“Christ died for us so that, whether we are dead or alive when he returns, we can live with him forever. So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.” (1 Thessalonians 5:10-11)
Have you ever seen children building sandcastles together in the sand? Typically, some kids likes to build while others may walk by and stomp on it, especially if they are siblings. One builds up and the other takes joy in tearing down. Why? Mostly, it is for the reaction. This often happens in school or the workplace. Christians can do this as well in church. It may be types of worship music, food and dress… all of these are minor issues that many love to argue. What does it do? It distracts from the Gospel.
(Romans 14:19) “Therefore let us pursue the things which make for peace and the things by which one may edify another.”
Doing things just to offend or argue each other is wrong. God is at work in our lives at different speeds and at different times. You may say “I get it, why don’t they get it?” That is a prideful statement. It is quite probable that another brother or sister “get’s it” in other ways better than you do. That is how it works. We fit together and cause each other to grow. Serving in church but being prideful and snooty about it does not interest God. The church is made of individual people with individual gifts, and no one person is the whole church. We should build one another up and in turn, we will be encouraged as well. What if the church body, at large, really did what Romans 14:19 says? Let’s start and see.
“Encourage each other and build each other up!”
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, Thank You for loving me. Thank You for the many individual gifts that make up the body of Christ. Lord, help us to put off disagreements and value others. Forgive us when we have caused division and strife. Give us the spirit to be a blessing to someone else today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:” (Hebrews 10:35-36)
Many times we can feel like hanging it all up. You know, when we say things like, is this really ever going to happen? Will healing ever take place? I’ve been praying for a spouse for so long, and it just seems like I’m getting older and older.
In this verse, it says, “DON’T GIVE UP”. It’s not always easy, but I’ll tell you this, it is rewarding. Remember that God is always doing a work in us and around us. He is bringing situations together, and when it involves others, He’s got to get everything all lined up, and He is the only One Who knows how that all works.
God is developing us into the image of His dear Son, so when it takes a little longer then we would like, hold on. Let God, your loving Father, take the reins of your life and you’ll see how it will all work out for the best.
The journey at times may seem bumpy or even scary, but know that God made the train and He sure knows how to drive it. The last part of this verse states that we need endurance. We know that, but we don’t want to wait for it. Yet, if we will hold on and are patient, and do His will, it says that we will receive the promise. So today, get your eyes on Him. Make Him the most important person in your life, and at the right time, things will happen and you’ll say, “Man, I’m glad I waited”.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I choose today, to do it Your way, and not my way. I choose to wait on You, and I know that You always have my best interest in mind. I know that You will make it all work for Your good and mine. Thank you for loving me. In Jesus name Amen.
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“For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ has not been raised either.And if Christ has not been raised, then all our preaching is useless, and your faith is useless.” (1 Corinthians 15:13-14)
The resurrection of Christ is the most important truth of Christianity. Our faith is not based on a series of rules and regulations. Our lives are not changed because Jesus was a good person or a great teacher. Our lives are changed because Jesus Christ did not stay dead. After three days in the tomb, He walked out of the grave and proclaimed to the world that He is God. Since that day, the world has never been the same. Why is that? Because when Jesus died and rose again, He was setting into motion our future, a future found in resurrection.
(Colossians 2:12)
“For you were buried with Christ when you were baptized. And with him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.”
When we trust in Jesus for salvation, we partake in His death and resurrection. Our old life of sin and condemnation is nailed to the cross while our new life is given by God as a gift. This begins our journey with God as we see the world through His eyes and continue to love Him more. Then on that day when our time on earth is complete, we have the hope of physical resurrection where we take our last breath in this fallen world and wake up to the voice of our Savior. This is the power of resurrection.
“The resurrection of Jesus from the dead is a cornerstone of the Christian faith.”
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, What an amazing truth, that Jesus would die and yet not stay dead. I praise You for the resurrection of Jesus and what that means for me and my life. Not only do I have the promise of new life here on earth, but I have hope of eternal life with You in Heaven. Help me to always be mindful of this important truth. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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“For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them. “But blessed are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear.” (Matthew 13:15-16)
“The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.” (1 Corinthians 2:14)
In a time where there is so much division in society, lies and twisted truthes are so prevalent. Its all designed to harden our hearts and keep us blind to the truth.
That is why the word of God is so very important to us. I encourage you to read your Bible every day, if you dont have one get one. Start by asking God to reveal Himself to you as the light of His word shines on your heart. The whole Bible speaks to us of Jesus – the Old and New Testament. To understand God’s plan of redemption, we consider all things in the Old Testament in the light of Jesus and the New Testament writers. The Old Testament points forward in time, preparing the way for the work of Christ which is described in the New Testament. Together they give us the greatest understanding of God’s amazing plan and the enduring truth of His word. I really like the following statement made by Saint Augustine around 400 AD.
