For His Honor

“Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:16-17 NIV

John is talking here about the new way of living that Jesus is introducing to everyone through His ministry, a way of peace, truth, love and grace. The law that was given to Moses was what was needed at that time but was very inflexible. If you broke one law, you broke them all.

Jesus came so that we could have life and life abundantly. Jesus replaced the Mosaic Law with the Law of the Messiah, it came through Jesus and His sacrifice. The law of Moses did not allow for any errors or room for growth through making mistakes. The way of life that Jesus offers is the opposite, it embraces that we are going to make mistakes. That is why there is grace.

Also, God’s supply of grace is endless, He doesn’t give each person only so much grace and once they use it they are out of grace. No, God’s grace is sufficient for all because it is meant for all and it is for all time.

Have you accepted God’s grace? If you haven’t, do you want to accept God’s grace? If so, pray to God and ask for direction, find a friend who is a Christian and talk about Who it is that they follow, find a Bible teaching church and speak with the pastor. Do any of these or all of these, but please do it, your eternal life, where you will spend eternity, depends on it.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.  Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1:2-4 NIV

Paul is telling his brothers and sisters in Christ that it is not if they face trials but when they face trials. Keeping this in mind, he is encouraging them to understand that trials do not produce faith, but tests our faith. The testing is to help us see how much faith we already have. Faith is very important to our walk, just as our heart is very important to our bodies. The devil targets our faith as any enemy would target our heart in battle.

Paul then talks about trials that test our faith producing patience. However, this only happens if we approach the trial with the right attitude because otherwise it will produce bitterness and resentment. Bitterness and resentment do not help us grow in our walk with God, they hinder it.

So as we face trials that test our faith, I pray that we embrace them so that bitterness and resentment do not creep in but that patience is able to be developed. Have a wonderful day.

“I will praise the Lord, who counsels me; even at night my heart instructs me. I keep my eyes always on the Lord.  With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.” Psalm 16:7-8 NIV

There is not a great deal to be said about these verses because they are straight forward. David was a man and a king who knew that he was only capable of being the king he was and doing the things he did because his focus was on God. David listened to God as God directed him. David had done this from a young age and continued to seek God’s guidance, listen to God’s directives and follow God’s path for him throughout his life. He had placed God first in his life.

In David’s time, as it is now, there were many false gods. The false gods of David’s time were made of precious metals and were actually statues. The false gods of today are less obvious, some of them are the pursuit of fame and the pursuit of money. Just as many in David’s time thought that the false gods could give them direction, many people now believe that if they attain fame and have enough money that they will know how they are to live their lives. As the false gods of today are not as obvious, we have to be very alert as to who we are choosing to seek and follow when we are looking for guidance and direction.

Only the One True God, Who is alive, can give direction when He is sought. David knowing this, writes it in his Psalms so that others could be enlightened. We, today, are also able to benefit from David’s wisdom of seeking the One True God.

David kept his eyes on the Lord, who do we keep our eyes on?

“Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” Hebrews 13:15 NIV

When I studied this seemingly simple verse, I found that it is saying a lot. First there is the idea that the word ‘through’ is talking about how the only way to remove the wall that separates us from God is to acknowledge Jesus as the final and permanent sacrificial offering. Acknowledge that He is the One who came to save the world by removing that wall that separates us from God, giving us the ability to communicate with God.

The next part, “Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise” is thought to be Paul talking about how, as Christians, we are sacrificing all that we are each and every day in order to follow God’s will for our lives. We know that God’s will is better than ours, but the idea of dying to self is hard at times as our desires are strongly rooted in us. However, the willful submission of them in order to follow God’s plan for our lives is our sacrifice of praise.

The last part, “the fruit of lips that openly profess His name.” conveys that we should be willing to speak out to God. That we should not be only thinking thoughts of praise to God but we should be vocalizing them, in song, poems, reciting of scripture or our own created prayers of praise. We are to be voicing our connection to God and expressing out loud how much thankful we are, how much we love our Lord and how much we want to be like Jesus.

So, as I read this verse, at first glance I didn’t take in all that it has to say about how important our public profession of faith in God is. However, knowing that the Christian path begins with knowing that Jesus is the path by which we are able to communicate with the Father, and the sacrifices of our desires for His desires is how we follow, then the idea of publicly professing our belief in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit is the natural conclusion.

