insights into god ~ a 26 day devotional book.pdf

8/9/2019 Insights into God ~ A 26 day Devotional book.pdf

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Theology A-Z

Insights into God for the Lay person

Dr. Paul R. Friesen


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Insights into God for the layperson

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Introduction

These short daily writings do not have scriptures verses attached to them.They are designed to focus on God’s character without a lot of

interference about interpretation and tradition.

As a layperson, I often need to relax and focus on who God is. Simple

thinking which reflects my daily struggle and how God fits into it.

The words used are often opposites in ideas. You can disagree or agree

with them. If you read them reflectively, you may enjoy the daily

readings and view God in a new way throughout the whole day.

May your day be filled with God,

Dr. Paul R. Friesen (D. Min.)


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Thought for day 1

The awesomeness of God mustinclude both His love and Hisanger. As His creations, we

have both, but to keep them inbalance takes more strength

than most of us have.


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A is for Awesome because we have an awesomeGod.

A is also for Anger or angry. God is sometimes angryand so are we.

We sing the song, “We have an AWESOME God”. It is a great songbut I often wonder if we understand the awesomeness of whoGod is. AWESOME is a word that kids learn and use withoutthinking too much.

If we turn the word around we can see SOME and AWE.

Something makes us fix our focus. We cannot turn away fromwhat we see because it is so different. Awesome draws us into thepower of the object. But not a mesmerizing draw but anempowering sense of desire to follow.

We have an AWESOME God because what and who He is. He cancreate anything from nothing. He just has to speak and ithappens. How many times I wish I had this power. It is this senseof desire that drives us forward to be more like God.

Other A words are ARBITRARY. There are no gray areas with God.There are only ABSOLUTES. When God speaks it is exact andclear. There is no need to think hard about what He said ordesires. This makes His power so clear and pure you can seethrough it. The consequence or blessing is clearly spelled out.

Though we are made in the image of God, we cannot match the

AWESOMENESS of His power. But we can be AWE-struck by thosewho would seem to have this power. When we are in this modewe cannot see clearly. We can get confused. Remember God’spower is clear and we can se clearly even if we do not understand.When we are AWE-struck we become hypnotised and enslaved toanother’s power. This is the difference.

A is also for ANGER. I know you and I get ANGRY. It is part ofGod’s character that we have. ANGER is not wrong. In fact being ANGRY can be very godly. The question is why we get ANGRY. Itis for the same reason that God gets ANGRY most of the time. We


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do not get the glory. We do not get the pat on the back that wethink we deserve. We also get ANGRY because we want to benumber 1.

God gets angry for basically one reason. This reason is becauseHe wants us to have His power, His balance, His eyes, His desires.His desire for us is so high that when we disobey He cannot giveus the blessings and GIFTS that He wants to give us.

God’s anger is not driven by anything other than the desire to be#1 in our life. It is the constant disobedience on our part thatmakes Him angry.

But, if He is such an AWESOME God why not give Him our wholelife. Let Him get ANGRY because He sees the past and the futureclearly. Because He made us in His mage He understands ourdesires more than we do. Most of all He, God, never loses Hisemotional balance which is why He is so AWESOME in power.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

There are so many challenges in my day. I struggle at times to

balance my emotions. Because You are awesome I know you

will be my strength and balance. I give you my stressors today

because you are so much stronger than I.

To God be the glory,

Amen


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Thought for day 2

I feel so battered and tired. Iknow I can do better. I need tobe covered with God’s batter

so people see Him and not me.


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B is for Better because we can do better and bebetter.

B is for Batter because with God we need not be sotired.

B is for BETTER or BUTTER. I like BUTTER. It gives taste to a hotpiece of toast. It makes the cakes that I bake also taste BETTER,but it is greasy and the things that I hold tight slip out of myhands so I get tired.

B is also for BATTER . That almost sounds the same if you aren’t

careful. BATTER is what you cover things with if you deep frythem. Like a KFC chicken bucket full of BATTERED chicken.BATTER is also the raw liquid dough to make pancakes.

In our culture BATTER has been lessened because it is nothealthy. We like the spices but don’t like the unhealthy grease thatwe get from deep frying. But BATTER is great for those fingerfoods like chicken wings and deep fried shrimp. Batter is used tocover things up and give spice to things that are not so tasty.Because it is so runny it is hard to hold in your hand and control.

But Batter is also a verb. The disciples felt quite BATTERED afterthe storms they faced trying to cross the Sea. We often feel tiredbecause we have been BATTERED by the circumstances of life.Our expectation of others hasn’t been on target. People demandtoo much of us because we have a skill they need. We want togive up because to keep going seems like too much work, or takes

too much energy.

In real life we put BATTER on things we do not want to deal with.We cover these things up with emotions or actions. We go toChurch and give big testimonies to feel and look good. We do notlike the truth. But it is the truth that sets us free. At least that iswhat the Bible says.


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Of course we BATTER other people so that we look BETTER. Wereally do not need to do that. We need to look at ourselves as Godsees us. When we see ourselves as God sees us we can set

ourselves on a course to change. But this change never iseasy most of the time.

Making BATTER is easy. A few spices or eggs, milk, flour, salt, anda few more small things. BATTER is also neutral, so it is our choiceof how we use it. If we use it to cover our sin we will never enjoythe true nature and power of God. If we change the spices we canhave a life which is enjoyable so we are BLESSINGS to others.

The hard part is not to have too much BUTTER in our BATTERbecause we want to be BETTER. To give BALANCE to these weneed to focus on being a BLESSING to others. This is what Godwants for you, me and all of His creation. If we all focus on God’screation as a BLESSING to each other, this means our desires andreason to be, our lives will become BETTER.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

Many people around me feel battered and tattered. They have

become confused and stressed. Help me to see how You can

make them better by taking their burdens from them.


Amen


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Thought for day 3

I am at a crossroad in my life.Which way should I turn?

Though some see the cross asa crutch, l view it as the reasonto turn my life around.


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C is for CROSS which is the CROSSroads to our life.

C is for CRUTCH, which we lean on while we gaze

alone at the CROSS, not wanting to leave thembehind because we are insecure.

I have seen many CROSSES in many shapes and sizes. They hangaround the necks of people. They are stuck on the doors ofpeople’s houses and mark the night sky as markers for the lost.

But for many the idea of CROSS is the idea of change. Bring at theCROSSROADS of life. A time to make decisions when you don’tknow where to go. For some the CHOICES are easy. For othersthe CHOICES make for pain of severed relationships. The CROSS-ROAD is there in all of our lives.

There is also the idea of CROSSHAIRS. A hunting word when youare ready to shoot your prey. Death being the ultimate goal of thehunter and most of the time hidden from the hunted. Satanalways has us in his CROSSHAIRS. He waits patiently for us to geton fire for our God and then strikes. But CROSSHAIRS is about

narrowing our goals to achievable desires. When we find that ourgoals are within sight we can focus our time and energy on them.

There is power in the true CROSS of CHRIST. The sacrifice thatJesus made for you and me. The blood which was asked for fromthe beginning was replaced with Jesus’ blood so we would nolonger have paint our doors with it as protection. It is this CROSSthat we must pass through like a door to heaven’s gate. Without itthere is no future life just an earthly existence with on our bodies

on CROSSES.

