Devotions and Scriptures of 2017
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New Life in Christ
Gen. 1:27 "So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God has made it clear that there is santity in human life. Every life has value.
Gen. 2:7 "The Lord formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breathe of life, and the man became a living being.
We a re made in the image of God. This is the first life that God has given us.
He has also given us a second life. The free gift of Salvation. A chance for eternal life.
God loves us, each and everyone of us.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life. "
We have all Sinned...
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
But God has found a way for us to join him in eternity someday. He wants us all to walk on the streets of God, and no have more trials and temptations. To be in his presence..
Romans 6:23 " For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
John 1:12 " But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe in His name."
I Cor. 15:3-4 "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received; that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scripture."
God wants us to come to know him. He wants us to accept his free gift of Salvation, and believe that he is the Lord of Lord, and king of kings. And he came into this world of corruptions and trials so we may have life. He loved us so much. That he found us a way to eternal life.
Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he in Me.
We all may be savaed now!
Romans 10:13 " For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
If you haven't given your life to the Lord, it is time to make this choice. Pray: Dear Jesus I know that I am a sinner, I believe that Lord Jesus Christ died for my sins on the cross and was raised for my justification. I do now receive and confess Him as my personal Savior. Now your new life in Christ begins.
That doesn't mean there wont be trials, and temptations, because we are in a sinful world and there will be. But now you have the assurance you have our Lord and Savior to guide you and help you in your walk with him. He will give you strength to handle each trial that come along. He will comfort you. He loves you. He is your heavenly father.
God tells us in I Thes. 5:17 " Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
This is your new life, your new beginning .. Like a new baby just out of the mothers womb.. You have a new goal. A goal to be strong in your walk with God. And give up all the worldly addictions. Phil. 3:13-14" Brothers, I don not consider myself yet to have take hold of it. But one thing I do; Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Are you ready to make a change. I change that God promises to help us with?
Trials in New Light
I have a bible App that Scripture pops up everyday for me to read and consider how they play into my day.
Today the scripture read "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
James 1:2"
God doesn't put things into our lives only to make us miserable. He puts trials into our lives because he wants to refine us. He wants to make us better. He wants to light the fire under us to have more of a passion for the Lord. When all is well in our lives we become very complacence, we aren't always giving our whole lives over the the Lord. We just bob around in life with the quietness of the water. But with trials God can place new challenges in our lives, new excitement, new fresh love for the Lord. New dimensions beyond what we could ever imagine. Maybe if it is just be able to help others that is a big part. New insights to what others are going through. Give us words to say when only words are needed. Give us compassion for others that we would have never understood before. God lights our fire. So when a trial comes into your life, grab ahold of it and give it to God. Let him work in your life and give you more hope, joy, and love for others. Be discouraged! God is always with you through it all.
By Colleen Rogness
Turning Away From Old Thoughts
If you find yourself without hope and discouragement. Try replacing your old thoughts with empowering new thoughts. Apply into our lives biblical thoughts that will renew your spirit.
1. I was made for more then to be stuck in a vicious cycle of defeat.
"Deut. 2:3 You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn North."
2. When I am considering a compromise , I will think past this moment and ask myself, how will I feel about this choice tomorrow morning. " I Cor. 6:19-20 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you. Whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were brought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
3. When tempted, I will either remove the temptation or remove myself from the situation. " I Cor. 10:13b-14a God is faithful: he will not let you be tempted beyond wen you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. Therefore, my dear Friends, flee.
4. I don't have to worry about letting God down because I was never holding him up; God's grace is sufficient. "
2 Cor. 12:9-10
5. I have boundaries in place not for restriction but rather to define the parameters of my freedom.
" Romans 6:19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. "
Let these statements bump into your new reality and redefine your old pattern of thoughts. And when we change the way we think, we'll be better equipped to change the way we make choices.
New Life in Christ
Gen. 1:27 "So God created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
God has made it clear that there is santity in human life. Every life has value.
Gen. 2:7 "The Lord formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breathe of life, and the man became a living being.
We a re made in the image of God. This is the first life that God has given us.
He has also given us a second life. The free gift of Salvation. A chance for eternal life.
God loves us, each and everyone of us.
John 3:16 "For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believed in him should not perish but have everlasting life. "
We have all Sinned...
Romans 3:23 "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God."
But God has found a way for us to join him in eternity someday. He wants us all to walk on the streets of God, and no have more trials and temptations. To be in his presence..
Romans 6:23 " For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord."
John 1:12 " But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become the children of God, even to those who believe in His name."
I Cor. 15:3-4 "For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received; that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scripture."
God wants us to come to know him. He wants us to accept his free gift of Salvation, and believe that he is the Lord of Lord, and king of kings. And he came into this world of corruptions and trials so we may have life. He loved us so much. That he found us a way to eternal life.
Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock, If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and he in Me.
We all may be savaed now!
Romans 10:13 " For whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved."
If you haven't given your life to the Lord, it is time to make this choice. Pray: Dear Jesus I know that I am a sinner, I believe that Lord Jesus Christ died for my sins on the cross and was raised for my justification. I do now receive and confess Him as my personal Savior. Now your new life in Christ begins.
