Category: Witness

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Acknowledge

“If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.” 1 John 4:15 NIV

Jesus is the Son of God. I have never heard a truer sentence.

Can you do that? Do you do that?

Acknowledging that Jesus is the Son of God is hard for some people because they are still living with the mindset of wanting to fit in with the world, the people around them. Being a follower of Jesus is something that they hide.

However, Jesus did not hide wanting to help and save ALL of mankind, even the individual who is afraid to acknowledge Jesus is the Son of God out loud. He proudly acknowledged His Father who sent Him and He went to the cross for each one of us.

If you know that Jesus is the Son of God, I pray that you are willing to acknowledge it and acknowledge it out loud to others.

Have a great day!

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A prayer for all

“Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” Psalms 86:11 NIV

When we first are saved, we tend to be excited to learn as much as we can about Jesus and the unconditional love that He offers. As time passes and we spend that time as a Christian in this world, we have choices to make. We can either choose to continue following God or we can choose to revert back to our old ways of doing things, the way the world does things.

To me, this verse that is contained in the 86th psalm, is a prayer. A prayer that every believer can pray at any time. It expresses to God our desire to get closer to Him than we are at that present moment. That means that Christians who are still early in their walk can pray this prayer and embrace it as a prayer to help them grow. It also means that Christians who are seasoned are able to pray this prayer as a way of getting even closer to God than they are.

This verse or prayer, however you wish to view it, is the essence of what we long for. We long to know the way that our Lord Jesus wants us to walk, so our walk looks like His. We long to have the comfort of knowing that He is eternally faithful to us even though we do not deserve it, even on our best days. We long to have a heart that is only focused on Jesus. Not one that is divided between pleasing Him and those around us. Not divided between following God’s plan for our lives and fulfilling our own plan.

Fearing God’s name is not quaking in our boots, it is reverential respect. Knowing that we can do nothing without God and that He has given us free will to pursue whatever we want, whether it is following Him or not, is the ultimate act of love. As Christians we should want to show the level of respect that that kind of love deserves.

Heavenly Father, teach me your way, Lord. Teach me so that I can follow Your will and know that You are always faithful. Give me an undivided heart, so I am always focused on You. Help me to give You the respect that You deserve. In Jesus’s precious name. Amen

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Continue in faith

“if you continue in your faith, established and firm, and do not move from the hope held out in the gospel. This is the gospel that you heard and that has been proclaimed to every creature under heaven, and of which I, Paul, have become a servant.” Colossians 1:23 NIV

Paul was writing to the churches in Colossae while he was in prison for proclaiming Christ as the Messiah. He had not met the believers in Colossae but had heard great things about them and was wanting to encourage them to continue to grow in their walk with Christ.

Paul is telling the churches at Colossae that if they are truly committed to Christ then they are to continue to live according to the gospel. The truths they have heard are the foundation that they have built their faith on and that is Christ. They are to not give up hope but to persevere in trials that they will face, including in their everyday life such as not living like the world lives.

What does that look like in today’s world? The idea of continuing in our faith, not moving from the hope we have from the gospel. It looks like living in such a way as to be removed from the ways of the world. Removed from the idea of following our fleshly desires and instead we listen to the Holy Spirit. Wanting to follow what God wants for our lives, staying in communication with God constantly.

Dear Heavenly Father, Please help us to be in constant communication with You, so we are able to discern what You want us to do. Help us then to be obedient to Your will. Thank You for Your love and guidance. In Jesus’s name. Amen.

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Being a good friend

“A gossip betrays a confidence; so avoid anyone who talks too much.” Proverbs 20:19 NIV

This is a straightforward verse. It is not a verse that many people want to think about because no one truly likes to be called out on a negative behavior. Gossip is a very hard behavior to deal with. This is a behavior that our enemy, the devil, has figured out how to manipulate so that we may not even realize we are behaving in that manner until we are in the middle of it.

When we are told something in confidence that we feel led to pray about, our inclination can be to ask other Christians to help by praying as well. This is a wonderful idea, however, this is when we have to be extra careful in what we say. If we ask others to pray for another person and do not give their name or situation, I believe that is fine as God knows the person and circumstances.

