Post by solitarysoul on Jan 15, 2007 17:37:17 GMT -5
Today's Scripture
"You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness." (Ephesians 4:6)
Today's Word
What does it take to really make God the Lord of your life? What exactly does it take for Him to be the One you worship and be the most important thing to you?
All believers like to say that He is what we worship and that He is the most important thing to us, but too often we say what we think we should say or want to say, rather than the truth. The Bible teaches about honesty for a reason. God knows our hearts, our words cannot fool Him. Do you not truly believe in the living God? Or is He deep down nothing more than a figment of your imagination to you? When did all the sudden it become possible for something to be true simply because we say it is? Does saying, "God is the Lord of my life" make that the truth? Certainly not. If you are someone who thinks it does, perhaps what you really worship is not God, but the conscience of those around you. By telling others that God is what you worship, you may fool them and yourself into believing that this is the truth, but God knows your heart.
To truly make God the Lord of your life, you must love Him above everything else. You must know Him well, and put Him first always. You will never be close to God by simply going to church or reading the Bible or even praying daily. God does not exist simply within our brick buildings and paper books. In order to truly make God the center and focus of your life, He has to become even more real to you than anything else.
One way to do this is constant conversation with God. You talk to many people throughout your day, and you know for a fact that they are there and exist because you can see them. You cannot see God, but what pleases God is the faith that you have in His existance and Word. The Bible says that faith is to know what you cannot see.
If God really is as important to you as you say He is, then make Him more important than just another part of your daily schedule.
You will never learn to truly worship and know God until you stop focusing your life on yourself, and start focusing it on God. God created everything around us and He created it for a purpose. When that purpose is fullfilled it glorifies God.
You can carry on a continuous conversation with God throughout your day. This is something I have been doing for years. One reason I am so quiet is simply because the focus of my time is spent in conversation with God. I speak to Him silently in my thoughts constantly, and listen for His replies. This is one advantage shy people have over the rest of the world. If you're shy, it should be easier to remember to do this.
Just whisper short prayers under your breath or in your mind throughout the day. Tell God you know He loves you, that you wish you loved Him more, that you want to know Him more and spend more time with Him.
One of the biggest changes you can make that can truly be life-altering, is changing the focus of everything you do from yourself and others, to God. When you eat, shower, go to work, talk to a friend, clean the house, etc., do it for God.
Here's some easy examples. God created your body just the way it is for a purpose. He loves you just the way you are. You may not love the way you look, you may have things about yourself that you wish you could change, but you've got to learn to love yourself for who you are. You can't truly love others if you can't love yourself. You are a beautiful creation of God, so take good care of your body, for God. God wants to see His beautiful creation grow and be healthy. So when you bathe, brush your teeth, eat, get your hair cut, etc., what should be on your mind is that you are taking care of that beautiful creation of God. Don't do it for yourself or for others, do it for God. Thank Him for it and glorify Him for it.
This body isn't your home afterall, it's nothing more than a temporary shell for your soul. So take good care of it for God. If a friend loaned you something of his that meant very much to Him and asked you to take care of it for a while, you would hopefully take good care of it for him and for that purpose. Not for yourself or for others.
Even something as simple as washing the dishes, or watching a movie, do it for God. Entertain yourself for God, keep yourself healthy for God, keep yourself in good shape for God, treat others nicely for God, forgive those who wrong you for God, take care of the environment for God, enjoy the world for God. And while you are doing all this, stay in constant conversation with Him. Tell Him how thankful you are for what He has blessed you with, and ask Him to help you cherish and respect His creations more. When you develop this attitude, it not only starts becoming easier to avoid sinful activities and change you into a more thankful person, lifting your spirits, but it will actually begin to become difficult to practice sin, and to not cherish God's creations.
Today's Prayer
Lord, help me to remember more often to live my life for you. Everything around us is your creation, it was all made by you and for you, and you are in everything. Too often we take for granted what we have, and get upset about what we don't have or what we lose. But help us remember that we do not truly own anything here, not even our own bodies. They are your creation, and once we are saved we give ourselves to you. Help us to remember to live for your purpose, to cherish your beautiful world and the people you put in it. Amen
Today's Task
Today and every day from now on, see how often you can remind yourself to do things for God, rather than yourself or others. Don't live your life for the purpose of bettering yourself and your own desires, or pleasing those around you. Live your life for the purpose of pleasing God through faith and truly loving His world. Even make this into a daily game if you life. See each day how you can honor God in even the simplest of things that you do. And while you do all this, stay in constant conversation with God. Make life a continuous prayer, not asking for things, but thanking God for things and just talking to Him to make Him your best friend.
