Tag: truth

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Cast all anxiety

“Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:7 NIV

Anxiety is our human way of trying to figure out how to control a situation we believe could occur in the future or effect change in a situation that has already taken place. Many people worry about getting in a car accident or having enough money to send their children to college. Worrying will not keep you from getting into a car accident, actually actively worrying while driving may cause an accident. Worrying does not place money in an account for your child’s college fund. Some students worry about how they did on a test. Their worrying will not change the answers they already gave.

Peter writes “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” The Greek word for ‘cast’ in this verse is ‘epiripto’. This word means that a person was ‘casting’ like someone does when they purposely throw their fishing line into the water or like when they are throwing a ball to another person. A purposeful action of giving it to someone else or placing it somewhere else. When referring to our worries, it would mean to purposefully throw them or give them to someone else or to purposely place them somewhere else. There is a trick to this idea of casting our anxieties though and that is that once we cast them we need to not go get them, bring them back and then hold onto them.

For clarification, the word ‘him’ refers to God. God truly cares for each and every one of us, not just the people living at the time. He sent Jesus to pay the final and permanent price for OUR sins. He had not committed a sin before He came down or while He was here, yet He willingly let the Roman guards beat Him and nail Him to a cross. He then remained on the cross until the payment was made, until there would be no further payment needed for sin, except repentance. This was all done before we were ever born or committed a sin of our own.

When I think of this, I am humbled. To think that God, the Creator of the universe, cares enough about me to want to spend eternity with me. That He wants that so much that He made a way for me to be able to do that – by accepting the gift of salvation through Jesus Christ. That is who I believe I can give all my anxieties to, knowing that He is on my side, knows what is best for me, and will provide peace to me.

Below are some questions that you can answer. Again, I would love to hear your responses if you are willing to put them in the comments section. If you don’t want to leave them where others can read them, you can private message me on my Facebook page ‘For His Honor.’

What do you worry about?

What anxieties have you laid down at God’s feet, just to pick them back up again?

What do you think will bring you peace?

Who do you think has all the answers you seek?

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Joy and peace

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” Romans 15:13 NIV

What does ‘God of hope’ mean? The first thing that we can know about the term ‘God of hope’ is that it is another name for God. The One and Only God. It is a beautiful way to describe God. The second thing is that the hope that God gives us when we accept His gracious gift of forgiveness and salvation is the hope of what lies ahead. Not just in this life but in the next. In the afterlife, for all of eternity. Our God is the God of hope, of resurrection, of eternal life, of not being held captive by the power of sin. This God, our God, wants to fill us with joy and peace.

Our lives are empty before we come to Christ. We fill them with all kinds of things that the world says are going to satisfy us, make us feel whole, but they don’t. Instead they make us feel like we need to keep looking for more. What we need to be filled with is from God. Joy and peace are just the start of what God can fill us with.

Joy is different from happiness. Happiness comes from what is occurring around us, those temporary situations that make us feel happy. Joy comes from within and it comes from being God’s child. When we are accepted into God’s family as heirs, we have the ability to be filled with joy. God will give it to us, but we have to accept it, and express it. True joy can be seen in how we deal with life, not just the good parts, but also it’s challenges, hardships and moments of utter despair. Joy comes from inside and from God.

Peace is defined in the world as being moments when there is no conflict in our lives. That is not the peace that is being talked about here. This peace is a state of mind that comes from God. Knowing that we are saved, not by anything we have done or could ever do, but by the grace that our amazing God has extended to us, can bring peace. We have to set our minds to focus on God and the peace that He has placed inside of us. Just like joy, true peace can be seen in our lives by the way we handle everyday life, good and difficult times. We build our relationship with God one moment at a time. We come to Him for forgiveness when we have sinned, we speak to Him in prayer and we place our faith in Him.

Peace and joy come from God. They are dependent on our inner situation, whether we are born again or still living in darkness. To be born again, we have to place our faith in Jesus, which means to also place our trust in Him. In the verse Paul wrote that ‘as you trust in him’. Trusting God to do what He says He will do is scary for us. We are used to dealing with each other, imperfect human beings who do not always follow through with what we have promised to do. God is different in that He doesn’t lie, He doesn’t make promises He doesn’t plan to keep. Placing our trust in Him is a sur thing and we won’t be disappointed by Him.

In the end of the verse Paul states ‘so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit’. Joy and peace are part of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. When we are truly at peace and we are filled with joy, we are able to live life overflowing with hope. To be overflowing with hope means to have so much hope that you can’t contain it inside any longer and it flows out into every part of your life. Hope can also be described as a deep sense of assurance. Just like joy and peace, hope can be seen by others in our actions, our attitude, and our words.

To be filled with joy and peace and to be overflowing with hope are all blessings from God. When the Holy Spirit fills us, He enables us to be connected to God’s grace and love. Therefore, we can’t force ourselves to be filled with joy, peace or hope, it happens because of that connection with God.