When we decide we are going to give a small amount of information about the person or circumstance, we should know the personality of the one we are asking to pray. Some people are fine at being asked to pray and not having any information about the request. Some people are better at praying for others when they know the name of who they are praying for and unfortunately there are the people who have a challenge focusing on the prayer because they want to know the rest of the information.

Our enemy is sneaky and will take this good hearted desire to help others, praying for them and having a group of people pray for another individual, and he places the thought that maybe telling just the person what is going on will help them to really pray specifically for the need. The challenge is that often times that little amount of information can be turned into incorrect information that is spread around or the person who came to you in confidence doesn’t really want anyone else to know any of what is going on. Truly keeping the information to ourselves is important. We can ask others to pray for someone without giving any information beyond, the person needs prayer.

As much as we are to not be a person who gossips, we are also to keep in mind what we know about how well another person can keep a confidence when we decide to talk about issues others are having that we have been asked to pray for. So, as the new year begins, if you have a resolution about controlling your tongue, this verse may prove to be helpful when you are searching for biblical backing.

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Be on guard

“Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong. Do everything in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 NIV

In 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 Paul has a lot to say. He is encouraging the believers in Corinth on several fronts and that areas he is encouraging them about rely on each other. First he is telling them to be on guard, to be watching around them, knowing what is going on in their community, church and family. Sometimes people like to overlook things so that they don’t have to admit them or address them. Paul is telling the church in Corinth and I believe us as well since we are followers of Christ too, to be alert to our surroundings. The believers in Corinth were going against their culture and customs in some areas and knowing what was happening around them enabled them to not return to those ways using the reasoning of ‘not knowing what was going on’.

The second thing is to stand firm in our faith. This means to not give up. The believers in Corinth were very new to the faith and this way of living. Paul was encouraging them to not lose heart but to remember that Christ was there for them, that their faith was worth dealing with hard times. There are going to be times when things get hard for us as well, and we should expect that because being a follower of Jesus does not give us a guarantee of a life without problems. Actually, it sometimes initiates some problems because not everyone else is a follower of Jesus. No matter what, we are to stand firm in our faith, don’t let life’s problems or hard times, shake our faith that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. He didn’t let hard times stop Him from standing in His faith that His father in heaven was with Him.

The third thing is to be courageous. As I said, these areas go together, and being courageous is made stronger by remaining firm in our faith, knowing Who we have on our side. In addition to making hard choices in life, being courageous or brave can also mean keeping our word or promises. When we follow through with what we have said we would do or not do in the face of adversary, we are being brave and courageous. This is especially challenging for new believers, which is what the believers in Corinth were dealing with. It is hard because not everyone around them believed what they did and challenged them, probably daily. We go through this same challenge as we begin to develop our walk with God and become courageous.

The fourth is to be strong. Strong, as Paul is talking about here, is not just physical strength, it is also emotional strength. The male population of Paul’s time were not very good at acknowledging emotional needs or strengths. They were better at exercising self-control than admitting that they couldn’t do something. So for us, when we recognize that we can admit when we are wrong, that we can exercise self-control, we are showing that we are being emotionally strong. Again, this can be built on knowing what is happening around us, being willing to remain in our faith and being courageous. By building those areas up in our lives, we are able to admit a weakness and it not destroy us as a person.

The fifth is to do everything in love. Paul writes in a later chapter of this book, that love is the greatest of 3 things, hope, faith and love. Love truly ties everything together. He was letting them know and letting us know that without love that our awareness of what is happening around us is dulled, our ability to stand firm in our faith is weakened, our willingness to be courageous is challenged and our committed to Christ, overall, is not strong.

Paul is reminding all of us that love is the greatest weapon against evil, against our enemy. Without love we are not as powerful as believers in Christ as we can be. Let’s not let our enemy have any kind of upper hand in our lives. Let’s practice and build, each and every one of these areas, each and every day of our lives so that our enemy has no foothold on us.

