Tag Archive | whatever is pure

Are you worried? Here’s your answer!

Aug14

Are you worried about what’s going on in the world today? Worried about your financial situation? Worried about your family? The list of things we worry about is endless but there is a solution. In every situation we are to turn our worries over to the ONE who died for us. The ONE who is able to do exceedingly and abundantly beyond anything we can comprehend.

Worry will never solve a single thing. It will only rob us of our peace and joy. When we apply the Word of God to our situations we are able to rest peacefully knowing there is nothing impossible with Christ. Here are but a few words to take deep into your heart and apply to whatever it is you are worrying about.

1Peter 5:6-7 NIV 1 Peter 5:6-8 6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.

Romans 8:28 NIV 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. 

Phillipians 4:4-9 NIV 4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! 5 Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Psalm 55:22 NIV 22 Cast your cares on the Lord and He will sustain you;
He will never let the righteous be shaken.

Phillipians 4:19 NIV 19 And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of His glory in Christ Jesus.

Luke 12:22-26 NIV 22 Then Jesus said to his disciples: “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. 23 For life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. 24 Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! 25 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to your life? 26 Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest?

Hebrews 13:6 NIV 6 So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?”

John 6:37 NIV 37 All those the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away. 

Isaiah 41:10 NIV 10 So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you;  I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.

Deuteronomy 31:5, 6 NIV 5 The Lord will deliver them to you, and you must do to them all that I have commanded you. 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you.”

And finally…

Deuteronomy 31:8 NIV 8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

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Do I need MORE to be content?

Jun27

Lately I’ve been enjoying watching some of the home  renovation programs on t.v.  They tend to inspire me to do creative things in and around my house. I’ve also found, however, that they also create a bit of discontent within me. I find myself wishing we had more expendable income so we could do more. At times, I also find myself becoming discontent with what I have. Though we don’t live in the lap of luxury, we have more than most in this world of ours. We have loads to be grateful for! We have been blessed with so much inside and outside our home.

I know there is nothing wrong with wanting to improve things in our lives. Change can be a good thing. Some change can makes our lives easier, more comfortable etc. However, the changes that we want are not always possible. The timing may not be right, the finances may not be there, the person may not be ready etc.

The Lord has reminded me, once again, that I must learn to be content with what I have and with the things I cannot change right now. If I allow my discontent to grow, I will find myself envying others and being resentful to those around me. God hasn’t called me to a life of selfish indulgence but to a life of service. When I focus on what I don’t have and not on what I should be grateful for, I become a grumbler. Grumbler’s never accomplish much for the Kingdom!  Just read Exodus 16 & 17.  If it had not been for Moses, these grumblers would probably still be wandering in the wilderness!

I don’t want to grumble, instead I want to live as Paul learned to live.

Ephesians 4:8-13 NKJV 

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. 

10 I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

I am learning. It is a progress but I do want to learn to be truly content in any circumstance. Not because it makes me more noble or holy. Simply because it is what Jesus calls me to do. When I walk in contentment I am usable for the Kingdom. When I grumble and complain and keep my focus on me me me, I make myself insensitive and unavailable for service.

Lord, for those of us who struggle with discontentment from time to time we ask for forgiveness. Please  open our eyes that we may see all that we have to be grateful for! Give us a heart like Jesus. A heart that desires to do your will. A heart that is content in all things. A heart that is yielded to the Holy Spirit. We ask it in the beautiful name of Your Son Jesus. Amen



Trust in Him who can’t be shaken!

Oct21
Job 12:10 NIV 10 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.

Job 12:10 NIV
10 In his hand is the life of every creature
and the breath of all mankind.

With all the craziness going on in the world today, it is a challenge to not worry about the future. We see government corruption, unrest,  wars and rumors of wars everywhere we look. Things that for generations people relied upon, are now being shaken.  Senior pensions, family security, trust in the government, job security and many other things are no longer things you can rely upon. We tend to find ourselves angry at those in charge. Those who we believe are responsible for the changes that we don’t seem to be able to prevent.

