Intentional Faith

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NIV)
¹ If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
³ If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.

Ephesians 4:2 (NIV)
² Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.

1 Thessalonians 5:15 (NIV)
¹⁵ Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else.

This prayer is for all those who have lost a relationship or longing for one.

Jesus, I ask that you help me in my desire to find someone to love. You know what I have been going through, but I want to tell you again because you desire friendship with me. Maybe you have allowed this so I will not take my eyes off of you. I am sorry for the things I have done wrong in my relationships. I want to make right anything that is still wrong in my heart and actions. I give my relationships and desires into your hand. Help me grow stronger in you and seek what is right in your eyes. Help me to honor all of my vows I still have in my hand now. In your holy and perfect name I worship and pray to you, Jesus Christ, Amen.

O God, you are my God, for you I long;
for you my soul is thirsting.
My body pines for you
like a dry, weary land without water.
So I gaze on you in the sanctuary
to see your strength and your glory.

For your love is better than life,
my lips will speak your praise.
So I will bless you all my life,
in your name I will lift up my hands.
My soul shall be filled as with a banquet,
my mouth shall praise you with joy.

Romans 7:18 (NLT) I know I am rotten through and through, so far as my old sinful nature is concerned. No matter which way I turn, I can’t make myself do right. I want to, but I can’t.

Step 1 – We admitted we were powerless over our sinful nature — that our lives had become unmanageable.

Galatians 5:19-21a (NLT) When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, your lives will produce these evil results: sexual immorality, impure thoughts, eagerness for lustful pleasure, idolatry, participation in demonic activities, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, divisions, the feeling that everyone is wrong except those in your own little group, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other kinds of sin.

We are all born with this sinful nature. The sin of Adam is imputed to all his descendants; therefore we are all in need of recovery. Without God managing our lives, we cannot experience life to the fullest. Step One is a very difficult step, because it is both counterintuitive and countercultural. Certainly our American way is that we can do life how we want to do life. We don’t need help from anyone, and certainly not from an unseen God. Maybe you are like me and play the part of the "Lone Ranger," falsely believing that you control everything around you.

But on our own, we are powerless over our sinful nature, and we need a catalyst to help us overcome this built-in desire to sin. That change agent, of course, is Christ. As Paul writes in the passage above, when we follow our sinful nature, our lives become unmanageable. Perhaps you are addicted to your work, and your home life has become unmanageable. The Christian way of living seeks a life like Christ — a life that is balanced and submitted to God’s will.

Romans 3:10,23 (NLT) As the Scriptures say, "No one is good-not even one." For all have sinned; all fall short of God’s glorious standard.

The Bible is very clear that none of us can do life on our own, and we certainly cannot live an eternity with God, without admitting to ourselves and to God that we need a Savior. Have you at least taken that first step? If not, I will be glad to help you. Apart from Christ our Savior, these 12 Steps are not powerful from a Christian perspective. We Christians need the power of God living inside of us, in order to overcome our sinful nature. When we accept Christ as our Savior, He takes residence in us through the Holy Sprit, to help us live manageable lives.

But most of you have already accepted Christ. Now is the time for us to reflect, to go countercultural and to realize that we are powerless over something or some things in our lives. And here is the important part: Our lives have become unmanageable.

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Father, help us to admit our shortcomings. Get us out of this unmanageable life journey that we are on and onto the path of recovery from our sinful nature and our out-of-control living. Help us to do life right. In Christ’s name, Amen.

Dear Jesus, give me the ability to see things from a different perspective. I need a new outlook on life that pleases you. Help me to see people as you see people. I want to love as you love. I want to be excited about what you have for me as I serve and seek you. I worship you for giving me a new outlook today on life. In your holy and perfect name I pray, Jesus Christ, Amen.

Ephesians 5:1 "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children" (NASB)

Growing up one piece of wisdom my father seem to hammer into my head, was "Don’t disgrace the family name."  I remember his lessons on "Respect authority", "Don’t be a smart-aleck", "Don’t let your mother and me down", "Always treat others with respect", and so forth. What my father was really saying to me is "Don’t embarrass our family by your behavior." This proved time and time again in my teen years to be a great motivator to keep me out of serious trouble. When the negative peer pressure came in the form of doing some un-acceptable behavior, my father’s words would ring in my head "Uphold the family name." I always wanted to hear his "welcome home" spoken to me in a proud manner. Well, most of the time.

When we accept Christ as Savior, we are born-again, we become children of God, we call him Father. Until we are born again into the family of believers, we do not know God as our Father.

John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. (NIV)

James 1:18 And it was a happy day for him when he gave us our new lives through the truth of his Word, and we became, as it were, the first children in his new family.(LB)

God speaks of us as He spoke of Jesus Christ. Matthew 3:17 "and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased." (NASB)

The Father loves us as He loves His Son. As Jesus said in John 17:23 "I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. "(NIV)

Are you upholding the family name as a child of God? Is your life exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit?

