SOME LOGIC UNDERSTANDINGS OF LORD AND BIBLE

Some logical understandings of Lord and Bible  

OUR HANDS

Max Lucado, in his book,  “Just Like Jesus”, writes:

We can touch gently or we can slap with anger. We can write loving, encouraging notes .or write sarcastic and mean letters. We can give gifts .or we can steal. We can hold out our hands in a welcoming gesture or hold them stiffly by our sides. We can hold them restfully on our laps or wring them in distress. We can ball them into fists or hold someone’s hand.

Our hands say so much about what is going on inside our hearts and minds. What are your hands saying about you today?

Father, search our hearts today. Have our hands been pleasing to You? Please keep them clean so we will grow stronger. Amen.

OUR HOME COMING TO HEAVEN

Yes, our home coming to heaven will be even better. We will see Jesus!

Dear Father, thank You that Jesus is preparing a place for us and we will be there soon. That will be glory for us! I love You Jesus. Amen.

Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life to you and ask you to come in as my Savior and Lord. Take control of my life. Thank you for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Make me the kind of person you want me to be.

BEAUTY

Beauty energizes our souls.

Mountains with fresh fallen snow, streams of water winding through lush, green-tree lined banks. Quiet lakes are with loons gliding on the water. I encourage you to take the time to saturate your eyes with the beauty God created for us to enjoy. You will become quiet and your soul will be filled with praise to our Creator.

Babies learning new things and give us big smiles because they know they have accomplished something amazing. Children are laughing and running after butterflies or absorbed in looking for small mushrooms in the lawn or making snowmen or snow angels. They bring magic and joy into our lives.

Sun rays shining through the beveled glass on a front door creating rainbows on a tiled floor - just for a few seconds, but so beautiful…and you take time to admire God’s handiwork.

One flower is blooming in an otherwise dreary street, observing an act of kindness toward a harried mother or frail person. All of this is from God.

Today, take the time to notice beauty and thank God for his gifts of beauty – they are all around us.

The gentle Christian

Father, thank You for creating so much beauty…it is all around us. Open our eyes and ears that we can see and hear. Amen.

 GENTLE CARESS OF A GENTLE SPIRIT

How does a person embrace a gentle spirit after being taken advantage of? There is only one way.

“For God is at work within you, helping you want to obey Him, then helping you do what He wants” (Philippians 2:13).

Father, we know Jesus lived a sinless life. He modeled the spirit-filled life for us. He called Himself gentle and humble and You have asked us to be gentle. You know we are generally not gentle - we are self-centered. Produce in us a spirit of gentleness of and wisdom. Amen.

 SACRED ROMANCE

“Indeed, if we listen, a Sacred Romance calls to us through our heart every moment of our lives. It whispers to us on the wind, invites us through the laughter of good friends, reaches out to us through the touch of someone we love. We heard it in our favorite music, sensed it at the birth of our first child, have been drawn to it while watching the shimmer of a sunset on the ocean. The Romance is even present in times of great offering; the illness of a child, the loss of a marriage, the death of friend. Something calls to us through experiences like these and rouses an inconsolable longing deep within our heart, wakening in us a yearning for intimacy, beauty and adventure.

“This longing is the most powerful part of any human personality. It fuels our search for meaning, for wholeness, for a sense of being truly alive.”

There is nothing more significant I could wish and pray for you than that you would take the time to recognize the “Sacred Romance” in your life. I want to encourage you to reflect and make a list of times when God has shown you that He is your “Sacred Romance.”

Father, thank You for pursuing us. Thank You for loving us so much for providing those special moments of “Sacred Romance.” Help us to recognize them. God, help us to receive all the love You have for us. Amen.

"Dear Father, I need You. I acknowledge that I have been directing my own life and that, as a result, I have sinned against You. I thank You that You have forgiven my sins through Christ's death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I now thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit."

Trust God to fill you with the Holy Spirit right now.

GRACE TO KEEP ON YIELDING

“For God is at work within you, helping you want to obey him, and then helping you do what he wants” (Philippians 2:13).

God gave me the grace to yield and not argue. Circumstances in our life keep changing which means we have to change as well. We are unable to change without the Holy Spirit’s power. The above promise from Philippians has been so helpful to me. God helps us want to obey Him and then He also gives us the power to do it.

I thought of a statement Dr. Henry Brandt often used in his talks, “Circumstances will always reveal your spirit.”

How are you doing today? Need God’s help to change? He is eager to help you - just ask Him.

 JUST LIKE JESUS

We are children of God. Who do we look like? Can people see Jesus in us? Do we spend enough time with Him so we take on His characteristics and mannerisms? We are to reflect Jesus like a mirror. Do we magnify Him - make Him seem bigger. Most people we meet have a small view of Jesus. Does their view of Jesus change when they have been with us?

Max Lucado in his book, “Just Like Jesus”, states,

“God loves you just the way you are. But he refuses to leave you there. He wants you to have a heart like his. He wants you to be just like Jesus.”