Below are some questions that you can answer. Again, I would love to hear your responses if you are willing to put them in the comments section. If you don’t want to leave them where others can read them, you can private message me on my Facebook page ‘For His Honor.’

Do you experience joy?

How does joy present in your everyday life?

Are you at peace?

What does being at peace look like for you?

Are you saved by the blood of Jesus?

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Walk in the Light

“But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:7 NIV

John is talking to believers, children of God, in 1 John. It is believed that he is talking to those who were living in the area that is now Turkey. The believers were struggling with false teachers and these false teachers were effective. This led the believers to begin questioning what they believed, they were having trouble telling what was the truth from what was a lie.

This is something that I know many people struggle with today. We want to believe what we hear and see on social media, what we see on the news, what we read in papers, but it is hard to discern what is truth and what is lies. The devil is very effective in distributing lies. He makes sure that when he is telling the lie that it has some truth to it, that it is not so far out of reason that it can be easily believed as being the truth.

As followers of Christ, children of God, co-heirs with Christ, we have an advantage that non-believers do not have. We have God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit. We are able to take the information we are given, whether it is from an outside source such as social media, the news, etc. or from inside our own minds and check it against the most consistent, reliable source there is, God’s word.

The light that John is writing about in this verse is Jesus. John is writing this letter to these believers because he wants to help them in their walk of faith. He is trying to lead them as they grow in their relationship with Jesus. What Jesus had been teaching during His ministry was a very new way of thinking for those who heard it. Some of the new believers had not been believers very long, and were struggling in changing what they had believed for years. John was reminding them that Jesus was the Light and was shining light into a dark world.

The dark world was not only the world of the unbeliever, but was also the world of those who proclaimed to be the religious elite of the Jewish nation. There were so many laws that had been created by man to accompany God’s laws, that keeping them was impossible. People began to not worship God and want to follow God’s laws, but instead became obsessed with the law and feared breaking it.

John is telling them that a light has come that will free all of them from this darkness. That light is Jesus. The challenge with follow Jesus, is that you have to actually follow Him. You can’t say you are a follower and then not change your path. John tells us we are to walk in the light, and walking, as we all know, requires action. When we walk in the light, we are walking with Jesus. What does walking look like?

When we decide to be a follower of Christ, we are choosing to change our behaviors so that they are in line with what God has laid out in His word. We try to be as consistently obedient as we can be. We will never be perfect while we are here on earth, but we strive to do what God is asking as much as humanly possible. The more we live in obedience to God, the more we are growing in our walk with God, the more we are walking in the Light.

John states that we have fellowship with one another. I believe that John does not simply mean that we go to church and see each other on Sundays. Fellowship in this context can also mean having relationships with other believers that are positive, peaceful and supportive. It is beneficial for us as believers to support and encourage each other as we grow in our faith, to maintain peaceful interactions with each other.

The last part of the verse says that ‘the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.’ If we think of light as having the ability to remove darkness, we can see that Light can be cleansing. Jesus cleans us with His blood and because He is the Light that takes away the darkness of our sin. This occurs all day, every day, as we are incapable of not sinning, we need perpetual cleansing from Jesus. That cleansing is not just for our guilt, but sin leaves a stain on our lives, on our very beings. Jesus washes that away with His blood. He took on, became sin when He died on the cross for each one of us. He defeated sin and death so that we can live in eternity with Him.

I pray that if you do not already have a personal relationship with Jesus, that you would not wait another minute and in this moment, commit your life to Him.

Below are some questions that you can answer. Again, I would love to hear your responses if you are willing to put them in the comments section. If you don’t want to leave them where others can read them, you can private message me on my Facebook page ‘For His Honor.’

How do you maintain fellowship with the believers around you, since we are all imperfect?

We all have moments where we fall back into the darkness, how do you find your way back to the Light?

Since our lives are our witness, how do you show God’s love and light to others?

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Witnesses in Jerusalem

“But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:8 NIV

Easter was a few weeks ago. During the time after Easter, after the resurrection, many people saw Jesus in His glorified form. Not fully glorified because He had not ascended to the Father yet, but glorified none the less. Jesus ascended 40 days after the resurrection and during those last days with His disciples, He was giving them final pieces of instruction.

In this verse Jesus tells them that they will receive power from the Holy Spirit. I can’t imagine what they may have been thinking as they heard that they were going to receive power through a spirit. They knew that Jesus was the Son of God, and they knew that He had given them the power to perform miracles in God’s name because they had done it while they were with Jesus.

In Luke 9:1-6, we read “When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, 2 and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. 3 He told them: “Take nothing for the journey—no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. 4 Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. 5 If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” 6 So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.” Luke 9:1-6 NIV

Jesus had empowered His disciples to spread the great news of the Gospel. The difference between what happened in Luke, before the crucifixion and what was happening, after the resurrection, was that Jesus was not going to be with them in person any longer. He did not go with them in Luke when He sent them out, but they were able to come back to Him when they were done. Now He was not going to be physically here on earth with them any longer.