“The new is in the old concealed; the old is in the new revealed.” It highlights the remarkable way the two testaments of the Bible are so closely interrelated with each other.
“The entirety of Your word is truth, And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.” (Psalm 119:160)
“And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
(Jeremiah 29:13)
God says in His word that when we seek Him we will find Him when we search for Him with all of our heart. Do you need more of God’s light and love and strength and joy in your life? Dig into your Bible and seek Him with your whole heart. He will show you things you’ve never seen before and enlighten and renew your mind.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, Thank you for Your word and the wonderful way You reveal Yourself to me in it. I want to know You more and love You more. Please help me commit my heart to seek You and grow in my understanding of who You are and how much You love me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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“I am a foreigner and stranger among you. Sell me some property for a burial site here so I can bury my dead.” (Genesis 23:4)
Abraham and Sarah had over century together as man and wife with only their son Issac to show as fruit of their life together. Abraham had, by faith, left the comforts of his home to go to the land of Canaan that God had promised him. After decades of Sarah being barren miraculously she gave birth. At the time of her death Issac was 37 years of age. The fact that Abraham had to buy property to bury Sarah in the land that God promised him, may seem to be a long and wasted life by human observation. A life of never arriving to see anything but the seed that was promised in Issac. While wandering in the land God had promised, they wandered not as landowners but as complete strangers.
(Hebrews 11:11-12)
“It was by faith that even Sarah was able to have a child, though she was barren and was too old. She believed that God would keep his promise.And so a whole nation came from this one man who was as good as dead—a nation with so many people that, like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore, there is no way to count them.”
You see, God honored the timeless faith of Sarah and Abraham who appeared as strange foreigners while dwelling in tents in Canaan. They believed in God’s ability to come through in spite of their circumstances. It’s a beautiful thing when we continue to trust and believe in the Lord for our eternal dwelling place with Him. It’s true, even as we seek by His Spirit to declare the scriptures and obediently follow Him. It’s important to know we are making an impact and leaving an inheritance that will carry over into eternity. Often we are tempted to only view things that we can see with our eyes and what our physical inheritance will be, but as we live for the eternal those that surround us in our lives and families can catch hold of something that far outweighs and is more glorious then all those other things. Don’t let your circumstance discourage you, but continue to look to the Lord as the day comes closer when we will receive our eternal inheritance.
“A eternal inheritance in the Lord is the greatest inheritance one can leave for their loved ones”
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I thank You that through Your precious blood not only am I forgiven but I’m receiving an eternal inheritance through Jesus that will last forever. Please continue to help me believe and trust in You and Your word even when things here look differently than I had hoped for. Please help me to have faith when I don’t have sight. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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“Abraham said to his servants, Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” (Genesis 22:5)
I have often wondered about the emotional reaction of Abraham here when he was instructed by God to sacrifice his beloved Son. We would really have to put ourselves in his place to sense what he felt, how his heart was torn, how he avoids telling Isaac the fearful truth until the very last possible moment, how he perhaps trembles within when Isaac asks the question, Where is the lamb?
We know there is no real answer to Isaac’s question until we read in the New Testament the story of John the Baptist standing before the people of Israel saying, Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29).
Where did this stricken father find the strength to carry through this fearsome task? The answer is found here in one brief phrase above in verse 5, Abraham said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.’” Abraham is not trying to deceive these men, but somewhere in the quiet meditations of that awful night when this word first came to him, there came the consciousness that God could do something to raise this boy from the dead, and Abraham believed in resurrection. That is where he found the peace to follow God’s command. In the struggles of that night, he began to reason and to reckon on God.
He must have thought something like this: God has given me promises, and I have lived with God long enough to know that when God gives a promise, He carries it through. God has said that in my son Isaac all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. Isaac is necessary to the fulfillment of the promise. It can’t be any other; He has said this boy is the one who is going to be the fulfillment of the promise. Well then, if God has asked me now to offer him up as a sacrifice, there is only one explanation. God intends to raise him from the dead.
Abraham had never had, as we have today, the experience or the record of anyone having risen from the dead. Yet so firm is his faith in the character of God that he comes to a realization of the resurrection. This is confirmed in Hebrews 11: By faith Abraham offered Isaac. . . Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead… (Hebrews 11:17,19). Abraham risked everything he owned and loved on the character of God and found Him to be a God of resurrection.
