Tag: love

Live as a Child of God

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App2 Comments

We change from the inside out, not the reverse. When I put on clean clothes, it doesn’t make me the person I am. What is inside me, inside my heart, determines my choices and makes me who I am. We need to recognize that our sin no longer has the power to separate us from God because we are His children and He calls us to repent and live rightly before Him, totally clean and knowing who we are in Christ. I want my public persona to match the person I am in private, so that I am always and consistently living as a child of God, with the knowledge of my place in Him. I am loved and He forgives me.

True Inward Transformation

Have you ever thought about what a proper response to God looks like when you make a mistake?

It was common in ancient times to tear your clothes as a way of repenting and showing sorrow over mistakes you may have made. It was an outward expression of something happening internally. 

But what would often happen is people would make a public display of repentance without actually repenting in their heart. So, rather than tearing your clothes, God says He would rather you repent in your heart. Tearing your clothes means nothing if your heart isn’t broken before God. Outward expressions should come from true, inward transformation.

And God says that anyone who comes to Him in genuine repentance will experience His grace and compassion. We do not need to fear God’s wrath since we are His children. He encourages us to repent and return to Him when we mess up.

Scripture says that God is slow to anger and abounding in love. Rather than living in guilt and sorrow, God says He will give grace and love instead. He desires that we experience and live within His love, even when we mess up.

What is your first reaction when you mess up? If you try to hide or ignore your sin, take some time to consider why. God wants you to experience freedom and love. Go to Him with what you’re carrying in your heart, and repent of anything that goes against His ways.

Remember that nothing can remove His love from you. He desires that you live in grace and mercy as a child of God.

It Takes a Lifetime: Power, Love, Self-Discipline

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

I confess that as a new Christian, I was one of those people who expected God to change me instantly into who He wanted me to be. But life with God is a journey, a daily experience wherein we make choices and continue to grow and mature. We may stumble and fall, but we pick ourselves up and keep going. It takes a lifetime of depending on God’s power, leaning into His love and practicing self-discipline in order to ultimately arrive at our final and glorious destination.

Power, Love, and Discipline

One of the miracles of salvation is that when we have faith in Christ, God not only saves us—He also gives us the power to live according to His will for us. Your life in Christ is one that is empowered by the Holy Spirit living within you.

This is a great gift, but a big shift. It often takes time to change how we think and act. We may have bad habits that take hard work to correct, or patterns of thought that are challenging to break.

Thankfully, God promises to be with us and to empower us to make these changes in our life. When Paul is writing to his mentee Timothy, he encourages him to continue to develop the gift that God has given to him. While we are saved in an instant, it takes a lifetime to develop and work out what God is doing inside of us.

In 2 Timothy 1:7, Paul reminds Timothy that God’s Spirit does not give us fear or cowardice. Those things are tools of the devil who is trying to keep us from God. But the Spirit of God empowers us with confidence in Him. He gives us the power to live out the purposes of God in our life. This power is one that we need to continually remember as we face challenges.

The Spirit of God also empowers us to love others. It can be difficult to love people, especially those who may have hurt us. But God promises to give us His power and love so that we can be a light to everyone around us.

God’s Spirit also empowers us with self-discipline. We won’t experience spiritual change and growth if we don’t train and practice—but that takes time, dedication, and endurance. We need to be consistent in doing the things that God asks us to do, including reading God’s Word and talking to Him. Thankfully, when we belong to God, He helps us. He gives us the strength, stamina, and soundness of mind to build habits that help us become more like Him.

Today, take some time to talk with God. Ask Him to empower you by His Spirit towards power, love, and self-discipline. Consider how God is leading you to change the way you live. As you do that, remember that God doesn’t give us fear. He fills us with love because He wants us to experience a confident relationship with Him.

God Purchased What Was Already His

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/9115/day/5

The lessons from the book of Hosea are many but none is more important than the one of redemption. Hosea was already married to Gomer; she was already his wife. But when she left him and their three children, he did what God told him to do and went in search of her. After he found her, he had to pay to get her back with him. Isn’t that the story of our own salvation? We belonged to God from the day He created us. We wandered away, strayed far from our Heavenly Father. Then He sent Jesus as the price for our redemption so that we could be accepted back into His presence again, restored to a relationship with Him. The story of Hosea is one of forgiveness and love, even when the object of your love is not worthy. We did nothing to deserve God’s love and forgiveness, yet He forgives us anyway. You may be thinking as I did; But we are not prostitutes. We didn’t go out and sell ourselves to others. Really? In our state of sin, that is exactly what we did. We sold ourselves to whatever caught our eye and took our attention off of God and what was holy and right. It may not have been an idol of lust, but whatever replaced God in our lives was our idol and He redeemed us because of His great love for us, not because we deserved it. Grace…mercy…love. All equal salvation. I don’t know if Gomer was thankful or not but I know that I am and I hope that you are grateful for the sacrifice of Jesus’s blood that God paid for our eternal souls.

