Author: mary

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Verse of the Day

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. God will make this happen, for he who calls you is faithful.

1 Thessalonians 5:23-24

The One Who Makes Us Holy

God is the one who makes us holy. No one else can do that. We are born into sin. We have a sinful human nature that causes us to rebel against God. So there is no way of achieving salvation and getting to heaven on our own accord. We need someone to advocate for us, to go before the throne of God on our behalf. He will intercede for us and make us holy if we allow him to. This verse says He will make us holy in every way, our whole spirit, soul, and body. Our whole person.

This does not seem possible, does it? It is possible because God is holy. He can make us holy because that is His job- He knows holiness, He is holiness, and He can make us blameless before His sight. If we allow Him to do this, we will experience Him completely and deeply. He can make all things new.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
You are holiness and blameless. Sin can not exist in your sight. You alone are the only one who can make me holy. I will trust in you. Amen.

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Today’s Truth

Today’s Truth: Growing in His Holiness

God is holy. He is perfect and blameless which is why sin cannot exist in His presence. In John 17:17, Jesus prays to God and asks Him to make His people holy by His truth. We cannot make ourselves holy; only God can do that.

Take a glass of water, for instance. If you wish to drink pure, clean water, you must do something to purify it like buying a filter. Then the filter will make the water pure for you to drink. We have to allow God to purify us so we will be holy. This process is called sanctification. After we receive Christ’s salvation, God begins this process of making us holy by teaching us how to think, treat others, and live as though we are redeemed.

This process is a process that is ongoing. That is the beautiful thing. God will never stop making us holy if we continually ask Him to and allow Him to be Lord of our lives. Spend some time in prayer today asking for God to be in charge of your life so you can see the amazing things He wants to do in your life.

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Verse of the Day

Luke 1:35

The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God.

Luke 1:35

Our God-Given Purpose

God chooses each one of us for a specific purpose. Mary was to be the mother of His son. Her specific purpose was to bring Jesus into the world. Her purpose did not stop there. She was to care and raise the son of the Most High. She had the beautiful job of being the mother of the king. She took that role very seriously and loved her son dearly. We see this when she knelt at the cross as her beloved son was dying on the cross.

You have a purpose too, dear one! God created you for a reason and has a plan for you just as He did for Mary. Jeremiah 29:11 tells us that God has a plan and purpose for each and every one of us. Plans to prosper us and not to harm us. Plans to give us hope and a future. Jesus is that hope.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
You are my hope. You are my future. May I delight in your plan and purpose for my life. May I always look to you when I become weary and feel as though I do not have a future. Amen.

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Today’s Truth

Today’s Truth: Aliens in This World

This world can be a dark place. Christians are finding it harder and harder to live in a world of hatred and persecution. God could have taken us out of this world instead of leaving us here to endure conflict and pain. But He didn’t. Instead, He chose to leave us here out of His love and desire to see all come to know Him. We are a light in the darkness. We are His ambassadors. We are aliens in this world; we do not belong. However, since we are in this world, we must live as though it is not our home and we are just passing through.

Jesus says in John 17: 15-16, “I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do.” Just as Jesus did not belong in the world, neither do we. We were created in the image of God and are to live like Christ. The way we live will be starkly different than the way the world lives. Jesus asks God to keep us safe, knowing we would need His love and protection as long as we are living in the world. Romans 12:2 says to not conform ourselves to the world, but to be transformed in the renewing of our minds. So one way to live differently is to be transformed. Renew our minds and allow God to transform us.

Have you allowed God to do a work in your life and transform you to be more like Him? Have you allowed Him to renew your mind so you can live like Christ? Only then can you live as a stranger in this world.

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Verse of the Day

Song of Solomon 5:16

His mouth is sweetness itself;
     he is desirable in every way.
 Such, O women of Jerusalem,
     is my lover, my friend.  Song of Solomon 5:16

The Love Within

How would you describe your relationship with the Lord? Do you invest in spending time with Him every single day? Do you just go to church on Sundays? Do you intercede on others’ behalf every day as you go before the throne? Who Is God to you? Is He a friend? A lover? A Father? Is He everything? Or nothing at all?

God wants us to have a love relationship with Him. He longs for us to desire Him. He should mean more to us than anyone else. When we spend time with Him, we will fall more in love with Him than before. He will be desirable to us. We will call Him lover and friend. He will be a sweet song on our lips. Everything else we need will be a distant second compared to the One who gave us life. Spend time in His Word and get to know Him in a way that makes you want Him everyday.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
You are my life. I long to want more of you. Draw me near to you everyday so I can rest in your arms. Amen.

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Today’s Truth

Today’s Truth: Attack on the Beloved

The best thing that Jesus left us when He died on the cross was His Word. Look at the accounts of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John and the testimonies they gave recounting the miracles, the lessons, and the love that Jesus shared with the people. He knew that we would need the truths and promises of the Word to give us strength and wisdom against the enemy’s attacks.

