A Heart For Jesus

“Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” 2 Corinthians 1:21-22 What does it mean to be established? I found this definition, “established means to make firm or stable; to cause to grow and multiply; to confirm, make fast, strengthen”. It is God who makes us stand firm in Christ. He anoints us, He sets His seal of ownership upon us, He puts His Spirit in our hearts! This is something that is so overwhelming to me at times, that God takes the initiative. He makes the first move so to speak, He pursues us! Look at Philippians 2:13 for example, “for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” His Spirit within us, helps us to do what is pleasing to God! Or Ezekiel 36:26-27, where it is God who says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will

  “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭10‬ ‭ESV‬‬ "We are his workmanship", just want to reflect on that thought for a moment. In Genesis, it does say that we have been created in the image and likeness of God. (Genesis 1:26-27). I read a book once by Tony Evans called, "Called for a Purpose”. I love how he compares the sculptor Michelangelo to God’s creating us. "The great Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet Michelangelo once said", “In every block of marble I see a statue as plain as though it stood before me, shaped and perfect in attitude and action. I have only to hew away the rough walls that imprison the lovely apparition to reveal it to the other eyes as mine see it.” Isn't that awesome! And God sees us the same way! He sees what we can and will become! But it takes "chiseling" away the things that keep us from becoming a

  “and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” Ephesians‬ ‭2‬:‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬ As I’ve mentioned once before, some verses in the Bible are very challenging for me to grasp, this is another one of those,  so I thought I’d share my thoughts as I struggle to understand:) Our verse for today says that it is God who has raised us up with Christ and seated us with Him in the heavenly places. How is this so? What exactly does Paul mean by the “heavenly places? And how can we be there and here at the same time? I know he also teaches us, in  Philippians 3:20, that this is not our home, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,”(NKJV) ‭ But since we are here on earth, I’m not sure how we can be two places at once? Maybe not literally, as I usually take things, but figuratively, we are with Jesus in the heavenly places? Paul says in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no l

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” Philippians‬ ‭1‬:‭6‬ ‭ESV‬‬‭ The good work God has begun…reassuring isn’t it, He has begun, means He isn’t finished with us yet! We are all just works in progress. Like clay in the hand of the potter, He continues to mold and shape, smooth out the rough edges, until we are all He desires us to be. Jeremiah 18:4-6 says, “But the pot he was shaping from the clay was marred in his hands; so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him. Then the word of the Lord came to me. He said, “Can I not do with you, Israel, as this potter does?” declares the Lord. “Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, Israel.” (Just for fun, put your name in place of Israel, reassuring isn’t it? Knowing we are clay in the hands of the potter)🙂 Another verse from Isaiah 45:9(NIV) says, ““Woe to those who quarrel with their Maker, those who are nothing

  I like comparing different versions of a verse, such as this one, from Colossians 2:7, here’s the ESV version, “rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.” ‭‭But I really like how the NLT words it,     “Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.” That little word “let” really takes on meaning for me, which begs the question, am I letting my roots grow down into Jesus? Am I letting my life be built on Him?  And what does it mean to be rooted? What does this look like in my daily life? What does it mean to be “built on Him”? So that my faith will grow strong?  Let’s look at rooted and established. In the past, Danny and I have tried our hands at gardening. One year, I remember, the broccoli plants looked really scrawny. The broccoli heads produced were small, the plants never really took off

“We know that whoever is born of God does not sin; but he who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him.” 1 John‬ ‭5‬:‭18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ “He who has been born of God keeps himself, and the wicked one does not touch him” There is always a Scripture verse that makes me think, this is one of them, So, what does it mean to be “born of God"? Jesus said that God is Spirit(John 4:24). So, is to be “born of God”, to be born of His Spirit? Jesus addresses this with Nicodemus, when he came one night to talk with Jesus. John 3:5-8 says, “Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spiri

“She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come.”‭‭ Proverbs‬ ‭31‬:‭25‬ ‭NIV Isn’t this a great way to see ourselves? And, although this verse is directed at women, I think men can do the same! We can all look at ourselves in the mirror and say, “I am clothed with strength and dignity”! Doesn’t that feel powerful? ‬‬ So what is strength? One dictionary definition says, “the quality or state of being strong : capacity for exertion or endurance; toughness; impregnability”. Don’t you just love the words “endurance”, “toughness”, “impregnability”! Makes it sound like nothing can get us down. Reminds me of Matthew 7:24-25, where Jesus says, “”Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.”(NIV) Jesus is our sure foundation. We do not

  “My soul longs for your salvation; I hope in your word. My eyes long for your promise; I ask, “When will you comfort me?” For I have become like a wineskin in the smoke, yet I have not forgotten your statutes. How long must your servant endure? When will you judge those who persecute me? The insolent have dug pitfalls for me; they do not live according to your law.” Psalm‬ ‭119‬:‭81‬-‭85‬ ‭ESV‬‬ I love Psalm 119, it’s packed with so many nuggets of truth and wisdom to live by. It’s hard to choose which ones to start with but these particular verses, 81-85, stood out for me.  Especially starting with verse 83. “Though I am like a wineskin in the smoke, I do not forget your decrees.”(NIV) What does it mean, “like a wineskin in the smoke? I found this definition. “A wineskin repeatedly exposed to smoke would shrivel up and harden until it lost its flexibility and became useless”.  Perhaps the Psalmist is saying, he felt dried up, useless; maybe he felt a bit hardened or bitter; frustrat

 I have been spending time in the Beatitudes, so I thought I’d share some thoughts, on this one in particular, “pure in heart”.   Matthew 5:8 says, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” ‭‭ What does it mean for me, for us, to be “pure in heart”? One definition I found says, “free from sin; wholesome”.  I do not see myself as living up to that standard. My thought life holds a lot of “wrong thinking”. And if what comes out of the mouth reflects the heart (Matthew 15:18), and the heart and mind are connected, then I have a lot of growing to do! I can lean towards negativity; skepticism. Sometimes I find myself focusing on outward appearances. I don’t always try to understand where someone might be coming from. And, at times, I can take things way to personal and become easily offended. That doesn’t sound like a pure heart to me! Psalm 51:10 says, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.” A question raised from a devotional asks, “What a

A lot of my devotional readings as of late, have been on the topic of prayer. Praying without ceasing; being watchful in prayer; being thankful in prayer. So I wondered, what about Jesus? What was praying for Him? We know He often went off to pray, but what did He pray about? I found the following Scripture, so I thought I would share my thoughts. “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission”. Hebrews 5:7 “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions”. Notice this verse says, “during the DAYS of Jesus’ life”.    He didn’t just pray once and done, but Jesus was always in communication with God his Father. Jesus brought everything to the Father in prayer. Then notice how Jesus prayed… “with fervent cries and tears to the one who could save him from death…” this part of the verse really stood out for me.