Love the LORD

Deuteronomy 6:1-9
vs 5- And thou shalt love the LORD thy GOD with all thine heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.

This Scripture means to me that I should always appreciate GOD and be thankful for all that HE has done. It is important to love the LORD from your heart and not because you feel forced to. Build a personal relationship with HIM. HE is your Heavenly Father and HE loves you.

Don't we love our parents? Shouldn't we then love GOD so much more. Think of all the wonderful things HE has done. Think of all that HE has done for you personally. HE doesn't just love you as part of a collective group, HE loves you personally. And HE responds to your personal needs as an individual.

Ponder HIS greatness. HIS mercy, HIS love, HIS provision, HIS guidance, HIS saving Grace. HE's the One Who's always there. Think of HIS ominpotence, ominscience, omnipresence. Stand in awe of HIS awesome power. HE is GOD ALMIGHTY. HE created the whole universe yet HE still has time to hear our faintest cry. HE listens to our most silent of whispers. Answers our most earnest of prayers. HE is wonderful. Don't you just love HIM. I certainly do!

Going to Higher Ground

Do not limit GOD. Nothing is impossible with GOD. What is impossible for man, GOD can achieve easily. He is All-powerful, all-knowing, all-seeing.

GOD is not limited by human restrictions/limitations or expectations. He created the whole universe just by speaking. HIS Word alone is powerful and mighty. Hebrews 4: 1-13

Prayer changes things. Believe in the One you are praying to. Believe that things will change. When you are tempted to give up/in remember GOD's promises. HE promises that HE will 'never leave you nor forsake you'. To 'make your mountains into molehills.'

When you're feeling down remember these passages of scripture: - 'If GOD is for us who can be against us',  'Greater is HE that is in me than he that is in the world' or 'I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.'
GOD cares for us. He knows when we suffer. He is the dearest, closest, most faithful and truest Friend we will ever know. You can count on Him. No matter what you're going through, GOD's going to bring you through it smiling and standing tall. 'Like silver refined in the fire.' Praise GOD!
My mum once said to me "When you go into trials the fire is hot, but when you come out of it you shine brighter than the sun. You are 'refined as silver when it goes into a furnace'. GOD Himself purifies you and strengthen you through your trials. He is there with you every step of the way. Making sure no real harm comes to you.
HE works to bring out the very best in you. HE wants what's best for you. Jeremiah 29: 11-14

Just remember these things when trouble comes. He knows when we're happy or sad, when we feel lonely or afraid. From our first cry as a new born baby till our dying breath in old age, GOD is there. He loves us. He is always there to strengthen us, support us, encourage us, lead us, guide us, teach us, prosper us. Call on Him. He's just a prayer away.

GOD keeps HIS promises

I HAVE PLACED MY RAINBOW IN THE CLOUDS. IT IS THE SIGN OF MY COVENANT WITH YOU AND WITH ALL THE EARTH. WHEN I SEND CLOUDS OVER THE EARTH, THE RAINBOW WILL APPEAR IN THE CLOUDS,

Unfailing and unconditional love

People are forever changing. They are never the same way each day. One minute they like you and the next minute they don’t.

But GOD is not like that. HE promises that ‘HE will never leave you nor forsake you’, that HE ‘is with you wherever you go’, (Joshua 1:9)

Humility

Greatness is Serving
Mark 10: 35-46

11 Wise Sayings about Humility.

Saint Moses Bookstore

Sayings of the Desert Fathers

1. Be clothed, my brother, in humility at all times because then you will be clothed in Christ who grants it. (Saint John Saba - The Spiritual Elder)
2. Humility is achieved when man thinks that all mankind is superior to him. (St Basil the Great)
3. Repentance lifts up a man. Mourning knocks at heaven's gates. Humility opens it. (St. John Climacus)
4. He who has mastered humility has mastered all virtues. (Saint Maximos)
5. Let us hold fast to humility in every matter and every work. (Saint Moses the Black)
6. The humbleness of the heart comes ahead of all virtues. (Saint Moses the Black)
7. Humility is the home of divinity; God will abide in it wherever it is! (Saint Jacob of Sarog)
8. The armor of humility honors its bearer. (Saint John el-Tabasi)
9. First and foremost, we must lay down a solid foundation of profound humility to serve as the foundation of the tower of virtues that will rise up toward heaven. (Saint John Cassian)
10. But the humble man considers all people to be better than he is. (Saint Pakhomius)
11. The honor of humility is so great and the fall of the proud so terrible. I advise you to be always humble and you will never fall. (Saint Isidore)

GOD opposes the proud but gives Grace to the humble. (James 4: 6)

Pride goeth before destruction; and a haughty spirit before a fall. (Proverbs 16: 18)

Humilty is of the upmost importance in our relationship with GOD. It reminds us of Who is infact in control. It reminds us of who we are in Christ. We all need to remember that we are not in control of our lives. And when we submit our lives to Christ/GOD we are saying to Him, "LORD, I give You my life, please take control of it. I trust You completely." We must all be humble and modest for in time GOD Himself will lift us up. 'Humble yourself in the sight of the LORD and He will lift you up.'

Sin: What does GOD say about it?

What does GOD say about sin. GOD is completely perfect. HE is good, therefore HE hates evil. There is no unrighteousness in HIM. GOD hates sin. Sin is the only thing that can separate us from GOD. Sin cannot dwell in GOD's presence because GOD is pure and nothing impure can stand before HIM. This is the very reason why- as we are now- we cannot see GOD face to face. We are not pure enough. But as we walk with GOD, HE aims to transform us (our former selves)
HE shines brighter than the Sun. HIS goodness radiates
Our righteousness is as a filthy rag before HIM.

 New International Version (©1984)
Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior.
King James Bible
To shew that the LORD is upright: HE is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in HIM. -Psalm 92:15.


Psalm 1
Colossians 1:21
Ephesians 5:8

http://bible.cc/colossians/1-21.htm


2 Samuel 22:24 I have been blameless before him and have kept myself from sin.

Romans 5:10 For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Ephesians 2:3 All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature objects of wrath.

Ephesians 2:12 remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.

1 John 3:9 (New International Version, ©2011)

⁹ No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.
1 John 3:9

I do not conform to this world

I saw a t-shirt which said ‘I do not conform to this world. Dare to be different. Romans 12 v 2

James: - The taming of the tongue

Is arguing ok?

Do not let unwholesome talk come out of your mouth

Sexual sin

Noone who sins sexually will have a place in the Kingdom of Heaven

"You are GOD's children whom HE loves, so try to be like HIM. Live a life of love just as Christ loved us and gave Himself for us as a sweet-smelling offering and sacrifice to GOD. But there must be no sexual sin among you, or any kind of evil or greed. Those things are not right for GOD's holy people." - EPHESIANS 5:3

Grace and Mercy

Mercy is GOD not giving us what we deserve.

Grace is GOD giving us what we don’t deserve.

We should be thankful. We really do owe GOD our lives

GOD loves us. HE is always thinking of us.