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God's Dream For Me is Bigger Than My Own Dreams!

“God can do anything, you know — far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!” (Ephesians 3:20 MSG)...

Wednesday, 28 October 2015

SEVEN CHARACTERISTICS OF MERCY


Hello there,

I stumbled on this Powerful message On showing Mercy and decided to share here.Happy Reading!

Mercy is like a diamond; it is multi-faceted. Today we’re going to look at seven facets of mercy, because I guarantee if you’ll learn how to be an agent of mercy, it will transform your relationships.
 
 
“The wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy.” (James 3:17a NLT, second edition)


  • Mercy means being patient with people’s quirks. How do you get more patience for your kids, spouse, or friends? The Bible says in James 3:17, “The wisdom from above is first of all pure. It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others. It is full of mercy” (NLT, second edition). The wiser you become, the more patient and merciful you become.
  • Mercy means helping anyone around you who is hurting. You cannot love your neighbor as yourself without being merciful. Proverbs 3:27 says, “Whenever you possibly can, do good to those who need it” (TEV). But God is not simply watching what you do. He’s watching your attitude: “[When you] show mercy, do it cheerfully” (Romans 12:8 NIV).
  • Mercy means giving people a second chance. When somebody hurts us, we normally want to get even or write that person off. But the Bible says, “Stop being bitter and angry and mad at others. Don’t yell at one another or curse each other or ever be rude. Instead, be kind and merciful, and forgive others, just as God forgave you because of Christ” (Ephesians 4:31-32 CEV).
  • Mercy means doing good to those who hurt you. Mercy is giving people what they need, not what they deserve. Why should we do it? Because that’s what God does with you: “Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because [God] is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful” (Luke 6:35-36 NIV).
  • Mercy means being kind to those who offend you. You’ve got to be more interested in winning people to Christ than in winning the argument. Jude 1:22-23 says, “Show mercy to those who have doubts. Save others by snatching them from the fire of hell. Show mercy to others, even though you are afraid that you might be stained by their sinful lives” (GW).
  • Mercy means building bridges of love to the unpopular. This is what I call premeditated mercy, because you intentionally build friendships with people who don’t have friends or who are not accepted at work or in society. When the Pharisees questioned why Jesus ate with tax collectors and other unpopular people, Jesus said, “‘I want you to show mercy, not offer sacrifices.’ For I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners” (Matthew 9:13b NLT, second edition).
  • Mercy means valuing relationships over rules. Romans 13:10 says, “Love fulfills the requirements of God’s law.” If you want to show mercy, put people before policies. Put their needs before procedures. Put relationships before regulations. Choose love over law.

Action Points

In today’s cultural climate, why is it often easier to be more interested in winning the argument than in winning people to Christ?
If mercy means valuing relationships over rules, what do you need to change about the way you interact with your coworkers? What about with your children?
How can you be intentional this week about showing mercy to people around you who are hurting?


  Originally posted by Daily Hope with Rick Warren

Tuesday, 27 October 2015

Four Reasons God Expects You to Be Merciful


"God blesses those who are merciful,for they will be shown mercy."(Matthew 5:7 NLT,Second Edition)
Jesus says in Matthew 5:7, “God blesses those who are merciful, for they will be shown mercy” (NLT, second edition).

In other words, what you give, you’re going to get. You’ve got to learn to be a minister of mercy if you want God’s blessing on your life.

But why does God expect you to show mercy to others? Why should you be merciful?
    Valueofachristian.blogspot.com
  1. Because God has shown you mercy. Ephesians 2:4-5 says, “God’s mercy is so abundant, and his love for us is so great, that while we were spiritually dead in our disobedience he brought us to life with Christ. It is by God’s grace that you have been saved” (TEV). God wants you to pass on the mercy that you’ve received from him.
  2.  Because God commands you to be merciful. Do you want a summary of what life’s all about? Here it is: “The LORD has told you what is good. This is what the LORD requires from you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to live humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8 GW).
  3. Because you’re going to need more mercy in the future. You’re going to make a lot of mistakes between now and when you get to Heaven, and you’re going to need God’s mercy when you do. But you cannot receive what you are unwilling to give. James 2:13 says, “You must show mercy to others, or God will not show mercy to you when he judges you. But the person who shows mercy can stand without fear at the judgment” (NCV).
  4. Because showing mercy brings or causes happiness. Matthew 5:7 says that God blesses those who are merciful. The word “blessed” also means “happy,” so the more you learn and demonstrate this quality, the more blessed and happier you’re going to be.
Action Point
  • What does it mean to “love mercy”?
  • How have you seen God bless you when you made the sometimes difficult but right decision to show mercy to someone?
  • Think of some ways that you could have shown mercy to others in the last week. How do you think it might have changed the outcome of the situation?