Heavenly Father, thank You for being our Lord and Savior. Thank You for always giving us what we need to be able to do Your Will, and be the warriors of our faith that You know we are capable of being. Because of You, Lord, we are able stand strong in our faith and show our enemy everyday that we are Your children. Please be with us as we continue to walk out our faith, growing stronger each day. In Your Son’s most precious name, Amen.

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Do you have a word for the year?

“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.” Psalms 130:5 NIV

About 5 years ago, I heard about a practice of ‘having a word for the year’. I heard about it on “The Message” channel of Sirius XM. So, over the past several years, I have tried to think of a word to focus on each year. When I heard about this practice I decided to give it a chance, and 5 years later I believe it is still a good practice to have. Since 2020, I have focused on the words PEACE, GRACE, LOVE, FAITH and OBEDIENCE. So this year, I have been thinking a lot about the word HOPE.

I had a friend named Hope who went home to be with the Lord in 2023 and recently I have been thinking about her a lot. So I want to focus this year on the word HOPE. Hope is defined in the bible as “a confident expectation of what God has promised in the future”. There are so many verses in the Bible about this word, Jeremiah 29:11 and Romans 5:5 to name a few. So I don’t think it will be hard to study this word through the year.

In the beginning of this psalm, David is looking for God. He is searching for forgiveness. So he is determined to wait for God. When David says that his whole being waits, he is telling us that he is all in. He is not giving up on his waiting for God, he is instead determined to remain in hope. The hope that God will answer his prayer and forgive him. David knows God has promised His children that He will answer their prayers.

God continues with that promise even today, when we go to Him in prayer. It may take a while and it may not be the answer you are looking for, but He will answer it. When we remain in that place of hope, we can commit to remaining there as well. Putting our whole being into something is total commitment, God is pleased when we totally commit ourselves to Him.

Some people are afraid to hope for things, but with God we never have to be afraid to hope. God is with us always. So as you begin this new year, I encourage you to think about picking a word that you can focus on for the year and then search for it in the Bible, study God’s Word in regards to it. I pray that you have begun your year in God’s Word and have plans to remain there, growing in your faith and walk with God as you study. Have a great day!!!!

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Changes

As of today, January 1, 2025, I will be posting my blog “For His Honor” a few times a week instead of daily. I am not sure how long this will be for and there may come a time when the blog is posted daily again, but at this time I feel led to cut back on the rate at which I was posting my blog. I am struggling with not having enough time to properly study the verse or verses and then write the devotions.

So, here is the devotion for today…

“But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.” Colossians 3:8 NIV

I know that this is an odd verse to start a new year off with, but if you think about a new year as a time when you are able to make changes, begin with a clean slate, then I believe this verse applies. This verse covers many areas, our hearts, our tongues, our minds and our actions. These seem like extreme categories but if we let it sink in for a moment, I believe we can all say that we have some actions that, if not kept under control could begin to fit in these categories. I know we don’t walk around expressing rage or we don’t have malice in our hearts, but we are human and we are not perfect. We may not mean to be saying things about others or using profanity but we all slip at times.

I am talking to myself as much as I am talking to anyone else. I get angry, and in moments of frustration I have said things that I don’t want to say and don’t mean to say, but I have said them. I have asked for forgiveness, and I know that God has forgiven me. However, I don’t want that way of thinking or that way of expressing myself to be how I interact with others. It is not who I am and I don’t want to become that person. I don’t believe I can direct others to Christ acting in that manner, and that is my chief goal, to direct others to Jesus. We can all do that through how we show the love to other people that He has shown us.

As this new year begins, I am going to focus my prayers on making sure I am listening to God’s voice and following His direction in regards to any changes He feels I need to make in my life. I encourage you that if you want to make changes as the new year begins, to take this time, pray and ask God to direct you in any changes He feels need to be made in your life. Then, relying on Him, join me in doing our best to make the changes as this new year begins.

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Where is your hope?

“Blessed are those whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord their God.” Psalm 146:5 NIV

Verses 3 and 4 in this chapter are filled with warnings about placing hope and trust in anyone other than God. We are not perfect, we all have sinned, we all break promises at some point in our lives and we all are bound to make mistakes, but God does not. God doesn’t break promises or make mistakes for He is perfect.

