Psalm 23

The Lord is my Shepherd
= that’s Relationship!

I shall not want
= that’s Supply!

He maketh me to lie down in green pastures
= that’s  Rest !

He leads me beside the still waters
= that’s Refreshment!

He restores my soul
= that’s Healing!

He leads me in the paths of righteousness
= that’s Guidance!

For His name sake
= that’s Purpose!

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
= that’s Testing!

I will fear no evil
= that’s Protection!

For You are with me
= that’s Faithfulness!

Your rod and your staff they comfort me
= that’s Discipline!

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies
= that’s Hope!

You anoint my head with oil
= that’s Consecration!

My cup runs over
= that’s Abundance!

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life
= that’s Blessing!

And I will dwell in the house of the Lord
= that’s Security!

Forever
= that’s Eternity!

Face it, the Lord is crazy about you!

What is most valuable, is not what we have in our lives, but WHO we have in our lives!  Do not ask the Lord to Guide your Footsteps if you are not willing to move your Feet at His Pace.

Author – Unknown

FURTHER READING

Psalm 23 Reflection by Kathy Cheek

Psalm 23 by Alec Niemi

Praying the 23rd Psalm

The post PSALM 23 appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“And since, when we were his enemies, we were brought back to God by the death of His Son, what a blessing He must have for us now that we are His friends, and He is living within us!”
Romans 5:10

Marilyn had a very poor self-image. She hated the way she looked and felt that her personality was so bad that she could never expect to have true friends. She was concerned especially about marriage. How could she ever find a man to love her since she was so unattractive (in her thinking).

I was able to help her see how much God loved her, and how great was His blessing for her as a child of God. The supernatural life-style was available to her, and she was the one to determine whether or not she would measure up, as an act of the will by faith, to what God had called and enabled her to be. Her part was simply to trust and obey Him.

With God’s help, she determined to be that kind of person, the kind of person God created her to be.

We who are Christians can see ourselves as God sees us and through the enabling of the Holy Spirit become what we are in His sight. With the eyes of love, He sees us covered with the blood of Christ, which was shed on the cross for our sins, and, as expressed in Hebrews 10, He sees us as holy, righteous and totally forgiven. He holds nothing against us. The penalty for our sins has been paid – once and for all. There is nothing which we can add.

Now we have the privilege of becoming in our experience what we are already in God’s sight.

Bible Reading: Romans 5:11-15

Through the enabling of the Holy Spirit, I will begin to see myself as God sees me: loved, forgiven, holy, righteous, spiritually mature, aggressive and fruitful for the glory of God. Today I will live by faith the supernatural life which is my heritage in Christ.

By Dr. Bill Bright
Used by Permission

Learn more about how to be filled with the Holy Spirit

The post We are His Friends appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“He who sacrifices thank offerings honors Me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.” Psalm 50:23

Giving thanks to God can be a hard thing to do,

….especially when things happen that make us more likely to say, “Why, God?” instead.

Thank offerings come easy some days. The sun shines and we feel the blessing of the Lord. Thanksgiving is our natural response.

On other days, thanksgiving is truly a sacrifice. In the middle of writing this devotional, our home was broken into. Thanksgiving was not my first response. Yet here in this verse, God tells us an amazing truth. He says that when we offer thanks and praise to Him, even when it’s a sacrifice to do so, we honor Him. This prepares the way for Him to work on our behalf. Thanksgiving is actually a door.

I pondered how to thank God in the midst of this violation. I was not thankful for the loss, but I discovered I could be thankful in it. As I intentionally shifted my gaze to God and not to the mess around me, I became aware of being thankful for several things: our personal safety, that certain items were not taken, the immediate help and care from family and friends, and the reminder that God is our Warrior, working, even fighting on our behalf. As a result, God’s peace settled over our hearts and minds and over our home.

Thank You, Lord God, that thanksgiving is so much more than a trite “attitude of gratitude.” Thank You for the truth of Your word that when we do give You our thanks, even when it’s hard to, we honor You and it opens a door for You to work and to bring Your peace and wisdom. Thank You that we can always offer thanksgiving for who You are and all You are to us — even in the midst of challenges. We praise You and ask this in the strong name of Jesus. Amen.

By Gail Rodgers
used by permission

FURTHER READING

Thanksgiving Day Sample Prayers

Thanksgiving Quotes

Let Thanksgiving be the Habit of your Life

The post Thank Offerings appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“I will give thanks to the LORD with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders.  I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.” Psalm 9:1-2

We are given amazing privileges when we trust in Jesus. Recalling these promises is a good way to maintain a thankful heart, even when facing challenges in other areas. Consider four such blessings:

1.    Christ’s gift of salvation. No matter what trial we’re facing, it is microscopic next to the enormity of Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf. The cross was a steep price to pay, but the Savior willingly took our place in order to offer us forgiveness and eternal life.