Remember God’s Faithfulness

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/45776/day/4

How do you handle disappointment? I know that I used to have a saying that I used frequently (in my Eeyore days) that if it hasn’t gone wrong yet, it will, just wait. Oh, my! Now I have a new mantra…Wait! God is still working! Things may look gray right now, but the Sonshine is on its way!

How you handle disappointments depends on your focus. If you are focused on the bad things that are happening, then you are more likely to be disappointed with anything that happens that is not the exact outcome you wanted. But if you focus on God’s faithfulness in the past and His ever-present love for you, you are more likely to face challenges with a firm belief that God will see you through whatever it is and the lesson you learn will be something you need for your future or to help others in the future.

How did my mantra change? Slowly, as God worked on my attitude and helped me to see things more clearly from His perspective and not just my own. Sometimes, I slip and start to slide back into my Eeyore attitude, but the Holy Spirit quickly reigns me back into line with God’s Word and helps me to get back on the right path again. Filling my heart and mind with God’s Word, being thankful every day for the small things, and looking for God’s faithfulness in the middle of bad situations helps me keep my focus on Him.

What helps you to handle disappointment?

Right-Size God

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App5 Comments

www.bible.com/reading-plans/13952/day/15

When I look at all that is happening in my family right now, I have to right-size God to get the correct perspective on things. Yes, cancer is a terrible diagnosis. But it is a hynena or a bear in the face of an awesome and omnipotent God. Isaac is at the hospital now having his bloodwork and CT scan done. We don’t know what the results will be, but God does. I am praying for God to be close to Isaac and to reassure him of his love. You know, I have said before on this page, when things go wrong, it’s difficult to see God’s hand in it. But God never moves, never stops loving, never stops reaching out. So, I am believing that even in this, God is right there, right beside Isaac and his dad, giving them the comfort of His presence that they need.

I do appreciate all of your prayers and hope that I am not wearying you with this topic. I cannot focus on anything else these days, and I ask that you bear with me as I process this new bump in my road. Thank you for your patience and lovingkindness. I do appreciate all of the thoughts and prayers even when I don’t reply to each of them.

Jesus Paid the Price

On By vickleaIn Scripture, YouVersion App1 Comment

www.bible.com/reading-plans/3797/day/3

As I read today’s devotional, I was reminded of the summer that my husband took our two sons to Germany and Italy. In Italy, they all wanted to visit the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican. There was one small problem. One of our sons had only packed shorts and the requirement is for the male visitors to wear trousers. The boys were disappointed until my husband came up with the plan to allow the younger son (who had not brought any long pants) to wear his (my husband’s) pants and my husband would forego the adventure, giving preference to our sons. (What a good dad, right?) The funny thing is that Harry was about four sizes larger in the waist than Steven and about four inches shorter, so Steven buckled the belt in the last hole, wore his pants as low as he dared to keep them on and off the two boys went on their quest to see Michelangelo’s masterpiece.

The devotional made me also think that we don’t have to worry about what we need to wear to get into heaven. We will be clothed in righteousness, provided freely by our Savior Jesus. God always provides a way for those He loves to be with Him, and I am thankful during this Easter season to be reminded of fun times that the boys had with their dad and the sacrificial love that Harry showed as an example to them of the great love that Jesus has for each of us. Harry saw the Sistine Chapel through the eyes of our sons who described it in minute detail for him. And God sees each of us through the eyes of His Son who has made us holy by the shedding of His own blood.

God is good, all the time. Circumstances are not always great, but God is always good.

Do You Have the Mark?

On By vickleaIn YouVersion App5 Comments

The Mark of a Disciple

Jesus says that everyone will be able to recognize us as His disciples by our love for one another. That means loving one another the way Jesus intended is a way of identifying ourselves as Christians. It is also one way to share the love of Jesus with others.

While culture promotes a selfish way of living, where we look out for ourselves first, God’s Word encourages us to be counter-cultural in how we love others.

We should be selfless instead of selfish.
We should do what we can to put others before
ourselves.
We should look for ways to help one another.

When we choose to love others, we show them Jesus’ love. And through loving others, people will recognize that our lives differ from the world around us. We will be able to share the message and hope of Jesus through the love that we show.

Take time during this season of Advent, to reflect on your own life. Do people know you as a disciple of Jesus Christ through the way you love others? If not, what steps can you take to build a habit of love?

Do