That doesn't mean there wont be trials, and temptations, because we are in a sinful world and there will be. But now you have the assurance you have our Lord and Savior to guide you and help you in your walk with him. He will give you strength to handle each trial that come along. He will comfort you. He loves you. He is your heavenly father.
God tells us in I Thes. 5:17 " Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
This is your new life, your new beginning .. Like a new baby just out of the mothers womb.. You have a new goal. A goal to be strong in your walk with God. And give up all the worldly addictions. Phil. 3:13-14" Brothers, I don not consider myself yet to have take hold of it. But one thing I do; Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
Are you ready to make a change. I change that God promises to help us with?
Trials in New Light
I have a bible App that Scripture pops up everyday for me to read and consider how they play into my day.
Today the scripture read "Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
James 1:2"
God doesn't put things into our lives only to make us miserable. He puts trials into our lives because he wants to refine us. He wants to make us better. He wants to light the fire under us to have more of a passion for the Lord. When all is well in our lives we become very complacence, we aren't always giving our whole lives over the the Lord. We just bob around in life with the quietness of the water. But with trials God can place new challenges in our lives, new excitement, new fresh love for the Lord. New dimensions beyond what we could ever imagine. Maybe if it is just be able to help others that is a big part. New insights to what others are going through. Give us words to say when only words are needed. Give us compassion for others that we would have never understood before. God lights our fire. So when a trial comes into your life, grab ahold of it and give it to God. Let him work in your life and give you more hope, joy, and love for others. Be discouraged! God is always with you through it all.
By Colleen Rogness
Turning Away From Old Thoughts
If you find yourself without hope and discouragement. Try replacing your old thoughts with empowering new thoughts. Apply into our lives biblical thoughts that will renew your spirit.
1. I was made for more then to be stuck in a vicious cycle of defeat.
"Deut. 2:3 You have circled this mountain long enough. Now turn North."
2. When I am considering a compromise , I will think past this moment and ask myself, how will I feel about this choice tomorrow morning. " I Cor. 6:19-20 Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you. Whom you have received from God? You are not your own, you were brought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
3. When tempted, I will either remove the temptation or remove myself from the situation. " I Cor. 10:13b-14a God is faithful: he will not let you be tempted beyond wen you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it. Therefore, my dear Friends, flee.
4. I don't have to worry about letting God down because I was never holding him up; God's grace is sufficient. "
2 Cor. 12:9-10
5. I have boundaries in place not for restriction but rather to define the parameters of my freedom.
" Romans 6:19 I put this in human terms because you are weak in your natural selves. Just as you used to offer the parts of your body in slavery to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer them in slavery to righteousness leading to holiness. "
Let these statements bump into your new reality and redefine your old pattern of thoughts. And when we change the way we think, we'll be better equipped to change the way we make choices.
Total Trust
There are times in our life where what God tells us to do doesn't make sense. He puts directions in our lives that we say "What Lord? Why do you want me to do that? It doesn't make sense. I think back on a time in my life that God was leading my husband and I to go to Cambodia on a short term mission trip. We would be going half way around the world. We had 4 small children at home. We aren't in the ministry, just ordinary people. My husband farms and has a truck business and I am a nurse and a mother. Why would he ask us to do this? But no matter what we prayed God would tell us "I want you to go and minister to Cambodia. There are millions of people there that need to know the Lord. They need the opportunity to hear about God's saving Grace. And that Jesus loves us, all of us in every nation."
We finally decided we needed to be in God's will, trust him and go where he wanted us to go. He wanted us to say we will go just because you want us to go. We did go for 11 trips to Cambodia. What a blessing this was in our lives. We made many, many new friends, and many people in Cambodia heard about the Lord. God took care of of children at home.He showed us that we were the ones being blessed by the Cambodian people. What a awesome job God called us, normal people to do. It humbles me to know that even if it didn't make sense God was in control and had a plan. A plan to use us.
Open up your heart today. Let God show you what he wants you to do. Follow his plan. And then wait for the blessings to flow upon you.
"Prov. 3:5-6...Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him."
Remember that God deserves our total trust and complete submission, even when it doesn't make sense.
By Colleen Rogness
By Colleen Rogness
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Praise Him ! Praise Him!
Many of us wonder sometimes in our life, what is there to praise God for? We go along in life with one struggle after another. And sometimes it seems like God isn't even there. He is silent in our lives. He is like our breathe in a cold winter day. Just a whisper of him.. Being a Christian doesn't protect us from struggles in our lives. He never promised us a Rose garden. But what he does promise us to always be there with us through the tough times. Psalm 107 describes many of the troubles we face today. We read phrases like "wandered in wastelands, " "hungry", thirsty," "lives that ebbedaway," "trouble,", "distress," and "darkness." The psalmist also reminds us that despite the circumstances we still have reason to praise God. This psalm also includes words, such as "redeemed, enduring love, wonderful deeds, satisfies the thirsty, delivered from their troubles." Words that remind us of God's faithfulness. It is God's faithfulness, then, that inspires our praise.
We can choose to be discouraged, and not trust God. Be negative in all we say or do. Or,
We can choose to praise and thank God. Beginning our prays with Praise and Thanksgiving produces an atmosphere of positive thinking.
"Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever." Psalm 107:1
Praise Him! Praise Him! Jesus our blessed Redeemer!
By Colleen Rogness
