Monthly Archives: January 2018

1 Peter, 2018, Forgiveness

Constant

Gallery Leave a comment 
Approximate reading time: 1 minute

Crucial!

1 Peter 4:8  (TLV) 8 Above all, keep your love for one another constant, for “love covers a multitude of sins.” source

Writing from experience, I attest to this verse of Holy Writ. 

Have you ever loved someone but you did not cover their sins with your love?  When we choose to let love  be NOT constant as the TLV reads, disappointments do become constant. Even their jokes aren’t funny any more.  Know what I mean? 

And then the LIGHT comes gently dawning and the whole landscape is bright and beautiful.  Not all the disappointments disappear but — constant love covers them and the jokes are funny again.  It’s called forgiveness.  Love forgives and constant love keeps on forgiving. 

Selah ~ ~ ~
1 Timothy, 2 Corinthians, 2018, Ezekiel, Forgiveness, Gospel of Matthew, Proverbs

So Far

Gallery Leave a comment 
Approximate Reading time: 2 minutes

1 Timothy 6:20  (TLV) 20 O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you, turning away from pointless chatter and the contradictions of so-called knowledge—  source  

O (fill in your name), guard what has been entrusted to you, turning away from pointless chatter and the contradictions of so-called knowledge— What has been entrusted to me? What has been entrusted to you?  Our answers may vary as we mature in our journey, but I can think of two gifts (so far) that each repentant sinner who has placed faith in Christ has received. 

A new heart.

Ezekiel 36:26 (KJV) 26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. source 

And to further confirm:

Proverbs 4:23  (NIV) 23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. source 

The Ministry of Reconciliation 

2 Corinthians 5: 18 Everything is from God, who has reconciled us to himself through Christ and has given us the ministry of reconciliation. source

I think we can safely dovetail The Great Commission with this Ministry of Reconciliation to confirm our entrustment of sharing the Gospel of Salvation with others. 

So how do we guard these priceless gifts? And from what do we guard them? 

An old principle comes to mind: Use it or lose it. 

Could we say, guarding our heart would be tantamount to exercising our new heart so that it does not become weak and sickly?  If we exercise our hearts will we not build muscles of faith, trust, and love —? I think we could name all the fruits of the Spirit right here.  Galatians 5:22-23. May I say if these fruits are not steadily increasing in us, we are not well guarding our hearts? Ouch!

And if we are not well guarding our heart, how well can we guard our Ministry of Reconciliation? How well can we demonstrate and speak the Gospel of Salvation to the world with a weak, sickly, offended, unforgiving, wounded, bruised, beat-up heart? 

Forgiveness that leads to healing – it truly must be my Word for 2018. 

Selah ~ ~ ~

2018, Guests

Don’t Leave Home Without It

Gallery Leave a comment

YouVersion.

It’s on my phone, on my desk top, on my laptop. I guess you could say I hardly go anywhere without it. 

The devotion feeding me now is this one:

Hey! She has a book! No. I don’t have it. Yet! :)
Looks like it was published in October of 2017. See HERE.

This is a portion of  Day Two’s reading:

Shifting your focus off of yourself and onto God is much harder than it sounds. As broken people, our gaze naturally drifts inward, making vanity a tough pattern to shake. Once I was able to see my own self-preoccupation—both the allure and the peril of it—God took me on a long journey to freedom. He taught me how to adjust my sight back onto him, and it literally changed my life. Once I grasped the truth that life is not about me and shifted my focus onto Christ, it became the song of my heart, one I can’t stop singing to others.

I know from my own experience that it’s hard to look straight in the face of your vanity, but it’s how we break the spell of self. And oh how it is worth it! May God shine on the hidden places in your heart and grant you the courage to see yourself honestly.

If you are not familiar with YouVersion, I urge you to check them out!  I’m providing a link – HERE.

Selah ~ ~ ~