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (NIV)

Romans 8:15 And so we should not be like cringing, fearful slaves, but we should behave like God’s very own children, adopted into the bosom of his family, and calling to him, "Father, Father. (LB)

Jesus said in John 13:35 "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (NIV)

Pretty simple when you think about it. Love God, love people. By doing this you will uphold the family name. I pray that at the end, as I stand before our Holy Father, I hear the words, "Well done David, my good and faithful servant, you upheld the family name. Welcome home."

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Dear Father, Forgive us for letting you down, for missing the mark, for not bringing glory to you. Father, we thank you for allowing us to be your children through Jesus Christ. We want so much to uphold the family name. Give us the strength of Your Spirit and Your wisdom to be imitators of Christ Jesus. We pray that when we stand before you, we hear those precious words, "Well done, my child." In the name of Jesus Christ our Savior, Amen.

Father of Mercy,
forgive my failings,
keep me in Your Grace,
and lead me in the way of salvation.
Give me strength in serving You
as a follower of Christ.
May Your love bring me Your Forgiveness
and give me freedom to serve You all my life.
May it help me to remain faithful
and give me the grace I need in Your service.
May it teach me the way to eternal life.  Amen

Serve well today.  Michael

How integral is daily Bible reading to our spiritual walk. We need to always turn to His Word in all situations, good or bad. In the only book of the Bible devoted solely to talking about the Bible itself, Psalm 119, the Psalmist writes:

Psa 119:24 (NRSV) Your decrees are my delight, they are my counselors.

God’s Word strengthens us when we are weak:

Psa 119:28 (NRSV) My soul melts away for sorrow; strengthen me according to your word.

His Word corrects us when we are on the wrong path:

2 Tim 3:16 (NRSV) All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

It enables us to do good works of service:

2 Tim 3:17 (NRSV) so that everyone who belongs to God may be proficient, equipped for every good work.

The Bible judges us, shows our heart’s true colors:

Heb 4:12 (NRSV) Indeed, the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Sometimes we think that we can’t read the Word because we don’t enjoy it, or because we feel we are not getting anything out of it. But actually unless we do keep reading the Word, the desire to read it won’t come back. We can’t afford to go on feelings when it comes to reading the Scriptures. And even when we don’t feel we are getting anything from what we read, it is being implanted in our hearts for future use.

Sometimes we feel that we can’t read the Bible because our faith is not strong. But as we said earlier, we get things backwards! Unless we do read it regularly, that faith won’t become strong! We need a regular diet of daily reading of God’s Word to us, to nurture us spiritually. We can’t grow without it. Without regular study of God’s Word, we will stagnate spiritually.

For those of you who aren’t reading the Bible every day, I have a challenge for you. For one month, read every day, even if it’s just one verse. Pray before you read, that God will apply it to Your heart and life. And think about it after you read it. Sometimes it’s interesting to read a verse or passage in several different versions. And reading cross-references helps us retain the gist of what we have read. See if a month of daily Bible-reading doesn’t change you. I would be interested in hearing about any experiences you have with this.

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Dear Lord, help us to have a love for Your Word. Help us read it consistently, and apply it to our lives. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Guys, have you ever seen a drop dead gorgeous girl walk by and a friend had to pick your jaw up off the floor? Ladies, has a fine looking man ever strutted past and you’ve just stood there with your eyes bugging out? Have you ever seen anything so mind-blowing that it just left you stupefied and speechless?

If you said yes to any of these questions, then you have a small sense of what it means to be in awe of someone. We may even describe those people or events as awesome but that is just a bit of what true awesomeness is like. God is truly awesome. He is worthy of us greatly admiring him.

Psalms 33:8b – Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of him.

The dictionary defines awe as "an emotion variously combining dread, veneration, and wonder". The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia describes awe as "fear mingled with reverence and wonder, a state of mind inspired by something terrible or sublime". It goes on to describe how the underlying word is translated in various ways but in almost all cases, "the word stands for man’s attitude of reverential fear toward God. This is the characteristic attitude of the pious soul toward God in the Scriptures, especially in the Old Testament. It arises from a consciousness of the infinite power, sublimity and holiness of God, which fills the mind with the ‘fear of the Lord,’ and a dread of violating His law."

As I read in the book of Revelation of his glory and magnificence that will one day be revealed to the whole world, I marvel. I stand there stupefied. I wonder to myself how be it that I serve this king and do it so grudgingly at times? How is it that I can turn my affections from him and towards sin? How can I look at pornography when I have before me a picture of my God and King? How can I treat others poorly when I represent him on earth? How can I sit and watch mindless hours of TV when the creator of the universe wants to speak to me if only I will stop and listen?

Take some time today to dwell on his splendor and majesty. You cannot help but be awe-struck. Then just stand there before the Lord in silence and be amazed. Think of who he is; study his nature. Then live for Him

Let God speak to you today in the majestic and the sublime.  All you have to do is be looking for Him.  It’s tax day.  Rejoice till next year.  Michael

I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins. — I have laid help upon one that is mighty. — The Lord … thy Savior and thy Redeemer, the mighty one of Jacob. — Mighty to save. — Able to keep you from falling. — Where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.

He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. — He is able … to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him.

Is my hand shortened at all, that it cannot redeem?

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? … I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

All is not lost.  Pay your taxes.  Michael