Culled:Daily Hope with Rick W arren

Friday, 23 October 2015

3 THINGS ABOUT GOD'S SOVEREIGNTY


      “God never does anything accidentally, and he never makes mistakes.”
    – Rick Warren

1. There are No Accidents

God never makes a mistake and He even uses our mistakes for His glory and for His purpose. This “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28). It doesn’t say that all the good things nor does it say that all the bad things work for our best but all things both the good and bad and even the evil done against us. Consider the cross. God was not caught off guard by Calvary. This was no “oops” moment. It had been foreordained for our redemption (Isaiah 53).

2. He is in Charge Always

Joseph’s story reminds us all that God is always in charge. He was abused by his brothers, thrown into a pit, they wanted to kill him, they sold him into slavery, he was unjustly thrown into prison, yet Joseph knew that “God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today” (Gen 50:20) and by God helping Joseph interpret Pharaoh’s dream, much of the civilized world was saved at that time.

3. He doesn't do anything without Purpose

We might think that what we are going through doesn’t have a purpose but God set in motion everything in our lives to make it known that “we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will” (Eph 1:11). Even when Paul was imprisoned unjustly, much like Joseph, this imprisonment allowed Paul to write much of the New Testament. I have always wondered if Paul hadn’t been thrown into prison, would we have had half of his letters, which were the “prison epistles?” Paul even used being chained to Roman guards as an opportunity to tell them about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Nothing in this life is ever wasted as far as God is concerned and nothing is without purpose in the sovereignty of God.

Conclusion
It is true that God never does anything accidentally and he never makes mistakes and will work all things together for our good; He will use even the bad for our good; and whatever happens to us in this life fulfills God’s purpose for our life.


Credit:Christian Quotes

Thursday, 22 October 2015

4 Proofs That You Are Not A Mistake

You weren’t an accident. You were deliberately planned.”– Max Lucado

Hello there,


At one point of our lives,we have felt like giving up or throwing in the towel because of a situation beyond our power or difficulties we didn't imagine to happen,but there is HOPE for us again.This post will give you reasons why You shouldn't give up so soon because You were planned for, not just  any mistake.YOU were designed  for a purpose right before the world began.



1. You were Predestined


Did you know that you were no accident? I have accidents ,yes, but God? Never! Paul writes 
that God “chose us in him before the foundation of the world” (Eph 1:4) and more specifically, “He predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will” (Eph 1:5). To make sure we understand this, Paul again writes “In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will” (Eph 1:11). Imagine that; before the foundation of the earth was established, He “chose us in him” which I simply can’t wrap my mind around.


2. Named before Birth


The psalmist must have had this knowledge too, otherwise why would he boldly write “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb” (Psalm 139:13). That was no accident either. Indeed, “This is what the LORD says– your Redeemer, who formed you in the womb” (Isaiah 44:24). Now, let’s go back before you were even in the womb as Jeremiah writes “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations” (Jer 1:5). Yes, this was about Jeremiah as he was called to be a prophet but God also knew us…before we were in the womb. That is simply incredible.


3. In the Book of Life


When the disciples came back with joy after Jesus sent them out, Christ said “rejoice that your names are written in heaven” (Luke 10:20b) but what does this mean? It is just as Jesus said “I will never blot out the name of that person from the book of life, but will acknowledge that name before my Father and his angels” (Rev 3:5).



