Weekly wisdom

Don't run from your trials.
Everyone faces many trials; however, these trials are not in vain. God uses them to do a work in us, developing us into mature Christians.

In James 1:2-4, we are told, Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. In other words, God uses the tough times in life to sharpen us, making us mature and complete Christians.

Furthermore, God will not permit you to remain in the same trials all of your life; in His proper timing He will deliver you. Psalm 34:17 says, The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles.

So don't run from your trials, because the testing of your faith develops you into a mature and complete Christian.

Daily devotions.net

And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world.
(1 John 4:14 NRSV Bible)
I remember a story of a lady who went to a local pet shop. She browsed around for a while and saw a beautiful parrot. She told the owner of the store that she just had to have the parrot. The owner said, "Oh, I can't let you have that parrot." The lady insisted. The owner said, "I'm sorry I can't let you have that parrot. It lets out the worst profanity you could ever image." The lady said, "That's OK. I will train it." The owner finally gave in and sold the parrot.
The lady, with great excitement, takes her new parrot home. She gets the parrot's cage all set up and puts the parrot in the cage. After the parrot checks out its new home, it lets out the worst profanity that you could ever imagine. The lady says, "I'm going to teach you an important lesson." She then takes the parrot out of the cage and puts it into the freezer for a few minutes.

After she takes the parrot out of the freezer, the parrot rubbing its wings says, "I have just one question for you. What did the turkey in there say?"

The turkey in the freezer was no doubt frozen, but we don't have to be frozen in the past. It does not matter what we have done in the past or what mistakes we have made. With Jesus Christ as the king of our lives, we are forgiven and brought into the loving presence of God. That is the best image we can have of Jesus Christ. Now, let's share that image of Christ with others, like others have done for us.

Dear God, thaw out my hard heart that I may truly live with Jesus as my king. In Jesus Name, Amen.
Ron Newhouse

Words of reflection

"When we look at what we want and then compare it with what we have, we will be unhappy. When we think of what we deserve rather than of what we have, we will thank God." A. Tremblay

Wednesday

Blessed is anyone who endures temptation. (James 1:12 NRSV Bible)
None of us is beyond temptation. It is a foolish Christian who treats temptation as no threat, believing he or she cannot fall. We are all susceptible at times, and if we are not vulnerable in one area, we usually are in some other.
During the early days of the Civil War, body armor became a bit of a fad, especially in the North. Some of this body armor did not work very well. In other words, it failed to stop bullets. Some of it actually saved some lives, however. The danger lay in believing it made one invincible.
Paul writes in Galatians 6:1, "My friends, if anyone is detected in a transgression, you who have received the Spirit should restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness. Take care that you yourselves are not tempted."
Dear God, guard me from temptation, and keep me from falling into the trap of thinking I am invincible. In Jesus name, Amen.
Ron Newhouse

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life. (John 6:35 NRSV Bible)
When we allow Jesus Christ into our lives we become different people. We become more Christ-like in our attitude and behavior.
According to German folklore there once was a wicked man who wore the mask of a saint to woo and win the saintly girl he loved. Years later when a castoff girl friend discovered the deception, she challenged him to take off the mask in front of his beloved and show his face for the sorry thing he was. He did what he was told only to discover that underneath the saint's mask, his face had become the face of a saint.
The food Jesus offers us is the eternal food, the food that will change us. Jesus said, "The one who eats this bread will live forever."
God of all things, thank you for sending the bread of life for me. In Jesus name, Amen.
Ron Newhouse

Verse of the day

Exodus 15:2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.

I can do all I want, but it isn't enough

Zechariah 4:6 He said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: 'Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty."

Simple today..... not by any any means physical can we overcome evil. Sin isn't about "whipping it out of you" or "beating the sin out of someone" . It is only by GOD'S  power can it happen.
In the words of Paul "
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me." 2 Cor. 12:9

Paul writes, "And I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea that are in Christ; they only heard it said, 'The one who formerly was persecuting us is now proclaiming the faith he once tried to destroy.' And they glorified God because of me." (Galatians 1:22- 24 NRSV Bible)
Notice in our scripture reading today that the people did not glorify Paul. They glorified God because they knew that real change comes as a gift from God.
There is a story of a Daddy Longleg that was trying to get free from a spider web under a chair. The Daddy Longleg had seven free legs and one leg that was caught in the web. The Daddy Longleg would pull and pull trying to free itself only it couldn't get enough traction on the slick concrete floor. So every time it would gain a little ground, it would slide back to the same place it started. This went on for about 5 minutes. The onlooker felt so sorry for the poor fellow he reached down and set him free.
We are much like that Daddy Longleg. We are trapped in sin. It may be only one little area of our life that we have not yet yielded to Christ. But like that Daddy Longleg we gain a little ground spiritually, only to slide back frustrated and disappointed in our inability to make any significant change. May we give our all to follow in the footsteps of our savior Jesus Christ. - daily devotions.net

