Within, Without

 

When God (via the Holy Spirit) Lives within us, we are to live without:

“Pray without ceasing.”
(1 Thessalonians 5:17)

"Do everything without complaining or arguing."
(Philippians 2:14)

"...without partiality, and without hypocrisy."
(James 3:17)

 

Are You 'All In?'

In the Book of Judges, chapters 19 & 20 the Israelites went up against the Benjaminites. In the 1st 2 battles, the Israelites lost -- even though the leaders had prayed before each battle.

Before the 3rd battle, all, not just some, of the Israelites went up to pray. That's when God gave the Benjaminites over to the Israelites. They won that 3rd battle in such a way that there was not a 4th.

 

More often than not, I believe most of us probably are on the other end of the scale from, "All in." Have you given yourself over to God yet? Truly? He's waiting. Keep in mind, though, that while He is an amazingly patient God, none of us is promised tomorrow.

We so often treat God like He's Santa Claus -- asking, asking, asking. Rather than giving just to get, why not try simply giving, today? Give yourself over fully to God. I believe you'll be amazed at what you get in return, when you're not asking.

Make the choice. Go "All In" today. There's no better time.

 

Jesus May Not Be Santa Claus, But...

I've heard it said that "Jesus is not Santa Claus." Meaning He is not there simply to give us stuff. While I know that's true, still, there are these verses to contemplate:


Psalm 5:3 says:

"In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait in expectation."

There's also James 4:2, which says you do not have because you do not ask.


Thank You, Lord, for your love and your guidance -- and for all your blessings.

Come & Listen, All You Who Fear God

Psalm 66:16-20 --

"Come and listen, all you who fear God;
let me tell you what he has done for me.
I cried out to him with my mouth;
his praise was on my tongue.
If I had cherished sin in my heart,
the Lord would not have listened;
but God has surely listened
and heard my voice in prayer.
Praise be to God,
who has not rejected my prayer
or withheld his love from me!"

BibleGateway Resources for You

We need to get in the habit of reading for ourselves what the Holy Bible actually says, rather than relying on others as to what it supposedly says. I’ve used BibleGateway.com for years. I recommend it.

I use www.BibleGateway.com a lot. Mainly because it's accessible. But also because it has dozens of Bible versions -- and dozens of languages -- to choose from. All at my fingertips, for FREE.

The Title bar at the site says it best: “A searchable online bible in over 100 versions and 50 languages.”

50 languages? I mean, c’mon, that’s wonderful!

"Go and Make Disciples of All Nations"

Scripture says we are to take His word and be witnesses for Him to the 4 corners of the earth (Acts 1:8, Acts 13:47).

Additionally, in what we often refer to as, “The Great Commission” -- in Matthew 28:18-20 -- it says:


“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.’"


To ‘make disciples of all nations’ we are helped when we have the word in a translation that those cultures can understand. BibleGateway.com says it has 50 languages to choose from.

How much easier can that make it for missionaries traveling to far off places, to find a regional location to power-up and log-on -- and perhaps be able to print out at least parts of scripture directly to bring to the local culture? We have 50 languages to choose from already. Not a bad start.

For those of us who are so blessed to have easy access to the Internet and to His word, there are 23 English versions of the Holy Bible available. From Darby’s, Holman’s, Wycliffe’s, & Young’s to the newer ‘NIV 2011.’

For your studying, you can choose up to 5 versions at a time, to get search results from.

Meaning I can choose to read, say, chapter 11 of the Book of Hebrews (known as the 'faith' chapter), and read it in the NIV, ESV, NAS, MSG, & KJV if desired -- all on the same page.

BibleGateway Newsletters

• You can sign-up for HTML or Text e-mail
• You can sign-up for a few different daily and weekly devotionals
• You can get the BibleGateway Verse of the Day sent to your inbox each day
• You can get the Verse of the Day sent to you in 3 different Bible versions
• You can get the Verse of the Day sent to you in Spanish
• You can learn specifically about the men of the Bible, or
• You can learn details about 52 women of the Bible

Sign-up for BibleGateway’s newsletters or devotionals here:
www.biblegateway.com/newsletters/


There are lots of great, free Bible resources out there on the Internet for us. So many that we take them for granted, and ignore them.

