Love Close-up Dec.31

 

You can love God from a distance. But if you want to love Him close-up, seek to be IN LOVE with Him. Think and learn what it means to be IN LOVE. The Holy Spirit will lead you. Then look to your fellow Christians, maybe even family. Practice loving them no matter what. Leave any of their unworthiness to heavenly Father. Give yourself to those around you. This can show God’s glory because He hides his glory in unusual places, like work, worship, and play.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for keeping us aware. I’m still learning about your kind of love.

Word Influence Dec.30

 

Some scientists say that lights from burned out stars travel throughout the galaxies without stopping so that we see the light from years ago. What if words were like that, so powerful that every word you spoke lasted on and on, maybe throughout eternity? Think long and hard about your words and what you speak.

Prayer: Lord, help me be slow to argue my point. Help listening be more powerful and words more careful.

Be Glad Dec.29

 

Living your usual routine, go out of your way today to help even one other person. Give away some part of yourself: a kindness, a smile, a joyful word, an encouraging idea, or any act of mercy. Do this knowing God goes with each effort. Think how He has forgiven you. Each act can be a new seed for growth. When you plant a seed or show fruit for Christ, you encourage a part of his permanent kingdom experiences.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the newness of opportunity every day.

Think a moment Dec. 28

 

Any day that you can think about and clarify a spiritual truth, means the day was not wasted. For instance, when you try to absorb problems, God does not expect you to keep carrying the full load of life. He always carries His accepted load. You just handle the small moments of a day, and then give the entire load to Him. His recognized burden makes your burden light.

Prayer: Lord, even when we do not understand what is really happening, I am so grateful you share our burdens.

Mind Focus Dec.27

 

When Jesus told his disciples to follow, he meant more than just to follow certain rules or laws. He meant to enter a relationship with him, seek an intimate connection. Then for us too. We can filter all our personal involvements through our relationship with him. His love remains the foundation of our connected state. Try very hard to work all your involvements with love as motivation. Keep love perspective. If at times you do not FEEL love, then use intelligent thought, and accept you are loved and try to BE love.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for loving us and teaching us love when we do not even know what we need.

Motivation Dec.26

Because of heavenly Father’s Grace, you may now be released from your fears and move toward fellowship. You can be released from shyness to abundant confidence. You may be released from guilt and move to God’s fresh start. With the Holy Spirit in you as your guide, turn your efforts toward others’ achievement and fullness. Help someone today get the credit you may deserve.

Prayer: Father, thank you for every new start and help me keep my eyes open for others.

Reassurance Day Dec.25

 

On this special day, your life may seem off track just because you do not “feel” God. However, other signs, internal or external, may show you remain his follower. For instance, you may use intelligence or some unselfish act to display you are still his disciple. Any act of mercy can demonstrate heavenly Father. Some small move toward kindness expresses his love. Persist in the belief he is with you, no matter what you’re feeling at the moment. Faith comes by trust, not just some feeling. Whatever happens around you in circumstance, even if a bad feeling, trust the Creator.

Prayer: Thank you for reminding us, you were born on a special earth day and that incarnation is remarkable. Grow our faith and love.

Spiritually Whole Dec.24

 

Spiritually prosperous are the humble in spirit for they can be freed from earthly temptations. Spiritually prosperous are those who hurt day by day, for they shall receive an eternal comfort. Spiritually prosperous are the gentle for they can be trusted to inherit the earth and share its rewards because they care for others. Spiritually strong are those who keep following heavenly Father’s principles through Matthew 5 instructions.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for specific guidelines to follow you more fully.

Be a link Dec. 22

 

Today, take a specific moment and feed your resources to others in active ways: speak to the timid, listen to the unlovely, give funds any chance you can, give your time, skill, and talent in ways that others might receive the credit. Then, your light will shine brighter as you have wanted and prayed.

Prayer: Lord, help us recognize all opportunities today and behave like your children in kingdom living.

The Law Dec.21

 

As the scripture states, Jesus was born of a woman under the laws given to Moses. [Gal.4:4-5]. God’s Grace sent his Son to pay for the freedom of the laws he gave humankind. The universe revolves around an intelligent, moral set of laws, like the four seasons, or gravity, or life and death. You are to learn to live alongside these laws. If you go against them, you will be wounded and finally crushed. Made up human laws may, at times, contradict universal laws because humans experiment with them. But the law of God’s love adds a gracious dimension to all other laws but does not eradicate them. Your task is to learn harmony with God’s laws that are in place to your benefit.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for your forgiving law of love and showing us how to love and how to live your laws.

