Sunday, June 3, 2012

May 30 – June 3, 2012 Devotional Tidbits


The Word for You Today

1.  He struck three times and stopped.  2 Kings 13:18
  • “The attitude that meets the opportunity determines the outcome.”
  • Serve with your whole heart, as though you are serving the Lord.

2.  This is the day the Lord has made.  Ps 118:24
  • God is in charge of the number of days I live, but I am in charge of how I spend them.
  • Yesterday is gone, tomorrow may never come, but today is mine to live…and it will never come back.
  • Today I must accept the opportunities that will not return.
  • Today I must invest my time in what is most important.
  • Today I will overcome obstacles with God’s help.
  • Today I will smile for the world and have a song in my heart.
  • Today I will represent Jesus to my world.

3.  I desire to do your will, O my God.  Ps 40:8
  • Start doing what is necessary, then do what is possible, and soon you are doing the impossible.
  • Don’t focus on doing big things, but on doing the right things.


Sparkling Gems from the Greek

2 Corinthians 10:4-5

New Living Translation (NLT)
[a]We use God’s mighty weapons, not worldly weapons, to knock down the strongholds of human reasoning and to destroy false arguments. We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.
  • The natural mind develops logical reasons to explain why not to listen to the Holy Spirit of God…these are rational strongholds.
  • Irrational strongholds are concerns that are unrealistic.
  • We must take our thoughts captive, because the devil likes to play in our mind…and we must not give him room to develop strongholds that control us.
  • Our minds must submit to the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit.

James 4:2-3

New Living Translation (NLT)
You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.
  • When you pray according to God’s will then you can be confident your prayers will be answered.
  • Pray in a spirit of faith, not in fear.

Colossians 2:7

New Living Translation (NLT)
Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
  • We need to allow time for our roots to go deeply in the soil of God’s Word, and let Him develop us into a fruit bearing person.
  • Firm and well grounded roots helps us through the storms and seasons of life, and we will be able to withstand and overcome whatever comes our way.

Ephesians 1:13

New Living Translation (NLT)
13 And now you Gentiles have also heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own[a] by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago.
Footnotes:
a.      Ephesians 1:13 Or he put his seal on you.
  • To be sealed with the Holy Spirit means to be approved by God.

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