Loving Others

Yesterday I was at my old job. I worked at a church. I got to be in the presence of many who loved me…former co-workers and members of the congregation. I hadn’t seen many of them for a very long time and it was a rich experience. Loving. Mutual appreciation. Laughter. Hugs. Stories. It was wonderful.

When I was driving away, I was thanking the Lord for how loving that time was. It made me think about what the Word says about how we are to be in loving relationship with each other.

Live in true devotion to one another, loving each other as sisters and brothers. Be first to honor others by putting them first. (Romans 12:10)

So I give you a new command: Love each other deeply and fully. Remember the ways that I have loved you, and demonstrate your love for others in those same ways. Everyone will know you as My followers if you demonstrate your love to others. (John 13:34&35)

So support one another. Keep building each other up as you have been doing. (1Thessalonians 5:11)

And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you. (Ephesians 4:32)

Shoulder each other’s burdens, and then you will live as the law of the Anointed teaches us. (Galatians 6:2)

Proverbs 18:10

The name of the Lord is a fortified tower; the righteous run to it and are safe.


AMEN!!!!

Lead us Not...

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.. (Matthew 6:13) 

For me, this portion of this prayer which we call “The Lord’s Prayer” always was a little weird to me. I wondered how it would be possible for a benevolent God to actually lead us into temptation. Not that He couldn’t, I mean He is omnipotent. But because of His character and because of scripture that seems to contradict this, it was a mystery.

In studying it though, I learned the following from Matthew Henry. I know that in the past I have shared his commentary, but I felt led to revisit it. I pray you will be encouraged.

Regarding Matt 6:13:

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. This petition is expressed, (1.) Negatively: Lead us not into temptation. Having prayed that the guilt of sin may be removed, we pray, as it is fit, that we may never return again to folly, that we may not be tempted to it. It is not as if God tempted any to sin; but, "Lord, do not let Satan loose upon us; chain up that roaring lion, for he is subtle and spiteful; Lord, do not leave us to ourselves (Ps. 19:13 ), for we are very weak; Lord, do not lay stumbling-blocks and snares before us, nor put us into circumstances that may be an occasion of falling.’’ Temptations are to be prayed against, both because of the discomfort and trouble of them, and because of the danger we are in of being overcome by them, and the guilt and grief that then follow. (2.) Positively: But deliver us from evil; apo tou ponerou —from the evil one, the devil, the tempter; "keep us, that either we may not be assaulted by him, or we may not be overcome by those assaults:’’ Or from the evil thing, sin, the worst of evils; an evil, an only evil; that evil thing which God hates, and which Satan tempts men to and destroys them by. "Lord, deliver us from the evil of the world, the corruption that is in the world through lust; from the evil of every condition in the world; from the evil of death; from the sting of death, which is sin: deliver us from ourselves, from our own evil hearts: deliver us from evil men, that they may not be a snare to us, nor we a prey to them.’’

Walking in the Light

What we are telling you now is the very message we heard from Him: God is pure light, undimmed by darkness of any kind.  If we say we have an intimate connection with the Father but we continue stumbling around in darkness, then we are lying because we do not live according to truth.  If we walk step by step in the light, where the Father is, then we are ultimately connected to each other through the sacrifice of Jesus His Son. His blood purifies us from all our sins. (1 John 1:5-7)

Our God is wholly righteous. He is the almighty God. The perfect One. Pure light.  The presence of the Father in our lives is evidenced by walking according to the truth. Walking in His light – not stumbling in darkness. And when we walk step by step in the light, we are connected to each of the Father’s children. We are identified as His children when we have accepted Christ as our Savior; allowing His blood to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Are you walking in the light?  If not but you are interested in that idea, I invite you to message me so we can talk about it.

Blessings to you.

Isaiah 61:10 I Will Greatly Rejoice!

I will greatly rejoice in the Lord,
My soul shall be joyful in my God;
For He has clothed me with the garments of salvation,
He has covered me with the robe of righteousness,
As a bridegroom decks himself with ornaments,
And as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.

Welcome Singapore!!!!

I'm so glad you have found us here at Simply Christian!!!  It just amazes me when we are found by new readers...especially outside of the United States.
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SO GLAD YOU'RE HERE! YAY!!!

Blessings to you!

PRAYER NEEDED

We live in such a challenging time in history. Increased hatred…crime...disdain…war…disasters…drought…disease…broken families.  May I encourage you? PRAY! Talk with the Father and seek His wisdom. He will strengthen you and guide you. We need women and men of wisdom operating in this world. The world needs the loving God Almighty.

Pray.

Blessings to you.

