Daily Habit.

For the follower of Jesus this should be a daily habit:

Psalm 95:6 

6 Oh come, let us worship and bow down;

            Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. 

Bowing down and kneeling before our Lord should be a daily habit for all of us. He is God and worthy of our worship. For the follower of Jesus we do it out of love, respect, awe, and worship of the ONE who died for us to provide us salvation and all the blessings of life. It is an honor to do so! We love our King!

However one day all will bow and recognize Jesus our King:

Philippians 2:10 

10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth,

We can kneel because we know the Lord and worship Him or in the end we will kneel and recognize Jesus as King our of our ignorance. Be wise and surrender to the King now! Make it a daily habit to worship King Jesus!

Tom

Tend to your business.

Danny Gokey - Love God Love People (Lyric Video) ft. Michael W. Smith

What the followers of Jesus are called to do!!!

Ingredient to happiness.

In God's infinite wisdom he gives us the ingredient to happiness in this live we live on this side of heaven:

Proverbs 16:20 

20 He who heeds the word wisely will find good,
And whoever trusts in the Lord, happy is he.

1. Heed the Word! Listen and obey God's Word! Plain and simple. Hard to be a follower of Jesus and not read and obey your bible.

2. Trust in the Lord. The Lord knows best so do what He says and trust Him!

Want to be happy? Do what God tells us after all He is God and He knows what He is doing!

Tom

Do good!

 As a follower of Jesus the Holy Spirit guides us if we will listen to him and follow His leading. often He will tell us to do something good. For example He may say to you as you see an obvious poor person who needs something to eat to buy something and give it to them. At that point this verse needs to come to mind:

James 4:17 

17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

If God tells us to do something then we need to do it no questions asked! There are a million situations we could mention, we need to be tuned in and listening for God to speak and then obey. It can be something as simple as a kind word. When we follow the leading of the Holy Spirit we show folks Jesus by our example and  you never know where that may lead in the life of someone we are blessed to minister too!!!

Do good!!!

Tom

What are you going to do today?

 We have a choice today on our attitude and actions. Many situations you will walk through some good some not so good. How are you going to react? You can make the choice before anything even happens. God tells us the attitude we are to have in His Word:

1 Corinthians 16:14 

14 Let all that you do be done with love. 

Whether good or bad we are to react with love. In all situations look to how Jesus reacted and do the same for He is our example. It is easy to do in the good situations but oh how challenging it is when hard or bad things happen. Don't miss that word "all"! In all that we do we are to do it in love so let us be obedient to the Word of God and do it with love. Even a bad situation can change when the other side sees the love pouring out from you!

So what are you going to do today love or hate?

Tom

God knows your name!

 Have you ever sat back ad thought about how personal God is??? The God who created everything and is all powerful knows your name and every detail of your life. Many times in scripture God called out people by their name:

He called out to the child Samuel: 1 Sam. 3:10

He called out to Mary seeking Him at the Resurrection: John 20:16

He called out to Saul on Damascus road: Acts 9:4

and we could go on! He not only know our names but He knows every hair on your head!

Matthew 10:30 

30 But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

Think on that today....God knows you and then ask yourself do I know God??? He desires a relationship with us! all we have to do is seek Him....He is waiting on you to call out His name!!!

Tom

Jesus brings peace!

Matthew West - The God Who Stays (Official Music Video)

Thankful for a God that never leaves nor forsakes!

Who is blesssing who?

 We pray all the time for the Lord to bless us and He does more than we can fathom. Every breath is a blessing, every meal we eat, our children, opportunity to be saved, a relationship with God, and the list can go on for days. But here is a question....are you blessing God?

Psalm 103:1

103 Bless the Lord, O my soul;
And all that is within me, bless His holy name!

You may ask how do I bless God?

1. Follow Jesus by putting your faith in Him as your Lord and Savior.

2. Obey God's Word

3. Read God's love letter to us....the bible.

4. Talk with God in prayer often...He desires a relationship with you.

5. Love others even those you don't care for.

6. Meet the needs of those who are in need.

If you do these six things consistently you will be a blessing to God and that is what the true follower of Jesus tries to do....glorify His Name!

Tom

How ya walking today?

 There are two kinds of walks in this world. There is the walk of the world in which one does what ever they want and follow the ways of the world which is ruled by Satan. Then there is the walk of those who follow Jesus and do what His Word says and follow the example He set.

1 John 2:6 

6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

If you abide in Jesus which means you put your faith in Him as Lord and Savior then your way of life in this world should be noticeably different and it should be conforming to the way Jesus walked! This may be a good indicator of salvation in your life....no change equal no Jesus!

