God’s Great Gift of Love..Craig Denison Ministries;

God’s Great Gift of Love

Craig Denison Ministries;

Weekly Overview: 

It’s vital to the Christian life that we as sons and daughters of the most high God allow our affections to be stirred by the loving, powerful nature of our heavenly Father. Too often we feel that God is distant or separated from us. Too often we allow misconceptions or lies to place a rift between us and experiencing God. It’s in reminding ourselves of God’s character that lies are broken and a pathway is laid for us to encounter his tangible love. Open your heart and mind and receive fresh revelation of the goodness of God this week. Allow your affections to be stirred and your heart to be filled with desire to seek the face of your heavenly Father.

Scripture:“We love because he first loved us.” - >1 John 4:19

Devotional: 

You need to experience the love of God. The single most important part of your day is receiving the love of your heavenly Father. Without being loved by God, you can’t fully love him or others. And the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13:1, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” You’re called to live your life in response to God's love, because God asks that everything you do be done in love. If what you are doing isn't done in love, it is not pleasing to him, and you can’t live a lifestyle of loving others without being loved by him first.

What's more, God's desire is to completely overwhelm you with his love right now. He doesn't want to love you just so you'll love him back or love those around you. Loving God and others is a natural by-product of receiving God’s love. He loves you just because he loves you.

He longs for you to live a lifestyle of love because he knows that’s the absolute, most fulfilling, purposeful, and peaceful way of life for you. He longs to set you free from the burdens of living for your own gain. He longs to lead you to the path of abundant life. But it all starts with simply receiving his love.

The love of God will guide you, establish you, empower you, and fully delight you. His love will free you, compel you, and sustain you. His love for you is eternal, real, and right now. All you need to do is simply open your heart to him and set aside a little time right now to receive his amazing gift of love.

God desires to be experienced. He is living and active, but so few experience the life and love he wants to bring. Today, after receiving his love, take some time to reflect on how differently you feel and act afterwards. See if you feel a stirring of desire for God and those around you. You see, God intends for us to have his love for those around us. In loving God you receive his love for others. You care about the things the people you love care about. It is the same with God. But it all starts with simply being loved by him. There's no better time than right now, wherever you are, to receive the love of your heavenly Father.           

Guided Prayer:

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you encounter the love of God. Receive the peace, love, and comfort of God. Let all your cares go and take some time to just rest in his presence.

“No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” >Romans 8:37-39

“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” >Jeremiah 29:13

2. Ask God to give you revelation on his heart for you and those around you.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” >John 3:16

“In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” >1 John 4:9-12

3. Ask the Spirit to help you love the people you encounter today with God's heart for them.

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” >John 13:34

Know that wherever you go, God is there. You can receive his love at any time. Whenever someone harms you today, whenever you get frustrated or stressed, take a few minutes to simply be loved by your heavenly Father. May his love be the foundation for yours in all that you do today.

Extended Reading: John 17

Why We Should Be Honest ..Aaron D’Anthony Brown

 Why We Should Be Honest

By Aaron D’Anthony Brown

"But let your 'yes' mean 'yes,' and your 'no' mean 'no.' Anything more than this is from the evil one." Matthew 5:37

In Need of Honesty
Our culture needs honesty. The kind of honesty that speaks the truth, not my truth or yours. Not just outside of the church but inside the church too. We've all grown accustomed to affirmation, too used to agreement, and too sensitive toward conflict. As a result, our ability to be honest with one another has taken a backseat. We justify ourselves, believing that with less honesty, we can have richer and more plentiful relationships, but how authentic, how godly can any relationship be without honesty?

Are you an honest person? Many of us claim the title, but that doesn't stop us from calling everyone we know a friend, even when we've just met them, or stop us from hiding criticism from the person who sorely needs to hear it. Then there are those who tell basic, unadulterated lies to avoid consequences. The number of truly honest people is less than those who claim such, even among believers. Yet, as Christians, we should forever strive to ensure our self-perceptions match reality. Jesus says to His followers, 

"But let your 'yes' mean 'yes,' and your 'no' mean 'no.' Anything more than this is from the evil one." (Matthew 5:37)

Today, we face the constant temptation of mixing our yes and no, all in an effort not to offend, get along, and make peace. We strive to stay on everyone's good side and stray away from saying anything that would be considered "judging."  Not only does Scripture make judgments and call us to do the same, but Scripture admonishes us to make honest judgments. We call a spade a spade, a woman a woman, and nothing in between. God's word says that "Lying lips are detestable to the Lord" and that "faithful people are his delight" (Proverbs 12:22).

