A Prayer to Stop the Rush and Let Go of the Stress This Christmas
By Debbie McDaniel
1/2 Hour of God's Power with Scott Ralls
LiveCast 12/14/19
#Jesus #Christian #Bible #Christmas #Salvation #Prayer
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If She Hadn’t Believed In Me
If She Hadn’t Believed In Me
TRACIE MILES
TRACIE MILES
So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NLT)
If she hadn’t believed in me …
I would have never followed God’s call on my heart to be a writer of blogs and books when I had no writing experience or training.
If she hadn’t believed in me …
I would have never had the courage to be transparent in telling the stories God was writing in my life without fear of upsetting her or others.
If she hadn’t believed in me …
I would have never had the confidence to step outside of my introvert-loving comfort zone, willing to vulnerably stand on stage in front of an audience and share lessons I’d learned from God’s Word.
If she hadn’t believed in me …
I might have never survived a horrific, painful divorce experience. Because of her support, encouragement and unconditional love, I was able to stand strong in the face of great adversity and sadness.
If she hadn’t believed in me …
I might not be the mom and person I am today. From the day my first daughter was born almost 26 years ago (and the two more kids born in the following years), and through all the hardships I’ve endured, she has consistently reassured me I am a good mother and a good person — especially on those days when I felt like neither.
If she hadn’t believed in me …
There are countless leaps of faith, new opportunities and challenges I may have never taken, all of which have brought me joy, purpose and peace.
Who is “she,” you wonder? None other than my amazing mom.
My mom, Barbara, has been my biggest cheerleader my whole life.
To say she’s had an impact on my life as a whole and shaped me into who I am today would be an understatement. She’s the epitome of someone who encourages others in their calling and purpose, no matter what it is, and lifts the spirits of everyone she knows, whenever she can.
In addition to my mom’s belief in me, I am blessed to have had others support me in my calling over the years — my three children, my companions in ministry, other family members and many online friends. They have no idea how many times their belief in me lifted my spirits when I felt discouraged or how they’ve encouraged me when I felt like giving up. And that’s exactly what Scripture says we all need.
All throughout the Bible, we’re given instructions to encourage others. We also read verses meant to encourage us as we push forward in our callings and life in general. Why? Because encouragement is necessary to live out our faith.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 talks about this very thing: “So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”
This type of encouragement isn’t about complimenting someone on a new outfit or giving them kudos for a job well done — instead, it refers to Christian encouragement. The kind of encouragement that spurs someone toward Christ and motivates them to follow His tug on their heart, in whatever direction He leads.
It’s the kind of encouragement which lets someone know God is using them as a vessel and their obedience is impacting lives, even if they can’t see it yet. Encouragement that reassures them what they’re doing matters in the kingdom of God and is making an eternal difference. Encouragement that reassures: “You can do this.”
Knowing someone believes in us and is cheering us on can often be the determining factor for whether we follow God’s call on our heart or shy away in fear, intimidation, self-doubt or feelings of unworthiness.
Who in your life needs encouragement in their calling today?
Lord, prick my heart with the people who could use encouragement for pursuing Your call on their life. Give me the right words and ways to encourage them most. I pray You give them courage to keep pushing forward, and fill them with confidence in the gifts and talents You have given them. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.
TRUTH FOR TODAY:
Hebrews 10:24, “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.” (NLT)
Hebrews 10:24, “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works.” (NLT)
Proverbs 3:27, “Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it.” (GNT)
Conviction for the Believer
Conviction for the Believer
By Dr. Charles Stanley
Recently I spoke to a heartbroken woman. Her father was dying, and he was cold toward his family and God. He desired no contact and refused to discuss any spiritual matter.
But God is able to reach anyone—even someone hostile to the faith. Consider the apostle Paul’s conversion! Yet Scripture also teaches that the Lord eventually gives people over to the hardness of their own hearts. There may come a point when He no longer draws them by revealing their need for a Savior.
The situation is different for believers, though. When we, in our humanness, continue to sin, the Holy Spirit convicts us so we’ll get back on track. At that point, we can humbly repent and follow Him or ignore His voice and continue to sin. If we persist in error, our Father will keep calling us back. But the danger is that our hearts may become desensitized and eventually we may cease hearing His warning.
Thankfully, we are children of God, and He loves us too much to let us remain in a sinful pattern. Though chastisement and conviction are never pleasant, He knows our travelling down the wrong road results in much greater heartache. The Lord is a shepherd, using His staff and rod to lovingly bring us to green pastures.
On the Christian journey, there will be temptations to stray, falsely promising to satisfy longings. Stay closely connected to Jesus through prayer and Scripture. Be listening so you can obey immediately when He calls you to change course. In the long run, living God’s way brings the greatest joy.
