Oh, the Pain of It All

An Everyday Christian devotional 

Posted by: Brenda J. Wood (Heartfelt Devotionals)

1 Chronicles 4:9-10: And Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez saying, "Because I bore [him] with pain."  Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, "Oh that Thou wouldst bless me indeed, and enlarge my border, and that Thy hand might be with me, and that Thou wouldst keep [me] from harm, that [it] may not pain me!" And God granted him what he requested. (NASB)

Who wouldn’t want this to be real in their life? I want God to bless me and expand my borders, (unless that border is my dress size). I yearn for God to be with me and keep me from pain.

I pondered this tiny prayer, seeking to apply it to my own life. Pain. What kind of pain do I want to get away from? Why, me, of course! I want to get away from my flesh, the part of me that is not God-like.

Jabez was known as Pain and no doubt lived up to his name. Don’t we all?  It’s hard to get free from the stigma of the past. The world watches our label and expects more of the same. When Jabez asked God to keep him from pain, perhaps he too wanted to be free of his label, free to expand beyond being a Pain and free to escape that fleshly part of him that kept him from God.

Prayer: Oh Lord God, Bless us indeed.  Enlarge our borders. We pray that your hand would be with us and that you would keep us from the harm that is ourselves. In Jesus’ name. Amen 

Fruit of the Spirit

Fruit of the Spirit

By www.jesus-is-lord-the-way-the-truth-the-life.com's FaceBook page

Galatians 5:22-23 "but the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT is
love
joy
peace
long-suffering
gentleness
goodness
faith
meekness
temperance;
against such there is no law."  LOVE is THE FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT and is manifested in:

JOY
Joy is love's strength

PEACE
Peace is love's security

LONG-SUFFERING
Long-suffering is love's patience

GENTLENESS
Gentleness is love's conduct

GOODNESS
Goodness is love's character

FAITH
Faith is love's confidence

MEEKNESS
Meekness is love's humility

TEMPERANCE
Temperance is love's victory.
Only as we live in love can we fulfill the Will of God in our lives.

Without the FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT we are just a religious noise. In contrast are the works of the flesh: Galatians 5:19-21 "Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these;
Adultery
Fornication
Uncleanness
Lasciviousness
Idolatry
Witchcraft
Hatred
Variance
Emulations
Wrath
Strife
Seditions
Heresies
Envyings
Murders
Drunkenness
Revellings
and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God."

Do You Feel Unworthy?

By Kelli Zaniel

An Everyday Christian devotional

Do you think you are worthy?

Sometimes, we allow unworthiness to pull us by the hair, drag us through the mud, and smear our reputation. Unworthiness demands our attention. It craves center stage in our lives. Its aggressive nature steals the spotlight away from God—making everything we do, all about us, not about God.

When we concentrate on personal frailties and imperfections, we scoot the reality that God alone is worthy to the back of our minds. Our focus shifts as we wade in waters of “unworthiness.” Consequently, it isn’t long before we begin seeking self-gratification rather than God-glorification.

We all have a tendency to focus on our unworthiness rather than His worthiness. 

Being worthy is God’s nature. Living worthy is what we’re called to do.

“To this end also we pray for you always, that our God will count you worthy of your calling...” (2 Thessalonians 1:11,12 NASB); “lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God,” (Ephesians 4:1, NLT).

How does this apply to our everyday lives? How do we live worthy? Ephesians 4:3 tells us--“Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace.” As long as we are united in the Spirit and our eyes remain fixed on the character of God, we will live worthy.

We strive to be a godly woman—because God is worthy;

We possess a spirit that worships His—because God is worthy;

We make the desires of God’s heart the desires of our heart—because God is worthy;

We give to the poor—because God is worthy;

We share the Gospel and make disciples—because God is worthy.

God replaces our unworthiness with His worthiness. When His worthiness is our focal point, we are God-centered instead of self-centered. He alone is worthy of our sacrifice, our praise, our worship, our devotion, and our complete surrender.

