"You didn't choose me, I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask for, using my name." (John 15:16)
My Princess, I chose you before the foundation of the earth to be My princess. You are royalty even when you don't feel like a princess. I will wait for you until you are ready to start living the amazing plans I have for you. I know you don't know where to begin or how to become what I've called you to be, so let Me teach you day by day. Start by recognizing who I am: King of kings and Lord of lords. The Lover of your soul. When the two of us meet alone together every day, I will show you how to let go of the things in your life that are holding you back from the blessing I want to give you. Remember, My child, just as I have chosen you, I have given you a choice to represent Me to the world. If you are willing, I am here to give you all you need to complete your calling.
Love, Your King and Lord who chose you
Today's reading is taken from a series of love letters from the book "His Princess: Love Letters from Your King." Let me start by saying how much I love this book! The reason I love this book so much is because it's so personal. It's like God himself wrote this letter just for me and came down himself to deliver it. God has a way of knowing exactly what we need in that very precise moment. Lately, I've been pondering on God's purpose for my life and what my calling in Him might be. It is SO refreshing to know that even before a thought has crossed my mind He already knows it. He knows my fears as well as my dreams. He knows my weaknesses and also my strengths, my needs, my goals and my uncertainties. He knows it ALL. And even when there are moments when we ourselves may be unsure, when we may not understand His will and when we may not have the words to pray to our Father, He already knows. Romans 8:26-28 says, "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. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose." I rejoice in knowing that God has chosen me. He chose me before the foundation of the earth. He already had a purpose. He has a purpose! I rejoice in the fact that HE knows ME more than I do myself. He knows my heart and he also knows what I need. We may already have plans mapped out for us, but praise God that His ways are higher than ours! "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9). These were the verses that came to mind while reading this beautiful love letter. "For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:11-13). Thank you Lord for your perfect ways! I pray that you give me a willing heart and a submissive spirit. I pray that my love and trust for you grow more each and every day. That when the time comes I may be a willing servant and like your prophet Isaiah I, too, may say, "Here I am! Send me."
The first time I ever heard this song was last month at a Casting Crowns concert. It brought tears to my eyes and had a great impact on me. Recently, God has brought this song back to my memory. Only He knows why? Anyways, this song is the story of Peter. The reason why I love this song is because I can relate so much to it. I think we all can. Like you may know, Peter was one of the disciples of Jesus. He was a follower of Christ. Anywhere Jesus went Peter went. He witnessed many of His miracles. Peter loved the Lord very much, but he had many flaws. I just love the story of Peter because we are able to see how flawed he was and how God had to work on him. He was very much human with human-like traits. Just like us he had many weaknesses. He wasn't perfect. God had to mold him and take him through many trials. Throughout his life we are able to see a transformation in him. We first know him as a simple fisherman. Then, he becomes Peter, the doubter. After that, we see him deny Jesus. One thing though, despite all his flaws, he loved Jesus very much. So much that he was willing to lay down his life for Jesus and ultimately died because of Christ. Like Peter, there has been many times where I've felt like I have failed Jesus, where I've felt so unworthy of His love. But then I'm reminded that whenever I feel like I have failed, I can try again and again. His mercies are new every morning. I'm reminded that through my own strength and will I can not make it and that I don't have to overcome anything alone. It is through Him that we are overcomers. It is through Him that we can do ALL things. I'm reminded that His blood is more than sufficient. He paid the price. I'm reminded that I'm worthy of His love...So let's not dwell on the past but live in the present. Like the Apostle Paul said, forgetting what lies behind and straining towards what is ahead, we must press on towards our goal.
"Because Noah obeyed god, He saved his family and made him a promise: the rainbow is the sign of this promise. Every time you see a rainbow let it remind you that God always keeps His promises.
What I most appreciated from today's reading is that God always keeps His promises. How many times have people failed us with their empty promises or how many times have we failed others or even God with our broken promises? We are humans. We are imperfect. The only perfect one is called Jesus. He will never fail. He remains faithful. I like the fact that God did not only make a promise to Noah, but he also gave him a sign: a rainbow of promise. It's as if God was saying you may forget the promise I make you, but I will never forget; therefore, I give you a sign to remind you of my covenant with you. Today, we can rejoice in the fact that whatever our situation God has thousands of promises in his Word for his children. He has promised to never forsake us. He has promised to give us strength. He has promised to be with us all of the days of our lives. We can rest in his promises. We must trust the Lord. He has never broken any promises and he won't start now. We must hold on to His promises.
"God gave Noah an impossible task-to put a pair of every animal inside the ark. And Noah did exactly what God asked. When God gives you an impossible task He will help you to make it possible. You only need to obey and trust Him."
