Monday, January 20, 2014

You Are Not Alone


You are not alone!
Don't you feel like it sometimes, though? You are trying to serve the Lord and do what He wants you to do and it seems like you are the only one. Next time you feel like that think about Elijah. Remember him? He was battling wicked Ahab and Jezebel. Even though God had demonstrated His awesome power and had never failed to provide for Elijah, Elijah was tired and worn out and just plain felt all alone.

1 Kings 19:9-14
“What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake.  After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.  When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave.
Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”

What was the Lord's response? 1 Kings 19:18  "Yet I reserve seven thousand in Israel—all whose knees have not bowed down to Baal and whose mouths have not kissed him.”

Romans 8:38-39
 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Love the world or love God?

   


1 John 2:15-17

Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.  For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.  And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. (NLT)

Friday, January 3, 2014

Why am I here?


Do you ever wonder why you are here or why now? I think we all do at some point in our lives. I put up my new wall calendar yesterday and the cardboard insert caught my attention. The calendar is made by DaySpring and the insert contains this message by DaySpring co-founder, Roy Lessin.

Just think, 
you're here not by chance, 
but by God's choosing.
His hand formed you
and made you
the person you are.
He compares you to no one else--
you are one of a kind.
You lack nothing 
that His grace can't give you.
He has allowed you to be here
at this time in history
to fulfill His special purpose
for this generation.

Does that make you feel special, loved and appreciated? I hope so because you are!