If you would like to recieve these devotionals as a daily e-mail, PM me your e-mail address and I'll you to the mailing list. God Bless
Written By: Scott Morgan
Scripture verse taken from The Message
"You have one Master, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who rules over all, works through all, and is present in all. Everything you are and think and do is permeated with Oneness." (Ephesians 4:6)
Today's Word
What does it take to really make God the Lord of your life? What exactly does it take for Him to be the One you worship and be the most important thing to you?
All believers like to say that He is what we worship and that He is the most important thing to us, but too often we say what we think we should say or want to say, rather than the truth. The Bible teaches about honesty for a reason. God knows our hearts, our words cannot fool Him. Do you not truly believe in the living God? Or is He deep down nothing more than a figment of your imagination to you? When did all the sudden it become possible for something to be true simply because we say it is? Does saying, "God is the Lord of my life" make that the truth? Certainly not. If you are someone who thinks it does, perhaps what you really worship is not God, but the conscience of those around you. By telling others that God is what you worship, you may fool them and yourself into believing that this is the truth, but God knows your heart.
To truly make God the Lord of your life, you must love Him above everything else. You must know Him well, and put Him first always. You will never be close to God by simply going to church or reading the Bible or even praying daily. God does not exist simply within our brick buildings and paper books. In order to truly make God the center and focus of your life, He has to become even more real to you than anything else.
One way to do this is constant conversation with God. You talk to many people throughout your day, and you know for a fact that they are there and exist because you can see them. You cannot see God, but what pleases God is the faith that you have in His existance and Word. The Bible says that faith is to know what you cannot see.
If God really is as important to you as you say He is, then make Him more important than just another part of your daily schedule.
You will never learn to truly worship and know God until you stop focusing your life on yourself, and start focusing it on God. God created everything around us and He created it for a purpose. When that purpose is fullfilled it glorifies God.
You can carry on a continuous conversation with God throughout your day. This is something I have been doing for years. One reason I am so quiet is simply because the focus of my time is spent in conversation with God. I speak to Him silently in my thoughts constantly, and listen for His replies. This is one advantage shy people have over the rest of the world. If you're shy, it should be easier to remember to do this.
Just whisper short prayers under your breath or in your mind throughout the day. Tell God you know He loves you, that you wish you loved Him more, that you want to know Him more and spend more time with Him.
One of the biggest changes you can make that can truly be life-altering, is changing the focus of everything you do from yourself and others, to God. When you eat, shower, go to work, talk to a friend, clean the house, etc., do it for God.
Here's some easy examples. God created your body just the way it is for a purpose. He loves you just the way you are. You may not love the way you look, you may have things about yourself that you wish you could change, but you've got to learn to love yourself for who you are. You can't truly love others if you can't love yourself. You are a beautiful creation of God, so take good care of your body, for God. God wants to see His beautiful creation grow and be healthy. So when you bathe, brush your teeth, eat, get your hair cut, etc., what should be on your mind is that you are taking care of that beautiful creation of God. Don't do it for yourself or for others, do it for God. Thank Him for it and glorify Him for it.
This body isn't your home afterall, it's nothing more than a temporary shell for your soul. So take good care of it for God. If a friend loaned you something of his that meant very much to Him and asked you to take care of it for a while, you would hopefully take good care of it for him and for that purpose. Not for yourself or for others.
Even something as simple as washing the dishes, or watching a movie, do it for God. Entertain yourself for God, keep yourself healthy for God, keep yourself in good shape for God, treat others nicely for God, forgive those who wrong you for God, take care of the environment for God, enjoy the world for God. And while you are doing all this, stay in constant conversation with Him. Tell Him how thankful you are for what He has blessed you with, and ask Him to help you cherish and respect His creations more. When you develop this attitude, it not only starts becoming easier to avoid sinful activities and change you into a more thankful person, lifting your spirits, but it will actually begin to become difficult to practice sin, and to not cherish God's creations.
Today's Prayer
Lord, help me to remember more often to live my life for you. Everything around us is your creation, it was all made by you and for you, and you are in everything. Too often we take for granted what we have, and get upset about what we don't have or what we lose. But help us remember that we do not truly own anything here, not even our own bodies. They are your creation, and once we are saved we give ourselves to you. Help us to remember to live for your purpose, to cherish your beautiful world and the people you put in it. Amen
Today's Task
Today and every day from now on, see how often you can remind yourself to do things for God, rather than yourself or others. Don't live your life for the purpose of bettering yourself and your own desires, or pleasing those around you. Live your life for the purpose of pleasing God through faith and truly loving His world. Even make this into a daily game if you life. See each day how you can honor God in even the simplest of things that you do. And while you do all this, stay in constant conversation with God. Make life a continuous prayer, not asking for things, but thanking God for things and just talking to Him to make Him your best friend.
If you would like to recieve these devotionals as a daily e-mail, PM me your e-mail address and I'll you to the mailing list. God Bless
Written By: Scott Morgan
Scripture verse taken from The Message