Thought of the Day #23, February 24, 2014: Self Worth vs. Self Expectations

            There are way too many born again Christians that have issues with their self-worth!  It amazes me just how many people go around evaluating their worthiness or lack thereof with other Christians that serve in the “church” (church in general that is).  Why is it that there are so many Christians, including those in ministry, that are constantly feeling that they are not meeting the expectations they have set for themselves?  Why is it that it matters more what self expectations have been met than what God expects?

            That is really the question that needs to be asked, not every now and then but, every single day when we spend time in prayer.  Prayer is essential to any Christian. “You must pray at all times as the Holy Spirit leads you to pray. Pray for the things that are needed. You must watch and keep on praying. Remember to pray for all Christians.” Ephesians 6:18 (NLV)  What we need to be asking God is if we are meeting His expectations.

            Part of the problem is that we are constantly bombarded with ads on television, internet, magazines, billboards, that convinces us that we’re not good enough but, if we use their product we will be good enough!  We then somehow bring these thoughts into our Christian walk.  We place way too much emphasis on trying to be “good enough” that we can’t meet our own expectations.  What is “good enough?”  These expectations aren’t usually attainable but yet we get upset when we do not meet them.  The more our expectations are not met the more our self worth seems to go down. 

            One of the things that I love about Jesus is that He is extremely clear.  One of the things that He is clear on is that He’s first.  All of this self worth business that is based on an over bloated self expectation is just plain foolish.  What we need to be concerned with is if we are meeting God’s expectation of us.  What we are to do first is to love him with everything we have first. “He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Luke 10:27 (NIV)  Notice that the verse ends with “as yourself.” 

            We are to love others as we love ourselves.  All of this self worth business needs to be tied with how much God loves us.  “No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God.” John 16:27 (NIV)  “For the law was given through Moses, but God’s unfailing love and faithfulness came through Jesus Christ.” John 1:17 (NLT) “And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.” Romans 8:38 (NLV)  So, the next time we start to measure our self worth we need to make sure that we measure it by how much God loves us instead of by what self expectations we have or have not met.

Thought of the Day: #22 "Forgiveness"

            There’s a great song by Toby Mac that’s entitled “Forgiveness.”  It has to do with how we are forgiven by Christ.  We love to sing about forgiveness.  We love to know that we’re forgiven by God.  We love to read verses in the Bible about God’s forgiveness.  What we don’t like so much is when it’s our turn to forgive others.

            Grant it forgiveness comes easier for some but, for others it does not.  I have experienced being forgiven by others and not being forgiven as well as forgiving others myself.  I have to admit, I have been tempted to not forgive, especially when what was done to me hurt me or someone that I love but, God was not pleased with that.  Conviction hit my heart; I turned to Scripture, asked God to help me forgive and then forgave.

            Its way too easy to forget that we are forgiven by God because of what His Son did on the cross for us!  We gladly accept God’s forgiveness but begrudgingly forgive others.  There’s a parable that Jesus taught about this very topic that can be found in Mathew 18:21-35.  The parable is about a man that owed, in our money today, about 10 million dollars to the king.  He begged the king to forgive his debt and the king forgave him! “The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.” Matthew 18:27 (NIV) Do you know what this forgiven debtor dared to do?  There was someone that owed him money.  In fact, what was owed was about a day’s wages, a whole lot less than what he had owed the king.  Do you think he forgave the debt?

            Not only did he not forgive the debt, he threw the man in prison!  When the king that had forgiven him learned of this he became very angry.  “…‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.  Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.’” Matthew 18:32-34

            We know that if we ask with all our heart to be forgiven by God we will, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9 (NIV) We need to forgive others as well. “Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.” Colossians 3:13 (NIV) When we are faced with a need to forgive lets pray about it. God will give us the ability to forgive and the ability to let it go in our hearts. 

Just in case you’re curious about Toby Mac’s song here’s the link from You Tube: http://youtu.be/xfkhqpl81NA

 

Thank you for reading! God bless you my dear friends!

