Christian Paradigm Shifts

     Scripture: Isaiah 29:13 NIV 1984 The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men." Observation: 1. The peoples' words say they are following God 2. But who they really are is far away from Him 3. The external has become more important than the internal. Application: A believer's words, actions, and who they are inside must all match. My words are a reflection of my heart. Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks [Matthew 12:34]. Prayer: Father, help me to be genuine in all that I am. I want my words, actions and who I am as a person to all match. I don't want to be hypocritical in any area of my life. In Jesus name, amen.

Photo Credit   Scripture: John 13:34-35 NLT So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” Observation: 1. This is a commandment, it isn't optional 2. Christ has loved us 3. We should loved each other 4. This proves to others we are his disciples Application: I am commanded to love others as Jesus has loved me. How did he love me? He laid down is life for me. Love is self-sacrificing. Love is tough. I need to love even when I don't feel like it. It can be hard. Love costs something. My love for others shows what Christ is doing in my life. Prayer: Father, you have commanded me to love others because you have loved me. You loved me when I was unlovable and even today when I do unlovable things, you still love me. Help me to show that kind of love. May I display your love to others. Not a mushy, gushy kind of love. Bu

 Photo Credit Scripture: Hosea 1:2-11 Hosea’s Wife and Children When the Lord first began speaking to Israel through Hosea, he said to him, “Go and marry a prostitute, so that some of her children will be conceived in prostitution. This will illustrate how Israel has acted like a prostitute by turning against the Lord and worshiping other gods.” So Hosea married Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she became pregnant and gave Hosea a son. And the Lord said, “Name the child Jezreel, for I am about to punish King Jehu’s dynasty to avenge the murders he committed at Jezreel. In fact, I will bring an end to Israel’s independence.   I will break its military power in the Jezreel Valley.” Soon Gomer became pregnant again and gave birth to a daughter. And the Lord said to Hosea, “Name your daughter Lo-ruhamah—‘Not loved’—for I will no longer show love to the people of Israel or forgive them. But I will show love to the people of Judah. I will free them from their enemi

Photo Credit     Scripture: Deuteronomy 6:1-9 A Call for Wholehearted Commitment “These are the commands, decrees, and regulations that the Lord your God commanded me to teach you. You must obey them in the land you are about to enter and occupy,   and you and your children and grandchildren must fear the Lord your God as long as you live. If you obey all his decrees and commands, you will enjoy a long life.   Listen closely, Israel, and be careful to obey. Then all will go well with you, and you will have many children in the land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord , the God of your ancestors, promised you.   “Listen, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord alone.   And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.   And you must commit yourselves wholeheartedly to these commands that I am giving you today. Repeat them again and again to your children. Talk about them when you are at home and when you are on th

Photo Credit Scripture: Psalm 118:6 NLT The Lord is for me, so I will have no fear. What can mere people do to me? Observation: 1. The Lord is for us. 2. Because he is for us we do not need to be afraid of people or circumstances. 3. We don't need to fear people or circumstances because they really can't do anything to us. Application: In all circumstances we need to trust God rather than fear people. He is the one we can put our confidence in no matter the circumstance. He is our rock, our strong tower, our shield, etc. We don't have to fear people because he is with us. Prayer: Father, I don't have to fear people. The fear of people is a trap [Prov. 29:25]. I will not fear them. I will put my trust in you for you are my deliverer [Ps. 18:2]. In Jesus name, amen. I want to be reckless and not afraid..... Take a listen to this song . I think it goes along well with today's reading... I Will Not Be Afraid by John Batdorf. I Will Not

The following are my favorite quotes from the first week of the Anything book & Bible study. You can get the book here and the Bible resources here . "Doubt is in all of us...if we go there. If we let it rush in every once and a while" "Nothing defines a soul more than what a soul believes about God. And no outward observer can know what is in the soul of a person. The most important thing about us is truly only known and defined by the owner of the soul and the one who created it." "Scripture describes a radical, reoriented life for those who trust Christ - one living for the invisible and the future." "There is something so beautiful about people aware of their sin and their need for God." "I am a human and we humans arrive with "screwed up" on our foreheads. We come that way, but somewhere between toddler hood and being a grown up, we learn to wipe off our signs. To sit up straight. To be good...my forehead is

  Photo Credit    Last summer I challenged myself to read the entire New Testament in 90 days. This summer I am going to do it again. Starting Monday, June 10th until September 6th, I will begin reading. I printed out this bookmark  I found online. I am not endorsing this site in its entirety. I have found the reading charts to be helpful in keeping track of my Bible reading. Ready to join me? On your mark, get set, go!!

  Photo Credit    Scripture: But now apart from the law the righteousness of God has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify.   This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,   for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,   and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood —to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished —   he did it to demonstrate his righteousness at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus. Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. Because of what law? The law that requires works? No, because of the law that requires faith.   For we maintain that a person

Photo Credit    Scripture: Galatians 5:1-6 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.   Mark my words! I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love. Observation: 1. Christ has made us free. 2. Don't get enslaved with the law again. 3. When we trust the works of the law Christ's work becomes of no value to us. 4. When we put ourselves under the law, we must keep all of i

Scripture: Mark 2:13-17 - Once again Jesus went out beside the lake. A large crowd came to him, and he began to teach them. A s he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” Jesus told him, and Levi got up and followed him.   While Jesus was having dinner at Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were eating with him and his disciples, for there were many who followed him.   When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus said to them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.” Observation: Jesus called disciples to himself. Levi is chosen to be part of Jesus' closest disciples. This was a bold move since Levi was a tax collector. Tax collectors were not very welcome in Jewish society because they

  Picture Credit    Scripture - 1 John 5-10 - This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.     If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.   But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.   If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us. Observation - This verse is about who God is and who we are in relationship to him. It reflects how we should be in fellowship with other believers. God is light. We are to be a reflection of his light. Because there is no darkness in him, we too should not live in

Hello everyone!! I have taken quite a bit of a hiatus from blogging. I've missed blogging and now I am ready to get back and hit the road running. I thought I'd start things off by sharing my thoughts on the summer Bible study being hosted by Good Morning Girls . Courtney, Angela and the rest of the team have made some wonderful FREE materials for the study. By subscribing to their email feed you can download the materials. There is also a book to go along with the study. It is called Anything by Jennie Allen. It can be purchased at Lifeway at an awesome discounted price or at Amazon  for instant download. I had my copy of the study bound at Staples for less than $5.  Scripture - Today's reading was from John 8:1-11. It was about a woman, caught in the very act of adultery, who was brought to Jesus. They wanted to trap Jesus so that that they might accuse him of breaking the Law of Moses. They wanted to stone her for breaking the law. However, they were breakin