4. You were Foreknown


God obviously planned you because “for those who are called according to his purpose” (Rom 8:28b) and “those whom he foreknew he also predestined” (Rom 8:29) and to make sure we get it, Paul again writes that “those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Rom 8:30). Make no mistake about it; you were called according to His plan and purpose; you who were predestined were the ones He called; and to make sure it’s abundantly clear, those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified (through Christ), and those He justified He also glorified, though it is yet to come.



Conclusion


Jesus gave us a hint of our planning by God as He said “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world” (Matt 25:34) so we know that you were predestined, you were known before birth, your names were written in heaven, and you were foreknown, so obviously, you weren’t an accident. You were deliberately planned.

Culled:Christian Quotes

Monday, 19 October 2015

How Gentleness Calms Conflict

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1 NIV)

Have you noticed that human beings have a tendency to mimic the emotions of people across from us? The reason we do this is because of mirror neurons in your brain. They allow you to sympathize and also to mirror what other people feel.

For instance, if somebody gets angry with you, you get angry back. If somebody is really depressed and you hang around that person long enough, you get depressed.

In the same way, when people raise their voice against you, you usually raise your voice back. Then they raise their voice higher. Then you raise your voice higher. Then pretty soon it’s escalated, and your emotions are out of control.

The Bible says, “A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger”(Proverbs 15:1 NIV).

Let me give you a little tip that will save you a lot of heartache and conflict in your life: When other people raise their voice, lower yours — in your marriage, in your parenting, in your friendships, and at work. That’s called strength under control.

Gentleness defuses conflict. It deescalates anger.

Here’s a good verse you’re going to need someday — maybe even this week. Ecclesiastes 10:4 says, “If your boss is angry at you, don’t quit! A quiet spirit can overcome even great mistakes” (NLT, second edition).

When your boss rips into you or your spouse raises his voice in anger, you need to realize it may not have anything to do with you. Instead of getting defensive, practice gentleness. Let your gentle answer disarm the other person and diffuse the situation.


Action Points:


  1. What is your normal reaction to raised voices, such as when your kids are misbehaving or there is a disagreement with your spouse or partner?
  2. Why do you think responding in gentleness rather than anger is so disarming? Why does it get people’s attention?
  3. Look for ways to practice gentleness this week. How do people react when you respond to them with gentleness? You may even want to record your efforts and their effect and share it with your small group.
Credit:Pastor Rick Warren

Friday, 16 October 2015

Sharing Jesus - Our Job! Our Responsibility!

Telling others the gospel can be a disappointing experience, but God wants us to continue!




That day was the happiest day of my life,knowing I had Jesus with me.And I had a desire to share Him with others.
Although I tried, most of the people I met rejected Him ... leaving me really disappointed and with a mix of feelings:
  • Why try to share God if they won’t accept Him at all?
  • God is offering them a free gift, what more do they want?
  • It hurts to be rejected. The God I love and yearn for was just rejected ... and will be rejected by many more.
  • The worst thing is that He loves them so much, and it means nothing to them.


These feelings and thoughts almost pushed me to stop sharing Christ. But Jesus said in Matthew 24:14:
And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations [all people] will hear it; and then the end will come.
The end will come—not when everybody has accepted Christ, but when everyone has heard about Him. And it is up to them (not me) whether they accept him or not. 
This made me realise that it's our job as Christians to let everyone hear about Jesus. But each person is responsible for their response (which is between him/ her and God only). We hope they will accept Him, but even if they don't, we need to keep going anyway!
So, let’s continue to share Jesus to others. Let everyone hear about what He has done. For when everyone hears about Him, then our God will come and receive the Glory He deserves.
“Success in witnessing is simply taking the initiative to share Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit, and leaving the results to God.” -Campus Crusade for Christ
                                                          This Post was originally seen on fervr

Thursday, 15 October 2015

How God Uses Your Job To Provide For You

And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19 ESV)

What do you put your security in?

If you put your security in your bank account, your job, or your investments, that means you are an insecure person, because you can lose all of those things.

You have to put your security in something that cannot be taken from you — God! If you want God’s blessing in your life, you have to depend on God’s wealth and not your own.

Here’s what the Bible says about God’s wealth: “And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:19 ESV).

