Tag Archives: Power

2013 Day 140 – 1 Samuel 16-19, Proverbs 27:1-14

20 Monday May 2013

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How many times have you seen someone and thought, “that person looks interesting”, then once you meet them you are disappointed? We tend to make our first impressions of people based on outward appearance. Thankfully, God bases importance on the heart and what is inside the person. If God had based David’s potential on his appearance as a boy, he never would have become the greatest king the Israelites ever had. 1 Samuel 16:7 shows what God thinks is important, But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” For me, this is very encouraging. Knowing that God does not judge for my outward appearance gives me hope for what God can still do through me. He can continue to make me righteous on the inside and still use me for many great things with the remainder of my life.

2013 Day 132 – Ephesians 1-3, Proverbs 23:19-35

12 Sunday May 2013

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In today’s reading, my favorite part is the prayer found in Ephesians 3:16-19, I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. Paul is praying for two things here: 1) That we may have the power of Holy Spirit so we can experience God’s glorious riches, 2) Through the power of the the Holy Spirit we can grasp how big the love of Christ is for each of us. The reason why this is such a big prayer is because our simple human minds cannot grasp the immensity of Christ’s love for us. We may think we know how much, we may think we can correlate it to the love we have for our spouses or children, but in the end, without the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit, we simply cannot grasp it.

2013 Day 99 – Joshua 10-12, Psalm 55

09 Tuesday Apr 2013

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God never leaves us on our own to accomplish anything according to His will. He expects us to do our part, but He is always there for us if we allow Him to work with us and through us. A great example of this is in Joshua 10:12-14, 12 On the day the Lord gave the Amorites over to Israel, Joshua said to the Lord in the presence of Israel: “Sun, stand still over Gibeon, and you, moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.” 13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day. 14 There has never been a day like it before or since, a day when the Lord listened to a human being. Surely the Lord was fighting for Israel! This miracle literally stops the earth from spinning for 24 hours. God promises He will be there for us when we act according to His perfect plan and this is a prime example of how He can show up in a very big way.

2013 Day 79 – Deuteronomy 1-4, Psalm 40

20 Wednesday Mar 2013

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Today we begin the book of Deuteronomy. Much of this book is a summary of where the Israelites have been. God uses Moses to remind the Israelites of all the blessings He has provided and to encourage them to rededicate their lives to Him. God also uses this book to give assurances to the people that He will be with them as they take possession of the promised land. This is a good reminder to us and we should review all the things God has done in our past to lead us to where we are today. Whether it is good or bad our experiences, blessings, and trials are what have shaped us into who we are today. Be thankful for your past and use it as a reminder of God’s provision for the future.

2013 Day 73 – John Piper – Why Memorize Scripture?

14 Thursday Mar 2013

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Today I want to share a short video with John Piper talking about a topic that hits very close to home in convicting me. While I have become very proficient over these last few years at spending time in God’s word every day, I am not good at memorizing His word. This video is a great reminder of why we should be memorizing scripture. I hope you enjoy it. Please feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.

 

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2013 Day 61 – Hebrews 4-6, Psalm 25

02 Saturday Mar 2013

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There were a lot of big verses in today’s reading. The one that always stands out to me every time I read these sections is Hebrews 4:12, For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double‑edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. The Bible is not outdated and it is not irrelevant to today’s society. It is God’s words that have applied for thousands of years and is just as important to us today as it was to anyone who participated in writing it. Each and every time I read the Bible something new is revealed to me. When we read the Bible as a book of history it is interesting, but when we read it with the expectation of it leading us, we then see the true power it has for our lives.

2013 Day 60 – Hebrews 1-3, Psalms 24

01 Friday Mar 2013

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I never really appreciated the book of Hebrews until I read it a few years ago completely through. It is such a fundamental book to our faith and it was written to explain the sufficiency and authority of Christ as He relates to God. One of the most powerful passages is found in the beginning in Hebrews 1:3, The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. There is no clearer picture of Christ’s relationship with God and what He provided for us. He sits at the right hand of God Himself. The other thing one of the notes in my Bible explained about the passage was it links God’s creative power with His saving power. The same hand that created the universe also saves the universe. That actually makes a lot of sense.

2013 Day 47 – Acts 16-18, Proverbs 12:1-14

16 Saturday Feb 2013

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It almost feels like we are going too fast through Acts. There is so much information to absorb. The big thing that stood out to me was brought to my attention by one of the notes in my Bible regarding Acts 18:14-16:

Gallio, Proconsul of Achaia, made an important judicial decision for the spreading of the Gospel in the Roman empire. Judaism was a recognized religion under Roman law. As long as Christians were seen as part of Judaism, the court refused to hear cases brought against them. If they had claimed to be a new religion, they could easily have been outlawed by the government. In effect Gallio was saying, “I don’t understand all your terminology and finer points of theology. Handle the matter and don’t bother me.”

Because of Gallio’s decision, Christianity was able to grow under the radar for a little while longer. It wasn’t until later persecution increased that the early church had to be more cautious. It is important to understand our heritage as Christians to truly appreciate what God has done to get us here.

2013 Day 26 – Exodus 5-8, Psalm 22:1-11

26 Saturday Jan 2013

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What stood out to me today was how God made Moses seem like ‘God’ to Pharaoh. Exodus 7:1 said, Then the Lord said to Moses, “See, I have made you like God to Pharaoh, and your brother Aaron will be your prophet. Moses’ authority came directly from God and He made Moses someone Pharaoh would listen to; almost as if he were a peer. God is able to make us have whatever authority is necessary to accomplish His will. We must realize how powerful we can be when we allow God to work through us.

In our reading in Psalm 22, I found the first part of verse 1 very interesting. It was the same verse Jesus quoted when He was hanging on the cross, My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? What is really interesting is how much David prophesies in this Psalm and accurately describes how much Jesus suffered on this cross.

2013 Day 25 – Exodus 1-4, Psalm 21

25 Friday Jan 2013

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As we begin reading the story of Moses, the part that stood out to me is found in Exodus 4:11-12, 11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go; I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.” Too many times I limit God’s ability to do great things in my life because of my own perceived limitations. The reality is God created me and can do more than the limitations that exist in my life. When Moses argued with God, he was reminded that God can do anything. The truth is I need that same reminder each day. God is greater than me and is able to anything He wants because He is God.