Tag Archives: Conceit

June 9th 2019 – An Extreme Act of Faith

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“So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.” (Genesis 6:22)

Noah’s decision to build an ark in an area where there was no large body of water around required an extreme act of faith.  In fact, it had never rained on Earth before. So in one of the greatest acts of faith in human history, Noah cut down his first gopher tree to start building the ark.

It was such a bold act of faith that Noah was memorialized in (Hebrews 11:7), known as the Hall of Faith: “It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.”

This verse gives us a number of important insights into what inspired Noah build the Ark. First of all, we read that he was “divinely warned.” God spoke to Noah. In the book of Romans it says that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) Your faith will grow when you read what the Bible says and then take the next step and put it into action.

We also read that Noah “moved with godly fear.” Noah had a reverence for, or a fear of, the Lord.  Here is a great quote I have heard on fearing the God “Holy fear is the key to God’s sure foundation, unlocking the treasuries of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. Along with the love of God, it composes the very foundation of life! We will soon learn that we cannot truly love God until we fear Him, nor can we properly fear Him until we love Him.”

Noah’s walk with God caused him to work for God. And one must always precede the other. If you walk with God, you will want to work for God. Works don’t save you; faith does. But if your faith is real, then it will produce works. That is how Noah’s faith worked when God told him to build the ark.

“When we walk in faith, wisdom and boldness, incredible things can happen” 

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I am grateful that You are the Rock that I can stand on and an ever present help in times of need. Lord, in those times I feel weak in faith, remind me of Your faithfulness and love for me. May Your Spirit lead me to draw close to You and trust in Extreme ways as Noah did. Help me to always choose Your Word over my feelings. I choose to have faith and trust in You. Help me to grow in wisdom and to be intentional with my life. Give me opportunities to step out in boldness to love, give and share my faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

April 18th 2019 – Pride Destroys Relationships

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“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,” (1 Philippians 2:3)

Pride destroys relationships. It shows up in so many ways, like criticism, competition, stubbornness, and superficiality. Another problem with pride is that it’s self-deceiving. Everybody else can see it in us but us. When you have a problem with pride, you often don’t see it in your life.

“Pride leads to destruction; a proud attitude brings ruin”  the Message Bible puts it this way. “First pride, then the crash — the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)

Pride destroys relationships, but humility is the antidote to pride. Humility builds relationships. The Bible says in (1 Peter 3:8) “Live in harmony, be sympathetic, love each other, have compassion, and be humble”

How are you and I going to grow in humility? It happens by letting Jesus Christ begin to control our thoughts and hearts and attitudes and reactions. He’s got to be a part of this.

“Let the Spirit change your way of thinking and make you into a new person” (Ephesians 4:23-24)

How do you become a new person? How do you start to think in a different way? The basic law of relationships is this: You tend to become like the people you spend time with. If you spend time with grumpy people, you get grumpier. If you spend time with happy people, you get happier. If you want to have more humility, spend time with Jesus Christ. He is humble. He wants a relationship with you. He wants you to spend time with him in prayer and reading his Word and talking to him. He is humble, and as you get to know him, you’ll become more like him.

“Be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves …. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to” (Philippians 2:3,5,6)

No one has done anything more humble than Jesus, coming from Heaven to Earth to become a man, live for us, give his life for us, and be resurrected for us. When you spend time around him, it makes you more humble, and that builds your relationships..

“Pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes” John Ruskin

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your grace. Please forgive me for the times when I have let my pride outshine my grace.  Help me to show grace from now on so that others will see You in me. I lift up the broken relationships in my life because I let pride get in the way. Help to humble my heart and ask for forgiveness when needed and soften my heart to extend grace and forgiveness to others. Keep me my old ways.  I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you are in need of prayer for yourself or others, please Click Here

If you are seeking Jesus in your life or want to recommit your life to Him. Click Here to learn more.

2017-07-21-05-57-35

Rob Lavallee

Scriptural Seeds Ministries

http://www.scripturalseeds.org

May 2nd 2018 – An Extreme Act of Faith

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“So Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him.” (Genesis 6:22)

Noah’s decision to build an ark somewhere where there was no large body of water around required an extreme act of faith.  In fact, it had never rained on Earth before. At that time, God had placed a water canopy over the planet that created a greenhouse effect of sorts. So in one of the greatest acts of faith in human history, Noah cut down his first gopher tree to start building the ark.

