Life-Changing Bible Verses - Part 1 - Molded by Grace

The Bible is the Word of God, and it is life to our soul and strength to our bones (Proverbs 17:22). The scriptures are given to us by God to encourage, strengthen and mature us in our relationship with Him.

Every word is given to us by the inspiration of God's Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16). God did not create us and abandon us on this earth. He gave us His Word and His Spirit as our comforter and guide (John 16:13).

He also provided us with His Word to help to direct us on His paths of righteousness - a place of safety and security to all who walk in them. We depend on His Word, ingesting it daily to nourish our body, soul and spirit.

Some verses actually take us by surprise when we read them. They are so profound, that they touch a place deep within us and mold us by their truth and wisdom.

For instance, God loved humanity so much that He gave us His only Son to die in our place, and to pay the debt that we owed due to our sins. If we choose to believe in Him, we will not perish in Hell, but enjoy everlasting life now and for eternity (John 3:16-17).

Yet, if we choose not to believe, we condemn our self to an eternity in the fires of Hell (John 3:18). God never condemns anyone to Hell, we do that to our self by our unbelief.

God intends that no one should perish, but that we should all enjoy the benefits of His Kingdom as co-heirs with Christ (2 Peter 3:9). It is simply a matter of humbling our self before the mighty hand of God (1 Peter 5:5-14), and accepting Christ's sacrifice on our behalf.

This fact leads to another life-altering verse: Christ is our life (Colossians 3:3). We are not placed on earth to build our own kingdom and to leave a financial legacy for our children; although if this fits into God's plan for us, it is a wholesome goal.

Instead, we allow Christ's life to consume us as we burn brightly for His Kingdom (Matthew 5:14-16). As we seek first His Kingdom and righteousness with our thoughts, words and deeds, He in turn supplies all of our needs according to His glorious riches (Matthew 6:33; Philippians 4:19).

Prayer:

Father God, this thought leads us to another amazing verse. It is often hard to trust You as we traverse the switchbacks of life. Yet, You had mercy on us and did not plan for us to perfect our self. You give us both the desire and the ability to walk in Your ways (Philippians 2:12-13).

You require that we walk in faith (Romans 14:22-23); yet, You are even willing to help us when we waver in faith and have a hard time keeping our faith focused on You (Mark 9:24). The road to hell is paved with Satan's lies, so help us to walk in Your everlasting Truth.

Thought for the Day:

As we seek the Lord with our whole heart, and stop depending on our human reasoning to make it through life, He will reveal His will to us and direct each step we traverse. - Proverbs 3:5-6

Holy Living

Every day, God gives us the opportunity to stop sowing the destruction of sin into our garden of life. He provides new and nurturing experiences for us to use the pieces of our eternal weight of glory to honor Him.

We press on toward the goal of the high calling of God in our life (Philippians 3:14), until our journey ends. This is when He transforms us into the image of Christ as we breathe our last earthly breath and enter our celestial home in heaven (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Until then, we spend our days in holy living, worshipping our true and living King, and abiding according to Biblical and eternal priorities. This occurs regardless of our trials and circumstances.

We count everything as joy, even when we fall into various temptations, knowing that the trial of our faith produces patience; then patience has her perfect way with us, teaching us to "let go and let God" have His way in our life (James 1:4).

When we walk in the flesh, we tax our spiritual, emotional and mental energy, which effects our physical energy as well. We divide our energy between carnal and spiritual concerns.

God wants to hold the preeminent place in our life in order to insure our success as we enter into His rest (Hebrews 4:10). Then there will be no division in our soul and no stress on our physical well-being.

Happiness in this life requires a whole-hearted focus and commitment. We set our mind on the Kingdom of God and then He provides us with everything we need to experience fulfillment and success (Matthew 6:33).

Prayer:

Father God, Jesus gave His life at such a young age and died a cruel death in sacrifice upon the cross, so that I will never have to die the second death (Revelation 2:11; 20:6,14; 21:8). Because of You, my eternity is in Heaven’s glories rather than in hell’s torment.

You awake in me the desire to serve You all the days of my life. I rejoice in You, my God and my Savior. I enter Your presence with the confidence of a child, and I dwell in Your Holy Place forever (Hebrews 10:19-20).

Thought for the Day:

If we have an idol in our life - something we focus on more than God; or are overly concerned with "me, myself and I", we will miss the high calling of God's will and suffer the loss of fulfillment which only He can provide.

Emotional and Mental Health - The Whole Person

 

A lady, who has been in our church Body since before I started writing this blog, found out this week that I write a post as a nightly devotion. She said, "I'll bet it is a good read, because you are very spiritual, aren't you?"

I answered, "I write about what I'm learning at the time. I include the body and soul, as well as the spirit. I believe in ministering to the whole person." She stared at me like I had two heads.

I have a Biblical precedence for my ministry goal with my blog. God includes the body and soul with the spirit in his ministry to people as well (Psalm 23-all). During His ministry on earth, Jesus regenerated the spirit from death to life, forgave sins in order to free the soul and healed the sick in body and soul (Matthew-all; Mark 2:9).

Paul taught us to include the body and soul in our spirituality when he admonished, " So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God" (1 Corinthians 10:13). 

We can successfully accomplish nothing in this life apart from the Spirit of God. God even uses some unregenerate people to accomplish His will, although they do not even realize it (Ezekiel 29:4, 38:4).

If it is necessary, God will cause a donkey to speak by His power (Numbers 22:21-39).  He is a creative God, as well as a caring and loving God. He wants what is best for us. That is why He created Paradise as our original dwelling place.

It is the wayward, prideful choices we make that block God's blessings from our life. We want to do things our own way, controlling our own life and being responsible to or answerable to no one, not even to God.

God's ways are certainly higher than our ways, beyond human comprehension sometimes, which makes it harder to trust His wisdom and intentions. Yet, if we totally surrender to God's will, we find our self blessed beyond our most vivid imaginations.

Prayer:

Father God, thank You for caring about our body and soul as well as our spirit (Psalm 23:1-3). You provide for all of our needs according to Your abundant riches (Philippians 4:19). You are worthy of all of our praise, service and attention. You want only what is best for us, even if we do not recognize Your intentions at the time.

We usually, eventually see the wisdom in Your answers to our prayers, even if we do not understand while we are in the midst of our trials. You send the right people at the right time in the right place to bless us beyond our expectations. We thank You for saving us through regenerating our spirit, sanctifying our soul, and we look forward to You glorifying our body when we see Jesus face-to-face.

Thought for the Day:

God gives us joy beyond words and new mercy every single morning. - 1 Peter 1:8; Lamentations 3:22-23