I D i e D a i l y

"Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the lusts thereof." Romans 6:12

We have seen how the people of this world live for pleasure, fame and wealth. They only care about living for theirself. They are out to "live it up" and have a good time.

It is a shame to say that a lot of Christians are living according to the worlds standards instead of following the Word of God.

When you become a child of God, you are no longer free to do as you wish. Yes, you can but you will never grow and have a close fellowship with the Lord. And also if you truely are saved you will not be able to live in sin.

We all have fleshly and carnal desires, even after we are saved. We are still human and we all have the temptation to fill these desires.
How are you handling these desires? Do you give into the flesh? Or do you let the Spirit have control?

You see every one of us makes a decision every single day to either feed our flesh or to feed the Spirit. The one that you feed the most is the one that is controling your life. The only way we can and will say, "No" to the flesh is by dying daily. We have to read our Bible and pray. The Lord is the only one who can help you have the victory! 

We have to be determined to wake up every morning with our mind set on living for God.
Lord, these are Your hands, and feet, and eyes, and mouth, and this is Your mind. I want these insruments to be used for Your glory. NOT for me and my fleshly wants or desires.

"Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto God." Romans 6:13

When you allow yourself to please what the flesh wants, you are killing yourself spiritually. Do you want to live or die?

"For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live."

To stay spritually alive we must die to self!

A Heart of Bitterness

"Acrid bitterness inevitably seeps into the lives of people who harbor grudges and suppress anger, bitterness is always a poison. It keeps your pain alive instead of letting you deal with it and get beyond it. Bitterness sentences you to relive the hurt over and over." Lee Strobel

For a long while I had been very bitter and angry toward someone in my life. The person nor the reason for my heart hardening over this person is not important as to what I am writing about.
I am ashamed to say that I came to the point of almost hating this person. I didn't want a relationship with the person. I didn't want to be around them. I didn't want to talk, look or have anything whatsoever to do with this person. I would cringe at the sound of someone saying their name. When the person would talk to me I would automatically shut them off.
I use to blame this person for the way I felt toward them. I thought I had a right to feel the way I did and to hold a grudge because I felt as if I had been done wrong by the person.
But the Lord showed me different.
Ephesians 4:30-31 says,
"Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with malice:
And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."
This is the very reason why forgiveness is so vitally important in our spiritual walk with the Lord. When we don't forgive someone, even if they don't ask, then we are hurting ourselves spiritually. When we don't forgive we begin to think on the wrong that was done toward us, and instead we linger and dwell on the situation and then it turns into bitterness.
Bitterness is a sign of being focused on self and not trusting God's sovereignty in your life.
As a Christian we are commanded to be kind to others and to forgive as Christ has forgiven us. If we were to stop and think about how we have treated our Saviour and how ungodly and wicked we are, then we would not be so quick to be unforgiving, and mean and hateful to those who are mean and hateful to us.
The Lord is always forgiving us  repeatedly for the same sins in our life. He doesn't hate us or hold grudges or beat us over the head, although He very well could. Instead He forgives us over and over again and He loves us as if we had never sinned against Him.
If you are saved and have trusted Jesus as your personal Saviour, but you feel distant from Him, could it be because you are blatantly refusing to let go of your animosity toward another person?
Remember to be careful, for the things you dwell on will become rooted in your heart.

"Yet My People Have Forgotten"

"Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire?
Yet my people have forgotten me
days without number."
Jeremiah 2:32

In the Old Testament of the Bible, the children of Isereal were constantly forgetting God. They forgot God and all that He had done for them.

Jeremiah 2:6-7
"Neither said they, where is the LORD that brought us up out of Eygpt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt?
And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine herritage an abomination."

As you see in these verses, the Lord had blessed the children of Isereal. He gave them everything they could ask for. He even deliverd them and supplied their needs. Then in return they forgot the Lord and all he had done.
You say oh wow that is just a terrible thing that the children of Isreal had forgotten the Lord after all he did for them. You may even say, "I would never turn my back on the Lord".
But Christians are doing the same thing in 2013 that the children of Isreal were doing way back in the OT.