Your job shouldn’t be your security. Your job is a channel, but God is your source. If you understand this, you’ll have so much less stress in your life. Let me say it again: Your job is a channel, but God is the source of your supply.

If you were to turn on the faucet in your kitchen and no water came out, what would you do? Would you say, “Oh my! The world has run out of water! There’s no water coming out of the faucet, so there must not be any left in the whole world”?

Of course not. You’d know the problem is not with the source. There’s plenty of water in the world. The problem is the channel; it’s gotten blocked one way or another.

If one channel gets blocked in your life and the faucet stops working, God can turn on another faucet just as easily. If God closes a door in your life, He can open another door. And if another door closes, He can open a window, and you can crawl through it.

God is not limited to your ability and capacity. Your job is a channel. If you think that your job is what keeps you financially secure, you’re going to be insecure your entire life. You’ve got to understand that God is the source of your supply, and you can depend on him to know exactly what you need and give it to you.

Jobs may come and go. Bank accounts rise and fall. Economies go up and down. Stock markets can go bull or bear. It doesn’t matter!

You can trust in God’s wealth for your security.

Talk It Over

  • When you put your trust in God’s wealth, how does it affect the way you handle your finances?
  • Has a faucet been turned off in your life recently? How will you show God that you trust him for your financial security?
  • What do your investments and finances reveal about your priorities in life?


Credit:Daily Hope with Rick Warren

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

Remember!


“Put Me in remembrance….” (Isaiah 43:26NKJV) 

We live in a world of challenges and turmoil. But, as believers, we are rooted and grounded in the person of Jesus Christ, the anchor of our soul.

To keep things in perspective, we need to remember what God’s Word says:

Remember: The whole world is under the sway of the evil one.

Remember: Great and marvelous are the works of the Lord.

Remember: Greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world.

Remember: He must increase, and I must decrease.

Remember: All the promises of God find their fulfilment in the person of Jesus Christ.

Remember: Come boldly to the throne of grace to receive mercy and find help in the time of need.

Remember: Prayer and the supply of the Spirit will deliver us, empower us, heal us, and reveal God’s will for us.

The KingdomNomic practitioner puts God and his promises in remembrance throughout the day.

Today, ask yourself:

In what ways will I put God and his promises in remembrance today?


Credit:KingdomNomics

Monday, 12 October 2015

While You’re Waiting, God Is Working!



"I trust the LORD God to save me, and I will wait for him to answer my prayer." (Micah 7:7 CEV)

The Bible is clear that there are seasons in life, and one of the seasons that God talks about again and again is the season of waiting.

While you’re waiting, God is working. Don’t think that the season of waiting means that God has stopped working. He’s just taking you through that season because he’s using the time to work in your circumstances for your good.

You’re going to spend a lot of life waiting. If you don’t figure out how to trust God while you’re waiting, you’re going to spend a lot of your life not trusting God.

God is never in a hurry. He’s eternal! He is watching; he is working. He is seeing how and when you will trust him as you’re waiting. You’re saying, “When, Lord? When is it going to happen?” And God’s saying, “You can trust me with this.”

The problem with waiting is that our human nature and our culture say, “Don’t wait! Get things as quickly as you can.”

That’s the way our culture is wired, but it goes against God’s blessing in our lives because God’s blessing comes through these times of waiting. Ecclesiastes 3:11 says, “[God] has set the right time for everything” (TEV).

You might be in a time of waiting. Maybe it’s for school to end. Maybe it’s for a man or a woman to come into your life. Maybe it’s for a marriage to happen or a baby to come. And you may be frustrated with how slowly things are happening. We’ve all been there.

There’s a promise in the Bible that tells you not only that God is working but also how God is working, and you need to claim it while you’re in your time of waiting: “I am the LORD, and when it is time, I will make these things happen quickly” (Isaiah 60:22 NCV).

That’s how God worked when he sent Jesus into this world. The world waited thousands of years for Jesus to come the first time. And he came at just the right time.

We’ve been waiting 2,000 years now for Jesus to come again. When is he going to come again? At just the right time — God’s time. That’s when he’s going to come.

