The Temple of God

 Here is this week's Bible Verse.

VERSE:             1 Corinthians 6:19-20

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.

REFLECTION:

From the moment of conception, your body is the workmanship of God. There are people every day trying to alter their looks, change who God created them to be, but that is not the way God intended it to be. It isn't "My Body My Choice". It is His temple, His choice. Essentially, that means we should be doing all we can to take care of that temple. Don't alter the outside or the inside. God made you just the way He wanted to make you. 

Instead, we need to ask Him what He wants to use us for. In everything we do we should be glorifying God. After all, He sent His only Son to die for our sins. We were bought at the price of God's only Son Jesus. 

I recently visited the Dahl Car Museum in Lacrosse Wisconsin and they had a car in there for about 500k. Now let's say you pay 500k for that car, would you let someone else change the outside or inside of that car. I know I wouldn't, I don't even think I could drive it. We shouldn't be altering our looks but instead we should be seeking God and what He wants us to do with our temples.

PRAYER:

Dear Father in Heaven, thank you for creating me just the way you wanted to. Guide me on how I can honor you by doing what your will is for this temple. Thank you for paying the price of Jesus Christ. In Jesus Name Amen.

Hope you enjoyed today's verse. 

The Ultimate Prize

 Here is this week's Bible Verse.

VERSE:             Philippians 3:14

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

REFLECTION:

What prize are you pressing toward? There are so many things in this world that grabs our attention and so many prizes we can run toward. Ultimately we have to decide which one is the most important to be pressing toward.

In baseball teams play 162 games to see if they are good enough to play for the ultimate prize of the World Series. In football teams play 17+ games to hopefully play for the Super Bowl. In hockey teams play to hopefully get their name on Lord Stanley's cup. We just witnessed Spain win the World Cup in futbol. On an individual basis every four years countries come together and showcase their talents for a chance at gold in the Olympics.

All of  these and more are mere human created endeavors to help us feel good about what we do and who we are but the true and ultimate prize is making sure your name is written in the Lamb's book of life. God created each one of us and put us here not to win gold or get our name on Lord Stanley's Cup instead we are to press in and toward all things God by accepting Jesus Christ as our Savior. Then seek God's will for your life because each of us have a purpose to spread the gospel and to glorify God. That may mean giving Him praise when you win that medal because he gave you that talent and ability. Otherwise those are just distractions to keep us from the ultimate prize of heaven.

So press on to the ultimate prize of heaven by accepting Jesus and living for God.

PRAYER:

Dear Father in Heaven, thank you for giving me the talent and gifts you having given me. Guide me in a way that I can use them to glorify and honor your name. Thank you for the free gift of Jesus Christ. In Jesus Name Amen.

Hope you enjoyed today's verse. 

The Love of God

 Here is this week's Bible Verse.

VERSE:             Romans 5:8

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.

REFLECTION:

There are a lot of people who are refusing to accept Jesus as their Savior because they don't feel they are worthy. Some might feel their sins are so egregious that there is no way anyone would pay the debt for their sins.

There are also those who think they will wait until they are clean or free of sin before accepting Jesus. Maybe you are one of them or maybe you have a friend or a family member who thinks this way.

Fortunately for each and everyone of us we can point to this verse and know that it doesn't matter if we are sinning. If we just give our life to Jesus He will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Eventually we will be so thankful to Him that we will not want to sin and we will instead praise and worship Him.

Every year Adult & Teen Challenge comes to our church. They usually sing and give testimonies. If you ever doubt the love of Jesus and your worthiness to receive salvation just listen to the testimonies of these individuals. They didn't wait to get free of sin or their addiction before accepting Jesus. Instead they, like all believers humbled themselves and accepted Jesus as their Savior. Then Jesus cleaned house as he does and will do for all of us if we just accept Him as our Savior.

PRAYER:

Dear Father in Heaven, thank you for loving me so much that you were willing to die for me. Please open the eyes of unbelievers. I pray they will humble themselves and come to accept you as their Savior. Please use me to spread the Gospel and the love of Jesus to family and friends. In Jesus Name Amen.

Hope you enjoyed today's verse. 

This is the Way

 The book of Acts is interesting because it highlights the infancy of the Christian Church. It shows us the growth of the church and the transformation and conversion of new believers.

Here is this week's Bible Verse.

VERSE:             Acts 4:12

Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

REFLECTION:

What name do you think Peter was speaking about? The verse before this one gives us that answer. It is important, whenever you are reading the Bible, not to take verses out of context; be sure to read the verses before and after to make sure the whole meaning is understood.

Peter was speaking about Jesus Christ. He was preaching to the people and telling them that Jesus is the only way to salvation. My Bible explains this verse by noting that there are two religious paths: the broad way of works-salvation, which leads to death, and the narrow way of faith in Jesus Christ, which leads to eternal life. 

The early church was often referred to as "The Way". Taking this from Jesus' own words in John 14:6: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me". The early church and even today's Christian church wants everyone to know that it is only through faith in Jesus Christ that one can get to Heaven.

If you have watched The Mandalorian, he says "This is the Way" in many episodes. It is interesting because if you do some research on what that means in the fictional world of Star Wars, you will find it is a sacred mantra of the Mandalorians. They were faithful to their code and their way. Likewise, as Christians we need to be faithful to Jesus and believe that He died and rose to save us from our sins and there isn't a code of conduct (being good or doing works) that is the way to heaven. The only way to heaven is through Jesus Christ. 

