Your Daily Crossroad
28
Jul '22
Peace With God
28
Jul '22
The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. (John 10:10)
This peace that God gives may be beyond our comprehension, but it’s not beyond our grasp. It’s readily available to us. If we want to have peace with God, there are no “Three easy steps to peace with God.”There is only one way—Jesus.
When Jesus died on the cross, God put all of the sins of the world on Jesus—past, present, and future. When we accept this gift from God and put our faith in Him, we get the righteousness of Christ. This righteousness, according to Romans 4:23-24, is “credited” to us who believe in Him who raised Jesus from the dead.
We all want God’s peace. But until we come to a saving relationship with Jesus, receive His gift, and are saved, we’ll never have it. It’s best stated like this: If we want the peace of God, we must first have peace with God.
When we sin—and we will—this does not cancel out peace with God. When we are justified by God, it’s a one-time event. We’re not justified over and over. Praise God that our human condition doesn’t render our saved, spiritual condition as null and void.
So, what does peace with God do for us during uncertain times? It grants us hope. Hope that the life we live on earth is just the beginning of our forever life with God. As followers of Jesus, people who’ve accepted Jesus as Lord and Savior, we’re given life abundant and life eternal. They go hand in hand.
Because we have the hope of Jesus and His Holy Spirit guiding us, an abundant life is possible here on earth. When we’ve taken our final breath in our temporary body on this earth, we are ushered into eternity. This life in our forever home is eternal and abundant. But, they are both just a continuation of what was begun on earth.
If you know Jesus, if you’ve made Him your Lord and Savior, then you can rest assured that whatever earthly scenarios or circumstances are weighing heavily on you don’t have eternal power over you. In light of what awaits us in our true home, this life is just a tiny segment in time. The peace we have withGod is what guarantees our hope of what’s to come.
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12)
When I read this devotion one scripture came to mind that I wanted to leave you with today. If you are saved and a follower of Christ you will know this profound setting of scripture but to some, it may be foreign to you. He has made the hope that is spoken about in this devotion so easy to obtain, That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. (Romans 10:9)
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. (John 3:16-17)
If you have chosen to accept Christ into your life, don’t stop there, read the bible, surround yourself with worship music, reach out to a local church in your area, get connected and link arm in arm with the leadership and the people of that church. If you need a Bible, ask, there are also so many Bible resources out there if you have an electronic device.
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
26
Jul '22
Being to Doing
26
Jul '22
And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves. (John 17:13)
Sitting still is fine and important. It’s a big piece of the Christian walk, an important practice.
Sitting still is fine and important. It’s a big piece of the Christian walk, an important practice.
I know I need more of this.
That being said, I reflected yesterday on some things more Christians need to be doing.
We need to go from humans ‘being’ to humans ‘doing.’ Just telling someone “I’ll pray for you…” and not acting is a waste of breath.
I’d say, go a step farther and give that person a hug, ask them for coffee, get way out of your comfort zone.
One question and one statement I believe God would have you state everyday, “what would I do if I weren’t afraid?” and “get comfortable with being uncomfortable”.
Real, dangerous joy is in taking tangible risk.
Today: Step out for Jesus, He stepped out for you.
When I read this devotion is sparked a fire within me. Get up, step out and get doing. Take the examples set before you within this devotion and smile, hold a door open for someone, give up your seat for someone else, show love to the seemingly unlovable, show patience, let someone else go first, the list can go on, you fill in the blanks, only you know what’s beyond your comfort zone. Stop “being” and start “doing”. It’s truly that simple, short yet powerful.
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
21
Jul '22
Peace Doesn’t Equal Perfection
21
Jul '22
Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. (1 Peter 5:7)
As a follower of Jesus, be comforted in the fact that your salvation brings you peace with God. And then, with each day that you follow Jesus and allow Him to lead your life, you’ll experience the peace of God. But even when we have God’s peace in our lives, it doesn’t equate with perfection in the world. Until we reside in our heavenly, eternal home with God, we won’t know or experience perfection.
So, what causes us to think God’s peace equals perfection on earth? Our expectations. Pastor Steven Furtick said, “If I’m going to live at peace, I’ve got to surrender my expectation of perfection. Peace isn’t found in a place or in a set of circumstances that are problem free.”