I was reminded this morning that none of this is a surprise to our King. We were warned  in Hebrews 12:25-29 NIV 25 See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks. If they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven? 26 At that time his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, “Once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.” 27 The words “once more” indicate the removing of what can be shaken that is, created things-so that what cannot be shaken may remain.28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”

We are currently experiencing the birth pangs of what is prophetically to come. If we study the Word as we are called to do,  these pains should not surprise us either. They were foretold and they will happen. Though it is vitally important to pray for our leaders, we cannot count on them to “save” us from all the difficulties we currently face or those to come.  For all of us who follow Christ, our hope and trust must be in the One who truly holds the future in His hand.

God calls His people to trust Him with every area of our lives. He is our King, Redeemer, Provider, Protector and will be with us till He calls us home. When we look to world leaders and political parties alone to keep our future secure, we are trusting in sinking sand. In 1 Peter 2:9 NIV, we read of our position  as followers of Christ, 9 But we are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that we may declare the praises of him who called us out of darkness into his wonderful light.10 Once we were not a people, but now we are the people of God; once we had not received mercy, but now we have received mercy.

Because of our position in Christ, we can trust Him to be ever present with us regardless of the environment we find ourselves living in. Just as God assured Moses that he would deliver His people out of the land of Egypt, through the wilderness and into the Promise Land, we too can trust Him to bring us through any situation or environment until either Christ returns or He calls us home.

When we find ourselves yelling at the tv or ranting over what mess the current politicians have got us into, we need to remember the following verses…

Psalm 118:8 NIV 8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans.

Psalm 18:30 NIV 30 As for God, His way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; He shields all who take refuge in Him.

Psalm 27:5 NIV 5 For in the day of trouble He will keep me safe in His dwelling; He will hide me in the shelter of His sacred tent and set me high upon a rock.

And finally one of my favorites from the NT…

Phillipians 4:6-8 NIV 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.

Have a wonderful day!

What are you feeding your mind?

Jun18

The Word of God says Jesus is coming back for a church without spot or wrinkle. I want to be part of that and I expect all followers of Christ do too! So why is it we see so many in the body of Christ  more concerned about watching the next big game, or episode of their favorite tv show than they are about being ready for our Kings return? We need to be like the virgins with their lampstands and be ready! Sadly we have allowed our minds to become too preoccupied with  temporal things and have shelved eternal things, thinking we can always get back to them.

I feel a stirring in my heart that I need to lay aside the things that easily distract me and move into a deeper walk with Jesus. I have spoken to many people lately that have that same stirring. So how do we go about doing that? We need to start by changing what we are feeding our minds. If we haven’t been reading our Bibles it’s time to get back to doing that. It’s our love letter from our Father and without it we will not grow spiritually. We need to humble ourselves and ask for forgiveness for putting anything and or everything before Him. We need to renew our minds on truth.  Our walk with Christ is a journey from glory to glory. In order to grow more like our Savior we need to spend time with Him in prayer and spend time in His Word renewing our minds.

As much as I like to watch and read current news, I realize though it  informs me of the troubles of the world,  it can’t offer any real solutions. And though I like to educate myself on issues like health, food, gardening etc.. I need to bear in mind that these things too are temporal. Good to know but if I am spending more time on them than time with the lover of my soul, my walk with Him will begin to suffer.  The things we spend the most time feeding  our minds on are the things that will grow and flourish within us. What we feed grows and what we neglect dies that’s why it is so critical to keep our minds set on eternal things. Otherwise, our walk with Christ will suffer greatly and our growth will stop. We will find ourselves stumbling around in the dark wondering what happened? We lose our peace, joy, spiritual discernment and so many other things that God freely gives us when we don’t abide in Him.

If you find yourself in that place now, cry out to Jesus. Ask Him to forgive you for putting anyone or anything before Him, confess your sins to Him. His Word tells us that,  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness. ( 1John 1:9)  He longs to have fellowship with you again! Get back into the Word of God. Just as your body needs food daily, so does your spirit. Begin to renew your mind on the things of God through His Word. Aim to spend less time on the temporal and more on the eternal, where the fruit born is eternal.

Romans 12:2 NIV2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—His good, pleasing and perfect will.

2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

Phillipians 4:8 NIV 8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.