C is also for CRUTCH. We see CRUTCHES on people who havehurt their legs. They are limited in their mobility. Those are realCRUTCHES. But there are other CRUTCHES we have. There isreligion which we use to deny others relationships or dvancement.There is culture, which we use as an excuse to be rude or not toCHANGE and get better.


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CRUTCHES and CROSSES have some things in common. Both canbe superficial and give images which are not true. CRUTCHES,when used for sympathy, hinder growth and healing of ourselves

and those around us. This is not based in one religion or culturebut all religions or cultures. CRUTCHES and CROSSES also makeus CHOOSE where we want to go.

The CROSS leads us to a choice of paths to our future. We canmove forward to a new life in Christ or we can move sidewaysmaking our own path with all its excitement of making our owndestiny. The CROSS demands that we sacrifice everything ornothing.

The CRUTCHES we use keep us from moving forward. Again theCHOICE is the path to our future. So many people prefer to keepCRUTCHES because of the attention they get, rather thanCHOOSING to rise above them and move forward to newstrengths. To be rid of CRUTCHES means we need to sacrifice ourpride.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

I face the day often with anxiousness and stress. I need to lean

on You more for strength. The cross is the only reason I can

continue in the chaos that plagues my day.


Amen


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D is for DEATH, which must come if we are to liveagain.

D is for DESIRE, which is what all of us struggle withat times.

D is for DISASTER which we seem to have sometimes. But aDISASTER is because DEATH is not complete and DESIRE is toohigh. Does that make sense?

Well the Bible is full of this picture. The principle being that if wedie to our DESIRE we will have a happy life. For many this is never

the case. In fact, for very few is this the case. Now I can’t speakfor you but I think that this is true.

Now let us consider this idea one more time. I want to be happyand rich. Maybe you want to be poor and sad. I have seen manyhappy people who are very poor. They are happy because theyhave accepted life, and the system of life, as God spoken. They donot challenge their life like we do.

Then we say they must change because we cannot accept theirlack of things. We need things to show we are happy and the lackof things to show commitment. These values are not from theBible but from culture. So to understand the idea of DEATH – DESIRE – and DISASTER we need to see the world form adifferent perspective.

DEATH is the final end of life. That is easy. DESIRE is thefulfillment of our physical life and we cannot take it with us.

DISASTER is when these two come together in earthquake likeproportions. If my DESIRE for myself is too high DEATH comes torelationships which I value. Then when I need these relationshipsI have a DISASTER because they are not there.

Let us look at this another way which has a better outcome. Weare promised that if our DESIRE is the same as God’s DESIREthere is power and happiness in our life. That is a good promise.Many preachers and most Christians will tell you this is what they

do, or want to do. But is it a reality? That is a good question toask and if you are honest it isn’t.


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In reality we are scared that if we give up our DESIRE we will die.Now I have wanted to die many times. I have knocked onDEATH’s door but he has so far refused to let me in. sometimes it

is because my DESIRE has been too high and DISASTER has comeinto my life. DISASTER to me, but opportunity for God.Opportunity, because God sees DISASTER as a way to give us ourDESIRE, that is to be more like Him. Many times I need aDISASTER to see things like God sees things. His view is verydifferent than mine.

Today the question is for us to answer. Which “D” word are westruggling with? Is it the DEATH of self or relationships? Is it our

DESIRE which is too high and we cannot feel fulfilled? Or, is it thatwe are now in a DISASTER and can’t see God through ourconfusion? Only you can answer these questions. You need toanswer them honestly and then tell God through simple prayer thetruth and what your true DESIRE is. He really wants to give you ALL the DESIRES of your heart. But, He wants you to DESIRE Himfirst.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

To escape from my daily stressors is never far from my mind.

Today my desire is to give all those things I cannot control to

You. That is what Your death was all about, my life.


Amen


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Thought for day 5

When God is everything, mylife is energized. It is when I

want some if it for myself that I

lose energy and focus.


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E is for EVERYTHING which is what God wants fromus.

E is for ENERGIZED which we are when we are freefrom the chains of our primal self.

In theology people talk about the ten per cent, or the tithe. This isa truth but really ignores large parts of the Bible. The tenth was togo for the Priests and maintenance of the Tabernacle andPriesthood. In reality God wants 100%, or EVERYTHING.

This is evident in all books of Scripture. They were not to commit

to the Tabernacle or Church. They were to commit to Christ. Inthe Old Testament God demanded 100% of their life to besuccessful. It was only the 100% that would guarantee thesuccess and lack of war with their neighbours. Sadly, most of thetime they followed man and the demands of those in charge. Thisresulted in a life of slavery until they reset their values and goals.

In the New Testament the people were encouraged to maintaintheir commitment to the Christian ideal which required no blood

sacrifice or circumcision. But the message was again clear. Thedemand from God was 100%. You cannot serve two masters isthe message of the Gospels. Paul teaches that we must choose alife of slavery. Slavery to God or to another. God promises somuch more than any other master. Wouldn’t a life of peace andcontentment be worth giving someone 100% to?

E is also for ENERGIZED. Has anything ever really energised you?Stimulate you so that sleep and tiredness are never a part of your

thinking. No worries just a drive as if you have fresh wind behindyou. I have had that experience many times. You seem to besuperhuman in ENERGY. Once you have experienced this inrelationship you will desire it again. You cannot bask in the pastideals. Rather it will drive you to find it again.

The difference is found in this ENERGY. There is no secret formulato this. Like all good Theology it is simple. Many people argue over

what is God’s and what is mine. The Christian Church has got it sowrong so many times, while other religions seem to keep thisprinciple as a guiding light.


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The idea of EVERYTHING and ENERGY is so important. Theconnection between the two is absolute. This is the same in love.

When we are ENERGIZED by our significant other there is never atired moment. The small things that interfere with our relationshipand take away the ENERGY makes us thirsty to continue ourcommitment. Maybe this is the thirst that the Psalmist writesabout when he referred to how the deer desires water so my souldesires You, my God.

In today’s world there are so many distractions. We try to budgetour life financially. We schedule our life to the minute. We get

burned out because we are trying to balance EVERYTHINGequally. We cannot give 100% to anyone person or even family.But God has promised that if we give Him EVERYTHING He willENERGIZE our life. This ENERGY comes because we have givencontrol to Him and we no longer have to worry about control. Sowhat are you waiting for? Why not try the 100% ENERGIZERoption in your life today.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,


Today my desire is to give all those things I cannot control toYou. That is what Your death was all about. My life!


Amen


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Thought for day 6

I am often foolish in mydecisions and actions. I need a

friend who can see who I aminside not outside.


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F is for FOOLISH which is what we are, compared tothe wisdom of God.

F is for FRIEND, which is the desire of God.

Have you ever said something and another person corrects youwith more or better information. You feel kind of FOOLISH forspeaking. This happens more than what we would like to admit.Other times we do it and feel very smart. But in reality all the newtechnology is really a pin head of knowledge to God’s wisdom.