I really enjoyed today's reading. Throughout the first few chapters of Genesis we see a list of catastrophes that stem from disobedience. It was because of disobedience that mankind falls into sin. We then see the consequences of sin--death, destruction, violence, shame, guilt, separation from God, and the list goes on. All of this started from a simple act of disobedience. Romans 5:19 tells us, "For just as through the disobedience of the one man the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous." That one man that disobeyed was the first couple in the Garden of Eden. And that one man who made us righteous through his obedience was our Lord Jesus. The focus of today's reading is the importance of obedience and the power it can have on many. Obedience has always been important to God. Ever since the beginning. It is required of us as children of God. Why is obedience so important to God? God has a plan for us. He has a perfect will for his children just like he had a perfect will for Adam and Eve. His will was for Adam and Eve to eat from the tree of life so that we would live forever in communion with God where sin, suffering, and death would have no part. However, man disobeyed and that brought God to remap His will for us. God had to prepare the perfect sacrifice to redeem mankind. He gave his one and only son to save the world from condemnation. As his children, God wants us to trust him and trust his will just like we trust our fathers here on Earth because we know that they only want the best for us. Likewise, God knows us the best and wants the best for us. In order for God to carry out His perfect will for us, we must obey and trust him. After the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, things just started to go downhill. Sin had entered the world which gave way to violence, destruction and death. Man turned his face from God. They went after the desires of their flesh and the worship to the one true God ceased. This deeply saddened and also enraged God who decided to wipeout mankind off the face of Earth. However, God always has a separate holy remnant for him. In the middle of all the violence and corruption, God had his eyes on one man and his family. That man was Noah. Noah was a righteous man who found favor in the eyes of the Lord. God spoke to Noah to build an ark to save himself, his family and the animals. Hebrews 11:7 tell us that "by faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household." Noah could have easily disobeyed God. Up until that point it had never rained, so to any man the idea that a flood of waters would cover the earth may have sounded absurd. To any man the idea of building an enormous ark for his family and the animals would have been not ridiculous but impossible. However, not only did Noah believed God but he also obeyed him. In doing this he was able to save his household. God takes obedience very seriously. Obedience is very pleasing in the eyes of the Lord. 1 Samuel 15:22 says, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams." Not only is our obedience great delight to our Lord, but it is the true sign of our love for God. How can we show God that we love him? By obeying him. Jesus said, "if you love me, you will obey what I command" (John 14:15). "And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands" (2 John 1:6). If we love God we must obey him. Obeying him includes trusting him. Sometimes we may feel that what God wants or asks of us is impossible, but we must remember one thing--with man things may be impossible, but with God ALL things are possible (Matthew 19:26). Praise God!!
When reading today's passage the first question that came into my mind was, why did God accept Abel's offering but not Cain's? The bible says that Cain presented some of his crops as a gift to the Lord. Abel also brought a gift. He presented the Lord with the best of the firstborn lambs from his flock. The keywords here are "best" and "firstborn." It is important to note that while Cain was a worker of the ground, Abel was a keeper of sheep or a shepherd. As I was reading I tried to think of the job of a shepherd. A shepherd tends, herds, feeds, or guards his sheep. A shepherd is there to protect his sheep from any harm. I can safely assume that Abel cared a lot for his sheep. He had seen them grow and would risk his life to protect them. He had nursed his lambs into sheep. Yet Abel decided to sacrifice not only his best sheep but the firstborn of his flock. Why did Abel choose from the firstborn of his flock? There is something special about the firstborn. I can imagine that Abel took great pride in the very firstborn sheep. It held a special place in his heart. It represented the pay for his hard work, the fruit of his labor and the promise and hope that there were more to come. For Abel it was very important to give the best to the Lord. That's why it's called a sacrifice. Abel gave God something of great value to him for the sake of something more important or worthy. Abel had a grateful heart and he wanted to please his Lord. You can see this in his offering. He have God the best. He gave God the fat portion of his sheep. Are we giving God our best or are we giving him our leftovers? Where is our heart? Is God our number one priority? What do we have to offer to our Lord? What does God want from us? Do we yearn to please the Lord as much as Abel did? As I was reading, all of these questions came to mind. God brought me to analyze my spiritual life and whether what I have to offer to the Lord is pleasing in his eyes. I pray that my offering can be like Abel's--pleasing in the eyes of my Lord. The sacrifice seen in this chapter of the bible comes to symbolize the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus. Jesus was that perfect and firstborn lamb. The father gave the best he had for us, his one and only son Jesus. Jesus had no sin or blemish or flaw. He was and is perfect! Thank you father for that perfect sacrifice! The title for today's reading is "Violence Enters the World." Ever since the first man and woman sinned, we were all under sin. We were ruled by sin and were subject to sin. We see this in this chapter with the first murder registered in the bible. The Lord accepted Abel and his gift but he did not accept Cain and his gift. The bible says that this made Cain very angry. This made me stop and think of the dangers of letting anger seep into our hearts. Anger is a very strong emotion that can easily take control of our lives and make us say and do things that we may later regret. However, we can say that to a certain degree anger is normal. Haven't we all got angry at one point? Even Jesus got angry when he cleared the temple of the money exchangers. The problem is not the emotion, but the action we may make based on anger. We must not let anger control our lives. In this situation Jesus was right to be angry. His anger was not destructive but righteous. He had control of his anger and was not targeted towards one person. When Jesus has shown his anger it was towards sinful behavior and injustice. On the other hand, Cain was angry at his brother for the wrong reasons. His anger was destructive, which led to sin. Cain dwelled on that negative emotion and let it rule his life. He gave way for the Enemy. In verse 7 we see that God tries to warn Cain. He tells him, "Why are you angry? You will be accepted if you do what is right. But if you refuse to do what is right, then watch out! Sin is crouching at the door, eager to control you. But you must subdue it and be its master." We must control anger and not let it control us. It is no wonder that his Word tell us, "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, and do not give the devil a foothold" (Ephesians 4:26). James 1:19-20 also tells us, "everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, for man's anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires."