God’s Will Dec.20

 

    If you begin your day with large interests and then try to come closer to God, you will find this proves backwards. He does not want you grudgingly accepting his will. Start each day with wanting more love, not forcing his will. On purpose, seek the inner circle of his love. Connect that with your small interests by letting him be first in every decision. He will expand any increase you need later. God does not want you to be or do just one thing. He wants you to experience a sense of belonging for all times and events.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for helping us turn all our decisions to you first before action.

Before Time Dec.19

 

No one lived before Jehovah. He is the Way, and the Way stays all around you. When you see a child laugh, you behold the Way. When you discover a brilliant flower, you see the Way. When you see someone offer mercy; you behold the Way. All creation gives hint of the Way. Jesus, the Savior, is the Way. He did not come to create the Kingdom. God’s Kingdom was already here. He came to provide a doorway through the Way to a re-established Kingdom of the heavenly Father.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for helping us discover the true path to your kingdom existence.

A Way to Pray Dec.18

 

Continue to pray to overcome the weak points in your life that cause you to have wrong thought, envy, or conflict. No need to spend so much time praying to overcome negative people or situations. Give them to God’s Grace. Trust him to handle them. He is still in control of all. Just stay alert and make sure the negatives from people don’t cause your weak points to emerge. Even well-meaning persons can push your negative buttons. Stay walking in the kingdom principles. [Mt. 5]

Prayer: Lord, help me today, to appreciate those who seem to get things right and even prosper, whether I do or not.

Best Learning Dec.17

 

From Gethsemane, when the Roman soldiers came to take Jesus out of the garden and away from his disciples, he did not say to the followers, “Ok, now let Me teach you a principle from the Sermon on the Mount.”

You may not hear immediately what God teaches when you are going through turmoil or struggles. You may gain insight, but his best teaching and your best learning occurs when you relax in letting Christ hold you. Find that resting attitude, rest in your secret place, and learn more of Him. Take time to absorb your conversations with God, especially after strong conflicts.

Prayer: Lord, help me through the day maintain my devotional thinking with you and dispel my critical thought.

Dec. 16 Time to Trust

 

One Name for God is Jehovah-Jireh which according to Genesis 22:9 shows the evidence that “God will provide.”  He can; He will; He does.

 

Prayer: Lord, help us today to ask the right question: What are you doing, not why.

What is Mature Love? Dec.15

 

What demonstrates mature love?

The ingenious part of mature love is learning to accept a person [ not behavior] as is without expecting them to ever change your way. Then, a person has the opportunity to see God’s love in your ability to relate. God’s love always allows for the worst in a person so he can finally save some. Mature love comes from God.

 

Prayer: Lord, help me to learn love for Christ more than I love my own life.

Surrender Doubt Dec.14

 

This time of year, surrender all that does not line up with the law of love God gives. Expel doubt from your thinking. Expressions of love can be different. Love all your neighbors. You do not have to love their actions. Love their potential in Jehovah. In Mt. 5:48 God says, “be therefore perfect.” He was referring to perfect in his love, not just love expressions. He will grow your love as you practice. Allow your faith in Him to rise and question any limitation that tries to move you away from the Kingdom path and principles.

Prayer: Lord, remove doubt and help me today grow love for those unloving souls.

Success Dec.13

 

Make sure the enterprise you step into comes by faith through Christ and he can send the appropriate resources you need. Success remains measured more by God’s viewing how you enrich the kingdom and its people. How do you measure the enterprise? Ask: Could you perform the task without his help? Does it honor the heavenly Father by applying his true love? Are you led by the Holy Spirit? If you can answer these properly, resources will flow to you like living water.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that you measure success in a different manner than the world.

Fullness Dec.12

 

Just as the Creator fed the hungry and mingled with the world’s problems, you must find your place to do likewise. God’s mingling, feeding action is his spiritual essence at work. You must not totally separate the secular from the spiritual. Make as many things complete in Christ as possible. Growing in holiness will help you serve the material with right doing. Wholeness is a legitimate goal. God is reclaiming his creation and recreating at the same time. All of creation has his stamp upon it. Therefore, you are the ink, to leave a mark; you are the salt to leave a flavor; you are the light to show someone the way.

Prayer: Lord, while I do not fully understand all the connections, I do pray to recognize your path at continued wholeness.

