It is God who works in you

Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to His good purpose.

Have you ever wondered why you do the things you do? Have you ever stopped to think about what motivates you, drives you, or causes you to do what ever it is that you do? When dealing with kids, and they are asked why they did something that makes no sense whatsoever the answer maybe "I don't know." But what about you and I even when it does make sense?

There is a human condition that hinders us from doing what is right. It is that sinful nature which we have, as humans. We can't get past that condition. It is right there staring us in the face, if we accept that we are human. Some people do not labor under the belief that they are sinful. They seem to think that they are just all around good people. In denial is a scary place to be! But Christians do not labor under that delusion. We know we are lost to sin. We know that but for the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, we would be lost, dead in fact, in our sin. The apostle Paul states it really well in Romans 7:15-25. I will not spoil it for you, but I encourage you to go there and look at it.

We are totally dependent of God. He works in all of us to further his will. He works in all of us to His good purpose. Without God, we are adrift. We have no anchor, our engines are out of service and we will be smashed upon the rocks of sin. Jesus saved us. He guides us. He is the lighthouse pointing out the safe passage. Without His light, we run aground. Brothers and Sisters in the risen Savior, we all must grasp tightly the saving grace offered freely by a loving God. Embrace Jesus and the life ring that has been tossed to all mankind to be brought to safety.

PRAYER: Almighty and everlasting God. Thank you Father for our lives and the purpose that You give us in our lives. Thank You for the saving grace offered to all. Help us to grasp that grace. Help us to embrace the love shown to all mankind by Jesus. We ask this in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who lives and reigns with the Father and the Spirit. One God, now and forever. Amen

At the name of Jesus every knee should bow

Philippians 2:9-11 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,to the glory of God the Father.

There are many aspects of our lives that cry out for our undivided attention. At any given time we are called upon to determine what will be the greatest priority in our lives. Where is that list of items does Jesus fit into our priority list?


Life can be a constant struggle. And finding balance can at times be difficult at best. There are many important aspects of our lives. Seldom do things line up just right so that we are without struggle or conflict as to what is most important. It can be very difficult to set time aside for the most important aspect of our lives. And that would be our faith. All to often it becomes a matter of finding the right time, the place where we find no distractions. It should be an easy thing. It might start out with getting up early in the morning when the house is quiet and spending time in prayer and devotion. But then that extra 20 or 30 minutes of sleep calls out to us. Or we think we will find time at the office to take time and then events overcome us. Or the evening will surely be better and then...

It can be tough. It requires commitment, and discipline. It requires placing that priority for daily prayer and devotion first in the list or priorities. We need to spend that precious time in worship remembering that Jesus Christ is Lord. His name is above all names. And our tongues should confess that wonderful fact daily. He is our truth, our way, and our light of salvation. We need to stay focused in our worship. Satan applies many clever and cunning ploys to divert our attention. He will do his level best to distract us for our worship. He is ruthless, relentless, and we are constantly under attack. We rely on Jesus for our defense. We put on the armor of Christ for our defense every single day. Without Jesus, we are just another conquest for Satan. We are roadkill on life's highway without Christ.

PRAYER: Almighty and Everlasting God. You set the sun in the sky of the day and the moon in the sky of the night time sky. The stars are Your creation, as is all mankind. We are nothing without You. We wander from You O God. We foolishly think we can handle things on our own. We become lax in our worship. And fall prey to the temptations of life that Satan lays out in our path. Help us Lord to stay the course. Pour out Your Holy Spirit and fill us with the faith we need to keep our focus on Jesus.We ask this in the name of Jesus who lives and reigns with the Father and the Spirit. One God, now and forever. Amen

Your Attitude

Philippians 2:5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

A popular phrase used to denote when someone was being difficult was "They copped and attitude." It was not meant in a complementary fashion. What if instead they copped the attitude of Jesus?  The possibilities....

The attitude of Christ Jesus. What does it mean to you?  Is it one of He is God, he knows it, and makes no bones about it?  That would not be in keeping with what we know of Jesus. Was it an I do not care about your problems attitude?  Again, that would miss the mark. What we do know is that even though he was God, He humbled himself. Came down to earth. Lived among us. He served rather than being served. He was obedient unto death on the cross. And He died for the salvation of all mankind. That is the attitude of Jesus. Humility exemplified. That is the behavior to emulate.

That is not an attitude our world today embraces on the whole. It is more of a self-serving what is in it for me type of world. There are instances of service, with love in mind and no expectation of exultation, for sure. But they seem to be few and far between. That makes a humble attitude stand out. Want to make a statement, be humble to all.

PRAYER: Father, we are by and large prideful. We do not typically remember to be humble. We know that we should, and struggle. Lord, help us to remember that Your Son was humble in his nature. We ask for the Holy Spirit to fill us with the faith to be humble in all that we do. We ask this in the name of Him who was humble even unto death on the cross for all mankind. Amen.