While earth is our home, we will have hardship and difficulties. We’ll go through seasons where the pain is intense because pain accompanies struggling relationships, struggling economies, and struggling health crises. These outside pressures don’t have the power to take away God’s perfect peace through Jesus Christ. Furtick goes on to say, “It’s not that He delivers me from it; it’s that He meets me in it.”
He meets us in our deepest time of need with an unexplainable, unfathomable, and inexplicable peace. This peace of God is unrivaled, and it’s beyond compare. No one or no thing is even in the same class as this perfect, mysterious peace. Even though it’s beyond our comprehension, we know when we have God’s peace and we know when we don’t.
We experience it in the midst of unspeakable pain and yet somehow, we have this calmness over us. We experience it when we’re in financial struggles and are unsure of how to pay the next bill, yet we’re amazed we can rest in God’s provision. We experience it when our health is in jeopardy and we don’t know when healing will come, yet we can’t explain the serenity we are living in. That’s the peace of God in imperfect situations. Life is not perfect, but our God is.
God doesn’t always take us out of our valleys, but He will always bring us through them. It’s often in the unknown that God shows us the most powerful revelations about who He is and who we are. We can still trust and rest in our good God during life’s challenges and exhibit faith during our own torrential, situational downpours. It’s this kind of faith that pleases our God.
When I read this devotion it struck close to home. I pray you are encouraged today, no matter what you may be facing at this very moment, remember these two very important facts as your going through whatever it is, “Life is not perfect, but our God is” and “God doesn’t always take us out of our valleys, but He will always bring us through them”. Trust Him.
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!
19
Jul '22
Loving Others
19
Jul '22
We love him, because he first loved us. If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? (1 John 4:19-20)
Loving God is easy because we know He’s patient, kind, loving in return, and His goodness knows no bounds!
However, it’s the loving others around us part that can be challenging.
When the workers at the grocery store are rude, when our co-workers are snappy, when our cousins at the family reunion are offensive, when the neighbors are critical of your faith… It can feel hard to show love in those moments.
However, if we don’t act like Christ would in those moments, then we are behaving no better than the rest of the world.
The key to loving difficult people is by experiencing the love Christ has for you and falling more in love with Him.
The more we pursue Him with passion and draw close to Him, the more we become like Him. The more we become like Him, the easier it is to show love to others, even if they’re not loving people themselves.
The things that once were so offensive to you start to roll off your shoulder. The words that once stung don’t penetrate your heart anymore because you are so saturated by the love of Christ and wrapped up in His presence!
When we begin to understand how amazing, unconditional and undeserving we are of Christ’s love, something changes in our hearts. We become more humble and grateful for His extravagant love and grace, thus urging us to extend the same love and grace to others, even when they don’t deserve it.
Today, how can you show the love of Christ today to those around you?
As lovers of Christ, we are also representatives of Christ. We represent Him to the world by how we choose to love others around us. The more we fall in love with the One who loved us first, the easier it becomes to love others.
Lord, help me to love others the way you do! I want to represent your kingdom and who you are in a way that glorifies you and draws others to you. I long to fall more in love with you and to experience your amazing love in full measure so I can extend it to others!
When I read this devotion, I get such an urgency to share it with you, I felt we ALL needed this reminder. Today, choose to fall more in love with the One who loved us first and continues to love us despite our daily imperfections. I know I want to love other better, starting today, and it starts with loving The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit more than we did yesterday. We must make them a priory in our lives, daily. I want to leave you with this beautiful hymn I grew up singing.
Breathe Upon Me Breath Of God
Breathe Upon Me Spirit Of The Lord
As I Lift My Hands In Surrender
To Your Name Most High
I Am Yielding To Your Spirit
I Am Walking In Your Love
Jesus, I Adore Your Holy Name.
Breathe Upon Me Spirit Of The Lord
As I Lift My Hands In Surrender
To Your Name Most High
I Am Yielding To Your Spirit
I Am Walking In Your Love
Jesus, I Adore Your Holy Name.
Have a beautiful and uplifting day in The Lord!