“Our Daily Bread”     http://odb.org/

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie    http://www.harvest.org/devotional

Written by  Dawn Ivey for “Drawing closer to Christ”  @  https://drawingclosertochrist.com

Original post @ https://drawingclosertochrist.com/2021/02/08/lead-like-jesus-heart-head-hands-and-habits/

Trusting the Love of Jesus Christ, One Day at a Time – Psalm 13:5 NIV, “But I trust in your unfailing love; my heart rejoices in your salvation.”

Lead Like Jesus: Heart, Head, Hands, and Habits

FEBRUARY 8, 2021 ~ DAWN

Leading like Jesus involves our heart, head, hands, and habits. First, examining our hearts, gives us the opportunity to ask ourselves if we are serving God and others or just ourselves. In all we do, our motives should remain pure.

Second, we examine our head. We take time to consider our beliefs and how those beliefs impact those around us. The experiences we have had, rather good or bad, shape how we think, and how we treat others.

Mark 10:45 (NIV)says, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Photo by: fauxels

Third, the actions of our hands show what is in our heart and head. Loving people means we want to see them be the best they can be. We praise them when they do good, and lovingly correct them when needed and help them to get back on track during difficult times.

Lastly, we establish healthy habits. Jesus exhibited healthy habits by spending time alone in prayer, applying scripture to His life, and by working to build meaningful relationships with those around Him. He always took time out for people. He lived His life in a way that inspired others.

Leading like Jesus in our hearts, heads, hands, and habits will help us to be quality leaders in our homes, workplaces, and communities. The Holy Spirit who lives in us will empower us daily as we work to bring Jesus glory.

Read Previous Lead Like Jesus post: Standing Before the King

Reference: Lead Like Jesus Revisited: Lessons from the greatest leader of all time by Blanchard, Hodges, and Hendry (2016) pp. 35-38

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P.S. (from bruce) When there is no other place to turn…turn to God !!  If you’re not a “born again” Christian, is the Holy Spirit urging you to open this link ??  Here is the truth for this most important days writing, about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…   https://godsmanforever.com

To my brothers and sisters in Christ, please feel free to share this message of the cross with those in need…

You say you are a “born again” believer…  BUT are you “ON FIRE” for the Lord ??  If not, open this link – https://godsmanforever.com/2020/08/01/are-you-a-christian-in-gods-eyes-and-on-fire-for-the-lord-or-not/

Picture credit: https://www.google.com/search?q=image+romans+8%3A29&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwi4zoig0ozvAhXGdN8KHXfACOkQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=image+romans+8%3A29&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQAzIGCAAQCBAeMgYIABAIEB46BAgjECc6BAgAEEM6BQgAELEDOgcIABCxAxBDOgIIADoECAAQHlDzogFYrtYBYM_cAWgAcAB4AIABS4gBuQWSAQIxMJgBAKABAaoBC2d3cy13aXotaW1nwAEB&sclient=img&ei=2ZQ7YPj9F8bp_Qb3gKPIDg&bih=920&biw=1359&rlz=1C1SQJL_enUS832US832#imgrc=JR-euqutPEUtTM

“Our Daily Bread”     http://odb.org

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie    http://www.harvest.org/devotional

Written by Beth Andrews for “Deeper Roots”  @  https://dbethandrews.wordpress.com

Original post @ https://dbethandrews.wordpress.com/2021/02/17/sermon-on-the-mount-the-beatitudes-part-1/

Sermon on the Mount – The Beatitudes, part 1

POSTED ON FEBRUARY 17, 2021 BY BETH ANDREWS

This will be a little different. Once a week over the next couple of months, we’re going to study the Sermon on the Mount. While this devotional is not written specifically as encouragement, studying the Word of God always encourages us. The focus of the Sermon on the Mount – in fact, Matthew’s focus for his Gospel – is the Kingdom of God/Heaven. Matthew wants to prove that Jesus is the long-expected King in the line of David and the promised Messiah. Jesus opens with what we know as “The Beatitudes,” nine times that He describes people who are “blessed” in the Kingdom. The first four, vs 3-6, turn the idea of blessing on its head.

Jesus said blessed are “the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, and those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” But these are people who are nobodies in the world. But remember, we’re dealing with Kingdom values, not the world’s values. The poor in spirit are those who realize that they have nothing to offer God for their souls. They have no hope in themselves for eternal life. Their hope is in the promises of God. They will receive the Kingdom. Those who know they have nothing are given everything.

Those who mourn are mourning their sin. Jesus said they will be comforted. How? Paul said that “godly sorrow” for our sins “brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret” (2 Cor. 7:9-10). Those who mourn are comforted when their sorrow turns to repentance then forgiveness and the burden of their guilt is lifted.

