Set your mind on Him

Seek Him for your provision

As the hart panteth after the water brooks, So panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: When shall I come and appear before God? My tears have been my meat day and night, While they continually say unto me, Where is thy God? When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: For I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, With the voice of joy and praise, With a multitude that kept holyday. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted in me? Hope thou in God: For I shall yet praise him For the help of his countenance. O my God, my soul is cast down within me: Therefore will I remember thee from the land of Jordan, and of the Hermonites, from the hill Mizar. Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: All thy waves and thy billows are gone over me. Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life. I will say unto God my rock, why hast thou forgotten me? Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? As with a sword in my bones, Mine enemies reproach me; While they say daily unto me, Where is thy God? Psalm 42:1‭-‬10 KJV https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.42.1-10.KJV

God’s law is good for instruction

Love died on a cross

God sent His Son to be the Lamb that takes the sins of the world on Himself. He did die on the cross but He rose from the dead three days later conquering death and the grave. Jesus is the embodiment of God’s love for humanity because He showed the effect of God’s love on everyone He ministered to during His three years of teaching.

So, why do we think we can’t be useful to the One Who called us to follow Him? If you have given your heart to Him and you are a born-again Christian, you were called by the Holy Spirit into His family. Your position in life or your lack of work to Him. You can be useful in His Kingdom in whatever way He has gifted you with abilities to do. Having money or a position or education doesn’t matter to Him because He equips those whom He calls. We are given gifts and abilities that only we have a real ability to use for Him.

When I titled this as “Love died on a cross”, I didn’t mean that God’s love died on that cross. I meant that the personification of His Love died on the cross. God loves us in such a way that we can’t understand it and His anger toward the people who reject Him is equally powerful but it is still tempered by His love. God can uniquely use each of us to reach people that others may not be able to reach.

God’s love is such that even if we only reach that one person, it is enough. God values each of us to the extent that your soul and mine would’ve been enough to send Jesus to Earth to die for us and save us. Even if we were the only two that were saved. It is very hard to understand compassion and love like that, in fact, we can’t understand it on this side of Heaven.

Like the story that Jesus told of the pearl that the merchant sold everything for just to acquire, a pearl of great price. Each of us is like that pearl to God our Father. We are each worth His Son’s life to gain souls and a place in Heaven. The biggest mistake that the early church made nearly two thousand years ago was using “man-made” wisdom or ideas to bring pagans into the church. Even two centuries past His crucifixion the church didn’t resemble the gatherings of believers that began the church in the late first century.

The divisions that have happened over the centuries since then show even more how easily Satan has gained a foothold in the church. There is a remnant of believers who embody the teachings of Jesus as much as possible today but it seems to be getting smaller. I pray that there will be a revival of faith in the church before He comes back. It is sorely needed today.

He gives us our daily bread of Life

Two can do anything…

His love will never leave you

Believe in Jesus

Problems and disagreements

These go together of course but they should be dealt with long before they get out of hand.

All of us have these from time to time. In our friendships, in our relationships with each other, and in business too. So what can we do about it? Well…that depends on the type of relationship. If it is between business partners sit down and talk about it. Find out what is the real problem and try to find a fix for it. If it is between friends, sit down and talk about it. Don’t just push each other away and let it fester into something that will break your friendship, especially if it is something that can be fixed. Put your pride away and try to be civil about your relationship. It is hard to do in our “my way” world because everyone seems to want things to always go their way and have no respect for the other person’s feelings or reasons for their actions.

This is especially true in marriage. “Me, and my and mine and I” really don’t belong in a relationship between husband and wife, but often those are the words that start an argument that can lead to divorce. It seems to be inevitable primarily when the children are grown and the “partners” are not on the same page anymore.

Life gets in the way and it can cause disagreements even between people that haven’t really had an argument for a long time. Personal issues, financial issues, sexual wants, and needs all get in the way of a lasting relationship and today the word “compromise” seems to have been taken out of our abilities and our marriages.

All of these problems can be solved through faith and prayer IF we are both willing to work on the relationship. When you get frustrated and tired of fighting or disagreeing, that is when someone will just give up on keeping the relationship going regardless of what kind of relationship it is. Thankfully, God doesn’t give up on us like this but we do. Many marriages and friendships are lost due to being tired of the words and the drama that goes along with them. As a friend of mine said, “It just gets old and I’m tired”.

The problem that I see in this is that each of us in a long-term relationship has been blessed with that person by God Himself and it is our responsibility to look beyond big or small disagreements because we should be honoring Him in this as well. Whether it is a friendship or a marriage, it has been given to each of us for a purpose. Finding out that purpose and holding on to it is our responsibility as Christians. Unless you have given your heart to Jesus, this won’t really apply to you. Being devoted to Christ and devoted to those in our lives goes hand in hand but our relationship with Jesus comes first. If that foundation isn’t there, the other relationships will also fail.

The foundation having Jesus Christ at the center of your life gives every relationship in your life a firm foundation, to begin with. If that isn’t there or if that relationship hasn’t been dedicated to Jesus, to begin with then there will be trouble in the long run.