Oswald Chambers, in his devotional book, “My Utmost for His Highest”, writes,

“The one and only characteristic of the Holy Ghost in a man is a strong family resemblance to Jesus Christ and the freedom from everything unlike Him.”

Are we prepared to allow the Holy Spirit to change us so we are just like Jesus? Let’s do it! You will need the Holy Spirit to help you.

8.  LIVING WATER

“Whoever believes in me as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (John 7:38).

We are filled with the Holy Spirit by faith alone. However, true prayer is one way of expressing your faith. The following is a suggested prayer:

"Dear Father, I need You. I acknowledge that I have been directing my own life and that, as a result, I have sinned against You. I thank You that You have forgiven my sins through Christ's death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I now thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit."

We have received Jesus Christ and the streams of new life, joy, peace and gentleness flow from within us because of the Holy Spirit. People are blessed when we cross their paths.

However, sometimes the source of our “Springs of Living Water” gets blocked with rotten leaves (sinful acts or attitudes) and they slow down or cut off the stream of Living Water coming out of our life.

You know, all we have to do to get that flow of Living Water flowing out of us again, is sincerely confess our sin (1 John 1:9) and by faith appropriate the fullness of His Spirit (Ephesians 5:18). Then the streams of Living Water will begin to flow again. Sin blocks the flow!

I encourage you to do this every time you become aware of a sinful act or attitude. Someone once said, “I confess them as I do them and I don’t bunch them” is a Great way to live.

Father, thank You for living within us. You are the source of the Living Water flowing out of us. May we always keep the source of the flow free from any obstructions? I love You, Father. Amen.

SOME THOUGHTS ON WORSHIP

Worship is one gift that he who has nothing can give to Him who owns everything” (Mark 12:30).

Someone wisely said, “Maturing in our relationship with Christ is dispensing with the wrong thinking we have about God.” This is true and one area the Holy Spirit changes our thinking is our misconceptions about worshipping God.

Worship is my “Response to God’s Love” and “worship is Giving Back myself to God”.

“Love the Lord your God with all you heart and with all your soul and with your entire mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30).

God wants us to love Him, thoughtfully, passionately and practically. Worship is focusing our attention on God - not ourselves. Worship is expressing our affection for God. Worship is using our abilities for God.

Reflect on these thoughts as you go about your day. Ask God to help you make this day a day of worship.

Father, we have so much to learn about how to worship You. We love You so much and want You to cleanse our minds from all the false conceptions and enable us to adore and worship You. Amen.

10. HOW CAN YOU EXPERIENCE GOD’S LOVE AND FORGIVENESS

A rich and satisfying life is the heritage of every Christian. Jesus intended the Christian life to be an exciting, abundant adventure. He promised,

“I have come that [you] may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

When you walk in a close relationship with our Lord, and in the control of God’s Holy Spirit, every day is filled with wonder, meaning, and purpose - your life overflows with desirable qualities:

The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22,23).

But most Christians don’t experience the abundant life. The life of joy and victory modeled and promised by our Lord is strangely foreign to them. Instead, they consider the Christian life a burden, a chore, a terrible cross to bear. They endure their Christianity on earth, hoping at last for relief in heaven.

Jesus never intended for you to live a defeated, dreadful existence. He called you to a life of joy and victory. Whatever the circumstance you are in - comfort or conflict, abundance or need, health or sickness, freedom or persecution - our Lord promises peace (John 14:27; 16:33). He said He would never leave you, and that He will do anything you ask in His name (Hebrews 13:5; Matthew 28:20; John 14:14).

HE IS!

When you are the neediest, He is the most sufficient.

When you are completely helpless, He is the most helpful.

When you feel totally dependent, He is absolutely dependable.

When you are the weakest, He is the most able.

When you are the most alone, He is intimately present.

When you feel you are the least, He is the greatest!

When you feel the most useless, He is preparing you.

When it is darkest, He is the only Light you need.

When you feel the least secure, He is your Rock and Fortress.

When you are the most humble, He is most gracious.

When you say that you cannot, remember that He can!

BREATHE IN  and BREATHE OUT spiritually

You do it 12-14 times a minute without thinking.

At rest, your lungs take in six liters of air per minute. When you're working hard, you can take in more than 100. Breathing is a miracle we don't stop to think about very much. It's involuntary; we just do it. In the same amazing way God created us with the capacity to breathe to sustain our natural lives; He has given us as Christians a way to "breathe spiritually" for our spiritual well-being.

"Spiritual breathing, like physical breathing," says Dr. Bill Bright, founder and president of Campus Crusade for Christ.  This is a process of  exhaling the impure and inhaling the pure, an exercise in faith that enables you to experience God's love and forgiveness and walk in the Spirit as a way of life."