You need to apply this to your time of waiting and remember that a delay is not a denial. When you think God is saying “No,” he may just be saying, “Not yet. Will you keep trusting me through this?”

Micah 7:7 says, “I trust the LORD God to save me, and I will wait for him to answer my prayer” (CEV).

That is the kind of faith that God blesses.


Culled from Daily Hope With Rick Warren

Friday, 9 October 2015

4 Ways Prayer Slays The Giant

“Prayer alone will overcome the gigantic difficulties.”– John R. Mott


While wishing for God to do His Wonders or to provide a job opportunity that
you desperately need,why don't you just simply Pray.It is a Symbol Of Faith in your Creator.Prayers solves problems, work miracles, heals ,restores and sets free. !Here are some of the ways Prayer Helps us,see below.

  • Prayer Helps In Seeking the God of the Storms

Jesus rebuked the storm, and the storm had to submit since He is also the Creator ,God. (Mark 4:39). Whatsoever He says, all of nature must obey. That is what we must remind ourselves when we face the giants of life in the form of difficulties. Just think of what God says in His Word: “Is anything too hard for the LORD” (Gen. 18:14a)? He often repeats this same phrase throughout the Bible: “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me” (Jer. 32:27)? The obvious answer to that rhetorical question is no! To God, everything is small.



  • Prayer Communicates the Believers Heart

Have you ever felt at a loss for words when praying? You’re certainly not alone because this happens to many believers, but thankfully the Spirit of God can help us, as Paul writes, “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words. And he who searches hearts knows what is the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God” (Rom. 8:26-27). If you can’t pray or say it, groan it because the Spirit of God searches our hearts to intercede for us and to pray “according to the will of God.”

  • Prayer Shows Our Reliance Upon God

Ever felt completely helpless against a problem? God would say, “Good. Now you can rely on Me.” God doesn’t want us to fight our own battles, but He wants to fight them for us. When Joshua was leading Israel and they faced insurmountable odds, God said, “Do not be afraid of them; the Lord your God himself will fight for you” (Deut. 3:22). Previously, God had reassured Israel, “The LORD your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes” (Deut. 1:30). Imagine that! God goes before them. If God will fight for us, then it’s time to drop the gloves and let God be glorified in this battle because who can ever be against God?

  • Prayer Helps Us Trust in God

Trusting in God is revealed in the way that we face problems. I know of some people who are going through some very hard times right now, yet they still love the phrase “I praise You in this storm.” The psalmist knew this very well when he wrote, “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust” (Psalm 91:2), as did Nahum, “The LORD is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knows them that trust in him” (Nahum 1:7).

Conclusion

You cannot overcome the giants in your life. Prayer alone will overcome the gigantic difficulties, for He is sovereign over nature. He is aware of our unutterable words in prayer and wants us to rely on Him alone, and we know from experience that we can trust Him. Now we must let go and let God be God.Try Praying to your Heavenly Father today,He alone knows what you want and where the shoe is pinching you the most.Try Him Today.

Credit:Jack Wellman

Thursday, 8 October 2015

God Is for You


“But the angel reassured them. ‘Don’t be afraid!’ he said. ‘I bring you good news that will bring joy to all people.’” (Luke 2:10 NLT, second edition) 

Value Of A christian Image
Knowing God is for you will change your whole perspective on life. You’ll stop thinking of God as someone looking down from Heaven, ready to yell “Gotcha!” any time you mess up.
God is for your success in life; he created you for a purpose, and he wants you to succeed. It is God, your Creator, who will measure your success in life and no one else.
This is extremely good news!
It means you don’t need to be afraid of God, because God is for you. Yet some people are so afraid of God they get nervous just talking about him. Do you know why? They feel guilty, and then they start thinking, “If I get close to God, he’s going to lecture me. He’s going to remind me of all the things I’ve done wrong, and then I’ll feel even worse!”
Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus said, “I did not come into the world to condemn it, but to save it.” Jesus was saying, “I didn’t come to scold you; I came to save you.”
And if God is for us, who can be against us?
Jesus came to save us, not to scare us. That’s why when the angel was telling the shepherds about the birth of Jesus, the first thing he said is, “Don’t be afraid!”  
In fact, when God sends a message to people in the Bible, it’s not unusual for the first words to be: “Don’t be afraid.” There are 365 messages from God in the Bible that begin with a phrase like, “Fear not!” In other words, every single day of the year, you can read a message from God that says, in effect, “You don’t need to be afraid. I am for you; I am with you; I love you.”
God is for you!

