What Determines Fair?

God’s Word: Matthew 17:24-27

God’s Message to me: (My interpretation of what God is saying in these verses)

You ask “God—why isn’t life fair?”  Your pain is often another’s gain. Your gain is often another’s pain.  For life to be fair in your opinion would be unfair in another’s opinion.  I put into place the laws of nature that sustain your life on planet earth.  Break those laws and you end up in trouble.  I do not predetermine your injuries and death but I am aware that you are headed for trouble when I observe your behavior.

Are you sure you really want life to be fair?  I’ve heard many people admit they don’t really deserve the good things they have received.  If life was fair they would not have gotten that which they didn’t deserve.  If you willingly take the good that flows your way, you must also accept the adverse circumstances.  Life ebbs and flows.  It begins and it ends.  Who are you to be a judge of what is or is not fair?

As one of My children, you are a special “kind” of person.  Your Father owns the cattle on a thousand hills.  Should you be subjected to the laws of the land since I am the owner of all the land?  Should you pay taxes to a government that is corrupt and uses your money to fund projects that are in direct contrast to My Word?  Well, in a word—yes!  To continue to enjoy the benefits of living in this land you must pay the price—pay your taxes.

God’s Question: Will you accept both life’s sunshine  and its rain with a joyful heart?

God’s Promise: I provide the sun and the shade, the rain  and the rainbow to sustain My creation.

My Prayer to God

I praise You for being with me through all of life’s challenges.

I am sorry I ever wasted a moment worrying about tomorrow.

Thank You for giving me so much more than I deserve.

Help me serve as your resource as others are in need.

Poppy-Seed Faith

God’s Word: Matthew 17:14-23

God’s Message to me: (My interpretation of what God is saying in these verses)

Mountain-top experiences must carry you through the valleys.  At the bottom of the mountain are waiting people to minister to.  People have needs and other people are to minister to those needs.  Are there some people with unmet needs because you are turning your head?  Draw wisdom and strength from My Word in order to help others.  My comfort is given to you to make you a comforter—not merely for your own comfort.

You don’t need bottomless resources before you can reach out and meet needs.  All you need is a seed of faith to start—as small as a poppy seed.  As you plant the tiny seed the plant grows and flourishes and meets needs around you.  As you watch the miracle unfold you find your faith is also unfolding.  With faith you can move mountains.  There is nothing you would not be able to tackle with even a grain of faith.

I’m not looking for people with great faith but for those who will take My Word seriously.  Come to the mountain-top of My Word and let me empower you to climb back down the mountain and mingle with and meet the needs of people.  Sharing My love with the needs of others opens the eyes of their hearts to My love.  Your job is to prepare the soil by sprinkling on the love that makes it ready to grow.  The simplest acts done with a sincere heart full of love—will take root and grow.  You let me take care of the rooting and growing.  Your just keep pouring on the love.

God’s Question: Is your life focused on gathering seeds of goodness for yourself or sharing those seeds with others?

God’s Promise: When just a poppy-seed faith in My Word and Power there is nothing you could not accomplish in My name.

My Prayer to God

I praise You for using us in our tiny poppy-seed faith.

I am sorry we keep waiting for more poppy seeds before starting.

Thank You for reminding us that our job is to plant, yours to grow.

Help me sprinkle my poppy-seed faith far and wide.

Climb Every Mountain

God’s Word: Matthew 17:1-13

God’s Message to me: (My interpretation of what God is saying in these verses)

Mountain tops give the best view of life—physically and mentally.  Part of the benefit is the exercise of the climb, then the removing of oneself from the daily pressures of life.  Both body and mind are renewed and you receive fresh insights by looking from the different vantage point.  I created you to need these times of refreshing and renewal.

Each time you open My Word can be a mountain-top experience.  Reading is part of the “climb”, that as you interact with Me through prayer, I will help you clearly see the next step to take.  To read, apart from inviting Me to be a participant, can be a step in futility.  It may seem confusing or conflicting or meaningless.  That is because apart from My presence the words are like a car without tires.  As I interact with you in My Word—it will make sense and I will speak directly to your heart and fill you with My joy.