Walk like Jesus today!!!

Tom

Who are you bowed down to?

We have one Lord, one Savior, one King, on God who ,loves us deeply. God is the only who worthy of our bowing down to and thus Jesus is the only ONE worthy of our worship and praise!!!

Psalm 145:14 New King James Version (NKJV)

14 The Lord upholds all who fall,

           And raises up all who are bowed down. 

I am so thankful the Lord is always there to lift me up when I fall! Thank you Jesus. We all fall because we are all sinners. Jesus died to lift us up out of our sin, He paid the price for each of us if we will just put our faith in Him. We fall other ways to such as in our burdens, in sorrow, or in the loss of loved ones among many other ways. Jesus never leaves us and is always there to lift us up and comfort us. That is the love of our Savior. 

When I see the part of the verse of "being raised up all who are bowed", I can picture in my mind Jesus reaching down and raising our chin with His hand, looking into our eyes to tell us He loves us as we have surrendered and humbled ourselves before Him. That is the key to it all....Jesus loves us!!!!

Again we are to bow to ONLY ONE....Jesus!!! Are you? Or are you bowed down to the world and what they say? Only two choices....bow wisely!

Tom

Seek!!!

 It is Monday. Many schools are starting back so kids are seeking an education. Many are headed to work seeking a paycheck. Some may be on vacation seeking relaxation. What are you seeking on this Monday?

This is what God's Word reminds us to be seeking daily:

Psalm 105:4 

4 Seek the Lord and His strength;
Seek His face evermore!

Seek the Lord!!! A relationship with Him is the most important relationship in life! 

Seek His strength!!! We need His power to face the day, for we are weak with out Him!

Seek His Face!!! Those who love Jesus want to see Him face to face so we follow and obey Him so we may do so!

Seek God today and everyday for He is most important and loves you more than anything!

Tom

Where is Jesus?

Music Friday-Matt Maher - Alive & Breathing feat. Elle Limebear (Lyric Video)

If you are alive and breathing....praise the Lord!!!! Amen and amen!

One thing needed!

 

Read this:

Luke 10:41-42 

41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”

This is an important lesson for us to learn and remember! Martha was busy fixing dinner and Mary was at the feet of Jesus. Martha was complaining about Mary not helping, Jesus says there is only one thing needed....worship of Him! Everything else is on down the list!!!! What a Word for us! What does your life look like right now? Busy, busy, busy but no time for Jesus! We have it backward....Jesus must always come first! As the verses says 'good part, which will not be taken away" is Jesus and once you have put your faith in Him, He will never be taken away, but every other thing in this world will be!!!

So are you focused on the right thing needed???? You need Jesus nothing else!

Tom

Are you listening?

 Look what God told Ezekiel:

Ezekiel 3:10 

10 Moreover He said to me: “Son of man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you, and hear with your ears.

1. Take my Word into your heart.

2. Hear!

Are we listening to God? Seriously? It is one thing to read God's word and to pray but it is quite another thing to REALLY take God's Word into our hearts and let God speak to us in prayer. We must be intentional in hearing God. So how do we do that?

1. Get in a place of no distractions! Leave phone out of room!

2. Open your bible and read slowly.

3. Pray...honest prayer. God knows whats on your heart anyway!

4. Confess sin. We are told to do this so do it. If you don't it hinders your relationship with God.

5. Listen! Take time just to sit still and let God speak to you through the Holy Spirit. This is very important....many times we want to say what we want to say and end our time with God and never let Him speak to us!!!! So we miss what God wants to say! Do what the Word says "Hear"!!

So are you listening???

Tom

Be like God

 We are told in our conduct to be like God:

1 Peter 1:15 

15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct,

The word holy has four basic meanings:

1. set apart

2. perfect, spiritually pure

3. evokes awe

4. filled with super human power, potential fatal power

So when God calls us to be holy, He is calling us to be set apart from the world and to be perfect or spiritually pure. This is what we are to strive for everyday following Jesus. Occasionally God fills a follower with superhuman power through the Holy Spirit to accomplish a work for Him but generally definition 3 and 4 belong to God only. 

So as we go through the day let us answer the call and be holy in everything we do and bring glory to our awesome God!

Tom

In His Steps

 I just finished reading an online book that is a classic in Christianity called In His Steps by Charles Sheldon. Wow! It will make you really do some thinking about your walk with God! It appears it is based in the time period of the early 1900's. The main point of the book is how would life be if we asked what would Jesus do before everything we do....everything and then do as Jesus would do. as you will find in the book life for the follower of Jesus would most likely be much different than we are living right now!