 

Trapped Dec.11

 

Just because something was done a certain way in the past does not mean it must duplicate itself the very same way in the present. Don’t let your worship of Jehovah become such a habit that you overlook what may happen now in the modern world. Technology continues to change many things. God does not change his love or his creative intentions, but circumstances continue to change. Move with the flow or outside the box but keep Christ at your center.

Prayer: Lord, I don’t want to misread any world changes or stagnate in any attempts at worship.

Part Truths Dec.9

 

Be careful of half-truths. Your culture promotes a universal principle; that is, you tend to immediately believe 50 per cent of something when you know little about the subject. For this reason, people believe horoscopes, polls, and certain advertising statistics. KNOW your facts. KNOW your data. Do not live on half-truths. KNOW God and he will give you 100 % truth.

Prayer: Lord, help me not rush so easily into half-truths. Help me test the urgings.

Be and Do Love Dec.8

 

The Heavenly Father knows you can love certain individuals, especially if each person shows you interest. But you do not experience His full love until you can love the uninteresting, unlovely individuals that are blind, unfeeling, and lost. You do not have to love their behavior. Open yourself to the larger world around you by increasing your compassion. Let the urge to always be right get replaced more with empathy. Practice kindness and with love, absorb people’s misdirection. While absorbing with God’s compassion, you do not have to have consent for bad behavior. Let Holy Father judge behavior.

Prayer: Lord, help me pay attention and know how to help uncaring persons who seem unlovely in action.

The Magnificent Purpose Dec.7

 

Look around you. Your surroundings, your circumstances, Nature, and the whole universe maintain valuable and practical goals. Certain values remain constant and significant, like gravity, life, and death. In addition, what kind of universe would let all your trials and struggles mean nothing at your end? Can death just wipe all away? For some, it might seem so. But death cannot exhaust God’s love. Heavenly Father will not let your life become a mockery. You have immortality in Christ. Your essential being will live on and grow. Take comfort in your present purpose. Trust His intention will never be in vain because it lasts forever. Christ remains your valid eternal purpose when you choose.

Prayer: Lord, thank you for reminding me that through your Son’s love, you give me worth and purpose.

Feeling Nothing? Dec.6

 

If you feel 98% no guidance from God and only 2% possible direction, follow the 2% because that remains better for you than operating on the larger amount without him. If you feel NO guidance, then listen to the silence because often our Savior God leads in what seems the non-guidance. Faith and trust can become the goals of intention.

Prayer: Lord, help me to act on the smallest amount of belief in you and the kingdom, no matter what.

Clear and Present Truth Dec.5

 

The whole universe stands behind truth because ultimate reality has made it. You do not have to justify, make confusing rules, or complicate truth. For instance, lying has to be repeated over and over to cover deception and pretense. But truth stands alone and verifies itself. Let your “yes” become a clear “yes” and your “no” become “no.”

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for reminding me that all truth comes from your essence, and I can trust it.

The Best Way Dec.4

 

All around you vibrates the heavenly Father’s Way, his kingdom of love and grace. So, the expression is not, “where there’s a will, there’s a way.” It is rather, “where remains God’s Way, there resides a best will.” All of creation ripples with the effects of God’s way. Look for it. Allow His will to become your willingness. Jehovah Father is reclaiming and even remaking His creation and you are a part.

Prayer: Lord, help me filter all my willful decisions through your word and plan.

Continue Your Commitment Dec.3

 

By contacting the heavenly Father daily, you build up a kind of reserve. When crisis comes you can respond more automatically with God’s love because you have accumulated this storehouse of habit. Your nature changes more to His nature when you have practiced recognizing Him and letting genuine love reign.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the Holy Spirit who rises up when needed to show your genuine love.

Extravagance Dec.2

 

You must understand God does not condemn extravagance as long as it is extravagant love for him, like extravagant joy, giving, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, and mercy. If you must err, then err on the side of extravagant generosity.

Prayer: Lord, help me to understand how, if I take from life at some point, where and when I need to put back.

Confirm the day Dec.1

 

Some people will not realize that since Jesus came, he is now in control of heaven and earth together. So, the future possesses hidden treasures, couched in eternity. Still, your daily issues continue to be guided by your Heavenly Father. You may choose your daily battles but continue to lean on the true Son in control. The Holy Spirit stays active in culture and within personality.

Prayer: Lord, help me know which battles to enter and which to avoid.