Ezekiel 36:26 - God changes us!

“I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart.”

Ezekiel 36:26

God’s original chosen ones polluted their land by the way they lived. In His anger he kicked them out. They were forced to go to other countries to live. God judged them for their ways and their deeds. Wherever they went, they gave God a bad name. This hurt the Lord, but God still loved the Israelites. Eventually He decided to do something for Himself, to save His very character, and His holy name. He came up with a way to display to the world His great power and Holy name. God promised to bring them back to their homeland, and by doing so He would show His holiness through them so that all could see His power and might with their own eyes. He promised to pour pure water over them and scrub them clean. He promised to give them a new heart and to put a new spirit within them. He was going to remove the stone heart from their body and replace it with a heart that is full of God and His will, one that is responsive to Him, not full of self and one’s own will alone. He was going to put His Spirit in them and make it possible for them to do what He tells them to and to live by His commands. He told them that they would once again live in the land that He gave their ancestors. He even told them that they would be His people, and He would be their God. This came to pass. Israel became a nation once again.

God loves you! Maybe you feel that you have polluted America by the way that you live. Maybe you feel that you have felt His anger. Maybe your feel that He doesn’t love You because You feel that He has judged you for your bad choices, ways and misdeeds. One thing that I know for sure is that God still loves You. If you go to Him, He can do something amazing in your life. He will be able to display to the world how great He is. He will be able to impart His holiness in you so that everyone can see His power and might with their own eyes by the change that takes place in you. He can pour pure water over you and scrub you completely clean. He can give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you. He can remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that is full of Himself and His will, one that is responsive to Him. He can put His Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what He tells you to and to live by His commands in His love and freedom. You can be His, and He can be your God. Today I ask you to be open to Him and His love. Let His love do a work in you. You won’t regret it. You will be blessed.

Father, You are the God of so many of us. You have already given us a new heart. You have already put a new spirit in us. You have already taken out our stony, stubborn heart and have given us a tender, responsive heart. And to this, we give You praise. Our prayer goes on from this today. We pray for those that haven’t known You, Your Son Jesus, or the blessed Holy Spirit. Do a work in all of their hearts. Give them a new heart. Put a new spirit within them. Take out their stony, stubborn heart and give them a tender, responsive heart. May they be Yours, and may You be theirs. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Colossians 3:16 - I hope in You and Your Word

“Let the words of Christ, in all their richness, live in your hearts and make you wise.”

Colossians 3:16

Today’s Thought is something that the Lord pointed out to me recently. He gave me a confirmation about it in His Word this morning. As many of you know I have Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. I was at stage 0. Now I am at stage 1. My white blood cell count more than doubled when I went back to the doctor in December. Praise God the white blood cells stopped going up when I went back to the doctor in March. The white blood cell count even went down. Hallelujah! I have been on a ketogenic diet as carbs and sugars cause cancer to spread. I have been taking turmeric as that is supposed to attack the cancer cells. I have been spending money on some other supplements that I read about in health magazines as well. I have even been spending money on essential oils to rub on my feet. About a week or so ago the Lord impressed it upon my heart that I wasn’t supposed to put my hope in all those things. He told me that I was to put my hope in Him and His Word. There was a woman in the bible that had gone to the doctor because she was suffering from bleeding for 12 years. She had spent all she had on doctors, yet could not be healed by any of them. She heard of Jesus and decided to approach Him from behind. She touched the tassel of His robe. Luke 8:44 says that “Instantly her bleeding stopped.” Psalm 71:5-6 says “O Lord, you alone are my hope.” It goes on to say in these verses “I’ve trusted in you, O Lord, from childhood. You have been with me from birth; from my mother’s womb You have cared for me.” Psalm 119:74 and Psalm 119:81 both say “I have put my hope in Your Word.” Just as I take my supplements each day and doctor my feet, I am to take the healing Scriptures that are in God’s Word and say them out loud. I am even to pray them. May His Word not return void but accomplish all that it is sent out to do. My hope is to be in Him and His Word. This means that I don't need to go to the health foods store and get more and more supplements. I have Him and His Word. There is nothing more powerful to combat the cancer cells than that!

Father, thank You for being You. Thank You for being our hope. We have trusted in You from childhood. You have been with us from birth. From our mother’s womb You have cared for us. May You continue to care for us. We put our hope in You and Your Word. Make us well. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Matthew 26:52 - Those who live by the sword die by the sword

“all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”

Matthew 26:52

I was scrolling through my Facebook newsfeed this morning and came across a photo. It shows three men holding bible and they are hitting a man that is down on the ground with it. The caption says “If you’re using the bible to hurt other people, you’re using it wrong.” It goes on to say “Love does no harm to its neighbor, therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10). God gives us the Word. It is for us to analyze and take to heart, applying it to our everyday lives. The Word inside of our hearts will make us more and more like Him. We will reflect more and more of His goodness. We are to walk in His love and mercy and to extend that grace with others. Our pure and genuine heartfelt love for them will be used to open their hearts and draw them to Him. We are to share Jesus and His love (the Good News of the gospel) with them. This is Good News. Using the Word as a sword in their life to cut them at the heart over and over again can actually cause their heart to harden and turn them away from Him as it inflicts so much pain. It can make them feel that they can never measure up and make it into the pearly gates. Then they will not only need Christ to save them, but they will also need Christ to heal them from the pain that you have inflicted. Let your love shine through everything you say and do. Jesus had compassion for the people, even the woman that had been caught in the act of adultery. May we have compassion on people as well. If you know something in their life that is in error, pray. Pray that God Himself will make Himself and His truths known to them. Pray that they get their hearts right with Him. People can receive God’s truth and ways when it comes from Him. For when He reveals something to us, even if it is chastisement and His disciplining us, we can receive it because we know that He is love.

