Tag Archives: confidence

Life Through the Spirit

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Dear all,

Greetings in the mighty name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Hope you are doing well.

Word:

Life Through the Spirit:

 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. Romans 8: 1-2

Thought: Before we believed in Christ our nature was evil. Born-again Christians have a new nature in Christ. God has crucified the old nature (Romans 6:6) and replaced and replaced it with a new loving nature (Colossians 3: 9-10).

“Transformed souls impacting the campuses and the globe as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Hospitality to Strangers

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Greetings Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Word:

Hebrews 13:1-2

Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

Matthew 25:43

I was a stranger, and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me

Thought:

The author of Hebrews in the first reference urges the readers to show hospitality to even strangers.  Jesus also associates our treatment of strangers with our treatment of Him.  How many times are we quick to ignore strangers and turn the other way? Is that the way we would want to treat Jesus?

Prayer:

Lord, we pray that you work on our hearts to be loving and hospitable to be people around us. Amen.

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

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Greetings Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Word

Romans 3:23

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Romans 6:1-2

What should we say then? Should we continue to sin so that God’s kindness will increase?  That’s unthinkable! As far as sin is concerned, we have died. So how can we still live under sin’s influence?

Thought:

It can sometimes be confusing knowing sin separates us from God, but at the same time knowing we have a sinful nature. How, then, can we reconcile with Him? Jesus died for our sins and paid the price, so we don’t face its consequences, when we truly believe this, we are His followers, we are no longer followers of sin, and we do not do what our sinful nature asks us to do, but since we believe in the gospel, we strive to imitate Christ’s nature in everything we do. One way we can discern whose followers we are is to see how we respond to sin, are we defeated by it? Are we dragged down by it? depressed because of it? Are we stuck in a cycle of falling to sin again and again, or are we running to God knowing that the grace of God powerfully overcomes the hurt caused by sin?  

Prayer:

Lord, we thank you for your grace and mercies through Jesus Christ who died for us on the cross for our sins, we ask for power and strength to overcome our sinful nature and desires. Amen.

Mastering ourselves

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Greetings Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

Thought:

In Judges 16, Samson’s lack of self-control and humility was on full display as he made a series of poor choices, sleeping with a prostitute, sharing secrets with the enemy, and being proud of his strength. Eventually, God left Him. We run the same risk when we haven’t mastered ourselves from doing what our flesh or the world wants us to do. Apostle Paul in 1 Cor 9:27 goes so far as to say that he made his body his slave to prevent himself from being disqualified as he is preaching the gospel to others. To each person, making their body their slave could mean different things, but one thing is for sure, it will push us out of our comfort zone. We should strive to push our boundaries to master ourselves for God’s glory and avoid disqualification from attaining eternity with God.

Word:

1 Corinthians 9:27

No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Prayer:

Lord, give us the strength and endurance to master ourselves. Strengthen our weaknesses for Your glory. Amen.

Thoughts, words, and actions

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Greeting in the name of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

Thought:

Sometimes our thoughts are not often as talked about as our words or actions. In many cases thoughts will be the starting point of a good or bad thing that we may do in the future, so we need to guard our thoughts. Apostle Paul gives a good idea of how our thoughts should be: pure, true, noble, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. We should avoid sinful thoughts to stay, sometimes being too busy can also stop us from those good thoughts as mentioned in verse 8. In verse 9, He leads by example and asks us to follow either by what we have heard from him or from what we have seen from him, which essentially is his words and his life in actions respectively. Our thoughts are for us, and words and our lifestyle is for us and others to witness, but all need to align with God’s will.

 Word:

8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. 9 Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.          

 Prayer:

Lord, give us your Spirit, to govern our words, thoughts, and actions. Amen.

Why suffer for doing good?

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Dear all,

Greetings in the mighty name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Thought: The world teaches the concept of Karma where people get what they deserve based on their deeds. According to the Word, it is considered to be better, if it is God’s will, that we suffer for doing good (verse 17). Is that harsh? No, rather it is by that very principle we have a living hope, Christ went through the ultimate suffering on the cross so that we may be reconciled with God instead of going to hell, which is where we deserve to go. In verse 14, Peter says we are blessed when we suffer for what is right. Let’s be encouraged by the fact that through the suffering, God is always with us, watching and His reward for us is in heaven.

Word:
Peter 3:13-18

13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear their threats; do not be frightened.”15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive in the Spirit.

Prayer:
Lord, we thank you for the grace and mercies you have showered upon us because of Christ’s sacrifice on the cross and the defeat of death through His resurrection. Strengthen us to endure sufferings and persecution when we are doing what is right. Amen.

Submit to all Authority

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Greetings brothers and sisters in Christ.

Word: 1 Peter 2:13-14
Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every human authority: whether to the emperor, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.

Thought:

Human authority can be upper management at the workplace or local/national governments. In any case, they aren’t always believers themselves. But in all cases they are appointed by God and thus we should submit to them, this doesn’t necessarily mean we agree with them, but we are called to be humble and respectful to them. Grumbling, gossiping, being disobedient and hateful are some ways we fail in being submissive. When we find it hard to live under any authority, we just need to pray and ask God for endurance through it rather than react to their wrongdoings.

Prayer:

LORD, We know You appointed all authority, therefore help us to be submissive to them and we pray that you bless the authority and provide them with wisdom and strength to lead the people and make decisions as per Your will. In Jesus’ mighty name. Amen.

Psalm 91 Conveys the Themes of God’s Protection and Rescue from Danger

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Dear all,

Greetings in the mighty name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Word: I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress,my God, in whom I trust.” Psalm 91:2

Thought: The author of Psalms 91 walks the talk by showing how he trusts the Lord before telling us the benefits of doing so. When we are in God, there is nothing to fear, because our trust is in God, the creator of the universe who loves us dearly. Problems of the world like politics, diseases, wars won’t scare us when we are in Him. As believers we have to continually and unwaveringly put out Trust in Him and not be shaken by what the world throws at us.

Prayer:
LORD, you are able and faithful. Help us to put our trust in You irrespective of whatever situation we are in. In Jesus mighty name! Amen.

 Communion with God 

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Dear all,

Greetings in the mighty name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Word: You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. Psalms 63:1

Thought: Psalm 63 was written by David when his life was in total shambles. His family was a huge mess but yet, he chose to seek and praise God through this psalm. This shows his closeness to God and his Trust in Him. Through all our circumstances, God is a constant Who is always faithful, not only is that a fact, but that realization is like a victory and thats why David chose to praise God in the midst of his troubles.

Prayer:
LORD, you are worthy of praise. Increase our faith so that we seek and praise You through all situations. In Jesus mighty name. Amen.

The Weapons of Spiritual Warfare are not Worldly!

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Dear all,
May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15: 13
Word: In the morning, Lord, you hear my voice; in the morning I lay my requests before you and wait expectantly. Psalm 5:3
Thought: 

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 2 Cor 4:4

https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2%20Corinthians%204:4

The weapons of spiritual warfare are not worldly. They are powerful through God to demolish the devil’s forts. We don’t wage war with human plans and methods. Remember, we should always sharpen our spiritual weapons in prayer and by waiting before God with perseverance (Ephesians 6:13 -18).

Prayer:

Dear God, open our eyes to see the mission fields that are ready for harvest. Help us see with a moving compassion the multitudes of people without someone to show them the way. In Jesus name. Amen.