Each time you climb a mountain you will get a different view.  So to with each time you open My Word.  As I interact with you, through My Word, I speak to your heart where you are today—not where you were yesterday, a month ago or ten years ago.  Your spiritual growth depends entirely upon the amount of time spent with Me, in My Word.  If you aren’t learning and growing—it is because of your own refusal to read and heed.

God’s Question: Are you willing to have a mountain-top experience today and every day with Me, in My Word?

God’s Promise: As you read My Word and seek My presence My heart will be knit together with yours in understanding.

My Prayer to God

I praise You for the way you work through Your Word.

I am sorry I don’t spend more hours in communion with You.

Thank You for giving me so many mountain-top experiences.

Help me share with others the beauty of Your climb.

Who’s in the Driver’s Seat?

God’s Word: Matthew 16:21-28

God’s Message to me: (My interpretation of what God is saying in these verses)

Where is your life headed?  What is the driving force behind your decision-making?  Jesus came to earth to reveal a whole different type of living—one that blew the minds of His disciples.  What they said was impossible—He showed was possible and the very direction He was heading.

Sometimes the only path to perfection is through pain.   Jesus pain purchased your pardon which gifts you with perfection.  His followers said “no” to His pain but He said “yes” for the sake of all mankind.  Only as they allowed Jesus to lead them forward, letting Him be in the driver’s seat, did they reach their ultimate destination of joy unspeakable and full of glory.

Like Jesus, there are times when you must say “yes” to pain on behalf of others.  Jesus put others needs ahead of His own to show you how live the victorious life.  Selfishness robs a life of peace and joy.  Selflessness gives peace that passes understanding.  To follow Jesus is to willingly give up self for the sake of others—all others—not just those who love and care about you.  Jesus died so you could be forgiven.  You must live so others will learn about His forgiveness through the words and deeds of your life.

God’s Question: Who is in the driver’s seat of your life?

God’s Promise: Don’t run from suffering; embrace it.  Follow Me and I’ll show you how.

My Prayer to God

I praise You for Your guidance through Your blessed Word.

I am sorry I too often run from suffering.  

Thank You for Jesus example of suffering on behalf of others.

Help me to not run from suffering but willingly embrace it.

The Master Key

God’s Word: Matthew 16:13-20

God’s Message to me: (My interpretation of what God is saying in these verses)

The key to the heart opens with only the Master Key.  Blessed is the child whose parents have had their hearts opened by the simple acceptance of Jesus as My Dearly Beloved Son.  That is the Master Key that puts all of life together and gives wholeness to life and a peace that passes understanding.   No heart is so closed that My Master Key won’t open for them.  But, I will not insert the Key unless invited.

By invitation only is My philosophy.  I created you with a free will to make your own belief choices.  Then I filled the world with so many invitations (reasons to believe) in Me that you would be overwhelmed with My presence.  The sun, the stars, the earth, the universe, the living plants and animals and your own amazing bodies.  In addition, I provided My written Word where I actually meet you and interact with you.  All are without excuse, as far as believing in Me and my exact representative Jesus The Christ.

All are invited, personally by Me, and you too are My representative.  Once the Master Key is turned in your heart you are My Ambassador to share the Master Key with all those your life touches.  Touch them with love and hospitality—which no one can resist.  Jesus demonstrated My love and we ask you to do the same.  Love saves souls and creates a thirst for the Master Key.  Pour it on!

God’s Question: How long since you went to My Word  and let Me draw you near to bless your life?

God’s Promise: The cross of Christ is the universal pathway into My very presence.

My Prayer to God

I praise You for sharing with me Your Master Key.

I am sorry I don’t do a better job of loving others for You.

Thank You for this reminder to be about My Father’s business.

Help me be a faithful Ambassador or Yours.

A Void to Fill

God’s Word: Matthew 16:1-12

God’s Message to me: (My interpretation of what God is saying in these verses)

Every generation of humanity deals with the same things. There will always be unbelievers challenging those who believe.  They claim that what they can’t see they can’t believe.  The problem here is that they can’t see because their eyes are closed to belief.  I created the whole universe that works together just as I instructed and programmed it.  All of nature follows the invisible commands I imbedded within it.