Revelation 4:11 (NLT)

 

Fix Your Eyes On God

Fix Your Eyes On God

By www.jesus-is-lord-the-way-the-truth-the-life.com's FaceBook page


And Moses and Aaron gathered the assembly together before the rock; and he said to them, "Hear now, you rebels! Must we bring water for you out of this rock?" Numbers 20:10

"It is easy to see why Moses became frustrated with the Hebrew people. They were so hard-hearted and weak in their faith that Moses lost his patience and became angry with them. Yet every time Moses shifted his focus away from God, it cost him. When he sought to help his people by taking matters into his own hands, he spent the next forty years herding sheep in the wilderness (Exod. 2:11-15). This time his impetuous behavior cost him the opportunity to enter the Promised Land (Num. 20:12). In his frustration at the peoples' irreverence, Moses committed the very same sin, blatantly disobeying God's instructions. How did this happen? Moses allowed his attention to shift to the behavior of others rather than focusing on the activity of God.

This could happen to you as well. God has put people around you who need your ministry to them.You will never be able to properly help them, however, unless your primary focus is on God. If you concentrate on people, their weaknesses, their disobedience, their lack of faith, and their stubbornness will quickly frustrate you.

You may, like Moses, commit the very sins you are condemning. If, however, your eyes are fixed on holy God, you will become more like Him - gracious, forgiving, long-suffering, and righteous. When a friend's behavior disappoints you, go immediately to the Lord. Seek to discern what God is wanting to do in your friend's life rather than concentrating on your friend's sin. Then you will have the strength, wisdom, and patience you need to help your friend in the way God desires."



 
Experiencing GOD Day By Day
By: Henry T. Blackaby & Richard Blackaby

Worry (It's the Enemies Way of Destroying You)

WORRY (it's the enemies way of destroying you)

from
www.jesus-is-lord-the-way-the-truth-the-life.com's Facebook page
 

__________________________________________________

For more detail on why some of the points here stood out for me see an entry on one of my other blogs called 'God Stops by CC'... and entry called 'Why Worry?'.

__________________________________________________

2 Timothy 1:7—For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Fear is satan’s trademark—and if you’re living in fear, you’re not dominated by the Prince of Peace!

Worry and stress also happen to be killers. Stress makes cowards out of aggressive men. Worry fills the face with wrinkles and apprehension. Worry paralyzes the mind. Stress robs the body of rest at night, and it sends you to work shaking and shattered, incapable of solving the crisis of the day.

Worry and stress are killing us. Worry is the mother of heart disease. Some doctors say that many forms of cancer are caused by the stressed-out society in which we live. Worry is the mother of high blood pressure and ulcers. It’s not what you’re eating, it’s what’s eating you that’s the problem.

Worry is sin. Worry is faith in fear. God has not given us a spirit of fear. Worry is trust in the unpleasant. Worry is assurance that disaster is going to overtake you. Worry is belief in defeat and despair.

What do we worry about? We worry about things we can’t change. We worry about being unfavorable compared with somebody else. The Bible says not to compare yourselves among yourselves. Wife, there will always be somebody prettier than you. Husband, there will always be somebody more handsome than you. There will always be a better salesman, a better lawyer, a better doctor, a better preacher. Be happy with where you are and who you are. God made you what you are—be glad with that.

Don’t worry about what you can’t change. Don’t worry about what you can change—just change it. If it’s bothering you, change it. But don’t worry, because it’s an absolute waste of time.

Jesus said, "Don’t worry." Worry has sent millions of people to their graves years before they were supposed to die people who were supposed to have known the Prince of Peace. Jesus said not worry. "Take no thought for tomorrow. I have taken care of it. I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Don’t worry."



