Good

There is nothing good apart from God but there’s ton’s of good unaware of Him.

Glorified

“To glorify the name of the Lord Jesus would be enough for any ransomed sinner, but to be told (2Thess. 1:11, 12) that in the very glorifying of Jesus he himself would be glorified in Him – well, that is just too overwhelmingly good.” – E. Stanley Jones

That’s grace, we were made to live in Him, with Him, about Him and for Him, not for His benefit but because together (He in us, us in Him) was and is the entire goal. It’s the very thing the world desperately seeks and we must be willing to share in word and deed.

Four Ninety One

That’s the magic number at which we no longer have to be forgiving. We need to be sure we keep an accurate count ‘cause we wouldn’t want to over forgive. Or does keeping track nullify the whole idea? Maybe there really is no end to forgiveness.

One

God’s point of view is the one that matters most. He sees things as they truly are, not just as they appear. He’s sees us not just in the process but completed. Lord help us see as you do.

Two

It seems that there are two kinds of people in the world, them and us. Is that how God would have us see it?

…Then God said,

If you only knew how very much I love you and how completely special you are to me, this wouldn’t hurt so much.

Stretch

Too often our days are filled with things we have no problem handling on our own. What if we stopped caving to our fear and tried something we couldn’t do without God?

God is Real

God is real, we should be too.

We shouldn’t be afraid to share ourselves with each other, the good, the bad and the ugly. Imperfection is something we all have in common so there’s no need to hide it.

Give and Get, Not Give to Get

There’s so much encouragement to be given, the need may be greater than ever before. Chances are good; you could use a little yourself. How about looking for the opportunity to lift someone up today? I’ll bet you find yourself uplifted as well.

This encouraged me this morning, again from E. Stanley Jones:

“If you look within you’ll be discouraged, if you look around you’ll be distracted, if you look back you’ll be paralyzed; But if you look at Jesus you’ll have peace.”

Afflictions

In First Thessalonians chapter three scripture says, “We sent Timothy, our brother and God’s servant in the gospel of Christ, to establish you in your faith and to exhort you, that no one be moved by these afflictions. You yourselves know that this is to be our lot.”

So many are in the middle of tough times, if that’s where you find yourself, be encouraged.

I came across this from E. Stanley Jones this morning: “The point of help that Timothy brought was that Christians should not be moved by afflictions, that it is our very lot as Christians. This cuts across the thinking of many present-day Christians; for they think the special favor of God is shown by their exemption from afflictions. They are in the success mentality of modern life instead of in Christ. To be in Christ is to be different, therefore persecuted. Society demands conformity; if you fall beneath its standards it will persecute you. Hence this is our lot.”

When life gets difficult it doesn’t mean God is mad at us or that we must have done something wrong, sometimes it’s just the opposite. Oh, and if everything seems to be going your way thank Him, it’s not because you’ve done something to gain special favor, He loves you, don’t take the credit.