Dear Friends,
What is Your Lifestyle? By Karen Rowe Our lifestyle is who we are! Our lifestyle is what we do! Our lifestyle is how we do what we do; and how we stay who we are! Who is Jesus to you? Is the most important question you will ever understand the answer to!
God is so good to us who seek Him, His goodness, His direction, His Wisdom that does come to us from Heaven. God is so kind to us to watch over us, protect us, and deliver us. God is so strong for us to teach us, carry us, and encourage us through every trial, test and storm! God will not fail us; when we choose Him! We can talk about this more; if you need to … reach out to us if so! We may not have the full answer, but we can pray to the ONE who does for you; with you. You are not alone; nor forsaken!!!
Today’s Scripture is about giving? Or, is it more about not taking credit for the giving? What kind of giving is on God’s mind here? We give forgiveness; or do we just forgive? …and the Bible teaches us to understand what we are doing, as much as if we were giving a loaf of bread to a hungry soul. Giving Peace? The Bible teaches us we can give peace / extend peace / let your peace … So, can we give peace through and by Jesus Christ?
If the home is worthy, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you (Matthew 10:13).
What else can we give? Sure, socks to the one who wears shoes with plastic bags covering his feet as socks in his shoes. Sure a coat, if we are blessed to have a coat to give. Sure food is a all time favorite of all human people to eat and not go hungry. But, I am searching deeper into this Scripture especially Today.
How about our Grateful Heart? Can we give our heart to Jesus? Can we toss it away? Can we show God how grateful we are? Can we give our joy away? These are types of giving we should be made aware of, because we are in charge over our life; and how we choose to give / or not to give.
You may think this is over the top? Really? I don’t think so, after the experiences God has let us experience lately with so many different levels of knowledge – that yes, I can only give, because God has first given to me.
So, do you see where the Spirit of the Lord is guiding our mind to think? We only have what God has given. If is a breath that we give in CPR, then God gave you that breath to share / give to another. And, which of you is more important ? The Bible says, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” BUT, John 3:16 says, God sent Jesus for both the giver and the receiver!
Acts 20:35 I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.
John 3:16 For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting. … For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Can we ever take credit for giving after ALL & through WHOM God has given us? LIFE & Blessings, through and by His Son’s Death, Burial & Resurrection!
After the devotion, there is a quiz, if you would love to take?
Goal?
I hope this strengthens you; and the Peace of God through and by Jesus guides you with all Wisdom and Understanding that God is for us; we just need to give our time to Him to challenge ourselves to learn, gain understanding about what is going on; and in our time with God ask Him for all Wisdom from Heaven to know how to give; and by the method he chooses. I believe this is just the tip of this Ice-Burg, because do we give our faith … we use it to give; and again, who is faith based on, but Jesus. If I use my faith to give; then who am I to give? Not by my hand, but by HIS that we even have a hand to give.
Hope in Today Ministries, Inc.
Daily Devotion to God’s Holy Word.
By, Karen Rowe
Let Jesus be “1st” in your heart & mind & He will also remain last!
The Lord woke me, talk about what it is to Release it all in the Hand of Jesus, which is the Hand of God that God has extended to us to believe.
God is so good to us; & yet we can battle with worry, stress, fear, discouragement, … even doubt?
Hand in Hand with the Negative struggles we can face in the world, are the positive struggles, such as the Bible teaches us to live quiet lives, give, forgive, trust, love & be the LIGHT and salt to the world…
Yes we can spiritually balance, Jesus accomplished it all!
Let’s go to some helpful Scripture to weave this together.
All PRAISE to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has BLESSED us WITH EVERY spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms BECAUSE we are united with Christ. Even before he made the world, God loved us & chose us IN Christ TO BE holy & without fault IN HIS EYES. GOD DECIDED in advance to adopt us into his own family BY bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He WANTED to do, & it gave him great pleasure. SO WE PRAISE God for the glorious grace he has poured out ON US WHO BELONG to his dear Son. He is SO rich in KINDNESS & GRACE THAT he purchased our freedom WITH the blood of his Son & forgave OUR sins. He has showered HIS kindness ON us, along WITH ALL wisdom & understanding.
Ephesians 1:3-8 NLT
As you remember God’s patience with you, go & do like wise to others!
When Jesus arrived on the scene as The Savior to the world, THERE were NO more STONES to cast! Re-read in KJV!
So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, & said unto them, He THAT is WITHOUT sin among you, LET him FIRST cast A stone at her.