2.    Assurance of God’s love. The Lord cares for us unconditionally–that is His very character (1 John 4:16). Unfortunately, the storms of life can cause us to question this, but Romans 8:31–39 unequivocally tells us that nothing can separate us from God’s love.

3.    Answered prayer. We have the awesome privilege of talking to the Father about anything burdening us–and He never grows tired of listening to His children. Our omnipotent, omniscient God is not only able to help us in any situation; He also knows the best possible way to do so.

4.    A personalized plan. The Lord has a will, plan, and purpose for our lives that He will accomplish if we obey Him. No one is exempt from adversity, but we can trust God to bring good from everything He permits to come our way.

Hardships, temptations, and tests will touch us all, but the Lord allows difficulty for a reason–even when we don’t understand why (Romans 8:28). Therefore, submit yourself to the Father, thank Him for His wisdom, and be confident that He will accomplish His purposes for you.

By Dr. Charles Stanley
Used by Permission

https://www.intouch.org/

If  you don’t have a relationship with Jesus, you can learn how to start one at this link:
https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws

FURTHER READING

Peace and Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving in Our Hearts

Prayer of Thanksgiving

A Thought about Gratitude

The Cure for Ingratitude

The post Remembering God’s Blessings appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation…” Philippians 4:11,12

“Mom, you find pleasure in the smallest things,” my daughter laughed.

I had just described to her my joy at finding a spider web suspended outside my kitchen window. Raindrops caught in the web shone like beads of crystal in the early morning sunlight. What could be more beautiful?

A sense of wonder at the small things! How we need that today in our world of noise, speed, and consumerism. It’s easy to be sucked into the world’s way and to miss the many little blessings God scatters into each day for us.

Two things that steal my sense of wonder:

—Comparing myself with others who seem to have more of what I want–more book sales, more success in ministry…

—A feeling of entitlement–I deserve more than I’m getting. After all, I have worked very hard and given so much.

Paul could have gone that route. He had worked day and night to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ. He had sacrificed everything: home, family, career, comfort, even a wage. Yet, he was in prison while others were free to preach.

What was his response? “I have learned the secret of being content.”

What was his secret? I think I know: Develop a keen sense of wonder at all that God is doing for you and through you. All the little miracles he is scattering into each day for you. Like a spider web outside the kitchen window.

Today, I encourage you to write down the little blessings that add to the pleasure of your day. See if you can come up with ten. Then share some of them with the rest of us.

Father, I thank you for the surprising ways in which you come to us. Today I want to be alert to the small blessings you’ve planted along my pathway.

by Helen Lescheid
used by permission

FURTHER READING

Contentment by Max Lucado

Secret of Contentment by Phil Ware

The Secret of Contentment by Charles Stanley

Contentment by Idelette McVicker

Contentment and A Broken Ankle by Katherine Kehler

The post A Sense of Wonder appeared first on Thoughts About God.

Lord, May I look to you daily for the filling of your Spirit as you empower me to do your will. 

“Be filled with the Spirit” Ephesians 5:18b

Whenever driving in Oregon, U.S.A, I sit in the car while the gas station attendant comes out to the car and asks, “Fill’er up?” Oregon is one of the few states that does not have a driver pump their own gas. I think it is a treat to have someone else fill up my gas tank.

Wouldn’t it be great if life were the same way? That when peace is needed, it could be poured in. When love is needed, it could be poured in. These are just two of the listed fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 – love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

Interestingly, just before these fruit are listed there is a challenge to be filled with the Holy Spirit.  If God challenges us to do something, then we can know that this is his will and he will make it happen if we ask him.

I have to tell the gas attendant what I need and want at the gas station; the same is true for God. I need to tell him that I want and need him to fill me with his Spirit. What’s even greater is that God already knows exactly what we need and he is ready to give it to us in his perfect timing!

Other things in life will not give me the peace that I want. Not getting drunk with wine or trying to anesthetize from the pain of life. Solutions outside of Christ can only provide temporary relief to the deeper longings within me.

Ask God to fill you with the Spirit each day. As you reflect on the fruit of the Spirit, imagine what it would be like to have any or all of those particular characteristics true of you. Life is challenging, but God wants to fill you up with power from his Spirit.

Lord God, fill me with your Spirit today. I want to experience the power you give and all that you have to offer in life including freedom from the enemy and sin. May I look to you daily for the filling of your Spirit as you empower me to do your will. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Remember that your life is God’s, that he is filling you with his Spirit, and that he is faithful to direct you step-by-step as you obey his will in his strength.