 

If you or someone you know would like to read my devotionals in Spanish please visit my Spanish blog at www.MinisterioReflejandolaVerdad.blogspot.com

 

 

Thought of the Day #21: “Priorities” February 5, 2014

     Priorities: “somebody or something that is ranked highly in terms of importance or urgency.” Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. The priorities that God has given to us: He is first, our spouses are second and then our children are third. It’s as simple as that, one, two, and three. The problem is that we like to put a lot of other things up in those three top priorities. We want to make time for everything and everyone. The problem is that no matter how hard we try if we do not keep our priorities in the right order we will have problems.
      Should we put anything or anyone in first place then our first priority, God, has now been moved to second. There is to be no one in that first priority as per our God. “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’” Mark 12:30 (NIV) “You shall have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:2 (NIV)
      Should we put anything or anyone in second place then our second priority, our spouse, has now moved down to third. In Ephesians Chapter Five Paul goes through the priorities. The second place is the spouse. “However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” Ephesians 5:33 (NIV) The spouse is the only person that we are to hold in that second place spot because, if we don’t we will be rocking the boat at home.
      Should we put anything or anyone in third place then our third priority, our children, has now moved down to fourth but wait, there is no top four! There are only three top priorities! Our children are given to us as a gift from God. We are God’s stewards for our children. How can we as a good steward not place and keep our children in the top three?
      Priorities are placed so that there can be order. When we keep things in the right order there is peace. This is the only way that we can be able to live a life as God intended us to. “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13 (NASB)

 

Thank you for reading! May God continue to bless you my dear friends. Praying for you all. If you are a Facebook user I have a ministry page! It's www.Facebook.com/ReflectingTruthMinistries.com  I'd love for you to join the page! 

 

If you are someone you know prefer to read these postings in Spanish please visit my Spanish blog at www.MinisterioReflejandolaVerdad.blogspot.com

Thought of the Day #20: “No Room for Pride”

            I think most Christians would agree that there is no room for pride in any relationship, whether it’s in your relationship with God, your spouse, your children, co-workers, or your neighbors.  As Christians we know God is first but, what’s in our minds isn’t always in agreement with what’s in our hearts.  We know if God is really first or not, that is if we dare admit the truth.

            The definition of pride is “a haughty attitude shown by somebody who believes, often unjustifiably, that he or she is better than others.” (Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.)  How does God see pride?  The Bible is clear that pride is not alright with God.  “The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; Pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverted mouth, I hate.” Proverbs 8:13 (NASB) “Everyone proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord; Though they join forces, none will go unpunished.” Proverbs 15:5 (NKJV)

            When pride is an issue then that means that you are first in all things, it is not Christ.  It means that everything you do is done with your pride, even how you serve the Lord.  As a follower of Christ there is no room for you at that first position in your life.  God is first.  The first four commandments state that God is first and they start with this statement from God, “I am God, your God” Exodus 20:1 (MSG).

            Pride is a heart issue.  “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.” 1 Corinthians 13:4 (NIV)  “Jesus said, ‘‘Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.’ This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ These two commands are pegs; everything in God’s Law and the Prophets hangs from them.” Mathew 22:27-40 (MSG) “Bless your enemies; no cursing under your breath. Laugh with your happy friends when they’re happy; share tears when they’re down. Get along with each other; don’t be stuck-up. Make friends with nobodies; don’t be the great somebody.” Romans 12:14-16 (MSG)  

            It is important, vitally important to line up our mind with our heart.  Know that God is first at all times in our minds.  Know that God is to also be first in our hearts.

Thank you for reading! Praying that you are all doing well! If you're a Facebook user I have a ministry page: www.Facebook.com/ReflectingTruthMinistries  I also have a blog in Spanish! If you are someone you know would prefer reading these devotionals in Spanish please visit www.MinisterioReflejandolaVerdad.blogspot.com

Thought of the Day #19: "Loving Others"

             In Mark 12:29-31 Jesus teaches that the most important commandments are that we are to love God with all heart, soul, mind and strength.  The second is to love others as we love ourselves.  The top priorities of life are laid out in these two commandments for us: Love God and love others.  It is through our relationship with God, putting Him first in our heart, soul, mind and strength, that we can have a relationship with others.  “We love because he first loved us.” 1 John 4:19 (NIV)  It is important to do both, love God first and then love others.  Notice the verse doesn’t say love God and if you feel like it love others.  It also doesn’t say love God and love the loveable people.  Loving others includes the un-loveable people too.  “If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen.” 1 John 4:20 (NASB)

            Loving others is not always easy but, it is even harder to not have anyone to love. Sometimes, especially when we are upset, we may desire to cut ourselves off completely from others.  Complete isolation may sound good but, it does not feel good.  Isolation from others will only hurt us.  Living through the up’s and down’s of relationships can either give us a “pep-in-our-step” or give us a stomachache.  Life is funny that way.  It’s like that saying, “you can’t live with them; you can’t live without them.”

