What God Has Been Teaching Me Lately XV…

Greetings My Friends~

As a humble pilgrim following Jesus through the rainforests and deserts of this earthly life, I would like to humbly share some of what God has been bubbling up in my mind/heart lately.

I pray that these thoughts are cushions in your shoes, balm to your burns, umbrellas for the rain, and shade to the scorching heat as you too follow the Lord Jesus each day.

SoulSpartan

(September 1st–October 1st, 2013)

(Please click on Bible links below to read the entire passage listed)

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Sin

Sin is a spiritual cataract clouding our vision of God’s presence and character in our lives.
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Good Deeds
Imagine the pain of loving/devoted foster parents whose child says: “I’ll do my chores–but not WITH them & not FOR them.” That’s God’s pain from non-Christians doing good deeds. He wants your heart before He wants your hands…
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Atheists
Imagine the pain of loving/devoted foster parents whose child eats, sleeps, and enjoys the daily benefits of living in the house but never makes eye contact with the parents, never speaks to them, never acknowledges them, refuses to even believe the foster parents exist, and sometimes/often ridicules others for trying to help them believe in the foster parents. That is God’s daily pain over atheists. #atheists #Jesuslovesyou
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Sinning Christians
Flippantly sinning as a Christian is like using curse words during your testimony in a courtroom. Your witness may still be true/accurate but you’ll be held in contempt. Ruthlessly address your own sin: confess it and ask for help daily. A flashlight caked with mud is not able to shine brightly.
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Prayer
Holy Spirit, please help my mood to be tethered,

not to my circumstances or others’ moods,

but to Your character.

In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
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Forgive and Forget?
Holy Spirit, please delete our browser history of the wrongs done to us.

Refresh the web page of Your love in us & teach us to pour out Your free offer of forgiveness to others.

In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
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Gratitude
When someone blesses you, a great thing to say is “Thank you!”

The BEST thing to say is “I’m praising God because of you!”

Matthew 5:14-16
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Waiting On God
God often doesn’t give us what we want now–or on earth at all.
Just as weights increase our muscles, “waits” from God increase our faith in Him.
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Seeking God
Like the teacher who knows the definition but tells you to “look it up,”
God knows the answers to our questions but says the same to us. #readtheBiblez
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Trials For New Christians
A foot that has been “asleep” is difficult to walk on.
Similarly, a new Christian will face initial trials in their new life/walk with Jesus.
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Having Tomorrow’s Perspective For Today
Just as a coach in football, God ALWAYS values the long run over the short run.
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“No discipline is enjoyable while it is happening—it’s painful! But afterward there will be a peaceful harvest of right living for those who are trained in this way” (Hebrews 12:11 NLT).
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Gathering With Other Christ-Ones
There are few things more exhilarating to my soul than meeting w/15-20 Christ-lovers for dinner, Bible study, sharing each others’ lives & pursuing Jesus. #fellowship
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Relief
Holy Spirit, today please comfort the troubled hearts/minds of Christians and non-Christians alike w/Your presence & love, the way David & his harp soothed the tormented King Saul. And please help us to use our “harps” to comfort others as well. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
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Fit Ourselves Around God (Not Vice Versa)
Christians often get overwhelmed by Jesus’ commands because we’re often trying to fit faithfulness to the Lord into our plans instead of the other way around. Sometimes we simply need to take an eraser to our schedules and start from scratch.
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Crying
A good cry can be so therapeutic, cleansing and refreshing, like a brief but heavy summer rain.
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GO!
We Christians cant live in the Shire oblivious to the suffering around us.
If we wont go to the sufferers,God will bring the suffering to us!
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Distracted Christians
The U.S. government has gotten so big because we Christians have allowed it–we arent doing what God has called us to do regarding service to the poor.
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God’s Medicine
When sick with a cold, some powerful tools in God’s hands are
DayQuil, steaming chicken rice soup & fresh squeezed orange juice with pulp. #truth
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Faith In Jesus
While we are on earth, God has designed us to trust in Him through faith (i.e. not being able to experience Him via our five physical senses).  In heaven, we will be designed/enabled to trust in God through seeing Him face to face, the reward of our earthly faith.   Just as a math teacher helps a student to figure out a problem without a calculator in class (even though they will be able to use the calculator after graduation in the “real world”), so does God now help us to know Him without our five physical senses (even though we will be able to use those senses—and perhaps others!–once in heaven, the realest real world).
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Sacrificially Loving Your Spouse And Children IS A Great Work For God
Pastors: Do you step on your wife & kids to do “great” things for God?
You are clanging cymbals in His ears. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 #pastors
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God Knows What We REALLY Want
What if, instead of working so hard to get that which we do not have, we rest in the fact that:
1. God will provide it for us if He wants us to have it…and
2. If God doesn’t want us to have it, it would actually be worse for us to get it?
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Knowing A Tree By Looking At Its Fruit
We know we’ve stepped into a river’s current if it’s moving us.
If we’re not swept up in the flow/love of Jesus, maybe we’re still on the shore?
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Our Schedules Reveal What Is Most Important To Us
You don’t have time to recklessly follow Jesus and do what He made you to do?
Nonsense.
Parents with full-time jobs train for and make the U.S. Olympic Team.
If we love/want something bad enough, we make time for it. #followJesus
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So Long Self
If the focus/attention of our lives is a race, God made us to get the bronze medal:
Jesus 1st, all others 2nd, self a very distant 3rd. #goforthebronze
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Jesus IS The Voice Of Truth
What lies are you believing today about God, yourself, others, and/or your current situation?
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Before outer circumstances get better, God straightens out our inner priorities/perspective.
Like a broken bone, today’s painful resetting must precede tomorrow’s delightful healing.

Romans 12:2 NLT
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Listen For God
Sometimes God speaks to us out of the calm (1 Kings 19:11-13);
Sometimes He speaks to us out of the storm (Job 38:1)–
The point is, He speaks. Listen for Him today…
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GO!
Christ-ones! Leave your palace and embrace the suitcase!
#thisworldisnotourhome #alloutforJesus #disciplesofALLnations #itsGOtime
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Let God Be God
My 2 year old likes to wear my size 12 boots, but she falls in them.
Similarly, we hurt ourselves when we wear God’s shoes, taking roles in life belonging only to Him.
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Christian Responsibility
Luke 8:10–”Jesus said, ‘The knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of God has been given to you.'”

What are we doing today with this heavenly knowledge?
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God Has His People Securely In His Loving Hands
For us who receive Him, Jesus on the Cross paid for our past & guaranteed our future.
Won’t He also take care of our “now”?
YES!
He is the ONE True God–not the 2/3 true god.
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Trials Often Precede Triumph
Only when wood is sufficiently dried out can it be lit on fire.
Perhaps God is drying us out–leading us through the desert–to ignite us for Him and His fame.
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Love,

SoulSpartan