Only humanity did I give the freedom to choose their behaviors and beliefs.  This freedom creates a void that demands to be filled.  Everyone is seeking to fill the void.  The void can only be truly satisfied by using your freedom to choose to believe in the God who made you.  I do not go into a person’s life uninvited.  Those who choose to believe see My fingerprints everywhere they look.  The unbeliever works their fingers to the bone and spends unimagined amounts of money trying to erase my fingerprints on the world

Those who challenge belief are really not challenging you but Me.  They claim that belief is unscientific and foolish.  And because they proclaim that belief so loudly, you may begin to doubt your faith.  Now is the time to put on the armor of belief I have provided and stand firm.  Those who challenge your faith have everything to lose and nothing to gain.  You have everything to gain and nothing to lose.  You are My ambassador to the world of unbelievers.  Unless they see Me, reflected in your life, they will continue filling their void with unbelief.

God’s Question: Will you let My love shine through your eyes today?

God’s Promise: I will empower you to be My witness.

My Prayer to God

I praise You for Your wonderful love that blesses me so.

I am sorry I get sidetracked into living for self instead of You.

Thank You for Your Word that draws me back to You.

Help me be a faithful ambassador on Your behalf.

The Seed-Bed of Blessing

God’s Word: Matthew 15:21-39

God’s Message to me: (My interpretation of what God is saying in these verses)

Where do you draw the line at being a blessing to others?  Perhaps you confine it to those within your family, or perhaps your circle of close friends or maybe even those you know in your community.  In this passage, Jesus demonstrated where to draw the line—or not draw the line.  A stranger came up to him for help with her daughter, not someone he had met before, not even a follower of His.  At first He ignored her request, but as they dialogued, he saw a glimmer of faith in her, and healed her daughter.

The line is drawn between faith in Christ—or rejection of Him.  While on earth He only healed those who “came to him in faith.”  He does not draw the line—your choices draw the line.  Therefore, faith in Christ is the seed-bed of blessing.  What about those who have no faith but appear highly blessed, you ask?  To be rich is not a blessing if you got the money dishonestly.  But some would feel blest to have money, for whatever reason.  They consider the end result to be the blessing, regardless of the journey to get there.  Or some even work their fingers to the bone to attain lots of money so they can satisfy their elaborate desires.  The problem is, it takes more and more to keep that feeling of being blessed alive.

Through faith in Christ you realize that “blessings” are yours daily—whatever the circumstances of life.  Whether in sickness or in health, for richer or poorer, in sadness and in joy, the blessing of contentment and peace with God transforms your daily life.  It all begins with a tiny seed of faith and grows as you follow the path Jesus walked—drawing no lines but demonstrating My love to all.

God’s Question: Does your life invite or repel others from Jesus?

God’s Promise: Give and it will be given to you.

My Prayer to God

I praise You for your blessing of complete contentment.

I am sorry I sometimes forget how blest I am.

Thank You that I saw the light of Jesus and followed Him.

Help me shine His light for others to see Him through me.

Vomit of the Heart

God’s Word: Matthew 15: 1-20

God’s Message to me: (My interpretation of what God is saying in these verses)

Ritual is simply going through the motions thinking that shows the health of the heart.  Not so!  Heart health is demonstrated by the words that come from the mouth.  Unless the words you speak and the actions you perform confirm and agree with the ritual of your life—your ritual is meaningless and void.  Anyone can follow a ritual.  But the health of the heart is never determined by ritual.  Its true health is shown by your actions and your words…

The foods you eat either nourish the body or pollute.  Choose wisely what kinds of foods you ingest.  The health of your body depends upon the choices you make.  The teachings you welcome into your heart either pollute or nourish your soul.  Choose wisely your exposure to books and teachers.  That which you feed your soul is demonstrated by the words you speak and the actions you take.  From the heart flow sweet words of life or the vomit that pollutes yourself and others.  Garbage in—garbage out—both physically and spiritually.

Evil teachings are sugar-coated so you will readily swallow them.  These teachers and writers take a shred of truth and stuff it full of lies.  Unless you carefully guard your heart you will be enticed into accepting their seemingly “good” teachings.  That is the value of learning the Bible—to judge what agrees with it and what is twisting it.  Many swallow perverse teachings out of ignorance of My Word.  My Word was given to protect your heart from evil.  The words of the mouth stem from the health of the heart whether they are words that heal or words that pollute—vomit of the heart. 

