My devotional reading this morning was about growing strong in the light of God's presence. I read that my weakness does not repel God. Instead it attracts His Power and His Power is always available to flow into a yielded heart.
It is very easy for us to allow our weakness to cause us to be discouraged and feel as if we are always letting God down. To consider that my weakness attracts God's Power gives me hope in Him and causes me to truly understand that 'with God all things are possible'. I may not be perfect. I may be weak. I may stumble in my journey to a greater relationship with Him but with the Holy Spirit living in me and His Power always available to me, I will never fall to the point that I can't get back up. As He lifts me up and brushes the 'soil' from my garments, He creates a clean heart within me and restores me to the joy of His glorious salvation.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
The Power in Prayer
When we tell someone that we will pray for them, how seriously do we take the commitment that we have just made to that person? Is it important to us to follow through and pray for the person or have we simply spoken words that we think sounded good and hopefully made someone feel better?
When we truly understand that praying to God is so much more than just speaking hopeful words to Him and when we believe, without question, that there is much power in prayer, we will never again make the commitment to pray for someone without realizing that we have made a serious commitment to them. We will make that commitment to pray for another person because we will know that our prayers will make a difference.
God, in His Word to us, repeatedly tells us to pray for each other. When we do this; when we pray for each other, we are calling on the power of the Holy Spirit to intervene in whatever situation is going on in that person's life. There is an awesome power in prayer and God wants us to understand that His power is made available to us when we pray. God's Word tells us that the 'effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.' This is telling us that our prayers are powerful and we can believe that they are being heard by the powerful and loving God of the universe.
It is God's desire that we pray for each other and that we do so with love, boldness and a true expectancy of our prayers being answered.
When we truly understand that praying to God is so much more than just speaking hopeful words to Him and when we believe, without question, that there is much power in prayer, we will never again make the commitment to pray for someone without realizing that we have made a serious commitment to them. We will make that commitment to pray for another person because we will know that our prayers will make a difference.
God, in His Word to us, repeatedly tells us to pray for each other. When we do this; when we pray for each other, we are calling on the power of the Holy Spirit to intervene in whatever situation is going on in that person's life. There is an awesome power in prayer and God wants us to understand that His power is made available to us when we pray. God's Word tells us that the 'effective fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.' This is telling us that our prayers are powerful and we can believe that they are being heard by the powerful and loving God of the universe.
It is God's desire that we pray for each other and that we do so with love, boldness and a true expectancy of our prayers being answered.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Finding The Treasures in The Ashes
I have had a number of opportunities over the past several of years to share my 'life's story' with various church groups, organizations and individuals. I have never liked the idea of using the same notes each time I give my testimony. I learned early on that because each audience was different, it always worked better for me if I wrote my material from a fresh viewpoint. After the first few times of preparing what I would say, I noticed that each time I prepared my material I learned something new from my own history that was not only healing for me emotionally and spiritually but was also teaching me how God had answered my prayers and worked things out when the time was right. This is when God truly awed me with His presence in my life.
Our trials in life are always difficult and can sometimes be very painful, but, they can also be tremendous opportunities for spiritual growth. If we are willing to open our eyes and see what God wants us to see, we will be amazed at what we find. We may be very surprised, as I was, that God had never left, that He had not only answered my prayers, but He answered them in the best possible way for those of us involved. I learned that God had answered my prayers 'when the time was right' for everyone and this is something that I will never forget.
Our trials become like the ashes that are left after a fire. The ashes are those experiences that have caused us pain, heartache, misery, loss, and sometimes even regret. But there are treasures to be found in the ashes. If we are willing to ask God to show us the good that comes from the bad, He will. When we trust God, he will show us that we can dig through the cold ashes left from a 'fiery trial' and find beautiful 'treasurer's and precious 'gems' lying untouched amid the ashes. We know that the heat of a fire can refine precious metals. It is the same with us. The heat from our fiery trials can refine us and remake us in Christ's image.
We should never allow a trial to pass without asking God to show us the treasures He has for us from the ashes of that trial. We need to be determined that our trials will eventually make a positive difference in not only our own life, but in someone else's life, as well. We can determine to glean everything we possibly can from them for personal, emotional, and spiritual growth. When we are able to turn our negative life experiences into positive ones, it is then that we will truly find the treasures in the ashes.
Our trials in life are always difficult and can sometimes be very painful, but, they can also be tremendous opportunities for spiritual growth. If we are willing to open our eyes and see what God wants us to see, we will be amazed at what we find. We may be very surprised, as I was, that God had never left, that He had not only answered my prayers, but He answered them in the best possible way for those of us involved. I learned that God had answered my prayers 'when the time was right' for everyone and this is something that I will never forget.
Our trials become like the ashes that are left after a fire. The ashes are those experiences that have caused us pain, heartache, misery, loss, and sometimes even regret. But there are treasures to be found in the ashes. If we are willing to ask God to show us the good that comes from the bad, He will. When we trust God, he will show us that we can dig through the cold ashes left from a 'fiery trial' and find beautiful 'treasurer's and precious 'gems' lying untouched amid the ashes. We know that the heat of a fire can refine precious metals. It is the same with us. The heat from our fiery trials can refine us and remake us in Christ's image.
We should never allow a trial to pass without asking God to show us the treasures He has for us from the ashes of that trial. We need to be determined that our trials will eventually make a positive difference in not only our own life, but in someone else's life, as well. We can determine to glean everything we possibly can from them for personal, emotional, and spiritual growth. When we are able to turn our negative life experiences into positive ones, it is then that we will truly find the treasures in the ashes.
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