Tag Archives: stress

Holy Week: Tuesday – The Olivet Discourse

“Now as He sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to Him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be? And what will be the sign of Your coming, and of the end of the age?” And Jesus answered and said to them: “Take heed that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. And you will hear of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not troubled; for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.” – Matt. 24:3-8

This day during Holy Week Jesus gives what is called, The Olivet Discourse.

In His masterful teaching, Jesus speaks about the signs of His coming and the end of the age. He foretells of wars, famines, and earthquakes. Jesus also mentions something all too familiar to us today: pestilence.

Jesus then gives these wonderfully comforting words: “See that you are not troubled.”

During this time of great pestilence, remember Christ‘s wise words: be not troubled. Trust in Him!

This day can be found at: Matthew 21:23–24:51, Mark 11:20–13:37, Luke 20:1–21:36, and John 12:20–38.

To Show Himself Strong

V0016540 Grace Darling rowing out to sea in a furious storm. Colour w

I would like to share a verse with you that has encouraged me & fed me on many difficult nights:

“For the eyes of the Lord run to & fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.” – 2 Chronicles 16:9a

I know many of you are facing awful times. Difficulty & trial seem to be your only trusty companions. Life seems impossible. You feel like you are being crushed under the weight of it all. You can hardly even breathe.

The eyes of the Lord continuously search. He’s looking for just a chance to show how strong He is on the behalf of His children. Claim this promise! Write it over your heart. Repeat it to your dark night.

The Hebrew word for “run to and fro” (shuwt) also holds within it the word picture of a “mariner rowing the sea with oars.” That, to me, seems more appropriate. The storm is raging. The waves are roaring. Each row of the oar is met with strenuous resistance. The mariner puts his full body into moving the vessel into more tranquil waters.

He sees. He sees your tears. He is on your side. He will supply. His arm is not short. He will show Himself strong on your behalf!

It is true, we have a relentless enemy. It is true, he will not give up. He attacks and then attacks again. But what’s also true is that he’s already defeated.

Our Champion is even more relentless. Jesus will not give up. He pursues us and then He pursues us some more. Jesus is victorious.

Is your heart loyal to Him?

If this blessed you, please Like & Share!

Ref: http://biblehub.com/hebrew/7751.htm

Your Sins Have Been FIRED!


Let’s say someone comes up to you, removes your coat, and sends it away. Would you say you still had your coat?

No. It was removed. It was sent away. Literally, the coat is no longer here.

Jesus takes our sins away. (1 John 3:5). When John the Baptist saw Jesus he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:19)!”

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to FORGIVE US OUR SINS and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. – 1 John 1:9 (Emphasis mine)

Just like that coat; they’re gone. Now, of course we don’t miss the coat or go shopping for new coats, right?

“No one who is born of God [deliberately, knowingly, and habitually] practices sin,” – 1 John 3:9 (AMP)

Therefore, if we repent and turn to Him, Jesus forgives our sins (something only God can do, by the way).

The Greek for “forgive” carries the word picture of discharging something so as to leave.
I note it because:

  • It is so much fun to say: aphiémi (af-ee’-ay-mee).
  • Its roots are apó, “away from” and hiēmi, “send.”
  • Properly then, aphiémi means: send away; release (discharge).
  • By forgiving our sins, Jesus removes them and discharges them.

Therefore, because of Jesus’s wonderful Love & Grace, your sins have been:
Let go; fired, dismissed, sacked, axed, laid-off, and canned. They have been given their “pink slip” and “walking papers.” Like Elvis, your sins have left the building.

  • Stop re-living them.
  • Stop obsessing about them.
  • Stop beating yourself up over them.

Brother and sister, they are not even there! (Heb. 8:12, Rom. 11:27, Mic. 7:19, Psa. 103:12)

To pretend otherwise is to act like you still have that coat on that someone removed from you and sent away.

– If this blessed you, please like & share!

Phone Addiction

phone addiction

Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear. Whoever has Twitter to tweet, let them tweet.