The meek are not the weak. Meekness is the fine art of being kind and gentle towards others, especially those who “do not deserve it.” It’s how God treated us. The meek, Jesus said, will “inherit the earth.” Now honestly, who would want this earth? But wait. Rev. 21:1 says that there will be “a new heaven and a new earth.” A new earth would be a truly blessed gift.

Then, “Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will be filled.” How do you know that you’re hungry? You have hunger pains. Those who hunger and thirst for righteousness feel genuine pain at the unrighteousness in the world. If you don’t, you may need to check your relationship with God. Unrighteousness breaks the heart of God. It should break our hearts as well. How do we deal with hunger? We eat. This unrighteous world is hungry for God. Let’s feed them the Gospel. We – and they – will be filled, satisfied, beyond measure.

What does all this mean for you? Unless I miss my guess, you, like me, are not great in the world’s eyes. But God has great things in store for those who trust in Him. Beloved, are you blessed by the world’s standards, or by God’s?

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P.S. (from bruce) When there is no other place to turn…turn to God !!  If you’re not a “born again” Christian, is the Holy Spirit urging you to open this link ??  Here is the truth for this most important days writing, about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…   https://godsmanforever.com

To my brothers and sisters in Christ, please feel free to share this message of the cross with those in need…

You say you are a “born again” believer…  BUT are you “ON FIRE” for the Lord ??  If not, open this link – https://godsmanforever.com/2020/08/01/are-you-a-christian-in-gods-eyes-and-on-fire-for-the-lord-or-not/

Our Daily Bread”     http://odb.org/

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie    http://www.harvest.org/devotional

Written by Dr. Lawson Murry for “SEIZE The DAY”  @  https://seizetheday-blog.com

Original post @ https://seizetheday-blog.com/2021/02/24/forty-days-4/

Forty Days

FEBRUARY 24, 2021

Show me your ways, O Lord, teach me your paths . . . Psalm 25:4 (NIV)

The term “quadragesima” comes from the Latin for “fortieth” as there are exactly forty days, including Sundays, from Quadragesima Sunday to Good Friday.

Scientific analysis has determined that children born in Western nations today will probably live to be about one-hundred years, i.e. the average life span will be 36,525 days. Rick Warren, in The Purpose Driven Life, asks, “Don’t you think it would be a wise use of time to set aside forty of those days to figure out what God wants you to do with the rest of them?”

Setting aside the next forty days . . . No matter how old you are you’re never too old to pause, to take time to hear from God, to interact with Him through Scripture reading, contemplation and prayer.

Great things can happen over the course of forty days. Moses was never the same after he spent forty days on Mount Sinai, Elijah was transformed after God gave him forty days of strength from a single meal and Nineveh was completely reformed when the prophet Jonah announced that God had given them forty days before the city would be destroyed.

I’m assuming you want to make the most of the next forty days (if you weren’t you probably wouldn’t be reading this post). Your Lenten journey can be spiritually significant if you take the opportunity to learn from those who have gone before you. Moses, for example, during his forty day encounter with God on Mount Sinai asked: “If you (God) are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you” (Exodus 33:13).

I’ve taught my children that it’s helpful to look at the verbs when one’s studying the Scriptures. In Exodus 33:13 the verbs are “teach,” “know” and “find.” These three words, to my mind, are essential companions for a forty day spiritual journey. In the days ahead why not ask the Lord to teach you His ways, to help you know Him more, and enable you to find favor with Him. Of course, in order to understand God’s ways, know Him more and find favor with Him we need to spend time with Him. So let’s do that . . . let’s take the next forty days as a God appointed opportunity to spend quality and quantity time with Him.

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P.S. (from bruce) When there is no other place to turn…turn to God !!  If you’re not a “born again” Christian, is the Holy Spirit urging you to open this link ??  Here is the truth for this most important days writing, about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…   https://godsmanforever.com

To my brothers and sisters in Christ, please feel free to share this message of the cross with those in need…

You say you are a “born again” believer…  BUT are you “ON FIRE” for the Lord ??  If not, open this link – https://godsmanforever.com/2020/08/01/are-you-a-christian-in-gods-eyes-and-on-fire-for-the-lord-or-not/

“Our Daily Bread”     http://odb.org/

The Daily Devotions of Greg Laurie    http://www.harvest.org/devotional

Written by Mel Wild for “In My Father’s House” @ https://melwild.wordpress.com

Original post @ https://melwild.wordpress.com/2021/02/18/power/

True Power

Posted on February 18, 2021 by Mel Wild

Everything today is about power. But we seem to want the powerless kind—through control, clever manipulation, deceit, bullying, political factions, etc. For example, as the Time Magazine article admitted (that I talked about here), “Every attempt to interfere with the proper outcome of the election was defeated.” Democracy was saved…for one-party rule. But all of this is the opposite of God’s kind of power.