By Jan Stewart
Used by Permission

Further Reading

• Understanding  the Holy Spirit

•  Spiritual Oxygen: Are You Getting Enough?

•  Salvation Explained

The post Fill’er Up appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“And the Lord raised up an adversary against Solomon….”  (1 Kings 11:14).

Read:  1 Kings 11:9-14; Deuteronomy 28:47-50 and 31:15-18; Isaiah 54:11-17.

What is God Saying?

God gives us a choice.  Solomon, wise beyond all of his time, allowed himself to be drawn into folly.  He followed the importunate pleadings of His foreign wives and strayed far from God.  They made it easy but he made the choice.  And whenever we make a choice that interrupts our walk with God, He may send an adversary to bring us back.

How Does This Apply to Us?

When we recognize that all of God’s Providence is filtered through love, we know how to accept and face the adversary which He sends.  It would be sometimes unbearable and beyond explanation if we did not know that the hard times and the obstacles thrown in our path are all because He loves us.

God wants us to stay close to Him and true to Him.

We should remember that even our adversaries are under the control of God.  They can do us no harm.  They can only make us pause to think. They can only force us to remember that God has a better plan in which, over all enemies and against all opposition, we will be and even now are,

“…. more than conquerors through Him who loved us”. (Romans 8:37).

We are fortified as we pray with the knowledge that

‘no weapon that is formed against us shall prosper” (Isaiah 54:17).

Pray With Me

Father, I am glad to own You as the Lord of the way I take.  You are also God over all the obstacles that seem to block that way.  For my good You can either removed the adversary or raise him up.  For Your own good reasons, You can either put him out of the way or in the way.

In love that cares so much and according to wisdom that knows all about me and all that is about me, You can give me freedom or friction, rest or wrestling, leisure or labor.  Help me to trust all the more in Your wise providence because I see it filtered through Your love.

When You raise up the adversary, may I recognize and submit to this as all-seeing love and not as a blind wrath. I ask that You will make the rough places smooth and the crooked paths straight.

I do not ask for steep and thorny ways, but when in Your wisdom I must be guided back to Your high purpose by pressures I would not gladly accept, may I recognize Your Lordship even over my adversaries.

When I find myself in the midst of events I can scarcely understand, may I recognize Your Lordship even over my adversaries.

When I am called upon to bear painful crosses I would never have chosen, may I recognize Your Lordship even over my adversaries.

Because I am saved for all eternity and because You have a perfect plan for my life, adversaries can do me no harm.  They can only turn me to the higher good that You have ordained.  I am a part of Your wholeness in which there can be neither mistake nor imperfection, neither fault nor flaw, neither blame nor blemish.

In the name of Him who has conquered my greatest adversary through His greatest victory, even Jesus Christ.  Amen!

Moving On In The Life Of Prayer

In prayer God prepares a table for us in the presence of our enemies. They may be meant to bring us back to God but they are powerless to do any harm if our trust is in the wisdom, the providence and the invincible power of God.

He is almighty and all-loving.

The power of prayer is to make us calm in the presence of every adversity and confident that all our adversaries are meant to bring us closer to God and to His ideal for our life.

Through all circumstances and in spite of all circumstances, prayer gives us quiet assurance that Christ is still on the throne.

by William S. Stoddard
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

• Brevity of Life
• Keeping Yourself in God’s Love – even during painful times in your life

Learn more about knowing Jesus at: https://thoughtsaboutgod.com/four-laws/

The post Sometimes the Lord Sends an Adversary appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“But thanks be to God! For through what Christ has done, He has triumphed over us so that now wherever we go He uses us to tell others about the Lord and to spread the Gospel like a sweet perfume” 2 Corinthians 2:14

We can certainly learn a lesson from the apostle Paul. He frequently begins a chapter or a verse with a note of praise. To say that he had a thankful spirit would be understating the case. That perhaps is the key to victory in every area of our lives, to begin with thanksgiving.

It is God who leads us to triumph over principalities and powers. And in leading us to triumph, He is then able to use us to tell others of His love and forgiveness through the Lord Jesus. As we rest in His victory and in His command, with its promise of “Lo, I am with you always,” we spread the gospel like a sweet perfume.

In your own home and in your own neighborhood, perhaps, are those who need the sweet perfume of the gospel, that heavenly aroma that comes first from God, then through us as His servants, and finally in the message itself: the good news of sins forgiven and a heavenly home assured.

Around the world, literally, I personally have seen multitudes of men and women, old and young, become new creatures in Christ. The aroma indeed is one of sweet perfume, for tangled lives have become untangled to the glory of God, and joy abounds in hearts and lives where only sadness and despair had been known.