"God never lets sin go unpunished. He punished Adam and Eve severely for their disobedience. However, God promised that one day Someone will come to undo the work of Satan and to bring people back to God again."
For today's reading I will focus on Genesis 3:15. This is where we see the first promise of redemption. Praise God! Romans 3:23-25 states, "for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood--to be received by faith. He did this to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished." Man sinned in the Garden of Eden. The wage for sin was death. Because of one man, sin entered the world which included separation between man and God. Because of sin we were destined for eternal condemnation (death). But, "God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life" (John 3:16). I don't know about you, but I rejoice in the fact that we not only have life but eternal life through Christ Jesus. We were the sinners. Only Jesus, the son of God, the only perfect one without blemish or sin could pay the price. He took our place on the cross. For the first time we see that promise of redemption in Genesis 3:15. "I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel." In the midst of this curse we see hope. Even though Adam and Eve had sinned, God promises to redeem them. It's like He was telling Satan, "I won't let you take them from me. They are mine. I am claiming them. You will be her enemy and she will be yours. You will have nothing to do with my children." How awesome is that?! We sinned but God didn't leave us in that state. He had a plan. And that plan was Jesus! It is true that Satan temporarily bruised Jesus. He was only able to bruise his heel. Isaiah 53:5 tell us that "he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed." Jesus had to suffer and pay that price on the cross. Satan thought that it was over. He thought that he had won. However, Jesus makes the greatest comeback ever! Jesus was the one who crushed Satan on the head. He gave him the final blow on the cross! Jesus conquered sin and death! Hallelujah! "O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. But thank God! He gives us victory over sin and death through our Lord Jesus Christ" (1 Corinthians 15:55-57). Thank you Jesus for shedding your precious blood on that cross. You have set us free!
"When the snake tempted Eve, she not only succumbed to temptation, but she also involved Adam. Then sin entered the world and the first people were alienated from God. We still suffer because of the consequences of Eve's wrong decision."
This right here is what we know as the fall of man. From here and on all of our problems began. Adam and Eve sinned, therefore we all were constituted sinners. Up until that point, man had an intimate and personal connection to God. Adam would speak to God just like we speak to a friend. However, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, sin separated man from God. Man no longer had this personal and immediate connection to God. But our God Almighty, who knows all, already had a plan to redeem the world. He would send his one and only son Jesus to die for our sins, so that by his blood we would be saved. You see, I use to wonder why God made man if he knew he would fail him? I understand now. God knew Adam and Eve would eat the forbidden fruit. God knows everything. He knew man would sin. He still gave man a free will to choose from right or wrong. God wants people who willingly love and serve him. God is a gentleman. He will not force himself unto us. He is patient and waits for us to turn to him. God had this perfect plan even before the Earth was formed. He had his plan of redemption all thought out. Just like sin entered this world by one man, by one man the world would be saved. That man is Jesus! Praise God! God loved us too much to let us perish. He knew we would fail him in that Garden of Eden, but he still sent his son to die for our sins. He didn't see our sins. He saw the future. He saw us in Christ--what we would become in Christ. He saw the bigger picture. He saw the final outcome. He saw his son Jesus redeeming the entire world from sin and eternal condemnation. All we must do now is believe in Him. When Jesus died in that cross, the veil was torn in two. That wall that was separating us from God was broken. We now have full access to the father! How wonderful! Thank you Jesus!