            Life in ministry means life with people; People that will love us, support us, encourage us, help us…be good to us.  There are also those we encounter in ministry that hurt us.  As believers in Christ we are purposed to do something to help further increase the Kingdom of God.  Loving others is vital to any ministry.  It doesn’t matter if you are the leader of a ministry or involved as a “layman” in the ministry loving others is a part of it. 

            It is through prayer and studying His Word that we can be successful in our relationships.  If our focus stays on God then our relationships with others will be aligned with Him.  If we lose our focus and settle our focus upon other priorities then our relationships will be affected in negative ways.  This is why loving others is so important, so important in fact that this is why the Lord commanded it.  “And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God should love his brother also.” 1 John 4:21 (NASB)

 

 

Thank You for reading! God bless you!

Thought of the Day #18: "A Newer Better You"

Since its January the health and fitness companies are bombarding TV, radio, internet and most anything in print with their ads claiming that their product is the one that will help you become a newer better you.  Well maybe some of them can actually help but, come on, most of us doubt if their claims are real. You know who, without any doubts, can help us with our health and fitness and everything else? The best part about the price tag for it is that it's FREE!!! It's JESUS! Woo-Woo!  

It is through the lessons of life that the Lord works in us and stretches us in ways only "The Potter" can. "But now, O Lord, You are our Father, We are the clay, and You our potter; And all of us are the work of Your hand." Isaiah 64:8 (NASB)  The Lord is the only one that knows exactly what we need, when we'll need it and what provisions are needed in order to help with our self-improvement.  He is the one that knows what will make us stronger, tougher, wiser, more patient, kind or loving too! Jesus is all about helping us grow Spiritually, emotionally...anything that will help us improve ourselves so that we may be the righteous ones He so desires us to be.  "May you always be filled with the fruit of your salvation—the righteous character produced in your life by Jesus Christ—for this will bring much glory and praise to God." Philippians 1:11 (NLV)

 

 

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Devotional #43: "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly"

Through prayer I ask the Lord to point out to me "the good, the bad and the ugly" moments of the previous year. What was good throughout the year is what we all tend to want to remember and it is what we tend to store in our minds as loving, eventful or sweet memories. But now, the bad and the ugly things that happened to us is what we want to forget. Thing is, it is from the bad and even the ugly that we can learn a lot from. We learn from the good too and like I said we cherish those more but, if we stop and ask the Lord to help us learn from the bad and the ugly too the lessons we get are profound.

It is through these lessons of life that the Lord stretches us in ways only "The Potter" can. He is the one that knows what we need to learn from these experiences and why. He is the one that knows what will make us stronger, tougher, wiser, more patient, kind or loving. We grow from the good moments but we also grow from the bad and the ugly moments too. These are our “teachable life moments.”

What “teachable life moments” have you learned from 2013? Sometimes it takes longer than other times to really get and understand why we went through the things we did. Fact is, my fellow believers in Christ, sometimes we may never know why we had to go through what we did until we are in heaven. But, we don't necessarily need to know the "why" in order to learn the lessons.

I pray that we all learn the lessons the Lord is trying so desperately to teach us as we live on in this New Year. I pray that we all pay closer attention to what is going on around us so that we can better understand why these things are going on around us. Life is full of bad and ugly moments. Instead of wallowing in pity-parties we need to instead pray and ask the Lord to help us not only survive but know how He wants us to live life to the fullest despite how hard these bad and ugly moments are. We should want and desire to live, fully and wholeheartedly so that we can enjoy every moment He gives to us.

The people around us, the non-believers, are constantly observing how we choose to respond to life's good, bad and ugly moments. It is through our response to these moments that they determine if God is really there for you and if He would want to be there for them too. We are reflecting Him out to the world. This is how we either attract people to Him or not. If our responses are good no matter how bad or ugly our circumstances are then their curiosity may be peaked, and if it is they may want to personally know Him too.

Do we believe that we can have the strength to endure life's hardships? Philippians 4:12b-13, "I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength." (NIV)

Do we really get that God is with us in all things? "...Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met. Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes." Mathew 6:33-34 (MSG) 

Rejoice my friends! Enjoy 2014! "Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, gladden yourselves in Him]; again I say, Rejoice! Let all men know and perceive and recognize your unselfishness (your considerateness, your forbearing spirit). The Lord is near [He is coming soon]. Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition (definite requests), with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God." Philippians 4:4-9 (AMP)

God bless you my dear friends! Thank you for reading my first devotional of 2014!