 
Experiencing GOD Day By Day
By: Henry T. Blackaby & Richard Blackaby

Got Problems? Make a Trade with God

Got Problems? Make a Trade with God

by Joice Meyer Ministries

___________________

Facebook status line to accompany the link to this devotional message was "Why waste time worrying when it's not going to solve anything?"

See my blog God Stops by CC for details on why this is important to me.  The blog there is called 'Why Worry?' 

___________________

Did you know that God wants to make a trade with you? He has a standing offer every minute of every day, and it's amazing how few of us actually take Him up on it. He wants you to give Him all your cares, problems and failures. In return, He'll give you His peace and joy. On top of that, He promises to protect and take care of you.

Let Go of Your Worry...
God really does want to take care of us, but in order to let Him, we've got to stop trying to take care of ourselves and worrying about every little thing we can't control. Many people would like for God to take care of them, but they insist on worrying or trying to figure out an answer on their own instead of waiting for His direction. They wallow around in puddles of their own worry, wondering why God doesn’t give them peace. God will give us peace, but we must first give Him our worries.

We give God our worries by trusting that He can and will take care of us. By trusting God, we're able to rest in Him, knowing that He has the situation well under control. Worry, on the other hand, is the opposite of trust. Worry steals our peace, wears us out physically, and can even make us sick. If we're worrying, we're not fully trusting God, and we'll never be able to experience His peace.

...and Pick Up God’s Peace!
What a great trade! We give God our worry, and He gives us His peace. We give Him all our cares and concerns, and He gives us His protection, stability and joy. That's the privilege of being cared for by Him.

Because He cares for us, He wants us to live in peace and not be all tied up in knots of worry. He has ways of guiding us toward peace if we're alert enough to sense His direction.

Read the Signs
Imagine that you're driving down a road. Along the way, there are signs that provide direction or give warning. If you pay attention to the signs and follow their instructions, you will safely reach your destination.

In the same way, on the road of life there are spiritual signs along the way. In order to stay under God's protection, you must obey these signs that tell you to trust Him and not worry. Don't be afraid; have courage. If you'll pay attention to these signs, you'll find it's easy to stay on course. You'll experience the protection, peace and joy that only God can provide.

However, if you fail to heed the signs, you may notice that the road seems a little bumpier than usual, and you aren't as confident in your ability as you once were. You may become anxious about the unknown things waiting around the corner, and even veer off the road.

Focus on Today
Anxiety is like putting on a heavy coat on a hot summer day. It weighs you down. It’s difficult to move and stifling to wear. According to Webster's Dictionary, anxiety is "a state of being uneasy, apprehensive or worried..." Sometimes this uneasiness is really vague—something we just can't put our finger on. All we know is that we're uneasy.

You and I don't need to be anxious about tomorrow when we have all we can handle today. Even if we manage to solve all our problems today, we'll just have more to deal with tomorrow...and more the next day.

Why waste time worrying when it's not going to solve anything? Why be anxious about yesterday, which is gone, or tomorrow, which hasn't arrived yet? Trade in your worries today for God's peace. 

 

PEACE

Peace
from
www.jesus-is-lord-the-way-the-truth-the-life.com's Facebook page

Philippians 4:7 And God's peace which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

It is possible to become so upset over something that you cannot eat or sleep. We all want what verse 7 talks about - but we have to practice doing what verse 6 says to get it... Philippians 4:6  Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray. Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers, letting God know your concerns.

If we do this then 'God's peace will keep guard over your heart and mind. But we can only get these results if we become a "doer of the Word"

Verse 6 tells us not to fret or worry, when we do that we continually think on the wrong side of life.

Verse 8 tells us what to think about:
Philippians 4:8 For the rest, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is worthy of reverence and is honorable and seemly, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely and lovable, whatever is kind and winsome and gracious, if there is any virtue and excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think on and weigh and take account of these things [fix your minds on them]. It takes time to change our way of thinking but it's worth the effort and then we will have true peace from the Prince of Peace.