Everyone wants and uses power. The desire for power is given to us by God. But it’s corrupted when driven by one of two negative human emotions—fear or greed.

You may disagree and say you don’t want power, and that you certainly never seek it in this negative sense. You may think that because you only associate power with aggression, but you could be seeking it passively, by playing the victim, by identifying as the “oppressed.” Or, you may be passive-aggressively leading your own quiet rebellion. We also use power negatively when we put other’s down in order to elevate ourselves above them.

So it’s good to start with an honest assessment of ourselves.

The State of Things

What always strikes me when I read Paul’s second letter to Timothy is how he absolutely nails the condition of our current culture. I will highlight the salient points in 2 Timothy 3:1-7. See if you can find any similarities to where we are today.

But you need to be aware that in the final days the culture of society will become extremely fierce and difficult for the people of God. ² People will be self-centered lovers of themselves and obsessed with money. They will boast of great things as they strut around in their arrogant pride and mock all that is right. They will ignore their own families. They will be ungrateful and ungodly.

³ They will become addicted to hateful and malicious slander. Slaves to their desires, they will be ferocious, belligerent haters of what is good and right. ⁴ With brutal treachery, they will act without restraint, bigoted and wrapped in clouds of their conceit. They will find their delight in the pleasures of this world more than the pleasures of the loving God.

⁵ They may pretend to have a respect for God, but in reality they want nothing to do with God’s power. Stay away from people like these! ⁶ For they are the ones who worm their way into the hearts of vulnerable women, spending the night with those who are captured by their lusts and steeped in sin. ⁷ They are always learning but never discover the revelation-knowledge of truth.      (2 Tim.3:1-7 TPT*)

It doesn’t take any spiritual discernment to see that Paul is describing our world to a tee. But there are two points most relevant to our current state as followers of Jesus:

1. They may pretend to have a respect for God, but in reality they want nothing to do with God’s power (5).

2. They are always learning but never discover the revelation-knowledge of truth (7).

These two points highlight the difference between empty religion and following Jesus, between true power that comes from God and that which is merely human. What’s interesting about this is that these two areas are resisted by many Christians as much as by skeptics. We even create theology to deny God’s divine power, relegating it to the first century.

But when we deny God’s power, turning it into an empty philosophy of words, we’re left with powerless religion, which usually leads us back to resorting to some form of manipulation, control, or deceit to achieve power.

In our flattened world of materialism, we resist anything beyond the echo of our own thoughts. We deny what we can’t measure or control, which is anything supernatural. We revere education and look down on revelation. Not that natural things are bad or that we shouldn’t be educated, but these things will never lead us into walking in true power.

Here’s the kind of power God intended for us to walk in.

Overcoming Power and Revelation-Knowledge

Earlier, Paul told Timothy this…

⁸ So never be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor be embarrassed over my imprisonment, but overcome every evil by the revelation of the power of God! (2 Tim.1:8 TPT*)

What Paul is saying here is that it isn’t our clever programs that will free us from lies and bondage, it’s the revelation of God’s power within us. I talk about this in more detail here.  Then, later, Paul says the following:

Timothy, my dear son, live your life empowered by God’s free-flowing grace, which is your true strength, found in the anointing of Jesus and your union with him! (2 Tim.2:1 TPT*)

Notice that our true strength does not come from us, but from God’s power within us. It flows to us and through us by His grace.

When we only respect God but deny His power, always learning but never coming to the knowledge of the truth, we remain unchanged, un-transfigured, never increasing in glory (2 Cor.3:18). We become full of ourselves, thinking we know something when we know nothing. We will mock what we don’t understand, and we will use this counterfeit-power over others.

This is because it’s only the truth experienced through divine revelation-knowledge that makes us free from these human chains (John 8:32).

Beloved, the truth is, we overcome every evil by the revelation of God’s power within us, and our lives are empowered by God’s free-flowing grace. Both of which requires walking in our union with Christ and trusting in His power, not our own. This means that you and I will walk in true power when we let go of all other forms of trying attain it.

¹⁰ Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. (Eph.6:10 NKJV*)

                                  * All emphasis added.

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P.S. (from bruce) When there is no other place to turn…turn to God !!  If you’re not a “born again” Christian, is the Holy Spirit urging you to open this link ??  Here is the truth for this most important days writing, about how God’s grace is received to become a Christian in God’s eyes; through understanding and obeying the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ…   https://godsmanforever.com

To my brothers and sisters in Christ, please feel free to share this message of the cross with those in need…

You say you are a “born again” believer…  BUT are you “ON FIRE” for the Lord ??  If not, open this link – https://godsmanforever.com/2020/08/01/are-you-a-christian-in-gods-eyes-and-on-fire-for-the-lord-or-not/

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