Month: October 2020

Scripture: 1 John 5:[3] This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,

Observation: I don’t seem to be very good at obeying commands of God lately. He calls me to be patient, loving, caring and trusting, I don’t think a day has gone by lately that I can say I obeyed even one of those. So does this mean I don’t love God, it breaks my heart to think that way, but I know I don’t love him the way I’m supposed to because I’m not obedient.

Application: Remember love is not just a feeling but a commitment, a deliberate action. I need to be obedient to my Father, he deserves it and without it I can’t show my true love for him. This life is not about me, it’s about God and he deserves my very best, not my leftovers.

Prayer: Dear Father you are worthy of all my love, praise and obedience. Forgive me for giving you anything less.

Scripture: 1 John 4: [20] If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

Observation: This scripture really hit my heart today. I have been harboring very ill feeling towards my brother and sister-in-law. They are treating my wife poorly and they don’t care and because of the way they handled Teri’s father trust it looks we will lose our house. I have been consumed with hate for both of them for some time and have a hard time thinking of anything else. I know this hurts God yet I don’t stop.

Application: I need to do what God did for me, forgive and forget. Allow God to work and put it in his hands, that HIs will be done. Pray for them more often and don’t think of them in any other way but in love.

Prayer: Dear Father I can’t do this is my power, it will take the filling of the Holy Spirit and your love to accomplish loving those I don’t. May my focus be on you and what you’ve done in my life and how you love me. You deserve the best from me so please help and guide me through this.

Scripture: 1 John 3: [18] Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

Observation: That’s me all mouth at times. I talk a good game but when it comes to putting my faith into action I fall short. It’s so much easier to have pity on someone than to actually help them. I value my own comfort to highly to jeopardize it for someone else. How sad this must make God, since I only have what I have because of him and he only asks me to share what he has given me.

Application: To realize whatever I have is a gift from God and the reason He gave it to me is to give it to someone else. He asks me to test him in my giving and trust in him that he will always take care of me, as he has done. Go beyond my comfort zone and give from the spirit he has given me, to make a difference in someone else’s life.

Prayer: Dear Lord take this selfishness away from me and give me a giving heart. May your love show through by what I give and do for others. You are worthy of all my love, praise and obedience.

Scripture: 1 John 2: [17] The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever.

Observation: I do not want the world and desires to mean anything to me. Unfortunately I think more about them then I do of God most of the time. My heart’s desire is to do the will of the Father, but my everyday thoughts are so grounded in what is around me instead of what is in me.

Application: If I’m going to do the will of the Father that must be in the forefront of every thought. I need to be living for eternity and not just for now. I need to look at my surroundings and know they are going to pass away and are only temporary. I need to live for God and God only now.

Prayer: Dear Father open my eyes to your desires, make them mine. Give me the heart of Jesus and show me each day how to do your will. I know I will live with you for all eternity, may I start now.

Scripture: 1 John 1: [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

Observation: There is always a condition to God’s blessing and this one is that we need to walk in the light. Make a decision we will do what is right, as Jesus does we are purified from our sins and I know in my case that takes a lot of purification. The other part of the verse is that we will have fellowship with each other and since I’ve been saved a desire that, where before I wanted to be left alone to my own devices.

Application: I need to make a decision to walk in the light of Christ. I know when I’m in the light and out of it God makes a definite distinction and it’s a decision I must make. Spend more time with my brothers and sisters in Christ helping them and being part of their ministries.

Prayer: Dear Lord guide me each day in the path you have chosen for me and make it clear to your servant the direction you want me to go. May I fulfill the purpose you have created me for in glory and honor to your name.

Scripture: 2 Peter 3:11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives

Observation: Am I living a holy and Godly life? I can only do that by living the life God wants me to live which means to die of self, but that’s not how I live most of the time. I have my moments when I know I honor God, but they are two few and far between. To live the life I’m called to live my focus is to live each moment for God in a way that honors him.

Application: The only way I can live a Godly life is to allow God to live through me. To be in prayer and ask myself before I do anything, am I honoring God by this choice, is this what God wants me to do. At the end of the day in prayer I’ll know if I honored God, when I feel his embrace and hear the words I want to hear, well done good and faithful servant.

Prayer: Dear Lord I’m a sinner and I know it and only by your mercy and grace am I saved and only by you can I live a holy life pleasing to you. Take charge of this servant. I freely give you this life, take it and create in it something pleasing to you.