PRAYER:

Dear Father in Heaven, thank you for the early church believers who knew the truth and were willing tio share The Way so us believers can continue to spread the good news of Jesus Christ. Please embolden us to share the Way with others so we can help further and grow the kingdom of God. In Jesus Name Amen.

Hope you enjoyed today's verse. 

Not Working Toward Heaven

 Here is this week's Bible Verse.

VERSE:                   Ephesians 2:8-9

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

REFLECTION:

This week I'm going to piggyback off of last week's verse in Romans. If you didn't read last week's blog, please do so to refresh your memory. 

There are many people and even Christian denominations that teach people that to be saved, you must do works. Basically, you must be doing things that will earn your way to Heaven. These verses today tell us this is simply not true. We are saved through faith in Jesus Christ and not by anything we can do. This is a difficult concept for many of us to understand because our world/society is built on the premise of working your way to the top. We find ourselves doing this in almost everything we do, and we usually don't just do it quietly; we boast about it, we let others know how great we are.

Take sporting events, for instance. When someone scores a touchdown, hits a home run, or scores a goal, they celebrate; they crave the applause from the fans. They want everyone to know how great they are at that sport. However that is their job, that is what they are getting paid to do.

This world doesn't work the same way as God's world. We may be in this world but we are not of this world. Things always work differently when we are talking about things of God. The only thing we can do that will get us to heaven is to have faith in Jesus Christ and believe that he died on the cross for your sins and completed it by be risen from the dead. When or if you have done this then tell others but don't boast about it but instead glorify and honor God for the work He is doing in your life. 

PRAYER:

Dear Father in heaven you are worthy of our praise. Thank you for your grace and the free gift of Jesus Christ. Help me Lord to be less prideful and recognize that you are the author and finisher of my life and there is nothing I can do to earn my way to heaven. Amen.

Hope you enjoyed today's verse. 

Desert or Promised Land

 Here is this week's Bible Verse.

VERSE:                   Romans 3:23-24

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.

REFLECTION:

The other day I was listening to the radio, and the song "Good" by Matthew West came on, and it really got me thinking about these verses in Romans. The whole book of Romans is about sin and God's unfailing grace.

There are a lot of people out there today, I was one of them, who believes that if you are just a good person you will go to heaven. Follow those 10 commandments and that is your ticket to the promised land. That is absolutely not true. These verses tell us that every one of us have sinned and are destined to die but we can be justified and saved by the grace of God. What must we do?

Humble Ourselves to God:

Admit that we are sinners:

Turn away from our sins:

Accept the free gift of Jesus Christ dying on the cross for our sins.

 Think of the Old Testament Israelites and their inability to enter the promised land. The reason they weren't allowed to enter was their disobedience to God and their continual living in sin. They wandered around in the desert for years because they refused to humble themselves and be obedient to God.

We are the Israelites. Until we admit we are sinners, turn from our ways and accept that Jesus Christ is our Savior we will continue to wander in the desert of sin and be away from the promised land forever.

Don't be like the Israelites. Come into the promised land by accepting Jesus Christ as your Savior. 

PRAYER:

Father in heaven you are worthy of our praise. Thank you for your grace and the free gift of Jesus Christ. I humble myself to you and recognize that I am a sinner I accept Jesus as my Savior and Lord and look forward to a life out of the hot desert of sin and into the glorious beauty of the Promised Land. Amen.

Here is a link to the Video by Matthew West. Good

Hope you enjoyed today's verse. 

Don't Be Deceived

 Here is this week's Bible Verse.

VERSE:                   1 Timothy 4:1-2

Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron.

REFLECTION:

In today's world we are surrounded by so many different voices, and opinions that sometimes we don't always know what to believe and what not to believe. Each of us has a moral compass that has shaped who we are and what we believe and oftentimes that is challenged through what we watch, hear or read. 

In today's verse it says that in latter days some will depart from the faith. We see that happening today from people who claim to be Christian but have renounced their faith. Maybe you know someone who has walked away or renounced the faith. Those who are renouncing their faith are giving heed to those deceiving spirits. So how can we prevent ourselves from falling prey to those deceiving spirits?

Here are some things to help you stay focused and grounded in the Christian faith.

Plug in:

Make sure you are plugged in to a bible believing church. There are a lot of denominations and Christian churches out there so be sure to do your due diligence on what church you go to. Make sure they are preaching the gospel and they aren't telling you things that aren't in the bible. 

Read:

With that in mind make sure you have daily devotions and you are reading your bible every day. Make sure if you hear something at church, you should check its validity in the bible. Especially if it doesn't seem correct. 

Pray:

Make sure you have a daily prayer life and conversations with God. This way the Holy Spirit can nudge you and give you insight into the things you hear. God wants you to stay focused on Him so communicating with Him daily will give you the guidance you need.

Unplug:

If you are inundating yourself with social media, and all you read or hear are contrary voices, then unplug from worldly social media. Turn the TV off, listen to praise music, and read posts and blogs from reputable Christian sources.

Listen to the capital Spirit and avoid the lowercase spirit. Stay focused on Jesus; stay strong in your faith. 

PRAYER:

Father in heaven you are worthy of our praise. Thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit to help and guide us. Help us to remain strong in the faith and give us a discerning heart so we listen to the Holy Spirit. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Hope you enjoyed today's verse.