Thoughts For Today

“Therefore also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints do not cease to give thanks for you making mention of you in my prayers; that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of Glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of His glory of His inheritance of the saints, and the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and power and might and dominion and every name that is named, not only to this age but also in that which is to come.  And He put all things under His feet and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Ephesians 1:15-23).

Thoughts For Today

“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.  And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God whom you were sealed for the day of redemption.  Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice.  And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:29-32).  The words that come from our mouths really come from what is in our hearts.  If there are hidden hurts that are causing bitterness then our words are often filtered through that hurt, spilling out onto those we love.  As we daily renew our minds, dwelling on the things Jesus encourages us to think about, things that are good and pure and not of evil; we see a transformation taking place in our hearts.  The Word is correct when it tells us that out of the abundance of the heart will come either good or evil.  It is by daily spending time in God’s Presence that this transformation takes place.  As we exchange our thoughts for His, the things that come out of our hearts will be good treasure indeed.

Thoughts For Today

“He is risen, He is risen indeed” (Luke 24:34).  The resurrection of Christ Jesus is our hope in glory and our inspiration to answer the call to the great commission.  In Matthew 28:18-20, Jesus spoke to His disciples saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”  As Jesus reveals God’s great plan to those ordinary men who were called to do extraordinary things, the disciples asked the question in Luke 24:32, “Did not our heart burn within us…while He opened the Scripture to us?”  Resurrection Day is traditionally celebrated once a year.  Prayerfully, the hope of its promise burns within our hearts daily.  Now is the time to go, make disciples and teach them to observe all that Jesus commanded.  “…Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest.” (John 4:35).

Thoughts For Today

“Show me Your ways, O Lord; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; on You I wait all the day” (Psalm 25:4-5).  The word “truth” means certainty, stability, truth, rightness, and trustworthiness.  Truth originates from the Hebrew word “emet” which is derived from the verb “aman” meaning, “to be firm, permanent and established.”  Emet conveys a sense of dependability, reliability and firmness.  When truth is in evidence, it is something that can wholeheartedly be depended upon.  Remarkably, the word “emet” is spelled with the first, middle and last letters of the Hebrew alphabet.  Hence, it has been concluded that truth upholds the first and last of God’s creation and everything in between.    

• “The Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King…” (Jeremiah 10:10). 

• “I am the way, the truth, and the life...” (John 14:6)” 

• “Everyone who is of truth hears My voice” (John 18:37). 

• “If you abide in My Word, you are My disciples indeed.  And you shall know the truth, and the    truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).

• “Gird your waist with truth...” (Ephesians 6:14). 

• “Truth will be your shield...” (Psalm 91:4). 

• “It is the Spirit that bears witness, because the Spirit is truth” (1 John 5:6). 

• “I have no greater joy than to hear that My children walk in truth” (3 John 4). 

As we abide in God’s Word, we truly become disciples of Christ, seeking His truth.  Because God is Spirit, we must commune with Him through intimacy with Him.  As we sincerely seek Him, bringing our spirit, soul and body into the spiritual reality of God’s Presence, it becomes much easier to trust that His Word is true and that He is truly Who He says He is.  Truth in this context literally means to be hidden or to escape notice.  The Hebrew form of this word is “aletheia” and is the opposite of fictitious, feigned, or false.  It denotes veracity, reality, sincerity, accuracy, integrity, truthfulness, dependability, and propriety. 

Never doubt that God is: 

Certain Right, Permanent Sincere, Stable, Trustworthy, Accurate, Full of Integrity 

Firm, Truthful, Real, Reliable, Established, Dependable.

Thoughts For Today

“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament shows His handiwork.  Day unto day utters speech and night unto night reveals knowledge.  There is no speech nor language where their voice is not heard.  Their line has gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world….”  (Psalm 19:1-4).  These verses vividly unite the revelation of God to man, through creation and through His Word.   “…In them, (His Word) He has set a tabernacle for the sun which is like a bridegroom coming out of His chamber and rejoices like a strongman to run its race.  Its rising is from one end of heaven and its circuit to the other end; and there is nothing hidden from its heat” (Psalm 19:4-6).  As the earth rotates around the sun, darkness is dispelled and even the moon, which has no light source of its own, begins to reflect light, almost as brightly as the sun.  Matthew 5:14-16 declares, “You are the light of the world…let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”  As strongmen who are set to run the race, we have no light of our own, but only the reflected light of the Son, our Lord Jesus Christ.  The light of God that refracts in us and through us is the reflection of the light of Christ in us.  Genesis 1:16-18 tells us “…the greater light is made to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night.”  Jesus, the greater light, rules the church, the children of the day.  He has given authority to the church to rule over darkness.  As we let the reflection of Jesus’ light shine, we begin to penetrate darkness, impacting and influencing those in our sphere of influence and we truly become the “light of the world.”