But we should not confuse wisdom with knowledge. This is the

problem and key to our FOOLISHNESS. God knows a lot. But Healso knows how everything we do today will affect our future. Healso knows our past history and how much it affects our life today.This understanding is wisdom.

But we are called to do FOOLISH things. Imagine the stories ofthe Old Testament which were considered FOOLISH to the peersof the Prophets and Apostles. There are so many of them. Canyou imagine speaking to a rock and having water come from it?

How about being in a pinch and stretching your arm out with astick and waters separate. Or the Ark which, when touched byunholy hands, killed all who touched it. Or dipping in a dirty riverseven times and the leprosy you have going away.

All of these were considered FOOLISH by the leadership of theirtimes. In fact, some people still think that they are FOOLISH. Theyare not real because science cannot prove it. But that is why as

Christians we are called to be FOOLISH.

The problem is that we act as FOOLS not wise. We are FOOLISHnot because of God’s wisdom and command but because we thinkwe are smart enough to do it ourselves. God wants more than justa bunch of FOOLS being FOOLISH. He has called us to be Hischildren.

As a FATHER it is an honour to have your children’s respect. It is

also a goal of mine to be their best FRIEND. The role of each ofthese is different. A parent has the responsibility to nurture thenature of the child. A FRIEND is often the confident of the child. It


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has a different respect value. The parent disciplines the childbecause of their responsibility. A FRIEND is the comforter andguide often. A place where the secrets of the heart are placed. A

place to think and get feedback.

God wants to be in the role of FATHER and FRIEND. He wants oursecrets, because He already knows them. He wants us to give Himour confidences because He never tells anyone. Remember Heforgives sins and forgets forever. To make God our FRIEND wemust desire Him, for when we desire to be with Him ourconfidence in Him will grow.

What about you today? Are you a child of God? Is God yourclosest FRIEND or like a parent, someone to whom you run whenyou need some cash or a trip to the doctor? God really wants tobe your FRIEND, but first you need to be His child so He canguide, and nurture His nature in you.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

I need a friend today. My foolishness gets in the way of so

many things. Jesus, be my friend and walk beside me. Whisper

in my ear when I need wisdom. Lead me out of my foolishness

to wisdom and integrity.


Amen


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Thought for day 7

A ram was the sacrifice and asheep the gift. When somethinghas got your goat, let God turnit into a blessing as His gift to

you.


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G is for GIFTS, which we are given by the God inwhom we trust.

G is for GOATS which we all are now and again.Have you ever been given a GIFT for only you? Did you know thatperson? Was it important to you to have that GIFT?

These are questions that seem so silly to answer. Maybe they areeven considered stupid by some, but they are important inTheology. Let us consider some ideas related to these questions.

The first is that most GIFTS are given to one person. Sometimesthere are GIFTS for Charities which are more social events. Othersare given to us but should be available to the community at large.This is a much more Western Indian idea of GIFT. A GIFT is aresponsibility of one person but available to the community. Theother idea is that one person gives something to you for yourbenefit or need. We do not always know the person who gave it tous. Possibly we may know the name. I remember when I gotMarried, we were given almost 200 little glasses. They were greenand blue but really useless. We had two of many items which alsowas not useful.

We think that God is the same. We know He is different but it isnatural to think that God gives GIFTS like this. The Bible says thatGod gave GIFTS to the Church so we can assume this. The GIFTSare people like you and me who have individual GIFTS. The oneGIFT that is called the Promised GIFT is the Holy Spirit. This GIFT

is the seal of our salvation. So God gives each of us GIFTS thatwill give us power, strength, and confidence. We are naturallygood at things because we are made in the image of God, but our “GIFT” from God will is individual. God never takes it away and itnever breaks. It can become powerless through constant ignoringof God’s commands.

God is smart and knows us better than we know ourselves. WhenHe gives us a GIFT He sees both our character and our future. We

often search for that GIFT we have so hard we lose focus. Likelosing a GIFT and having that person come over for dinner. Thenwe get tired and anxious when we do not need to.


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G is also for GOATS. GOATS are really stubborn and enjoy doingtheir own thing. Sheep on the other hand wander around getting

lost because they do not pay attention. We are like GOATS often.God has given us GIFTS and we do not use them because wethink that we are ok without them. We butt heads with ourneighbours just to have some fun and show them that we arebetter than they are.

GOATS are cute and fun to watch. GIFTS are nice to get. But whatdo you do with your GIFTS? Most often we put them on a shelfand forget where they are. God’s GIFTS are for a purpose. The

Holy Spirit is a GIFT which seals our power. But we, as GOATS,think we don’t need Him. The other GIFTS we, like GOATS, argueabout how many there are and which ones we need. Let’s just usethem with the power of the Holy Spirit. They are pure andempowering. What else could we ask for?


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

So many things get my goat and give me stress. Take these

small silly things and turn them into blessing and gifts to thoseI meet today.


Amen


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Thought for day 8

To be holy is hard. It requiresbare-naked honesty. Only God

has the eyes to see ournakedness and how hard it is.


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H is for HOLY, which is what we should be to beheard by God.

H is for HARD which our hearts get after so muchpain.

HOLINESS is a HARD thing to define. In theology HOLINESS is acharacter of God. HOLY is what we should be every day. How canwe achieve something when we are not even close to what Godcan be?

HOLINESS seems so HARD to find in today’s world. We are soworried about our image, our job, our almost everything. We tryto live a “HOLY” life and fall so far short. This is the differencebetween the Old and the New Testaments. In the Old Testamentwe can find that God seemed very HARD. He demanded so muchto get to the point of HOLY. It was because being HOLY was thekey to their security in time of war.

We sing,” HOLY, HOLY, HOLY…” but we do not desire to be HOLY.We see HOLINESS as a set of rules and regulations that isimposed. We try to attain or achieve a standard that is impossible.Even the Bible says it is impossible. We cannot do it by ourselves.Only God can make us HOLY and He does this with the blood ofJesus.

We can love God with everything. We can give everything to God,but if we are not HOLY, we will struggle. We struggle because we

do not have the power to be HOLY. We become HARD in ourhearts.

H is for HARD because it is our Human nature. It is also becauseHARDNESS is the result of pain and suffering. Just like a callousthat builds up to protect the sore spots, we get HARD to protectour hearts. We are really fragile emotional Humans and HOLINESSis all about our Humanness.

We have a HARD time seeing ourselves as weak people. We like tosee ourselves as strong. We want to be equal with God, just like


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Lucifer wanted to in the beginning. So “H” is also about ourcreation as Humans. We are created in the image of God but wehave a flaw which limits our HOLINESS achievement.

We have a desire to be with God. We have a desire to have arelationship with God. Without HOLINESS we are left only withdesire. Fulfillment is always ahead of us. We work HARD and ourhearts get greedy from HARDNESS.

God has a desire to be with us. God has a desire to have arelationship with us. But He cannot because of our lack ofHOLINESS. There is only one solution and that is the blood of

Christ. Jesus was and is a gift. It is His blood and only His bloodthat can make us HOLY. Are you still searching or have youaccepted this gift of HOLINESS?


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

I want to be holy, but I hate to be so honest. Honesty scares

people. I choose to he holy in Your eyes God, because Your

eyes are the only ones that matter.