As we do with Jesus, too, many times.

Jesus is so available to each of us that we often accept what we hear about Him, rather than investigating the truth for ourselves. It’s the trick of the world, and it works well.

Many of us blow off Christ due to our listening to the supposedly ‘cool’ folks mocking Him, mocking the Holy Bible.

But sometimes there’s a good reason why cool rhymes with fool.

Don’t be fooled. Learn for yourself what the truth is. Learn what scripture actually says to you, not what others tell you it says. You can start today, by going to BibleGateway.com and reading some of it for yourself.

My Prayer for You, and for Each of Us

Father, please, in the name of your son, Jesus Christ, please bless us now. With your Godly wisdom, with your enlightenment, with a true understanding of You, and a strengthening of faith in You, Lord.

Please, Jesus, lead us with the Holy Spirit now. Lead us to Your Word, to your truth, and onto Your narrow path so that we may spend an eternity blessed by your almighty power and amazing love.

Thank You, Father -- and thank You, Jesus. Amen.

Encouragement for Today -- and Denial

Today, the BibleGateway Verse of the day is from the Old Testament, Book of Psalms. It says:


“For the word of the LORD is right and true;
he is faithful in all he does.
The LORD loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.”
(Psalm 33:4-5)


To me this is encouraging. A great, uplifting reminder. Thank You, Jesus.

Also, it aligns with another group of verses I love -- from the New Testament, Book of Romans:


"Since what may be known about God is plain to them,
because God has made it plain to them.
For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities--
His eternal power and divine nature--has been clearly seen,
being understood from what has been made,
so that men are without excuse.
For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God
nor gave thanks to him,
but their thinking became futile
and their foolish hearts were darkened.
Although they claimed to be wise,
they became fools."
(Romans 1:19-22)

The Bible: Old & Irrelevant Today?

Tell me that's not relevant to the mocking foolishness of our own culture today, and I'll have to lump you in with those whom God talks about right there in the verses above.

God's creation, His beauty and majesty, is able to be seen in so many ways. To deny it is nothing more than pride, arrogance -- and foolishness, truly.

But to each their own, right?

Me, I don't claim to be that smart. I am not a god. I'm happy to let a real, true God lead the way, blessing me and growing me as He sees fit.

Pray With Me?

Thank you, Father -- and thank You, Lord Jesus. Please, continue leading me -- every day and in every way -- with the Holy Spirit.

Bless each of us with Your Godly wisdom. Strengthen our faith in You. Enlighten the eyes of our hearts, Lord.

Put us each on your narrow path, please. Grab hold of us now.

Father, give every one of us reading this, into Jesus' hands. I know that those You give to Him, He does not give up.

Thank You for your Love, Father. Thank You, for Jesus. Amen.

Scriptural Examples andIdeas of What to Pray for

There are numerous examples in scripture of things we can pray for.

Yes, one can argue that you can pray for anything (Lord, give me that new car, please?" "Oh Lord, I'd love some ice cream right now. Please?").

But the Holy Bible shows again and again, instances in which the believers prayed to The Almighty God for specific things.

Their prayers are there for us in scripture as examples.

They also say specific things, and the Father himself says things at times, which we can also use as guides.

Today's example is taken from Ezekiel 36:26 --


"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you;
I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."
(NIV)

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;
I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."
(NKJV)


My urging to you is to ask for this from our Father, for all those you pray for. Family, friends, ex's and enemies. Neighbors, co-workers, leaders of your country -- and other countries also.

Ask God to intervene and to give each of those you pray for hearts of flesh.

Ask Him to take away, to cast out, their hearts of stone. To break down their walls, to soften their hearts -- and to sharpen their minds with His Godly wisdom (James 1:5).


"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you;
I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh."

How awesome is that? And honestly, though we throw the word around like it’s nothing, God is the only thing n this world that is truly ‘awesome.’