The Audacity of Christmas
The Audacity of Christmas
by Mike Pohlman
by Mike Pohlman
So let no one boast in men. For all things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future--all are yours, and you are Christ's, and Christ is God's. – 1 Corinthians 3:21-23
This Christmas millions of children (and adults) will find under their Christmas tree a Wii or Xbox 360 or Playstation 3. When the wrapping paper is ripped and the contents revealed shouts of joy will fill the room. (I’m planning on this as our kids open their Wii!) Each of these game consoles will bring countless hours of pleasure to the players. But as amazing as these machines are, they in no way compare to the audacity of God’s gift given at Christmas.
Consider the staggering promise of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:21. He says, “all things are yours” by virtue of being in Christ. And what does Paul include in “all things”? Things like the world, life, death, the present and the future. Breathtaking. How can this be?
Galatians 4:4-7 shows how the Christian comes to inherit “all things.”
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Christmas marks the “fullness of time” when God, in his sovereign freedom, “sent forth his Son.” The One who dispenses times and seasons determined that it was time to send forth the Son who had existed with the Father from eternity. Indeed, the second person of the Trinity “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:6-7). He was “born of a woman, born under the law.” Here we have the wonder of the Incarnation: God of very God assuming a human nature.
Why would the Son of God take on flesh and dwell among sinful mankind? Why would divinity take on humanity and “become obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8)?
He did it to secure salvation. In other words, “to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:5). Christ came into the world not only to free us from the tyranny of sin, death and the devil, but also to crown us with unimaginable glory.
It is true that at the Cross Christ “redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). But we have not been saved only in this “negative” sense. We have been adopted into God’s family and given all the rights and privileges of legitimate heirs. Paul captures this beautifully in 2 Corinthians 2:8-9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” And the riches that are ours in Christ are far greater than anything merely monetary. These riches are in fact “all things” for “all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (1 Corinthians 3:23). This is the audacity of Christmas and it is intended to redound “to the praise of [God’s] glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6).
Intersecting Faith & Life: This Christmas I want to think and live as one adopted. One way to do this is to let every gift given to a loved one serve as a pointer to the Gospel. And when we consider how excited we are for the new Wii or Xbox or Playstation with its temporal pleasures, let us remember the eternal weight of glory that awaits the heirs of the King.
Consider the staggering promise of the apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 3:21. He says, “all things are yours” by virtue of being in Christ. And what does Paul include in “all things”? Things like the world, life, death, the present and the future. Breathtaking. How can this be?
Galatians 4:4-7 shows how the Christian comes to inherit “all things.”
But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.
Christmas marks the “fullness of time” when God, in his sovereign freedom, “sent forth his Son.” The One who dispenses times and seasons determined that it was time to send forth the Son who had existed with the Father from eternity. Indeed, the second person of the Trinity “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:6-7). He was “born of a woman, born under the law.” Here we have the wonder of the Incarnation: God of very God assuming a human nature.
Why would the Son of God take on flesh and dwell among sinful mankind? Why would divinity take on humanity and “become obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Philippians 2:8)?
He did it to secure salvation. In other words, “to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons” (Galatians 4:5). Christ came into the world not only to free us from the tyranny of sin, death and the devil, but also to crown us with unimaginable glory.
It is true that at the Cross Christ “redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us” (Galatians 3:13). But we have not been saved only in this “negative” sense. We have been adopted into God’s family and given all the rights and privileges of legitimate heirs. Paul captures this beautifully in 2 Corinthians 2:8-9, “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich.” And the riches that are ours in Christ are far greater than anything merely monetary. These riches are in fact “all things” for “all are yours, and you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s” (1 Corinthians 3:23). This is the audacity of Christmas and it is intended to redound “to the praise of [God’s] glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved” (Ephesians 1:6).
Intersecting Faith & Life: This Christmas I want to think and live as one adopted. One way to do this is to let every gift given to a loved one serve as a pointer to the Gospel. And when we consider how excited we are for the new Wii or Xbox or Playstation with its temporal pleasures, let us remember the eternal weight of glory that awaits the heirs of the King.
Life is Short
Life is Short
By: Jennifer Heeren
It’s inevitable. One day you will pass from this life and go into the next. So, in light of this fact, the Bible says that whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.We are meant to bring glory to our Creator. You didn’t do anything to bring yourself into this life, so what you do with your days on earth shouldn’t be solely about you. “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So, you must honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
By: Jennifer Heeren
It’s inevitable. One day you will pass from this life and go into the next. So, in light of this fact, the Bible says that whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.We are meant to bring glory to our Creator. You didn’t do anything to bring yourself into this life, so what you do with your days on earth shouldn’t be solely about you. “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So, you must honor God with your body.” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20)
Do everything out of love.
Act with love, compassion, mercy, and kindness as often as you can. Once you believe in Christ and are covered by His righteousness, your good works are no longer rubbish. They shine like diamonds to point people to your heavenly Father.
“Be on guard. Stand firm in the faith. Be courageous. Be strong. And do everything with love"( 1 Corinthians 16:13-14). You will never feel as fulfilled as when you’re serving other people in some way. Give food. Give money. Give away a possession. Give your time. Give encouragement. Give a hug. Give of yourself. You won’t regret this kind of living.