If we are willing to give up our desires to follow God’s will for our lives, then we should be willing to say all of that in public for others to hear and possibly decide for themselves if they wish to do the same. This is a way of life that is too good not to share and to important to be kept to ourselves.

Do you openly profess God’s name?

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” Philippians 4:8 NIV

I have written on the 2 verses that precede this verse before. In Philippians 4:6-7, we are instructed by Paul to not worry about anything but with thanksgiving make all of our requests known to God and the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. This verse naturally follows as what we are to think about instead of all of the challenges and problems were are facing.

As we end the week of Thanksgiving, many of us have been thinking about what we are thankful for from the big things in our lives down to the little things that we some times or most time take for granted. Having been focusing on the positive things in life for the last week may have changed the mindset of some. I know it always does me good to focus for a while on the positives and push the negatives far from my mind.

So if we listen to Paul at this time, I pray that we would keep our focus on what is true, what is right, what is pure, what is lovely, what is admirable, what is excellent and what is praiseworthy. By keeping our minds focused on these things, I believe that we keep our minds focused on God, because all good things come from God.

I pray everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that as we move forward to celebrating the birth of Christ, our Lord and Savior, that we continue to give thanks and keep our focus on God. Keep giving thanks!

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV

This is the second devotion for this verse that I promised when I posted Wednesday’s devotional. I wrote about giving thanks on Wednesday and I want to look at rejoicing always today. The world would have us living life by a set of standards that places us in a mindset of negativity and a lifestyle of complaining. As I said on Wednesday, thankfully we don’t have to live by the world’s standards.

As a Christian, we have a different set of standards to live by, the ones put in place by Jesus. His idea of how to live is usually the exact opposite of what the world views as the way to live. The world will tell you that you should only feel and express the emotion that fits with the circumstance you are in. For example, if you are in a disagreement with another person, then you should feel angry or hurt by the situation and therefore you should express anger or sadness, possibly even entertain the idea of revenge. The way that Jesus instructs His followers to face that situation, is to have the emotion of anger or sadness, but to then give it to God, and choose to express love for the other person or show forgiveness for their part in the situation. See, the exact opposite.

The reason that Christians can choose to express joy at any time is because our joy is not determined by our situation, but by the fact that we are God’s children. If we rely on our situations to be joyful, then we are only joyful when the situation calls for it. Situations change which means our emotion changes per the world, but God doesn’t and since we are to base our joy in Him, our joy does not have to change. Even in some of the most difficult times in Christians’ lives, joy can be found.

As a Christian, an expression of joy in a difficult time doesn’t mean that we don’t experience other emotions such as sadness. Jesus isn’t saying we should not feel our emotions, we should, we are not robots. The difference is what we are choosing to do with our emotions at that moment. The world would say we are to remain in the sadness, where Jesus is telling us that we are to focus on Him and remain in the joy that we have because we are connected to Him. We are connected to Him because Jesus is always with us. As a child of God we can remember that situations change but God doesn’t change, we can count on Him remaining the same.

Are you able to rejoice in all things?

“So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.” Colossians 2:6-7 NIV

I know that I have written about these verses before, however, I purposely did not write about the last section of them during that post. I wanted to save this portion of the verse for today, Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving has always been a special holiday for me. I have always loved the food that is associated with this day. I have always loved the idea of having people gather and celebrate what we are thankful for in our daily lives.

When I still lived at home, my mother would invite her friends and people she worked with to Thanksgiving dinner, especially if she knew that they didn’t have family locally. Over the years, my husband and I have developed a tradition of opening our home up to our extended family’s friends for any occasion. Today is not going to be any different. We are blessed today to have several people outside of our immediate family join us to celebrate Thanksgiving.

I am thankful for the ability to be able to share what the Lord has blessed me and my husband with. I am thankful that the Lord brought me and my husband together and that my husband is such a giving person. I am thankful for the many blessings the Lord has given me and my family such as heat, clothes, food, a home, jobs, relationships, love and most importantly eternal salvation.

If you would like, please leave a comment about what you are thankful for, what you have been graciously blessed with. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

“Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV

As I said on Monday, with this being the week of Thanksgiving, I want to focus on verses that talk about being thankful. These verses have so much information in them that I am going to break up the devotion into 2 days. The first one will be today and the second one will be posted on Friday, with a special one tomorrow, as it is Thanksgiving.

