Tag Archives: Obedience

2012 Day 288 – Titus 1

14 Sunday Oct 2012

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In today’s reading we begin our first of three days in the small book of Titus. This letter was written approximately 64 AD to a Greek man named Titus who was in charge of supervising and organizing the churches on the Island of Crete. The letter is intended to be an instruction manual for how to do his job. Most of this first letter talks about what the leaders are supposed to be like. I can’t help but read the description and compare it to myself. I wonder if I am a man who is worthy to be called a leader in the church. Through God’s mercy and grace I am saved, but do have have the necessary character to lead others in the faith? This is a good question for me to ask myself daily and to constantly remind myself of the character that is expected of me as someone who is supposed to be leading others. God doesn’t expect perfection, but he does expect an authentic relationship and obedient heart for Him.

2012 Day 273 – Philippians 1

29 Saturday Sep 2012

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I love reading Paul’s letters to the early church. There is so much to digest in almost every verse. Chapter 1, verses 23-24 shows how dedicated Paul was to the church and how much he loved Jesus, 23 I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; 24 but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. While Paul loved the church and genuinely loved people, his greatest desire was to be with Jesus in heaven. I think this points to Paul’s maturity and I can relate to it. When I was younger I was afraid that God would take me from this earth too early and I would miss out on too many things. Now that I’m older, I know being with God can not compare to any experience I could ever have in heaven. While I look forward to the way God chooses to use me for the rest of my life, I know my life will pale in comparison to the eternity I will experience with Christ in heaven.

2012 Day 268 – Ephesians 4

24 Monday Sep 2012

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Chapter 4 of Ephesians talks extensively about unity in the body of Christ, meaning, unity with all of us as believers. It is easy to get caught up in our individualistic desires and our own sin, but God wants us to focus in on the greater good. We need to put away our struggles and sins in order to focus on being children of light for Christ. In the second half of the chapter, verses 26 and 27 were a bit convicting to me, 26 “In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold. I’m a happy-go-lucky sort of guy, but when anger takes hold of me it is difficult for me to let it go. These verses have served me well (at times) in reminding me to let go of anger because it only gives the devil another means into my heart. Any time we allow sin to enter into our cracks of imperfection, it is like water running through cracks in a foundation; eventually the foundation will be ruined. We can not allow that to happen to the foundations of our lives.

2012 Day 265 – Ephesians 1

21 Friday Sep 2012

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Verses 22-23 are great reminders of God’s leadership over the Church, And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way. As the Church, we are His body. We are to be aware and available to be used by Him to fulfill His perfect plan in this world. God gives us gifts and blessings for His glory, not ours. We are to be the full expression of Christ as ambassadors for Him. This is something I need to continuously remember.

2012 Day 263 – Psalm 119:137-176

19 Wednesday Sep 2012

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God embodies perfect truth so His words cannot lie. Verse 160 says, All your words are true; all your righteous laws are eternal. Everything in God’s word is completely true and trustworthy. The truths are also eternal; they are no less true today than they were 2,000 years ago. We can trust it to lead us through any situation because it will not lead us astray. We should trust, obey, and follow His words in all we do.

2012 Day 260 – Psalm 119:1-44

16 Sunday Sep 2012

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Over the next four days we will be tackling the longest chapter in the Bible, Psalm 119. So far in the first 44 verses, the author (listed as ‘anonymous’ but some say it may have been Ezra) talks about obedience to God. One of the most effective ways to being obedient to God is to know His word and to have it close to us at all times. Verse 11 is a verse we have all heard before, I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. By studying and learning God’s word, we learn how He wants us to live our lives in order to honor Him. Scripture, along with the power of the Holy Spirit living in us, is what equips us to build a relationship with God and helps us to follow His perfect plan for our lives.

2012 Day 259 – Psalm 12, 15, 19

15 Saturday Sep 2012

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In today’s reading, Psalm 19:14 really stood out and made me think, May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. I need to be more careful approaching every day knowing that God examines every word and every though that comes out of me. God’s love needs to be more of the guide for what I say and how I think each day, so that it is pleasing to Him.

2012 Day 254 – Proverbs 24

10 Monday Sep 2012

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I love the two final verses of this chapter, 33 and 34, 33 A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest— 34 and poverty will come on you like a bandit and scarcity like an armed man. I never understood what these verses meant until I looked it up. If a ship’s captain is lax and is not constantly paying attention to the direction of the ship and making constant minor adjustments, the ship will be way off course once it has traveled it’s final distance. The same goes for our lives; if we are not constantly paying attention to the direction of our lives, we will end up somewhere we never intended to be.

2012 Day 251 – Proverbs 21

07 Friday Sep 2012

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It is important to remember that without God we can do nothing. It is also important to remember that God wants us to spend time preparing to do His work. Verse 31 says, The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but victory rests with the Lord. While God can do anything, we must be diligent in preparing ourselves to be used by His strength and for His purpose.

2012 Day 232 – Acts 26

19 Sunday Aug 2012

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Paul’s ultimate purpose is to bring others to the saving knowledge of Jesus. Paul is the example of using all circumstances to bring people to Christ and he shows it in verse 29, Paul replied, “Short time or long–I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.” May we all never let an opportunity pass us by to share the gospel of Christ.