Amen


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Thought for day 9

Inquisitiveness is not a badthing. It is how we gain insight

into who God is and how heinteracts with His creation,US.


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I is for INSIGHT into our lives because God aloneknows the future.

I is for INQUISITIVE for those things which draw usaway from God.

In Theology we understand that we are made by God. I don’tknow about you but if you have ever made anything you find thatyou have an intimate relationship with it. You know how it worksand can fix it better and faster than anyone else.

This intimacy gives the maker INSIGHT into His creation that

others may not have. INSIGHT means literally, to see inside. Godknows us better than we know ourselves. Isn’t that great? But weoften think that God is unjust. God disciplines us without justcause. After all we are just sinners saved by grace. What a poorargument.

INJUSTICES in the world are not caused by God. They are causedbecause we cannot see into the future. We cannot see the innerperson of other people. Remember we have a choice in life. God

has a master plan for every person He has created. God has alsogiven us a free will to choose His plan over others.

I have had many people over the years who wanted to sell me LifeInsurance. Each would tell me that their plan was the better one.Today we have to make the same choice. We choose Churchesthat way. The one with the better plan. The one with the betterprogram. The one that meets our needs the best. But do we everthink about God’s plan? If He has INSIGHT into all of our secrets,our failures, and our fears won’t He have the best plan?

I is also for INQUISITIVE. Remember the story about CuriousGeorge, the monkey? He was so curious about everything. Justlike a child who is learning everything about his world. In scripturePaul writes to one of his churches that, (paraphrase) “I can’t writeto you the real and whole truth because you are too immature tounderstand or realise the path you are going on is wrong.” Most

often we find ourselves in this same situation. We are soINQUISITIVE that we are drawn away from our relationship withGod.


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INQUISITIVE is not always a bad thing. We are called to test thespirit of new teachers and leaders in our Church and community.

INQUISITIVE is also to inquire about things. We need to inquireand test to see what is true. There is a lot of gossip in the Churchtoday. It ruins many good people and the world around runs awayfrom the Church. The love and freedom to share anything deeperis ruined by this fear. By making an INQUIRY we ask people toopen their heart to us. But are we mature enough to see the truth?Have we bought into the plan of God so we can have INSIGHTand give good counsel?

These last two questions are very important in understandingINQUISITIVE and INSIGHT. Many people fell that there are manyINJUSTICES made to innocent people. God knows the whole truthwhile we know only the surface truth. We need to be moreINQUISITIVE about God and who He is as a priority. Then we cansee the world differently than the world around us. Seeing theworld through the eyes of God will give us deeper INSIGHT towhat is going on in the spiritual world around us.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

I am an inquisitive creature. I want to explore all the things

you create. This part of my nature gets me into trouble at

times. Help me to use this natural part of me to gain insgithinto who You are.


Amen


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Thought for day 1

Jesus was a hero to some andvillain to others. Judas thought

money would save the dayonly to find that it solvednothing.


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J is for Jesus whose blood we need for our cleansing.

J is for Judas who like us betrayed his own for a fewpennies of fame.

Two opposites that were in the same boat. The truth and thetraitor making choices, working together. There are many whowant to be Jesus. In fact the Bible says we should model our livesafter Him. Many people want the power that Jesus had. It is soeasy when you can do miracles when you want. It seems so easyto be at the center of attention everywhere you go.

These ideals are an illusion. Just ask the many movie and musicstars. It is hard to have any privacy to do what you want, to saywhat you want without the cameras popping up everywhere. Tobe like Jesus means that we need to have a relationship with God.We must have a relationship that is entirely focussed on doingwhat He wants not us.

That is the secret of Jesus life. The many who followed andperformed a miracle here and there died with a star of fame butwith no life to give. The charisma of a few is often mired in greedand power. They are driven by the rush of excitement and energythat popularity gives, only to suck the life out of their followerswhile living high on the hog.

For some it is a matter of being friendly users, and for others userfriendly. But Jesus was neither. Jesus never let people use Himand He never used people. He was up front with His purpose andHis motives. He was here to show the world the right relationshipwith His Father, and the power, peace, and confidence a personcan have if they focus on it.

Judas on the other had was more of a con man. He was in thisrelationship for the power. He held the bag of money which gavehim a sense of power. He was close to a great man. A part of theinner circle of friends. He was not committed to the cause or theperson. He was in this for the position. He was the ultimate traitor.He did not betray Jesus. He betrayed himself. What he thought hehad gained he lost. He had gained the money but lost what he


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had cherished the most, the respect and integrity of those aroundhim. He gained in the sight of man but was rejected by God.

Today we are faced with the same questions. Are we in this, ourChristian life, for the money? Or are we in it for the fame? Theanswer seems easy to say but is it the truth? There are many whowant to be like Jesus and are like Judas. We want to be close butwe don’t want to commit to the cause fully. We do all the thingswe should just like Judas, waiting for the moment when we canprofit from it.

In the name of religion many people do things. In Islam and otherreligions the demands are high. The leaders use their people topromote themselves and their cause. The result is death anddestruction both personally and as a community. Christians usuallydo not like these demanding committed people. That is becausethe true Jesus never coerced or demanded from His followers. He just promised that they could have the same power, peace, andconfidence, if they copied His attitudes to the world aroundHim ,and viewed the world and its relationship with His Father thesame way. He gave freedom of choice to all. The choices we make

give us either life through Jesus, or death like Jesus.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

I am often like Judas. I want an easy way to have influence and

popularity. To have money seems like the answer to all my

problems. In reality it is only You, Jesus, who can satisfy the

longings and emptiness of my heart.


Amen


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Thought for day 11

To be a kin of a King shouldbring you respect. When youare kin to The King of Kings

you can expect ridicule. One isfor a moment, the other is

forever.


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It makes us member of a church but not a part of the kinship withChrist.

We think that by doing things we show our kinship, similar to thecircumcision of the Jews. This also falls short of the kinship.Kinship is also about responsibility. We are responsible for ourchoices. As a part of the royal family what we do affects not onlyour family and our social group but the world. Think for a momentabout the British Royal Family. Everything they do is on the news,yet your neighbour is never there unless he does something veryheroic.

Being kin means that we need to be more responsible. It is ahigher calling than being the neighbour next door. We are calledto be more mature because we have the power of the King ofKings available to us. The question then is, “Why is there so littlepower in the Christian community?” Is it because we do not viewourselves as kin, or is it that we do not view God as the King ofour family? Do we treat our God like a normal King, always beingchallenged by others, or is He the true King of ALL Kings? Whenwe have a right view of king and kin we will find ourselveschallenged to change.


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Thought for day 12

Lambs are cute and innocent. Itwas a Lamb that gave light tothe world.


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L is for Lamb which is led to the slaughter.

L is for Light which shows all of our failures.

Lamb is a common theme in theology. Jesus is said to be the “lamb led to the slaughter”. This idea of Jesus being helplesswhen He is God can give us a lot of stress. Since good theologypoints must be found in all parts of the Bible, and not just onepart, we must look at the Old Testament. In the Old Testamentwe find that the lamb was the preferred sacrifice. But it was not just any lamb it was the first born, plus having no spot orproblem, both inward and outward.

