Rejoice in the Lord always and again I say rejoice. Don’t let any circumstance steal your joy. We are going to get some refreshing words from scripture today so get ready!
Today’s Prayer
(Make this a personal prayer)
Lord, You are the vine, and I am a branch. I want to abide in You and You in me, so that I will bear much fruit, for without You, I can do nothing…If I abide in You, and Your words abide in me, I will ask what I desire, and it shall be done for me. I pray that Your desires will be my desires; that Your Word will be held close in my heart. By this Our Father is glorified, that I bear much fruit, so I will be Your disciple. Thank You for loving me and accepting me as Your child and disciple. I pray that I will always remain full of Your joy and love others as You have loved me. In the matchless name of Jesus I pray, Amen.
Let’s eat.
The Work of God
Chosen by God
Ephesians 1:3-4
3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. 4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes.
In the Past Reconciled by God
2 Corinthians 5:11-18
11 Because we understand our fearful responsibility to the Lord, we work hard to persuade others. God knows we are sincere, and I hope you know this, too. 12 Are we commending ourselves to you again? No, we are giving you a reason to be proud of us, so you can answer those who brag about having a spectacular ministry rather than having a sincere heart. 13 If it seems we are crazy, it is to bring glory to God. And if we are in our right minds, it is for your benefit. 14 Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. 15 He died for everyone so that those who receive his new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. 16 So we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him now! 17 This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun! 18 And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
In the Present Glorified by God
Romans 8:26-30
26 And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. 27 And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. 28 And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them. 29 For God knew his people in advance, and he chose them to become like his Son, so that his Son would be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. 30 And having chosen them, he called them to come to him. And having called them, he gave them right standing with himself. And having given them right standing, he gave them his glory.
In the Future
This is where you come in. I am not going to supply the scripture that gives you what God says about the future. You have to find that out on your own. The question is, will you make the effort or will you wait for someone else to do it for you?
Quote of the Day
The tearful praying Christian, whose distress prevents his words, will be clearly understood by the Most High. ~Charles Haddon Spurgeon~