Jesus caused offense in His day. Jewish leaders, the Romans, and the Pharisees despised him. Society hated Jesus so much that He was crucified. Nonetheless, He spread the truth, knowing the consequences. His message continues today, and His teachings still offend now. We are called to live like Christ. Our lifestyles, our words, and our actions will offend. There will be consequences. That is the natural outcome when we live counter-culturally to the world. But through Christ, we know the full impact of honesty. Honesty has the potential to bring confrontation, hurt, and challenge, those things we are so desperate to avoid. Yet, honesty is what God desires from us. While there are drawbacks, there are a myriad of benefits as well, such as being faithful people that delight the Lord.

Intersecting Faith and Life:
Maybe you're looking to reevaluate your life and become more honest, but you're still on the fence about why we should be honest. Wisdom and reason have yet to convince. Or maybe you need motivation to overcome some dishonest habits. By pursuing this character trait, here are some benefits you can expect:

Connection with God
Without honesty, we keep ourselves from having an authentic relationship with God. Scripture talks about confessing our sins and praying to the Lord. Dishonesty prevents us from doing either effectively. Conversely, when we are honest, we connect with God more often and on a deeper level. We receive that forgiveness for our sins because we genuinely ask.

Stronger Relationships
Honesty can break relationships, but those that crumble are not rooted in shared faith and values. On the contrary, godly relationships benefit from honesty because everyone stays on the same page and is open to genuine affirmation and loving rebuke.

Discouragement of Sin
Without practicing honesty, we act as enablers of sin. There will come a time, multiple times when someone openly practicing sin will invite us in for affirmation, celebration, or even just tolerance. That invitation is a chance for us to be honest and call out the sin. This doesn't mean that we always make our opinions known, but this does mean that if asked, we give them the truth.

Building Character
Honesty builds the character of those we interact with and our own because it forms us into people of integrity. We practice the same things we preach. Moreover, honesty keeps us accountable to one another and God.

Making Changes
You can't change any problem in your life without first recognizing the problem. Honesty helps us diagnose, setting us up to identify potential solutions and loopholes leading back to the problem. Honesty allows us to initiate those changes in ourselves and others, sparking a change that affects one person, the community, and beyond. When we allow our yes to mean yes, and our no to mean no, we forfeit fear of the consequences, and we become better people as a result, people who delight the Lord.

Further Reading:

• Proverbs 12:22
• Proverbs 19:1
• John 8:32
• 2 Corinthians 8:16-24

How to Not Be Anxious..Kia Stephens

 How to Not Be Anxious (Philippians 4:6-7)

By: Kia Stephens

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. - Philippians 4:6-7 (NIV)

I could feel it inside me. Tension in my upper back, shortness of breath, and knots in my stomach all alerted me to the presence of anxiety. It was 3:00 AM and I lay in bed, eyes wide open as I stared up at the ceiling.

My mind was flooded with an endless series of “what if’s” drifting from one area of my life to the next. I tried praying but it only seemed to anchor my thoughts further into panic. I let my mind aimlessly drift through social media images but that, too, proved to be ineffective. Then, in a ninth-hour-effort I turned to the well-known anecdotal verse for anxiety: Philippians 4:6-7.

It reads, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” I read it once, but it didn’t seem to impact my present reality one bit, so I read it again and again. I reasoned repetition might somehow bring about my ability to follow this command from the apostle Paul.

Reciting these words did serve to fixate my mind on something other than my worry, but it simultaneously left me with questions for Paul. What about extremely unfair and difficult circumstances? What if your life is in danger? How are you not supposed to be anxious in every situation?

After all, Paul did not say, “Try not to be anxious… just do your best to not be overcome with anxiety.” No, he gave a straightforward and loophole-less command. Paul was not entertaining sob stories or reasons why there should be a caveat to what he wrote. He simply said, “Do not be anxious.” Maybe you too have been left with some unanswered questions pertaining to Paul’s command.

The word anxiety means to be pulled apart in many directions, leaving a person divided and distracted. Life’s circumstances have a way of doing this to all of us and anxiety seems like a natural response. Here in Philippians, however, Paul is saying we can make a conscious decision not to be this way. He is saying we can choose to do something when anxious thoughts occur.

Although he left us with no easy outs, he did tell us what we should replace our anxiety with. Instead of being anxious, in every situation we are to pray, petition and thankfully present our request to God. Although difficult to do, when we feel anxiety in our body, we are to rephrase our anxious thoughts as prayers and petitions with thanksgiving.

If my anxious thought is, “I am worried about the loss of income.” I could choose to cast that anxious thought on God by praying, “God, thank You for being a provider and more than capable of meeting my every need. I believe that you are able to direct me to a new source of income for my family and I ask that in the meantime, you would provide for our needs.”

