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    • Are you telling yourself rational lies?

      Posted at 7:00 am by sneuhofer, on July 24, 2018
      As I read through Psalm 4 – 6 (written by King David), I can just feel David crying out to God. In Psalms 4 and 5 David cries out to God for answered prayer. “Answer me when I call, O God of my right!” (4:1 – NRSV) “Listen to the sound of my cry, my King and my God, for to you I pray.” (5:2 – NRSV) As I continued to read both of these Psalms, David realized God would listen to his prayers. He was confident in the Lord. He knew he could lie down and sleep in peace (4:8) because he was certain the Lord was with him and would make him safe. He also knew God was his refuge in times of troubles. God was the only protection David needed (5:11) from any circumstance he faced.
      In chapter 6 David pours out his soul to God. David is not holding back or hiding a single thing from God. He is being completely open and honest. This, being completely opening and honest with God, is something I am working on as I continue to walk each day with Christ. Some days are better than others. I don’t know why I try to hide things. God can see everything I do right?
      I know when I get things wrong I try to internalize them and sweep them under the rug saying “Oh, things will be better the next time.” Have you ever done that? Instead of going to God, I try to “rationalize” my way out of it. A pastor that I listen to says the word “rationalize” means to tell yourself “rational lies”  and I believe him. I have “justified” so many stories I must have “rational–lies-ed” some real whoppers!
      In Psalm 6, David has complete trust in God. Instead of being a victim of his circumstance, he is choosing to deepen his faith by relying on God to deliver him. Remember it is only God who can put joy in our hearts and bring peace from the chaos in our lives.
      Do you trust God with absolutely everything in your life? Do you talk to him like he’s your best friend or do you just go to Him in times of trouble? God desires a close and personal relationship with all of us. Prayer is the way we communicate with Him. Find time to “talk” with God throughout your day, you will be blessed if you do.

       

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      Posted in christian living, life lessons; becoming more like christ; Quiet time, reliance on Christ, walking with Christ | 0 Comments
    • Ready, set… turn on your search lights!

      Posted at 8:45 am by sneuhofer, on July 23, 2018

      1 John 2: 1 – 2 (NCV) My dear children, I write this letter to you so you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a helper in the presence of the Father—Jesus Christ, the One who does what is right. He died in our place to take away our sins, and not only our sins but the sins of all people.”

      1 John is perhaps one of my favorite books of the Bible because it give us an assurance of salvation. John, one of Jesus’ original 12 disciples, gives testimony to what he knows to be true about Jesus because he walked closely with him during his time here on earth. John knew Jesus personally. He was part of Jesus’s inner circle. When I read this book I can close my eyes and see John sharing his heart with all of us; not just the people of his time, but all generations to come.

      He has written us a letter in modern-day terms, which says, “Hey__________ (fill in your name to make personal), Jesus is the Word and He gives life! Believe me I know because I walked with Him and saw everything first-hand. You can trust Him… you can believe everything He says.”

      Wouldn’t it be cool to receive a letter like this in the mail today? That is exactly what we find in 1 John. The word of God is living and breathing and is as active today as it was over 2,000 years ago. John wrote this so we can be in fellowship with God, with his Son, and with other believers. He also wrote this letter so we can be filled with joy just as the early disciples were filled with joy.

      John tells us about the messages he heard from Christ as they were happening. He shares with us that God is light and in Him there is no darkness. He encourages us not to live in darkness; and if we do we are liars and do not follow the truth. Whoa! This means if we continue to live in our sin (sin is darkness) we are liars. Is there any sin in your life you’re not confessing? The “big” ones are easy to detect, but just as bad are the little ones we may not notice so easily – greed, envy, comparison, anger, bitterness, gossip, and other things we do when no one else is looking.

      1 John 1:9 assures us that “if we confess our sins, He will forgive our sins, because we can trust God to do right. He cleanses us from EVERY WRONG we have ever committed.” So what do you say? Are you ready to join me in pointing the search light on ourselves to reveal hidden areas of darkness in our lives? Bring whatever it is you find into His glorious Light. When we confess all things that are hidden, the One who forgives all sin is faithful and just. He will remember your sin no more.

      Go ahead… turn those search lights on!

      Additional related reading: 2 Cor. 5:17, Ezek. 36: 25-27, Titus 3: 4 – 6, Romans 8: 1 – 14

       

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      Posted in letter from God | 0 Comments
    • What do people see when they look at you?

      Posted at 7:00 am by sneuhofer, on July 20, 2018

      Ezra 7:10 (LB) This was because Ezra had determined to study and obey the laws of the Lord and to become a Bible teacher, teaching those laws to the people of Israel.

      Ezra’s hearts desire was to learn God’s word and then apply and obey the commands he discovered therein. Because of this desire, he had a direct effect on how God used him to lead the 2nd group of exiles from Babylon to Jerusalem. Ezra made a personal commitment to serve God “today” even before knowing what God would request of him.

      A skilled scribe (Ezra 7:6), Ezra taught the Jews of his day through speaking and by the way his lived his life (obedient to God’s word). I want to influence the people around me just like Ezra influenced the people of his day. To follow his example, I need to make sure I am:

      • Learning the Word of God, obeying and applying it to my daily life,
      • and teach others to do the same not only by what I say…but by the way I live my life (the things I do).

      Even if you don’t have a desire to be a bible teacher, the way you live your life is influencing someone. People are always watching the way you live your life. So the question becomes, how are you choosing to walk out your Christian faith? Are you getting into God’s word, learning what it says and then changing your life so that it aligns with the commands therein? Or, are you reading the word and choosing to remain unchanged?

      Related reading: Mark 4:1-20 (The parable of the sower)

       

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      Posted in Christian growth, christian living, living a life of influence | 0 Comments
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