"But the average Christian does not understand this concept of spiritual breathing as an exercise of faith and, as a result, lives on a spiritual roller coaster. He/she goes from one emotional experience to another living most of his life as a worldly Christian, controlling his/her own life, frustrated and fruitless."1

Spiritual Breathing Defined

Physical breathing provides the body with a constant supply of oxygen, which is necessary for energy production. It also releases the by-product of the process - carbon dioxide, a gas that is lethal in large quantities. Spiritual breathing is like physical breathing in that:

1.      You "exhale" by confessing your sins immediately to God and claiming His forgiveness

2.      You "inhale" by asking the Holy Spirit to control and empower you and to keep you from returning to sin.

Usually we don't think about our physical breathing.  But spiritual breathing is something that requires conscious action - a readiness to "exhale" or confess our sin and to "inhale" or trust God to fill us with His Holy Spirit. Amy Aker, mother of three boys under age six, has found that spiritual breathing makes a difference in her parenting:

"If I'm not disciplining my children correctly, if I yell or use manipulation, once I realize that I've done it, I will calmly tell them, 'Why don't you go to your room for a little while. I'll be right there.' Then, I'll go to my room for a few quiet minutes and God will reveal to me the heart of my sin, whether it's impatience or just wanting to impose my will on others. I'll confess it to Him, and then I ask the Holy Spirit to give me the power to change, because without His help, I can't do it. Then I'm ready to confess my wrong actions to my kids and have a fresh start."

Don't Wait to Exhale

It's been said that one measure of Christian maturity is the shortness of time between when we sin to the time we confess it. If we keep short accounts with God, our "old sin nature" can be kept on a short leash. We can confess our sin as soon as we entertain a sinful thought and before we speak an ugly word or act on evil desires. "Spiritual exhaling" is agreeing with God about our sin, whether in thought or deed, thanking Him for His forgiveness, and expressing a willingness to change our attitude and actions.

"The more immediately sin is confessed and forsaken, the more sensitive and tender the heart remains," says a pamphlet on the subject by Life Action Ministries. "Spiritual breathing is an integral part of maintaining personal purity.  The practice of breathing spiritually aids in developing a God-consciousness, which in turn serves to keep the revived heart spiritually focused and less susceptible to continual iniquity."2

"BREATHING IN" THE HOLY SPIRIT

To inhale spiritually is to receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit by faith. How do you do that? When you receive Jesus Christ as your leader and forgiver, the Holy Spirit immediately enters your life and He never leaves. (John 1:12; Colossians 2:9,10; John 14:16,17) The Holy Spirit lives in you so that you can:

·         Demonstrate the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22,23) and become more like Christ. (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 3:18)

·         Experience a meaningful prayer life and study of God's Word.

·         Experience power in witnessing. (Acts 1:8)

·         Be prepared for spiritual battle against the world, the flesh and the devil.
(1 John 2:15-17; Galatians 5:16,17; 1 Peter 5:7-9; Ephesians 6:10-13)

·         Experience power to resist temptation and sin (1 Corinthians 10:13; Philippians 4:13; Ephesians 1:19-23; 2 Timothy 1:7; Romans 6:1-16)

Though all born-again Christians are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, not all are filled with the Holy Spirit. Not all are experiencing what He has to offer. To be filled (empowered and controlled) by the Holy Spirit, we must, in faith, acknowledge our dependence on Him and "hand Him the reins" of our life. We are commanded in Ephesians 5:18 to:

"Keep on being filled with the Holy Spirit."

Betty Lau has been learning what that means since she started practicing spiritual breathing ten years ago:

"It is a continuous, conscious choice I make to walk in the Holy Spirit's power. Repentance isn't a one time thing; it's giving my life over to God and asking Him to direct my decisions on a moment-by-moment basis."

THE RESULT?

"My Christian life is no longer about self-effort and defeat," Betty says. It's about allowing the Holy Spirit to permeate every area of my life. Though spiritual breathing is a conscious thing, the more I choose to do it, the more it becomes second nature."

Are you ready to ask the Holy Spirit to direct your life? Why not pray this simple prayer right now and by faith invite God to fill you with His Spirit:

Dear Father, I need you. I acknowledge that I have sinned against you by directing my own life. I thank you that You have forgiven my sins through Christ's death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I pray this in the name of Jesus. As an expression of my faith, I thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit. Amen.

GENTLE AND HUMBLE

“I am gentle and humble” (Matthew 11:29).

One of the first devotionals in the book Knowing God Through the Year by J.I. Packer, used the above verse

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

My eyes stopped when I read, “gentle and humble.” I began to consider what I read.

Here is the Creator of all things, the God Almighty, the God who knows everything and is all wise, the One who is holy, the Ruler Supreme, and yet He told us He is gentle and humble. We will find rest for our souls if we come to Him.

You would think He would say,

“Hey you, don’t you know how important I am? I don’t have time for you, I am too busy.” But He didn’t. He said, “Come to Me.”

Wow!

He is the greatest leader and He is gentle and humble. How many people do you know who invite you to come to them? How many leaders do you know, who, after they have become powerful, display gentleness and humility?

And then we must ask ourselves the question, “Am I gentle and humble?” Do people feel peaceful in my company?

Lord, thank You for inviting us to come to You. Thank you for being gentle and humble. You are so awesome, yet so kind. Create in us a gentle and humble spirit.

 Amen.