Bible Reading: 2 Corinthians 2:14-17

“Dear Lord, help me to bear a heavenly aroma as I share the sweet perfume of the gospel with others.”

by Dr. Bill Bright
Used by Permission

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RELATED READING

Perfume to God

What’s that Smell?

The Fragrance

The post Like a Sweet Perfume appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“Here I am! I stand at the door and knock.  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelations 3:20

You might be someone who can quote verses from the Bible.  You may even know that “Jesus died to save us from our sins..” But can you recall making a decision to invite Jesus into your heart?

That was Jennifer’s problem. She was a minister’s granddaughter living in a Christian home. So, she considered herself to be a Christian.  But a trip with her church’s high school youth group challenged her ‘faith’.  She learned being reared in a Christian home or related to a minister did not automatically take away her sin.  Jennifer needed to make the decision to choose God’s offer.  And so she did.  One starry night, author Jennifer Thomas invited Jesus to come into her heart.

Friend, are you sure Jesus Christ is in your life?  If not, make sure by inviting Him in right now.

by Vonette Bright
used by permission

If you would like to experience the reality of God’s presence in your life and have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ, you can say this prayer:

Lord Jesus, I need You. Thank You for dying on the cross for my sins. I open the door of my life and receive You as my Savior and Lord. Thank You for forgiving my sins and giving me eternal life. Take control of the throne of my life. Make the kind of person You want me to be.

RELATED READING

• How to Be Saved
• How to Be Filled with the Holy Spirit
• How to Be Confident You Will Go to Heaven When You Die
• How to Know I Am Really Saved (short version)
• How to Be Sure You Are a Christian (longer explanation)

The post It’s Not Automatic – Salvation appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“. . . I am gentle and humble . . .” Matthew 11:29

One of the first devotionals in J. I. Packer’s Knowing God Through the Year uses the above verse.

“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

My eyes stopped when I read, “gentle and humble.” I began to consider what I read.

Here is the Creator of all things — the God Almighty, the God who knows everything and is all wise, the One who is holy, the Ruler Supreme — telling us that He is gentle and humble, and that we will find rest for our souls if we come to Him.

You would think He would say, “Hey you, don’t you know how important I am? I don’t have time for you, I am too busy.” But He didn’t. He said, “Come to Me.” Wow!

The greatest leader, and He is gentle and humble. How many people do you know who invite you to come to them? How many leaders do you know, who, after they have become powerful, display gentleness and humility?

And then we must ask ourselves the question, “Am I gentle and humble?” Do people feel peaceful in my company?

A gentle spirit  is something we cannot produce in ourselves.  But the Holy Spirit produces “love, joy, peace, kindness, gentleness” and much more.   Why not ask the Holy Spirit to be in control of your life from now on and He will change your to be the person you want to be.

Here is a prayer for you:

“Dear Father, I need You. I acknowledge that I have been directing my own life and that, as a result, I have sinned against You. I thank You that You have forgiven my sins through Christ’s death on the cross for me. I now invite Christ to again take His place on the throne of my life. Fill me with the Holy Spirit as You commanded me to be filled, and as You promised in Your Word that You would do if I asked in faith. I now thank You for directing my life and for filling me with the Holy Spirit.”

If you prayed this prayer we would love to hear from you . If you would like to know God deeper we can connect you with an email mentor and/or send you some great links.

By Katherine Kehler
Used by Permission

FURTHER READING

God is my Delight

What a Friend we have in Jesus

Father God’s Intimate Love Letter to You

The post Gentle and Humble appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance.”  Psalm 32:7

Thought

Out of the attacks of evil come the victories of God and the victory chants of God’s people. Let’s find our strength and protection in our holy God! Let’s make God our hiding place, our source of security, and our hope in times of trouble.

Prayer

Father, thank you for the confidence I have in your power and your might to deliver me from every attack of the evil one. You are worthy of all glory, honor, power, and praise. In the name of your Son and my Lord, Jesus Christ, I thank you for deliverance and praise you for you might. Amen.

By Phil Ware
Used by Permission

From: Phil’s daily devotionals on https://www.verseoftheday.com

The post Hiding Place appeared first on Thoughts About God.

“The wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace raise a harvest of righteousness.”  James 3:17-18

Thoughts on Today’s verse

Now I know why righteousness is so hard to find: there aren’t many sowers! Heavenly wisdom is full of sacrificial earthly action. That’s a powerful reminder to me that wisdom is not what you know but what you sow!

Prayer:

Holy and Wise Father, thank you for demonstrating purity, peace making, consideration, submissiveness, mercy, good fruit, impartiality, and sincerity in Jesus. I ask for the power and the courage to demonstrate those qualities this week as I seek to live more like him. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

by Phil Ware
Used by Permission

From: https://www.verseoftheday.com

The post Heavenly Wisdom appeared first on Thoughts About God.