I challenge you to read it and think deeply on it. I will include the link on this post.

May we walk in His (Jesus) steps every second of our lives!

Psalm 85:13 

13 Righteousness shall go before him; and shall set us in the way of his steps.

http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4540/4540-h/4540-h.htm

Tom

I seen it, believe it!

 https://youtu.be/ThhK_EilJYs

Music Friday-Selah - "I Got Saved" (Official Lyric Video)

Hard to beat this one---turn it up and praise the Lord!!!

Have you lost your life?

For those who claim to follow Jesus these are some important words from Jesus:

Matthew 16:24-25 

24 Then Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. 25 For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it.

When we ask Jesus to be Lord and Savior of our lives there are some major changes that must take place that Jesus tells us about here:

1. Deny self-you will no longer do things that are displeasing to our Lord thus we will deny ourselves things that do not glorify God.

2. Take up his cross-the cross for Jesus was doing the Father's will which was dying for the sins of the world. Our cross is doing the will of God  no matter the cost to our lives. 

3. Follow Jesus-As followers Jesus will take us to fun filled places but He will also take us places that we do not want to go all for the purpose of bringing Him glory. Example of fun place would be when he took disciples to the wedding feast. Example of place we do not want to go all the disciples except one ended up being killed for their following Jesus and were abused and arrested many times. If you were to talk to one of them today and ask them if they would do it again no doubt they would say absolutely!

4. Lose your life and give it to Jesus---if you are a follower of Jesus your life belongs to Him not you! 

1 Corinthians 6:20 

20 For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body [a]and in your spirit, which are God’s.

So we no longer live like we want...we live the way Jesus wants us to live our lives and the only way to know that is by knowing His Word and spending time with Him in prayer.

Honestly answer this question....Have I truly lost my life to Jesus or am I still controlling it?

Don't forget the first part of what Jesus said...."if anyone desires to come after Me". It is not a choice for us it is a command!

Tom

Do you want to be the greatest?

Do you want to be the greatest? Our society teaches us to try and be the greatest at something. Be number 1 at all costs. What does God tell us about being the greatest in the Kingdom???

Mark 9:33-35 

Who Is the Greatest?

33 Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, “What was it you [a]disputed among yourselves on the road?” 34 But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. 35 And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all.”

God tells us His idea of being the greatest is much different than what the world calls for! To be called great in the Kingdom of God we must put everyone else first and serve all people! WOW! That is exactly what Jesus did while He was on this earth and set the example for us.

Still want to be the greatest? Many folks will walk away from this teaching of Jesus because they want the attention and don't want to serve all people! Don't let that be me and you! Let us step up and be like Jesus and humble ourselves and put others first and serve all so we may lead them to Jesus!

Tom

P.S. The disciples asking Jesus which of them is the greatest has always struck me at strange...of all things to ask Jesus that doesn't seem like something you would ask Him!

Rejoice!

Look at what Paul tells us:

Philippians 4:4 

4 Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!

There are days where rejoicing is easy to do and then there are days where it is very difficult to rejoice due to circumstances in life but Paul tells us to rejoice ALWAYS!!!! We may think well Paul must have had an easy life to say such a thing. HA! Far from it. Matter of fact as He wrote this we are told he was in prison! Paul had been beaten many times even to the point of death. Paul had been ship wrecked. Paul had been arrested several times. As far as society was concerned it seems not many folks liked Paul. BUT Paul says rejoice! Why?

Our rejoicing is not tied to our current circumstance! Look again at the verse....Paul says Rejoice always IN THE LORD. That is the key! We rejoice because we are in Jesus! He saved us, He redeemed us, He loves us, He is never gonna leave us, and one day soon He is coming back for us!!!! This is why we rejoice always!!!! Then we tell others why we rejoice!

So brothers and sisters rejoice in the Lord for He is good!

Tom

How to prosper God's way.

All followers of Jesus should want to prosper the way God wants us to prosper for then we know we are doing it the right way. God's Word in forms us how to do this:

Proverbs 16:20 

20 Whoever gives heed to instruction prospers,
    and blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord.

How do we prosper? By listening to instruction. here does the child of God get His instruction? From God's Word! You must be in God's Word often to truly prosper! Prospering according to God's Word you will find it is not always monetary. It is loving others, sharing the gospel, and leading others to Jesus as well as growing in our own faith as to growing closer in our relationship to Jesus.

Trusting the Lord is the key to prospering as it brings the blessings!

Tom

Here is your sign!