Nightfall
Did I pray much, today, Lord, in thankfulness and dependence on You? Did I abide in You and listen to your gentle voice throughout this day?
Or did I walk along a path I had chosen in my world, aware only vaguely of Your presence.
Holy Spirit, help me to be humble and meek, to be merciful and pure in heart, and to be poor in spirit and righteous in Your sight.
Abide in Me
Abide in Me, and I in you.
John 15:4
This is a conditional promise: if you abide in Jesus, He will abide in you.
The first part of this verse is a command: Abide in Me, and this is where our focus should be. Other translations say, Live in Me, Remain in Me, or Dwell in Me.
Andrew Murray wrote a book called abide in Christ. It was not called abide in Christ, and He will abide in you. He went for the command instead of the promise. After all, the promise is not fruitful until the command is kept.
We know that the Holy Spirit lives in us from the time we are born-again. So too does Jesus. And His Father, since the two are one, as Scripture tells us. If I say, “Jesus lives in me,” the focus is on me. If I say, “I live in Jesus,” the focus is on Him, where it should be.
So, my friends, live in Jesus today. If you are living in Him, you will do as He does. You will seek to please Him instead of yourself. You will not so much ask Him to help you in your endeavors as to ask Him what He wants you to do this day – in His kingdom.
Election Day
Now when Joshua was near Jericho, he looked up and saw a man standing in front of him with a drawn sword in his hand. Joshua went up to him and asked, “Are you for us or for our enemies?”
“Neither,” he replied, “but as commander of the army of the Lord I have now come.” Joshua 5:12-14
Joshua was asking the wrong question. A modern-day Joshua would ask Jesus (who scholars say is the man standing in front of Joshua), “Are You for the Republicans or the Democrats, are You for Trump or Harris?”
And Jesus would answer, “Neither. What I’m really asking is are you for Me?”
You might think, “Why wouldn’t Jesus be for the Israelites against the pagans in Jericho? After all, they were his chosen people.” What Jesus is telling us today is that there is only one side to take – that of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. It’s not Trump or Harris. It’s Jesus Christ we must choose. Then life will become clear to us, and we won’t get caught up in distractions. Today, I ask you to take a stand, but not for Trump or Harris. Take a stand for Jesus. In the last election, I wrote in Jesus Christ as my choice for president.
Two Worlds
There is the natural world, which we have inherited from Adam, and there is the Spiritual world, which we have received from God.
The natural world consists of our self-centered and sinful selves, the ways of the world, and the influence of Satan. The Spiritual world is the Spirit of God and His involvement in His creation.
Throughout the day, we choose in which world to live. When we press our own way or call someone names, we’re choosing the natural world. If, on the other hand, we lend a hand to someone less fortunate than ourselves in Christ’s name, we’re choosing the Spiritual world.
Which world are you going to choose as you walk through this day?
David Wilkerson, God is Faithful, October 10
“A humble person is not one who thinks little of himself, hangs his head and says, “I am nothing.” Rather he is someone who depends wholly on the Lord for everything, in every circumstance. He knows the Lord has to direct him – and that he is dead, ineffective and useless without that direction. ”
“That’s what I’ve been telling you, Jack. You were reading the Bible like a novel. You started in the beginning and planned to read straight through to the end. That’s a terrible plan.”
Jack took on the manner of an unruly student. He was resistive and combative. “Then what is a good plan?”
Jack unfolded his arms and gazed at a stained glass window on the west wall. Manny counted the organ pipes at the front of the chapel. They took a two-minute break to return to a calmer state of mind. That gave the Holy Spirit time to work on both of them.
Manny continued in a soft voice. “I’d suggest you start with the Gospel of John in the New Testament and Genesis in the Old. Read back-and-forth between the two. After that, read through Matthew, Mark, and Luke in the New Testament and Exodus, Psalms, and Isaiah in the Old. Use the same back-and-forth technique. We can discuss where to go after that. If you search online for Read through the Bible in a year, you’ll find all sorts of plans.”
From Finding the Safest Place on Earth https://bit.ly/SafestPlaceonAmazon
BY WHAT AUTHORITY, John 2: 18 & 19
“Then the Jews demanded of him (Jesus), ‘What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this.’
“Jesus answered them, ‘Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days.'”
In other words, why should we believe Jesus? He gives us the answer Himself, “Because I rose from the dead.” And we too will rise from the dead to a heavenly home if we put our faith in Jesus. It’s that simple.
This is the link to purchase Safest Place on Amazon. The other wasn’t. Sorry.
ABOUT THE BIBLE BEING THE WORD OF GOD
“The Bible was written over a period of roughly two-thousand years by forty different authors from three continents who wrote in three different languages. Shepherds, kings, scholars, fishermen, prophets, a military general, a cupbearer, and a priest all penned portions of Scripture. Yet, despite this miscellany assortment of writers and settings, the Bible displays a meticulous consistency. It never contradicts itself or its common theme.
“That could only happen if the real author of the Bible were not forty natural men but God Himself, working through His Holy Spirit to inspire every one of them. The common thread running throughout the Bible is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The Old Testament prophets wrote about Someone in the future without knowing in their natural selves Who exactly they were writing about.”
From Finding the Safest Place on Earth Purchase at https://bit.ly/SAFESTPLACE
We have sinned against you, Lord, as a nation, a state (MN), a city (Buffalo), and as individuals. We have gone our own way. We have done what we ought not to have done. We have left undone that which we ought to have done.
Send us a prophet, O Lord, who will deliver a message of revival into our land in this time. Deliver us from the hands of Your enemies and ours.