Thoughts For Today

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8).   Jesus is always ready and waiting to support our faith when we prove Him through His Word.  He will sustain His promises and reward our faith.  James 1:17 states, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes down from the Father of lights, what are these gifts that come down from our heavenly Father?  Romans 14:17 tell us, “The Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.”  Psalm 84:11 confirms, “…the Lord God is a sun and shield; the Lord will give grace and glory; no good thing will He withhold from those who walk uprightly.”  God is unchangeable.  He always keeps His promises.  Rest in the promises of God; yet pursue Him aggressively to build faith.  Numbers 23:19-20 says, “God is not a man that He should lie, nor a son of man that He should repent, has He said and will He not do?  Or has He spoken and will He not make it good?  Behold I have received a command to bless; He has blessed, and I cannot reverse it.”  When we trust in God we learn that:
 He is immutable.
 He never changes.
 His character remains the same.
 He always does what He says He will do.

Hebrews 1:12 declare that Christ is the immutable one.  “…You are the same and your years will not fail.”   In Psalm 102:27-28 we are assured that Christ remains the same and promises, “But You are the same and Your years will have no end, the children of Your servants will continue, and their descendents will be established before You.” Christ is the fulfillment of all the promises of God.  “For all of the promises of God in Him are yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us” (2 Corinthians 1:20).  Though the things of this world are constantly changing, we have a changeless and matchless King who is standing on His immutable promise to bless us.  Remember, His promises and His Word are the same yesterday, today and forever.

Thoughts For Today

As the children of Israel continued their sojourn, God supernaturally provided for them at every turn.  The Red Sea was parted for them just in time to save them from Pharaoh’s pursuing armies.  They walked across the sea on dry land, and every single one of their enemies perished trying to do the same (Exodus 14:19-31).  A cloud led them by day, and a fire appeared at night to protect them (Exodus 13:21).  God provided manna from Heaven to feed them (Exodus 16:4).  Water poured forth from a rock so that they could have plenty to drink (Exodus 17:2-6).  They were on their way to the Promise Land, and everything was looking good.  The deliverance of God’s people from Egypt was a result of answered prayer.  It was also a shadow, or type, of our personal relationship with God.  For us there is deliverance from darkness (Egypt).  We will go the waters of baptism (the Red Sea).  The wonderful Holy Spirit will meet us (God’s supernatural sustenance and provision in the wilderness).  And even so, we may still find ourselves in a wilderness. Egypt will be behind us, and the desert will be ahead.  There are only two choices: go back or push forward.

Thoughts For Today

When God spoke to Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the people go, Moses immediately began to make excuses, explaining to God why he wasn’t the man for the job.  He had a whole list of excuses, and he started with the question: “Who am I to go?” (Exodus 3:11).  Although he saw himself as inadequate, that was a good question and became the turning point of Moses’ life.  Moses’ next question was: “Who should I say sent me?” (Exodus 3:13).  God’s response was, “I AM has sent you” (v. 14).  Unbelievably, Moses persisted: “They will not believe You have appeared to me!” (Exodus 4:1).  The miracles God then demonstrated (Exodus 4:1-9) were for the benefit of Moses, to prove to him that God was indeed with him.  After God had supernaturally shown Moses that He would take care of all the details, Moses still had one more excuse: “I am not eloquent?  I am slow of speech” (Exodus 4:10).  God took care of this final series of excuses by telling Moses, “Now therefore go, and I will be with your mouth, and teach you what you shall say” (Exodus 4:12).  Moses did go before Pharaoh, and the Israelites were freed, but not before Egypt was struck with all manner of plagues.  The miracles that God performed to sovereignly protect the people of Israel were for their own benefit, to build their faith in Him.  Once Moses and Aaron had declared all of the words God had spoken to them and had displayed all the signs He had shown them, the people then believed (Exodus 5:30-31).  The psalmist recalled that great day of deliverance from Egypt: “He brought them forth also with silver and gold [the wealth of the Egyptians] and there was not one feeble person among their tribes” (Psalm 105:37).

Thoughts For Today

It is by faith that we understand the mysteries of the Kingdom.  Hebrews 11:1 tells us, “Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.”   Faith is the established conviction that we have a settled expectation of a future reward.  It is trusting that what God has told us in His Word is true.  During our Christian walk there are times that our faith is tried or tested.  There are so many different ways for that to happen, and if we do not understand why it is easy to give up and lose sight of the end result of our faith being tried.  To remind ourselves that it is our heavenly Father teaching and guiding us through various trials, it helps if we look at faith with this perspective: Faith is Fantastic Adventures in Trusting Him.  God never tries our faith just to try it.   He tries our faith to prove His faithfulness.  As we learn from each life lesson exactly what He is teaching us our faith is strengthened to withstand whatever winds of adversity blow our way.  It is our trust in Him that will sustain us so we finally reach the things for which we hoped.

Thoughts For Today

Why did Moses have to experience a time of solitude in the wilderness?  He would never have been able to take the people of Israel through the wilderness if he had not first experienced it himself.  You cannot lead someone to or out of something you have not gone through yourself.  More importantly, it was in the wilderness that Moses’ mentality was changed.  He had started out with the faith to deliver a single Israelite, when God’s plan was to use him to deliver the entire nation, numbering as many as three million, including men, women and children, “in one night” (Exodus 12:37).  Be encouraged.  Our wilderness experiences will work in us the capacity to accomplish God’s plan for our lives.  He wants to do above and beyond what we could ask or even imagine.  Paul wrote: “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us” (Ephesians 3:20).  God’s desire is to equip us for the many challenges that await us, and He does it day by day while we are living this life He has given us.