The idea of lamb is combined in the Old Testament with thesacrifice. Sacrifice implies that blood was going to be shed.Therefore, the idea of lamb was not just a cuddly warm fuzzyfeeling but a commitment.

Lamb implies that thee is an innocence of sin. If you rememberthe first acts of creation recorded in the Bible, Adam and Eve whowere created pure, were innocent of sin. The idea of an innocentanimal being sacrificed makes God look like an ogre. We mustremember that God is pure. God had to punish sin or make a wayfor sin to be absolved so He could be more active in the lives ofHis creation.

Blood was the way to do this. A demonstration of the power ofthis blood was when Israel was freed from Egypt. The blood wasthe protection from the Angel of Death. Lamb-Blood-Protection

from death are all themes that go together and you cannotseparate them. Death is not something we like to think about,neither is blood. But to free ourselves from the grip of death wemust have a lamb and blood.

Jesus is the Lamb and it is His blood that saves us from Eternaldeath. That is simple. We must also consider the Light that Jesusis as well. Because He had NEVER sinned and His BLOOD protectsus from death, He shines His light into our life. This light is so

strong that it can reveal all the secrets in our lives. There are noshadows or covers. He doesn’t have to search hard. His light


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reveals how bad we really are. His BLOOD on the other handwhen sprinkled on the revealed secrets seals them from the sightof God and our fear.

Our light can be dimmed many times by tiredness, fear, and stress.With Jesus blood covering our sin we can have confidence thatGod will not condemn us to die but protect us, just as He did withIsrael many years ago.

You do not need a lamb today for a sacrifice. Jesus was the Lamb.He was accused and died for your sin. It was His life which wasperfect in every way which we need to embrace and accept as the

sacrifice. We need His light to shine in our lives so that we canaccess the power of God and have the peace which comes fromthe purity and openness with Him.

Choose today to accept this sacrifice. Choose today to beprotected from the Angel of Death and have Eternal life.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

I feel like a lamb led to a slaughter because of my faith. Take

these feelings and make them be a light to who I truly am, soYou can make my life shine to the world around me.


Amen


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Thought for day 13

Memories can be nightmaresor what makes the dull dayshine. Filling our mind withgood memories will help us

stay positive.


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M is for Mind which is what we must guard.

M is for Memories which we cherish or destroy.

M is also for man. God made man in His own image. That meansthat God made man with a mind. What good would a God withouta mind be? Silly question but it is something that we never thinktoo seriously about. If we have a mind then we have a memory.Imagine a computer without a memory. It used to be that wayalmost, but you always needed a memory, at least a small one.

The mind is such a complex organ. It holds the center of all of our

body. There is no action without it but you can still live for awhileeven if your brain is dead. The mind can be cut into pieces so thatwe can fix some problems. We do that with God sometimes. Wepray for the mind of God and put our thinking into it. Our mind isso small that though it is impossible we see what we call the mindof God.

We have a limited capacity just like a computer. Imagine some ofthe biggest computers. They are not able to hold all the

information in any one of them. But, there is just one God. Intheology there is some talk about “second” Adams and Christ’s,and sometimes even a “third Adam”. Do not believe these peoplemuch. There is only one God who is the Christ and who is the HolySpirit. To separate these three is to separate the mind of God intothree. This denies the idea of one God and will lead us into thewrong idea of who God is.

M is for memories, even the ones we want to forget. We neverseem to forget them even if we want to. They just get coveredwith other things, like stuff in our storage room. Thedifference with God is that He eliminates His memory after weconfess it to Him. He said the memory was as far as the East isfrom the West. It will never haunt Him. He will never remember orhold us in the memory like we do.

The memories in our mind are important. The Apostle Paul in

Ephesians tells us to protect our mind. We have some control ofwhat we do many times. We can control what we see and how wefuel desire. These are the memories we choose to hold in our


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mind. If we put them to the side and cover them they will comeback and haunt us. If they are memories that we give to God soHe can take them away from us and cover them with His blood,

we can be sure that anything that will harm us from them willnever bother us again.

There are no mindless memories. Memories fill our mind. It iswhat we fill our mind of that pushes out the bad memories. Theyare still there but the power of them is lessened. Covering them isnever a good option. Dealing with them, and the fear and negativefeelings towards others, takes a lot of energy. On the other hand,praising and worshiping God energizes us.

Our mind and our memories need to be in tune with the mind ofGod. If we have the mind of God we see the world differently andwe can have peace of mind. If we take control of our memorieswe find ourselves cherishing the ones that focus on a right view ofGod versus the stress of finding they are never far from botheringus.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,


Today my desire is to give all those things I cannot control to

You. That is what Your death was all about, my life.


Amen


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Thought for day 14

Night can be scary to a personin a new life. Good decisions

and relationships can make thenight short and the new life fullof Sonshine.


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N is for the New life which is what we are promised.

N is for Night which is forever if we make the wrong

decision.Have you ever wanted a new life? Many people struggle day today even minute to minute because of money or lack of things.This has been an issue from the beginning of Creation. Satanenticed Eve with the desire to have more.

As Christians we claim to offer a new life to those who willrespond. But, what does this mean? It should mean better than

what we have now. The problem is that this new life is just aheavier burden than before. So where is the new life? Is it just anew set of rules for living?

For many people this is just what it is. They hang on to the newideas that are given to them. It is new, so they are trying to fitinto this new culture we often call Church. But this is not whatChrist taught his disciples. He did not want them to be moreaccepted or new followers to just have a new set of rules. This is

because if we could achieve a set of rules we could or wouldbecome proud. Then we would have broken the rule.

New life means much more than a set of rules. It is a new reasonto live. It is seeing the world around us with new eyes. It is seeingwhat we have, our job, family, future, in a new light. It is havingnew hope and energy to see everything good or bad from thephilosophy and idea that God has made it from design.

But we search for more all the time and never experience the newlife as God intended. Christ told His disciples to rest in Him. Whenwe experience our new life we need to learn one basic thing. Thatis to rest in the control of God. This is the hardest to do becausewe feel insecure when we are not in control.

But what will happen if we make the decision not to have this newlife? It results in a sense of happiness and fulfillment for a time.That is why so many people make the decision after a serious

accident or life and death moment.


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There is a lot of fear today because we do not know the future.For many people it looks so black. It is like our flashlight is not sobright. We are insecure because we cannot see around us. We do

not need to be scared of the night. There is no need to fearbecause if we have chosen the new life we also have all the angelsof heaven at our side.

Jesus said that He would be beside us all the time. When wechoose to rest in His power we have confidence when others runaway. We have peace when others have insecurity. We have alight which lights up the way so we do not need to stumble. Thenew life that is offered is a life that eliminates the darkness around

us.

What is your choice today? Will it be to obey a different set ofrules only or to have a new life in Christ? Will it be to search forthe next high because we are scared of the night?

Choose life in Christ today and start resting in His security, peace,and confidence.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

There are always changes in my life. New is something I face

almost everyday. Help me God to face the night with

confidence knowing that in everything new You are there.


Amen


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O is for Open to the world if they will choose it.

O is for Other choices we have.

