Prison Ministries

Posts Tagged ‘Psalm 19’

Read Romans 8, Psalm 19
Give it Up!

“That’s why those who are still under the control of their sinful nature can never please God.” Romans 8:8 NLT

Self will is one of the hardest possessions to give up that we will ever own. All of our pride, all of our aspirations, all of our secular objectives are generated by our self will.

Self will is what got mankind into trouble with God in the first place. If Eve had just exercised a little self control instead of self will the world wouldn’t be in the shape it’s in today.

How many prayers have we prayed asking that God’s will be done, while actually meaning our will be done. How many times have we sought to justify our will or our agenda by trying to pass it off as the will of God?

The best antidote for destructive self will is abiding and seeking God’s will. Abiding will give us the very heart of God, and when we have that, we begin thinking His thoughts, become more sensitive to His leadings, and more centered on Christ and less on ourselves.

When we pray with Christ’s heart, it’s amazing at how many more of of prayers are answered, because our prayers are Christ centered, unselfish prayers that will glorify God and therefore are in accordance with

God’s will, and we learn and believe more and more that He really will do anything we ask that is in accordance with His will.

When we replace self will with God’s will, our whole attitude changes.

Instead of responding defensively and in anger, we respond in the fruit of the Spirit which takes over control of our flesh.

When we “give it up” we get so much more in return we will wonder why it took us so long to figure this out.

Father, help me to “give it up” so that you can “give it out”. In Jesus’ Name, Amen

Read Hebrews 12:1-12, Psalm 19
Run Your Own Race!

“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.” 2 Timothy 4:7

Most marathons not only give a trophy to the one who finishes first but often give a certificate of accomplishment to all who compete in and finish the race.

The good news of the Gospel is that we are all winners in Jesus Christ and receive our crown of righteousness just by participating by faith in His life, death, and resurrection.

The race of life on this earth begins when we receive Jesus Christ as Savior and ends when we cross the finish line and receive our victor’s crown and eternal life from our Lord.

In the time in between, we are commanded not only to be disciples, but to make them, not only to follow Christ, but to imitate Him, and not to confuse self righteousness with Christ righteousness.

Because God has bought us with the blood of His only Son and does not want any of us to perish, he regenerates us into a new life under the power of the Holy Spirit, and He will see us safely through the pitfalls of sin, death, and destruction when our hearts and minds are fixed on him.

Each of us must run our own race of faith. No one can run our race for us, and we certainly cannot run someone else’s race. Although we can and should be concerned about the ungodly, hell-bent race of destruction being run by others, we should never let this concern become self-righteous condemnation but rather persistent and fervent prayer to the only one who can work faith in the hearts of the unsaved and unregenerate.

Father, help me to run in the power that only a right relationship with You can provide. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Read Ephesians 1:1-14, Psalm 19
Are You Orbiting the Son?

“But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” Matthew 6:33

Many laws of the universe seem to carry over into the laws of life.

Psalm 19:1“The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament shows His handiwork.”

Any change in the earth’s orbit around the sun would result in the end of life on this planet. A few degrees closer and we fry; a few degrees further and we freeze. This one small speck in the universe would be no more.

Being the egocentric creatures that we are by nature, we often live and act as though the world revolves around us. We can easily be so self absorbed that we can never see the big picture.

Even if we get ourselves out of the picture, we often make our spouses, our children, our careers, or other pursuits the center of our universe, and our world revolves around them.

From God’s perspective, anything that we put ahead of Him becomes an idol of our worship and robs God of the glory that is due Him. (“for you shall worship no other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God” Exodus 34:14)

It is only when we make Jesus the center of our universe and let our lives revolve around Him that we can ever know the fullness of His love, peace, forgiveness, and joy that is the birth right of every one who is born again through faith in Him.

When our love of our spouse models Christ’s love for the Church, we have great marriages. When our love of children and others models Jesus’ love, we have great families and great relationships. When our work is “done as unto the Lord,” we achieve success and blessing as never before.

These are just a few of the “all things” that will be added to us when we live our lives revolved around the Son!

Father, by the power of Your Spirit, let my life be centered in You. Amen. In Jesus’ name, Amen

Read 1 Corinthians 2, Psalm 19
What Were We Not Thinking?

“There is more hope for a fool than for someone who speaks without thinking.” Proverbs 29:20 NLT

Most of us often have cause to ponder mistakes. Hopefully we learn from and don’t repeat them. From the perfect 20/20 vision of hindsight, we often wonder what in the world we were thinking when the problem is that we were not thinking.

Flying off the handle without thinking about the consequences for ourselves or others often does a lot of damage and leads to a lifetime of regret. Read the rest of this entry »