The author of this psalm is warning in the verses 3 and 4 about this but then is able to turn this psalm from a psalm of sadness or negativity into one of hope and assurance. Blessed are those whose help is in God. Blessed, not cursed. This is wonderful.

The word ‘blessed’ in the Bible means to find favor with God and to have inner peace. This peace is a peace that no one else can offer or anything else can produce, it only comes from God. When we place our hope and source of help in God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit, we are placing it in the only place that is guaranteed.

When we look to God for our help and place our hope there as well, we are favored by God because He wants us to come to Him for help. He wants us to place our hope in Him because He is our creator and wants to be close to us. He will not force Himself on us because being loved by us when we have no choice is not truly being loved. Love comes as a freewill choice of the person giving it. God made it that way so when we choose to love Him, it would be because we want to love Him not because we have to love Him.

Where do you place your hope?

Where do you go for help?

I pray both of your answers are…God, but if they are not then I invite you to change where you place your hope and where you go for help. I invite you to choose to place your hope in the One True God. Lord over everything, in heaven and on earth, our Creator. Ask God to be your Lord and Savior, accept Him into your heart. Know that the place you can go to for help is the only true place where you are guaranteed to be heard. God hears you and wants you to willingly come to Him for help. God wants to help His children.

Where do you want to place your hope?

Where do you want to go to for help?

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Two or three

“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20 ESV

This verse speaks comfort to me. My home church congregation is not very large in number but I strongly believe this verse. I feel our Lord fill our chapel as we gather to worship Him. It is wonderful to know that for my Lord to be present there doesn’t have to be a large group of people. He is right in the midst of only a few people, just as He is in the midst of a large number of people.

Because Jesus is omnipresent, He can be everywhere all at the same time, in many gatherings, large and small in number. He doesn’t require us to be in a certain place, for it to be a certain time or for us to have a certain number of people gathered to be available to us to worship Him, discuss and learn about Him, pray to Him. That is wonderful because there are individuals who think that our Lord is only available at a certain time each day, in a certain place and only with the ‘right’ number of people present.

I, absolutely, want to see large gatherings of believers and non-believers who are looking for Jesus, that would be exciting. However, I love that Jesus is willing to be with us, revealing Himself to us in worship regardless of the number of people that have gathered. Jesus is very interested in relationships and wants to build relationships with us and for us to build relationships with each other. The most important relationship is the one we enter into with Jesus. He gave His life for ours so we don’t have to pay the penalty of eternal damnation for all of our sins. That is someone I want to be in a relationship with, someone who loves me that much.

So big or small in number, plentiful in resources or not, believers should gather together to worship Jesus and know that He is there among us. Have a wonderful day.

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Building others up

“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Ephesians 4:29 NIV

Paul, in his letter to the Ephesians, addressed several things. Again they were a church body that was very diverse and struggled with unity due to customs that were centuries old. Apparently one area that they struggled with was controlling their tongues. This is a battle for everyone, some people have honed this better than others, but we all struggle with it just like the people in Ephesus. Paul wanted the members of the church in Ephesus to be united in Christ and to help each other grow in their faith, not tear each other down.

As members of the body of Christ, we are to love each other, forgive each other and encourage each other. Jesus taught love, forgiveness mercy, and as His followers, we should be living in that manner as well. This is not only for us, who give love and then receive love, who give forgiveness and then receive forgiveness, but also for anyone who is not a follower of Jesus because they are witnesses to what the love of God can look like.

At Christmas time, we are more inclined to be kinder to each other, we tend to say nicer things to each other than we do at other times of the year. Whatever the reason for this behavior change, I believe that if we can do this during the Christmas season, then we should be able to do it throughout the rest of the year.

I encourage everyone in your prayer time with God to ask for clarity to see if this is an area you can grow in. Even as much as I think that I build others up no matter what time of year it is, I believe I can grow in this area. My challenge to us all is to live our lives so that those around us who are not followers of Jesus are able to see what the love of God can look like.