It was such a bold act of faith that Noah was memorialized in (Hebrews 11:7), known as the Hall of Faith: “It was by faith that Noah built a large boat to save his family from the flood. He obeyed God, who warned him about things that had never happened before. By his faith Noah condemned the rest of the world, and he received the righteousness that comes by faith.”

This verse gives us a number of important insights into what inspired Noah build the Ark. First of all, we read that he was “divinely warned.” God spoke to Noah. In the book of Romans it says that “faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) Your faith will grow when you read what the Bible says and then take the next step and put it into action.

We also read that Noah “moved with godly fear.” Noah had a reverence for, or a fear of, the Lord.  Here is a great quote I have heard on fearing the God “Holy fear is the key to God’s sure foundation, unlocking the treasuries of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge. Along with the love of God, it composes the very foundation of life! We will soon learn that we cannot truly love God until we fear Him, nor can we properly fear Him until we love Him.”

Noah’s walk with God caused him to work for God. And one must always precede the other. If you walk with God, you will want to work for God. Works don’t save you; faith does. But if your faith is real, then it will produce works. That is how Noah’s faith worked when God told him to build the ark.

“When we walk in faith, wisdom and boldness, incredible things can happen” 

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I am grateful that You are the Rock that I can stand on and an ever present help in times of need. Lord, in those times I feel weak in faith, remind me of Your faithfulness and love for me. May Your Spirit lead me to draw close to You and trust in Extreme ways as Noah did. Help me to always choose Your Word over my feelings. I choose to have faith and trust in You. Help me to grow in wisdom and to be intentional with my life. Give me opportunities to step out in boldness to love, give and share my faith. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you are in need of prayer for yourself or others, please Click Here

If you are seeking Jesus in your life or want to recommit your life to Him. Click Here to learn more.

2017-07-21-05-57-35

Rob Lavallee

Scriptural Seeds Ministries

http://www.scripturalseeds.org

April 29th 2018 – Having Faith in the End Times

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“Behold the proud, His soul is not upright in him; But the just shall live by his faith.” (Habakkuk 2:4)

Faith… at its root, is trusting in God. To have faith is to trust that God is going to do what He says He will do. This is the essence of the Christian walk, and it is part of our salvation and our continued journey with the Lord. The hardest part about faith often comes in the waiting. God has promised us many things, including His return, yet our waiting for that to happen can be difficult. This is why it’s important to trust what God says over what we see around us.

When we look at the world around us, we see corrupt governments, sinful behaviors and the devil wreaking havoc in people’s lives. This has caused us at times to cry out, “Lord Jesus, come,” but as we pray this, we also need to walk in faith. We need to trust that God’s plan is better than ours. He may be allowing the suffering to continue for a little longer so that others may come to salvation through Jesus. The good news is that one day He will return and when He does, all things will be made right and our world will never be the same. This is not a fairy tale, this is reality. Yes, we believe it by faith, but our faith is in the One God who has proven Himself faithful time and time again.

“When Christ returns, the world will be remade, our flesh will be made new and the devil will be destroyed.”

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, Thank You for the promises in Scripture. Give me the faith to trust in those promises regardless of what I am feeling or what I see in the world around me. I believe with my whole heart that You are God, that Jesus is my Savior and that He will one day return. Give me the power to share this message of hope with all those around me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, Don’t wait! In a flash of a second it could be too late!” Click Here to read Four Simple Steps to Jesus.

If you are in need of prayer for yourself or others, please Click Here

2017-07-21-05-57-35

Rob Lavallee

Scriptural Seeds Ministries

http://www.scripturalseeds.org

April 28th 2018 – Jesus Wept

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“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)

As Jesus made His triumphal entry into Jerusalem on what we know as Palm Sunday, He looked at the city and wept. In the hebrew language, the word used to describe His weeping speaks of bitter anguish, as though one first were mourning the death of a loved one.

Jesus cried with such pain because He knew what was next to come. His time was short. He had been rejected by mankind. He had healed their sick. He had raised their dead. He had cleansed their lepers. He had fed their hungry and forgave their sins. But He remained mostly alone and rejected.

He also knew one of His own, Judas Iscariot, was about to betray Him. Judas was a friend of Jesus’. That is why it was a betrayal. Jesus knew that Caiaphas, the high priest, would try Him on false charges. Jesus knew that He would be sent to the Roman governor Pontius Pilate and ultimately be sentenced to die on the cross. He knew the people who were crying, “Hosanna!” And that the majority would turn against them. And it broke His heart. Jesus knew they would face the repercussions for their sin, and He didn’t want that.