Jesus knew that we would need help fighting the attacks of the devil. He knew that we would be persecuted in this life. His words in John 17:14 were, ” I have given them your word. And the world hates them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the world.” We see that throughout the ages: Christians persecuted and even slaughtered in other countries, society going after people because of their beliefs, businesses having to close because they hold the Bible to be true and won’t do something the world tells them to do. It is becoming more difficult and even dangerous to live the Christian life.

Christ knew all of this which is why He left us His Word. In His Word we can find hope and truth. We can find love, joy, peace, patience, and so much more.

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Verse of the Day

Hebrews 1:3

The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.

Hebrews 1:3

The Glory of God

God the Father, Jesus the Son of man, and the Holy Spirit are three in one. When I was child, I remember a Sunday School teacher explaining the trinity to me in terms I could understand: water in its different states (solid, liquid, gas). When water transforms between the different states of matter it remains the same: it is still H2O. It just has different physical properties. God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are all one in the same; they are God existing as three separate entities.

As I grew in my faith, I understood that each had a different purpose as well. God the Father loves and cares for His children. The Son Jesus was the sacrifice who wiped away sins and resurrected to give us new life. The Holy Spirit advocates for us on our behalf before the Father. All three of them work together to give us a new, abundant life. The Son radiates the glory of the Lord because He is God. He is a part of God. God holds Him to high esteem. To know Him is to know God Himself.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
Thank you for sending your Son Jesus to die for my sins, that I may live with you, my Father. Thank you for the Holy Spirit who leads and guides me. Amen.

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Today’s Truth

Today’s Truth: The Joy of the Lord

Ezra declared in Nehemiah 8:10 that “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” His joy is our strength; it is what keeps us going when we do not know if we can carry on. It lifts us up, surrounds us, and empowers us. Jesus tells God in John 17:13 that he had told the people many things so that they would have joy after He was gone.

The things that Jesus said would stay with the people long after His death. We are the evidence that those things impacted the people. In Acts 2, the Holy Spirit comes on the people and they begin to speak in tongues. They were able to understand each other because of the interceding of the Holy Spirit. They were filled with awe. Peter began to preach and the hearts of thousands were added to their number that day. What happened afterward was more evidence of the joy that lived in the hearts of the people. They began meeting in homes and sharing all things; God continued adding to their number.

That is what joy does. It saves. It grows. It witnesses. Jesus shared His joy with the people so that they would spread His joy and continue adding to the redeemed.

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Verse of the Day

Numbers 23:19

God is not a man, so he does not lie.
     He is not human, so he does not change his mind.
 Has he ever spoken and failed to act?
     Has he ever promised and not carried it through? Numbers 23:19

The Constant God

God is a God who never changes. He is not a man so he does not think like a man, nor does he act like a man. He cannot be persuaded. Man is so unreliable. Man fails to act and speaks broken promises. We are a sinful people who give in to our flesh and human nature every single day.

We can only think as a human thinks with our human brain. Yet we expect God to act as we act. It is against His nature to act as we act; however, it is because of our flesh and our sin that He has mercy on us. He knows we are weak and give in to our own desires. So we cannot hold Him to our standards; we must instead push ourselves to His standards. This verse tells us that He is trustworthy because He works in His ways, not ours.

A Prayer to Remember

Dear Lord,
Your ways are perfect, Oh Lord. May I always trust how you work and that you know what is best for me. Amen.

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Today’s Truth

Today’s Truth: The Destruction of the Enemy

While Jesus was on the earth, he protected his people from any harm. While there were people out to get him because of his “radical beliefs” he continued to protect his people so they would not come to any physical harm. Even in the garden after this prayer when they came to arrest him and Peter cut off the ear of one of the soldiers, Jesus healed the man and did not seek violence. As Isaiah foretold, he was like a lamb led to the slaughter. He willingly went to the cross and did not resist.

So here in John 17:10, he prays for us, that we would be protected against the enemy. The devil even tried to tempt him while he was on earth, so he knew the schemes the devil would pull. He knew how powerful the words of the enemy could be, how enticing he could be. He wanted to protect his children from the arrows of the enemy. This prayer shows how selfless he really was. He thought of us and our spiritual well-being in his final hours. He demonstrated how to pray against the enemy. We can also pray against the enemy for those around us. The Bible says the devil is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. He is always roaming the earth looking for people that he can destroy. His lies only bring about destruction in this world.

We must be on guard against the enemy. Ephesians 6 Paul talks about the armor of God and urges believers to take up this armor when defending themselves against the devil. Each piece of the armor will protect us in a different way. The sword of truth is God’s word, and it is living and active. Sharper than any double edged sword. The helmet of salvation guards our minds as the world fills us with its lies. You can read about the other pieces of the armor in Ephesians 6. Spend some time in prayer today for those you know who need to come to know Jesus and be rescued from the enemy. Also, pray for believers you know who need strength to defend themselves against the enemy. Prayer is powerful.