Remember that this life is short.
Even if you live to be 100, that is still a minute amount of time compared to eternity.
No one knows the day or the hour that they will be called home to heaven. Babies and young children go. Teenagers and young adults on the brink of discovering their life’s purpose go. People have passed away in every decade of a typical life. No one knows the length of their life, so we need to work on developing the breadth of it, which means making the most of each day.
We need to always remember this brevity and uncertainty. Doing so is the prescription to cure the common ailment of procrastination.
Always press forward and never give up.
I like that the Apostle Paul wanted to assure his readers by telling them that he hasn’t achieved the perfection of always living right for God (Philippians 3:12). None of us are perfect and none of us glorify God perfectly. I know I don’t. But I strive to do my best as excellently as possible each day.
I can press onward to learn from my mistakes and then do better the next time until I reach the end of my race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, called me (Philippians 3:14).
A Prayer to Our Prince of Peace
A Prayer to Our Prince of Peace
By: Lisa Appelo
By: Lisa Appelo
“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit. The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him -- the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the LORD.” Isaiah 11:1-2 [NIV]
This passage talks about stumps and shoots. We have several big oak trees in our yard and when one of them started endangering the house, we had it cut all the way down to a stump. A few months later? New green shoots with glossy green leaves began growing right out of that stump.
That’s the picture that the prophet Isaiah uses. Seven hundred years before Jesus was ever born, Isaiah prophesied that a Messiah would come from the root of Jesse. Jesse was the father of King David, an ancestor of both Mary and Joseph. While nearly all of King David’s royal line would be wiped out, God promised a Messiah would come from the stump of Jesse.
Out of what looked like a dead royal line -- when a pagan, Roman government rather than a Hebrew king ruled over Israel -- God brought about that new shoot: the Messiah – Jesus.
Jesus, didn’t rule like King David with an earthly palace or majestic throne or royal robes conquering enemy nations through a mighty army. Instead, Jesus came in poverty and humility, to reveal a heavenly kingdom and to conquer the curse of sin through his own death.
Advent Prayer:
O Father, we praise you that before the foundation of the world You chose Jesus, our Messiah, to come to earth and show us the Way to the heavenly kingdom and to be the Way to the heavenly kingdom. We thank you for making room for us who are redeemed in Your heavenly Kingdom.
Jesus, we worship you as King of Kings and Lord of lords. You are my King. You have rule over my heart and my life, my thoughts and time and goals. I bow to You only and give you full and free reign over my life. Help me not to grip anything so tightly that I am unwilling to release it to You. You are a just King; our Prince of Peace. Help me to desire Your kingdom above that of my own making and bow to Your will above my own.
Holy Spirit, lead me in the ways of the heavenly kingdom. Teach me wisdom from above and guide me in truth. Help me to have eyes that see and ears that hear all that God has for me. Help me to know the Lord, to fully understand His might, to fear turning away from Him and to know His grace.
We love you Lord. With all of our heart, all of our soul, all of our mind and all of our strength we love you. We lavish you with our worship. We come to adore You today. Amen.
Then let us all with one accord
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord
That hath made Heaven and earth of nought
And with his blood mankind has bought.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!
Sing praises to our heavenly Lord
That hath made Heaven and earth of nought
And with his blood mankind has bought.
Noel, Noel, Noel, Noel
Born is the King of Israel!
The Man Who Tried to Stop Christmas
The Man Who Tried to Stop Christmas
By Greg Laurie
Then Herod called for a private meeting with the wise men, and he learned from them the time when the star first appeared. (Matthew 2:7 NLT)
King Herod was the man who tried to stop Christmas. With all his wealth and power, he came to complete ruin. Historical writings tell us that in the final year of his life, his body was infected with disease.
Ironically, Herod pretended to be a worshipper. He said to the wise men, “Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!” (Matthew 2:8). Yet Herod was a false worshipper. There are people like him today. They say they believe in God, but they live a life that contradicts what the Scriptures teach.
Herod wanted to be the king of his own life, but he really was a slave. He ended up being not the King of the Jews but the king of fools. Herod ended up on the ash heap of history like dictators before and after him, reminding us that those who live wicked lives eventually will reap what they sow. Adolf Hitler went into his bunker and shot himself as his nation crumbled around him. Saddam Hussein was found hiding in a hole and was eventually executed by his own people. Muammar Gaddafi was hunted down by his own people, beaten, and shot to death.
All those who blaspheme God, fight with God, or try to stop the work of God eventually will fail. Yet God’s Word ultimately will prevail. Philippians 2:9–10 says, “Therefore, God elevated him to the place of highest honor and gave him the name above all other names, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth.”
One day, everyone—every man, every woman, every believer, and every nonbeliever—will bow before Jesus Christ.
Copyright © 2015 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
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