However, God will not force His forgiveness on to anyone.

I have friends and also family who have made wrong decisions in life, despite the warnings in God’s written word. Despite counsel from thier Pastor or Christian friends not to do a certain thing. They do it anyways, then later they come back and say, “Oh, I should have listened.

God will not violate our free will. God will not make us believe. God will not make us love Him. If we don’t want to, we don’t have to. But that is what is so amazing. God, having foreknowledge, still loves us and still extends his grace to us.

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, Thank You for my church, my friends and the ones that love me. Thank You for the amazing comfort that I can find with You. Please refill my spirit daily because I don’t often make good decisions on my own. I praise you for not forsaking me in the times that I don’t listen. Because of Your love, I can have peace and forgiveness for all my sins. Because of You Lord, I am free from the penalty of sin and no matter what happens on this earth, I will be healed and loved for all eternity. Father, help me to remember these things and to pass them on to those who are thirsting for Your refreshing comfort. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Seeking Comfort from Jesus?

Jesus Christ says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him” (Revelation 3:20)

The Bible promises eternal life to all who receive Christ: “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:11-13)

If you have not asked Jesus into your life You can receive Jesus Christ right now by faith through prayer.

(Prayer is just talking with God. He knows your heart, so don’t worry about getting your words just right. Here is a suggested prayer to guide you:)

Seeking Jesus? Pray this prayer with me.

Lord Jesus, I want to know you personally. Thank you for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive you as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for forgiving me of my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be.

If you have prayed this prayer, Congratulations! (Luke 15:7) says that when one sinner accepts Jesus Christ as his or her Saviour the angels rejoice. So there’s a party going on in heaven right now over your decision! Remember this date as your “second birthday,” the day you were born into a new life in Christ! You have God’s Word that he answered your prayer.

Don’t go through the troubles in life alone. If you have not accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior, Click Here to read Four Simple Steps to Jesus.

If you are in need of prayer for yourself or others, please Click Here

2017-07-21-05-57-35

Rob Lavallee

Scriptural Seeds Ministries

http://www.scripturalseeds.org

 

 

April 27th 2018 – Unstoppable Joy!

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“Do not rejoice, O Israel, with joy like other peoples, For you have played the harlot against your God. You have made love for hire on every threshing floor.” (Hosea 9:1)

Joy, it’s something we strive for and yet so many people miss it completely. In the time of Hosea, God tells the people of Israel NOT to rejoice. He does not refuse them joy because He is cruel; He is simply stating a fact. They had rejected a relationship with God and because of that, they had rejected joy.Around the world today there are countless people who are seeking joy. They try to find it in relationships, careers, activities and possessions. Unfortunately many turn to drugs and alcohol. These things may bring a temporary joy or happiness, but each one of them is unable to sustain joy for long. Compare this to the words of Jesus in John chapter 15.

(John 15:10-11) “If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full.”

Jesus gives us the answer to complete joy in life and that answer is a relationship with Him. An active relationship with Jesus through prayer, reading the Bible and serving others helps us walk in fulfillment and joy. As we see others blessed, we are blessed. When we understand the promises of God and how they relate to us, we are encouraged. So, if you are lacking joy in your life, look to the One who promises full joy. Find Jesus and find joy.

“Complete, unstoppable joy is found in an active relationship with Jesus.”

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, Thank You for the relationship You offer me through Jesus. Thank You for the promises of Your Word. Help me to remember those promises, and give me the strength to love and serve others. I know that as I step out in obedience to You, I will find complete joy. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Is Jesus the Lord and Savior of your life? Or have you turned your back on Him? There is no better time then now to claim your Unstoppable Joy!

Pray this prayer and start a new life, or recommit to to Jesus.

Heavenly Father, I come to You in the Name of Jesus. I admit that I am not right with You, and I want to be right with You. I ask You to forgive me of all my sins. The Bible says if I confess with my mouth that “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead, I will be saved (Rom. 10:9). I believe with my heart and I confess with my mouth that Jesus is the Lord and Savior of my life. Thank You for saving me!
In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.

If you prayed this prayer for the first time, we would like to know. Click here to send us an e-mail or share your testimony.

If you are in need of prayer for yourself or others, please Click Here

If you are seeking Jesus in your life or want to recommit your life to Him. Click Here to learn more.

