Good Morning

                                    JUST TO LET YOU KNOW THAT IT IS CHRISTIAN PERSON WEEK AND YOU SHOULD SEND THIS TO ALL BEAUTIFUL CHRISTIAN PEOPLE.
'A person's heart should be so hidden in Christ that a man should have to seek Him first to find them.'

When I say that 'I am a Christian', I am not shouting that 'I am clean living. I'm whispering 'I was lost, but now I'm found and forgiven.'

When I say 'I am a Christian' I don't speak of this with pride. I'm confessing that I stumble and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not trying to be strong. I'm professing that I'm weak and need His strength to carry on.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not bragging of success. I'm admitting I have failed and need God to clean my mess.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not claiming to be perfect. My flaws are far too visible, but God believes I am worth it.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I still feel the sting of pain. I have my share of heartaches, so I call upon His name.

When I say 'I am a Christian' I'm not holier than thou, I'm just a simple sinner who received God's good grace, somehow!

Today is Beautiful Christian Person's Day.
Pretty is as Pretty does but, Beautiful is just plain Beautiful..

Go Deeper; Draw Near to God and He will Draw Near to You

It is a beautiful summer day.  The waves are lapping at the bank.  The water is crystal clear.  Beautiful to watch.  Great to hear.  I love to hear the water washing up onto the shore.  The waves come up and pound onto the sandy beach.  It draws itself back into the midst of the deep water.  The water is cold.  Feels wonderful to the touch.  Clean, refreshing and salty.  

All of my senses are in high alert.  I hear, see, feel, taste and touch the cool water.  I ride the waves as they surround me.  I walk further and further out into the water.  I am soon up to my neck.  The tide goes out and the water has gone down to my calves.  I keep walking.  Wanting to get totally drenched in the sweet water.  The next wave comes and I am knocked down by the pressure of the water.  I am down under the water and fight to get my footing.  As the wave recedes I keep walking further out into the deep.

Soon, I cannot touch the sandy bottom.  I find that I have to swim in order to stay afloat.  The next wave comes and under I go.  I am totally one who loves the water.  The feel of my body floating in the waves and being tossed to and fro.  Up I come, just in time for another wave.  I am having such a great time.

As a child of God, I find that I often times are in the same boat with my walk with God.  I sometimes want to just get my feet wet.  I just want a little refreshing but do not want to get totally drenched.  Other times I want so much of Him that I walk straight out into the dark green water of the deep.  Trying to learn more.  To hear more.  To sense what He is trying to say to me.  My walk with Him changes sometimes daily, as my needs, wants and desires change.  But, I have found that as I seek more of Him, He is actually drawing me to Himself.  It is He that gives me the desire to want more of Him. 

We all have different walks in life.  Some of us have an easy path.  Others find the path full of pot holes and mud.  Still some find their path paved with fine gravel.  Or maybe it is a path of no return.  Wherever your path leads you, make sure that you are heading down the road.  Not staying still.  Stagnate.  But, moving and flowing and growing.  Remember;  what the adversary, the devil, plans for your demise, God plans for your good.  Don’t stay in one place.  Don’t allow the enemy to tempt you into becoming “contented” or “self-satisfied”.  Instead, get out into the deep water of life.  The areas where you have to rely on God for your protection and guidance.  Those are the places where you will see great growth in your life.  Don‘t remain in this season of your life – but, move on, grow and sprout.  Ecclesiastes tells us that “there is a season for everything”.  Now is your time to grow deeper into Him.  Deeper into His love and care for you and your loved ones.  Rely on Him and let Him direct your path.

HOPE

 If I can put new hope within the heart
         Of one who has lost hope,
         If I can help a brother up
         Some difficult long slope
         That seems too steep for tired feet to go,
         If I can help him climb
         Into the light upon the hill's far crest,
         I shall begrudge no time
         Or strength that I spend, for well I know
         How great may be his need.
         If I can help through any darkened hour,
         I shall be glad indeed.
        
         For I recall how often I have been
         Distressed, distraught, dismayed,
         And hands have reached to help, and voices called
         That kept me unafraid.
         If I can share this help that I have had,
         God knows I shall be glad.

  - Grace Noll Crowell

Safely Kept

And that is why I suffer these things. But I am not ashamed, because I know the One I have believed in and am persuaded that He is able to guard what has been entrusted to me until that day. 2 Timothy 1:12, HCSB

We know the importance of placing our valuables and money in safe places. We put our important documents in the banks’ safety deposit boxes. The government insures our bank savings through the FDIC.

