One of my new year’s resolutions is to refocus on Scripture memory. In the past I made verse cards which can take a bit of time to do. I recently found a website that makes verse cards for you. All you do is put the references in, choose your preferences, click the button, and print your cards. Check it out at http://www.mcscott.org/index.html
Category: PASSION Reflections
God Our Creator
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.
– Genesis 1:1
Consider the creative ability required for God to create our world. He creates thousands of different animals in all shapes and sizes. He creates giraffes, elephants, rhinos, hippos, hamsters, penguins, eagles, robins, whales, sharks, shrimp, lobsters, and so much more. He creates thousands of different types of plants. Some plants bear fruits of various color, shape, and taste. Many plants have flowers in incredible variety. He creates different environments on the earth – deserts, forests, prairies, mountains, oceans, and more. He fills space with stars and planets of incredible variety. What creativity to make all of this!
Consider the wisdom and knowledge required for God to create our world. What he designs must actually function. Animals must move and breathe and eat and multiply. God must come up with practical things like hearts, lungs, livers, spinal cords, and so much more. All of this made up of cells, made up of atoms, made up of…. And then there are plants which need to grow and bear fruit and form seeds. And all these plants and animals have to fit together in their habitat. And the earth has to be just the right distance from the sun. And, and, and…. We have spent several thousand years trying to figure out how our world works. But God knows it all. What wisdom and knowledge to make all of this!
Consider the power required for God to create our world. There is nothing, and with a word God creates something. With a word, he makes planets and stars and plants and animals. With a word. What authority! What power! Ponder the power required to make this vast universe. And God does it all by simply speaking it into existence. What power to make all of this!
This is our Creator. This is our God.
Oh come, let us worship and bow down;
let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
– Psalm 95:6
Habits for Growth in 2012
In response to God’s grace and by His grace:
Which habits are you already practicing that you will continue?
Which habit are you already doing that you will seek to enhance? How?
Which habit will you seek to begin this year?
Some Habits
- Daily time with God in His Word and prayer
- Read through the New Testament
- Read through the Bible
- Regular Scripture memory
- Join a Sunday School class or small group Bible study
- Greater commitment to prayer
- Regularly attend Prayer Meetings
- Closer fellowship with other believers
- Join a Bible-believing, gospel-preaching church
- Actively seek ways to encourage others
- Serve in some church ministry
- Better stewardship of time
- Better stewardship of money
- Tithe
- Personal evangelism
- Get involved in church outreaches
What Are You Seeking?
What are you seeking?
This is Jesus’ question to two of John the Baptist’s disciples. It is also an important question for us to ponder as we end this year and begin a new year.
The answer to the question determines how we lived in 2011.
The answer determines how we will live in 2012.
The answer tells us what we worship, what we desire.
It reveals idols in our hearts. It shows how much we love God.
So as you evaluate the past year and look to the next, ask yourself the question:
What are you seeking?
Beyond Grateful Hearts
In Luke 17:11-19, ten lepers come to Jesus to be healed. Jesus tells them to go and show themesleves to the priests. As they go, all ten are healed. One turned back and “fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks.”
Were the other nine glad to be healed? Undoubtedly they were! Leprosy was a horrible disease, and made one an outcast of society. Certainly they were happy to be healed. You might say they were thankful, that they had grateful hearts. But they never came back to give thanks.
Many in America this week, will celebrate Thanksgiving. They will have grateful hearts as they think of the good things in their lives. But they will never come to the Lord who gave them every good thing, and give thanks to him.
As Christians, we too can fail to give thanks. God answers a prayer, and we are very happy about it. But we forget to thank the Lord.
This week and every day, may God help us to not only have grateful hearts like the nine, but to return to the Lord and give thanks to him.
Trust, Blessing, and Prayer
Yesterday I asked two questions:
Where are you placing your trust?
Where are you seeking your blessing?