Rephrasing our words so that they are in line with Philippians 4:6-7 is an act of faith. Choosing to pray like this forces us to intentionally place our faith in God, whom we cannot see, rather than our circumstances, which are often overwhelmingly visible.

Although this is difficult to do, as believers we have not been given an option. This is how we have been commanded to deal with anxiety. We govern ourselves in this way knowing that even if God does not answer our prayers in the way we think He should, He still loves us immensely and is intimately concerned about the details of our lives.

What anxious thoughts are robbing you of the experience of God’s peace? Think of what is making you anxious and decide right now to stop and pray, casting that anxiety to the Lord. Give your worries over to Him today and allow his peace to guard your heart and mind in Christ Jesus.

A Prayer Against Sex Trafficking..Emma Danzey

 A Prayer Against Sex Trafficking

By Emma Danzey

"The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound." - Isaiah 61:1

There are so many hurting and in need of love and care. This world is a dark place, and unfortunately, sex trafficking results from horrific sin. Victims of these terrible crimes have lost their freedom and are held captive by evil. This is not just happening across the oceans but in our own land. Today we pray against the enemy's work, that God's Spirit would physically and emotionally release those suffering from the terror of sex trafficking. 

Let's Pray:
Yahweh, the God who Saves,
Today, we call on Your powerful and strong name on behalf of people worldwide being persecuted by sex trafficking. Their bodies and minds are enslaved unjustly by the strongholds of this present evil. God, we ask that You rescue them. Soften the hearts of those in charge of their captivity. Bring salvation to the hearts of the unexpected, and open their eyes like Saul when he became Paul. Reveal where they have greatly sinned and how they need You to forgive and transform their lives. 

God, we pray on behalf of those held captive. Give them boldness to escape, protection, and a way out. Help them hold on to the will to live. Reveal You are with them in their darkest moments. Give them space to process this evil and long for You in it. Please help them to keep looking for a way out. Allow ministries and organizations to find and get them out in Jesus' name. Open doors of escape like You did for many others in the Bible. Provide a physical way out of their nightmare. We pray for those choosing prostitution out of fear or believing lies. Jesus, show them through Yourself and others that You are good and have better plans for them. Help them to know they are never stuck and can get out. Provide for them financially. Show them they are worth so much more than this. God, protect the children of those in captivity who are parents. We pray for their families or friends to step in and act.

God, for those who have loved ones who have been taken by sex trafficking, give them special strength today. The loss and the pain of the horror are too great. Meet them in their desperation, but do not allow them to give up hope. Help them to pray, seek justice, and reconnect with their loved ones. Please help them to see clearly. Give them boldness and confidence in You.

Jesus, please guide police and undercover workers trying to take down these evil operations and bring justice. We pray they would be one step ahead of the enemy and the transferring of people. Give them insight into locations of suspicion, help them cope with the grave seriousness of these situations, and empower them to continue fighting for innocent lives. We pray they would work diligently, and You would give them supernatural strength to share Your love with others through seeking their freedom. May their acts of rescue point to the greater act of the cross and eternal rescue and hope from the greatest enemy of Satan. We know there is a spiritual battle; we pray for Your Spirit to guard our children, for young people to be wise and protected online from evil, and that You would help parents everywhere to keep safe boundaries to guard their own against these traps. Thank You for Your wisdom in all these things. In Your name Lord, Amen.

Live Intentionally..Dr. Charles Stanley

 Live Intentionally

Dr. Charles Stanley

2 Timothy 4:6-8

Paul was a man who lived life to the full. His goals were to know Christ, abide in His power, fellowship in His suffering, and preach the gospel (Phil. 3:10; 1 Cor. 1:17). In doing so, he aligned his aspirations with the Lord's, diligently worked to fulfill his calling, and persevered through opposition, persecution, and suffering. He could face the end of his life with confidence since he'd "fought the good fight," "finished the course," and "kept the faith" (2 Tim. 4:7).

We'd all like to be able to say the same at the end of our lives, but that means we have to follow Paul's example. How are you doing at setting goals for your life? Have you thought beyond the immediate and set some long-term objectives? Our culture is so fast-paced that few of us take the time to actually consider where we're going. But you don't want to finish your life and find out you were on a course other than God's, fighting the wrong fight, and struggling to keep the faith.

Why not set aside some time this week to get alone with the Lord. Then ask His help in setting goals that will take you where He wants you to go. Consider every area of your life--personal, relational, financial, and vocational--but make spiritual goals your primary emphasis. Then write them down.

If you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting. Maybe it's time to get out of your rut and find a new path. God will help you change direction and accomplish new goals that align with His will. Don't settle for the mediocrity of an unplanned life. Start living intentionally.