In today’s passage Paul wrote about entrusting something far more important than material things for safekeeping. He instructed Timothy not to be ashamed of the gospel or of his mentor Paul who was in prison. Paul described the gospel, its power to save, and its origin in the grace of God.

Paul was suffering for the gospel, yet he was full of confidence and hope for the future based on the person of Jesus Christ, in whom he had believed. He had not placed his faith in some philosophy or creed. Because Paul knew Jesus intimately and personally, he was certain he could trust Jesus with the salvation of his soul. He knew it would be kept safely until that last day of accounting.

Father, thank You for Jesus, who is able to keep me until that last day.

This devotional is courtesy of Open Windows.

God's Perspective

Scripture
After these events, the word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision:
"Do not be afraid, Abram.
I am your shield;
your reward will be very great." Genesis 15:1, HCSB
Thought
To understand your bad or difficult circumstances, God's perspective is vital. Deep trouble and crisis is often the easiest time to hear God speak. One word He always gives in such situations, "Do not be afraid." Fear is the human reaction toproblems. Hope is God's reaction.
Prayer
You who takes away all fear, look in love on me today. You know the circumstances that bring fear, frustration, and failure to my life. Only Your word can dispel my fears and deepen my hope. Amen.

This devotional is courtesy of Experiencing God Day By Day Devotional.

An Island Within

I rise before dawn and cry out for help; I put my hope in Your word. Psalm 119:147, HCSB

Some Bible teachers say: "If you are filled with the Spirit, then you can draw from God's resources, not just at the beginning of the day, but every hour of the day. Better a fountain in the heart than a fountain by the way."This confuses two quite separate issues. It is perfectly true that by reason of the Spirit's indwelling, we can draw upon His resources moment by moment, but that does not do away with the need for a daily quiet time.
One writer puts it like this: "Those who say they can live in a state of prayer without stated times for prayer will probably find themselves without both. It is as futile as thinking that you can live in a state of physical nourishment without stated times for nourishment." I believe with all my heart that the divine Shepherd seeks daily to lead His sheep to the "still waters" of His Word, and how sad it is that so many Christians prefer to drink from the polluted pools of the world. The poet says:
What a frail soul He gave me, and a heart
Lame and unlikely for the large events.
I wonder if, more often, we haven't given ourselves "a heart lame and unlikely for the large events." God has given us infinite resources through prayer and the reading of the Scriptures. They are ours for the asking and the taking. The quiet time creates an island of quiet within us, and that becomes the atmosphere of the day.

Daily Prayer
O Father, help me come to the quiet time with quiet expectancy - expectancy that here my weakness shall become strength, my doubt become faith, my fears become courage, and my sin become redemption. I ask this for Your own dear name's sake. Amen.

This devotional is courtesy of Every Day with Jesus.

Sin Can Be Overcome

But put on the Lord Jesus Christ. Romans 13:14, HCSB

Every sin can be overcome. Don't allow yourself to admit to any exception, for if you do, this exception will be the loose bolt that causes the bridge to fall down. One of the sad things about certain sections of the modern-day church is the moral fatalism that says in regard to one's sin: "But what could I do? I am just a frail human being."
The implication is that sin is an integral part of human nature, and as long as we remain human, we shall never be able to overcome sin. The clear message of the gospel is spelled out in this verse: "Sin will not rule over you" (Rm 6:14).
Today's text in The Amplified Biblereads: "But clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, and make no provision for indulging the flesh - put a stop to thinking about the evil cravings of your physical nature - to gratify its desires and lusts." Notice the phrase: "make no provision for indulging the flesh." In other words, do not provide for failure; provide for victory. There must be an absoluteness about the whole thing.
There are dangers in pretending we are winning the battle against sin when we are not, or in approaching the whole issue from self-effort. But these dangers, in my opinion, are not as great as mentally providing for sin in our lives. The tyranny of this fatalism - that as long as we are in the flesh, we must expect to sin - must be broken. The Christian life must be lived from the standpoint that we expect not to sin. I repeat: every sin can be overcome.
Daily Prayer
My Father and my God, help me to lay hold on the fact that Your offer is not simply to help me realize what sin is, but to release me from it. May I enter more and more into that glorious deliverance day by day. Amen.

This devotional is courtesy of Every Day with Jesus.