So pray to the Lord, talk with Him, ask... and keep on asking.

And may the Lord bless your efforts mightily!

Talk, Ask, Thank -- Pretty Simple, Really

I’ve got to share a bit of inspiration and clarity with you. Regarding prayer, 'how to pray,' etc.
-- it's easier than you might think:


Philippians 4:6-7 --
“Do not be anxious about anything,
but in everything, by prayer and petition,
with thanksgiving,
present your requests to God.
And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,
will guard your hearts and your minds
in Christ Jesus.”


One key phrase: ‘In everything.”

Everything.

I encourage you to take a moment and simply talk with Him today. Ask (petition) Him for help with something today. Say ‘Thank you, Jesus’ for something, today.

It can be simple, if we let it be. Too often, ‘religion’ gets in the way and complicates the Truth.

It can be as easy as, “Lord, I’m not sure why you’re letting me go through this right now, but please help? Please bless this situation? Thank you, Jesus, for loving me.”

Take comfort in knowing that our Lord, our Savior, is almighty. He is omnipotent, and omnipresent.

He does hear you.

So, give it a go why don’t you, right now?

If you’re already okay with all this, great. How about stopping someone else in their tracks today, then -- and help them to stop worrying over something?

Be a blessing! Share this simple truth with them.

Philippians 4, verses 6-7 is a great comfort, as it’s meant to be. Go comfort someone, and help them learn to, or get back to, or get comfortable with praying.

May God bless your efforts, and His peace be with you.

I want, hope, and pray for only the best for you.

Merry Christmas!

A Prayer for Your Day

Good Morning Jesus, Lord. Thank you for today, Lord. Thank you, Father. Thank you for the Holy Spirit to lead us today.

Lord, we’ve got a ton of stuff we think needs doing today. We often get caught up in worry and concern over things we ‘think’ are important. We know you know all that is truly important, and what is not.

We put our day, our plans, our very lives, in your hands, Jesus. We know we are under your authority anyway, even if we chose to ignore you. But Lord, we willingly, happily, give ourselves to you today, the best we know how.

Please lead us today. Please bless us today. Please bless others through us, use us, today, Lord. Be in the middle of every interaction we have. Bless everyone, everyone we interact with. And please bless the outcome of every interaction today.

Please bless each of us with your Godly wisdom. Bless us with your Holy peace this day, Jesus. Help us to stay calm in the face of absurdity which seems so common these days. Help us to lead, rather than be led by such ignorance, such emotion.

Lord Jesus, please strengthen us this day, so that we can easily handle all that we have planned. Our responsibilities and our hopes of enjoyment today as well, Lord. We give them to you. Please lead us through them.

More importantly than our own plans and hopes, Jesus, help us handle with your grace whatever you allow in our path today. Your will be done, Lord, not mine, not ours.

Strengthen our faith in you today, Lord. Give us a deeper understanding of you, of your word. Fill us to overflowing today, Jesus, with your amazing peace, with your love, and with your grace for all those in our paths today.

Put a desire in our hearts, now, Jesus, to want to, to need to, read more of your word, the Holy Bible. Thank you for your Word, Father.

We ask Lord, please, do these things for all those we love, care about, and pray for. Our family, friends, neighbors, co-workers, peers, and even our enemies, Lord. Please bless each and every one of us in these ways today.

Thank you for your almighty power, and for paying attention to our tiny details in each of our lives as well, Jesus.

Only you, only you could hold the waters of the earth in the palm of your hand, and yet still know the number of hairs on our heads, Lord. Only you know the thoughts in the deepest recesses of our hearts. Only you could do so much, care so much, and pay attention to every detail of our lives as well.

Thank you for loving us, Lord. Please, lead us now, Jesus. Amen.


To the best of your ability today, Friend -- strive to make it extraordinary! You’ll never be able to ‘re-do’ this day, this hour.

You only get one chance at making the most of each day. Make today extraordinary.

I encourage you to begin, now, by letting Jesus Christ, THE Lord and Savior, lead you.