John 8:7
PRAY like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is …
SEEK the Kingdom of God ABOVE ALL else, & live righteously, & he will give you everything you need.
Matthew 6:9-13, 33 NLT
But when you give to someone in need, don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing. Give your gifts in private, and your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.
Matthew 6:3-4 NLT
What are the 3 Main Topics in Matthew Chapter 6?
- Teaching about _____ (Giving) to the Needy.
- Teaching about _____ (Prayer) and ______ (Fasting). What is that reward we seek?
- Teaching about ______ (Money) and ______ (Possessions).
- What is it that we are supposed to store up? (Treasures in Heaven).
- What are your treasures in Heaven? (LIFE; Blessings: God’s Word, LOVE, JOY, Peace, FREEDOM)
- Where is Heaven Today for you?
- Does Heaven live inside of you when you are Born-Again through and by God’s grace through faith in Jesus?
- Why is “Today” Important?
- This is the _____ (day) the Lord has made. Let us _____ (rejoice) and be ___ (glad) in it.
- As long as God calls it _____(Today). Does that mean that there is another Today that is a part of the Forevermore?
Hebrews 3:13, KJV “But exhort one another daily, while it is called To day; lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”
Philippians 3:20, KJV “But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.”
Wherever your ____ (treasure) is, there the ______ (desires) of your ______ (heart) will also be (Matthew 6:21).
Please open your Bibles and let’s discuss.
Because no one can serve _____ (two) masters. For you will _____ (hate) one and ____ (love) the other, you will be ________(devoted) to one and ________ (despise) the other. You cannot serve God and be enslaved to ______ (money).
Does the Bible tells us to worry? NO, The Bible tells us NOT to worry about everyday life … and God writes to us a picture with examples to comfort us, remind us, and help us remember that God is our heavenly Father who feeds even the birds! But God doesn’t stop there! Jesus loves us too much to leave us wondering! Jesus said, And, aren’t you far more valuable to him than they (the birds) are?
And, God cares so wonderfully for the wildflowers that are here today and thrown into the fire tomorrow … (There is a Topic here too for later). BUT, God will certainly care for you who love God (vs 30)! Why do you have so little faith, Jesus continues to stir up in His followers through Vs 30?
These are Words Written in Red, which means, Jesus Spoke Matthew Chapter 6! And, it is Written for us to know and understand … & grow in still To Day!
What are you tolerating? Is anything trying to dominate your thoughts? Isn’t Satan’s biggest strategy to persuade people into being their own “god” of their own life?
Jesus closes out Matthew Chapter 6 with words written in Red, with Wise Advise:
your Heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you. 34Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Today has enough trouble of its own.…
Friends, Jesus didn’t give us a stone to cast, but He did leave us Peace to pursue, joy to keep alive in our heart, a passion to love Christ, and With a Wisdom Wise enough to know that we NEED God.
In Closing, a Revelation of Jesus come to me today about how to recognize our own fruit and the fruit of the spirits of those who come to us. As we prepare our heart for the Season of To Day’s, Joy is SETTING Jesus 1st, Others 2nd; and ourselves Last. Are we really GRATEFUL; and what are the signs of being really grateful for the blessings God has set before us to choose?
The Fruit of the Spirit is, LOVE, JOY, PEACE & {FREEDOM}, that replace a backpack full heavy stones that Jesus took away. GIVE your Burdens to JESUS and OBEY all He SAYS. And even with that giving, what a Praise to God; Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life.
Is there any claim to our hands, on what we can give away? It all belongs to God anyway.
We would love to hear your thoughts, because Scripture is meant to be understood and sought out by seeking TOGETHER God’s Thoughts about what HE desires for us to both know and understand.
I release this to Jesus. And, when we receive this, we will never be the same.
“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3)
TILL NEXT TIME!
Love in Christ,
Karen Rowe
“Writing the Story of my life with every choice Jesus helps me to make and learning how to be blessed and live life large, happy and free. I care.”
Hope in Today Ministries, Inc.
The Train Whistle, Sounding the call of God’s Love, by Karen Rowe
Instagram ID: Rowe4629
Twitter ID: Karen Rowe@hopeintoday
- Personal Motto: “I don’t have it all figured out, BUT GOD DOES … Follow JESUS!”
Personal Revelation Life Verse: 1 John 4:16
16 And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. (HCSB)
Holy Spirit you are welcome here!
Thank you Jesus!
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“GRACE AND PEACE TO YOU FROM GOD OUR FATHER AND THE LORD JESUS CHRIST (2 Corinthians 1:2, NIV).”
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Blessings,
Karen