Credit:Daily Hope Ministries

Wednesday, 7 October 2015

Spiritual Maturity Never Ends ...It Continues...



Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:28 TLB)

We are commanded to serve God. Jesus was unmistakable: “Your attitude must be like my own, for I, the Messiah, did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give my life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28 TLB).

For Christians, service is not something to be tacked onto our schedules if we can spare the time. It is the heart of the Christian life. Jesus came “to serve” and “to give” — and those two verbs should define your life on Earth, too.

Jesus taught that spiritual maturity is never an end in itself. Maturity is for ministry! We grow up in order to give out. It is not enough to keep learning more and more. We must act on what we know and practice what we claim to believe. Impression without expression causes depression. Study without service leads to spiritual stagnation.

The old comparison between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea is still true. Galilee is a lake full of life because it takes in water but also gives it out. In contrast, nothing lives in the Dead Sea because, with no outflow, the lake has stagnated.

The last thing many believers need is to go to another Bible study. They already know far more than they are putting into practice. What they need is serving experiences in which they can exercise their spiritual muscles.

Serving is the opposite of our natural inclination. Most of the time we’re more interested in “serve us” than service. We say, “I’m looking for a church that meets my needs and blesses me,” not “I’m looking for a place to serve and be a blessing.” We expect others to serve us, not vice versa.

But as we mature in Christ, the focus of our lives should increasingly shift to living a life of service. The mature follower of Jesus stops asking, “Who’s going to meet my needs?” and starts asking, “Whose needs can I meet?”


Talk It Over

  • What has God been teaching you lately? How have you expressed it through ministry?
  • What do you think: are you more interested in being served by or serving in your church? Why?
  • How does service make believers stand out in the world?

Saturday, 3 October 2015

WHICH RIGHTEOUS MAN DO YOU WANT TO BE?



Genesis 24:1
Now Abraham was old, well advanced in age; and the Lord had blessed Abraham in all things.

The Bible says that Abraham was righteous. But do you know that his nephew Lot was righteous too? (2 Peter 2:7–8) Yet, both men lived very different lives. Although they both lived under God’s grace some 400 years before the law was given, Abraham was very blessed, whereas Lot lost a lot!

Both men had large herds and flocks.

When their herdsmen started quarreling over space, Abraham took the initiative to make peace. He even let Lot pick the lands that he wanted. Both men were righteous, but one was more gracious than the other.

Lot picked the well-watered plain of Jordan, where the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah were. He dwelt there and pitched his tent as far as Sodom. Eventually, he lived in Sodom. Now, Sodom and Gomorrah in the Bible represent a sinful lifestyle.

Some Christians think, “Since I am righteous by faith and under God’s grace, I can live a sinful lifestyle.”

Well, let’s learn from Lot. He first saw Sodom, then his feet walked toward it and finally he went into it. I like what a great man of God said: “Sin will take you farther than you want to go, keep you longer than you want to stay and cost you more than you want to pay.” What did Lot end up paying?

He was captured when four kings plundered Sodom and Gomorrah. And even after Abraham rescued him with the help of God, he did not learn his lesson. He went back to Sodom. Some Christians live from one bail-out to another. God delivers them from, say, debt, and they go right back to borrowing money or gambling! Sodom and Gomorrah were eventually destroyed. Lot escaped with only the clothes on his back and even lost his wife in the process.

Beloved, you are the righteousness of God in Christ. When you truly understand what Jesus did to make you the righteousness of God, it will cause you to fall out of love with sin and fall in love with God. Then, it will not be hard to have a heart for God, as Abraham did, and like Abraham, be blessed in all things!

Thought For The Day

As the righteousness of God in Christ, choose to live a life that pleases God, and like Abraham, you will be blessed in all things.

God Bless You.

Credit:Joseph Prince Ministries