If only the world would open their eyes to see the truth. This wasand is the cry of Christ from the beginning. Jesus has so much tooffer. Think of the peace we could have if greed and selfishnesswas not a part of our lives. A utopian idea I know but that is whyO is so important.

There is a lot of criticism about religion being closed minded abouthomosexuality and other perversions of truth. The fight for

acceptance balanced with truth digs deep into the culture andpersonal grievances. But the honest truth is that we fight for ourown truth not Christ’s truth.

To be open minded is what Christ demonstrated to us. He was notpartial to any person. He did not deny a relationship to even theworst. He even had Judas a thief as a disciple. He did this becausehe knew the struggle we all have to give up our desire for His.Even knowing that He did not deny the relationship of Judasknowing that he would betray the cause for a few pieces of silver.

To be of open mind does not mean that we give up our principlesto compromise with another. That would be foolish, because thenwe would weaken those pillars of strength that we have. Ratherwe need to consider the open mind to associate with those whomay differ.

In the idea of openness we find the Old Testament a hard book. Itseems so arbitrary and demanding. It comes from a God whocannot, even for a moment, consider anything that has animpurity. But we are made in the image of God, so therefore wemust be accepting of all every person’ ideals. This is wrongthinking. Nowhere in the Bible is there a compromise in the onekey area. That is to get to heaven or experience a continuingrelationship with Him. There is never a compromise in the promiseof peace and happiness is we let God reign in our lives.


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O is also for other choices. We can be open-minded and we canmake wrong choices. We can follow those others who deny thetruth of Christ, preferring to pursue our own goals driven by a

desire for acceptance or greed. We can deny the views of othersand deny them a relationship which God so wants, so they too canhave the Eternal Life and peace He has promised. People withHIV/AIDS, homosexuals, criminals, drug abusers, and more silentones have been ignored. We want to compromise the principlesand trust to build our kingdom. They too need Jesus and we areall sinners and unable to achieve the level of dedication to achievethe Promise. But, the Law of God never changes. The rules of thegame never change.

The question for us today is then, “Why do we prefer compromiseto truth?”


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

There are always changes in my life. New is something I face

almost every day. Help me God to face the night withconfidence knowing that in everything new You are there.


Amen


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Thought for day 16

Striving to be perfect is

laudable, though achieving it isimpossible. Perfection,however unachievable makes

the imperfect the more

precious.


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P is for Perfect in God’s sight, which we are if wechoose right.

P is for Precious, which we all are to someone even ifwe do not feel it.

God is perfect. A simple theological statement, which is a basicbelief of all religious people. Many people want to be perfect. Theyare tired of the life they are living and perfection is what theythink is the answer. Many Christians work hard to achieveperfection. They deny themselves pleasures so they can say they

obeyed every rule that God has set out.

The problem is that all the work and dedication in the world willnot get us any closer to this goal of perfection. But there is a wayout. If we want to communicate with God as children do to theirown father we need to be perfect, because God is perfect. Godcannot communicate directly with anything that is not totallyperfect. That is why Jesus had to come and die. It is Jesus’ bloodthat allows us to communicate with God.

Perfection is therefore something that we can have but notachieve. That is important because if we achieve it we haveworked for it. If we can have it as a gift it is free. Perfection forfree is often what is taught. In one sense that is true because thatwhat a gift is. But to have the power that this perfection gives usis costly. It demands that we realign our thinking to God’s way ofthinking. We must give control of everything in our life to God.

That is the price of this perfection.

This cost is also the most precious of perfection. Imagine a perfectFather taking care of His children. A Father who has all power andall knowledge to care for them. To have this perfection is to putyour life into a person who has only your desires in His heart. Heis the Person who will empower you to achieve the most and bestthat you can be.


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Can there be anything more exciting that being under the controlof someone who sees us perfectly? Perfection is empowering andthat is what we really want. We want the power and the passion

to live life to its fullest. We want to feel like we are important tosomeone. We want to relax and have less stress.

That is why Precious is so important. When we are Precious toGod we find that He is gentle and protective. When we are notobedient we are no less Precious than we were before. He, Godmade us in His own image. He is concerned, not with His imagebut with His creation.

We are worried about our image more than our relationship withGod. We are worried about God’s image and we want to protectGod. We have tried to achieve something we cannot ever hope ofachieving. Our hard work has taken away the preciousness of ourrelationship, which has taken away our power to achieve in our life.

Perfection is Precious. It is the desire of most of us. It is alsoachievable if we accept it as a gift and not work so hard to achieve

it, but it is not free. It does cost you control of your life, allowingyou to have less stress and experience how Precious you are toGod.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

I strive to be perfect. When my work is not perfect people

criticize me. That hurts, but it is a challenge to be better. Helpto cherish the preciousness of perfection through my

relationship with You, God.


Amen


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Thought for day 17

A quiet place is hard to find inlife. I want to live a life of peace

and tranquility, not just aquaint show.


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Q is for QUIET which is what our heart can be if werelax in God.

Q is for QUAINT which is what we must be carefulnot to become.

Quiet and quietness are themes in the Bible. It is a result of beingin a position of calmness. A place where there is no fear. This ideacan be compared with peace.

Quiet is an opposite of noise versus peace and confusion. Wesearch for peace in our confusion of life and often do not find it.

But quietness is not a state of being like this. Rather quiet is anouter element. When there is quiet there is no storm, or the eyeof the storm. If you are in the eye of the storm you experiencecalmness.

Quiet is a lack of noise. When there is no noise there is nomovement. It is when things move that we have noise. In realitywe are often scared of quiet. We are scared because we becomemore tuned to each small noise. Each noise seems to be magnified

to a crescendo of noise. Therefore, we prefer some noise so weare not so sensitive.

Quaint is somewhat different. As quiet is a lack of noise, quaint isan outside show. It is something that looks quiet but hides thetruth. We often are in this position. We don’t like to show the truth.We prefer to be seen as quiet but hold the confusion of our soulsearch. We invite people to participate in our life but hide our real

selves.

Quaint is often in reference to culture in the past. We live in aworld of high speed change. Our life gets faster and we can getcaught up in the movement. God offers us a place of quietness. Itis not just an outside image while the frustration builds inside ofus.

Rather God offers us a place of quietness that helps us feel secure.

With this feeling of security we can be confident. With thisconfidence we can feel fulfilled as a person. With this fulfilment wecan stand in the storms around us and reach out to others.


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In theology we claim that God offers this place of quietness to allof His creation. We can only experience this by becoming a

Christian. This is the question that has to be asked. If thisquietness promised is so attractive why don’t people experience it?Is this just an illusion in Christianity?

The answer is, “No! it is not an illusion.” It does come at a cost.God, who is the protector, has promised this but it has to be achoice. The choice is to leave all our cares and stress at theentrance of the place of quietness. Let God take care of them andfocus on rejuvenation, or reenergizing our life. From this point we

are invited to stay. We can see our life with more clarity and wecan see our world more as God sees it.

When we not only see, but experience the power of God in thisplace we will never want to leave. Our desires will become closerto the desires of God the longer we stay in the quietness of Hispromises.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

The world around me is so demanding, there is not place for

quietness. Help me to find that quiet spirit you off in my insane

schedule. You alone can bring those quaint wanderings of mine

to the place of renewal and strength.