The One Who Fights With Us and For Us

On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel! (Joshua 10:12-14)

This is an utterly amazing account of what the Lord allowed to happen among Joshua and the children of Israel – His beloved ones. Joshua was able to speak to elements of nature and the Lord caused them to obeyed his words! What?!?! And God was so present that He did not allow the sun to go down until the Israelites had victory. And then to top it off, this account in scripture points out that the Lord Himself was fighting on Israel’s behalf. In fact, in verse 11 of this chapter, we read: “As they fled before Israel on the road down from Beth Horon to Azekah, the Lord hurled large hailstones down on them, and more of them died from the hail than were killed by the swords of the Israelites.” AWESOME!!!!

Beloved one, know that in the midst of your trials, the Lord is not only with you but He is fighting on your behalf. Trust Him. Depend on Him. Have faith in Him.

For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory.” (Deuteronomy 20:4)

“Have faith in God,” Jesus answered. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.”  (Mark 11:22-24)

Building up One Another

Therefore encourage (admonish, exhort) one another and edify (strengthen and build up) one another, just as you are doing. (1 Thessalonians 5:11)

As we walk through this challenging life - a life that Jesus assured us would be challenging (John 16:33), we must support one another. We must encourage one another. We must strengthen and build one another up. We must be intentional about being mindful of what is happening with our brothers and sisters and generously and lovingly doing all that we can do to be a support to them. These relationships are of immeasurable value and we get the privilege of standing for and with one another as we deepen in relationships. And for those of us who struggle with pride (Yeah, I’m one of those!), I encourage you to allow and enjoy this loving support from the people that the Father brings in to your life. We need one another and the Father has connected us as brothers and sisters through the blood of our Savior.

Let’s be diligent about building one another up.

Our Identity

Precious one. Please know that your heavenly Father has lovingly created you. He knows everything about you; knows you inside out. And He has great plans for you. Today, I want to encourage you to truly embrace the truth of who you are and to embrace the One who made you.

God said, let Us [Father, Son, and Holy Spirit] make mankind in Our image, after Our likeness, and let them have complete authority over the fish of the sea, the birds of the air, the [tame] beasts, and over all of the earth, and over everything that creeps upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image and likeness of God He created him; male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:26&27)

When I view and consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained and established, what is man that You are mindful of him, and the son of [earthborn] man that You care for him? Yet You have made him but a little lower than God [or heavenly beings], and You have crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet: All sheep and oxen, yes, and the beasts of the field, The birds of the air, and the fish of the sea, and whatever passes along the paths of the seas. O Lord, our Lord, how excellent (majestic and glorious) is Your name in all the earth! (Psalm 8:3-9)

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, the days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day. (Psalm 139:13-16)

Uncommon

In his book Quiet Strength, former football coach Tony Dungy shares how one of his former football coaches used to give the same speech to incoming Freshmen every year. Part of that speech was that “Success is uncommon and not to be enjoyed by the common man.” Dungy knew even at that early age that he had a better chance of becoming uncommon by his efforts than he did by natural ability. He uses Yao Ming’s height and Michael Jordan’s vertical jump as examples of God-given natural abilities. Basketball player Steve Kerr, on the other hand, shot five hundred free throws a day to make himself uncommon.

I love this concept of being uncommon not because of natural abilities, but because of uncommon effort to achieve a goal. Five hundred free throws!?!?  That’s uncommon effort.

Not every football player is inducted into the hall of fame. Not every heavyweight boxer is a champ. Not every figure skater becomes a world champion. Not every business owner enjoys the success of a Donald Trump or a Reginald Lewis. Why? I believe it is because where natural ability may be limited, sometimes we choose not to push past the natural and press for the uncommon. Get the education, get the training, get wise advisors…if you’re an athlete, train like your life depends on it!!! PUSH!

So today I just want to encourage you to push. Push for the uncommon and live a robust life with God.

Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed. (Mark 1:35)

Jesus, our example, got up early in the morning to spend time in fellowship with the Father. Should we not also do the same – spend intimate time with our Father? For sure we should!!!

El Shaddai - All-Sufficient One, Lord God Almighty

This name of God is found a handful of times in the Old Testament – specifically in the book of Genesis. This name depicts God as the all-sufficient and almighty One. And in this context, the name also denotes a tenderness from God. Tenderness likened to a mother who nourishes and loves her child. A mother who lovingly meets the needs of her child.

In this God of strength and power, there is no lack. He is well able to provide more than sufficiently for His children.  He is well able to protect and defend…to nurture and comfort. El Shaddai is the all-sufficient One, the almighty One, the One who loves us immeasurably.

Thank You Father!