February 2012:
2/19/12 [2 Samuel 12:15-25] - Many of us believe in God. We believe in Him, but deceive ourselves in our true understanding of how we believe and why. Do you believe in God for your own benefit? There is a reason why King David was able to get up and eat immediately after his son died. David lived for God, not for anything else. When we walk through suffering with the Lord, we can get up and stand firm. Do you live for the Lord? Do you rely on anything besides God Himself? What have you placed in the throne of your heart? Do you rejoice in your sufferings knowing that God grants you perseverance? Put God first in your brokenness. Do not deny God's work in you as you suffer. Suffering is not punishment! Everything in your life is because of the Lord. Believe in His Almighty plan! God loves you despite your failures in loving Him with all your being. Remember this perfect love of His and seek God every day.
2/12/12 [2 Samuel 9:1-13] - The world we live in thrives on the consumerism mindset in the purchaser having all the power to control the provider. We have mistakenly brought the concept of consumerism into our relationships. This is the model for human love, not God's love. God's love does not depend on what is given or taken. God's love is one that never fails. The love we try to establish with one another without the foundation of God is bound to fail every time. Do you love God because of what He has given you? Is your love for God based on Him alone and nothing else? When you love God for God Himself, you will love one another in the same way. The world says to destroy your enemies. God commands us to love them. This is not optional. Love those who do not love you back. Jesus did this very task for you. Though you may fail in loving the same way Jesus has loved you, it is possible when you have Him reside in your heart.
2/05/12 [2 Samuel 7:16-17] - We are all created to become a part of God's kingdom. However, we choose to construct our own and declare that God's kingdom is not what we desire. We feel safe in these temporary shelters that will surely deteriorate. We seek these shelters so that we can find rest. God created us so He can be our shelter and to give us complete rest. The moment we gain this complete rest is when we worship God wholly. Even King David, when God granted him rest, built a house for himself and tried to build one for God. David misunderstood God's intentions just as we often do on a daily basis. We are not to place God in one of our constructed houses, for He is not confined to human creations. Yet, we use God for instant gratification from our problems. Despite our unworthiness, God pursues us so that we can enter His house. Being in God's shelter does not mean enemy attacks will stop, but that the shelter will never break. God's kingdom endures forever. Tear down your own and enter His.
January 2012:
1/29/12 [1 Samuel 24:16-22] - When the world tells us to pass judgment on those who have committed crimes against us, how do we spare them? We become angry when we lose something that we love. The continuation of this anger breeds self-righteousness. At some point, we claim to be our own god by believing to be right in our ways. We lose sight in the fact that God created the very objects we covet. Loving the creations over the Creator brings us a life of anger and anguish. God calls us to love Him more than everything He has given us. What makes you so angry in life? The answer reveals what you have loved more than God. We must repent every day for the objects we have placed in our hearts to replace God. Do you get angry when the world hurts a person you love? Then, does it anger you when the world hurts God? What prevents you from defending God's name? You are called to be a vessel of grace. However, judgment is God's alone. We are not to take vengeance on those who have wronged us. Only God can pass any kind of judgment. We have the choice to love God over ourselves. God has already chosen you. Make the choice that will grant you eternal salvation.
1/22/12 [1 Samuel 18:6-16] - Among the sins of the world, jealousy, envy, and greed are more subtle but just as deadly as the rest. The seeds of jealousy begin before birth. We live our lives comparing ourselves to others. Jealousy, like all sin, ultimately leads us to death. It causes us to be unhappy with God's provided blessings. With our discontented hearts, we pursue what we do not have until we kill those around us and ourselves. Adam and Eve had the Garden of Eden, the perfect paradise. However, because of greed and jealousy, this was no enough. Even when we get what we desire, it is never enough. What we want becomes our own destruction. We can be fee from jealousy by giving up what we constructed as our kingdom. By giving up our kingdom, we gain a kingdom provided from God. Jesus made you His kingdom. Because He chose us, we are allowed entrance to God's kingdom in Heaven. God has provided everything you could ever need. Remember this for the next time you feel what you have in life currently is inadequate.
1/15/12 [1 Samuel 15:22-23] - The Scripture clearly states that we must obey God's commands as well as sacrifice all we have been given in this world. In our daily lives, we often use sacrifice as an excuse so that we can justify ourselves when we disobey God. We know that Saul has anointed to be the king of the Israelites through Samuel. This great and humble man disobeyed God by bringing back riches when God commanded him to destroy the Amalekites. He presented a display claiming to sacrifice the goods to God, choosing to ignore the fact that he did not follow God's word completely. How many times a week do we perform certain duties as a show to God so that we can continue to live sinfully? There is no excuse for disobeying God. Do not deceive yourself. Obey God in every way. This is made possible by loving God more than anything else in existence. Jesus loves you more than anything else. Love Him back.
1/08/12 [1 Samuel 1:1-11] - We do not want to be loved for anything besides ourselves. In the same way, God, our Heavenly father, desires our love for who He is. Despite being aware of who the one true God is, we Christians deceive ourselves with the prosperity gospel. We easily forget our love for God until we need something from Him. Just as our body requires health in all aspects, our relationship with God must also be healthy in every way. Look into the Scripture and identify whether you are like Peninnah or Hannah. Do you taunt others with your possessions or do you weep over lacking those possessions? There is no need for them! God loves you exactly the way you are even at this very instant. God does indeed provide all you need, but not at your timing. Let go of your greatest possession in order to gain the grace of God in all His glory. He makes it possible for us to choose Him by having chosen us first. Remember this truth and do all that you do because you love God above all else.
1/01/2012 [James 2:14-26] - We have learned that we cannot simply do good deeds in life without faith and expect to enter the kingdom of Heaven. However, we cannot forget that faith without deeds amounts to nothing. Jesus did not speak of faith alone without the deeds that followed. He showed the world how others were saved through His deeds. Simply believing that God is the only God to be worshiped is a fact even the demons know. For this New Year, let us not be like the Pharisees or like the Levite who left a traveler to die after being robbed on his way to Jericho. Do not wait for your faith to automatically bear fruit in the form of deeds. Reveal your faith in your actions as the situations present themselves. Be a body with spirit and have living faith that is with deeds.