We seem to have time for everything and everyone in our lives, except for God.
We wouldn't DARE miss the football game on Saturday, but we forget church on Sunday.
We WON'T miss the dinner plans we have with our friends, but we don't have time to spend with the Lord everyday.
We CAN'T cancel our doctor appointment, but it's ok to not talk to the Lord today. He understands.
I HAVE to clean my house today, but I can't memorize any scripture because it's just too hard.
Our family HAS to spend time together, but we are too tired to be involved with the church.
Does this sound familar to you?
We let our life get so busy that we don't have time with God.
Or is the real problem just simply, we don't want to make time for God?
My papa says, "People will do what they want to do". That statement is so very true! We make time in our lives, every single day to do what we want to do. If the truth be told, we just don't want to. We would rather do other things than spend time with the Lord.
If you are a true Christian who has been washed in the blood of The Lamb, you have so much to be thankful for! The Lord has never forsaken you or forgotten you.
He shed His precious blood for you on Calvary and saved your lost soul from Hell! And as if that isn't enough on it's own, He feeds you, He gives you a place to sleep and clothes to wear. He continues to bless you every day, even though you have forgotten Him days without number.
Do you understand what that means? It means that even after all the Lord has done for you, you have forgotten Him too many days to count!
Is this the kind of fellowship you want to have with your heveanly Father? I should hope not!
You CAN have fellowship with the Lord everyday, even in the midst of all the other things going on in your life. But God should be number one! Not anyone or anything!
If we were to ask God about your fellowship with the Lord today what would He say? Would He have to reply with the same answer that He did with the children of Isereal?...yet __ __ (your name) has forgotten me days without number?
Don't allow yourself to become this kind of Christian!
I encourage you to not forget about the Lord and to always put Him first in the start of every single day!

You Attract What You Are

There have been times in my life that I have had different "kinds" of friends. Some good and some bad. One thing I have found to be true about each period of friendship is I became exactly like them!

This is why it is so very important for us to be Christ-like. When we let down our gaurd and become more accustomed to what the flesh wants, we are allowing an oppertunity for the devil to use a bad influence in our life. A bad influence such as a friend.

When you begin to chase after ungodliness, you are bound to reap ungodly friends!
If you are wanting to live a life that is pleasing to the Lord, you must be aware of who you hang around. Wether we notice it or not people have a big impact on how we respond and make decisions in our life. Make sure the people you are spending your time with are good godly influences in your life.

These are just a few things that are different in a godly and ungodly persons life:

A Godly Friend

*encourages

*uplifts

*lives a seperated life

*goes to church

*reads and studies the Bible

*prays

*helps you spiritually

A Ungodly Friend

*downgrades

*talks dirty

*hateful

*parties

*lives a conformed | worldly life

*disrespectful

If you want to determine the kind of person you are becoming a good way to reflect is by observing your friends and those who have the biggest impact in your life.

Serving-Not Being Served

In todays society, we have become very selfish people as Christians. We are more concerned with our feelings and our circumstances above others around us.

When we let this happen everything about us changes. Our outlook on life, our attitude, our relationships, even our emotions.

I don't think we should neglect or ignore our feelings but when we let them take control of how we respond to other people, it becomes a problem.

In Galatians 5:13 it says, " For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another."

As a young girl, my dad taught me a very simple yet truthful lesson. He said, "If you want to have great joy in your life always remember this, Jesus Others Yourself."

If you want to have joy in your life, you will never find it by being selfish. To gain true joy that will last, you must put Jesus first, before anyone else!

Fall in love with Jesus and His Word. How do you fall in love with Jesus?
By spending time in the Bible. It's the same way a man and a woman fall in love with each other. They spend time talking, crying, laughing, reading letters, and sometimes just being together with nothing at all said.

To fall in love with Jesus you have to spend time reading His word, praying, memorizing scripture and meditating.

Once you put Jesus first you will begin to care about others more. You will want others to have the same relationship and fellowship with the Lord that you have.

Once you start caring for others above yourself then will you have true joy in your life. Our purpose is to serve others, not ourselves.