Paul is writing to the church in Thessalonica. The Church there was known for being on fire for the Lord which meant that they faced persecution often. As a new Christian, persecution is one the devil’s most powerful tools as there may not be a firm foundation formed yet to rely on during the devil’s attacks. As all of the churches were fairly new, Paul was writing to encourage them as they faced that persecution. He wanted them to know that even when they faced difficult times, that they were able to rejoice, pray and give thanks. This must have sounded foreign to them as Paul tells them that even though their circumstances are not even close to ideal, that they should still be rejoicing, praying and giving thanks.

Most people would look at that list and say that they could understand praying continually as most people pray more when they are facing difficult situations. However, rejoicing and giving thanks when you are being attacked by the devil may feel almost impossible and by the world’s standards, it probably is almost impossible. Thankfully we don’t have to live by the world’s standards.

As a Christian, we have a different set of standards to live by, the ones put in place by Jesus. His idea of how to live is usually the exact opposite of what the world views as the way to live. The world will tell you that you should complain when things do not go your way, that you should be cranky with others because your situation is not what you want it to be. Jesus tells us that we should be thankful for what we do have even when we don’t have what we are desiring.

For example, if you are looking for a new job because the one you currently have is not where you think you should be and you have gone on several job interviews. However, you have not been offered any of them, then the world would tell you to be upset that you did not get any of them. Christ would encourage you to be thankful because even though you believe that you should be somewhere else, you are still currently employed.

The way that Christians can choose to give thanks, is because we are not giving thanks for everything, but we are giving thanks in everything. There is a difference, and that difference is that we are not depending on the roll of the dice in life, we don’t place our faith in fate, we choose to place it in God’s hands which we know are in charge of all things. It is a choice to express gratitude for what we have in Christ, which is a Savior who is always with us, who knows what we are going through, who gave His life for us so we can choose salvation and have eternal life with Him. That is an amazing thing to give thanks for.

As today is the day before Thanksgiving, I encourage everyone to not only think about the small things in life that you are thankful for, but to think about one particular thing you want to give God thanks for that has changed since you have accepted Christ into your life. See you back here tomorrow.

“speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” Ephesians 5:19-20 NIV

Music is such a wonderful way to worship and give thanks. In this letter, Paul is giving guidance to the church in Ephesus about Christian living which included worship. Singing in public worship has been done for thousands of years and is actually part of Christians inspiring worship in other Christians. Many people use this avenue to express their gratefulness and devotion to God whether in public or private.

According to Elliott’s Commentary, psalms were vocals and instruments together and hymns were only vocals. Both were used to worship God. By writing psalms, hymns and songs, Paul is suggesting all types of musical expression for the believer. Along with this expression of worship and devotion, it is evident that they were to be thankful for everything.

Do you ever find yourself in your car, in the shower or in your house, listening to music when you realize that you are singing? God gave us music to use to express ourselves. A large number of hymns as well as contemporary songs are based on giving thanks to our Lord and Savior. If you feel you are not a person who has a ‘great’ voice, please do not limit yourself in your worship of God by not singing. God has instructed us to sing and make music, I believe that as we sing in moments of worship and thanksgiving, that it is beautiful to God.

How often do you use music to give thanks to God?

“Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” Psalm 107:8-9 NIV

As this is the week of Thanksgiving, I thought that I would look at verses that focused on being thankful. The book of Psalms is known as a book full of thankful chapters and verses and these 2 verses do not disappoint.

How often do we give thanks to God for all that He has done for us? I think that sometimes we get so busy with life that we forget to tell God thanks for what He has given us. We also sometimes forget to express our gratitude for His unfailing love. On the surface, these 2 verses look like they are focused on the physical aspect of God providing food and drink to the hungry and thirsty. I believe it goes much deeper than just our physical needs being satisfied by God to also include our spiritual needs. Jesus is the Living Water, which if we drink of Him, we cause us to not thirst again.

Giving thanks is a part of communication with God for many believers as they are grateful for all that God has done for them. There is an exercise of naming 3 things you are grateful for each night and trying to not duplicate the items on the list for a week. It is a wonderful exercise as it turns our focus to the positive things that God has placed in our lives.

The Lord loves His children, His love never changes, and He provides for us. We can see that if we look for it each day. Have you noticed the good things that God has provided you with today?