2017-07-21-05-57-35

Rob Lavallee

Scriptural Seeds Ministries

http://www.scripturalseeds.org

April 26th 2018 – Hiding From God

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“Behold, I am against you,” says the Lord of hosts; “I will lift your skirts over your face, I will show the nations your nakedness, And the kingdoms your shame.” (Nahum 3:5)

In the last chapter of Nahum, God brings several charges against the city of Nineveh. One of these charges is their involvement in harlotry and sorcery. These two lifestyles thrive in the dark corners of society and desire to accomplish personal fulfillment with ungodliness. So what is God’s plan to punish those involved? He is simply going to expose their sinfulness to everyone.

In our own lives, I believe we fear this more than anything else. We fear the thought of being “found out”. This may come as a surprise to some, God already knows our sins. There is nothing we can do to hide them from His perfect gaze.

(Jeremiah 23:24) “Can anyone hide from me in a secret place? Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the Lord.”

(Hebrews 4:13) “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.”

Here is the good news. He desires to forgive us of those sins and all we need to do is be honest. When we come to God fully confessing our faults and failures to Him, He will wipe them away. On the other hand, if we try to hide our sins from Him, one day they will make it to the surface for all to see. Today, rather than hiding your sins, come to God, confess and watch as your burden is lifted. Experience the fresh full forgiveness of your Heavenly Father.

Confession of sin.

(John 1:9) “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

God chooses not to hold our sins against us.

(Isaiah 43:25) “I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more.”

God removes our sin from us.

(Psalm 103:12) “It is possible for the Lord to look at us without seeing our sins because when he forgave us, he removed our sins as far as the east is from the west”

4877ed9fe05c5ffb5700e6ff0e844925-pictures-of-jesus-bible-pictures

“The cost of hidden sin is shame and exposure.”

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, I come to You this morning to confess my sins to You. You tell me in the Bible that if I confess to You, You will wipe away all my sins and so I come this day asking for Your forgiveness. Continue to change my heart and make me more like Jesus. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you are in need of prayer for yourself or others, please Click Here

April 30th 2018 – Pride Destroys Relationships

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“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit.Rather, in humility value others above yourselves,” (1 Philippians 2:3)

Pride destroys relationships. It shows up in so many ways, like criticism, competition, stubbornness, and superficiality. Another problem with pride is that it’s self-deceiving. Everybody else can see it in us but us. When you have a problem with pride, you often don’t see it in your life.

(Proverbs 16:18) “Pride leads to destruction; a proud attitude brings ruin”  the Message Bible puts it this way. “First pride, then the crash — the bigger the ego, the harder the fall.”

Pride destroys relationships, but humility is the antidote to pride. Humility builds relationships. The Bible says in (1 Peter 3:8) “Live in harmony, be sympathetic, love each other, have compassion, and be humble”

How are you and I going to grow in humility? It happens by letting Jesus Christ begin to control our thoughts and hearts and attitudes and reactions. He’s got to be a part of this.

(Ephesians 4:23-24) “Let the Spirit change your way of thinking and make you into a new person”

How do you become a new person? How do you start to think in a different way? The basic law of relationships is this: You tend to become like the people you spend time with. If you spend time with grumpy people, you get grumpier. If you spend time with happy people, you get happier. If you want to have more humility, spend time with Jesus Christ. He is humble. He wants a relationship with you. He wants you to spend time with him in prayer and reading his Word and talking to him. He is humble, and as you get to know him, you’ll become more like him.

“Be humble and give more honor to others than to yourselves …. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to” (Philippians 2:3,5,6)

No one has done anything more humble than Jesus, coming from Heaven to Earth to become a man, live for us, give his life for us, and be resurrected for us. When you spend time around him, it makes you more humble, and that builds your relationships..

“Pride is at the bottom of all great mistakes” John Ruskin

Prayer:

Heavenly Father, Thank You for Your grace. Please forgive me for the times when I have let my pride outshine my grace.  Help me to show grace from now on so that others will see You in me. I lift up the broken relationships in my life because I let pride get in the way. Help to humble my heart and ask for forgiveness when needed and soften my heart to extend grace and forgiveness to others. Keep me my old ways.  I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you are in need of prayer for yourself or others, please Click Here

If you are seeking Jesus in your life or want to recommit your life to Him. Click Here to learn more.

2017-07-21-05-57-35

Rob Lavallee

Scriptural Seeds Ministries

http://www.scripturalseeds.org

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