Deuteronomy 10:12  And now, O Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

Is God at home in your home? In other words, does His presence permeate the atmosphere of your home? Does your family find a sanctuary of God's presence and peace when they walk through the front door? Do guests find a joyful welcome?

Too many homes are like war zones. There's anger, piercing words, painful hurts, even heavy silence. Even Christian homes are seldom sanctuaries of peace. We run from activity to activity, job to job, commitment to commitment. Lost is the art of conversation by a family around the dinner table. Seldom for guests come our way. Few and far between are the conversations with the neighbor next door or down the block.

God would not have it that way. He wants to lift us above the world we know and set us in a higher place. He wants us to look from His perspective. He would have us invite Him into our homes as a permanent Guest. He desires that our homes be little oases of peace, joy, and love in an all-too-often unpeaceful, joyless, unloving world.

What happens when you open your front door? Is God there? Begin today to make your home a place where God dwells, a place that invites your family and friends to come and experience Him.

1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

"I want to be more like You" is a prayer we should pray continuously. Paul told the Philippians, "Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:5).

Being like Jesus is not an easy task. Jesus was a living sacrifice. In His humility, He was willing to give up His life in order to do the will of His Father and provide salvation for us all. For us to imitate that would require sacrificing our selfishness and pride; it would require dying to ourselves and accepting His lordship over us. The tough thing about a living sacrifice is, it wants to crawl off the altar and run away - it doesn't want to die!

So how can we be more like Jesus? Seems impossible. Fortunately, we don't have to do it on our own. The Holy Spirit within us teaches us humility and obedience. We can indeed be transformed; we can indeed be more like Him. The Bible says, "Those who become Christians become new persons. They are not the same anymore, for the old life is gone. A new life has begun!" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Allow Jesus to change you, to transform your heart and mind, that you may be a vessel for His use. Cry out to Him today and every day, "Jesus, I want to be more like You!"

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Psalm 28:7  The Lord is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped. My heart leaps for joy and I will give thanks to him in song.

Even the strongest people will, at some point, need to slow down and rest. They have need of power of Christ just as much as the weak.

Those who are strong often have difficulty admitting their need for mercy, for forgiveness. But Jesus didn't die just for those who are weak - He died for all of us! He knows everything about us from the way we go about our day to our deepest needs; He even knows the number of our days on this earth! He created us, He will sustain us, and He will always be there to help us when we call.

Unlike us, He will never grow tired or weary. He is the strength that keeps us going day after day. We all have twenty-four hours in a day, seven days a week, and fifty-two weeks in a year - we must use the days given to us to honor Him.

No one can fathom His mercy and understanding or His willingness to meet all of our needs. When you feel the crushing weight of life on this earth, admit your need and call upon God to renew your strength He will answer. "Be strong and take heart, all you who hope in the Lord" (Psalm 31:24).

--Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Nahum 1:7  The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him.

When we truly love someone, that love grows deeper day by day. We come to realize that we indeed love that person more than yesterday, and our love will continue to grow deeper into the future.

The same holds true with our love for Jesus. As time goes by, the more we know Him, the more we love Him. We needed Him to cleanse us and make our lives whole, and He met that need! Now we find that we continue to need Him more and more each day.

His grace is sufficient for us and His love is never-ending. What a blessing to know that the old life is gone for good. Because we have been freed from a life of brokenness and have entered the presence of the Lord, we will never be alone again.

More than a breath of fresh air, more than a heartbeat, we need the Lord. Without Him, life would be lonely, sad, and empty - and death would mean eternal separation from Him. We were meant to be filled with His Spirit. We belong in His presence.

Don't be ashamed to tell Jesus, "I need You more - more even than I needed You yesterday!" It's not a sign of weakness; it's a sign of coming home where you belong.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Acts 3:19-20  Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you - even Jesus.

There is no greater joy than to be with the Lord. Have you found that to be true in your own life? Do you anxiously sit down to open your Bible? Do you hurry with other tasks in order to have time to talk with God?

That's what Jesus did. The Bible tells us of many times when Jesus went off alone to be with His Father. Mark wrote that "very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed" (Mark 1:35). The life of Christ is our example. If Jesus needed to meet with His heavenly Father, how much more do we! Only by communicating with Him will we learn to walk in His ways and be able to follow Him step by step. When we follow where He leads, He promises to make our paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). He longs for us to follow Him because He knows what good and wonderful things He has in store, just down the road.

Seek God in the morning and all day long. Experience His refreshment, enjoy His blessings. Let your soul be restored and your mind renewed. Experience the great joy of being with your Lord!

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

Philippians 2:9-10 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.

Jesus has many names. He called Himself the Son of Man, emphasizing His humanity (John 3:13). He called Himself the bread of life. Bread, giving sustenance and energy, refers to His role as a giver of life - eternal life (John 6:35). he referred to Himself as the gate for the sheep; He also called Himself the good shepherd (John 10:7, 11). Those names focused on His love and guidance, affirming that He is the only way to God's kingdom.

The most powerful of His name is "the resurrection and the life" (John 11:25), for this embodies all of the healing, power, light, might, and holiness that cause us to bow down in praise. Powerful things can happen when we call upon the name of Jesus - the disciples healed the sick in the name of Jesus, the dead were raised in the name of Jesus!

Think about the names you have for Jesus: Faithful Friend, Deliver, Healer, Master, Savior, precious Lord, King of kings. Each name is an accurate description of Him. What is He to you today? Do you need power and might to face a battle ahead? Call on His name. Call on His name. Do you need to break strongholds in your life or experience healing? Call on His name. Call on the name of Jesus, for His name is above every other.

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Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,

2 Corinthians 3:18  And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

She had been under the care of many doctors, but instead of getting better, she only became worse. When she heard about Jesus, she sought Him out and found Him in the midst of a crowd. Because her illness caused her to be considered "unclean," she assumed Jesus would not want to touch her. So she came up behind Him in the crowd and touched His cloak, thinking, "If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed." She was right. Immediately, she was freed from her suffering.

Jesus felt the power go from Him, so He asked who touched His clothes. The woman, trembling in fear, admitted what she had done. To her surprise, Jesus replied, "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace" (Mark 5:25-34).

In times of desperation and pain, we can reach out to Him and he will respond to our faith and bless us beyond measure. When we look to Him to heal our brokenness and sorrow, we understand the real Jesus - the One who came not only to help us in this life, but to make a place for us in eternity.

So put your faith into action. Reach up to God. One touch of His hand brings healing to your hurting soul. One touch of His life brings glory so that your life will overflow.
 

Helping people live life with Jesus everyday,