God’s Question: What are your words saying about your heart?

God’s Promise: Absorb My Word in your heart and nourish others.

My Prayer to God

I praise You for Your Good Word that guides down a pleasant path.

I am sorry for being sidetracked by new ideas coming along.

Thank You for those who have shared Your Word with me.

Help me demonstrate the health of my heart with good words.

Open the Eyes of Your Heart

God’s Word: Matthew 14: 22-36

God’s Message to me: (My interpretation of what God is saying in these verses)

Prayer is the preamble to power.  After feeding the 5000, Jesus sent His disciples off in a boat while He climbed the mountain to be alone to pray.  He stayed there alone, with Me, late into the night.  Few people grasp the power of prayer—spending focused time in communication with Me.  Prayer is communication—not a one way street.  As you pour out your heart in prayer, I am there with you, giving you guidance and comfort—if you will open the eyes of your heart and accept it.  This is the value of focused time alone with Me—not little snitches of prayer poked in here and there.

At about 4 am Jesus knew His disciples were in trouble, so He went to them—walking on the water.  When they saw Him they were afraid but He calmed their fears.  Peter, always the impetuous one, was so excited to see Jesus he asked if he could walk out to meet him.  Jesus gave him the go-ahead and he began walking out to Jesus.  When he realized what was happening, he looked down, saw the waves, became fearful and began to sink, calling out to Jesus.  Jesus didn’t hesitate to help, but reached out, grabbed his hand and they climbed into the boat.

Keep your eyes on Jesus and when you have those “sinking moments” He will not hesitate to help you, but reach out to you also. He came to earth, as My personal Ambassador, to give you forgiveness, life abundant, and promises life eternal.  He said “Come unto me if you’re tired and heavy-laden and I will give you rest.”  Rest for the soul is the most beneficial kind of rest there is.  It comes to you when you open the eyes of your heart and believe in Me through Jesus.

God’s Question: Have you opened the eyes of your heart to Me?

God’s Promise: Focused time with Me in prayer will wash all your fears away.

My Prayer to God

I praise You for Your nearness when I turn to You in prayer.

I am sorry for waiting to turn to You when troubles show up.

Thank You for patiently reaching out to me in my troubles.

Help me keep the eyes of my heart focused on You.

Good Pity

God’s Word: Matthew 14:13-21

God’s Message to me: (My interpretation of what God is saying in these verses)

What are the needs in your little corner of the world?  What are you doing to meet those needs?  I send you into your world to reach out to people in their needs and share My love and care for them.  My message of salvation begins with the basic needs of humanity.  Who do you pity?  Let your pity motivate you to do something helpful.  That is Jesus love—love in action.

The crowds of people were so caught up in the message Jesus spoke that they forgot about their need for food.  Jesus disciples suggested Jesus send them away to get food but Jesus had a better idea.  “You feed them,” He said.  They had nothing but five small loaves and two fish and there were 5000 people there.  Because Jesus knew the body as well as the spirit needed nourishment—he told them to get the people ready to eat.  He then took the small amount, looked to heaven in prayer and blessed the food—then passed it out.  The 5000 eat and there were 12 baskets of leftovers gathered.

Don’t hesitate to get involved in meeting needs thinking you don’t have enough time, money, or skills.  I gave you your passions and skills and have put you right where you are to meet the needs of those around you. You are my hands and feet of mercy to a hurting world.  As Jesus had pity, showing compassion to the sick, lonely and hungry, I am calling you to minister to these needs of others.  Meeting needs is key to opening hearts for My message of love and salvation to be absorbed.

God’s Question: Will you take the focus off  of self and look around you for ways to minister to the basic needs of others?

God’s Promise: As you take the first steps I will lead and provide you with the means and resources to bless others lives.

My Prayer to God

I praise You for calling me to reach out to the needs of others.

I am sorry I keep putting off reaching out to others.

Thank You for this reminder from Jesus life.

Help me to bless You by blessing others.