A Dwelling

Joshua 24:15 b

"But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. "

Do you dwell in a house? You see the house is strictly a house. It is a building with walls and coverings and that is all.

Now what if it had love in it? Now it is no longer strictly a house, but a home. Let us take it even further. What if your home also has the love and grace of God in it? Now your house is even more than a home it has now become a haven. So what is your dwelling? 

Prayer:

Father, fill our dwellings with love and grace and let us be havens for all who enter. Let your glory shine throughout our dwellings and may they bring honor to Your name.

In Christ we pray.

Amen.

Our Hearts

Hebrews 4:12

"Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts or not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. "

We need to check our heart motives before setting out on any endeavor. Our faith must be strong in Christ and not unbelieving. The voice we hear must be clear and true and filled with light. We are not to allow any darkness to enter. We do not harden our hearts to the voice of God.

Father,

Keep us on the straight and narrow path. Continually help us to recognize Your voice. Let our ears be open to the truth of Your word and not to the evils of this world.

In Jesus name.

Amen

Listening Ears

Proverbs 12:15 

"Fools think their own way is right, but the wise listen to others."

To whom do we listen to? We need to make sure what our ears here are words of wisdom and not destruction. Advice given must be based on biblical standards. Always make sure that what you received lines up with the word of God.

Even though, our brothers and sisters in Christ, may have all good intentions, we must be able to distinguish whether they are mature enough to advise us in specific areas.

Friends want to comfort us with warm and fuzzy replies. A true friend tells you what you need to hear and not what you want to hear.

The reason why companies have a Board of Directors is because there is wisdom in a multitude of counselors. They oversee the ins and outs of the company, in other words, checks and balances.

Even in our personal lives we need to have checks and balances and the Bible is our key.

Be willing to except godly wisdom and knowledge. Be discerning in whom you receive from.

Prayer:

Father, when we have issues please remind us to first go to your word, pray, and consult wise counsel. In Jesus name amen.

Other Scriptures:

Proverbs 12:26

"The godly give good advice to their friends; 

the wicked lead them astray."

Proverbs 15:22

"Plans go wrong for lack of advice;

many advisers bring success."

Proverbs 19:20

"Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life."

All Scriptures were from the New  Living Translation.

Transformation

Romans 12:2 says, "and do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God."

This comes by reading the word of God. The Bible is our blueprint for living a righteous life.

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have come new."

(II Corinthians 5:17)

Let us think about a butterfly. Butterflies are beautiful, but they don't start off that way. The butterfly has to endure different stages.

Stage one-small, round, oval or cylindrical egg.

Stage two-larvae (caterpillar); this is the stage where the caterpillar eats continuously. This is so the caterpillar will be able to grow quickly.

Stage three-Pupa (chrysalis); The caterpillar is now at full-size and then it forms itself into a pupa. It is inside the pupa that everything is going on.

Stage four-the caterpillar did all its changing inside of the pupa, metamorphosis.

The butterfly now emerges from the pupa. The transformation is complete. A new creation has been born.

We are like new born babies desiring milk because it is more digestible. So we digest the word, but are not yet chewing upon it. (1 Corinthiansans 3:2)

Then we begin to grow and desire to know more and more. We now want the meat of the word. You see,  we go through stages too. Unlike, the butterfly, we do not truly emerge until we reign with Christ in heaven. It is an ongoing experience and there will be times we may even have to go back to basics. (Hebrews 5:12)

As we continue to grow in the word of truth we will put on new clothing. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no Law." (Galatians 5:22-23)

We grow more into the attributes of Christ. Hallelujah!

Prayer: I thank you for the ability to grow in you with the help of the Holy Spirit within us. I pray that we all will strive towards the mark of excellence and that we would one day here, "…well done, good and faithful servant. " (Matthew 25:21)

Other scriptures:

2 Corinthians 5:27

2 Corinthians 3:18

1 John 3:2-3

Philippians 1:6

(There are many more scriptures)

 

Before any transformation can start within you you must first accept Jesus as your Savior and Lord. This must be done with the heart and not the mind. It means you must truly accept and know that Jesus Christ is the son of God and died on the cross for you and that he took upon himself your sins and sicknesses.

(1 Peter 2:24)

All scripture used were from the New King James version.