As I have been thinking about this, I would suggest that our prayer lives help us answer these questions. If we trust in God in the midst of trials, we will look to him in prayer for those trials. If we seek God for blessings, we will look to him in prayer for those blessings. The more we trust God, the more we will pray. The more we seek our blessings from him, the more we will pray.
On the other hand, if our prayer lives are small, I suspect our trust in God is likewise small. If we pray only a little, we are seeking God for blessings only a little. A small prayer life suggests that we may be trusting in something else, that we are seeking blessings somewhere else, that we are looking to an idol.
What does your prayer life reveal about you?
Two Necessary Ingredients for Prayer
The end of all things is at hand;
therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers.
– 1 Peter 4:7
This verse suggests two necessary ingredients for prayer.
First, we must be self-controlled. We must exercise the self-control to manage our time in such a way that we make much time for prayer. Projects, chores, and obligations call to us constantly. We have so much to do! Only with self-control, will we take the time to pray.
Second, we need to be sober-minded. We need to have clear minds to see things as they are. The end is near. Christ is coming back. Some things have greater priority than others in our limited time. What is more, we can do nothing on our own. All those projects, chores, and obligations require God’s blessing, God’s enablement, God’s strength. When we soberly recognize our necessary priorities and our need for help in all we do, we will take time to pray.
Whose Glory?
Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory,
for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!
– Psalm 115:1
Whose glory are you seeking?
Loving the Lost
You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
– Matthew 22:39
If we love our neighbor in this way,
we will want them to know Jesus as we do.
We will care about their spiritual condition.
For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.
Luke 19:10
Jesus sought the lost.
He died to save the lost.
As we follow Jesus, we will share his heart.
We too will seek out the lost that they might be saved.
We will follow Christ’s call:
Go therefore and make disciples of all nations.
Matthew 28:19
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem
and in all Judea and Samaria,
and to the end of the earth.
Acts 1:8
We do this not in our strength
but in the strength of the Spirit.
We begin where we live
and move out from there.
There are countless millions who need a Savior.
The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;
therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest
to send out laborers into his harvest.
– Matthew 9:37-38
So let us pray.
And let us go.
With the heart of Christ.
With the power of the Spirit.
Father, grant us a growing burden for the lost.
Help us to seek opportunities to share our faith,
and use those opportunities we find.
May the gospel spread in our
families
places of employment
schools
neighborhoods
communities
and throughout the world
for your glory! Amen.
Loving Christ’s Church
How lovely is your dwelling place, O LORD of hosts!
My soul longs, yes, faints for the courts of the LORD;
my heart and flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home,
and the swallow a nest for herself,
where she may lay her young,
at your altars, O LORD of hosts,
my King and my God.
Blessed are those who dwell in your house,
ever singing your praise!
– Psalm 84:1-4
May we too desire to gather with God’s people as his temple
to praise the living God, to rejoice in his name.
May we
long
faint
hunger
thirst
to come together into his presence!
And they devoted themselves to
the apostles’ teaching
and the fellowship,
to the breaking of bread
and the prayers.
– Acts 2:42
This was not an after-thought
an “if we have time”
an “if there is nothing else going on”
a Sunday morning only affair.
No, they
devoted
committed
prioritized
these four things.
It was central to their lives.
It was an important part of their new lives in Christ.
Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!
– Psalm 80:19
Restore us again, O God of our salvation,
and put away your indignation toward us!
Will you be angry with us forever?
Will you prolong your anger to all generations?
Will you not revive us again,
that your people may rejoice in you?
Show us your steadfast love, O LORD,
and grant us your salvation.
– Psalm 85:4-7
May we join the psalmists in their cry
for restoration and revival.
May we pray for his love and grace
to be poured out upon us
that we might be saved from our lukewarmness
and find all our joy in Him.
Father, revive your people.
Let us rejoice in you.
Let us delight in gathering together in your presence.
Let us devote ourselves to your church.
Restore us, O LORD God of hosts!
Let your face shine, that we may be saved!
Amen.
Brian J. Mikul 