Dailydevotions.net 13july2016

So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:27 NRSV Bible)
Have you ever heard the phrase, "God doesn't make junk?" God can make a castle out of what we think is junk. In fact, God loves making castles out of what we think is junk. If there is anybody reading this today who feels like your life is nothing but junk, you are just the person God is looking for. You can make God's day. Let God turn what you think is junk into something beautiful and majestic.
There is a story of a doctor who tried to place a stethoscope on a little girl's heart, telling her that she wanted to listen to it.
"Oh, no!" the little girl protested. "My heart is in my back."
"Where did you get that idea?" the doctor asked.
"Well, when I do something good, Grandma pats me on the back and says, 'Bless your little heart.'"
Grandmas always seem to give their hearts to their grandchildren. God has given us God's heart through Jesus who turns our junk into a blessing.
Dear God, please continue to turn my junk into something beautiful. In Jesus name, Amen.
Ron Newhouse

You are cared for

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.

You are never alone. Someone is thinking about you always. No matter how low, how high,how sad, or happy. Someone wants the best for you. It doesn't feel that way at times..... but faith is not about seeing but believing. When you think all hope is lost. When you think you can't do it anymore.

GOD loves you and wants the best for you. HE sees further than you can imagine. Trust. Love. Til the end.

Peace, hope, love.....
-dje

Verse

Psalm 42:2 My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?

Dailydevotions.net

Jesus said, "So do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today."(Matthew 6:34 NRSV Bible)

Do you know why many people worry? Worry is a substitute for faith. Worry does for some people what faith does for others. Have you heard anybody say, "Don't tell me it doesn't help to worry. Most of the things I worry about never happen!" They really mean it. Some people are genuinely concerned that if they fail to worry, that which they fear will happen.
In a Peanuts cartoon, Linus was talking to Charlie Brown and observed: "I guess it's wrong always to be worrying about tomorrow. Maybe we should think only about today." Charlie Brown replied, "No, that's giving up. I'm still hoping that yesterday will get better."
What we need to do is to focus our attention on the things that are really important. Our families, for example. Many of us are more fortunate than we deserve with our families. We've got great kids though they may get on our nerves from time to time.
Whether or not they still live at home. I know I am very thankful for Matt and Michele. They have been a real blessing to me. We may not live in Beverly Hills or the Trump Tower, but our house is warm and full of God's grace. And most important, we need to focus on our relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Jesus calls us to focus on what is really important.

Other seeds fell on good soil and brought forth grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. (Matthew 13.8 NRSV Bible)
A Western reporter interviewed Boris Yeltsin once. When asked what gave him the courage to stand firm and help insure the fall of Communism in the former U.S.S.R., Yeltsin credited the story he had read of Lech Walesa, the electrician who helped bring democracy to Poland several years ago.
Similarly, Walesa has stated that he was inspired by reading accounts of the civil rights movement in this country, led by the late Dr. Martin Luther King.
Dr. King has indicated that he was spurred to action when he learned of the courage of one woman, Rosa Parks, who simply refused to sit in the back of the bus.
We seldom know the potential of the seed we will sow. God gives us seeds. It's up to us how we are going to use the seeds we are given. If we water and nurture the seed, however, at harvest time the yield will be fantastic, beyond belief.
Lord Jesus, help me to sow seeds of love and hope. In your name I pray. Amen.
Ron Newhouse - dailydevotions.net

pause
Faithfulness can seem impossible sometimes. There are so many things God hopes for us to do and not do. We wonder how we can possibly live up to the letter of the law.

But when we really dig down, the spirit of the law is not so difficult. God loves us and empowers us to love back to God and out to others. That’s it: love is the law.
listen
The Lord your God will help you succeed in everything you do—in your own fertility, your livestock’s offspring, and your land’s produce—everything will be great! Because the Lord will once again enjoy doing good things for you just as he enjoyed doing them for your ancestors, and because you will be obeying the Lord your God’s voice, keeping his commandments and his regulations that are written in this Instruction scroll, and because you will have returned to the Lord your God with all your heart and all your being.

Deuteronomy 30:9-10
- from D365