Father, may we use the Word to make a difference in our own lives. May we walk in love at all times and pray and intercede for others. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

1 Corinthians 3:6 Be a seed planter (sower)

“I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.”

1 Corinthians 3:6 (NIV)

I was reading some fascinating facts about the bamboo plant. It takes five years for the bamboo plant to mature. You can hardly see any “above ground” activity during the first two to four years. Yet “underground” there is an extensive root system developing. Once one can see the benefit of its hidden activity, it becomes the fastest growing plant there is. After about five whole years, the bamboo plant sends stalks growing skyward at an unbelievable three feet per day! Imagine that!

We can learn something from the bamboo plant. When serving our Lord, we are seldom allowed to see the true impact that we are having in our obedience to plant seeds. If we were serving Him and could see for ourselves the impact of every seed that we plant, we may become prideful and puffed up. We may focus on what we have achieved instead of the One whom we are living for and serving. Another thing that is worthy for us to note is that we wouldn’t be operating in faith, believing what we can’t always see. Like the bamboo plant, most of our spiritual growth and fruits from our labor often go unseen. Only our Father above fully understands the impact of our obeying the Spirits leading in all the aspects of our lives that He is asking us to. Oftentimes the growth from these seeds aren’t revealed until years later, sometimes even generations later. Planting seeds and serving the Lord faithfully can be so joyful, even fun. And our time of seed planting is worth more than anything else that we do in this life, even if we seldom witness the skyrocketing growth as a result of our obedience. Plant all the seeds that you can. Be a seed planter. Believe that someone else will come along and water those seeds afterwards. Ask God for this. And then sit back and watch for God is working below the ground, an extensive root system is developing. In His time, He will cause the seeds that He had led you to plant to sprout up above the ground and grow at an unbelievable rate daily.

Father, may I plant all the seeds that You want me to. May You send someone else to come along and water those seeds. And may You cause them to grow. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.

Thank You Lord

“Thank You, Lord.”

I remember my little girls, Brittney and Nicole, being given a cassette tape with songs from the bible on it from the Sawmiller’s for Easter when they were young. The cassette had an accompanying book with the words to all the songs. There is a song that was on the cassette that I have been singing this morning. It's the perfect song to sing today as us Christians celebrate Good Friday. The title of the song was “Thank You, Lord.” I would like to share the words of the song with you.

“Thank You, Lord”

Thank You Lord for saving my soul
Thank You Lord for making me whole
Thank You Lord for giving to me
Thy great salvation so good and free

Father, the words to that song is my prayer to You today. Thank You, Lord, for saving my soul. Thank You, Lord, for making me whole. Thank You, Lord, for giving to me Thy great salvation so good and free. In Jesus' name I pray and give thanks. Amen.

Romans 10:9-10, 13 - The symbol of the cross

“if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation … For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’”

Romans 10:9-10, 13

Some people may think that a cross is an odd symbol for a person with Christian faith as it makes one think of death. The Roman’s used this form of torture to kill people. It was gruesome. Thank God we don’t punish transgressors this way in our land. Another symbol that is often used for the New Testament expression was the sign of a fish. This is a lot less gruesome. The thing is that God so loved you that Christ died for you. There was no way around it. In order for you to spend an eternity in heaven when you die and for you to become a child of God here on earth, is if Christ took the punishment for all our sins on the cross. He laid down His life for us all. Why did He do this? It is because He loved us, and He cared about our souls. He desired for none of the people in His day, and none of the people in our day, to go to hell. Hell was created for Satan and the angels that fell with him. He doesn’t want any of us to end up there. God is a holy God, and only those that are righteous can be with Him. You and I can only be made righteous through Christ. The Bible says that “if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation … For ‘whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.’” This Easter, contemplate the cross. Think about the pain that Christ endured for you and I. Think of the nails, thorns and whips that were used to mock Him. Think of the overwhelming love He had for you. And, remember, death and the grave didn’t hold Him. For He rose again! He saves all who trust Him for forgiveness of sin and reserves a place in heaven for every true believer. That is the love of God displayed through the cross.

Father, thank You for the love that Jesus had for me when He took my sins upon Himself on the cross. Your Word says that if we confess with our mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in our heart that God has raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. Father, I confess out loud that Jesus Christ is Lord. I believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead. According to Your Word, since I confessed this out loud and believed it in my heart I will be saved. For this, I am so thankful. Your Word goes on to say “for with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” My heart and mind can be at peace and I can have an assurance of this salvation for Your Word says that “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Thank You for this Lord. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.  

Proverbs 23:18 - If we love God, we have a wonderful future ahead of us

“For surely you have a future ahead of you; your hope will not be disappointed.”

Proverbs 23:18

The people that truly love the Lord with all their heart, soul, and mind are promised here that we have a wonderful future ahead of us. Because of this promise we should always have something to look forward to, something good. Hallelujah!

Father, thank you for blessing us with these promises today. First, that our hope for the future will not be disappointed. And lastly, that we have a future ahead of us. You are so good to us. Thank you for giving us a glimpse of what is always yet to come. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.