s set our sights on giving them
something that will always bless them. The one who lives with integrity is righteous; his
children who come after him will be happy. Integrity is the gift that keeps on giving,
generation to generation. What is integrity? In the Bible, integrity is doing what God says
to do. Let me illustrate. Years ago, God opened up a passage of scripture for me that has
plagued/blessed me ever since. While it often plaques me by confronting how I feel at the
moment, it always blesses me when I curb my feelings and choose God’s Word. Read
James 1:19-20. Here’s what it means. Every time I get angry and loose my temper it’s my
fault, no matter what “made” me mad. Every time I get angry and loose my temper, it is
sin, regardless of my “reasons”. That is something I have communicated to my children. So
neither of my children has a bad temper. If they do have a bad day, they consider it to be
sin and apologize for it. That’s the perfect illustration for what integrity is in the Bible. It
will always bless and never cause unhappiness, long-term. Take a few moments and pray.
Ask God for integrity. Ask Him for yourself and two other people you know.
Saturday – Romans 8:15-17 God doesn’t want us to be enslaved. Freedom to live and
grow and be victorious was God’s idea. Slavery is man’s idea. The greatest evils this world
has ever known, have been associated with men who were willing to take other men’s
freedom away from them. Many who don’t know God, think Christians to be foolish. It’s
because to become a Christian, means you lose your “freedom”. Christians have to go to
church every Sunday. Christians tithe. Christians can’t get drunk. Christians can’t
participate in sex as a recreational sport. Rather marriage should be only between one
man and a woman. Christians can’t go about randomly fathering children by multiple
women and procreating as much as possible. Rather they are called to be a husband and a
wife. Together they are to give their children a stable home and raise them in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord. But those of us who understand what we gain by giving up
the world, are happy, because we receive so much more than we ever gave up. For you did
not receive a spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption…
As Christians, we are not slaves to sin, but we are adopted into the family of God, as sons
and daughters. Pray with me. Father, I thank You that I have lost nothing, in becoming
Your child. Thank You Jesus for all You gave up, so that I could have everything. I love
You and I want to serve You all the days of my life. Holy Spirit, move me to know I am
an heir of God and a co-heir with Christ. Help me to endure and persevere in anything
that comes my way in this life. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.