Today I started posting on Instagram a short prayer to go along with the Scripture focus on my heart for the day. Feel free to join me in applying God’s Word and praying it back to our Good, Good Father. Here’s today’s post:
Today’s #instaprayer is inspired by James 2:1-4. “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, ‘You sit here in a good place,’ while you say to the poor man, ‘You stand over there,’ or, ‘Sit down at my feet,’ have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?”
Category / Personal Growth
Our Manipulation vs. God’s Provision
“What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.” – James 4:1-3
“Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, ‘I will never leave you nor forsake you.'” – Hebrews 13:5
Place of Safety
“Seek Ye First….”
More #EyeOpening reading from the YouVersion #BibleApp: #Radical by David Platt. Reminds me of something Pastor Derrick Golden said during lasts week incredible time of ministry at Amazing Church: “It’s not about the cars”. All this is helping me get focused on #GodsKingdom rather than on what #OurCulture teaches us it looks like to be successful.
“Don’t worry and say, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ That’s what those people who don’t know God are always thinking about. Don’t worry, because your Father in heaven knows that you need all these things. What you should want most is God’s kingdom and doing what he wants you to do. Then he will give you all these other things you need.” – Matthew 6:31-33 ERV
#SeekingFirstTheKingdomOfGod
The Gift of Tears
God collects the tears of the hurting (see Psalm 56:8) and weeps with those who weep (see John 11:33-35). And nothing is quite as beautiful as when His people do the same….. very rare and completely counter-cultural in a society that avoids pain and idolizes comfort…. but beautiful. May we have our #FathersHeart toward the hurting. Sometimes it is OK to weep with them and be present in their pain rather than sing the same old #PressOnAndBeStrong song.
Your POWER is in Your REACTION
“What ________ (he, she, they, I) did ruined my day!” Nope. It doesn’t have to go like that! The reaction you CHOOSE can negate the negative impact and even turn things around to have a positive one.
Hope….
Just in Case Anyone Else Needs a #PerspectiveReset
When it feels like people are asking more than you have after you have already given so much, God will empower you to give more than you thought was possible while blessing you to overflow. Rest in HIM and HiS example and you’ll realize no one can ever demand of you more than HE has already given. When I need to regain perspective about how others treat me or how I treat others, Philippians 2 is my “go to” chapter of the Bible when I find my attitude being pulled in the wrong direction. It’s like a #PerspectiveResetButton.
#JustBE
#AudienceOfOne
Authenticity can help you make better decisions.
Ragamuffin Oasis: Finding Our Places to Just Be 