Because of this wonderful triumph in his life, Abraham calls this place, God will provide, And based on this miracle there sprang up a little saying in Israel, a Proverb: When you get to the mount, it will be provided. God’s ways with people are such that it seems as though deliverance will never come. It seems that you will never be delivered. But if you go on, when you get to the mount, it will be provided. People’s disappointments are God’s appointments. It is never too late for God. Even if Abraham had been required to carry the bloody business through to its end, his father’s heart was quiet in restful peace because he knew God would raise his son from the dead.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, thank You that regardless of what You call me to lay on the altar in obedience to You, You always know what is best, and You always have a plan. I thank you for the recent lesson you taught me to fully trust you. I had no answers, but i was obedient to You Lord. As always You came through for me and provided the ram. I love You Lord… in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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“He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne” (Revelation 3:21)
“For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” (John 5:4)
We are world overcomers not because of who we are or some great feat that we have accomplished, but because we are born of God. When we made Jesus the Lord and Savior of our lives we were born into His family, the family of God.
All God says to us to do is believe it. The second part of this verse states, this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Our faith is our belief of Who God is, what He has and what He can do. Our faith is our knowing that God is for us and not against us. Our faith is our trust that He has made us world overcomers. So again, it’s not about us but it’s about Christ in us, the hope of glory.
Today, see yourself as one who overcomes the world and not one who is overtaken by the world. See yourself as the victorious one, because you are in Him. Remember He lives inside of you. Who lives inside of us? The Greater One lives in you, the One who created the stars and every living thing, the One who died on the cross for you. He didn’t die at Calvary’s hill for Himself, He did it all for you, and He wants you to partake of all that He paid for you to have.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, Today, I am a world overcomer because of You who lives in me. I believe this by faith. My faith is in trusting you God and believing that what you said is true. I am a world overcomer. Thank You Lord for loving me and being involved in my life. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” (John 20:15)
Jesus asked two very insightful questions of Mary at this point: “Why are you weeping?” and “Whom are you seeking?” Often in life, we find ourselves in a place where we feel like crying and other times find ourselves in tears. Jesus sees those tears and wants to dry them… if we will let Him.
We need to allow Jesus, sometimes through the hands and wisdom of others, to tend to our tears. Whatever the circumstance, life threatening Illness, brokeness of a marriage or loss of a loved one, spouse or child. Jesus is the answer to our pain..He will comfort us.
Sometimes though, we become strangely comfortable with pain and sadness. They become almost like old familiar friends. Jesus wants to be the better friend. For some, it may mean breaking a cycle long established and for others, it may mean coming out of a short season of pain.
Seek Jesus. Realize that in the midst of trial, trouble, turmoil and temptation, He is there with you. You may need to turn around to face Him. He wants to pull you out of your problems and liberate you from sadness, but before He does, He wants to walk with you through the valley. Even when you are in the valley of the shadow of death, He is there. May you know He is there to dry your tears, lighten your load and be a closer friend than any you have ever known. Loved one, right now take a few minutes out of your busy day and turn to Him. You will be glad you did. And so will He.
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, Thank You for sticking by me through good times and bad times. You are the true friend. Sometimes, I become content to wallow in self pity. Please forgive me for that and humble me to allow You, through the hands of others, to comfort and even challenge me to trust you and Your promise. Please help me through the times of panic, the times when the pain is crippling and I cant breathe. Hold me close Jesus when I feel all alone. Remind me that You are here and Love me when I am unable to see past the pain. I pray this in Jesus’ name, Amen.
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“Therefore remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh–who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands– that at that time you were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope and without God in the world.” (Ephesians 2:11-12)
When we read those verses we need to realize that we were once like this. We were without Christ, separated from His love, separated from His presence, separated from peace. Whether Jew or Gentile we both need peace, we both need Jesus. That’s us friend! Do you remember what it was like without God in your life? When we continue reading we see this…
(Ephesians 2:13-14) “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation,”
What does is say there? We were brought near by our good works? Our church attendance? No. We have been brought near by the blood of Christ. And because of that we now have peace, and Jesus has torn down the wall of separation between us and God. He has torn down the walls between us as believers. Man messed up in the garden, God fixed it. Man messed up in the tabernacle, God fixed it. Man has really trashed this world and God will fix that one day too. Don’t be a part of the problem, be a part of the solution.
“Jesus came to tear down walls between believers; some believers tear down Jesus by building up walls.”
Prayer:
Heavenly Father, Thank you for sending Jesus so that the wall of separation is torn down. Help me not to build up walls but to love others as you have asked me to. Thank you for the peace that you have given me. Continue to equip me to share that peace with others. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
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Scriptural Seeds 