Amen


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Thought for day 18

I cannot control people, but Ican control my reactions to

real situations.


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R is for Real which God is truly all about.

R is for Reaction, which is what we do when

confronted with our inadequacy.Is God real? This is a good question. Most people would say yes.The problem is that we would seem to define God so differently.For some, God is close, and others God is disconnected from Hiscreation.

The God that I am talking about and refer to is a Person whounderstands our reality. He is real and His promises are real. We

search for real relationships. Relationships that we can trust andfeel safe with. Our real world is in confusion. Our reality causes usstress.

In reality we are very insecure people. We hold on to things thathave only limited value. It is not that they aren’t important topeople, but they are not that important to God.

So the question then becomes, “What is God’s reality”. God seesthe world and us differently than we do. We see people ascoloured or not. We see people as beautiful or ugly. We seepeople as for our belief system or not. God see His creation asonly two different people. There are those who believe or whodo not believe. There are those who have the seal of the HolySpirit or those who do not.

In God’s reality there are people of promise, and there are those

who are not. That is the only thing in God’s mind. There areperfect and imperfect, and He can only communicate directly withperfect people.

This seems a bit harsh, but there is no grey area in God’s mind.Words like maybe and are not in His vocabulary. The word “But” isthere. That is because He always gives us a choice. We cannotblame God for something we chose to do and suffer for.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

Real life brings real reactions. I do not always react well. Help

me God to not try to change other people’s minds, but to

change my reactions to their criticisms in real situations.


Amen


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Thought for day 19

Security in life is what we strivefor most. When we are secure

we do not need salvation.When we have salvation wehave the ultimate in eternal

security.


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As the Guarantor of our Salvation, God gives us the peace that wecan only have when we have security. The happiest people onEarth are those who are secure. They are people of power. Theyhave power, not because they have money, but because theyhave the wisdom beyond the wisdom of normal man. They havesecurity that others want.

Salvation is attractive. But, it is only attractive if we change ourlives after we have been saved from the problem that caused our

need. Our need comes from the sin we have been given from Adam. Our weakness is being finite. We need the security ofsomething or someone which is infinite. Infinite in every way.There is no security if there is not infiniteness. It is not a better orbest. It is ultimate or nothing. If you put your faith in the Salvationof less than the ultimate you will one day find a stronger, bigger,or larger, opponent. There is no Security in something that is bestonly today. There is no Security in something that changes with

each generation or culture.

The message of Salvation is not different for one than the other.The Salvation is offered to all. The Security we have is becausethe Person who offers it is the ultimate in everything. He isinfinite. He never changes from one day or another. He never getssick or depressed, but He does get angry and He does punish, Heis demanding of purity which we can only get from acceptingSalvation.

Have you accepted the Salvation and Security God offers? If youhave questions email me from the front of this homepage.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

I feel insecure in my job. So many things can go wrong. This

gives me a lot of stress. Help to realize that Your salvation is

the only security I need for both today and my future.


Amen


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Thought for day 2

If I could hide all my secrets in

a trunk I would have such a bigone. The truth is that I do not

need to keep all those secrets. Ican give them to God and the

trunk can become a small bag.


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T is for Truth for it is the truth about God thatwill set us free.

T is for Trunks we carry with us seeminglyforever.

Truth is something we all want. Without it thee is not trust. Peopletell me all the time to tell them the truth. Sometimes they do not

really want the truth, they just want a nice thought because thereal truth would be too painful.

Jesus said the truth will set us free. He never said that telling thetruth was without consequence, or that it was painless. We forgetabout that in Theology and Doctrine. We focus so much on what istruth to us, our history of belief, our heritage, that we miss thetruth.

The truth will set us free but are we willing to pay for it? There isno freedom that has come easy for any one person, tribe, orcause. That is why we have so many wars and fights. But do notconfuse freedom with truth. When we fight for truth we getfreedom from the bondage of our insecurities. We get freedom tosee the world as God sees it.

Truth has the best eyes you have. When you have found someonewho tells you the truth without bias you will trust them. This is the

problem today. There is no trust in the Church, or religiousleaders. There is no trust in politicians. There is no trust in yourfamily or your neighbour.

God has never pinched the truth. He has always told it straight.His love for us demands that thee is nothing but the whole truth.The truth is that we are inadequate to achieve His standard. Thetruth is that He cannot consider to even look at anything that isimperfect.

The truth is that we carry a lot of stuff around that we do notneed to. We stuff we carry around is like stuffing a large suitcase


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or trunk and keeping it with us wherever we go. The dirty shirtswe stuff in the trunk from bad relationships or hurt feelings. Thetruth is that we like to open the box and think about what made

the shirt dirty. We do not like the smell but then if we threw themout we would have to swallow our pride a bit and admit thatmaybe we were wrong.

The truth is that we are scared of throwing out the trunk of junk.We would have to replace it with something. Maybe it came fromour grandfather or grandmother. It is an heirloom full of feuds andtwisted truths. We would do our ancestors a disservice to throwthem out. Ahhh, the memories.

The truth is that if we keep the trunk and fill it with lovely thingsour house will be brighter. We can hold our head high and ourfriends will admire the trunk of our forefathers. What is in thetrunk and the freshness fills the room and our lives.

Have you looked in your trunk lately? What is in there that iskeeping God’s love from filling it? God cannot enter a trunk of olddirty things. The truth is that He has given us a chance, not only

to cleanse it, but to fill it with goodness. Jesus blood is whatcleanses even the dirtiest stain and restores the trunk to itsoriginal beauty and fragrance if we would only accept the truththat God has shown and told us.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

No one likes the truth, not even me. The truth is that I am

scared someone will look into my trunk of dirty laundry. They

will discover who I really am. Help me to give You my trunk

full of stuff so I can live out Your truth.


Amen


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Thought for day 21

The umbilical cord we need isnot always understood by

those outside of our group. Weneed to be more understandingof those around us who are not

yet free.


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U is for Understanding which is what God hasbecause He knows everything.

U is for Umbilical cord which links us to ourmothers and our heritage.

To be understood is important to all of us. It is important for a

healthy relationship. Without understanding there is justfrustration and often withdrawal. This is what we tell people whenthey are hurting or down, “Go to God, He will understand you”.This is great but does it work? It would seem that it is a hit andmiss. Sometimes I feel that God does not understand. SometimesHe is so distant and my world is out of control.

Because I grew up in the Church I know the arguments but Irarely saw the reality. The reality is that if I have money, or if Ican be manipulated by the Church I am welcome to be a part of it.Now that is not true of all Churches for sure. There are many goodones, but I was asked to leave a Church, of whom a good friendof mine was the Pastor, just because I asked too many questions.

As new Christians join the ranks of the Soldiers of the Cross, thereis great joy. Then the Solider falls and they seem to be fallenforever. No one wants to know the truth or understand. Thehealing of understanding, or the balm of forgiveness, is neverapplied until the healing is finished. Jesus can say He understandsbecause of the things He went through in His short life on thisEarth. He was hailed as a King and then spat on by maybe thesame people. The expectation that came with the power ofmiracles gave no human understanding.