We are straight-up addicted to our phones. I mean, seriously: this is going to be a real problem in the not-too-distant future. Think this just… sorta… happened? Google “Brain-Hacking on 60 Minutes.”

Dear children, keep yourselves from phones, errr, I mean – idols. – 1 John 5:21 [Sic]

Anything that takes the place of God is an idol. Have phones taken the place of God?

Well, riddle me this: How many times do YOU touch your phone a day?

(In fact, you are probably reading this from your phone right now.) Are you ready for this:

“The typical cellphone user touches his or her phone 2,617 time every day, according to a study by research firm Dscout. But that’s just the average user: The study found that extreme cellphone users — meaning the top 10% — touch their phones more than 5,400 times daily (July 13, 2016).”

I know I am a tiny minnow swimming up a mightily roaring RIVER here, but: How many times do you touch your Bible a day?

I dare you to compare those numbers. Write them down next to each other: are you crying?

I know this is something we cannot solve right this minute, I know that you know that I am just as guilty as the next person, and of course I know phones can be used for good too, but it is something we should not be ignoring.

What do we do about this?

– If this post blessed you please like and share!

Ref:

Cell Phones Research

Brain-Hacking

Addendum:

Phones make us break the first two commandments:

3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.

4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments. – Exd. 20:3-6

Phones also repeatedly make us break the 3rd commandment: OMG, anyone?

That’s 3/10 right off the bat. And of course, if you break just one, you’ve broken them all (James 2:10).

God Makes His Home With You

belonging_ducks excluded

Come on now, we’ve all felt like the odd-man out. We’ve all felt like we didn’t know the secret handshake. We’ve all felt left out. But I promise you, there is a place where you belong.

There is a home for you with Jesus.

“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.” – John 14:23

Don’t just skim over that: the God of heaven & earth and His Son, Jesus the Christ will make their home with you. That seems pretty substantial. Give it some serious thought.

Your heart is God’s. He made it. Return it to Him. He doesn’t exclude you. He invites you. He meets you where you are and elevates you. Turn from your former life and run to the Savior. Keep His word. Be changed from the inside out.

  •  There is no need to go it alone.
  • There is no need to stay out in the cold.
  • The wolves are coming.

17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted & grounded in love, – Eph. 3:17

There is a place you belong. There is a home for you with the Lord.

– If this post blessed you please like & share!

Inspired by X Ambassadors, “Home.”

Is Your Life Out of Order?

Out of Order

Ever go to a machine only to see the dreaded, “Out of Order” sign? Great. This one’s out of commission. Now I have to go look for another. There have been many times where that sign could just as easily been placed on my life.

It is so easy to get things out of order.

It is so easy to get priorities all jumbled up.

Get things out of order & your are left with DIS-ORDER.

Left alone, life will get out of order & jumbled up all by itself. It takes work, discipline, & love to keep your life in order.

  • God, Family, Ministry. • J-esus, O-thers, Y-ourself.

The true order of things must, must, MUST have God at the head (Deut. 6:5, John 13:34; 15:17). Otherwise you are as broke-down as the machine with the sign. And equally unusable by God.

  • Not until the wiring gets re-wired.
  • Not until the programming gets re-programed.
  • Not until the jumbled gets un-jumbled.
  • Until then: Move along. Nothing to see here. Out of Order.

Here’s the silver-lining: the Repairman can fix anything. He can put it in working order!

God can come in & show you how the machine is supposed to work. After all, He made it. He has the manual. He can show you which wire is frayed. He can put in new fuses. He can see… (don’t do it, Pat)… if there is… (can’t help myself)… Hecanseeifthereis a screw loose! (*pants*) Sorry, I tried.

The Repairman repairs. If you let Him.

He isn’t an intruder. He won’t Break & Enter. He requires your consent. Please give it! Show Him the mess only He can fix.

I don’t want to be busted & broke-down any more. I don’t want to be un-usable by God. Do you?

God. Family. Ministry. In that order.

Anything else is: Out of order.

Ref: https://www.gotquestions.org/family-priorities.html

And yes, that image is from Wreck-It Ralph – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wreck-It_Ralph