As they traveled with Jesus, they went wherever Jesus went, they did not go alone very often. However, the idea of being witnesses is what was intended all along. Jesus had been preparing them for this very moment, when they would be without Him. He had prepared them for this the entire time they walked with Him. After Jesus was gone, the disciples continued to follow His instructions so they could be the witnesses He wanted them to be.

In Acts chapter 2, the disciples receive the Holy Spirit at what we now call Pentecost. This is the beginning of them spreading across the world, as they knew it, becoming the proclaimers of the great news of Jesus and God’s love. The act of being witnesses for Jesus did not end with the disciples, but continues today with each one of us who have a personal relationship with Jesus. Many people think that you have to be a missionary or a pastor to be a witness for Jesus. That is not true, everyone of us who has that personal relationship with Jesus can witness about what He has done for us in our lives, what He has meant to us and the changes we have made thanks to His indwelling power. Our everyday lives, how we handle situations, the language we use, how we treat others, those are all ways that we are witnessing either for Jesus or for the devil. I pray that it is for Jesus.

Below are some questions for you to think about and answer if you wish. If you want to leave a comment with the question and your answers, I would love to hear from you.

Do you consider yourself a witness for Jesus and what He has done in your life?

In what ways does your witness demonstrate the love of God?

In what ways have you seen the Holy Spirit at work in your life since you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior?

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Psalms 146:5

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

The psalmist in this verse is encouraging everyone who reads this verse or hears it to put their trust and hope in God. We often put our hope in other people, whether they are people we know or people we look up to. The challenge with this is that they are people, human and as people and humans we are not perfect. We let others down, others let us down. By placing our hope in others and not God, we are setting ourselves up to be disappointed, hurt and discouraged.

When we place our hope in God, we are placing it with the only perfect being. We could argue that even when we place our hope in God, we can be disappointed or discouraged. However, if we are willing to look at what is going on, what we are disappointed or discouraged about, we usually find that our disappointment or discouragement is occurring because we wanted a certain outcome and we didn’t get what we wanted.

Since God is perfect, not us, He knows what we need and what is the perfect outcome for each one of us. The result we are looking for may not be the best result for us and since God knows that, He gives us what we need, what is best for us. Those who place their lives, their decisions, their hopes in God are blessed and they will tell you they are blessed, if asked.

Where do you place your hope, who do you want help from, others or God?

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Light has dawned

“The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.” Isaiah 9:2 NIV

Isaiah is talking about the Messiah, Jesus Christ. Even though he wrote this centuries before Jesus came to earth, Isaiah was telling the Israelites that a wonderful Light was coming. A light that was going to shine in the darkness, even the darkness where light has not been for a long time. There is nowhere that this light cannot shine.

It will be up to the people walking in darkness then to decide if they are going to choose to follow the light or remain in darkness. From the teachings that are provided throughout the New Testament, it is evident that not everyone chooses to follow the light when they see it. The important question for each one of us today, knowing that the Light has dawned, is have you chosen to follow the Light or to continue to walk in darkness?

Only you can answer that for yourself, and when you do, remember to be honest with yourself. No one else on earth may know what is in your heart but God knows. He wants you to choose the Light, but He won’t drag you to Himself kicking and screaming, it has to be a voluntary choice to have a relationship with Him.

The Light has dawned, which do you choose……Light or darkness?

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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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Waiting

“Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.” Psalms 27:14 NIV

Who likes to wait?

No one really.

In the world we live in today, waiting is not something that very many of us want to do or are good at. We are used to instant gratification. With all the electronic devices we have, we don’t have to wait for much of anything.

Therefore, waiting for answers to our prayers can be grueling. As Christians, we should want to do God’s Will. We should want to be obedient to His plan for our lives and I think we are for the most part. It is the waiting to find out what God wants us to do, or waiting to see what His plan is for our lives that can be troublesome for us. We sometimes can take things into our own hands. When those moments come where we want to take charge of what we believe should be occurring, we can look to David. He has gone through so many of the same types of difficulties throughout his life that we have and he was able to return to a position of following God, waiting for God.

David, in this psalm, goes through several emotions, talking about those times when he is uncertain of what will come next. He starts out writing with confidence of God’s favor on him, he then cries out for help but ultimately ends the psalm with the confidence of knowing that he is to wait on the Lord and that he can wait on the Lord. That the Lord will be there for him.

This is a verse that every Christian needs to hear from time to time. We need reminding at times that God has promised to answer us. He has not promised us that the answer is always going to be what we want it to be, but there will be an answer.

By waiting on the Lord and being strong, we exercise our faith. Faith is not developed if everything goes the way we want, when we want it, all the time. Therefore, we need to have moments where we don’t get answers in the time period that we have set. Waiting helps us to become closer to God, as we walk in the knowledge that God wants what is best for us. That we can trust Him.

How well do you wait?

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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.