God can understand because the people, the Nation, which Hechose and built up, rejected His overtures because they werewanting what other people had and not His blessing. The peoplerejected the system because it was too hard to follow. The deniedHim the right to bless them because they thought they were smart


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enough to do it themselves.

The Holy Spirit can understand because He lives inside everyChristian. He is the Seal of our confession and our future life. Hehas to struggle with us, at the most intimate of moments, toencourage but not intervene in our free thought. The Holy Spirit isthere in a moment of an utterance of the name of Jesus, but mustwait for us to make that decision.

God understands us to our most intimate of struggles because Heis there waiting for us to choose Him above all else. He has given

us the umbilical cord which is never broken. This cord is given tous when we are conceived in the Image of God. It is the lifelinethat carries all the needs we will ever have.

Imagine you are tied to someone all your life. What a disastrousthought. It is almost like a Siamese twin. The difference is that weare linked differently. God goes where we go because He iseverywhere. We do not always want to go where God wants us togo. We want to be free from this connection. We want to set our

own boundaries, and we can, but we cannot be totally free fromGod until He sets us free. Then we are doomed to an eternitywithout Him or the life we seek with Him.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

I want to be connected with a strong cord, which can support

me. At the same time I need to cut my umbilical cord to all yaddictions. Help me God to cut these knowing that You do not

need a cored because I have your Spirit within me.


Amen


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Thought for day 22

Vessels were carried byvassals. Let us carry one

another’s burdens not asvassals but as sharers of a

common burden.


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V is for Vessels to carry God’s message to theworld.

V is for Vassal which enslaves us to ourMaster.

Vessel. what a big word. It can be a small vase or a big ship. It is just something we put something else into. In the old days, andeven today, in many countries people carry water or market goods

in large vessels. An envelope, which is a vessel of sorts, carriesthe love from one heart to another.

In theology we consider ourselves, Christians, as vessels for God’smessage. We are just carriers. But that is really not the full extentof what we do. As a Christian I also represent a relationship withGod. I am an ambassador to the world. But even this is notenough.

Let us consider a little bit about the idea of vessel. If I am a vesselI must be carried from one point, or I must have some value tothe owner. I do not own myself. I am owned by another. This isprobably the idea that is most valuable to understand in theology.I am created and owned by God. I have value to God. I am usedby God.

The problem is that we do not like the owner. We want to be our

own and do our own thing. We do not like what is put inside of us.We do not like the message. We think we have no purpose sittingin the corner or on a shelf. But where do you put your specialthings. If we have many special things there is no room and notall are in the most prominent places.

A Vassal is a slave and the ideas go together. The vessel is aboutan object that has value and a vassal is about the person who isenslaved to the owner. A vassal has no rights and has a nodirection except that of the master.


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As vassals have a free mind but no freedom or control of our afterlife. We like to think that we can choose, but in reality we chooseonly which master we will serve. In theology there are twomasters, God and Satan. Both seemingly offer great things. Satanoften more instant and short term benefits, while God offers morelong term benefits. Satan focuses on making us #1, while Godmakes Him #1. Satan offers happiness for the moment, while Godoffers peace, contentment, and power, forever.

The choice of the vessel is none. A vessel is just an open nicelooking piece into which something is put. It has no choice in whatis put in it. It is moved by the owner. The vassal doesn’t have a lotof choices either. But the choice of being a servant is to serve with joy or to serve with a bad attitude. A vassal’s choice is to look atthe benefits and choose the master they want to serve. We wantto choose God but we choose Satan’s short term benefits. We liketo feel like we are in control even if we are not.

Our stress comes because we struggle which master to serve.When we commit to serving God ourselves only our stress will goaway. But when the storms of life come is our choice the one thatis long term or short term?


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

I am both a vessel and a vassal. I want to be a burden sharer

making the vessel light and the vassal equal. Help me God to

see that lording over others is not what you want.


Amen


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Thought for day 23

Waiting is so worrying. It

makes us nervous, seeminglyputting our life on hold. Sincethe decisions are not in ourhands we should wait with

confidence not worry.


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W is for Waiting for you to respond to the

knocking on your heart’ s door.

W is for Worry which plagues our life andtakes away our power.

Have you ever waited for a long time, maybe in traffic or at adoctor’s office? Waiting is hard for most of us. If the time is nottoo long we are ok, but a long time we get anxious and stressed.

In Theology, the idea of waiting and patience is what God is allabout. In the beginning God waited for people to remember Him,but they refused. We have the story of Noah’s Ark then. Godchose a special people as a promise to Abram and waited again. Again the people kept forgetting Him. God brought the country toruin and defeat after 40 years or more.

Jesus said that He is knocking on your heart’s door. He has beenwaiting, and will wait until you die. He never gives up and that iswhat love is all about. He loved us, and wanted us to open thedoor, so He sent His Son to die for us and make it easier to makethat decision.

Still we worry too much. We have so much to worry about. Theretirement funds we have stashed in the bank. We worry aboutour grades if we are in school. We worry about our jobs. In

English many of us are worry warts.

“Why worry when you can pray?”, the favourite children’s songgoes. But prayer seems empty when there is no real relationshipwith God. Why does God wait so long to answer? Why, if God isall-powerful, does He not set things straight? We ask thesequestions when we get ourselves into trouble. Why wait so long?

Wait and worry are the two words that reflect two ideals. Waiting

is God’s ideal for life. A life without worries and with manyblessings, in fact, unlimited blessings together with confidence and


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power to face the insecurities we have in our life everyday. Worryis our ideal and real life view.

God is knocking and waiting for you to answer. You may be aChristian. You may have already answered the knock but do nothave the power. That is because you have not changed your lifefrom worry to wait. You have not allowed God to take the worryaway from you.

God is still waiting for you to give Him your life and all yourworries. You and I need to worry less and enjoy God’s powermore. God is never late but we rarely are early or on time. It is

when we get together with God’s timeline that we lose worry anddo not see patience as a negative but a positive.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

I am impatient and hate waiting. I worry too much about things

that are out of my control. Help me to understand that You,

God, are always in control and will bring glory to yourself in

every situation. I need not to worry about anything when you

are my focus.


Amen


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Thought for day 24

Excitement comes when I amexalted. It is but a moment and

fills my being with joy. It iswhen I exalt others that

excitement lasts so muchlonger.


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From the Old to the New Testament we can find these themesrunning strong. Israel had a problem with exalting God at ALLtimes. They got excited when there was victory, just as we getexcited when we struggle and see the light at the end. Many timeswe find Israel, the chosen people of God, struggling with this ideaof making their God first.

The disciples had trouble with this after Jesus died. When Jesus

was with them they could see His power. When He died they wereinsecure. The teachings of Paul and Peter reflect this struggle.Exalting God to His position of owner of our lives will bring ourown exaltation to a high.

In our lives today we need to keep our excitement up. The onlyway to do this is to exalt the one who gave it to us in the firstplace. Have you lost your excitement? Are you trying to exalt

yourself or God? God is patient and will renew you whenever youexalt Him.


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Prayer for the day

Dear God,

I love the feeling when I am exalted. I really need to exalt You

in every situation. It is when I exalt You that the excitement of

my life reac

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